Rupegia

Chapter 174: Portal – Part 2

"It's time to let Chesa rest," Lily states to me as we finish cleaning up and rebuild our formation.

I make a note of how she's being very direct, but I simply agree, "Yes, it is. These traps would block the flow of the swarm, so I think they've finally run out of monsters."

Then I order Jarn to let Chesa rest and bring back our airship. Once she's done, I'll summon her, too.

We quickly move forward because the smell of blood and charred hobgoblin isn't that pleasant. The monsters lay out a few more ambushes, but unless they attack us directly from the front, Samkelo's cloud of tear gas protects us even from the invisible suckers.

The problem now is finding the correct path toward the center of the fortress. We're already at the centermost level, which is likely where the swarm came from, so all we need is to find that damn portal, but the confusing corridors make it hard to keep a mental map of the path we're taking.

"Master, let us fly outside the fortress so that you can use our connection to triangulate your position," Ted speaks a whole sentence through [Bind], for once.

"Hmm… fine," I quickly agree. I don't want to reduce our strength, but it's starting to feel like we're just aimlessly wandering about.

And I open a [Gate] for the two to the ship as it's faster than flying back along the path we used to get here. It also doesn't take long for them to position themselves outside the fortress, one at the "north" and the other at the "east" side (the "west" side is getting peppered by our Field Guns, so it's dangerous), which allows us to make a guess about how deep inside the fortress we are by tapping on the connection and sensing the distance to each golem.

Which is actually super useful as we quickly realize that the corridors we've been going through are going around the center but never get too close to it.

"Halt!" I order, and I can sense that Urmeie doesn't want to obey because there are enemies just a bit ahead of us. "We're going in circles! We have to go through the rooms to get to the center!"

"The doors are pretty narrow, and the rooms very tight!" Lily immediately points out, always very sharp.

But this is a risk we must take. "There's no other way! The corridors won't take us to the center!" Then I point to Urmeie and make the most persuasive argument that I can, "You get to carve a path!"

"Whatever! Point me where to go, and I shall do it!" the Princess barks back. I'm grateful that her bodyguards don't chime in because their presence in the front line would just complicate things, though I guess they're putting the responsibility of keeping her safe on us, which is a bit annoying, but that's the price we have to pay for taking her with us.

"That-a-way!" I cheerfully shout, but the system seemingly doesn't translate it very well into Andraste.

"Wha-…? Whatever, I got it!" the bear sister grunts and follows my command. But the room I've pointed to is full of tear gas, so I have the wind elemental clear it up before Urmeie can get a face-full of it.

I focus on the golems to increase the precision of the triangulation, so Alissa helps me walk since she's already focusing on sensing enemies instead of fighting. We quickly make good progress towards the center, though it's pretty awkward to get through the rooms since our assault party is so big, but the rooms are also ill-fitted for ambushes, so we aren't in any real danger.

In fact, we get through them faster than the corridors due to the lack of barriers. When you know where you gotta go, the fortress' confusing layout isn't enough to stop you.

And then Alissa detects a large gathering of pseudo-orc ahead of us. Too many to fit in one of these cramped rooms, so it has to be an unusually open area, and their circular formation implies that they're protecting something at the center. It's most likely the portal to the next level.

"Enemy formation ahead! Urmeie, stay in the line! They're too many!" I promptly rein her in before she can do something stupid.

"Got it! Fun ahead!" she answers positively as I've used the magic words: "enemies ahead."

We exit a room and enter a rather wide corridor, so we tighten up our formation. Then we turn a corner, and we're faced with large, heavy, metal double doors, just as ornate as the rest of the fortress and even religious-looking to boot. Anyway, I never really liked breaching doors because it's so easy to prepare a cheap surprise for whoever is invading, and these monsters are anything but cheap.

There don't seem to be any spirit monsters nearby, so it's time to make use of a Shad (a literal shadow monster) and a spirit elemental-wife.

"Kaatohe will be jealous," Alissa hears Hukarere smugly mutter as a clone of my white wolf appears before us.

This is a bit bad, actually. Next time I summon one, I should think of Kaatohe to make it even…

Anyway… the Shad can pass through the minuscule slit under the door, while the spirit can just phase through the walls. There doesn't seem to be anything magical about these walls and doors, so I guess the summons won't be blocked.

