Tim had performed this maneuver in training, but he’d been thinking about it like a duelist trying to outfox a human opponent. Of course, the blade’s invisibility worked just as well on monsters, and the Troll did nothing to defend itself as the blade hurtled through the air and sunk into its open wound. The monster flinched a little, but it seemed more confused than anything as it continued its relentless rocky assault. The sword itself was no more than a toothpick to the creature, but Adama gave a lopsided grin as he ran to close the distance with the monsters again. This time, both enemies held back on striking him immediately, waiting for him to unleash an Endless Sword that they were confident they could tank with their physical defenses.

  Big mistake.

  His swiftly chanted Endless Sword was unleashed at full power, Hearthblade ringing out and the Hidden Sword echoing the same sound right back. The unwounded Troll practically pounced on Adama after the bladestorm was over, claws poised to rend him to pieces. But he was confused when his comrade did not join him, and he was even more perplexed when Adama totally bypassed his net of attacks. Weaving through the web of slashes with unparalleled grace, Tim ran right past the unscathed Troll, eyes fixed on the monster whose belly he’d opened.

  A matrix of cuts had burst open from the monster’s midsection, forcing it to stagger backward in pain rather than forward to help his friend in the attack. The wounded Troll recovered enough to slash at Adama as he approached, but it wasn’t as swift as normal. The swordsman adroitly leaped onto its outstretched arm, running up the limb and onto its shoulder. A perfectly executed cut opened up the monster’s throat from end to end, blood fountaining outward in a crimson wave. Trolls had inordinate vitality, so the monster didn’t die immediately, but Adama left it to stagger around feebly and turned his attention on the final attacker.

  The remaining monster put up a good fight, forcing Adama to pop a healing potion to ease all of his accumulating cuts and bruises, but eventually he managed to draw a line across its belly with Hearthblade. After that, it was only a matter of time before he planted another invisible sword into the gap and opened the monster up from the inside. Those wounds made the second Troll as easy to finish off as the first, and Adama soon stood panting over the corpse of his final enemy. But the job wasn’t done yet.

  He'd been hearing explosions and screeches coming from the mountainside far above for a long time now. Adama had been wondering what was going on, but when he squinted up there, he couldn’t make out anything through all the smoke, steam and dust generated by the fight. It looked like the girls needed help, so he took a swig from a physical recovery potion and started climbing rapidly back up the mountain. When he was halfway up, a particularly loud *RRRUUUMBLE* shook the mountainside, sending a cascade of dirt and debris right into his face. He clung intensely to the side of the cliffside, glaring in annoyance at the source of the chaos:

  “What the hell is going on up there?”

  …

  Emi struggled to hold two spells at once, preserving a buff on both girls while maintaining a grey, egg shaped bubble of defensive magic surrounding their trio as they weathered the assault. Naaza fired arrows at lightning speed, gunning down the approaching mob with brutal efficiency. She was leery of overusing her special projectiles, given the group’s limited supplies, but she couldn’t afford to let too many monsters get close and hammer away at Emi’s barrier. Thus, any creatures came within 15 meters got blown to smithereens. When she ran low on explosive arrows, she began resorting to acid and incendiary arrows instead, melting and burning away at the oncoming horde. Using dangerous arrows like these in such close confines was tempting fate, but Naaza made it work. Eventually, many of the monsters contented themselves with throwing rocks or breathing fire from afar.

  The archer did her best to thin the herd, but it was one against many. Emi’s shield was taking a serious beating from the front. In the meantime, Lilli was occupied by fending off the airborne Harpies, preventing them from attacking Emi’s barrier with impunity. Her Little Ballista functioned as an anti-air weapon, carefully tracking the monsters and riddling them with bolts. Lilli had brought a gratuitous amount of mundane crossbow bolts, and she unleashed them now to send numerous Harpies plummeting to their deaths. However, the automatic crossbow was not a powerful weapon, and it took a lot to bring even one bird monster down. She used some explosive bolts, but Lilli was under the same supply constraints as Naaza.

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  The result was that Emi’s barrier was taking a beating from the air as well. Naaza eventually decided to lend Lilli a hand, and together they laid waste to the Harpies and drove them all away. But the attacks from the front worsened while she looked away, the monsters drawing closer while Naaza looked away. Cracks proliferated across the shield, causing Emi to cry out:

  “I’m hitting my limit!”

