91 Chapter 91 - Assault on the Elven For (1/2)

The Elven fort was finally in sight after another day of traveling.It was a massive structure that rivaled Fort Togo but the outer walls were made from entangled trees that were long dead and petrified.The holes from the war nearly two hundred years ago were still there but they had a layer of saplings growing in front.

”Ent trees.They're much stronger than regular trees but require constant care.It's said that the King of Seka at the time of the war hoped that he could use the ent trees to bolster his defenses.”Annie always had strange knowledge about places.”He quickly found out that the trees couldn't live in the cold.This forest is the only place within his borders that they could grow in.”

”Is it flammable?”Jasmine could breathe flames so it was obvious why she was asking.

”All wood is flammable.It just needs to be dry first.Those dead trees should light up but I hope you don't set the walls on fire.There are innocent women and children in there.”Annie didn't want to be a part of another massacre.

Gren noticed the roots along the hill leading up after he placed one of the steel shelters for the vampire to stay in.While those roots would normally be a problem for wheels, Gren could use earth magic to create a smooth path to the fort itself.The mobile wall should be able to defend against the arrows so the only problem that Gren could see was the leader with explosive arrows.As for the beast tamer's animals, which of the mercenaries weren't adept at killing wolves?

”We've got a problem.”Annie suddenly spoke up.”Gren, bring out your defenses, we've been spotted.”Gren could see that there were people running back and forth on the top of the wall.

The mobile wall was wide and moderately tall so it weighed a lot.Without any reinforcement to the ground, it would have sunken into the dirt.”Ahk, you're up.Nobody else can push this thing up a hill.”There were holes to look through but they were covered with sliding metal panels.

Opening the cover, Gren peeked out in time to see a sky full of arrows.”Incoming!Hug the wall!”Gren made sure to yell so that everybody heard him.The sound of arrowheads crashing against the steel continued as they made their way up the hill.

”Archers on the sides!”Annie spotted some enemies in the trees that were flanking their position.Gallia and Buthi could cover the arrows from the left side of their position but there weren't enough large shields to cover the right.The armor protected them from most hits but a couple of arrows managed to find the weak points to the armor; Troels managed to get hit in the back of a knee and Gren got shot in the side of his neck.

{Fuck!Not again!}Gren quickly removed the arrow with his system before healing the wound.He only noticed that someone else got hit when Troels was falling behind.{Is there any way to stop the arrows?}

<Give me temporary control over the pocket dimension>

Was that the AI's solution to all problems?Gren decided to leave it up to the system and ran to help Troels.Nothing was deployed so Gren was worried until the arrows headed for him suddenly disappeared.The arrow in Troels's leg was removed when he got close to it and Gren hurried to heal him.”Do you think that you can help me get closer to the archers on that side?”Gren was pointing to the ones that managed to hit the two of them.

”Yeah, but we don't have much time.”Troels wanted payback as well.”Hop on my back and let's get those bastards.”

Troels helped Gren onto his back and held one arm back so that Gren could hold on to it and keep balance.Gren had never ridden a horse or centaur before so he was holding on for dear life.The archers started aiming for the two of them but the front of Troels's armor was impenetrable by their arrowheads made of stone or wood and the system protected Gren from any arrows that came his way.

Gren launched his explosive flames towards the archers, causing them to fall from the trees.Some of them were unlucky enough to survive and had their chests and heads pierced by giant icicles.There were only seven archers on this side.None of them were the leader or the beast tamer but getting rid of so many enemies in a short amount of time was great.Gren rode back towards the others when a large blast caused Troels to fall, his momentum launching him and Gren forward and down the hill.

Gren's landing wasn't so graceful but it was a lot smoother than the way Troels landed.Troels's armor was damaged by the exploding arrow and he was injured badly.His parts were all there so Gren could heal him but there was no way that he could continue the fight.{Place the Troels-sized shelter down between us and the fort.}Gren healed Troels and helped him into the shelter.As long as Troels barred the door then he'd be fine when left alone.

After Gren left the shelter, he immediately ran towards the mobile wall; its wheels seemed to be stuck.The leader was determined to kill Gren, it seemed.Another explosive arrow landed nearby--just in front of him--so Gren used earth magic to cover it.The blast still launched Gren back but he was able to get up quickly and continue running.

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”Their magician isn't going to go down with just that.”Thalonys expected for someone to accept the bounty on him and his soldiers sooner or later, but he didn't expect a magician.”With magic like that, they'll be a threat.”

Thalonys's wife, Cyntasila, was worried.”That building appeared out of nowhere.”These enemies of theirs weren't normal.

Thalonys thought about it and remembered tales of old earth magicians.”He must be able to control the metal in the ground.It was possible for our ancestors to do the same thing.Perhaps this magician is an elf as well.”

”Sire, what should we do?”One of the soldiers decided to interrupt the married couple.”Our arrows aren't doing anything.”

”Signal for the scouts to come back.”Leaving troops outside of the walls wasn't going to help them out.Thalonys usually wouldn't care if the soldiers lived or died since they were mostly made up of the scum of society but their bloodlines were needed.Until the number of elves under his control reached the tens of thousands, Thalonys couldn't get rid of that scum.Even if almost none of the children being born were pure elves, they still had a place in his new society and they would replace the criminals in his army.