I focus on the spirit-Hukarere's vision as she can see better than the Shad, but all we get is a glimpse of the room ahead of us before a [Fire Arrow] kills it. The Shad survives for longer because it's more resistant to magic, but it's still only five seconds more than the spirit.

The scouting was successful, though, so their deaths weren't in vain. This room really is our target as the gray sphere with distorted reflections at the center is the most portal-looking portal I've ever seen. The Shad's mana-vision confirmed that it's heavily magical, and the summon also saw where the magic that killed it and its comrade originated from, so if we couple that with Alissa's [Sense Presence], we know exactly what needs to die first.

But why fight when War Crimes in a Robe can do it for us?

"You know what? Samkelo, fill that room with cyanide," I casually request, and the girls help by making everyone step back, just for safety.

The gnome manchild snickers evilly, his baby face and lack of beard making him look like a cherubic imp, "Pfft, cyanide? I could do sarin, or even better, VX."

The Companions give him worried looks as they pass by, his evilness easily noticeable even under his scale coif.

"'Vee-ecks'?" I repeat, unsure if that was translated or not.

And he eagerly shares his knowledge like a dreamy child, exactly how I have so many times, except his is about a rather grim topic, "Yep. Nerve agent like the other two. Not very popular in assassination because it's a bit too lethal, which makes it hard to handle."

"'Hard,' not 'dangerous'?" I question his phrasing. But that doesn't really matter, so I just add, "Whichever is fastest, but not VX because it sounds dangerous to us."

He shrugs. "I guess sarin, then, but I'm not a doctor."

"I've never heard of these 'nerve agents,'" Ciel preemptively replies as she approaches, concerned about the gnome's control over his own Gift.

"Same," Roxanne casually hums, her interest piqued, but she's also a bit frightened about the horrors of Earthling chemistry knowledge.

And the gnome snorts again. "Sarin, it is." Then he begins conjuring the gas, so I keep the wind-Alissa between him and us.

I also summon a light elemental-wife, just in case.

"You two really have no hesitation about committing a war crime?" Lily finally chimes in, which she's been dying to do ever since cyanide was mentioned.

But this one I was ready for, so I unhesitatingly give her my speech, "The Geneva Convention doesn't exist here, and monsters already routinely commit biological and psychological warfare against humanoids. Have you ever heard of a Weeper? They roam the High Forest and can affect people from kilometers away with their constant crying, slowly making them depressed while the more vulnerable can even be driven insane."

"I heard that Breeder-types kidnap people and use them to breed more powerful monsters," Thant grimly adds.

That one digs up unpleasant memories for all of us, so Ciel gives the explanation because they respect her more, "They do, and we've seen it first-hand. The monsters damage your spine, paralyzing you. Then they remove your limbs and eyes and pacify you with a potion that slowly turns you into a husk. All so that they can use your sexual organs to give birth to stronger monsters."

And then I explain in a way that an Earthling is more likely to understand, "They turn people into breeding livestock, and it's not like hentai."

It takes a second for that to sink in, but then they frown in sync.

"Doesn't excuse us from being war criminals," the stubborn loli argues because she has to.

So I make the pragmatic argument, "True, but Cyanide is fast and efficient, which is better than barging in and slaughtering them like pigs."

And she finally gives in with a sigh, "Fuck me… that actually makes sense. This world is fucking insane." Then she looks away sourly, frustrated at the brutality of this world.

Since our men are a bit away from us right now, giving us some privacy, I decide to lighten up the mood a bit, "I'd rather not."

Lily blinks blankly at me, but her banter senses tingle, and she quickly catches on, "Wha-… you fucking little shit. I have the body of your Lily; of course, you wanna fuck me."

"Yeah, but you have the personality of an orc," I pompously retort.

"Fuck you," she eloquently retorts.

She's making it a bit too easy. "You wish."

"No, I don't," she grumbles childishly. The previous grim talk must've tilted her.

Then Alissa detects that the monster mage is moving their arms.

"Guys? Someone is pushing away my cloud of cyanide," Samkelo worriedly remarks.

And I swear in frustration, "Fucking hell. Gotta be that mage."

Lily immediately shifts into "battle mode" again. "What mage?"

So we relay the situation to everyone, and Samkelo unconjures the sarin before the monster mage can learn how to do something bad to us with it.

