"Erst Strike, Second Strike, Dritt Strike!"
Hol ran through the monsters with ease. His body felt lighter than before and his attacks were cleaving their way through monsters with ease. He glanced at his status and smiled.
[Level: 53 + 177]
Looks like luck is on my side, the wave is happening with my world, giving me levels from both worlds. If only I had weapons from my world as well, then I would have been able to slash them down with ease. Now where the hell is that bastard?
Looking around, Hol saw a wave of knights and adventurers rush from the castle, advancing towards the wave. Behind them, several bright lights flashed as beams of light erupted, crashing into the waves of monsters. Hol grinned as he saw the source of the attacks.
At the edge of the castle walls was the bastard who killed his fellow vassal, a glowing ring on his hand charged with a skill.
Hol ran around the side of the castle and swung his weapon at the ring hero, sending a skill aimed at his head. A loud explosion rang out as the skill collided with something, but unfortunately for him it wasn't the guy's head, but instead a black and white dotted barrier guarding him. But Hol was not discouraged, as the area of impact now covered in cracks and holes, looking like the slightest touch would shatter it. He grinned and gripped his weapon tightly.
"I believe we have some unfinished business," Hol declared, rushing at the enemy.
"Phew, that was one hell of a long hallway," Jim grumbled as he pushed the final door open. The cold breeze hit him in the face, making him blink rapidly as he adjusted to the bright purple and red sky.
Wait, purple and red?
Jim looked up in confusion and saw the giant crack floating over the castle.
"Oh damn, been a while since I saw one of these. Now where is tha-"
"HELP!" a scream rang out. A few meters away from Jim was a little kid that was being chased by a lion with a second head of a snake attached to its side, the scales and lion fur meshing in an unnatural way. Two leathery and furry wings poked out from its back, one folded and crooked with an arrow in it.
Before Jim could even react, one of the prisoners behind him cast a spell to stun the monster, and a second one slammed a large rock over the beast's head, cracking its skull open.
"T-thank you," the child cried out, running away.
"Damn, where are all the knights?" Jim grumbled, looking around. The entrance to the prison was on the outer ring of the capital, a wall separating it from the outside world, another separating the outer layer of the capital from the inner layer, which was in turn separated by another wall inside of which the main castle was contained.
Several knights on top of the two inner walls were armed with crossbows and magic staves, casting arrows and attacking magic in the direction of the wave.
"The outer ring security is very low if at all present due to the size of the place. Plus, mostly poor people are out here, and who cares about those?" Oblek growled, looking around.
"If that were true, there would be way more people here, not just one kid and a couple of pedestrians. And they are all running towards the inner ring. I think the king got everyone to evacuate, but a few stragglers didn't get the memo," Cobalt reasoned.
"Well, I guess they didn't have room for everyone," Jim replied as he peeked into a church and saw several men barricading the doorway. A bunch of people all crammed into the building, some with knives and pitchforks, some with spears and swords. Despite them not being nobles, they didn't wear rags like so many anime's showed Jim.
Guess the king did try to take care of his people. But no matter how hard you try to save everyone, you can't protect them all, huh?
"Anyway, I'll see you guys around. I'm off before the knights catch on," one of the prisoners replied, walking away.
But before he could take three steps away, an arrow whizzed past him and hit the ground in front of him.
"Not another step. You think you can just break out of prison and walk away like that?" a man yelled behind them. It was the warden Jim beat up earlier, now bloodied and battered, but looking a bit better than before. Some of the injuries Jim gave him seemed to look old or disappeared completely.
Damn, guess he healed himself. And took a few more prisoners to hell by the looks of it.
"Damn, what's your body count up to now?" Jim asked, raising his hammer.
"Try the bottom floors full of the worst criminals and then some," the warden glared at Jim, raising his hammer as some knights descended from the walls and joined him.
Welp… I don't think these guys are gonna be messing around. And not everyone here has a nuclear hammer so I guess… roll for conviction.
"Alright, you guys got us here. But I have a deal for you!" Jim proposed, lowering his hammer. The warden looked around the gathered prisoners and thought about it for a moment.
"I'm listening."
"Good. We can see that the outer ring is lacking manpower. I know your hero would eventually kill the boss, but it would lower the cost of the lives it would take by quite a bit if you have an extra hero and a few leveled up prisoners on your side, don't you think?" Jim reasoned, pointing to the prisoners behind him.
"You want us to work with the people who imprisoned us?!" Cobalt hissed at Jim under his breath just loud enough for him and the warden to hear.
"Do we have much of a choice? Are we not all facing an apocalypse that is out of our control? If you think we can beat that…!" Jim exclaimed, pointing to the crack in the sky spewing monsters onto the land. "…then be my guest to fight amongst yourselves. But if you have any common sense, you know this isn't a threat we can stop while fighting each other. We need all the firepower we can get, because out here even 1 arrow, one extra set of arms, one extra stat could mean a dozen or even a hundred lives saved!"
