[AT THE SAME TIME]
The Twin Boulderback Behemoths were slamming at the walls with relentless fury. Below their giant fists, the metal plating groaned.
Reidar stood on the ridge, watching the siege unfold.
<He'll come out. He has to.>
Skeletal Warriors swarmed the walls, climbing over each other in waves. Shadow Guardians created shadow walls to protect the other summons. Spectral Swordsmen carved through the few defenders brave enough to show themselves on the ramparts.
The walls buckled. A Twin Boulderback's fist punched through steel, tearing a gap wide enough to drive a truck through.
Then Viren appeared as a streak of darkness that blurred from the ramparts.
<That's a cool skill.>
The man reappeared right in the middle of the skeletal horde. Viren raised both hands, causing the shadows to stretch out and solidify into razor-sharp spikes.
With the cast of a spell, the ground erupted, skewering three hundred Skeletal Warriors in a single second. Bones shattered into dust as the summons dissolved into mana mist.
—[Mikko Viren—Level 335]—
<He's a monster.>
Reidar's jaw tightened. He'd expected casualties. He'd planned for them. But watching it happen was different.
<Keep him focused on the army. Keep him away from the walls.>
A Cinderheart Efreeti hovered above Viren, flames condensing into a Fireball. The sphere of white-hot fire streaked down, turning the air into a shimmering haze.
Viren didn't dodge. He cast another one of his skills, and darkness wrapped around his body, absorbing the fire before it could connect. The flames vanished into the shadows like water into sand.
He retaliated immediately with a skill that generated a crescent of black energy that tore through the air, bisecting the Efreeti. The elemental exploded into sparks and dissolved.
< What did they feed this guy? I'm throwing an army at him, and he's treating it like a warm-up!>
Vorathid Foragers swarmed toward him, mandibles clicking. He expanded his control over the shadows. Constructs of solidified darkness impaled the insects before they could reach him.
"Let's send the titans then."
Three Twin Boulderbacks turned their attention toward the Deacon on Reidar's instructions.
One of the stone giants raised its foot to crush Viren. The Deacon looked up. He didn't block; instead; he cast Shadow Bind, summoning tendrils of darkness that wrapped around the Boulderback's legs until the stone cracked.
Viren clenched his fist, shattering the giant's legs, and as the Titan toppled, he jumped onto its back to collapse its head with a single touch of Implode.
Reidar felt the mana cost had hit him, and although his regeneration perks refilled his pool, the mental strain of managing thousands of units caused a dull headache.
Viren stood on the corpse of the Titan and looked up at the ridge, locking eyes with Reidar. Reidar felt the cold weight of the Deacon's gaze, realizing Viren knew the summons wouldn't stop unless the summoner died.
<He figured it out..>
Viren moved through the battlefield like a reaper. Every gesture harvested lives. Spectral Swordsmen charged him. He cast Shadow Wave. A pulse of darkness cleared a hundred-meter circle, dissolving everything within its radius.
The space filled again within five seconds. More skeletons. More Shadow Guardians. More wolves and bears from the Feral Packs. More of everything.
The Deacon's body dissolved into shadows. He reappeared fifty meters closer to the ridge, cutting through the distance in an instant.
Reidar didn't move. He kept his position, watching Viren advance.
<Not yet.>
He could summon a raven to fly away and kite the enemy, but he chose to stay on the ground. Looking toward the main gate where Lena and Jake were moving into position, he knew that if he ran, Viren might return to defend the base and kill them.
"Come on," Reidar said. "Come and get me."
He needed to draw Viren away from the walls, so he sent a mental command to the Titans near the perimeter to keep hitting the gate, making it look like his priority was still the breach.
But three more Twin Boulderbacks converged on Viren's position, while others formed a wall of stone between Viren and the ridge where Reidar was.
The man cast another crescent blade of black energy that tore through the first Behemoth's arm, severing it at the shoulder. The giant staggered but didn't fall.
Another Behemoth swung its fist. Viren shadow-hopped, reappearing behind it and destroying it easily.
The man vanished and reappeared a hundred meters closer, halfway up the slope, where he blasted a Bark Behemoth apart. Reidar didn't flinch, but internally he was shitting his pants. This guy was strong.
<And he has fucking style too! Shadow skills are cool.>
Reidar glanced toward the walls. Four Twin Boulderbacks were still hammering the compound. The defenders screamed and tried to fight back, but the Titans crushed them.
<It has to look real. He can't know the walls are a distraction.>
Viren shadow-hopped again. He was a hundred meters away now. Close enough for Reidar to see the details of his face, the sharp angles, and the cold focus in his eyes.
"You want me?" Reidar said. "You have to dig through them."
He layered his defenses by summoning Terran Bulwarks in a tight circle around his position on the ridge; the earth elementals slammed their shields into the ground to create a physical wall.
Below, Viren struggled against the sheer mass blocking his path; he killed a Tidal Saint only for a Zephyr Muse to take its place and blasted through skeletons only for the Spectral Legions to fill the gap.
Reidar watched as Viren stopped, looking frustrated. The Deacon checked his mana, killed another Titan, and looked up at the ridge again before trying to teleport to the spot right in front of Reidar.
Forced to cancel his teleport midway, Viren cast a defensive Dome of Night. The stone giants slammed into the black barrier, burying Viren under tons of rock. Reidar let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he checked the mana flow, confirming Viren was still alive and pushing against the weight.
"He's pinned at least," Reidar said.
He looked back at the gate, satisfied that the distraction was working; Viren was stuck halfway up the hill under giants while the rest of the army pounded on the front door. Reidar reached into his inventory, downed a mana potion in one swallow, and wiped his mouth.
Viren would dig himself out eventually, as a Level 335 mage wouldn't be stopped by rocks forever, but every second he spent under that pile was a second Lena and Jake had to get inside. Just to be sure, Reidar asked three more Titans to go on top of the pile.