Chapter 3-71: The Power of Words (1/2)
Eighteen volleys and a few shrieking ectos gone burning in vivus later, we were done.
“Commander, could I borrow your Baneskull and Token there?” I asked him calmly. He unclipped them and handed them over without a word, and I affixed them to Clavus.
My target was a spectre. With a Baneskull attached, I didn’t need to power up Banespell... which just told me I needed more damage Metas for flexibility.
Whatever, the unlucky fat fellow in the suitcoat ate seven full-force Shards, expending a vial of Alchemist’s fire for an additional slew of healthy damage.
7d6 for the Shards, d6 for the Vivus, 3d6 for Sanctified, 2d6 for the Baneskull, +5 for Clavus, +d6 for the Token, +2d6 for Alchemist Fire, +3/Shard for Augmented Healing and Power in the Blood, +6 for Foe Hunter and Ghost-Scarred, and +6 for my Warcaster Razor.
Seven jetsilver tears wound about with flames black, white, and crimson slammed into it and blew it out of existence faster than it believed possible. Everyone watching whistled despite themselves. One-shotting a buffed spectre was not a small thing, if you actually knew what you were seeing.
“And with Shards, no less,” mused Briggs after seeing that. “What’s the damage rating?” he had to ask.
“Something around 16d6+38,” I noted, checking the math.
He looked at me, I looked back, and he said helplessly, “And you’re a One?”
“Yes.”
He raised his eyes to the dark Shroud, and sighed heavily.
So did his shooters.
“But that’s not the GOOD thing,” I smirked. He gave me another hairy eyeball as I turned to Master Fred. “Ever use Eldritch Theurgy, Master Fred?”
I HAVEN’T EXACTLY WORKED WITH A LOT OF SPELLCASTERS IN THE FIELD, MISS TRAVELER, he replied with his normal calm.
“No problem. What is going to happen here is you’re going to be offering me your Wrath; I’m going to spin it about my Shards and send them out as a conjoined spell, just like an Eldritch Theurge would do, but we’ll be using a minor Ritual instead.”
He was interested, and everyone looked on curiously as I demonstrated the pattern of Wrath he should use, how he should spin it about and offer it to me so I could draw it in and apply it to my Shards smoothly. The Sanctified Meta actually took his Wrath rather easily, and would actually have added more damage if it wasn’t already capped.
And, of course, they all crowded to the battlement with the others to watch who I threw the spell at.
It was a platoon of spectral marines down on the ground, two hundred yards away... an elite swordwraith unit of undead, basically here to watch the damned civilian spirits flitter around, screaming and wailing at their fate, basically not paying much attention.
There were six of them, so they each got a Shard, with the Sergeant in charge getting two.
Explosions of flame in seven different hues blew through them, the Wrath using their own Unit Resonance to apply to each of them through their links, and the links of the Shards. Combined with the stacking damage of the Shards, it was enough to wipe the entire unit out instantly, acting like a no-save, pretty powerful AoE spell as it did so.
Normally, Master Fred’s Wrath would only have applied to one of the targets. But since swordwraith units were linked together in undeath, they all got to sample the damage via harmonic convergence between the Sanctified Shards, and they all went away in a very eye-catching eruption, dissipating to reveal nothing left behind.
“Now that’s a neat trick,” Commander Briggs noted, getting agreements all around. “Bet you can’t do that very many times right now, however.”
“That is correct... and it likely won’t even hurt someone who is magic-resistant, as I’ve not managed to work my way up that tree, either.” I unclicked the Baneskull and Token, and gave them back to him. Much as I might want them, as a Forsaken, he actually needed them more, and I did have Banespell.
“I’ll get the Slaughter on Boomer and Endure, and give you the Skull when I do,” he told me calmly. He’d naturally have little use for it once Bane/Undead was among those in the Slaughter on his Weapons. I was actually surprised he didn’t have it already.
I wanted a Token, too, but all things in time.
I turned to address everyone else. “Everyone should have Advanced their Weapons, and earned a little bit extra on the side. We’re going to be coming back tomorrow to follow up on this, and will continue for several days while I await word on a personal commitment. If this stops abruptly, it’s because I’ve gotten news and had to depart immediately.”
Everyone nodded that they understood, recognizing that people had obligations and so shit had to get done.
Fifteen minutes after dusk, we were on our way back down the Wall, to the amusement and chagrin of the soldiers stationed there. But we did let them know that, all things being equal, we should be back tomorrow.
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“Baltimore doesn’t want you running around all night?” I inquired, as I bounced down on the repaired couch, which Fred had purged of any remnant Scorn with his Wrath. As I’d been picked up right from the library and gone off to shoot, I hadn’t brought too many books with me, only a backpack full he’d stowed in Sleipner’s saddlebags.
I’d be going through them tonight.