Bonded Summoner - Book 5. Chapter 19: Jake and Valtor - Ascended Fate and Trust

Hestia having disappeared, it was now four against one. Jake thankfully had enough resources for a few spells remaining, having conserved the most of it.

Tanda immediately began firing her arrows with seeds into the creature, even as the Enforcer leaped into the air at the party. Ophelia’s shield slammed into him, changing the trajectory of his midair charge.

Jake took on the Runebound state of the Sage, finding resonance with Fhesiah. Grabbing the mana from his chest piece, he, Ophelia, and Fhesiah gathered the runes to form their Tier 2 Group Runic Magic: Dragon’s Breath.

Enhanced by their covenant, Fhesiah pushed as much of her mental energy as she could to manifest her Dao. An apparition of a dragon’s head appeared, and dragon flames matching her path were released, engulfing the massive monster with powerful flames and blasting him backwards.

Fhesiah immediately began her Dance of the Sun, and placed both the [Sun and Moon Hex] on the Enforcer. The symbols of the sun and moon were prominent on its flesh, the golden flames of the dragon and the blackish-purple flames of the kitsune burning into him.

Her torch also fired more flames into the Enforcer, the flames finding purchase on his terrifying flesh. Its skin moved as if alive, the hexes and runes moving as the monster screamed.

Ophelia stabbed her spear into him, even as he swung the massive axe at her body. But Jake had called her shield next to her, making it ready to absorb the blow.

It still sent her flying, her ribs bruised, but Jake managed to pierce into its leg from the side with his spear. Despite the creature now having flesh, it was still like hitting a hunk of steel.

The axe came at Jake, but he wedged his shield into the ground and infused his runes with mana. The inertia dampening runes reduced the force of the huge axe significantly, and much of the remaining force was transferred into the ground.

The ground shattered around Jake, and sent him staggering back.

The followup swing came after him, but Ira transported Jake away. The monster tried to quaff his flaming body with malevolent energies, but Fhesiah slammed even more flames into him, reigniting the fire.

Tanda fired several arrows filled with seeds, growing vines resistant to flames with her [Rampant Growth]. They pulled at the arms, reducing the strength the monster could bring about.

Jake then took on the Runebound state of the Monarch, finding resonance with Blood. Using much of the mana he had left, he merged the runes with Fhesiah and Ophelia to create the Tier 2 Group Runic Magic: Hearthtree Vines.

The large plant appeared next to the giant warrior, the vines growing around it rapidly. It wrapped, burned, and cut into the creature, even as the beast tried chasing after Jake’s party members.

Each moment the giant creature was set aflame, his size seemingly decreased. The vines when combined with Tanda’s were effective, restraining the creature. What followed was the party once again kiting the monster.

When the creature leaped at Jake, Ophelia and him would interpose their shields together, and block the attack. Ophelia’s [Vajra Strike] and Tanda’s arrows continued taking chunks out of the Enforcer, and Fhesiah even switched to her Dark Kitsune’s Dance of the Moon.

Scripts of the sun and the moon burned and inhibited the power of the monster’s body, his own powerful tattoos dimming.

Cursed flames started slamming into the monster, as Ophelia and Jake blocked the enemy’s attacks. The warrior managed to land a strike into Jake’s shoulder despite their block together, but the cut didn’t go deep into his resilient body with Ophelia’s Eternal Oath ability.

Other wounds joined the first on both Ophelia and Jake. It started wrenching at their shields with the extra arms, making it a challenge for the two of them to coordinate their block. They still managed to keep the wounds light, the blows not deadly thanks to precise coordination.

Until the mouth opened and bit into Ophelia’s shield, pulling on it. A fist punched into her, sending her flying away. An axe swung down at Jake with full power, the attack filled with malevolence.

But time had now passed, and mana had been regenerated. Jake managed to conjure up enough mana by grabbing as much as he could from [Energy Sharing] to create a Sacrificial Barrier in front of it.

It shattered, but the resulting attack was something Jake could manage with his shield. He even countered with his spear with a powerful stab of his Hearthblade into its chest, stabbing deep into the Enforcer.

The runes or scripts that powered the creature had lit up and became more powerful, but Fhesiah’s hexing runes and debuffs had really weakened its flesh. What had felt like stabbing steel before was now much closer to stabbing into a Boss monster.

