Chương 19: Strategist Avale

- You know what the problem is? The Witch Bitch probably had a hundred mental mindsplits watching the internet at all times. But I bet we could just overwhelm it with technology. @[DELETED] *Two cloud servers were taken down due to cooling issues. One server in Russia had its buildings collapsed. The Witch Tyrant denies any wrongdoing.

"Please don't use our servers to host botnets that make disparaging comments about the Witch Tyrant." -CEO of Realmsoft. One could argue that Ryan should have gone back and searched the reliquary for more hints and details on what could have lain ahead. He would argue differently. The golems and the guardians were the hint. A guardian that got more dangerous the more time he wasted on the dungeon? That was all the hint he needed to move his ass.

Also, he really didn't want to go snooping around a chamber with Kingsley's guts lying everywhere. His argument proved valid as he appeared in the middle of an enormous summoning circle. A completely flat surface with complex runes etched into the ground. Outside of the circle was a complete warzone. Small stone golems swarmed against a medieval army of humans. Ryan couldn't hear anything outside of the summoning circle. He'd bet anything that there was a barrier at the edges.

The diameter of the spell circle had to be half a mile long. Two purple crystals floated at opposite ends inside the circle. Both of them were about the size of his torso and slightly levitated from the ground. Lights would periodically coalesce in a random part of the circle and summon a stone golem. Each golem came up to Ryan's stomach and would run out of the circle and into the war. The newest summoned golem turned away from its initial direction and towards something else instead.

A human soldier barreled his way forward, throwing off all the stone golems in his way, he cut a path straight to the summoning circle. They used skills and swung their polearm in a blurring frenzy. The soldier leaped from fifty feet away, high into the air—and swung into the barrier with all his might. There wasn't even a mark on the summoning circle's barrier. The soldier's eyes met Ryan's. He slammed his fists against the magical barrier and pointed at the crystals. The meaning clear.

The newly summoned stone golem jumped onto the soldier's back. He turned to grab it—only to find another golem tackling him from the side. The soldier managed to fling off the one on his back only to be swarmed by every golem around him. The man went down under a mass of golems as they pummeled him into the ground. The Trial was making it clear. These were no dirt golems he could just ignore. Trial Quest conditions updated.

You have found yourself in a pivotal position in a warzone between the forces of the demon king and the human kingdom. Objectives: Destroy all the catalysts within the magic circle. Note: You are unlikely to be able to reenter the summoning circle once you leave. Trial will automatically fail after three days. May cause a Trial break depending on the level of failure. Capacity 6/6 Ryan took aim with his crossbow and fired. The bolt pinged off one of the purple crystals and left a small crack.

"Stop!" A voice cut through the humming of magic, it came from the crystals themselves, an authoritative tone suffused with what had to be aura.

"Golems protect the crystal! Stop! I wish to make a deal!" Of course he did. Ryan heard the notification ding in his head but ignored it. He reloaded the crossbow as a newly formed golem jumped to cover the crystal with its body. It was too slow, he fired as the crystal cracked further. The toughness was annoying but not impossibly so. That wasn't the issue. No longer were the newly summoned golems running out of the spell circle. They were either running at him or trying to cover the other crystal.

The voice from the crystals called out again.

"I saw you kill the others in the reliquary. You're an outcast, and you have no love for the human kingdom." Only the bosses of the first, fifth and tenth Trials knew about the Trial System on their own. This one clearly didn't know about it. Ryan holstered the crossbow and took out his gun. He fired it at the faraway crystal. There wasn't a need to hide what the gun did if the boss had already seen him in the dungeon. The bullet shattered the crystal.

The highly dense mana exploded in a flash of light, flinging the broken bits of crystal like shrapnel. Now that was nasty. Good thing I shot it from afar. Ryan was still running at the other crystal. Five stone golems had already made their way there and were covering the crystal with their bodies, leaving almost no gaps. The voice emanated from the crystal, more controlled this time.

"Accept my offer or die. I have seen your measure outcast. I will win."

"Stop summoning or moving the golems, then we can talk." Ryan said. The eight golems in the circle froze in place, and the summoning circle powered down. A projection of the speaker appeared in front of him. He wore full plate mail and was dual wielding two large kite shields. The projection dropped one of the shields and took off his helmet. It wasn't a human or a skeleton but a man with red skin. A singular horn spiked upwards from one side of his head. Black spikes littered his face in a symmetrical pattern.

They seemed to meld into the rest of the man's skin. No, not a man. A demon.

"You simply had to ask." He bowed.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am the wing of golems, strategist Avale Tsuruzza a half demon on the side of -""Hurry up. I don't need your life story, and you don't need mine." Avale was probably stalling for time. There was no way a strategist like him would spend so much time on pleasantries in the middle of a war. Not unless he had some sort of trap prepared.

