MAZE - The Endless Quest

Even with the combo of Livy’s tidal wave, the wall of bodies that was created because of it and the traps that were still active, the humans didn’t give up. While they dealt with the monsters who turned against them, the creatures that still remained in the valley continued pushing towards the camp. All alliance members who were capable of long range attacks fired everything they had at the remaining wave of monsters. Everyone had hopes of killing those beasts before they triggered the last cluster of traps.

Unfortunately, a few of the monsters broke through that area, and some of the spells were activated, blasting the remaining creatures back to the valley entrance in pieces. Only after that did the humans try to come forward again. And this time, they were using the monster bodies as defensive walls. But that wasn’t much of a problem. The piles of corpses were gathered mostly in the entrance of the valley, not the area near the camp. With each few meters, they would stop and aim at the arcane turrents placed around the mountain walls.

Once the humans got close, they tried a few different ways of triggering the remaining traps, like tossing bodies and launching spells at the ground. There were a few attempts that worked, clearing more of the path for them, but the Alliance members knew the road was not empty. Still, the humans had no choice but to charge ahead. The first wave was made out of the bulkier of their members. People wearing thick heavy armor and large tower shields, all hoping that would be enough to hold against all the attacks and traps that would be on the way.

To their credit, the plan worked at first. The barrage of arcane projectiles, arrows, spells and the first couple of traps weren’t enough to stop them. However, once they reached the final layer of spells carved on the ground, that changed. Not only were the defensive warriors blasted repeatedly with various attacks, but the barriers protecting them were destroyed, and they fell to the ground without reaching the camp.

Once they triggered the last trap, a pair of massive stone boulders flew from the sides of the valley, one from the entrance and one from the camp. Both rocks shot out at high speeds, going on a collision course with each other. Several of the humans were not expecting such a rudimentary kind of trap. A few even thought it to be stupid and attempted to stop the boulders, only to find out that those giant balls of stone themselves were enchanted with spells to make them near unstoppable.

Even so, the trap wasn’t enough. Between the bodies of the monsters functioning as ramps and the ditches filled with poison, guts, and spikes, a large number of humans were able to survive the incoming attack. They quickly got to their feet and rushed to the camp. The healers doing their best to cleanse all of them from the poison and other spells that were constantly being thrown.

Some people also added slow effects, and other debuffs in the area just before the last barricades of the camp, but the human mages were doing their best to dispel those affected before they reached them. Less than 10 minutes after the monster wave first arrived at the valley, the humans were finally able to clash with the Alliance army that was protecting the camp.

Livy took the front of the pack, blocking a couple of people at once while swinging her war axe in a wide arc. The impact was strong enough to cut the first target, but the idea of cleaving through the humans was, unfortunately, unsuccessful. Once they saw what was going on, the second fighter triggered a few defensive skills to stop the blow. Even so, he was unable to stop the momentum as the group was tossed to the side, giving a large opening for the rest of the team to strike at the incoming humans.

“Stay close to Nimbus,” Hera told Helena before she jumped into the fray to clash with the attackers.

People were yelling on all sides, and her ears could only hear the clashing metal and wood as the weapons collided. The Empress had a pair of rare venomous hand axes in her hand again. She would rather have a glaive or a spear, but considering how many other people were around, it was too risky.

A woman came jumping at her, brandishing a sword with a shield in her other hand. Taking a step back, the Ophidianite evaded the blow and stomped the tip of the sword to stop it from moving. In addition, she also swung Pyro, who was in her tail to reinforce her grip on the blade. Despite that, the woman was still able to pull back the weapon. But her movement was slow. Slow enough for Hera to step forward and slash at her throat.

At the very last second, the human pulled her shield up, blocking the attack. That should’ve returned the battle to a neutral state, but the woman didn’t expect the flying blades. Glacia came from below, slashing at her legs, aiming at the soft, unprotected area on the back of her knees. The woman fell down, allowing Shadow to deliver a strike aimed at her armpit. With that, she became unable to hold the shield. Still, the human tried to go for a wide swing with her still usable hand, triggering a skill that increased her strength several times. Hera was forced to block with both her hand axes, but unlike everyone else, she had one more limb to attack aside from her arms.

The Ophidianite’s tail moved quickly and Pyro pierced the woman’s neck, igniting himself once it was already embedded into her spine. With a quick motion, the human was dropped to the ground as the next enemy quickly approached. This time, it was a man covered in a blue leather armor wielding a halberd. He yelled something and came in for a stab, but was met by a pure white arrow. Courtesy of Helena, who was providing support to the front line. Hera barely had time to mentally thank her friend before having to dodge another blind strike from the man. Tendrils of fire exploded from the tip of the halberd, reaching in every direction.

