The Orcs had impeccable timing. The sun had just gone beneath the horizon when the village full of Giants came in sight to Karl’s enhanced vision.
“Is there a challenge or a goal to the raid other than just killing the Giants?” Karl asked the man running next to him.
“For you, there are three. First, try to kill a Giant. Second, try to free at least one slave. Third, and most challenging, try to do better than at least one of the women.”
The woman beside him laughed and smacked him on the head. “Shouldn’t that one be for you as well? Because I’m already crushing you in the kill count this campaign.”
Then she turned to Karl. “Do you even have proper attack skills, human? Something that can deal with the Giants?”
“I have [Bone Crusher] and a big hammer.” Karl offered.
The Orc laughed. “I don’t know if you mean that as a combat appraisal or a pickup line, but I like it.”
Karl laughed along with her. “Could be either. But we can save the pickup lines for after the fight.”
The front ranks spurred their mounts forward, roaring into the darkening skies as the Giants prepared their defences.
[Oh, I see a good spot, just to the left of the front lines, see that tower with only one Giant in it?] Rae suggested.
[Take me there.] Karl agreed.
It was dark out now, meaning that there were few limits on [Shadow Step], but Rae dropped Karl five metres above the tower, where the torchlight didn’t properly reach.
As he fell, Karl drew his Maul and put five stacks of [Bone Crusher] on it as he slammed it on the head of the guard.
It was a glorious direct hit, and the giant had never seen it coming. But he had overdone it. The Guard was only low Commander Rank, and the maul carried on through the head to hit the wooden tower, which crumbled under the force.
Karl twisted to land on his feet as Cara laughed in his mind.
[You guys were right. Watching from in here is hilarious. Oh, watch this. POOF, no more Champion barrier.]
The Giant’s leader had a split second to be confused before the Orcish Champion’s spear buried itself through his chest.
Even the Orc looked baffled, unable to comprehend what had just happened, but he hopped down from his mount, which moved up to fight beside him as the Giant choked to death on his own blood with a spear completely through his chest.
Karl turned to the village as Rae sent out her Golems, and Cara cheered.
[CHAOS!]
Karl shook his head in dismay, then slammed another Giant in the chest, tossing it back against the wall, spitting blood for a second before an Orc cut its head off.
The Orc grunted in dismay as he realized that the Giant was already dying.
“That one is yours. Good kill, human.”
Karl followed him and the Golems inside, quickly scaling the wooden wall to attack the defenders.
There was a second wall between them and the village itself. The Golems were currently occupied fighting with a Monarch Rank Giant, and the fight was brutal enough that nothing wanted to get close to them.
That gave Cara a chance to cast [Disintegration] over the Golems legs, increasing their damage.
A spear bounced off Karl’s armour, hurled by a Commander Rank Giant. The return strike with [Chain Lightning] by Remi staggered the warrior, and Karl leapt forward with [Flaming Body] layered on his maul.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as the Giant collapsed, giving Karl an open path to the Golems and their target as he buffed himself.
[He got big. How did he get big?] Cara asked.
[A skill called Brutality. He has others too, ones that make us hit harder. The sharpness one should even work with your disintegration attack. You will be much more powerful with him around.] Rae informed her new friend.
The Monarch Rank Giant swung both clubs, knocking the golems to the ground. Rae called forth a fresh pair, attacking it from behind and turning the Giant away from Karl, who was waiting for his moment.
Karl charged forward between a burly Orc and a Royal Rank Giant, using them as a distraction so he could get close, and aimed the maul for the Monarch’s back.
Instinct made the warrior turn and raise a barrier as Karl’s strike was about to land, but Karl was prepared for that. Five stacks of [Flaming Body] got through most barriers. However, today he had Cara putting her all into Nullify, and the barrier shattered like glass under the combined attack.
The Giant’s armour dented with a shriek of abused steel, and the leather straps holding it in place tore and popped, letting it drop to the ground.
There was a deep purple bruise on the Giant’s chest, but more importantly, it was now unarmoured at the torso, and facing attacks from three directions.
Karl saw a blade coming at his left as one came down at him from above. There wasn’t time to evade both, so Karl went for a compromise and parried the first with his maul, letting the momentum throw him out of the way of the Giant’s other hand.
He rolled through the dirt and skidded to a stop on his knees, then rushed forward again as the Golems attacked.
The Giant turned to defend itself, but took a spiked leg to the shoulder right before Karl smashed his maul into its knee, sending the Giant to the ground on its stomach.
Others came to rescue their fallen comrade, and the Golems moved to intercept while Karl went for the kill.
A stacked strike aimed at the back of the neck nearly took it out, before the giant rolled over and parried.
It was large enough to finish the fight from a sitting position, and it intended to do exactly that.
More Giants rushed towards Karl, and the beasts sprung into action. Rending Fireballs, Chain Lightning and black Disintegration spheres rushed out to intercept the reinforcements, and the Golems glowed a little brighter as Thor activated [Circle of Protection].
A small stone fired with Earth Magic bounced off Karl’s armour, and Cara laughed.
[The Karl is invulnerable too? Oh, this will be funny.]
Low powered stone attacks weren’t doing anything at all to Karl, but [Limited Invulnerability] didn’t fully negate the side effects of their momentum, so Karl was fighting to move forward as repeated stone attacks hit him and turned him back and forth.
They didn’t last long, with the Orcs rushing in to claim glory and the beasts casting constant spells from their spaces, while Karl focused on using Chain Lightning to keep the Monarch Rank Giant on the ground and injured while the Golems fought.
It was beginning to smoke from the scorched areas where the Lightning was landing, and the reinforcements no longer dared to come near their champion. The Lightning arcs were too dangerous.
Karl approached as the ranged attacks faded, and the Monarch’s eyes narrowed in hatred.
[3, 2, 1 Kill the Ugly Thing!] Cara cheered, leading the attack.
Karl laughed and struck the ground with his maul, sending all five Chain Lightning charges into the Monarch as a barrage of spells slammed into it from the others.
Then the Golems were on its back, stabbing and tearing chunks out of its flesh.
[That thing just doesn’t die.] Rae noted, impressed at its durability.
[Its leg has already healed. It thinks we can’t tell.] Cara agreed.
Sure enough, when Karl moved a bit closer, it launched forward, intending to choke the life out of him.
But Karl was the faster of the two, and his maul slipped between the Giant’s hands, smashing into its face while [Eternal Lightning] kept the massive hands from crushing his body.
The Monarch collapsed with a rattling wheeze through its broken face as the Golems finished their work, but one last spasm sent Karl flying through the air.
[I’ll catch you.] Rae laughed as Karl felt himself floating.
He had been thrown nearly straight up, and now he was motionless in the air for a moment as he began to fall.
[Don’t bother, let’s use this time to find a path to the inner wall. We will see if we can free some slaves as well.]
[Straight ahead is best. The Orcs are everywhere now, and they outnumber the Giants by a lot.] Hawk informed him.
But there was one strange sight as Karl fell. One Orc was not fighting. The scarred warrior was standing on the wall with a clipboard, taking notes.
Orcs certainly took their score keeping seriously.
The Golems jumped to slow Karl’s descent, though Cara’s shared skill would have prevented him from taking any injury, and the trio began to look for targets.