He finished his speech and looked the warden in the eyes, waiting for his answer. The man raised his arm to gather the guards around him and nodded.
"Very well. We shall put our differences aside for the wave. If you fight diligently, we can have some of you freed and assigned to a job on probation," the warden offered, and Jim smiled.
"I knew you would see reason," Jim replied, turning to the prisoners behind him.
"Are you going to trust his words?!" Oblek hissed, pointing to the warden, but Jim sighed.
"Nah, I was making shit up as I went. I'ma go fight the king then the wave boss. You guys run whenever you find a good opportunity," Jim replied, walking away. Cobalt seemed to laugh as he walked back towards his comrades, while Jim swapped through his weapon list.
Welp, time for a quick revenge sidequest! Now where is that guy?
Suddenly a burst of thunder rang out from the top of the castle, blasting a wall to pieces.
That should be a good start. Wait up you bastard.
"Thunder Strike!" "Thunderbolt!"
Skills crashed together with a thunderous roar, lighting up the room with a blinding blue light. Hol used this moment to scale up the wall with a bundle of rope and jump over the vanguard, readying his skill to attack from the ceiling.
"Dual Hoe, Lunar Strike, Solar Strike!" he chanted, sending a blast of blue and orange energy from the tips of his weapons.
"Cosmic Barrier, Shrapnel Shot!" the ring hero summoned a barrier to guard himself and sent off dozens of shots at Hol. The otherworlder jumped out of the way and safely landed behind the king, but the ring hero's attacks began to ricochet from the walls.
"Second Ring, Change Ring," the ring hero muttered, summoning a ring onto his finger, which morphed into a dark metal ring with an orange target with the gem in its center. Hol jumped out of the way of the blasts, only to see them bounce off of the floor and walls and circle towards him.
"For the love of- Whirlwind Strike!" Hol grumbled, sending a blast of wind energy that formed a tornado, blocking most of the energy shots. However, a few more made it past, hitting Hol in the arms and legs. The shots, now burning bright red, burrowed into his arms and legs, burning the clothes and skin underneath. The king smiled, now with a third ring made out of dark metal with a burning red band around its rim.
Hol cursed under his breath and summoned several stars to heal himself.
"Oh no you don't! From the power of the ring and the faith of my people, summon forth flames to burn our enemies! Advanced Firestorm!"
Just as Hol finished forming a cross shape with his spell, the ring hero sent out a wave of flame, forcing him to jump back. He slammed the cross into his body and raised his hoe again.
"Hydro Vortex!" he exclaimed, sending a burst of water at the flames, extinguishing them and blasting steam into all directions.
"Erst Blast, Zweit Blast, Dritt Blast!" the hero exclaimed, sending burning red lasers homing on on Hol through the smoke.
"Shadow Strike!" Within a moment Hol disappeared completely, causing the attacks to blast into the wall. The ring hero's eyes widened in shock. The second ring he swapped to had a homing effect that allowed him to home in attacks and track the target, even if his vision was obstructed.
Did he run awa-SH*T!
"Fourth Ring, Change Ring!" he yelled, turning the fourth ring into a blue metal ring with a yellow dome surrounding the gem. His barrier changed colors and morphed into a jagged yellow dome just as Hol burst from the shadows from behind him and sent an attack. As the weapon crashed into the barrier, it cracked, leaving a large dent.
The ring hero gasped for air and doubled over in pain as if he had been punched in the gut, blood dripping from his lips. Hol on the other hand screamed out and clutched his arm, now covered in many deep cuts, painting his sleeves crimson red.
While Hol began to summon stars to heal himself, the ring hero pulled out a vial of liquid from his ring and chugged it in one go.
Didn't expect him to crack the buffed barrier. Despite me getting the upgrade methods from the crafter hero and buffing them as much as I can, he seemed to have gotten stronger in between the waves. Did he level up a bunch in this world?
"Mind answering a few questions before you die?" Hol growled out while his arm healed. The cuts began to close, but the regeneration was slower than before. He knew he had to end the fight soon, or he wouldn't last long. "Why did you kill Ellis?"
"The jar hero? Unfortunately, my hero isn't too active right now, and another vassal is lost hell-knows-where. Your world seems to have at least two functioning heroes, isn't it only natural to share?" the king inquired. Hol grit his teeth and gripped his weapon tighter.
"That's it?! YOU LOWERED OUR CHANCES JUST CAUSE YOUR HEROES AREN'T AROUND?!" Hol screamed, the gem of his weapon turning dangerously red. He glanced around the room to see if there was anything he could use, but everything was burned down or turned to ash from their attacks before. Hol turned back to his enemy and waited for him to make the first move.
"I would kill several worlds before I would let my people die. Yours just happened to be nearby," the king replied without hesitation, raising his rings and summoning a fifth one, a pink metal ring with lightning around the gem.
"Then you really are beyond help, you bastard. To sacrifice others for your people. You think everyone else's life means so little?" Hol yelled, enraged.
"My people come first. You would do the same. Full Hand, Thunderbolt!"
