Chapter 6: Planning and Taking Action

Written by Etnalla

Edited by Goald3n

Their luck had run out.

It was now 10:00 p.m, Judge and Lucky had managed to make it another hour marching through the storm before finally running into trouble.

Wendigos.

An entire pack of wendigos camped around an entrance to the mines. There were ten runts and five warriors; all of them gathered together in front of the entrance and it didn't look like they were going to leave any time soon. Right in the middle of the group of wendigos was a pile of bloody corpses.

Whether they were animal or human Judge couldn't tell. The pile was exactly just that, a pile, any recognizable features of human or animal was gone—just a huge bloody pile of meat. Still, Judge thought that given the state of Blackwood Mountain right now it was unlikely that any humans would be present on it to be eaten by wendigos.....at least that's what he hoped.

As for why they were looking for the mines, that was Lucky's idea. The kid had told him a few moments after they left the bear behind that Blackwood Mountain used to have a mining operation and that the mines were a good place to take shelter from the storm. Judge was grateful that Lucky had knowledge of the mission world, from stories he'd heard in the past that kind of inside information could draw the line between failure and success. He'd wish the kid had told him earlier, this entrance had been a bitch to find and the search might've been easier if they'd began looking before the storm picked up.

It was already strong before, now it was utterly monstrous. The winds were like beasts biting at their skin. The cold an unseen hand, wrapping around them and numbing them to the bone. Mounds of snow began to pile up and cover everything in site. In fact Judge and Lucky were positioned atop one of these mounds, looking down the incline at the wendigos and the mine entrance.

Strangely the snow didn't seem to fall on the ground in front of the mine. Everything within five meters of the entrance was free from snow, leaving only the cold frozen ground. This told Judge that the mines were definitely the place to go. The mission worlds normally had clues like this serve as a guide—marking areas that hold mission unique opportunities. Helpful as they were, one still had to find them first and often, unless you knew where to look for them, you wouldn't find them.

They needed a plan. Rushing at the wendigos would only get them killed. Together they had a total of five shots from their Godly Zhuge Crossbows. One shot could take down a runt, so assuming they landed all of their shots, they could take down five runts but that would still leave five runts and five warriors left—more than enough to kill them.

In addition to that they had, in total, 2 guns, 41 bullets, 4 regular grenades, 12 multi-type grenades, 3 earth shield magic scrolls and 3 fireball magic scrolls—unlike Lucky, Judge chose more firepower over defense. While he was pretty sure that regular weapons wouldn't manage to hurt enemies from mission worlds, Judge didn't quickly discard the use of their guns and grenades. They were still worth a try, and even if they didn't kill the wendigos a grenade to the face would definitely slow them down.

The best course of action would be to use the multi-type grenades' incendiary mode against the wendigos since, as Lucky had also informed him, they were weak to fire. The only problem was that the incendiary mode needed fifteen seconds to activate, and if the wendigos managed to close the distance between them or get out of the range of the incendiary—something that they also didn't know—they'd miss their chance to catch the wendigos unaware and be forced to use the Crossbow and the magic scrolls whose effect on the warrior wendigos were unknown. Worst case scenario they would be torn apart by the wendigos before they even had a chance to react. They couldn't just unload everything they had at the group either, even if in the unlikely chance it would work it would still leave them weaponless when they entered the mine, which was sure to be crawling with even more danger.

"So, did I miss anything, Lucky?" Judge asked after outlining their current situation.

"Nope, gotta say though, I am really impressed with you, bro. You really thought of everything, as expected of my bro. I definitely wouldn't have picked a dumb bro. Still, I think you missed a few things." Replied Lucky beside him.

