Chapter 200: Sabotage
Arrows fell from the sky, pelting the land with their iron edges. Thunder and lightning crackled through the sky, covering the cries of the wounded warriors. Small fiery explosions covered the ground, leaving patches of flaming land that could melt a kobold in an instant.
The Dragon Kin crossbows had a much smaller range than the Wolves of the Night's longbows. That forced them to stay behind cover while the Wolves rushed through the battlefield. The canines started to move forward while raising shields to stop incoming bolts. Before one of the kobolds stepped forward, a stone fist flew towards the ground, destroying the cover and revealing a trap where the creature was about to step in. Rose, Chloe, and Peter were doing the same, attacking different spots to reveal the pitfalls. They couldn't find one with every single attack, but their accuracy wasn't half bad. Every three attacks would show at least one trap. That was only when counting the newbies. Rose could create a sort of cluster bomb that could impact a large area. Even if the attack wouldn't deal much damage, it was enough to break the cover open.
Hera and her group were still heading towards the ballistas. They had to slow down as they got closer not to disturb the illusion. The Omegas accompanying them were only in charge of the cover and would keep them up even after the attack began. They were here to watch and learn and not to interfere with the sabotage. After crossing the barricade line, Alan told them all to stop. The first ballista was already in sight, with a small group of lizard kobolds working on reloading the bolt that was almost like a tree trunk. None of the shots managed to reach the Wolves, but they were getting closer.
"Alex, Hera. Can you two get close to that without being seen?" Alan asked.
"I think so. Or at least without been seen by them, not sure if anyone behind would notice," Alex said after analyzing the field.
"Do you think you could make a smaller-scale version of that illusion just on us?" Hera asked the Omegas.
"We cannot. The image can only be shown in close proximity to us. If we follow you, even the Dragon Kin will be able to sense the spell in action."
"I got you," Alan said, placing his hands on Hera's and Alex's shoulders. He cast a barrier covering them in soft light at first, but their skin and clothes quickly started to change colors. It was an effect close to a chameleon cloak, but less effective. The colors wouldn't match what they touched, but they did change. If they were invading a place where everyone was on high alert, this would do nothing to help, but it could be just enough to keep them hidden in the heat of war.
"OK, should we just sabotage the thing or try to break it completely?" Alex asked.
"Kill the kobolds, but leave the ballista intact. The plan is to use it to destroy the others," Alan replied.
"Right, I spaced out, sorry."
"No worries, now get ready. They are preparing the second strike. Try to get close to them and use the noise of the second wave of shots to kill the kobolds," two of the five Omegas huffed at Alan's comment but didn't say a word.
Alex and Hera activated their [Hide] skill and started moving towards the first ballista. It was an ugly thing. They used a piece of metal with odd edges to make the arms, which were already all battered and scratched. The body wasn't a single well-constructed piece. Instead, there were several scraps of wood all smashed and hammered together like a hurried job at closing holes in a leaky boat. There were no wheels or supports in front. They were using the wooden barricades to angle the weapon and to change the height. They had to place more wood under the blockade. It was by no means the elegant design that Hera had seen during the war against Light Fur. These seemed even worse than the version that Bonnie helped improve. The arrows were even weirder. It was like someone just slapped a metal tip in the top of a tree and sent it flying. Some had not only the bark surrounding their bodies, but even branches that would splinter as they were fired.
There were only five kobolds around the ballista, and the siege weapons had quite a distance between each other. Hera quickly activated her [Observe].
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Kobold – Lizard – Level 4
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All the kobolds had the same level, and they were relatively small. Four had to work together to place the massive arrow in the ballista before they all set up the angle. The way they were organized was much more complicated than it had to be. The creatures started arguing, making the time between shots get even further apart. Hera and Alex took that opportunity to get even closer, but now they had to leave the cover of the barricades. Since they would be using the structure as a support, it could break down as the ballista fired.
The kobolds finally managed to set everything up and were ready to fire. At the same time, Hera and Alex were like two wolves on the prowl, hiding in plain sight and waiting to strike.
"Now! Now! Fire!" a shrill voice came from beyond the first ballista. All the kobolds started firing the weapons.
Alex dashed straight to the kobold in front of the firing mechanism, ignoring the others in her path. Hera followed right behind her but aimed at the one closest to them. Alex pulled her dagger in a swift motion and cut open the creature's throat, blood spraying all over the ballista. She moved so quickly that the others couldn't react to the attack in time, but now, they turned to her, already snarling. Hera took advantage of the distraction and slash the closest kobold's head, splitting its skull with relative ease. Alex turned towards the remaining three and jumped towards them, daggers slashing the creatures wildly, carving their flesh in a storm of cuts. Hera went for the one that managed to avoid the strike, grabbing its mouth to prevent it from calling for help.
"Enemy! Here! Help!"
