161 Chapter 161 (1/2)
Chapter 161
The charge of the Dicken Brigade was…amazing. That was all James could consider it. Truly, it had to have been one of the most inspired, crazy, hilarious, and effective things he had seen in his years of gaming. Not only were the dickens ridiculously buffed by Charles, even if the World Boss was only level 20, but the visual, of watching that many crazed, angry, demonic chickens running through the forest, seeking out BLANKs players, was just awesome.
On top of that, surprise in and of itself, took down more than a few of BLANKs players. Unfortunately, the charge of the Dicken Brigade also didn't last as long as James had wanted. However, while it was short lived, it still served its purpose. Well, actually, it served a few purposes.
First off, it drove a decent chunk of the fog of war away from James's field of view. The charge by the Dicken Brigade, which was roughly 400 dickens, meaning about 120 players strong, made it past the midpoint of the battlefield, and about another 200 yards into BLANKs side of the map, before it was stopped.
During the charge, led by Charles the Dicken, with Trogdor and his infernal dicken quick on the world boss's claws…er…heels, they managed to pick off over a dozen of BLANKs players, mostly rogue and thief classes, who had been working their way slowly towards James's spawn area. It seemed that BLANK's players were sending out scouts, to slowly map out and plan around James's setup. The scary part was a few of the scouts had gotten near two of James's siege weapons. Meaning he was certain those were likely going to be targeted, before they could ever get fully used.
Of course, that information was paid for quite nicely by the essence James's players received from the mad rush of the Dicken Brigade. Because of the effects of Charles the Dicken's ability, the dickens that were part of the Dicken Brigade attacked any enemy they came across. It was like watching a hungry swarm of locust overcome the land. No sooner was an enemy sighted, than the player fell to the ground and was trampled to death by the dickens. James had thought the Great Dickening was going to be a single, isolated incident in his dungeon. However, it seemed his players wanted to share that Dickening with any and everyone… He was certain this was going to become a tactic commonly used by his players in dungeon wars in the future…if they got that far.
As James noted, it was effective early on. However, as they blasted their way past the irradiated remains of the Perfect Cognivore, and into BLANKs portion of the battlefield, it became evident BLANK had definitely planned against James. While BLANKs players might not have been prepared for the crazy antics by James's players, BLANK had been.
It started when Charles the Dicken stepped into a pitfall trap. These traps, as James had noted, were rather inexpensive. As such, it seemed BLANK, who James had no doubt had fully utilized all 2,000 of their BP across their field, and not wasted a lot of points on a Core Shield or Cannon, had spread such traps liberally around their side of the battlefield.
And by liberally, James meant it seemed like they had created a mass of trenches for any invading players to stumble across. What's more, there were walls set up all along their side of the field, creating choke points, funneling players, or in this case, dickens, into easily defendable portions. These portions had BLANKs players stationed alongside cannons, with towers provided for their ranged players to get a better scope of the battlefield.
Behind BLANKs defensive line, which saw dickens getting funneled into kill zones, cut down by cannons and AOE spells alike, James got a good glimpse of rows and rows of siege weapons. James watched as the Dicken Brigade continued onward, seeming oblivious, uncaring of Charles the Dicken, who was soaking up loads of damage, his health pool quickly diminishing. The dickens rushed to their death, taking cannon fire and spells from all sides, arrows raining down upon them from an organized defensive group of BLANKs players. They continued onward, pecking and clucking and cawing, leaping through the air, launching gren-eggs of their own. It was pure chaos. And, in that chaos, even though BLANK had obviously prepared for it, BLANKs players hadn't.
Even as dickens fell left and right, so too did BLANKs players. James couldn't help but grin, cheering Trogdor on as he rode across a bridge, surrounded on all sides by dickens. His body glowed as he hefted his Chainsword wide in the air, blowing his battlemaster cooldown to buff the nearest 10 allies around him. All 10 dickens surrounding him, already buffed by their own dicken buff, and Charles the dicken, grew even larger. Their stats buffed once again, they tore deep into the enemy line, wiping out BLANKs players.
Of course, that chaos still wasn't enough to overcome the players. They may not have been ready for the dicken brigade, but they were definitely used to facing extremely difficult and dangerous opponents. What's more, the ones dying were the lower leveled players. The stronger players, James noticed, stayed back, watching the chaos unfold. They used their lower leveled players as fodder, to ensure they could best take control of the battlefield.
And take control they did. Even as Trogdor and his dicken entourage turned about for another charge, a single lightning bolt crashed into the Dragonkin from above. The blast instantly turned him into an orb of light, while consecutive bolts of lightning channeled off of him, arcing onto the mobs that had surrounded him, killing them as well. James scanned the field, looking for the figure that had cast the bolt of lightning. It had come from a player that had to be at least level 30, though James figured, from the power behind the bolt, they were higher level.