Chapter 6.10 - Legionnaire Class

It had been three days of constant conflict, but the subjugation was nearing its end. Archangels had tirelessly worked rescuing stranded pockets of survivors and transporting them to the safety of the noble district. Fresh supplies had continuously been dropped off, and the refugees no longer looked terrified. Almost all of the injured had been cared for and now Team Witchdoctor spent their time telling stories about Haven to entertain children and adults alike.

Serin had not a speck of grime on his uniform. He had spent most of his time in planning and meeting with various leaders of the different teams. 'It might be that my fighting days are behind me.' he had mused. Other than the dungeon, it had been years since he was involved in conflict.

Or so he thought.

As a specific supply ship came in, Serin saw something he was not expecting. Something that definitely broke the expectation of the operation.

There in their custom armor, with no faceplates or methods of disguising their appearance whatsoever were Jericho, Jasper, Veronica Seven Blades, and the recently revived Fast Eddie.

These were heroes of old. There were even still tavern songs about them in some of the far reaching parts of the Northern Kingdoms, because they were members of one of the last great guilds, before the freeze on power and the stagnation of growth caused by Marcus and his magistrates.

Serin looked at them, "You realize that this country thinks one of you has been kidnapped, 2 of you are dead, and the last is wanted for war crimes, right?"

Jericho shook his head, "Sorry lad, but we had to come. I couldn't miss my opportunity."

Serin furled his brow, "What opportunity?"

Jericho pointed out. From this vantage point in the noble district, they could see clearly over the district wall, over the smoldering buildings and various skirmishes with monsters. Past the eastern district to the Docks. Past the jetties. There, stone was being hammered by monstrous waves. Unnatural waves.

"You see Ser, ahem, Subjugator, do you remember long ago the phrase you said when you were classed monster hunter?"

Serin remembered, "If the divines favor me, I shall conquer a titan."

Jericho laughed, "That's right. It's not a suggestion. It's a requirement."

Jericho then explained, "When you hit level 99, you are capped until you meet the divines' requirement for advancement. For a monster hunter it's to conquer a titan. Since Rachel is in charge of the woodland domain and the wildscouts, she has met her requirement and Allister has been striving to find texts on becoming a shade. But alas, I have never conquered a titan."

Jericho was armed to the teeth. They all were.

"I was planning on bombarding the seamonster until it just went away."

Jericho laughed, "Nay lad, I need to meet my requirement, and it clearly states that I can have up to a party of 5. I thought you might be interested in the last spot."

Serin grinned, "What's the plan?"

***

Serin was surprised at the plan. Since conquering a titan was a divine decree, at level 99 Jericho was given the right to challenge one when it was within range. Everyone else was given a basic rundown of what varieties the oceans had, and what could possibly show up. Jericho would deal with hit and run, Fast Eddie would bomb it, Jasper would lend support at range, Veronica would deal with any minions that arrived, and Serin would use powerful spells to blow out is legs, tentacles, or claws. That plan covered the vast majority of what might appear.

They were not happy with what appeared.

Jericho did his part. The docks had been cleared of all of the other wilds, and buildings had been toppled to ensure that nothing that came from the waters made its way into town. Standing on the dockside belltower, Jericho called out to the creature waving in the water.

"Titan of Terra, Jericho the White Wolf challenges you to combat for superiority. Your kind, dominators of this world, are bound by this decree. Come and face me, or lose your right to dominion as the divines Decree!"

There was sudden Silence. And thin it happened. The shadow split into dozens, then hundreds of shapes.

Jericho gulped, "Change of Plan, It's a Legionnaire class Titan! Serin its quantity over quality so switch to the autobolter!"

Serin had planned to engage with high magic against an enormous beast. A large fog rolled in off the ocean, masking the shapes now jumping over the jetties. As they swam forward Serin got an uneasy feeling in his brain. It was the same as when he hit level 51 of the dungeon.

As the fog came over the streets Serin then saw them, jumping out of the water and onto roofs. They were large quadrupeds, with heads covered in tentacles and teeth. And they moved as a swarm. Serin had heard of hive minded enemies. Certain dire rats were known to hivemind, as well as insects. But these foul creatures were neither.

Serin didn't wait. He simply began to unload. Serin activated his [Dash] as well as fed magic into the floatstone mounted into his specialized backpack. As he jumped and fired at the encroaching enemies, he realized it was smart. The other four were also not standing still. A swarm was just that, numbers. Serin saw that hundreds had attacked where he just was in unison. Now they were climbing over each other to make a bridge of bodies towards where he was. Serin poured more magic into the floatstone and used the kick of his autobolter to jettison away while firing at the targets, only to be tackled from the side. Serin activated [flame cloak] igniting the creature that tackled him. But before he hit the ground there were more waiting at the bottom. Serin heightened cast fireball so when he landed it knocked back any that were on the ground, then used [jump] to get away before any of the other creatures could mob him.

It was a fight for his life.

The others were fairing no better. Serin had launched himself into the sky and saw the other four were moving quickly along the ground, along the walls, and dashing through buildings. Fast eddie was being smart about it. He would run into a building leading dozens of the monstrosities in, then jump out the ceiling and onto another building just as the building he imploded and collapsed.

Jericho was running with two blades cutting down these creatures left and right. Veronica seven blades had lived up to her name. She was not as fast as the others, running at about the peak of an average human, but the magic she used controlled seven swords that danced around her, dicing any of the creatures that tried to get passed. Serin knew that it was possible with practice to wield a single blade with the [telekinesis] spell, but this was mastery of the skill.

Serin fought with absolute firepower. He was alive right now not due to skill, but because of a mana pool deeper than most, a large reserve of magic essence, high magic, and a fully automatic rifle. He did not have the skill of the other fighters. Had they been close to his power level, it was a certainty that Serin would be easily defeated. The only reason he was alive was overwhelming fire superiority. And although these creatures were more numerous and en masse, they fell to his autobolter.

Serin continued to fire as the adamantine barrel began to glow.

***

The creatures raged from the sea without end. After about an hour of constant battle though, their numbers waned. True to the decree though, they fought to the last, and when the numbers dwindled, instead of making it easier on all of the party, they simply stopped attacking members one at a time to focus on the others. In the end Jericho had no rest. He was forced to fight the majority of these creatures the entire time.

When the last one fell, Jericho relaxed, "Conditions cleared team. Thanks again for your help."

He then passed out.

Serin looked at Veronica, cut all over with minor sword cuts, slashes of her own blades gone slightly awry. "What is legionnaire class?"

Veronica scoffed, "It means the old wolf almost killed us. Normally a Titan is a monster that leveled up enough to grow giant in scale. For legionnaire class, it means that 1 became 2, 2 became 4, and the creature lost a sense of self and became a hive mind. These beasts are usually seen in groups of 2-4 with a group of 12 known to kill an entire village.

We just killed thousands. Forget the wilds that came from the ruins. The second the city caught the ire of these creatures, they had spelled their doom. If it weren't for us, this city would have fallen, regardless of how many soldiers were sent to defend it. They are just not trained for these kinds of battles."

So with that, the true enemy of Ston was defeated, Jericho slayed a titan, and Serin learned about normal class limiters.

Overall a productive day.

***

Information gathering is not a crime, nor is it an impediment of the current subjugation at hand. So when a well informed noble saw exactly who got off the last ship, what they did, and how they got back on, he drafted a letter. The Grand General needed to know that 3 of his enemies now lived, and Veronica Seven Blades had betrayed the state.

Elsewhere an autocart had crossed the border into the GWA, its driver showing its government travel papers and laden with six stolen boxes full of Just Desserts.

***