Ophelia blitzed back into the warrior with [Intervene] on Jake, stabbing into the Enforcer’s eye within his chest. Stabbing deeply, she knocked the monster off its feet.

The Enforcer roared as it stood, filling itself with malevolence. It engulfed the Hearthtree vines and the flames, and the skin sloughed off the creature, shedding it. Fhesiah’s flames and hexes went with the skin, the flames rejoining her torch.

The Enforcer now shrunk to beneath his original size. The scripts on the body had darkened and been expended, whatever means of empowering himself weakened.

Meanwhile, Bloodberri finally won their battle. The parasite was defeated, the nethril warriors and creatures walking away from the fight.

Fhesiah chuckled, a bit of a prideful smile on her lips. “Looks like it’s our win. Though, I suppose, we had won from the moment we blocked that attack.”

The Enforcer was solemn. “It matters not. All will be food for Tartarus in the end. Hundreds of thousands die this day, whether you win here or not. We will prepare more sacrifices, and we shall return and fight again. This world will be ours.”

Not dwelling on its words overly long, Jake used [Call Summon] on Bloodberri, the Garuda, and Bree.

His party had outlasted the Enforcer, and from there, it was little effort to pick him apart. Bloodberri’s maul was devastating thanks to Berri being particularly angry, and Bree’s regrowing vines made it easy to defend against him.

Jake made sure to keep him far enough away from himself so that he could use [Call Summon] on any of the girls to bring them to safety, in case he released a special ability. The Garuda cut into his body with powerful slices, and each girl added to their attacks to cut off larger and larger chunks of stone from his obsidian flesh.

Eventually, Bloodberri smashed his head with [Maul of Hestia-Echidna], and his head shattered.

The statue fell to its knees and crumbled. Then, an assortment of Divine Sparks shot into each of their chests.

Seeing so many at once of varying qualities, Jake could tell that there was a significant difference between each one. Despite Bloodberri killing the Enforcer, the largest spark definitely went into Jake’s chest.

As it did, Jake felt something shift inside him, Ira looking on in interest. His Divine Hearth Core reached its final level, growing. Everyone received the same prompt.

[Enforcer Defeated: Merit Reward Pending Tier Up]

But others received a different one.

[Trial Task Complete: Ophelia]

Retribution twisted and upgraded, the metal being enhanced. Devas and Asuras now lined her halberd, the spike or hook bill she had crafted becoming even thicker for piercing armor.

Otherwise, it kept most of its form, clearly being the preferred form of weapon as she crafted it for herself.

[Mythic Tier 2 Halberd: Retribution]

[This weapon gathers the righteous lightning of Guan Yu, the more Champion Ophelia protects and guards allies from attacks. Grows with user, Upgradeable. Represent’s Guan Yu’s Authority.]

[Trial Task Complete: Bloodberri]

The Giant Axe from the Enforcer flew into Bloodberri’s Maul, and merged into it. It twisted and morphed, the haft being filled with depictions of beasts.

The axe head shifted into that of a manticore’s maw, and pulled against her grip. The weapon dragged her over to the corpse of the Enforcer. It ate the obsidian stone with a growl, as if the weapon itself was alive.

It crunched and chewed, as it consumed the corpse. Eventually, it finished, and the haft symbols of beasts lit up, and the axe head shifted some more, darkening from the stone it consumed.

Berri and Blood both frowned as they looked at the axe head, disgusted. It looked like the maw of the Enforcer, depicted on the face of the blade.

[Mythic Tier 2 Transforming Polearm: Manticore’s Maw]

[Consumes the blood of rare beasts to empower and grow, and is Upgradeable. Represents Echidna’s Authority.]

[Trial Task Complete: Fhesiah]

[Reward Pending Tier Up – Tailored Tier 2 Cultivation Technique.]

Fhesiah looked at the powerful new weapons Ophelia and Bloodberri received. “You know, after watching that, I feel a little left out. Still, I look forward to the value of my reward. My Core was bound to be unique, so this is a priceless treasure.”

Jake asked, “It looks like there are no longer any Champions or similar on Highlands, with your Trial Tasks completed. What about these grasshoppers?”

Fhesiah frowned, as she snatched a grasshopper out of the air. “They are the same as normal grasshoppers, similar to when we checked them before. Maybe now that he’s dead, he’s no longer controlling them? They were seemingly used as a sort of radio station, almost like the Heart of the World.”