"What? If you have anything I'm all ears." In the short while he's known Lucky, Judge had learned a few things. For one the kid was most definitely insane, he'd watched Lucky switch between energetic idiot, to childlike, to angry and immature, to cold and calculating all within the few hours they'd been together. Judge wasn't quite sure what was going in Lucky's head, and frankly, he didn't want to know. He wasn't the kind of person capable of shouldering another person's burdens, in fact he could barely shoulder his own. Still, he felt no threat from the kid—only trust—and, regardless of what his past kept reminding him, Judge was not someone who rewarded trust with betrayal.

Aside from his promise, Judge also had another reason to keep Lucky alive and with him. Despite the boy's clear instability, Lucky was quite smart.....at least as he was now.

"The first thing I noticed was that you assumed we'd only have to deal with fifteen wendigos. There's a chance that there are more wendigos in the mines, if there aren't any, no need to worry about it, but if there are then designing the whole plan on the assumption that we only have fifteen to worry about will definitely get us killed."

"Interesting... We should make a backup plan for that possibility. Anything else?" Asked Judge.

"Nothing much else. There are a few more but none of them are as important as that one. It should be more than just a backup plan. It should be the main plan. Developing a plan based on the assumption that more enemies may appear is much more beneficial than a plan that assumes the opposite." Lucky went on.

"Examples?"

"First, if we operate under the assumption that we will have to face more enemies in the future we will be more conservative of our equipment. This means whatever plan we make must be designed carefully to ensure maximum output with minimum input. Whereas if we assumed the opposite we would much more easily be drawn into a plan involving overkill given the significant threat even one wendigo poses.

"Second it would subconsciously prevent us from lowering our guard. If we believe there are more enemies right around the corner then it will force us to keep our guard up and be more observant of our surroundings. This is important so that even when we don't see anymore wendigos, or we have wiped them out we will not automatically relax. A mistake that, if done even for a split second, may cost us our lives."

"I see...." Judge knew that Lucky had made two very good points just now, and the mistake he'd pointed out was not a slight one. Underestimating your enemy would lead to you being overconfident and not as careful in your attack while overestimating would lead you to be more wary and creative in your plan of attack.

"Well then if that's the case care to provide us with any strategies applying this? It might prevent us from being overly wasteful with our resources but the main purpose of these equipments are to keep us alive. Therefore I believe that rather than attempt to preserve a future life, we must act to preserve our current one first. While overkill is definitely a waste, we know nothing of the true capabilities of the wendigos—both runts and warriors—and I think the extra resources put in to ensure their dead are resources well spent." Judge argued back.

"Well, bro. I might have to disagree with you there...but frankly we don't have the time. My body is already getting quite numb at the moment and I'm sure yours is too. Regardless of what plan of action we take it will be useless if our bodies are too numb to carry it out or we end up having to chop of a limb due to frostbite. Don't get me wrong, I think overkill is a stupid idea and a waste, but I trust you to not be stupid enough to use up all our equipment to enter the mines." Lucky paused for a moment before smiling. "After all, you're my bro aren't you? I'm sure you'll make the best plan there could be!"

Once again Judge was shocked at the rapid change in Lucky's demeanor, switching from cold and mature to childlike and innocent in a flash. The kid trusted him to make a plan to save the both of them based on the fact that he considered him his 'bro'. While trust like that could be built it was the product of years of close interaction, not something that can come into existence after barely three hours. Still, still, Judge couldn't find any hint at all that the kid was lying or tricking him—he was trained to do that.

Truthfully, he wanted a bit more time to think up a plan, but Lucky was right again. They had to move quickly. The storm was getting stronger and the effectiveness of their clothes in keeping them warm was lessening by the second. Whatever type of plan they decided to go with they had to start making it now.

"Okay then," Judge said after thinking over the options for a bit. "I have an idea. It's will be quite dangerous but if we pull it off getting into the mines is guaranteed. I have something to ask of you though Lucky."

"What? You can't be thinking of telling me stay out the fight? While you are my bro, I don't appreciate the idea of being looked down upon." Replied Lucky with a slightly annoyed tone.

