Magical Engineering

Chapter 294: The Best they had to Offer

AlexDespite Maud's warning, there just wasn't time or place to run. Thanks to our fight, we were surrounded by the bodies of ‘greats’, and all those death curses were firing off at the exact same time. But I had one desperate idea left.

So far, the tropical rainforest mana orb had been doing amazing, fighting these monsters. So why not give it one more big chance? I pushed every tiny bit of energy I had for my soul core reaction in the bird song. It almost certainly meant I wasn't going to be able to fight the ‘best’, but I had friends and family to do that. If only I could get them there alive.

As I felt the mana burst forth from me again, I wondered how many times Dad had felt like this, pushing himself to near exhaustion and beyond. He had mentioned some of the earlier mistakes he had made and nearly died before he found food. Was I making the same one?

The answer didn't truly matter, as I was going to make this choice, no matter what. Converting all of the new radiant mana into birdsong caused that voice to ring out in my head again.

“I will do what I can to feed your soul, core reaction. Push yourself as hard as you can bear.”

I still didn't understand how the mana orb was talking to me, but that was what it had to be. And considering it was the only reason we were still alive, I wasn't going to start doubting it now. I continued to push against what I thought were my limits, and somehow, even more mana flowed from me.

All around us, the death curses began to collapse in on themselves. Their initial explosive force entirely reversed as a rainbow hue overtook them. Instead of the catastrophe we had feared only moments ago, each one died with only a small popping sound.

I collapsed forward to my knees, no longer being able to hold the energy despite the gift the mana orb had given me. The rain had taken its toll, but the birdsong held. That meant we had to keep going.

“Come on, back to your feet. I don't know how you did it, and we don’t have time to figure it out. The ‘Best’ is still ahead, and that fight won’t be anywhere so easy,” Yorela said as she put her arms under my shoulders and helped me up.

Standing came with a lot of wooziness, but somehow I managed to get my legs under me with her help. And if I could stand, that meant I'd keep going. “He's somewhere further ahead. Got to keep going,” I wheezed out the words.

“Yep, my drone's got him in sight, and fer some reason he ain’t moving much. Problem is he’s got William in a carrier nearby, so can’t risk detonating the drones ‘til we get the baby out,” Mel added.

“Is anyone really surprised that they're willing to use a baby as a human shield after what they did in Alexandria?” Maud asked, actual anger overtaking her voice. It was something I hadn't heard often from her.

As we hunted for the quarry, a wall exploded near us. Out of it burst the moose, two cats, and Vrilk riding on his back. Behind them lay a trail of gore. There were more dead jesters than I could easily identify.

There was a look in the moose's eye I hadn't seen there before. Despite that, I recognized it all the same. Pure rage had encompassed him. And yet, somehow, spotting us, he stopped in his fury.

“Glad ta see yer still alive, kid. Ya picked probably the best partners ta get lost with,” Mel said, breaking the strange silence.

“As much as I want to know why they're all covered in so much blood, we’ve got to keep going,” Maud said, cutting off Vrilk just as he opened his mouth.

Maud's words had made me realize Yorela hadn't even stopped. The moose's appearance hadn't fazed the woman at all. And as we all moved to catch up with her, the moose did so nearly immediately, crashing through a door at the end of the hall without the slightest hesitation.

I had no idea how many jesters had been cleared of the tower, but with how few got in our way during our final charge, it had to have been a considerable number. It was probably helped by the fact that our path had become straight. At every bend or turn in a corridor, the moose had just ripped through the wall, leaving us a gaping hole for the next area.

“He’s starting ta move again, but we’re close!” Mel yelled, minutes into our run. “Shit, somehow just Sanquar appeared in front of him, ain’t no chance he’s healed enough ta do this fight alone!”

Sanquar

His hold on the jester was becoming harder by the second. Somehow, the monster had begun to compress space around him, despite the mental war they were locked in. Sanquar had known he was already in a losing battle, but two fights at once were more than he was ready for yet. So as the space around him ripped open and pulled him through, there was little he could do to stop it.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Still, he had bought them all time, and that was what mattered. Even as the form of the ‘Best’ came into view, he could easily tell its size was a ruse to hide the monstrous power it possessed.

“I warned you. I. Am. Far. Beyond. You,” The jester roared, its rage growing with each word. The walls of the tower shook as power poured from it.

From somewhere behind the jester, a baby started to cry. Those cries pierced deep into Sanquar, awakening more of his inner strength than he had felt in lifetimes. He could feel the others, his friends, almost here. He only had to hold the monster a little longer.