Blood looked over them, and brought her face near one. “I don’t feel anything from it. But I think I did during the battle.”

They heard a voice over the headsets, it was Vesuvius. “Can anyone read me? The static is gone!”

Jake replied, “I can hear you, Vesuvius. Go ahead?”

“Lakemere is under attack by an army of Naga and undead, but the Naga are fleeing now. Our army can probably manage thanks to this, but we have lost connection to Cascadia. It is under attack!”

Jake frowned. “Alright, thanks Vesuvius. We’ll be on the move.”

Having conquered the Greater Rift, Alliance territory had pushed closer to this section. He went ahead and used the Refuge portal, as his party tried to recover as much as they could. It took over a minute, but eventually the portal opened.

Dave appeared, Jake having completely forgotten about him. Thankfully, he was able to allow him through.

***

Treants now lined the battlements, the recently built stone and tree walls created for Cascadia. A wave of deathly water approached the plateau, an ominous ship of bone carried by it. The ship itself was massive, likely capable of housing tens of thousands of people within.

Like a snake, the massive river surged over the mountain and arrived up on the plateau. If Valtor wasn’t watching it happen, he wouldn’t have believed it was possible. Thousands of feet were traversed vertically.

But rather than crew, the ship was made of skeletons themselves. Behind the ship was a giant Naga. Next to the ship, it looked small, however, it was easy to tell it was absolutely massive.

The Naga was covered in black, and Valtor knew just by looking at i that it was in the second Tier. That such a creature could exist on this world was surprising, but he knew it was possible.

Ancient creatures could sometimes hoard or otherwise gather enough power to ascend to the next Tier on worlds. Terrible sacrificial rituals, or simply a powerful set of special circumstances, could allow someone to ascend beyond the Tier of the world.

Having learned this world’s history, it could simply be that the Tier 2 creature just remained alive for the last thousand years. Unlike the heroic beasts, it just kept eating and consuming enough to maintain its strength.

The influence of Tartarus was not always be able to make use of such creatures, and often, they would not come to the World’s defense for the Great Battle.

But occasionally, there was a means of getting them to help. The Framework and Tartarus would come to a conclusion on any tactical value such a creature might have and how easily it could join the Great Battle.

Something like a World Tree Guardian Spirit that would defend it on a hundred percent chance, Tartarus would get advantages to counteract the remainder of the world being of a lower Tier. It was either that, or the Divine and Framework would work out where the Guardian Spirit would be restricted or unable to intervene.

Something like an ancient evil that would easily join Tartarus side, the Alliance would get its own allocation of assistance to counter the above the Tier enemy.

But a neutral Naga that would probably never leave its den? This would be fair game. It looked like Tartarus had created a series of circumstances to control the monstrous creature, along with the rest.

The naga were controlled by an odd buzzing sound, and many were filled with some level of taint. The ship was going to crash into the wall with the giant Naga behind it. Both were bigger than the wall itself, aside from the trees that made it up.

Dozens of naiads, elemental dryads and fauns all gathered to form their own magic circle. A few of the more aquatic-focused beastkin also joined them in their efforts to control the water. Drawing on their vast elemental powers and affinity with water, the waterfall from above Cascadia curved in the direction of the oncoming enemies.

A river of their own curved down, and crashed into the oncoming ship and river. Many naga were ripped out of the river, though they quickly gained control to rejoin their allies. Much of the oncoming river was swept away by their attack, the water flowing and flooding down the edges of the plateau.

What remained of the river persisted, the ship and deathly river having reduced in speed and quantity significantly.

Nadessa and her dozens of dryads and fauns joined her in a magic circle. Treants stood guard on the ledge, the hundreds of fauns and dryads enhancing them with their nature magics.

Various beastkin lined up as well. Many of them had become druidic classes, priestesses, and more. Few were starting to reach the level of an auril hero, but many weren’t far off. Of course, many had already reached this state, but they had headed East or West, to join their brethren on the offensive.

The many archers and javelin users prepared their ranged weaponry, ready to contribute in the defense. Hearthtribe had a wide assortment of weapon users now, and each had enchanted weaponry to aid in the fight.

The auril heroes gathered the life energy, and the amount near the wall was significant. The nature magics drew in the auril, enhancing the magic beyond the normal intentions. The trees within the wall grew further, their roots and vines thickening with each passing moment.