Judge chuckled. "Wouldn't dream of it, Lucky. In God's Dimension it's kill or be killed. There's no room to think about protecting someone here, everyone must fight for their own lives. I promised to keep you alive for this mission, but don't think that means I will put your life over mine.

Lucky looked at Judge for a moment before smiling back. "As expected of my bro. By the way, you should expect the same from me to. I'll help you, just as long as it won't get me killed. But I don't think you're the kind of person to sacrifice someone anyway. So, your plan, let's hear it."

This kid isn't as naive as I thought. Never thought I'd be read that easily...

Slightly amused by the situation Judge explained his plan to Lucky. "So, listen carefully, I need you to....."

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I hope the kid does his part well. If he doesn't time it right we're both screwed... Judge thought as he watched the wendigos from atop a mound of snow. The wendigos were still busy picking at the pile of flesh in front of the entrance; the entire five meter area in front of it covered in blood. The runts ate small scattered bits and pieces that fell off the pile while the warriors ate directly from it. Judge could hear the sounds of their feasting. Flesh squelching as the wendigos dug into the pile, bones crunching loudly between their teeth, and the constant screeches of ecstasy as they feverishly relished their meal.

The scene was disturbing, and once again Judge hoped that no humans had become a part of the pile of flesh. His stomach turned as he watched the wendigos' twisted feast and smelt the blood and gore that drifted from it. Judge tolerated all of it as he waited for Lucky's signal that he was ready.

After waiting for a few moments that seemed to stretch forever, Lucky's signal finally came. On the opposite side of where Judge was waiting a massive flame rose up. He could feel the flame's heat all the way from where he was sitting and watched as it instantly melted the ice. The wendigos leaped back in panic. The creatures feared fire above all else and the flame from the incendiary grenade was something which was leagues above ordinary flame.

That's my queue.

Seeing the wendigos were distracted Judge took advantage of the opportunity and threw two grenades at the wendigos: one normal and one chemical. After throwing the grenades he immediately ran from his position and made his way to the direction of the flame; running around the elevated perimeter of the five meter snow free area.

The wendigos quickly took notice of him, given he was running with no intent to hide, and prepared to give chase while screaming in anger. It was at the moment the normal grenade went off, knocking the warriors off balance and sending the runts flying. Judge had ducked before hand and was able to avoid the shrapnel from the grenades, and resumed running after the explosions took place.

Judge looked back at down at the wendigos and, seeing the warriors recover quickly and the runts down but with no visible injuries, knew he guessed correctly that normal weapons would be ineffective, but what he saw next was what really caught his attention. Beginning the exit from the mine entrance were twenty more runts and ten more warriors—double the number standing outside.

The wendigos on the inside must have brought out by the loud noises and the sudden rise in temperature brought on by the grenades. Now, there were a total 45 wendigos present—30 runts and 15 warriors. Judge just smiled at that, Lucky had been right to say assuming there were less wendigos was dangerous if they entered the mines and been caught unaware by 10 warriors and 20 runts they'd be torn apart before they'd know it. But now that they expected it they could deal with it.

Right before the wendigos could exit the cave a massive flame enveloped the entrance. This was precisely the other chemical grenade that Judge had thrown. He'd aimed it so that it landed right beside the entrance and used the two normal grenades to distract the wendigos from it.

The entire entrance to the cave was blocked, the flames of the grenade and some wendigos who were to near it when it went off were enveloped in the flames. More screams rang out at the wendigos shrieked in fear and pain. Judge and Lucky weren't sure how effective the grenade would be on the wendigos but from the looks of it it was very effective.

Of the wendigos that were caught in the fire Judge could see around 6 runts and 2 warriors. The runts were almost instantly charred black by the fire while the warriors had major burns across their bodies but, incredibly, none of the wendigos had died. Judge didn't receive any point notification like when he killed the runt that was about to attack Lucky. Still, now that they sealed of the reinforcements they would have a much easier time dealing with what was left.