"It seems that you are an enemy of the group that was infiltrating my King's reliquary. I can offer you shelter. All I ask in return is your enchanted blade as a replacement for the catalyst you just broke." Now that was the real reason Avale wanted the deal. His soulbound sword was definitely more magical than either of the catalysts. The demon continued.

"Otherwise, you can leave this circle now and help me win this war. I will provide shelter and rewards based on your contributions to the war." Trial Quest conditions updated. You have found yourself in a pivotal position in the war of the demon king and the human kingdom. Objectives: Destroy all the catalysts within the magic circle. OR Give up your soulbound sword and leave (Sword will be unbound and lost) OR Leave the summoning circle and slay the opposing army's forces.

Once the human army is defeated, the Trial will be considered cleared. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Note: You are unlikely to be able to enter the circle once you leave. Trial will automatically fail after three days. Any option taken will change your future Trial scenarios and achievement score. Being given so many options was much more common in the previous generation. It often required backstabbing and Trial intrusions to happen.

Avale genuinely believed that Ryan was an outcast from the human kingdom. … That wasn't too far off, actually. These options weren't bad. Though he had a feeling the Witch Tyrant would lose her shit if he gave up his soulsword. Actually, that thought alone almost made him want to give up the weapon. Ryan narrowed his eyes, not that Avale could see it through his hood. Normally he'd be given a timer with these options. The strategist of the demon king had a war to win, and he wasn't summoning more golems.

Now he was certain that Avale was stalling for something.

"Who's the leader of the opposing army?"

"You do not know?" Avale was taken aback, then he smiled.

"It is General Dupoire, an axemaster. I do not need you to kill him, though if you do, I can provide significant rewards."

"Ah." It was still a damned swarm Trial in the end. His other option was to go into a real war and start killing soldiers from the human kingdom's army… yeah he wasn't going to do that. Also, there was zero chance he was beating General Dupoire in a fight. Even if he had Zedart and Garbolt's team on his side, he wouldn't want to go up against that one. Especially not with an army at his back.

"What do I need to do to make my sword a catalyst?" Strategist Avale lowered his shoulders ever so slightly… did the strategist actually think Ryan would go out there and help him with his war?

"A wise decision. Simply give one of my golems your sword and exit the summoning circle."

"No, I'm not leaving the circle and being pushed into the war by you."

"I would not dishonor a deal, but fine, that is acceptable." As expected of a strategist, Avale maintained an abundance of caution. Ryan threw his sword at the approaching golem as the blade embedded itself in its front. Avale raised an eyebrow. Ryan just shrugged, confused.

"What? I gave it my sword, didn't I? Are you telling me it can't move from that?" The golem could indeed still move with a sword embedded into its body. It stumbled off to the area where the crystal had exploded. Another golem near the shattered crystal lit up in a bright light, then was replaced with the real form of Avale the strategist. The first thing the demon did was to layer his dual kiteshields, so they stacked on top of each other. A towering shieldwall, facing Ryan. He was probably afraid of the gun.

Avale had magically swapped places with a golem. The golem with Ryan's sword suddenly sped up. Hurrying its path to the strategist. Motes of light suddenly appeared all at once. A mass of golems rushed out of the circle as they sprinted towards the war. A rush of golems… The circle had been backlogging the summons. No wonder Avale had been happy to stall for time. It was a good thing he had pretended to accept the deal. He crossed his arms. A teleportation skill that switches the user with a golem.

Nasty but now on cooldown. A passive or active buff for minions around him. That was probably why he didn't want to teleport here immediately. He was buffing them in the war. The strategist took out a scroll and began to focus on it. Warning! Your soulweapon is being subsumed. Thirty seconds until your weapon is forcefully taken. Note: Forceful extraction will cause soul damage.

"Time for stage two." Ryan fired his gun at the crystal next to him. The stone golems trying to protect the last catalyst were clumsy. They had left an opening the size of a large coin. It might have been a difficult shot if Ryan was hundreds of feet away, but he was not. He was also an American adventurer hopeful. A gun range was just another place you visited. Two shots thundered out, and the second crystal exploded. Ryan ducked under a stone golem just in case.

It wasn't needed, the stone golems surrounding the crystal had tanked all the shrapnel. He started sprinting at Avale. The Trial scenario hadn't ended. He never expected a six scaled trial to end so easily, anyway.

"What are you doing!?"

