Chương 57: 57 Loop 2, Part 11

When [Soul Tether] shattered, I had expected to wake up Monday at breakfast. But nothing happened. This whole time, I had been assuming that when the tether broke, just like when I died, time would reset. I counted to three and pinched myself. But I wasn't dreaming. But when I opened my eyes, Finn's worried face wasn't what greeted me. Instead, we were still in the ghost library. Finn was still freaking out about reality. And a translucent book was still floating, just past his head.

"Fuck I hate ghosts. Why did you drag me here, man? Why?" He paused in his ranting to look at me, and must have realized something was wrong. When he spoke again, his voice was comforting instead of panicked.

"Are you okay? I don't like that look on your face." But I didn't answer him. I was busy trying to figure out why the tether had shattered. Because if the tether had shattered, that meant my uncle was dead. And if my uncle was dead, the loop should have reset. I glanced at my HUD, looking for relevant info. [STATUS: LAZLO YARROW] Second Year, MIRKS Mana: 184/820 (66 reserved) Active effects: [Soul Tether] Mana reserved. -8% maximum mana. Cannot be dispelled. What the hell?

The tether with my uncle had reserved 25% of my max mana, and now it was gone. Admittedly, it was nice to have so much of my mana cap back at once, but all of this was to say that my working model of time travel was wrong. While I was certain that death played a role in sending me back in time, I had thought with [Soul Tether], it meant anything severing our connection would send us back in time, too. It was clear I was mistaken. And now.

That connection was completely gone, which meant I had no clue if I would time travel again. I didn't want to, but at some point, I was going to need to figure out how this all worked. But that was a problem for later me. Which was when I saw what caused the tether to snap. I took off like a bolt of lightning.

"Laz," Finn said from behind me.

"Where are you—" Lazlo? Flag, through the link, echoed Finn. Where are we going? Should the team come, too? I didn't answer, because I didn't want to waste the effort. I didn't even have time to waste the effort. In front of the ghostly aisles, the floor of the library was completely pale blue. And I don't mean, like, just a little bit. I mean the entire cavern was covered inch to inch by a literal swarm of blue, pale idiots piling over each other.

There had to be hundreds of Frollarts filling the library floor stack to stack, wall to wall. But there was something wrong with this horde. They weren't waddling anymore. It was like they had gone into a literal frenzy. Bandages were torn off and trailing in every direction. Blue blood had slicked the floor to the point that you couldn't see any gray beneath their feet. And they were fighting each other. It was sheer, unadulterated chaos.

And despite the fact that I was flying just over them, and that there were hundreds of little bastards, not one head bothered to turn in my direction. Whatever had set them into a frenzy mattered more to them than possible food. They continued fighting and brawling and ransacking each other. I flew as fast as I could over their heads. The clearing opened. I could see the great stone doors that stood at the far end of it, signifying the start of the dungeon.

It was the same as last loop, tall enough for something three times my height. And just like last time, there was a Froll by my uncle. Or, rather, what was left of it was there. The Froll lay where its smaller cousins had brought it down. And boy, had they brought it down. The horde had turned the massive monster into a sad excuse for a carcass. An empty and a battered one at that. They had stripped its hide, and its stitched seams burst open with nothing inside. Cracked bones scattered around the remains.

The thing hadn't just been torn to shreds. It had been devoured. And past the carcass, exactly where the tether used to end, was my uncle, laying face down on stone. Despite the gory scene, my uncle's ward still shimmered over him, a pale, protective dome of gold. I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. And relaxed. My uncle was fine. Not just fine. More than that, his ward was intact, and he was still breathing. Despite the literal sea of monsters, the old man had pulled through.

I was still trying to make sense of the frenzy. But given the state of the Froll, it all became clear. The reason the Frollarts had gone into their frenzy was the tether. Little bits of gold filament hung in the air where the tether had shattered. Not moving or floating in any direction. Just still in the air, like stars. The bastards had eaten my spell. What I wouldn't have given to just cast [Soul Tether] right now. The spell was on my tongue, ready to reconnect a new tether between us.

But 75% of 820 mana was 615. And I couldn't pay it. So I didn't cast. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. But I also just didn't know what would happen. The last time I'd cast the spell on my uncle, it clearly killed me and sent me back in time. I was worried, with all the noise I was making, that the horde would turn around and come after me. Sure, I was out of reach, but no one wants over a hundred of those things trying to eat you. At least, not without backup.

And speaking of backup, the army arrived first. Twenty sets of gold boots drifted into the clearing in what loosely amounted to a military column. They were floating almost directly above the heads of the Frollarts. And they didn't notice. They really were more preoccupied with their violence than anything else. Finn came in over the top of the army, already yelling.

