86 The Final Piece (2/2)

The cold and the wind brushed against my armor as I walked towards Torix. He was going to debrief me on what was to come for the day. Althea already spied near the rift along with the Eltari, giving us an idea of who was coming. All the followers were far and away from the rift. They only had a few named ones guarding it. This let me act with impunity.

Enjoying the prospect of letting loose, a glowing grin traced my lips as I walked into Torix’s lair. From the lair. Torix’s beetles built an underground network of tunnels. They had spread them all throughout Springfield. Whenever Yawm finally came out, his minions would be caught in these tunnels. The legion would use them as trenches and cover. The framework for stopping him was coming together.

The source of that framework was this unassuming, suburban building. I stepped inside Torix’s lair, papers spread all throughout his room. Numbers, formulas, runes, the papers on the walls carried all that and more.

Red rope connected different papers and images of the followers, detailing their weaknesses. Organized lists of their minions followed near them, along with their alliances. Torix left no stone unturned in his pursuit of killing them. The followers weren’t quite as thorough.

We were lucky in that regard. From Althea’s spying, we discovered that most of Yawm’s minions underestimated us. Earth being a backwater world was a viewpoint shared by more than just the FearFighters and the Enigmatta. As a result, the followers’ response was too little and too late. The rapid cycling of our troops meant they couldn’t keep up, though they didn’t make much of an effort too.

The source of that rapid cycling, Torix, hunched over a holographic desk. A detailed, blue, and three-dimensional map was shifting as it was fueled by information. As Torix’s obelisk received data, the positions of the followers updated along with red lines tracking their trajectory. As they changed positions, Torix updated the mission feeds of troops. It meant the followers were running in circles instead of slaughtering them.

Juggling all this, Torix fiddled with his status screen while glancing at the 3-D model. In this environment, his abilities shined. His charisma assisted with keeping morale high and ensuring the soldiers obeyed him. His intelligence and skills let him think up plans and execute them flawlessly. His willpower enabled him to continue this, and him being a lich meant he never needed food or rest.

If anything, he looked even more excited than the first day he started. He glanced up to me with a grin,

“Ah, Daniel, right on time. Did you read the debriefing I sent you?”

I nodded, “Yup. I’ve got about two hours to finish this rift up. After that, I’ll need to update a few squadrons with some speed enchantments.”

Torix glanced back the map, then at his status. He adjusted the message, sending it before turning to me, “What is your Thaumaturge skill at now?”

“Seventy-four.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Did you hit a breakthrough earlier?”

I shook my head, “Nope. It’s just been a busy week.”

Torix gripped his hand into a fist in front of him, “It’s been exciting. It’s about to get even more exciting after we clear out the last two high danger rifts remaining. We’ll be killing one of the followers, Elijah. Oh how I look forward to playing with his corpse.”

I clanked my fists together, “I look forward to making him into one.”

Torix nodded, sending me a message. My interface updated with the route I would follow to reach the rift. Torix raised a finger towards the air, “You’ve got all that you need now except one thing.”

I raised an eyebrow, “What else is there?”

“You need one other person to come with you. This person hasn’t been as busy as he should have been either.”

I nodded, reaching out with Tactile Cognition. Beneath us, someone hid inside the floorboards. Only one person was dumb enough to do something like that, so I frowned. That frowned devolved into a grimace, “Why do I have to take him along?”

Torix squinted his eyes, “Because I can’t handle babysitting him anymore.”

Hod’s head burst out of the floorboards, “Hod surprise Harbinger. Hod coming to help clear rift.”

Hod raised his arms as I sighed. I dragged my hands across my face, “Are you serious?”

Torix rubbed his hands together, “Oh, I’m dead serious.” He cackled. “Do enjoy the company.”

I turned to Hod, grimacing as he pulled himself out of the floor. Once up, Hod struck a pose like a lame, outdated disco dancer,

“Hod sorry if Hod steal all lady friends during mission. Hod can't help Hod's self.”

It was going to be a long rift.