Chapter 16 Ecotage

The plan was now set in motion. Like many others of his, it involved thought out but discrete actions. It was almost like pushing the smallest domino. While Axel travelled over to Lenny, Jack and Jasmine both disappeared into the huge crowd of people on the wall.

Jasmine dropped down and disappeared behind stalls. There she spotted roughly six of the catapults. There were metal crates full of stones, and cylinders of oil. She knew that Axel didn’t want to kill any unnecessary people, and it had to be as covert as possible. Not enough for the city to fall, but the exact amount to let the monsters in.

She peeked her head up above some far gone bread and scrutinised the process of reloading the catapult. Each catapult had a metal crate that unloaded a rock the size of an exercise ball onto it. She watched as one of the soldiers barked orders to the others. The process; flick a lever, tighten the tension on the catapult and release.

Moving quietly, she slipped behind one of the ammo crates. The rocks were heavy; too heavy to be lifted by a single man, and only three men were occupying each. The rocks were automatically loaded on, so all she had to was disrupt it.

“Fire!” the leader shouted.

She watched another soldier lift a lever that dropped another rock onto the concave platform. Then they tightened the ropes, drenched it in oil and put a flame to it. The rope was cut, and they watched as it soared into the air. As they were ogling at the flaming ball of rock, Jasmine removed a bolt from the automated reloading feature. The rocks then fell onto each other, causing the catapult to be pressed down from all of them.

She slid under the catapult just as they turned around to see what had happened.

“The bolt is gone!” one of them shouted. “What a cheap piece of shit.”

“Fix it! Hurry!”

“I can’t fix it if the bolts are gone, can I?”

“Hold them back yourself then. We can’t get anyone to repair it now,” the leader said.

The man grumbled and had to press his arm against them so it wouldn’t cause a blockage. Jasmine was happy enough with it and the time needed to reload was extended. She felt it was sufficient enough, and moved on to the next one.

Back up on the wall, Jack had enlargened his belly and was hitting everyone while acting the opposite. “Sorry— excuse me— fat guy coming through.” While he was knocking into everyone, he had a small dagger by his side. Every few archers he saw, he would bring the dagger against it and offer a quick slash. He didn’t cut them all the way through as it would become far too obvious. He cut them halfway; with a little of force from the archer, it would give way. Jack enjoyed it. It was the first bad thing he had done so far with Axel.

He noticed a female mage preparing a spell with a long cast time. And so, with his belly, brushes against her. She stumbled an inch forwards, cancelling out the spell.

She turned around with an angry face. “What was that for?!”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Jack said, looking down to the floor.

“Just don’t hit anyone else, you got it?”

“I didn’t mean to hit you, lady, I promise,” Jack said. “It’s not because I’m fat is it?” He loved to pull the political correctness card.

“No, you’re not fat. You’re just big; nothing wrong with that,” she comforted.

“He’s not big,” another corrected. “He’s just plus-size. There’s a difference.”

“I didn’t mean to offend him,” the female mage insisted. “He just knocked me with his belly.”

“So you are calling me fat,” Jack stated. He couldn’t help but smirk and threw his head down to avoid it.

“I’m not calling you fat!” she shouted, drawing more attention.

Jack sniffled. He gulped and started wobbling away.

With Jack and Jasmine sabotaging the defence, Axel had gotten close to Lenny. He was a fair distance away from the other guards, surrounded by other players. Axel came next to him and prepared a spell to fire.

Within a few seconds, Lenny had noticed him. “Axel, what do you need me to do?”

Axel only smiled. Lenny was straight to the point. It seemed the NPC wanted whatever he was going to get.

“I have a plan. But, I need you to follow through. If you do, then you will become the Guard Captain of Tresluna.”

Lenny nodded while gulping. He brought his bowstring back and fired off an arrow. “What do you need?”

Axel cast another spell randomly into the battlefield. “The monsters are going to enter the city. What I need you to do, is move away from the main gate. Once the explosion has cleared, gather as many people as you can and hold a defensive line inside the city. If it all goes to plan, you will become the star of the show.”

“Explosion?”

“We can’t have other guards becoming the star of the show; that’s just trouble.”

Lenny nodded reluctantly. Axel was surprised NPCs showed so much emotion. He was about to accept the killing of the other guards, all to increase his standing. Axel was impressed by his determination. Lenny didn’t want it to be this way, but he knew that it was the only way; his only chance at becoming the Captain of the Guards.

“When will I know to move?”

“Soon,” Axel muttered. “If you don’t see me next to you, then head further down. And remember, take off your helmet and show how confident you are. We need a lot of people to see.”

“I’m not good at acting,” Lenny said.

“Then don’t act, just be. You want to be the Guard Captain, then be it.”

It lit a fire into Lenny’s heart. He wanted the power; to be the best. He had always dreamed of becoming it when he was younger. Axel was offering him that chance; be it bad, it was a chance. A chance he was going to take. “Alright Axel,” he said. “I will do it.”

“There he is,” Axel said with a grin. “And now we just wait.”

“FIRE AT WILL!” General Rogan bellowed.

The third wave was far stronger than the last. Not only was the horde more crowded, but the biggest uhyre monsters were now attacking. Their levels were ranging from 20-30, with some even surpassing 35.

With magic in VR, Axel rarely missed a shot. There was no targeting, but his years of experience caused him to be an excellent shot. However, he was purposefully missing often. The monsters were getting further and further, and the troops on the ground were being engaged constantly. The formation didn’t break, but Axel knew it would soon.

Another hour passed, and the horde was overwhelming the city. Axel still stayed, however; he was waiting for the horde to completely break the troops on the ground. His fingers twitched as he monitored the attack.

