A Rattling Monster

I can hear some of the soldiers on those ramparts throw up, because of the sight in front of me. You have human body parts everywhere, all completely emptied of blood. Turn into a mummy. Behind that gruesome spectacle, you have the weak sheep, that haven't been able to even get close to my Chosen. They died in the back, turned into black corpses but the blood spread on their entire body. Unfortunately, I can't get that close to the ramparts, meaning it is useless to me. Such a shame, there is at least hundred human bodies down there. And as much blood as I can get.

But, for the rest that was nice enough to get close and die by the axes, I am thankful. I have improved my army of skeleton magicians to a huge number of 70, with a lot of new recruits, with their mana pool filled to the brink. And that was only the first group, more will join. The only minor problem is the huge audience that I following me, stalking me. Just to make them a little scared, I throw another orb of plague at them. To do so, I calculate the trajectory, since, after four hundred meters, the orb will slowly fall. After that short moment of reflection, I decided to try it out.

It was the perfect throw, with a nice angle allowing it to do a beautiful curve when it is losing speed. In the end, I really thought it will still be short of a few meters, but actually, it landed even farther than I expected. I don't think it hit the ramparts, but just behind it, provoking a very huge exclamation from the guards. With some already running away, because they were not expecting my spell to be able to go that far. Of course, the different priests were already singing and praising Aria, meaning my spell won't do any victims. But it was just to try something, what did I lose, 5 MP?

On the other hand, I hear a big clamor between the magicians and an officer. I think it is an officer because he is wearing the same outfit as the one I saw near the base of Shadow. I think he is arguing that since I am capable of hurting them, their magicians should be able to do the same. But the magicians are not really doing anything, and I see none casting a fireball or other stuff like that. After a few seconds of intense debate, the mage that was talking with the officer get near the edge of the rampart and cast a blue fireball. That should be the stronger version of the spell cast by my skeleton magicians.

I saw him do that, and after doing the same thing that I did, he throws it. But he clearly didn't take the same courses as me, because is angle is far too big, it's like 70°, not optimal at all. Well, I guess they haven't gone to a university like me, but copying the stuff of a fellow schoolmate is a bad thing. And copying and still failing at the test is even worst. The blue ball is losing speed more quickly than my orb, and it falls at more than a hundred meters from my Chosen. I think that if he aimed it correctly, it could have nearly touched my skeleton warriors. But in the end, it was a failure, and almost like he meant it, the mage is extending his hand toward the location of the impact. Saying stuff like: "You see we can't touch him". I can clearly see the guards being mad at the magicians since they are just a bunch of useless fellows.

As for me, it was a little scary, because that means they can touch me, even at that distance. And their spells are deadly, my [Veil of Darkness] won't be able to protect me from that thing. But even with the training with my Chosen, when I asked them to punch me, the progression of that spell is too slow. Anything more than a punch, and I would be dead. In the end, it is my limited vitality that prevents me from doing that. And I can't do it anymore, with the threat of the ratman assassin and the fact that I am in enemy territory.

But after that joyful reunion between the different forces on top of the ramparts, I was already leaving for the next gate where hundreds will be knocking on the door. Like here, and exactly the same fate will await them. The thing that makes me smile is my level, rising more after all that slaughter. If this keeps going, I will finally be able to evolve before the moon can be seen rising. And with that, maybe I will be able to break that heavily defended rampart.

I really have no idea how gives away the news of my arrival. But this time, instead of defending bravely like the last bunch of criminals, everyone is gone. Why did I rejoice about my level, seriously? That's inviting disaster, and I know it. I gather some news from the outer part of the city, and effectively, some outlaws have reached the gate guarded by my zombies. They tried to escape, but to do that, either they have to open the gate, and the mechanism I right under the eyes of my zombies. Or, they have to pass through the hole that I pierced in one of the southern gates. And this hole is not that big, it is impossible to bypass my undead here. The only other way would be to try jumping from the ramparts. And it is high enough to provoke death if someone falls badly.

They already have killed thirty cowards by the time I reach the third gate, empty as well. It is becoming really boring and a terrible thing for me. I need those lives, maybe not all of them, but a lot. Now, I am really fearing the reaction of the guards. Because they saw me create more skeletons from the blood that I gathered. So maybe, they are warning the outlaws to go away, and not feed me more. In that case, that would mean …

(Spread your skeleton magicians, two at each gate, the rest hunting for them. I see some groups getting closer to the first rampart, with enough members to maybe kill a zombie. As for the rest, just let your Chosen hunt them. You won't be able to do anything else anyway, they are not leaving the inner city.)

Ok, I will do as you say. I keep only ten magicians led by number one with two Chosen near me. The rest is either send to defend the first rampart or hunt the rats hidden inside the houses. But that is slowing me down a lot, my hope of finishing this before dusk is crushed. Those stupid and useless guards. Just because it cost me nothing, I throw another orb, this time of acid. I calculate it right, at the orb manages to hit an unfortunate soldier right in the head. Now, even the priests won't be able to save him.

This deadly action, however, provokes nothing from the other side, besides some cry and screams. And a full retreat of all the guards from the edge of the ramparts. I truly wonder where were the magicians? Because that thing shouldn't have killed anyone, I was expecting a magic shield. What is happening in that city?

Anyway, I spend the rest of that day circling around that second wall. Every time I find a new gate, no one is in sight. I mean, on the ground, near the gate. I crossed the path with some survivors, giving me a small boost of mana, but that's it. And the report of my skeletons are the same, yes, they see some bandits, yes, they kill or are killing them, no, the majority is escaping. Only three levels away, come on. Some of them are reporting the unpleasant fact of the survival of a special kind of humans. Those that attempted to jump from the ramparts. A bigger percentage of survival that I imagined, even after considering the big size of that peculiar wall.

The good side of the coin is the injuries sustained by those that made the big jump. They always take several minutes to stop crying and move away. Making them ideal targets for my magicians. But I have still some blind area, where a human can just escape without me seeing them. And Oslo doesn't have the capacity to watch the entire city at the same time. So, I have to let some survive, to kill the rest.

It is the night, for a pretty long time. While that makes the humans clumsy and noisy, my undead are totally not affected by that. Meaning, I still am short of only one level. But by now, everyone is either well hidden, already have escaped or are lying dead on the ground. No sign of movement from the inner city?

(No, nothing, besides a good part of the guards leaving the walls, since it is the night. And the number of magicians have perpetually been reduced since this morning. There is something going on, between the scenes, and it is helping us. The mage that threw that blue fireball, he is always seen arguing with either the priests or the officers of the garrison. I can't get too close and hear the content of those discussions, but it looks like the magicians are not happy to stay on those ramparts all day. Except that, nothing.)

Well, that's good, I just need to wait until the next morning. That way, my undead will have restored partially their mana, and I will try to kill as many people as I can, to gain my evolution. Just one level, can't be that hard. I check on everyone one more time. Chosen, no one has seen a bandit this last hour, zombies, still staying at their post, no sign of an enemy. Magicians, ah, some are still killing humans, that's great. Number one, what is the status of your mana?

-Of the ten skeletons, only three has enough mana to fight. We need to exit this part of the city master, otherwise, tomorrow, we will be all useless.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Just go toward any location without a skeleton nearby.

-Thank you, master. Oh, a bandit, die. [Fireball].

Looks like he didn't cut the mental discussion. So that's how he is thinki…

"Congratulation to the user, you have met the requirements to evolve. Please choose the evolution:"