"So, no more element of surprise?" Lily questions with a raised eyebrow.

"That was lost the moment we brought the Carrier here," Yunia points out and gives her an annoyed look.

She's really tilted because she doesn't banter back, "Fine. But now, we just charge in?"

And I kindly explain, "Bad idea. I'll sacrifice my elemental-wives and have them barge in so that they spring the trap for us."

"You call those rock giants 'wives'? Ew," she groans with a disgusted frown, making me chuckle.

But Lina gets upset at that comment because the earth elementals are supposed to look like her, and the only reason they don't is because these elementals need a physically large and heavy body to be useful. To make things worse, she can't even complain because she knows Lily will make fun of her.

So here I come with my confident reply to soothe our gloomy little loli wife, "They copy characteristics of those that I love, so yes, they're basically also my wives."

"Yes, that's very sweet, but can we leave that for after we've killed everything?" Urmeie impatiently suggests.

And I pompously declare, "While I'm distracting you all, my wives are concocting an assault plan so that we can take all the credit for this battle."

"We are?" Aoi innocently hums through [Bind], and I'm thankful she knows not to ask that out loud.

But Lily crudely bites back, "'Concocting.' When did you become such a pompous cock?"

I shrug and [Dodge], "That's merely the system translating things."

She narrows her eyes skeptically. "Uh-huh."

And the Princess also manages to read my bluff. "You can't fool me. The plan can't be anything but 'we charge in and slaughter them all' because you don't have a 'toy' at hand to do the job for you."

Goddamn, they both turned the tables on me so fast.

But my ever-so-reliable elven Queen won't let our image of master strategists be harmed even for a moment, "We won't reply to that, but we'll do something better: we'll merely follow your suggestion." Then she winks at me in my soul space.

I mean, Urmeie isn't wrong… so I just silently summon four earth-Linas and buff them with [Godly Language], "Become stronger! Now go! Charge through!"

The four hulking masses of floating rock roughly in the shape of a muscular person nod, making their black bangs sway. Then they turn around and charge forward as we get back into formation again.

The heavy double doors become as light as feathers to the four roided-out elementals, who pull them open so hard that they crack the wall and bend.

"[RELEASE]!" a pseudo-orc roars in Reo. Then a salvo of spells and thrown javelins hit the elementals, making them merely stagger for a split second before they resume their charge.

These pseudo-orcs are in a perfect shield wall with halberds pointing out, but what actually catches our attention is that their kite shields have heraldry. A white cross in a yellow field with a happy-looking, light-green pseudo-orc nailed to it. It looks… very creepy.

But then my eyes are drawn to their armor and how much shinier and sturdier it looks than that of the previous pseudo-orcs-in-a-tin-can that we've encountered. They must be the "elite" unit of the fortress.

I only get a glimpse of the plate as the elementals crash into their line, which almost fully breaks their formation, so now's the best time for us to engage them.

"[ELEMENTALS]!" the orcs roar in surprise.

"FORWARD, TOGETHER!" I roar with [Godly Language], giving us all perfect coordination for a short while.

But just before our front line meets with theirs, shiny black war hammers fall upon the elementals, crushing their heads with frightening ease, though that doesn't kill them. Then Alissa spots the sparkly sheen of emellanat, the poor man's anti-magic material, which means that they can do some damage to our armor if they hit hard enough.

"CAREFUL! EMELLANAT!" I warn everyone just as we collide.

An unstoppable force meets an unmovable object… and the object yields, but just a bit. With these pseudo-orcs being so well-armored, my autonomous tentacles have trouble finding a weak spot to stab, so only the hammers do any damage. We also don't have a lot of room to move, so only Lily can fully unleash her strength, as even Hana and Urmeie feel cramped. There's a high ceiling above us, though, so we can get some room to maneuver if we fly, but first, we have to deal with the monster's anti-air.

"On it!" Roxanne answers through our connection before I even ask. Then she aims her staff at the mage, who's deep within the monster's line, and casts [Explosion]!

"[ACK! DEMONIC WORMS]!" Alissa hears the mage shout in pain, clearly not mindblown because he actually has a [Dead Zone] enchantment protecting him.

That still won't be enough to save him from assassination by unstoppable draconic force, so Hana summons her wings and prepares to fly up.

