A Rattling Monster - Chapter 114：RUN AWAY!

(WOAW! Seriously, I hadn’t expected the range of this to be that far. I mean, you are at, I don’t know, more than one kilometer. And it entirely destroyed the two lich that were pierced by it. I honestly want to tell you that they won’t be able to fire more of that thing. But four additional metal sticks are getting loaded as we speak. Should we retreat for now?)

Ok, this will be a painful memory, but I will have to deal with this later. For now, I only have one thing to do. RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! And, as bravely we were marching to conquer the walls of Ronta, we are running like cowards to escape the range of those snipers, I will call them that way. I mean, it looks like it is a sniper rifle, from the description of Oslo. Ah, and I am still staying underground, for now, I won’t dare to stand up in front of the ratmen. Never, never, underestimate a race that was hiding in the shadows and preparing their return for a century.

I mean, we haven’t killed anyone, and I already lost 5 lich. By killing anyone, I mean, really killing anyone. Neither the assassins that we caught or the slave sentenced to die by the hands of my undead are really important. Why? Because, if they are caught by vulgar ghouls, they are no threat to me, meaning it is not their best ratmen. As for the slave, I won’t talk about them. It is obvious that they are the lowest vermin possible, and I remember the memory from the Agorians. They were as starved and weak as they were when they fought the Tomb Kings.

I mean, just look at their weapons, a broken sword, not a single shield? Not even some leather armor, I am not talking about metal, just leather. As for the assassins, I didn’t really saw what was their equipment, but it should be barely better. They were just the scouts, the alarms put in place to prevent anything. I mean, we are still very far away from Ronta and …

ZZZZZZZZZIP ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIP ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP

DAMN! SERIOUSLY?

(Yes, even after five seconds of running, they are still capable of touching us. The good thing is, the shields of the lich were capable of repelling the attack. Even a single shield of a lich has managed to stop the deadly projecting, so, I suppose that one kilometer is the maximum theoretical range. Past that, the projectile fired loose both his speed and his power. It managed to break two shields from your lich at a closer range. That’s going to be a huge problem, there are five of them.)

Yes, but I only heard 4, does that means that the first one is still reloading.?

(Let me see, yes, the weapon is fuming, a huge smoke is surrounding the metal stick. The three ratmen operating the sniper rifle, like you called it, are even coughing. The same spectacle can be seen around the four others. Let me count the delay between two shots. Still not able to even get close, ah, finally… Now, they are putting the monster core, putting another one, and a third, clonck? I guess that means that the weapon is armed, and yes, I see one of the ratmen looking in a glass. It’s a magnifying glass, wow, it is really advanced, they can even modify the efficiency of the glass. But, for the delay between two shots, I will say, fifteen seconds.)

So, every fifteen seconds, past the one-kilometer mark, potentially, I will lose 5 lich. If I make sure that they are spread, and not in line. And that’s just one weapon, you told me that other things were put on the wall?

(Oh yeah, some very nice things. For them, of course. You have the five sniper rifles, you have one, two, three, four, yes, four cannons. The kind that is capable of obliterating a small group of lich in a second. I see dozens of machine guns; they are similar to the one found inside the hideout of Krieg. A huge number of magicians or sorcerers, but the good sign is the fact that they are not a threat to you or your army. Millions of ratmen are inside the city, and that’s just the surface, I have no idea how many are in some tunnels under it, waiting to ambush you when you are not expecting it all.)

Let me resume something. I am facing, a city, that is capable of annihilating my army from far away, with numbers beyond millions, and a horde of assassins that just want me to die. How did Aria think that she could win this war? I mean, yes, I am certain that I have in front of me at least a third of the total army of Salazar. Because another should be attacking the dwarves and the rest should be defending the city of the ratmen. But just that, and I am already powerless.

I have managed to single-handedly destroy the capital of the holy kingdom, but I can’t beat the army of the ratmen?

(I think that you should maybe consider this situation from another point of view. Maybe the reason you were able to destroy the capital, was the already dead army of Aria. Because, the priests and the archbishops were not really threatening you at all, only the magicians were really dealing some damage to your army. The more I think about it, the more I find your victory a little too easy. I think that the first try, where you were quickly dispatched, the army of the humans and dwarves was still alive. But during the wait, they were all killed in front of the city of the ratmen. Allowing you to crush the defenses of the third wall and enter the royal palace.)

That makes sense, but in one way or the other, both I and Salazar helped each other. The fall of Ronta is very recent, not even a day. Otherwise, the cannons and sniper rifles would have already been put in position. Or, you told me that they were rapidly bringing all their weapons to the wall. Anything else I should know right now? Any strange monsters lurking in the streets, capable of tearing apart a ghoul with his bare hands?

(Yes, a few. But, you should probably be able to kill them, I am more worried about both the assassins and the weapons in position on the wall. How do you want to play that?)

First of all, I will retreat, and reform my army. Create more ghouls, more everything. Then, I still have [Nightfall], they won’t expect this. What can you do when you can’t see your targets? After that, I have something special for them, that I just thought. Did I evolve right?

(Yes, you evolved. Meaning more power, more spells, a better body, more spells … more creation of spell?)

Exactly, I still have a chance to create a new spell. Now, I just need to find out what I really need. Because, I have an army, I have something allowing me to bypass all the environment, I have something to defend myself. I have also multiple ways of killing my enemies and I can blind or curse them. What do I truly need right now?

(I have no idea; you still can’t use the [Death Ray] right?)

Let me try once more, even with my 1750 MP, can I use it?

“Not enough mana”

Well, apparently, no. I truly wonder what is the cost of such a spell, even with 1750 MP, I can’t even cast it. But, forget about that annoying part, what should I create? Something to make my undead better? Something to kill people at a very long range?

(Don’t focus too much on your undead. Yes, they are very good, and extremely useful, and right now, more powerful than you. But, sometimes, you will face a situation where you won’t be able to rely on an army of undead, to slaughter your enemy. Sometimes, you will have to face stronger foes, meaning, you need to have a better spell. All the previous ones are still useful when you are alone, but if you create a spell just for your undead, you will stop growing.)

Ok, I get it, me getting stronger is better than me getting stronger thanks to my undead servants. The principle of strength by myself and not by all my assets. So, you suggest creating a spell only available to me, but then, what should I do? Besides having a long-range distance attack, that’s what I am currently lacking, I don’t see anything else. But that’s not very useful in an arena when I will battle other Heroes.

(You don’t have to care about other Heros, besides one or two freaks, you are able to kill everyone. In a one against one, you can hide in the underground, make the other party starve to death, be plagued, be melted. No, you need to focus on your shortcomings, and the idea of something capable of destroying those sniper rifles from far away is quite good. That’s always a nice thing to have, that way, you can almost every time strike first.)

Ok, so we have the idea, but what will be the spell?