Chapter 41: Zeal

Creeeeee!!

The highest pitched shriek I have ever heard, a piercing cry, passes through me. Its leftovers: goosebumps and a clear intention; even without checking the message, I would have known what it was.

[You have heard Zeal Shriek]

Rodents gain hypersensibility, obtaining an additional 25% movement speed, attack speed, and cast speed. Humanoids are affected by disorientation

Disorientation is just the system’s friendly way to tell you that you will hear every fucking squeak and shriek of those creatures. Disorientation? Hell! All I can think about is these sounds. From below. On my left. On my right. A rat caressing its whiskers. Another one chewing. Stop!

Images come and go right in front of me, interspersed by those of the rats. Soldiers barely holding themselves, struggling to defend against rats. Archers being killed left and right. Was it eating an arm? More rat heads popping out from the walls than what we’ll be able to kill.

How can we turn this around? I can barely think straight. The sounds are still overwhelming me. How can I get o-

“FOCUS!” Rand’s deafening shout awakens me. Either in a strike of genius or to regain his own mental state, this shout has broken the trance.

Looking to both sides quickly confirms that almost everyone is also getting a hold of themselves. Swords begin parrying strikes, then slashing at rats. Arrows are fired, and magic starts pouring down again.

Speaking of magic, I better get casting myself too. Heal! During this brief period of time, 15 seconds at most, we’ve suffered too many casualties. Heal! I have to get them to safe levels fast.

Also… it is now or never. Everyone is focused on close combat; I must use this opportunity. Bob, you and your ghostly brother, must go now. Remember, wreak havoc—as much chaos as you can possibly cause.

Heal! This time cast to a dual-sword wielder.

“Everyone listen!” I crank up my voice to the maximum and address every soldier I can reach. “When I give the signal, forget about the backline and fire every single rat here or near the walls! You’ll have to trust me this time.” I wait for a second, not sure if they have heard me, so I add, “for Irisgarth!!”

Some more ‘For Irisgarth’ come from here and there, which more or less confirms that the message reached far enough. And as I mentally recount them, the ground starts shaking. Its origin from outside the city, right where the enemies should be.

“Now!” If we focus our efforts on all the enemies that have already reached us and those about to, we will be able to catch a breather. The ogres will make sure their backline can not fire anymore.

With Zeal still debuffing me, I can hear the screams and panic rampaging on their backline. The fear extends to all their army, causing confusion everywhere. It’s working as a two-sided blade, it can cause dread on our lines, but it can also affect theirs.

Taking the opportunity that presents in front of us, everyone goes all out. Arrows powerfully shot at short distances go through enemy rats. Swords divide them into halves. Shield charges make them fall from the walls. Wind, fire, and all kinds of magical elements reduce them to dust.

Heal! I drink the first of the mana potions, choosing not to wait for my mana to completely deplete. Tasteless at first, but as its first contents go down my neck, a hint of bitterness develops. Not the worst drink I’ve had, actually.

I quickly check my remaining mana; I’m at 74. The natural recovery rate is at 1.2 here, so I’m gaining 3.6 mana per second. It’s not much, actually… about a heal every 7 seconds.

Heal! Some rats have already regained their composure and are hitting hard on our soldiers. And it seems it’s the same at the backlines. Bob and the spirit are getting down fast, too fast. It won’t be long until they die, 15 seconds, 20 tops.

Stop whatever you are doing and stomp the ground as hardest as you can! I rapidly give them the order, hoping their two brain cells can at least do as much.

Immediately after I give my order, a tiny shockwave reverberates through all the buildings, making pebbles and dust fall. But the party has apparently just started, as a second shockwave, several magnitudes more potent than the former one shakes the shit out of everything. That must be the boss! A smug appears on my face.

Wood moans, metal shrieks, and bricks shatter as they come in the shockwave’s path. No buildings fall at all, but I’m pretty sure some will need heavy restoration after this. It’s for the greater good… I comfort myself.

Steadily and rhythmically, more shockwaves follow after them, still of alternating strengths. Fights get interrupted everywhere as its contenders cannot keep balance or are straight thrown to the ground. Some mages, either lying on the ground, sitting, or holding against walls, are still casting spells; they have been able to remain concentrated enough.

My plan, further breaking the rat’s tempo, giving us enough time to regroup and reorganize, works flawlessly. Our parties, even if crawling on the ground, manage to come together. The alternating pattern, however, doesn’t last long; a few seconds in, I receive the first message

[Your spirit has died]

And it’s a question of some more seconds until I receive the following message.

[Your dominated soul has abandoned its vessel]

A fancy way to say it has died. I guess as the soul is still under my control, the message more or less tells me I could rebind it to another body. I’ll have to experiment with it and see what happens with its stats and skills.

Not now, tho. An arm not so long ago attached to a soldier in front of me reminds me of where I am.

Heal!

[You cannot heal fatal wounds]

Fuck, this means I can’t amend ripped arms? So there are some limitations to what I can heal and what I can’t. I have to test my spells more thoroughly. Finding this out mid-war is just irresponsible.

Heal! I abandon the armless soldier to his own luck and target the next one I catch sight of. The situation, although not so in our favor as moments ago, is still bearable. Most rats are outside the walls, and only a few have managed to stay up here.

“Looking good here! Back to targeting their backline!” Now that my ogres are gone, we must concentrate fire on them again. Having them shooting freely would be dangerous.

The half a minute they’ve bought us is priceless. Not only did we manage to reclaim the walls back, but my mana is almost full thanks to the potion, 132 and counting.

Heal! 109! I down another potion, this time feeling more intensely its bitterness, and go on a personal quest of mending people. Heal! 90! Come on, come on! Heal! 70!

Friendly hp bars overwhelm me. Wherever I look, I see numbers in red. Some I discard, too low, wounded, incapacitated, or mentally unstable to be of any use, even if fully healed. Others, I trust, will be able to go even without my help. Heal! 51!

All these decisions rushed and without much evidence at all. Surely some of them are dying because of my neglect. Heal! 31!

But at least, there are fewer and fewer enemies to fight each passing second. We are winning this war!

“FOR IRISGARTH!”

My inner self explodes with a burst of adrenaline. Announcing out loud that I’m not afraid. That we can win. Persevere!

"FOR IRISGARTH!"

"FOR IRISGARTH!"

"FOR IRISGARTH!"

Cries of war emerge from everywhere and merge with the sound of swords clashing and flesh being ripped.

“Careful now!” Isha’s voice enters my mind, using that technique of hers I can’t yet understand. Is she here? “The king is making its move, defend the gates. Do not let them in.”

The king… that bastard will pay for what he did. That motherfucking little piece of shit will experience death one time an ano- fuck! I’m getting derailed.

“I leave this to you all! Keep up, and don’t let them kill you!” I say to no one in particular, turning around and reaching for the stairs.

“Rand!” I shout as loud as I can in his general direction. I can’t see him with all the battles going on, but I trust he is still where he was assigned. “Need you by the gates right now!”

“TEAM, GATE!” His roar reaches me and probably even the enemies far out of the city.

I need someone to tank, and from those I know, he’s the best. Actually, he’s the only one I know. But whatever! I didn’t intend to have all four of us down there, but it’d be even better. Let’s see if they get the message.