Treants added their vines to the tree, the dryads adding their various charms and enhancements. Together, they were forming what looked like a massive treant. The wall was originally made of stone, with trees interspersed alongside it.

Now, nearly half the city’s wall was covered in roots, vines, and bark that would both regrow and attack the oncoming enemies.

Drysander led the war oak treants, the powerful Patriarchs prepared for battle. Other types of treants formed a near rainbow of colors with their vines and leaves, powerful warriors that had already seen countless battles.

Valtor and Amara floated above, overlooking the various forces.

Amara hummed. “To see so many different peoples working together so well is truly special. There are few within these walls that aren’t preparing for battle in their own way.”

Valtor nodded. His people had served many, and while Adventurers were diverse, many guilds were not. Many stuck with primarily their own race or races related to or accepted by their patron Divine, and often went out of their way to prevent others from being involved.

That Hearthtribe was starting out with such diversity was exciting.

Seamus stood beneath them. He chuckled. “Our people’s songs are not fearful, they are full of courage! They see the end of this war, a reclamation of their homeland. We will not falter here!”

Dhruva, Sunmane, Swift, and more all joined and lead different areas in the defense. Various siege engines had already been prepared up in the boughs of the trees. While not overly devastating compared to the auril-enhanced attacks of the beastkin or magical spells, they were helpful.

The Cascadia forces were quite varied, having all sorts of troops of varying competence.

Rhia floated near Amara and Valtor. “Daddy! You’re gonna fight too, right?”

Valtor was a little conflicted. “Long ago, before Tartarus came to our world, and we joined the Framework, I had sworn not to fight intelligent beings. It was not just because I would become corrupted. It was because to take the life of another is a terrible thing. Even in defense of one, how could you choose one life over another? But Tartarus has made this choice different. I will defend our new friends.”

Amara bobbed her tome body. “Lord Jake has made it possible. Not everyone in Cascadia has joined the Framework. We must protect the people of Highlands, and keep the enemy from empowering itself. We will protect life.”

“Yeah! Life is yummy, so we should protect it!”

Amara and Valtor both glared at their daughter.

Valtor said, “We think it. We don’t say it out loud where the living can hear it.”

“W-What–I’m just copying what Berri said!”

Amara groaned. “Berri is…” She searched for what to say, having difficulty being both nice and respectful–after all, Berri was an upstanding and respected member of their community, a Champion of a Divine. “Just be mindful when you copy her!”

The River swelled, and it slammed into the ramparts. Dozens of treants, hundreds of tendrils from the great trees that made up the wall, and various magics braced against the wall. The boat crashed into the wall, and was rebuffed by grasping vines.

Valtor would consider the giant ship larger than any cruise ship he ever heard of, meant to hold and house thousands of people. The river almost appeared to wrap around, the Naga retaining control over it.

The river looked strange, now that Valtor looked at it. It was black and filled with death, but it also had a clear liquid, seemingly full of life as well. He thought it wasn’t just that their river had crashed into it.

The ship began to collapse in on itself, but not from the crash. Skeletons began to merge, the ship coming apart. Bone golems and skeletal abominations began to form, many skeletal warriors and knights forming up.

Several powerful necromancers waved their staves, and the ship began shifting into a giant ramp.

The Alliance was not going to just wait around. Lightning began to strike from above, various elemental druids raining down their attacks onto the skeletons.

Javelins, boulders from catapults, ballista bolts and arrows fell like rain, many filled with auril attacks and manifestations. Large swathes of the skeletons and what made up the ramp were getting blown away.

The necromancers and mages started using barriers to protect the ramp, and the amount of bone shifted and replaced the destroyed ramp rapidly.

The skeletons eventually reached the top of the ramp. Large treants filled with nature energies swiped their large vines back and forth crushing skeletons, or took blows from the skeletal army.

Their bark skin regrew from the attacks, or in the case of the war oaks, toughened in response to the damage they took.

Some Eternum joined the fight, the various armors and weapons, magical staves and more sending out their own magical attacks. Seamus stood in the center, swinging his giant axe while being supported by his mates.

Brock and his mates joined him, defending their home against this giant army. The skeletal army was relatively easy to deal with individually, and Valtor and Amara thought the defense would be simple.