"You don't just leave, you dumbass! You absolute fucking—" He saw past me and stopped dead. Everything he had planned to say stopped at once.

"That's... but... the..." Finn said, his voice short-circuiting.

"That's really your uncle. He really was down here." He hadn't believed me about my uncle, no matter how many times I corrected him. It was part of why I had given up on trying to insist on the truth.

"He's breathing," I said.

"And his ward is holding, but I don't know for how long. I need you to—" I got cut off as the horde finally took notice of us. I felt it happen as much as I saw it happen. There was a shift in the noise the Frollarts moved. At first, one head. Then two Then a dozen, then thirty, then a hundred heads turned toward the sound of the army that had already passed them by. Frollarts weren't the sharpest tools in the shed. But the part of that idiom everybody forgets is that a tool is still a tool at the end of the day.

Text appeared beside Axe.

"Now it is a battle. Sound the war cry."

"What? What? What? Nobody's sounding a war cry," Finn said.

"No, what are you doing?" Axe sounded the alarm anyway.

"TO BATTLE." Before I could do anything, the front of the golem column took off. In a panic, I said, "Finn, light the army. Now." But instead of lighting them, Finn wasted time looking at the army and then at me as the front of our flank collapsed.

"The paint. That was your plan? You painted them to make them flammable on purpose?"

"Dude, that's such an oversimplification. Let's just say the plan and color coordination came to me at the same time."

"You want me to set our army on fire?"

"They're made out of stone and gold, man. They don't care. And we're running out of time. Set them on fire now." Without further debate, Finn cast [Fireball]. It was a great spell. But I hated it. It was too expensive, and never worth the effort, when you could get practically the same effect by casting [Fire], [Enlarge], and [Gust] all in succession. Of course, it was harder to direct, but it was the thought that counted. The ball of flame left his wand just as the rest of the army took off.

And then it hit the lead golem square in the chest. And the paint went up like the sun cresting the morning horizon. The fire ran, golem to golem, down the line as the faraway golems got closer and closer to the front. Inside of ten seconds, the entire army was ablaze, just like I had planned. And it really had taken less effort than any other method. Especially given what I was about to do next." [Enlarge]. [Enlarge]. [Enlarge]. [Enlarge]. [Enlarge]."

In quick succession, I cast the Alteration spell on each and every flaming golem until the entire room was ablaze.

"Drop," I said. And all twenty giant burning golems fell out of the air into the Frollart horde. The nice thing about books is that quite often, the answer to all of life's problems can be found in them. And while it had been a boring read overall, the monster bestiary had been a blessing that kept on blessing. At some point, the book had mentioned that the easiest way to get rid of Frollarts was to set them on fire. And boy howdy, was it right.

As soon as the first golem dropped down, the flames hit like a wave in an ocean. With a sound as if popcorn were popping, the room became a heroic display of Frollart after Frollart bursting on an open fire. They shrieked. They pushed back, and then tripped. And as soon as the first Frollart tripped, the rest followed suit. And the entire time, twenty giant burning golems waded through them like a knife through butter. Forward, team, Flag boomed through the link, louder than I had ever heard him.

You are all doing very well, golems. This is good. Good golems.

"Are you commanding them?" I called out through the link. I am their general. Is this not what generals do? I can stop.

"I did say that, buddy. Good job." Axe was somehow swinging his… well, axe-head in huge flaming arcs at the front of the formation. And every time he hit a Frollart, he screamed.

"BLOOD. GLORIOUS BLOOD." Unlike the blood-crazed Axe, Finn was floating out of reach of the flaming golems and the Frollarts, trying to keep from setting his own robes on fire.

"This is insane. You're all insane." Since I had cast [Enlarge] so many times, I was almost out of mana. But then, because I am who I am, I cast [Ex Nihilo Caseum] with the last of my mana, and hurled it at a far wall to get the attention of the only non-burning part. That quarter of the horde peeled off after it. They were rabid and blood-slicked, and they still broke formation for cheese. The love of cheese was deeper than madness.

"Cheese," said Axe.

"Cheese. I remember the day they invented cheese. I have always hated it. I am ashamed of your army."

"Well, it's working, isn't it?" Finn's golem peeled off toward the unharmed Frollarts, and the flaming, spinning death axe ended the battle. All told, the fight had taken twenty minutes. It felt like it had only taken five. Frollart after Frollart popped against the flames. My plan had been so successful in taking out the horde that there were literally none left alive. And only a single golem had been destroyed. And it wasn't even the fault of the Frollarts.

Axe had gotten too carried away and had accidentally decapitated it. In the aftermath, nineteen giant golems stood scattered across the stone floor. Still on fire, awaiting further orders.