For a moment, Hera got confused. She held the kobold's mouth shut, but it was still speaking. Only after the last cry, she realized that the sound came from behind her. Although Alex's attack was effective and the creatures wouldn't survive the onslaught, it allowed them to scream for help. Knowing there could be backup, Hera quickly dispatched the monster she held and looked around, searching for any incoming backup.
Some Dragon Kin were rushing towards the cries for help. They came from the back of the army, while others from the ballistas groups responded to the call. Hera used her Poison shower to block a path and pulled her chakram. Since the enemies wouldn't be at close range, using the tripwire style in an open area would be very effective.
Alex finished the two kobolds and tumbled over the ballista, already sending her ranged spell towards the creatures. Hera noticed that something was different with the wind cutter. Instead of the slightly green blade of wind, it now had a silver form with green energy surrounding it. Before she could even consider what she had seen, the first kobold got in her range. Tossing the chakram in an arc, she pulled the string so the blade would hit the creature's back. Hera avoided using mana reinforcement to control the trajectory. During the briefing, Alan and Rose warned them to save their mana when possible. Since they had no way of knowing how long the fights would take, the best option was to always keep enough mana for an emergency escape.
Looking to the side, Alex didn't seem to be thinking about that. The silver blades flew off her daggers one after another. Whatever spell she was using it was clearly more powerful than the wind cutter, which also meant it was more costly.
"Alex, stop! Save your mana," Hera pulled her chakram back.
"I just wanna kill those things!" Alex yelled.
"We have the entire week. Don't waste it all now," Hera glanced to the side and saw the kobolds that came from the army getting very close, "Switch sides with me and take care of those."
Without waiting for a reply, Hera moved behind Alex and closer to the spiked barricades, tossing her chakram once more. She wanted to use her poison needle to start damaging the kobolds in the other groups, but for some reason, she couldn't use that spell while the poison shower was still active. For now, zoning out the group coming from the main army seemed more important.
"Great work, girls!" Alan shouted as he and the rest of the group arrived, "Tiff, Blue, help me turn this thing, aim at the other ballistas. Kenji, grab some wood and set up support. It doesn't need to be high, just enough to lift the arms of the ground."
They quickly set up the ballista while Alex, and Hera kept the incoming kobolds at bay. The other siege weapons were still aiming at the Wolves of the Night. Even with the human attack, they wouldn't stop their barrage. Fortunately, they were very slow. Before even a single bolt was loaded in the ballista to the side, Alan fired the ballista he hijacked. The bolt flew towards the second weapon, hitting its side and breaking in right in the middle. The projectile kept going and smashed against a third ballista, but it only made it topple.
Hera had to pull back her chakram not to get in the way of the arrows being fired. Alex was already intercepting the reinforcements coming from the back of the army. She moved quickly between the kobolds, cutting them open in just a few moves. At the same time, the broken blades of the Dragon Kin were cutting through her arms and torso. Alan's barrier was clearly working overtime, healing each slash as it happened. Hera moved around, placing another shower spray in front of the stolen ballista, and headed towards Alex. The assassin was too far away from the rest of the group which worried Hera. If she got swarmed, it would be hard to pull her out.
Alex was relentless. Each attack she received was paid back in double. There was a trail of dead kobolds behind her that could compete with the damage the ballista was doing. Before she could reach her friend, Hera noticed that the barrier couldn't keep up with the damage being dealt. Small cuts appeared around the exposed parts of her body, but they didn't even make her flinch. Hera ignored the kobolds and dashed towards Alex.
"Stop! You are in too deep!" Hera yelled, but Alex didn't seem to hear.
Trying to grab her arm was a bad move. It was likely that Hera would be the one ending up getting stabbed. Her idea was a weird one, but it was the best she had. Pulling her mana to her hands, Hera flung a few fire arrows around the assassin, trying to get her attention. It took nine arrows before Alex turned around.
"Watch where you are throwing those things!"
"Stop running! You are too far away from the rest of the group!" Hera pointed back to the ballista. They were already about fifty meters away.
Alex turned around and killed another kobold before heading back to the ballista. With the entire group together, they kept firing shot after shot towards the remaining siege weapons. Hera, Alex, and Kenji took care of the kobolds while the rest reloaded the ballista and fired again and again. Even after breaking all the other ballistas, they kept firing until all the bolts were gone. Only then they headed back towards the place where the Omegas were. Hera used her grease fire to burn up the ballista they were using before leaving. Just as they arrived behind the illusion, a notification appeared in front of them.
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Quest complete
Sabotage the tools of war 1
The ballistas have been destroyed. It will take a large effort to rebuild them.
The Dragon Kin will have 20% fewer ballistas during the next day.
Each ballista will have 20% less range and reload speed.
Each ballista has a 1% chance of breaking after firing, making it unusable during the rest of the war.
Dragon Kin morale -100
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