Taking advantage of the opportunity Judge slowed down his running and opened fire at the wendigos. Using his gun he experimentally fired at the wounded wendigos and was pleasantly surprised to see the bullets have an effect—though only in the areas where there were burns.

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO RUNT KILLED: +100 POINTS]

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO RUNT KILLED: +100 POINTS]

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO RUNT KILLED: +100 POINTS]

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO WARRIOR KILLED: +1000 POINTS]

Judge felt that he might have been able to kill more if it wasn't for the fact that the 3 uninjured warriors, and even the heavily burned warrior were giving chase. The wendigos were faster than him and if he didn't give it his all they'd be able to quickly catch up. Don't be greedy, Judge. Points aren't worth anything if you don't make it out of here.

Now that he had finished attracting the attention of the wendigos, Judge changed his direction and sped up. He had to lead the wendigos as far away as he could from the entrance of the mine. This was Judge's part of the plan.

Its up to Lucky, now. I wish that was my job, but the kid ain't got the stamina to last a chase with these things..... Still, the amount of points that kid is gonna get is just insane...provided he doesn't die, of course.

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Lucky walked down the slope onto the snow less area. The entire scene was like something out of a nightmare. Gore and blood covered the ground dying the area in shades of brutal red. The explosions and heat from the fire blackened the earth, while the massive roaring fire enveloping the entrance was like the jaws of an infernal beast or the gateway to some hell.

If Lucky was any other Lucky at the moment then he might have been afraid or in awe of the scene but as he was now it meant nothing to him. All that was in front of him was simply a product of something else, two of those he had control over and what he didn't have control over was not present—the wendigos were busy chasing his bro while the reinforcements were trapped behind the fire. Why would have any reason to be afraid?

His gaze moved over to the 3 charred runts that were still alive, squirming pathetically, in spite of being burned. Lucky calmly walked over to them and, smoothly drawing his gun, fired a bullet into each of their heads.

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO RUNT KILLED: +100 POINTS]

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO RUNT KILLED: +100 POINTS]

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO RUNT KILLED: +100 POINTS]

The plan they came up with was simple. They would avoid direct confrontation if they could and focus on getting to the mine. If there were no extra wendigos that would come his bro would attract the wendigos attention via grenades—a normal one to disorient and an incendiary to startle them and seal of their escape—and lead them away while Lucky sneaked into the cave to prepare to blow the entrance the moment Judge returned. This plan was easier on Lucky and relied on his bro to complete it.

On the other hand, if there were more wendigos that would come after they started the attack Judge's incendiary would also function to seal of the entrance and prevent them from coming out while he'd lure away any wendigos that came from the outside. That meant it was Lucky's job to deal with the wendigos in the mine.

After killing the runts Lucky walked over to the entrance of the mines. He stood just far enough from the flames to keep him from getting burnt, but close enough that he could feel the heat coming from it. He could hear the runts and warriors trapped behind the mine screaming in fury at the fire—some of them sounded heavily injured and in pain.

There were 30 wendigos right behind the fire—20 runts and 10 warriors. He knew the runts would be easy to kill if injured but the warriors would still be able to move. From what he saw, a large number of them had been caught in the fire when the grenade activated. That meant many of those behind the curtain of flame would be injured or close to death.

Lucky took out the items his bro had given him in case the wendigos came from the mines. Three fire scrolls. The plan was for him to fire two fireballs at the wendigos while they were still clustered together and stuck in the mine, but he hesitated. Did he have to use the two fire scrolls to kill the wendigos? He had just seen his bro kill a warrior with a bullet and if he did the same he wouldn't have to waste the scrolls. Couldn't he just fire at the wendigos through the fire or wait till the it died down and throw in another grenade? Throwing in another grenade now wouldn't work—the fire and heat would activate it the moment they made contact.