In response, Glacia spun around the man activating [Frozen Whirlwind] to offset that heat. In addition, she attacked his chest, hitting him square in the armor. Several shards of ice hitting him and going through the human. That was an [Icicle Barrage] but unlike what it looked like, the projectiles didn’t leave holes on the target. They dealt damage, of course, but after finding too much resistance, they phased through the man and continued, hitting a few people in the back.

Still blinded by the arrow, the man pulled his halberd up, dangerous looking flames licked the side of the weapon, turning a deep orange with the heat. But before he could strike, Forge flew above the group in his weapon form, hitting the man square in the jaw with enough force to make him turn around. He still brought his weapon down, but this time, half the attack hit the other humans, while the other half reached the area with a few members of the Alliance and Livy. Neria noticed what was going on and placed a defensive array of water to protect her allies from that attack.

The battle continued, some areas of the defensive line started to be pushed back as more and more humans appeared. Forcing the people from the camp to join in. Not many people on the Alliance side had died just yet, but it was enough to worry. Hera’s side was amongst the ones losing ground, but other sides were gaining on the humans. This meant that soon, they would be able to do a pincer move to attack the ones that were able to push through the defenses.

Or that’s what Hera thought.

Suddenly, the side that appeared to be winning started losing very quickly. People were dying left and right, and some bodies were being tossed so far into the air that it seemed impossible.

‘Hera! I need help!’ Livy suddenly called. The leviathan still was in her awakened form. Having her ask for help wasn’t a good sign.

“Flint, Roan. Hold the line. Livy needs help!” Hera yelled.

The duo nodded and took charge of the defenses in that spot. Helena also joined in, calling her Wasp Guard in the battle. The large shadow construct joining the battlefield catching a few targets off guard and giving Flint an opening to deal a crushing blow to their arms. Despite the added member, the group was in a dire situation. Most of the members of the actual Alliance army in this small part of the battlefield were either dead or were forced to assist other areas which gave an opening to the humans.

“Hold on! There are not many left!” Vash called from the back. He spent the entire fight doing a small performance to buff every single member of the team.

“That’s easier said than done!” Skyler yelled back as she interrupted yet another spell. Since the humans first clashed with the defenses, she had been focused on stopping all magical effects she could see, and for now, it worked. A woman noticed what the elf was doing and jumped over the defense line, aiming at her with a mace.

There was no one to intercept the attack, and if Skyler stopped now, she would let a powerful buff go through. Believing the strike was the lesser evil, she continued focusing on the spell as the human approached. Yet, the blow didn’t come. Before the woman reached her, a pair of half Naga appeared out of nowhere. Viper wrapped himself around the human’s arm while Crimson brought down the dagger to the back of her skull.

“Are you ok?” the Spymasters asked at the same time.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Ok, we are going to help Hera!” Crimson quickly moved along. Now was the only time when the Harmony Guardians noticed that the court was rushing towards their Empress.

Even Nimbus, who was back with Helena, started dashing forward. As soon as he passed Roan, he said, “If you want to go wild, now is the time. Odds are you get knocked out before you hit an ally.”

The beastmen saw the Sentinel walking away and nodded with a smile. His body was covered in a green light as he activated the spectral armor. Every single one of his attributes was considerably increased and his senses became sharper. Nimbus was right, there were a moment to use this skill was now. There were so many enemies that it would be hard to end up hitting a friendly.

With a bestial roar, Roan jumped on top of the closest human. Slashing their face like a wild animal. Once he was done removing their eyes, his body slammed another human nearby, making them crash against one of the broken walls. Parts of the of jagged stone piercing not just the woman, but also his body. He shifted again, going for another target, and this time, a few other beastmen noticed what he was doing.

Liking the idea, they triggered their own version of the spectral armor. A lesser version that didn’t give as big of buff, but still made them more savage than normally. Including a few of the people who already lived in the camp. Those who were being pushed back suddenly became able to hold their ground. But there was still one variable in the field.

Once Livy called for help, Hera rushed over. What she found was something that made her skin crawl. The Leviathan was on her own, facing a pair of people. Two men with the same type of white leather armor, carrying the same type of longsword and skin red as lobsters that emanated a soft light.

It was a sight that Hera had seen before. Only one time, when she was almost killed during this war. And back then, Delta looked wrong and was almost naked, unable to wear any piece of gear. Now that was very different. This meant only one thing. They had done it. The Soldiers of Strength were here.