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”We can't go any further.”Gren noticed a major problem that he didn't think about when designing the mobile wall.”Any closer and they'll get a direct shot on us.”Trying to leave the cover was suicide and the lip at the top wouldn't cover the people at the sides.

”Do you think that you can take us under with your magic?”Gren didn't think about it earlier but Annie's question made him wonder if it was possible.Gren set up his metal barriers to protect from the sides while he tried to dig through.Just in case there were any problems down below, Gren had the system release another shelter for people to stay in.Not everybody could fit inside at the same time but it was the Ahk-sized one so it'd fit half, at least.

It was easy to create a hole with earth magic and storing the loose soil with the system sped up the process.Gren created a path through the roots but, eventually, he hit a wall.It was odd to see stone bricks underground... well, not really, but it was odd for an Elven structure.After removing some of the bricks, Gren could see the room inside.

There were a few enemies inside but they weren't paying attention.Gren signalled for the others to be quiet before whispering, ”Anybody with a bow, prepare to take down some enemies.Aim carefully, there are innocent people inside.”Gren saw that Nina--the young archer girl that was with Rory--tried to move forward, so he stopped her.”It's best if you don't see this.”

Annie, Erling, and Dhalra were quick and managed to take out the men without making a lot of noise.There were only five of them down here so Annie and Dhalra just had to take out two each.The enemies had their pants down so they didn't even have a chance to fight back.Annie ran up to the nearest dead body and started kicking it.”You fucking piece of shit!”

”Annie, quiet.”Gren understood where she was coming from but they needed to think of their mission.Gren approached one of the women chained up against the wall and checked her condition.”Don't worry, we're here to help you.”She didn't have much of a response to Gren's presence.

Gren removed the woman's shackles and wrapped her body up.When Gren picked her up, he could hear her whispering something.”Kill me... please kill me...”

After placing her next to the tunnel, Gren moved her hair from her eyes so that she could see him.”You're safe now.Nothing bad will happen to you anymore.”Gren healed her body but wasn't able to heal her mind or undo what they did to her.”Annie, please talk with her while I free the others.”

The other women were in a similar state so Gren needed to heal them.Several of them were at different states of pregnancy and one had even lost her child to the abuse that she suffered.There was only woman that had a different state of mind, and it was a muscular woman covered in scars.It was clear that she suffered the same fate as the others but Gren could see a look of defiance in her eyes.

The words that came out of her mouth when her gag was removed ended up surprising Gren, ”You're some kind of soldier, right?Give me a weapon and I'll help you kill those bastards.”

”You're in no condition to fight.Even if I heal you, you'll just get in the way with that belly of yours.”She looked to be about six months pregnant.”Just think about surviving for now.”

”Those bastards killed my husband and made me like this.I've got nothing left to go back to.Do you think that I care if I die?”Gren didn't want to see her get herself killed.”As long as I can kill one of them then it'll be worth it.”

”I can't give someone a weapon after they tell me they're going to get themselves killed.Do you want me to hate myself for the rest of my life?”Gren was being a bit hyperbolic but he would definitely think less of himself if he let them die.”Just stay alive and you'll get a new place to go back to, I promise.”

Gren couldn't continue trying to convince her not to die.They had a limited amount of time before the bandits figured out that something was wrong.The dungeon was too short for Ahk so Gren had her carry the women to the surface if they couldn't walk on their own.The shelter above should be able to hold them all.

The dungeon was a dead end so the only way to go was up.Dhalra was able to move the quietist with her gear so she scouted ahead.Annie and Shenzi followed closely behind her but still far enough that they wouldn't be heard.The dungeon led into the interior of the ent tree wall.Most of the bandits were either on top of the wall or were defending the holes in the wall so they weren't looking this way.”A total of sixteen men ahead.I think that I can take two or three out before they can call for help.”Dhalra didn't want to overestimate her ability so she kept her guess conservative.

”My bow skills are rusty.I might be able to take down one but I'm not sure.”Annie hadn't held a bow since her injury and it wasn't her weapon of choice even before then.She only took out two downstairs because they were making a lot of noise.

”Yeah, I don't even use a bow.I think we should return to the stairs and see if the rat slayer has something to help the situation.”Shenzi didn't care that Gren didn't like that nickname.

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Gren felt defenseless with the wooden armor on.He didn't even know how to use a bow properly so he wouldn't be able to fight back if you ignored the system and his magic.Gren approached the group of bandits while munching on some boar meat that he had on a stick.The bucket in his other arm was full of similar-looking sticks with meat on them.

One of the bandits by the hole in the wall spotted and called out to him so he raised the bucket slightly and said something with his mouth full.Gren didn't know what the man said and he didn't speak Elvish so this was the only way to fool them.One of the bandits grabbed the bucket from Gren and was going to eat when the leader stopped him.The voice that the leader used towards Gren made him think that he was being questioned so Gren quickly chewed and swallowed his food before dropping the icicles he had formed onto their heads.

Gren quickly stored the bodies--some of which needed to be finished off--and quickly left the area.The ice falling made more noise than he had planned so he ducked into a nearby building.It seemed to be their mess hall since there was a large table with leftover food on it.

There was the sound of boots pounding against the wood floors outside of the door.It was only obvious that they'd check this room after noticing that everybody was missing.This was the closest building to the place where they disappeared.Gren needed to find some way to fool them and he didn't think that the food trick would work this time.