《Roach》Chapter 3: The Fortress of Dwarves
Advertisement
And so we marched. I couldn't say how many roaches bravely charged forward to fight for the Queen. The dwarves buried themselves deep in the mountains hording troves of gold and old world technology. They were mostly docile enough as long as you stayed away. However, the dwarven kingdom of Naphelia was next in line to become part of our empire. They would add their own unique lives to our own, or that was at least what the Queen would say. Although, I never saw her, I knew she was there. I could smell her sweet aroma wherever we were, and it would always lead back home to the center of the empire.
In order to capture the kingdom of Naphelia, our forces would have to set up a siege. Their gates were a thousand meters thick. Gears of bronze and lava-mills kept their kingdom running. However, they were entirely dependent on trade for their food supply. The dwarves themselves were small and weak, but their minds were not so.
When we finally arrived to the siege, we felt chills in our bones both inside and out due to the excitement of it all. We finally had the chance to prove our worth to the Queen. There must have been millions of roaches there in order to take the city. A large scale effort as the empire knew their defenses would hold strong. And not just roaches were involved. Dark sorcerers and knights with reputations of brutality and sadism joined our side. Trolls and wyverns joined with us under the control of the Queen. Trebuchets were pushed through and assembled in record time. Stockpiles of food, weapons, and artillery were brought in. So much preparation for so little affect.
Brother and I made it a couple of steps. The next thing I knew, he was blown away. A blast coming from the gate blew right threw him like it was nothing. It looked like a strike of lightning. The blast only pushed me away, but Brother was gone in an instant. There wasn't even a trace of a body. I began to panic. The dwarves were doing something unthinkable. They opened the gates to show armies of giant, bronze creatures coming out. Lightning shot out of their arms. They walked like men, but had the foot stomps of giants. And along the gates, giant mounted crossbows fired bolts of lightning where they stood.
Advertisement
Roaches charged forward chanting, "Glory to the Queen! For the Queen! For the Queen's Empire!"
But those chants quickly turned to either screams of pain or utter silence. The armies of roaches turned from the millions to the thousands in minutes. The trolls were even easier to hit. The wyverns thought that they could take to the skies, but the bolts of lightning went through them, too. It was a slaughter. They had kept technology from the rest of the world that no other had obtained or invented. By using technology from the old world, they had created weapons that could destroy hordes of enemies. They knew we would come and they were ready.
You may ask what I did during this. I didn't try to fight for glory. I fought to stay alive. I tried to take cover behind boulders and the bodies of other roaches. Dirt, blood, and mud mixed together. When the hordes of roaches did get far enough, they were able to attack the bronze giants, but our swords and crossbows were ineffective against them. We fired volleys of arrows at them, but they did nothing. Even if they stuck inside of them, they kept moving as if they didn't feel a thing.
I had to think of a way to salvage the situation.
I tried to recall information about the dwarves that I read up on at the library. Their fortresses were usually impenetrable, but there were flaws. Every one of these mountains had an extra exit for their king to escape through if they did fail in keeping their throne. And that exit could be used as a secret entrance.
But I had no way of knowing where that entrance would be.
And then suddenly, one of the generals picked me and pushed me forward.
Advertisement
"Charge, roach! Get out there and kill for our Queen!" he shouted, "For glory!"
And the next moment, he was shot by one of the bolts of lightning.
As more roaches charged forward with their swords in hand, I had no choice but to charge forward hoping that I wouldn't get blown to pieces. I knew what my duty was. I knew my purpose. It was to fight for the Queen. I couldn't go back lest I be killed by my own superiors.
Bolts of lightning were fired at every direction. Our arrows flew all around. To my dismay, some even hit our own roaches.
And as I charged alongside my fellow roaches, we came upon one of those bronze giants. It had eyes shining bright blue. There was no face. Just a mindless creature created only to kill. I took my blade and tried to hit it, but my blade snapped in two immediately after I did. It tried to fire a bolt of lightning at me, but I dodged and picked up another blade from the ground. I tried to stab into the opening that I could find between the knees. It was a tiny slit, but just enough for my blade to fit. And as I did, the creature's leg began to break and fall apart. I felt like I had cut some arteries, but instead of blood, lava and electricity sparked out. The creature was disabled, but still moving as if still had it's leg. I climbed aboard it's back and began to stab it at the opening in the armpits. More lava and electricity flowed out. Whatever this monster was, it still had weaknesses just like any other armored creature.
As I watched the battle, the odds were stacked against us. But as time passed, the bronze giants were being overwhelmed. Roaches swarmed over them like a wave. We may have lost a lot, but our sheer numbers and willingness to fight gave us the advantage at the end.
The gates closed leaving whatever bronze giants which were outside to die. The dwarves hid behind a wall as they fired more bolts of lightning from their crossbows.