Gathering up as much of his new core energy as he could, he circulated it quickly across his body. His body fought back against it. The form he was in was never meant to handle this level of channeling, but there was no time to undergo an evolution. He would do that the moment they were back safe on Earth.

He took to the air as two gleaming spikes grew from the tips of his wings. And as the ‘Best’ threw its own first volley of magic at him, Sanquar met it head-on with a dive. Near the clash, a wall exploded as an enraged moose joined the battle.

Sanquar did another thing he hadn’t done in ages. He laughed. He looked the jester directly in its eyes, daring it to make another mental contact as his laughter grew.

While he knew this fight was still nowhere near over and certainly not guaranteed in any way, the odds had just drastically shifted. His senses had returned enough to tell that the moose had activated several class and mana abilities.

The shield mana that surrounded the beast wasn't that big of a surprise to Sanquar. They had all known about the moose's strange appetite there. The rage mana pouring from it was something entirely unexpected.

A horrible, hideous roar of laughter came from the jester as its body split into a dozen similar forms. “Still, none of you understand. I will not be beaten within my own domain.” Each word was spoken by a different jester while the others took up the laughter.

Sanquar jabbed his wingtip directly into the one still in front of him. He was entirely undaunted by the power it was showing. Below him, the moose lowered his head and drove his antlers deep into one of them, slamming it into a wall, showing how little he also cared about the boast.

Wait, there was another source of magic astride the moose. Was that Vrilk under the shields? Sanquar couldn’t be sure, but it looked like there was some sort of secondary magical source empowering the moose’s shield orb.

Before he could think any more on it, the jester he was fighting bit deeply into his wing. Sanquar countered, slashing out with his talons, catching it in the stomach. Part of his wing tore off at its mouth as he knocked it backward in the air, causing himself to spiral toward the ground.

“Gotcha!” Mel yelled, catching the bird before it hit the ground. “We got this from here. Go get the kid.”

As much as he wanted to continue to press the fight, his wound and lack of training in his new powers meant Mel was right. He ran for William. And the second he had him in his arms, he bolted from the room. It wasn't something he wanted to do, but the baby was safest back on the ship if they could get there.

Maud

She couldn't believe what she saw as she entered the room. There were a dozen of those little monsters now. Had there always been, or was this some sort of effect they had? Not that the answer mattered. It was just a curiosity that hit her as she saw her two cats each end a different one.

The real carnage started the moment Sanquar ran past her with William in his arms. Every single drone that Mel had deployed started to converge on the jesters, exploding on each impact. At the same time, his halberds rained down across the sky, impaling several of them.

But every time one fell, two more took its place. She was starting to understand why Timon had been so worried about this fight. She was even starting to question if they could win.

All around her, the bird song competed with the jester's laughter. And not to be outdone, she started channeling her own spells. Unleashing lightning bolts and fireballs all her own, she added to the chaos of the fight.

But then she noticed something. Every time one of the jesters fell and rose back up as two more, the room around them cracked. Was this jester somehow connected to the tower?

“Mel, I think he's feeding on the energy from the tower! He's using it to keep creating copies of himself!” she screamed across the melee.

“Half right, little fleshling,” a loud laughing voice boomed out from all around them. “I am the tower. I am the dungeon itself. And that's why you never stood a chance. The little fool hero can run as fast as he wants, but the moment I finish eating you, I will have that baby back.”

“Dammit!” Yorela screamed into the battle. “That's what this strange energy is from you? You’re a goddamn corrupted dungeon core!”

And the laughter erupted even louder. “I am so far above you that it's funny you ever thought you had a chance. Your people back on your homeworld have seen what happens when the Jesters reproduce their drones. But did no one question what truly made the ‘Best’?”

“It don’t fucking matter!” Mel roared. “I am Melhelm of the Halberd, and you are just one more monster I have to slay!” Along the ceiling of the room, a dark cloud started to form, while Mel's colors rapidly shifted.

“Maud, if it’s really a dungeon core, doesn’t that mean we need to find it?” Alex whispered to her.

“Probably, but I have no idea how to do that. I think your dad might be the only one who does,” Maud replied.

“New problem, the walls are closing in!” John yelled from across the room.

At the same time, the cloud erupted with lightning. Blast after blast, shaped like a halberd, zoomed through the room, each one piercing a jester and dropping it where it stood. This time, not only were they not doubling, they weren't standing back up.

After each one fell, the residual bolt flew back into Mel. Was he absorbing their energy? Maud had no idea how long Mel could hold that. They had to find the core quickly.

The Lesser Used Tactical Options by Sir Lemsworth Fenil