But then Alissa notices the mage throw something, and her sharp eyes immediately catch the object flying towards us, which raises alarm bells inside my mind.

It looks awfully like a lemon-shaped grenade, and I don't want to bet that it's just a party trick, so I use [Telekinesis] to push it down into the middle of the pseudo-orcs, but even that doesn't seem like it'll be enough.

"SHIELDS UP! HUNKER D-…!"

My warning is cut short as [Battlefield Perception] triggers. Then we're blinded by a flash followed by a massive explosion that pushes our entire line back, and since we're clumped up, we fall over each other, our formation completely broken.

The shock and confusion disorient me, but [Sense Presence] insists that there are still monsters right on top of us. My tentacles have been shredded, and with everyone down on the floor, it'd be laughably easy to finish us off even if we're armored.

No, this much isn't enough to put me out of the fight!

Filled with rage, I shift into my draconic form as I jump up and crash into the monsters. My weight alone pushes them back as countless little pointed or bladed things hit my body, but even emellanat isn't enough to get through my DIAMOND. DRAGON. SCALES!

"RAAAAAAH!" I roar as I unleash [Chaos Breath] on the nearest tin can helmet, resulting in a shower of brain matter and stunning everyone near the mindblown fool.

Aoi and Hana follow up a second later and also crash into their disrupted line, the former crushing one with her huge body and the latter breathing flames at their faces. Unfortunately, Hana's wings seem tattered and torn apart by the blast, so her charge capabilities just took a massive hit, and the sight of this desecration fuels my rage further.

Urmeie joins us next, adding to the chaos, but while we destroy their first line, the monsters are reforming their shield wall in the second line, essentially sacrificing their comrades.

Just as the tiredness from [Chaos Breath] starts to slow me down, I hear a feminine cry of pain, making my blood boil, "AAAAH!"

It isn't one of the wives, but I recognize the voice; it's a Companion, and I've only ever heard her scream in pleasure before. Ciel immediately finds the source and sees the girl clutching her helmet, blood pouring down from between the fingers of her gauntlet. Then we notice that there's a nail stuck in the side of her helmet.

That's what the "grenade" did, but while our armor was enough to stop the nails, this Companion wasn't so lucky.

WHERE'S THAT MAGE!?

Alissa immediately finds his presence for me, and so I jump past everyone's heads and into the middle of the pseudo-orcs at the same time that Roxanne casts [Explosion] on the mage again to stun him.

My vengeful gaze easily finds the robed bastard in the midst of a sea of metal, so I fall upon him and immediately wrap my jaws around his head, then pop it like a nut with fleshy insides. Fast and simple, but not as clean as I wanted it to be as now the monsters around me now have a good position to whack me, and they actually manage to crack a few of my glorious mirror-like scales with their emellanat weapons while the rest try to hold me down.

This much is fine because the girls will always have my back, and they rain spells, arrows, and boulders upon the heads of these hateful cunts. The outrage at having my glorious mirror-like scales damaged makes me feel like staying a little longer, though.

"WOLFY!" Alissa calls my attention to a dangerous-looking axe rapidly approaching my neck.

I jerk out of the way, but it still isn't enough, and a horribly cold sensation penetrates my neck. I feel no pain in this magical form, but "being damaged" is still very unpleasant, and if I lose my head, I'll actually die.

Roxanne promptly [Explode]s the attacker's head, removing the only real threat around me. Then Aoi, Hana, Yunia, and Jarn land beside me, the first crushing multiple tin cans while the other two come in with weapons blazing, literally. This gives me time to regenerate my wound and analyze our situation, and I like what I see.

Even monsters can't keep a proper formation when two fucking huge dragons, two untouchable swordswomen, and a murderous Inspector Gadget crash into the middle of them, so the chaos rages like a flame, and I can't help but throw fuel into the fire.

And so, we change up our tactics a little bit. The rest of the girls take to the skies while Lina continues fighting beside Lily to not completely break our formation. Even though our little group is surrounded, we have enough eyes in the sky to keep us safe, and without a leader to guide the tin cans, they actually hesitate to attack us.

As a bonus of our bold move, Urmeie and everyone else are fighting twice as hard, bent on linking up with us and not being left behind, so we need to match them in body count to not look like we're being rescued.

And now the time has come for the last massacre of the day.