The fact that Karl was aiming to shatter the Giant’s weapon right from the first strike seemed to make it obvious that he had a weapon shattering technique, but [Shatter] didn’t only work on weapons, but on anything that it hit.
The vibrations would cause bones to break just as effectively as it caused a wooden club to break.
That distraction let the other warrior get behind the target, and score the first strike of the battle, cutting a line down the Hill Giant’s lightly armoured back as Karl kept it distracted.
The Giant turned to swing at the agile warrior, and Karl backed up, switching back to his bow to plug a [Flaming Body] infused arrow into the enormous target.
It was like shooting at a house from the middle of the lawn, impossible to miss.
The Giant stepped forward to keep both targets in sight, and Karl backed up again, drawing the Giant behind the lines where it could receive no reinforcements, before he was forced to switch back to his two-handed blade to deflect a flurry of attacks that he wasn’t fast enough with the Maul to handle.
The teacher took advantage of the opening again, slicing the back of a knee, and going for a spot at the armpit where the Giant’s crude armour exposed a weakness.
The Giant moved too quickly for that strike to land, and the warrior went rolling as he was clipped by a swing of the club.
[Rae, Golems, now.] Karl ordered as he aimed a strike for the Giant’s left knee.
His blade and the Giant’s club met a shower of sparks from [Flaming Body], leaving the two of them deadlocked for a split second before the pair of Spider Golems landed on the Hill Giant’s shoulders and began to shred his face and back.
He reared back and flailed viciously at the attackers, throwing the first one deep into the Hill Giant lines, but his movement left him vulnerable, and Karl struck upwards, hitting him at the gap between his hanging waist armour and his chest plate.
The flaming blade buried in the Hill Giant to the hilt, and Karl used it as a conduit to cast first [Chain Lightning] then [Blizzard] from the inside.
The giant made a gurgling noise for a moment before his movements slowed, and the Spider Golem deprived him of his head.
Then Rae was on the scene, prepared to begin her art exhibition. She had prepared a dozen Commander Rank Hill Giant bodies on pikes, which she slammed into the ground, standing them up as grotesque mannequins, before she used her silk to tie the leader up by his arms between two of the Commanders, leaving the body spread eagle and standing upright, but headless.
“What the hell are you doing?” Karl heard Morgana shouting from behind him, as every Hill Giant in the area turned to him with rage in their eyes.
He just made a “Come and get it” gesture, and then charged forward, firing arrows into the closest few Commander Rank Hill Giants, who no longer cared about tactics, and only wanted vengeance.
The bow was quickly replaced with the Maul, shattering a knee, and then crushing a rib cage before the falling Hill Giant had even reached the ground.
Then Karl retreated, forcing the attackers to come at him one at a time through the small gap around Tank and his partner, who were still dealing with their enraged Royal Rank opponent. It was more intent on getting to Karl than on fighting them, and they were hacking it apart, but it didn’t seem to care.
Tessa glowed with the red light of the War Dragon’s favour, and Thor’s defensive blessing increased in size, granting everyone near the macabre display the benefits of [Circle of Protection].
The Lightning Cerro charged straight for the second Royal Rank Giant, who never even saw him coming before it was flung from its feet and set upon by two massive front feet and an enraged Berserker.
But this time, the Hill Giant lines didn’t break and retreat. They were fighting as hard as they could, but without any sense of cohesion or tactics, and as often as not, their strikes were interfering with the fights of those next to them, throwing off timing, deflecting blows and causing arguments in the attacking line.
The students’ defensive lines closed the gap as Tank and his partner retreated to catch their breath, and the Spider Golems darted off to cause chaos in the Hill Giant attack.
“Well, that’s one way to get them worked up. They’re not going to forget this.” The defensive warrior with Tank noted.
“I hope not. The point of an object lesson is for them to remember it. They lost two Royal Rank Giants today, and we didn’t lose a Command Squad member. The Hill Giants that survive will spread the word that we’re taunting them, and the next waves will hesitate as they attack, allowing us more time to hit them from a distance.”
“Nine out of ten storytelling. If you can’t blind them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” Tessa called from her spot on Thor’s back.
“Hey, who is telling the story here? Me or you?” Karl shouted back.
Thor laughed and stomped around, motivating the warriors nearby, while Seamus started on a new song for [Inspiration]. He had moved up a little, standing in the enlarged gap between the warriors and the mages, where everyone could see and hear him while he jammed out on his lute.
Thor brayed happily, and Tessa let out a very draconic roar while holding her spear high.
Karl had continued to fire his arrows now that nothing was getting through to his position in front of Rae’s art installation, and even Morgana had come up to join them, though she looked less than impressed with their antics.
The clerics along their portion of the line were advancing as well, far enough that they could work together to cast an area heal over the whole spearhead of the line, while Lotus worked to keep her area [Refresh] spell active.
Dana led a group of mages forwards, putting them in range of more Giants with their area attack spells. That thinned the front row of attackers, giving the warriors a moment’s rest, while the Hill Giants further down the line began to panic at the pair of Royal Rank Spider Golems who were going berserk among the Ascended Rank fighters.
They weren’t even trying to fight the Commanders, they were just maiming and crippling as many as possible, then running away to do it again when anything challenged them.
“Does Rae have anger management issues?” Morgana asked as she stared at the impaled Hill Giants in the middle of the human formation.
“No, why do you ask?”
She gave a meaningful look at the display, and Karl began to laugh.
“That’s her latest art exhibition. Pretty isn’t it?”
Remi looked at the row of corpses for a second, and placed her next round of totems on the second to last Giant’s head on both sides, then nodded with satisfaction. That was much prettier. Visually balanced, and spitting fireballs, for the true interactive experience.
Hawk laughed at her idea before dipping into his space as a massive barrage of rocks from the back lines converged on him, and then reappeared to continue hurling fireballs at them from the other side of the formation.
[This is a fun game. We should make them mad more often.] He suggested.
[I think we’re going to be in enough trouble for this time.
But look on the bright side, all those reinforcements from the other end of the line are coming this way. Well, at least the ones that can still walk.
The Spider Golems have been busy.] Karl informed the happy bird.
They also weren’t dead yet. They were over a kilometre away, by Karl’s estimation, and they were still going wild.
“You’re lost in your conversation with the beasts again. The line is signalling the retreat, the Hill Giants are disengaging.” Dana informed Karl as he finished mentally searching for the Spider Golems.
“Right, sorry.”
He had still been shooting, but he had noticed the target selections were getting a bit slim.
[Rae, move your art installation back indoors. We’re done here.]
[Grab the shiny stuff, it’s still on the bodies, but it will drop when I take them.] She replied.
Karl wasn’t certain what she meant, but a club and dagger, plus a necklace, dropped to the ground when the Royal Rank Giant disappeared. Karl scooped them up, and the necklace immediately bonded to him, while his sword rejected the other weapons to the point that he almost dropped them.
“Tessa, do you mind holding these for me? They’re causing a repulsion reaction from my bonded blade.”
