"Not bad. One is not a big deal..." Before Tetsu finishes the statement, multiple rifles and cannons shimmer into existence. "...But that many will be a pain." He turns to wave the bony animated Horr'er closer. "Hey, buddy. Mind being my shield until they run out of ammo?"
The Horr'er roars and gallops closer. "I will take that as a yes," he smiles and waves to the Castle next. "I will be ready in..." He turns back to calculate the distance and the Horr'er's speed. "Five or ten minutes?"
"Die," the cannonier and Horr'er yell.
*!Click, chick, tick, Boom!*
The rifles obliterate the first line of undead in a flash and move on to the next. Tetsu stacks the undead as he closes the distance between himself and the Horr'er. The undead meat shield withers away at the nick of time as Tetsu slides under and hides behind the massive undead, who shrug off the bullets and cannon fire as if they were rain droplets.
The bullets left no mark, and even the cannons only managed to shove the behemoth around, but Tetsu felt it couldn't take much abuse.
Shields sprung around the undead after Val's orders, the liches forced to split their focus on the shields. Yet, against an artifact, their conjured mana shields and skills shattered like glass.
Tetsu's instincts told him he had a chance to tag and divert the light orbs fired by the cannons, but with high risks. Either way, he didn't opt for such a skill and wanted more space between him and the projectile.
Ethereal runes would work if he maintained spatial awareness alongside the projectile's trajectory. He had no way of testing his updated senses because of the constant multitasking, and to make things worse, his fatigue rose faster than before. So he stayed close to the Horr'er, limiting his movement while staying safe, tackling the rain of bullets and keeping his fatigue levels low.
Other undead learned about the creature's strength the hard way and left Tetsu to it. In return, Tetsu used that misconception, along with the Horr'er's horrible speed, to his advantage. The only looming danger now were the two approaching Horr'ers, who looked like kindred spirits sharing the same disdain for Tetsu.
"Have to breach the castle," Tetsu grits his teeth and forces a blink to scout the front lines. The cannonier aligns the cannons onto the Horr'er, their primary target, the humans behind the unholy creature.
Val rages into a mad dash to save his creation. The front line pushes harder with the cannon's split focus. The Krantz use the undead's split focus to move around and protect the castle's rear. A few even enter the castle, move onto the open balcony, and launch their long-ranged skills.
A transparent barrier holds the undead armies' front lines at bay during the reload, and as soon as they finish reloading, the barrier vanishes as if it was never there to begin with. Val assumes the shield works one way, only allowing objects out but not letting anyone inside. Not one undead is able to breach the shield. Some try to circle to the castle, but that turns out to be the biggest trap, as the shields never flicker at the rear, while the Krantz attack from the safety of the barrier.
"Only one path." Tetsu glares at the massive castle gate and a small window on the second floor.
"Muscle up." Val's forearms bulge twice their normal size. He steps in front of his Horr'er and pummels the barrage of cannonballs with his bare fists.
{Horr'er. Level: 07.}
"No wonder," Tetsu whistles.
"Mine," Animated Horr'er grins at Tetsu, its outer bone shell at the brink of collapse. "Don't you have any other dialogue?" Before it replies, Tetsu steps and moves three meters ahead, behind the Horr'er, and closer to Val. "Didn't you give it any other dialogue?" He frowns at Val.
The animated Horr'er ignores Tetsu and moves to protect its creator.
"You can tell."
"To be honest, the whole dynamic is too on the nose for anyone to miss."
The newer cannons were just at level two, yet after punching thirty cannonballs, the rest draw black blood while shoving Val behind.
Tetsu relished the shift in focus, channeling his energy into training and planning. One out of ten cannonballs were diverted by Runes, and accepting this minor victory, Tetsu prepared for one last gambit.
If this plan failed... well, fatigue would claim him anyway. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Tetsu muttered, taking a deep breath as he began to walk closer to Val. His entire body relaxed, and a genuine smile played on his lips as he imagined the foolish stroll. But soon, the smile faded, leaving behind a blank slate of emotions on Tetsu's face.
His eyes narrowed, focusing solely on the cannons and their light beams, leaving him vulnerable to attacks from other directions. "The next step will solve that," Tetsu assured himself, and he moved.
*!Step!*
Tetsu flashed behind Val, shoving him aside, and kept moving.
*!Step!*
"How dare—" A cannonball of light loomed over Tetsu, its dazzling light blocking the view of his lightning-speed hand movements. Before Val could utter his next word, Tetsu's hand moved, etching a rune onto the cannonball, and with a flick of his wrist, the cannonball found a new path to follow.