But then, the naiads cried out in pain, unable to hold the water back. A surge like a wave occurred from the river, and it was like a claw made of water swiped at the battlements.

Many druids met the attack with tendrils and vines, but dozens of large Naga arrived up on the battlements at the same time. Like a whirlwind of death, they swung polearms and tridents, cutting into any Alliance in range.

Archers up on the trees and casters, druids, and more all targeted the Naga with their attacks. The naga were quickly suppressed, several falling after only taking down several beastkin.

After the first splash, another occurred on the other side. Their defense started falling apart slightly, but Seamus’ party along with various adventurers went to meet one, and Brock’s meeting the other.

Even Rhia joined the melee, her sword flashing as she danced among the Naga. Her nimble yet sturdy body was enhanced by magic, making her attacks simple but effective.

More splashes of water arrived, and Valtor was thinking things weren’t looking good.

“Let’s let the Adventurers with mounts prepare to hit the enemy army from the side.”

“At once, dear.” She signalled their allies, drums beating and hawks screeching out the change in orders. But just as they were preparing to exit the opposite gate for help, a rumbling began.

Raising up further into the air, Valtor gaped. A giant tree had grown up the plateau, creating a spiraling staircase. Hundreds of dinosaurs and Highlands creatures climbed it, and now a stampede of them charged at the undead ship from the side.

Spriggons rode many of them, but for each spriggon there were nearly a dozen Highlands creatures. Given that there were hundreds of them, the stampede was massive.

Valtor shouted, “Send the adventurers and shield walls in! We must protect nature’s allies!”

The river diverted from attacking the battlements, and now moved to defend against the army of dinosaurs led by the spriggons. But it was now that the giant Naga was about to get involved at the wall.

“Looks like it’s our turn, dearest. Our allies can use our help.”

Amara flew into Valtor’s hands, her pages flipping and her scripts lighting up with arcane might as Valtor flew higher into the air. His robes billowed in the wind, as he rose further above the fighting.

Nadessa’s druids had built up their Tier 2 spell, ready to unleash it against the giant Naga.

Gathering their arcane might, Amara and Valtor formed a magic circle. The two infused as much of their mana as they could, creating the scripts at a rapid pace.

Casting for Eternum was different from most living. Their unliving flame burned from consuming life energy, combining and pulling in arcane mana from the void. However, their bodies were objects infused with that same arcane mana.

The arcane mana flowing through their bodies was what made their bodies stronger. By casting spells using that same mana would take from that, which would weaken their integrity.

It was important for them to maintain their arcane mana levels, or else their bodies could be easily destroyed. When their bodies shattered, their unliving flame would crumble.

Having perfect coordination, the two completed their Group spell, expending a large amount of their arcane mana. The massive Naga approached the wall with its big glaives made of obsidian stone, ready to cut into it.

If they breached the wall, then the people within the city would suffer quickly.

A large magic circle was created above Valtor’s head, and a powerful blast of arcane lightning was released to slam into the giant Naga. It blocked moving some of its nethril, and a haunting song of a siren was released from a smaller naga riding its shoulder.

Much of its nethril was decreased, their powerful attack only weakening its defenses.

Then, dozens of other lightning spells, shards of ice, fire bolts, earth spikes and more slammed into the massive naga, knocking it back and damaging it as its nethril barrier was mostly depleted.

The strange melody from the siren appeared to shift the attacks or enhance the nethril shield, and embolden the other naga’s attacks.

Nadessa completed her group’s spell, causing a massive ball of vines to grow from the surrounding trees and plants. It exploded outward, wrapping around the giant naga and various others.

The large naga wrapped in vines, its auril ripped and tore at its bindings. The many defenders fought harder, pushing back the many naga and undead.

Treants led the many Elysians, fighting the undead and naga alike. Beastkin of various parentage showed their effectiveness, the many new clergy having a profound impact on the battle.

Despite much of the undead being stronger and higher level, their attacks were tailored to aid in defeating this type of enemy.

Valtor called out, enhancing his voice to be heard over the din of battle. “Hold fast, Hearthtribe and people of Highlands. Clan Hart now fights in the Greater Rift, and all that must be done is to defend against this terrible foe, and we shall win. We must trust that they will return, and we will win this war!”

The Elysian races fought to defend their home, along with the thousands of beastkin launching attacks of their own.