While he was busy thinking the fire parted and three black shapes shot out from within it. Wendigos. He jumped back quickly, dodging the claws of one of the creatures and coming to a stop a few feet away from it. The three wendigos that jumped through the fire were injured—their skin was covered completely in vicious burns, and in some parts the flesh had been burned off revealing only bone.

Lucky cursed his stupidity. His hesitation had almost gotten him killed and the wendigos might still do so. Immediately after he landed he'd drawn his gun and fired at the wendigos.

The wendigos were still disoriented from leaping through the fire—their bodies were wracked with pain and minds numbed with fear. While they reacted quite fast facing Lucky's attack one of them was more injured than the others and reacted slower, making it an easy target.

[QUEST REWARD, WENDIGO WARRIOR KILLED: +1000 POINTS]

After killing one warrior Lucky ran up back the slope while firing to keep the wendigos from approaching. However, the wendigos weren't deterred at all by the bullets and rushed at Lucky, and, as luck would have it, he needed to reload.

With both claws and teeth bared, the wendigos leapt at him. In response he tucked his body into a ball and rolled forward back down the slope. One of the claws missed him but the other was a direct hit.

His body coming to a stop at the bottom of the slope, Lucky screamed in pain. His eyes grew foggy as agony ripped through his body. He looked down at his left arm and saw a massive cut right down to the bone on it. It was a brutal looking wound, the flesh looked torn rather than cut, blood was flowing out of it like a stream, and the white bone bared to the elements.

Currents of pain ran all across his body threatening to override his consciousness. As he was now, paralyzed in pain, the wendigos would have no problem killing him. However, Lucky wouldn't just give up so easily. He heard the wendigos screech again and, fighting the pain, reached into his pockets and pulled out a scroll. With the wendigos screeching coming closer, the adrenaline running through his body gave him enough presence of mind to pull open the scroll.

*Slam*

Opening his eyes which had been clenched in fear and pain, Lucky was immediately greeted by the sight of a wendigo's milky white eye looking right at him. His heart immediately jumped into his mouth at the sight but calmed down after he saw the transparent earthen yellow shell separating him from the wendigo. The earth shield managed to activate just moments before the wendigo's teeth had reached him.

He still wasn't in the clear though. The two wendigos were enraged by their burns and were brutally pounding on the shield and slashing at it with their claws. Cracks were beginning to form on the shell and it looked just about to give.

There wasn't any time to think of anything else. Lucky reached into his pockets and pulled out two regular grenades. The multi-type ones would take too long arm and the shell would break at any moment. He pulled the pins on the grenades and tossed them up to go through the shield....only for it bounce off and fall back down.

Lucky made a mistake had assumed the shield would let him attack from the inside but he was wrong and now he was stuck in the shell with two activated grenades. Any other time Lucky would already be panicking but for some reason his mind was clearer than ever before. The pain in his arm was felt distant and the wendigos bashing on the shell looked to be slowing down. Everything seemed to be slowing down.

Calm and composed Lucky brought out another earth shield spell scroll and recaptured the grenades in his left hand. Without any hesitation he raised his hand holding the grenades and at the same time pulled open the spell scroll with his teeth. Another shield sprang into place behind the first one. The only difference being that this time Lucky's left hand and part of his left arm was not behind it.

Lucky watched the wendigos pound on the shield. The cracks were everywhere now and would break soon enough. He just laid back waited. Strangely, he felt quite calm with the situation it felt much simpler now that he'd thought about it. Either he'd die or he would live. Either the two grenades would be enough to kill the injured wendigos or not. He'd done all he could at the moment now it was all up to....luck.

The first shield cracked and the wendigos pounced down at Lucky. Right as that happened Lucky closed his eyes and felt the grenades in his hands go off.

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Author’s note

Editor’s note

You guys are lucky Author san made an extra long chapter, this one was like a boss monster to edit due to length. Are you guys excited for next chapter! Sneak peek on judge next chapter!