"I never accepted the deal, idiot." He fired one shot at the shields. The bullet didn't leave a dent. He gritted his teeth. This was going to be tough. A golem lunged at him from the side, faster and more agile than any of the others. He holstered the gun to his belt and swung the longsword at the golem. Steel hit stone as the sword barely penetrated the stone. I should have taken Garbolt's war hammer. He spun to parry the golem away from him and kept sprinting.

Avale wasn't moving from his position, and the newly summoned golems were now converging on both of them. The summoning circle was still active, and his soulsword hadn't been subsumed. That could only mean that Avale was acting as the remaining catalyst. He kept sprinting at the strategist, dodging the annoyingly coordinated golems with the occasionally buffed golem. As he jumped over a golem, it suddenly jumped up with him.

It didn't have hands, but the hit to his legs was enough to make him tumble out of the air and towards three more converging golems, their stubby arms ready to punch. [Instant Dodge] He changed trajectory and was back on course to running at the strategist. No more jumping over the golems like an idiot. Most of them weren't that coordinated. It had to be an active buff the strategist was applying to a singular one. He was still two hundred feet from the strategist. He checked the timer. Fifty seconds.

More time than before. It meant that whatever spell the strategist was using to transform the sword into a catalyst needed concentration. Good. That was three skills. No, four. Something like [Threaded Thoughts] and [Bird's Eye View] or [Minion Vision]. That plus the skill that switched Avale with a minion. Ryan couldn't see through the stacked shields, and those skills made sense for a [Strategist] to have.

"Stupid turtle strategist." He had to end it before too many golems got summoned. Seven golems already stood in formation in front of the strategist. With more being slowly summoned over time. He really only had one chance. Ryan was almost certain his gun could pierce Avale's armor. Shields were understandable, but it would be an absurd second Trial if bullets couldn't penetrate the fully armored boss. Forty seconds. The line of golems was right in front.

He had sprinted two hundred feet while dodging the golems in under ten seconds. Eight golems, six spread in a semicircle around the strategist while two were directly in front, their arms spread like football linebackers. Ryan tried leaping over the golems again. One of the front golems jumped. The strategist hadn't even hesitated in buffing his minion. The golem reached out, doing the same move as before. Ryan grinned, he brought his leg up before the golem could hit it.

With literal superhuman reflexes, he stepped on the arm of the golem and used the momentum to springboard himself up. The heavy golem pushed his tensed leg, and he—launched. He cleared the line of golems and landed on the ground, right between the minions and the strategist. Two golems dashed out from behind the shieldwall, facing outwards. Emergency reserves. Again they acted like linebackers, arms outstretched to stop Ryan from maneuvering to the sides.

Ryan took a step to the left and saw the shieldwall move to adjust, minions too. The golems behind him were getting closer. Nothing for it. He used all his strength to front tackle the wall of metal. Perhaps if the strategist wasn't using [Threaded Thoughts] he would have reacted in time. Perhaps if Avale wasn't preparing to swivel his body, he'd have been able to hold against the tackle. Ryan could hear the thoughts going through the strategist's mind, and he grinned.

What kind of mad [Rogue] tackles a shield wall from the front? Unknown seconds until soulweapon is subsumed. The strategist and [Rogue] toppled over, and Ryan began grabbing at the shields. He had a mad grin as he found leverage and began overpowering the mispositioned strategist. Upgraded class or not, the strategist didn't have the leverage to push him off. Avale was just a mere [Mage] upgrade, not a physical classer. He revealed an opening and grinned at the strategist as their eyes met.

Ryan lifted his hand, about to recall his soulsword— That was when Avale used his fifth and final skill. [Shield Bash] Both shields began moving like Ryan wasn't even there. They might as well have been attached to a piston as both smashed him upwards at terrifying speeds. He lost consciousness for a second as he went flying into the air. What had just happened? He'd been prepared to dodge a [Firebolt] or a [Magebolt]. Avale had literally teleported places with a minion and was working with a huge summoning circle.

He had to have been upgraded from a [Mage] class. But Trial people didn't always work that way. Avale was a strategist in title, not a [Strategist] in class. An upgraded fifth realm adventurer normally had six skills. That didn't always apply to Trial people. He had thought that in the worst case a [Mage] upgraded [Strategist] would have something like [Firebolt]. He was prepared to dodge that. What he'd forgotten was that Trial people didn't always specialize properly.

Of course, the teleporting strategist also had a [Warrior]'s background, that made total sense. Fuck's sake, why can't anything be easy? Oh right, he was trying to solo a six scaled Trial. Fifty seconds until your soulsword is subsumed. He was still thirty feet in the air. The newly summoned golems were rushing towards where he was going to land. His dodge skill was forty seconds from being back up. He was pretty sure his nose was broken. Well shit.