99 The Inverted Tower 2 (2/2)

As I thought about the creatures it was almost as if it was a queue, a gigantic horde of the beasts appeared in thin air. The amount of them was sickening. Their bodies blocked out the sun like a buzzing storm cloud. The buzzing itself was extremely loud, loud enough that it was impossible for us to speak over it. Impossible for us to hear anything but the rhythmic buzz of the creatures.

Fear immediately filled my heart as I looked at the horde. This is not an easy opponent. And this was only the first floor. It was not surprising that there were so many deaths here. This level of difficulty was much too high for the average party. It was much too high for even good parties. Those that made it to the 5th floor or higher were the real MVPs.

The image of the skeletal face of the Necromancer King once again entered my mind. It was as if he knew this was coming. He knew that I would have no choice but to call upon necromancy once again.

As much as I wanted to resist his unholy powers, I knew that in this fight I would be unable to hold anything back. I would need to give my all to help Hylia. We all would. She was the complete trump card of this battle. She was the only one we had.

Using her telepathy, she immediately issued commands to us. A part of me wanted to resist, I had always been the one in charge. But I managed to push down my pride. She was our only means of communication. She was the only one whose attacks would be at 100% efficiency. The rest of us would be lucky to even be half as effective as normal.

The orders we received were very clear. Bailey was to stay in the middle of the formation. She was the weakest. But her perception might come in handy if they were to phase out again.

The rest of us were to make a tight circle around her, each of us would oversee a direction. Sierra says to cast several fire walls directly on top of us. This would not only damage the locusts when they attacked, but it would also provide constant healing to us. She would not be attacking, rather in this battle she would be reduced to support.

Leisha would be getting the short end of the stick as she could only attack with her claws and teeth. She would need to be in the thick of things. She would be receiving the most damage, So Sierra would need to be mindful of her, occasionally using her fireballs to heal her.

Hylia would be leading the attack. Her arrows were guaranteed to kill the locusts in a single shot, and her target would be the larger locusts. She would be clearing the biggest threat for all of us, making the fight slightly safer.

Her voice was firm when she spoke to me, but it was laced with regret. I was to attack using my grenades. Only my grenades. I would blanket the area causing as much damage as I possibly could in a large area. With no stealth or vital strike, and the already halved damage from the locust's resistances, the damage would be much lower than normal. I would just have to make up for quality with quality.

Thankfully, I was still wearing my gloves. I had experimented on the way down and found I could both wear my gloves and have my pistols equipped; however I would only receive the benefit of one of them. This discovery would make things far easier in the future.