  Thinking fast, Naaza whipped out three vials from inside her potion belt, tossing them toward the oncoming horde. They were filled with a light, pink liquid and landed in one of the puddles of green acid Naaza had created, smashing open. With a loud hissing noise, the puddle immediately began bubbling as it turned a dark grey color, but that wasn’t all. The concoction began expanding, a dark cloud of thick foam spreading out and suffusing the vanguard of the monsters. The beasts cried out in pain when they made contact with the foam, their advance slowing to a crawl. Much to their horror, the substance was hot, difficult to move through, and growing even larger by the second. Soon, a large chunk of mountainside was covered by the stuff, consuming many of the monsters. As it cooled it began to harden, suffocating the trapped enemy.

  In just a handful of seconds, Naaza had conjured up a large barricade of concrete between them and the monster horde. With the Harpies all gone, Emi let go of her shield and buffs, gasping like a fish out of water. They were all tired, but it didn’t look like they were going to get any rest. The sounds of digging and smashing could be heard clearly, coming from the other side of the wall, the monster horde still belligerent and numerous. Lilli looked to Naaza, querying:

  “How much more of that do you have? And why is it so hot?”

  Indeed, the heat given off by the concrete had raised the air temperature near them considerably, causing them to sweat from more than just exertion:

  “Exothermic reaction. Its…never mind. Sometimes, Mixing gets hot. I can create more, but that was most of my stash. Anybody have a good idea?”

  To her surprise and relief, Emi nodded:

  “Leave this to me! We don’t have to burn more explosives. Just buy me more time.”

  Both Naaza and Lilli looked at her dubiously, clearly wanting to ask more. But the monsters were getting closer by the moment, so they just gave their consent and moved to delay the enemy:

  “From the beginning, the echoes of Creation have rung out…”

  The other two looked at each other in dismay. That sounded like Emi’s Reprolapidem chant. While her attack magic was good, it alone wouldn’t be enough to bail them out of this. But it was too late now, so they just resigned themselves to the task of delaying the horde as much as possible. Naaza threw vials of instant concrete and it’s acid mixer, exhausting her stock but reinforcing the wall when it began to crumble. What monsters managed to climb over it were shot back down by both girls in tandem:

  “A mighty Word, calling light from darkness…”

  Emi’s chanting kept going and going, the girl basically monologuing as the others played the best defense they could. It lasted long enough that they were getting confused. Was this chant normally this long? On the bright side, at least they had certain confirmation that this pack had been spearheaded by Lesser Barbarians. If they were dealing with Level 4 Barbarians, those would have broken through the barrier and killed them long ago. Assuming they wouldn’t have lost in the first couple seconds of the fight anyways.

  “Marked by starlight, destined for strife, born into death to give us life…”

  Regardless, the Barbarians and their fellow horde members eventually sheared through most of the blockade and began knocking on the final door. Once they got through this last bit of concrete, they would be nearly on top of the girls, with only a steep cliff behind them to run to. Naaza cursed under her breath and drew her dagger. She should have never left things in the hands of this airheaded girl. Her magic wouldn’t be enough to stop them all. Naaza and Lilli were so distracted by the screams and the roars of the monsters, that they didn’t hear the end of Emi’s chant:

  “The builders’ rejection, the Builder’s perfection, a discarded Master

  Cornerstone”

  For just one moment, the sun was blotted out. Then, Naaza and Lilli went deaf.

  An enormous boulder, wider than the path and five times Naaza’s height, flew over her head and smashed right through the concrete wall. The monsters behind it barely had time to scream as they were crushed, the gargantuan thing scouring the mountainside clear and carving a tremendous gash with an enormous *RRRUUUMBLE*. The other two could only stare in awe as Emi smote the last of the enemy with a single spell. Even after the spell ended, they were trapped in a daze staring at the aftermath, ears ringing from all the noise. Finally, they snapped out of it and looked back at their mage, who was looking quite pleased with herself.

  And at Adama, who had just climbed back on the cliffside. The swordsman stood up and brushed his clothes off before scrutinizing the hellish warzone, saying:

  “Bet my soul against a rat’s tail there used to be monsters here. Or were you just that sorry to lose me?”