Eventually, Axel disappeared from Lenny’s side. The guard took the hint and moved down the wall. He dropped down a few flights of stairs and into the large gateway. There were wooden spikes pointed towards, just in case the horde it made it through. It shouldn’t interfere too much with his plan.

Axel took a deep breath and cracked his knuckles. “Activate buff: Deep Pockets.”

His pockets jingled with gold.

{Deep Pockets Buff active}

“Cast Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb—” Axel repeated it. He pulled a potion he had stolen out and drank it. Another round of planting the bombs occurred. Then another, then another. He lost track of how many he planted. He just kept doing it.

He heard a loud growl coming from the other side of the gate, but it whimpered and it was gone. He ran over to it and pressed his eye against the small gap in the middle. He grinned; they were getting closer— almost overwhelming the ground force.

Amidst everything, Axel immediately regretted the bombs he had just planted. His inner conscious was telling him to disarm all of them, but he knew he couldn’t. He needed control over the city. It was a major part of his plan to take power. He never wanted to kill innocent NPCs and players.

“You can do this, Axel,” he told himself. “For your family.”

A bang came from the other side of the gate, shocking Axel out of his moment. “Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb …”

Now dozens of loud bangs hit the gate. However, Axel carried on, “Gluttonous Gold Bomb … Gluttonous Gold Bomb—” Axel couldn’t even see the dusty ground. There were just permanent lines of red from the spell.

More bangs came, giving Axel the hint to leave. He backed away, past the wooden spikes and into the market.

Message from G3T_JACKED69

Any minute now. U all set?

Send message to G3T_JACKED69

Y. get clear.

Axel dismissed the message. More loud bangs came from the gate, causing parts of the brick surrounding to be shaved off. He watched intently from a hundred metres back. He wasn’t ready to detonate yet. He was going to hold.

The gate banged loudly again. Claws started to penetrate the thick wood, and pull out large splinters. Snarls and growls grew louder and so did the panic above. From far off in the distance, he saw Lenny ready to pounce.

‘You got this Lenny,’ he thought.

Suddenly, all the snarls and growls stopped. A dead silence came from the monsters. Then Axel heard someone shout. “Giant!”

A club made of black wood smashed open the gate. It flew the sturdy hinges off, and shrapnel flew everywhere. It was a 20-foot giant, with an ugly face and scrawny hair. The Chaos was covering it like a parasite, strengthening its body and fueling its rage.

Axel took a deep breath in as it walked forwards. Monsters dispersed around it, running forwards. Some were dumb enough to run into the wooden spikes, while ran others ran past them. People started to come down from the wall but were ultimately slaughtered.

“Hold,” he reminded himself.

More monsters entered the city. Snarling, growling as they tore into the poor souls brave enough to stand up.

“Hold!” he shouted to himself.

BOOM! An explosion the size of the cathedral rocked the entire city. Bits and pieces of gold and rock shot into the night sky cladded in flames. A shockwave followed, pushing everyone dozens of metres back. Even Axel himself was thrown against a brick wall.

Silence fell over the city. There were only the sounds of swords still clattering, and groans from NPCs and players. Those at the watchtower on top were all disintegrated.

{You have killed 218 Entities(see more details)}

{Rewards}

31 Gold

12,277 Experience

…

{Bonuses from Gluttonous Gold Bomb}

+277 Gold

+131 Gold

+23 Gold

…

{You have killed 27 NPCs. If the NPCs find out you did it, then you will be prosecuted. A bounty of 1,145 Gold coins will be placed on your head. Note, if one of your teammates collects the bounty, they receive null. A target will now be placed on your back by the king himself. The bounty may be removed if your crime is dismissed by a high member of the city.}

{You have killed 35 Players. You have reached the cap on the threat level. All players see a red skull above your name which is also in red. If they kill you, they receive over 50% of your items and wallet. This will last over 10 deaths/1 week until your threat has been reduced unless it is dismissed by the high member of the city.

{Congratulations! For killing over 30 enemies with a single attack, you have received the title: Over Killer I}

{Rewards}

500 Experience

{Congratulations! For killing over 100 enemies with a single attack, you have received the title: Over Killer II}

{Rewards}

1200 Experience

{Congratulations! For killing over 250 enemies with a single attack, you have received the title Over Killer III}

{Rewards}

2000 Experience

{Congratulations! For killing over 500 enemies with a single attack, you have received the title Omega Killer I}

{Rewards}

5000 Experience

{Congratulations! You have levelled up. You are now level 23}

+1 Attribute Point

+1 Skill Point

“Uhh,” Axel groaned. He clutched his side as he tried to get up. Debris was scattered around; dust was covering his face. His health bar was in the red but it was stagnant. Wincing as he got up, he noticed the huge fire at the front of the gate. His mouth dropped to the floor in complete shock. He was expecting a large explosion, but not a nuclear bomb.

He blinked his eyes a few times to get his bearings and read the plethora of notifications.

“Oh fuck,” Axel cursed. “I gotta go.” He panicked. It was his own foolish decision to not research what would happen. He held onto the wall as he stumbled away in a cloud of dust.

However, as Axel limped away, Lenny jumped down from the wall. “Travellers and soldiers! With me!”

He held his spear up high as hundreds joined him in the effort to protect the city. A large barricade of shields and determined players countered the monsters that started to run in from the open gate.

“Keep your spears up!” Lenny ordered.

The battle ensued. Now with less guards and players. It was tough. Regardless though, they were defending the city. Even if Axel had murdered players and NPCs, he still had saved the city. It was out of his own greed, but still curbed the huge horde of uhyre monsters. But now, he was wanted by the city and the players even more.