Hol's eyes widened as lightning surrounded the king, as if charging up the skill, before letting out a huge wave of thunder in his direction.
"Chaos Strike!" He fired back with a barrage of hoe strikes, dampening the attack as much as he could. But to his dismay it didn't manage to stop the attack, only slow it down a little.
The wall of thunder crashed onto his body, slamming him to the ground and decimating the wall behind him. He screamed out in pain as his whole body felt like it was on fire, every nerve screaming out in agony.
Sh*t, I don't know what other effects he has but I don't think he went all out yet. He still has the curse series, but it didn't seem to affect him last time. If I use mine here, I don't know if I can turn it off. Laura isn't here to bash my brains out. What the hell do I do?
Wait! I still have those!
Hol tried to reach into his pocket for something, but the ring hero ran up to him and kicked him as hard as he could, sending Hol towards the edge of the building. As Hol tried to scramble to his feet, the ring hero grabbed his throat from behind and raised him to eye level, pointing his ring at the hero's head.
"This is goodbye, otherworlder. I'll be sure to use your weapon to defend my paradise," he said, glaring at Hol. Instead of answering, Hol gathered the last of his energy to spit into the man's eye, but he missed by a long shot, making the guy grit his teeth. He opened his mouth, ready to end this.
"Erst Bla-"
"Mjolnir!"
Just before the king could activate his skill, a large flaming hammer smashed into the side of his face, forcing him to stumble back in surprise more than in pain. Hol used this moment to squirm out of his grasp and jump to the side to gain some distance as the ring vassal glared at the surprise guest.
Jim stood in the doorway, glancing at his hammer that just flew back to him, mirroring the ring hero's surprised look, but for a completely different reason.
"Oh sh*t! I can throw this thing!" he shouted with excitement, before composing himself and looking around till his glance fell on the farming tool hero. "Hey dude, didn't expect to see you again. What was your name again?"
"Dritte Contain! Solar Blast!" William yelled, trapping a monster in a large jar and blasting another to smithereens. They have been fighting for over 20 minutes now, but the situation hasn't been getting better. While the knights were handling themselves quite well, the lower level adventurers were quickly getting overwhelmed and injured, so the manpower was split between advancing the wave and protecting the people.
The problem was that the monsters were a bunch of chimeras. Some had dragon-like heads that spat flames, combined with lion heads that paralyzed low leveled people with its roar. Some had a goat head that it would use to ram the army's tanks, then follow up with a bite from a poisonous snake head. This had caused the most damage to their front lines as there were simply not enough people who brought antidotes, so a few priests were trying to use detoxifying magic on the back lines.
William was on the front lines blasting and defending against the chimeras and trying to take most of the attacks on himself. It wasn't very hard with his new weapon, as one of the skills he now had at his disposal was 'Honey Jar'. Despite the weird name, it was actually rather useful in battle as it made all the monsters around him focus their attacks on him instead of other people. This allowed him to buy time for magic casters to perform support and attack magics, as well as buy time for others to get the injured people to safety.
Thanks to many equipment bonuses, which included resistances to fire, poison, lightning, wind, and many other types of attacks, William could easily tank the attacks focused on him and fire back without worrying about his life.
I am still getting used to this new power and all the skills, but is this what my king feels like all the time? If this is how strong vassal heroes are, then how powerful must the crafter hero be?
"Sir, we have found the wave boss, but unfortunately-" the knight began to report when all of a sudden an explosion erupted behind him with monster corpses flying in all directions. William looked around, trying to find the source of the attack when he saw the most bizarre sight.
A very drunk woman was riding a three… no, four-headed chimera with wings as she swung her pickaxe around wildly, sending off energy attacks in all directions. The knights who tried to get too close were either flung away and crippled, or flung away with a magic self-moving rope and thrown so far that it would take them over an hour to make it back with all of their gear.
That's… that's definitely the vassal pickaxe, but what is the pickaxe hero doing here? And why is she interfering with the knights? And why is she drunk?!
"Sir, we have another problem. The king still hasn't shown up. Some people saw lightning coming from the castle, so some believe he might be in trouble right now," another knight reported. That sentence was all William could hear over the sounds of ripping flesh and explosions all around him. He looked at his second in command and pulled him to the side.
"You're in charge until I return. Get the injured to safety and minimize casualties as much as you can. Tell the Shadow's to get through to the pickaxe hero and get her to cooperate. I'll return for the king. Understood?!"
"Sir, yes sir!" the second in command exclaimed, walking towards the troops to relay the commands. Meanwhile, the jar hero ran as fast as he could back to the castle.
Damn it, why did this have to happen now?! Someone must have planned to attack during the waves when all attention was directed at the battlefield! But who could it be? Jarvestia? No, they don't have anyone strong enough to take on the king even if they used hundreds of mages for ceremonial debuff magic. The rogue elves are out of the question, and no other nation is strong enough to put up a fight against the knights, let alone a hero.
Whoever it is, I won't let them lay a hand on our king. That's what a king's royal knight is for after all.