*!Step!*
[Ding! Traversed Path: A Path meant to follow. (Warrior/Epic)]
Tetsu crossed several yards, each simple step taking him a meter ahead before the cannoneer recovered from the baffling scene. "Realign and fire," Krovath bellowed, the speakers conveying the message for the world to hear. Gazes shifted from the battlefield onto Tetsu, who walked straight at the barrage of cannonballs, each ball flicked away like a speck of dirt.
"That is..." Tarah gasps. "... Not possible."
Krovath slams his feet down, the castle shifting by the command. New orders were issued, and the entire castle moved to stop Tetsu.
"Oh, no you don't," Val grins. "Protect the human," he bellowed, and another command stuns the undead army.
"I hate repeating myself," Val growls.
Shields focused on Tetsu, yet after three cannonballs, he had to deal with the rest until the Liches gathered more mana.
*!Step, Step!*
Tetsu moved back and forth to evade the rifle fire that left wisps of blue streaks in their wake.
"Block the rifles, let him deal with the cannons," Val orders.
The Liches take longer to prepare, but soon morphing shields cover Tetsu, blocking away the rifle shots and creating holes for the cannonballs to pass through.
"They are working together," Krovath cursed.
"Then why fight amongst themselves?" Tarah questions.
"Some weird ruse," growled Krovath.
Step and flick, the cannonball flies into the air, acting as a beacon that draws the birds closer.
Tetsu erected a one-meter domain around him by maintaining the 'Pave Path' skill like a cocoon. Once the cannonballs entered his domain, their trajectory altered to follow a predetermined path. To increase his chances, Tetsu also used etched runes, his hands moving with such speed that only those with high enough senses could witness the flick, while the rest saw the human walking and the cannonballs bouncing off him. With the strength of the etched runes, well-placed ethereal runes, the domain, the obvious angle of the cannons, and a do-or-die mentality, Tetsu stepped closer and closer to the castle.
*!Step!*
Tetsu counted down. "Two... Three, and four. Out of ammo?"
A smile broke their comprehension. Except for the "clicks" of the empty cannon barrels, the battlefield fell into a deadly silence.
*!Step!*
Krovath raised an additional shield and ordered to trigger the traps at the entrance.
The undead stepped forward, gaining ground, while the castle retreated with every step Tetsu took.
"Fire... fire, fire," Tarah yelled at the snipers.
The snipers rushed into positions with two shield-wielding Krantz on their side.
*Step!* Four flags fell, yet nothing happened. Tetsu's smile faded as he tripped, heading face-first into the ground. His fall turned into a dive as he effortlessly dug into the floor as if it were water.
"No!" exclaimed the Krantz Generals.
"Why isn't the trap activating?" Krovath into every Krantz ear.
"They can't," croaked Tarah. "They activate once someone steps on them. It won't trigger if they move underground."
"Why is a human moving underground, and with such ease nonetheless?" demanded the General. "Vampire, mole, human, undead. What is he? How does anyone dive into a rocky floor?"
"He can't enter from below the castle, right?" Krovath asked, sighing in relief after receiving confirmation.
Their castle was made of a strong alloy, and only a peak warrior had a chance to dig through.
Tetsu could dig through, but why waste energy when there were better ways to infiltrate?
The cannons clicked into action, this time aimed at the undead leader.
"Bring it on," Val welcomed the challenge, his arms bulging. A stamina potion coupled with healing and his injured pride pushed the skill to new heights.
"Incoming..." a scout yelled too late, clouds descending onto the battlefield. They exploded and spread their mist further, engulfing even more area. Krovath sent another command, and Kriantz rushed toward the new wing being created around the castle's northwest quarters while the troops on the balcony rushed inside the castle.
"Now," Tetsu emerged, only mist meeting him on the surface. If it weren't for the marked Rune placed on the massive gate, his next step would have rammed him straight into the castle's entrance.
Val activates his abyss eyes. "It's time."
"Time for what?" the skeleton conveys, tilting its head.
As the awkward stare prolonged between them, the skeleton hid the sword behind its bony frame.
"Charge." Val raises the rusty sword and dashes forward.
The skeleton frowns at the rusty dagger in its hand and stares around the rushing army to find a better weapon.
Meanwhile, Tetsu breaks into the castle from the second-floor window and falls into a pathway leading to the new wing of the castle.
"Intruder," the castle warns Krovath.
"How?" he asks but gets no reply from the castle. He forgot it didn't have such capabilities... Yet.
Tetsu doesn't reply to a similar question that Krantz asked in the pathway. Instead, he trips the group and bites into one's neck, sucking out his vitality.
"Vampire," the others scream. But how could they ever hope to escape a deranged, hungry Tetsu?
He sucks four of them unconscious, not dead, and questions the last. "Where is your treasury?"
"I will die before I lead you to my king," the Krantz replied, his translation skills conveying the message like the Google Translate AI voice option. "Wait, what? Treasury?"
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