It took time and luck, but I reached the gates without getting killed. By that time, the other roaches began to climb up the gate. When I tried to crawl up the walls, my fingers sharpened and stuck to the walls. Each one of us started to crawl over each other. Our numbers dwindled, but this was my purpose. To fight for the Queen and give her the satisfaction of glorious victory.
Advertisement
Spartan (Re)
Thor, a genetically engineered super-soldier finds himself as the chosen champion of Ares, God of War. Thrown into a universe wide Battle Royal. But does Thor have what it takes to sacrifice everything, to reach to top? A LitRPG-ish story with no ‘status screen’, no attributes, no skills and no game nonsense. Only the Abilities granted by Gods upon their chosen champions. Thor will not be Over-powered, nor will he be perfect. After all, he’s only human. Or is he? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Long awaited Return of Spartan!
8 204Oh Great, I Was Reincarnated as a Farmer.
What do you get when you cross Home Alone, Isekai, litrpg, and a farming simulator? You get Arnold’s life, that’s what you get. Accidently murdered by a cleric in another universe in a botched resurrection, Arnold, a semi-pro gamer, finds himself incarnated into the overweight corpse of that universes version of him. It could be a bad joke, but apparently, it happens so often that they have a standard procedure for returning you. That standard procedure doesn't apply to Arnold. Now stuck on a new earth with no way home, Arnold must use his gaming skills to figure out how to level his farmer class to 100 and gain a new class that doesn't make him want to beat his head against the wall. There is one little problem. Farmers don't gain experience from killing monsters. Like at all. Follow Arnold as he comes to grips with his new reality and discovers creative ways to improve it.(This was originally put up for feedback purposes, so I could finish my final edit, before publishing on Amazon. There were originally only going to be 20 chapters, but I needed more feedback so I bribed the readers to reread my new first chapter with 4 more chapters. The whole novel will not be going up on royal road. This novel will be taken down on the 10th of May.)Amazon link below. Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer
8 69The Slayer and the Sphinx
What if every magical creature you'd ever heard of was real, driven into hiding by an army of violent zealots? This is reality for Sarah Heisen and Porter Collins. Sarah is a sphinx living a life of luxury in her family's mansion. Hidden from all danger, but shut off from the world, she wants nothing more than to escape. Porter is the Slayer's most promising recruit, and his skill is matched only by his hatred for those he hunts. The two are brought together as enemies, but fate has different plans for them. When an accident erases Porter's memory, he clings to Sarah for support. Now they are lost, injured, and helpless. If they want to survive, they will have to work together- and they may change the world as a result. The Slayer and the Sphinx is featured on Web Fiction Guide and Novels Online! www.webfictionguide.com http://novelsonline.info/
8 178Mushoku Tensei: That one forgotten Mob
Life is filled with the unexpected. Today is another normal day in life, as I passed the time with my friends to bully the cursed superd child feared in the village to show our might to her. A water ball suddenly hit us. The kid from the knight's office was unleashing his spell to attack us, the bully. Never would I expect that simple water ball to create a trigger for memories to fill my brain. I was 5 at that time, and the memories were jumbled. I don't know whether it’s mine or another's. I just know that this is not a memory of a single person. And, from that memory, I know that I’m actually a mob... I’m one of Sylphiette’s bullies. You won’t know me since I am not named in any of the works, whether they were manga, novels, or even anime. Heck, I only say one word and I'm dead in the next part. an actual mob, where I don’t even appear in either the opening or the ending of the anime. The thing happened so suddenly. I don’t know whether I am reincarnated, transmigrated, or just receiving some memories from someone in the real world. The deadline is 5 years from now, the day the Metastasis incident happened. Can I be another prodigy in the Mushoku Tensei world, or will I still be another slightly better mob? Disclaimer! *I’m not a native, so please do tell me if you find any grammar mistakes or better word choices. *!!! There'd be a lot of web novel parts and less Claude's POV, but it'll get focused over time, so be patient and skim if you don't like some parts. I made it So other reader Can Understand where they are in the Story. It's also my timeline note! *Thank you very much for reading and your feedback. *R-18 tags for gore and profanity.
8 245Words to My Demons | Poetry ✔️
❝she was simple, an angel born without wings. yet she was special, an enchanting song her lost soul sings. ❞ A dark and deep poetry collection of every little thing that makes us both unique and insane.~ Highest ranking in Poetry: #7 ~ 1st Place in 2018 Ocean Awards ~ 1st Place 2018 Monthly Genre Awards ~
8 350Pᴏᴇᴛʀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ Wʜɪꜱᴘᴇʀꜱ
my last entry. Started: March 23, 2022Finished: October 30, 2022
8 161