21: Getting over the wall

[Year 19 Month 3: Continued]

So far, I have heard of many things about this planet from various scholars and the citizens’ gossip, but a T. rex was a little out of place even in a fantasy world.

Now, technically speaking, it wasn’t a T. Rex, but it was so close to the media’s depictions that it might as well be a knock-off version. Its arms were a bit longer, its skin showing slight indents of scales; you get the idea.

Codex spoke quickly, “The surge in ambient mana shows it is high forties to low fifties. Feasible, but not easy by any measure. The dungeon is masking the readings slightly, but the guess is likely accurate.”

Yikes, that’s doable, but some sacrifices will be made. I haven’t ever slain this high a level monster before, so hopefully this catapults me. This whole plateau at level 49 is driving me nuts.

With another roar, the T. Rex beast drew my attention to it. Ah, I should deal with that first.

I had deployed 15 juggernauts and 25 alloy soldiers into this tunnel before completely opening the breach, and this should be more than enough to dispatch most threats, this one included.

Ordering my Alloy Soldiers to work with my Juggernauts to take down the T. Rex and the much smaller Raptor-like beast, they quickly went to work on putting down the two creatures.

With a lack of intelligence, the Raptor rushed forward while the T. Rex was forced to widen the breach as it wouldn’t fit otherwise. The smaller dinosaur dodged the heavy swing of a juggernaut and arrived in front of an alloy golem. With no hesitation, the construct and its brethren used their longer range to keep the Raptor back.

I had equipped the mechanical soldiers with spears and short swords forged by Sahil and me, meaning that they were on par with Salfi’s gladius.

Honestly? It reminded me of the Romans, with their pilas and similar weapons.

With only a few seconds before the Rex could join the fray, I used my new offensive skill [Crystal Bloom] on the earth that the Raptor was standing on. With only a quick rumble and surge of mana signaling its usage, a sharp crystal spike shot out of the ground, piercing through part of the Raptor’s webbed foot.

The crystal didn’t do too much, as the mana I used wasn’t a ton. However, it did slightly slow the beast, as its balance had been thrown off, and it was obviously reluctant to put its full weight on its now-injured foot.

This hesitation granted a small opening for another to slice through the beast’s ligaments, the damage once again impaired its speed and caused it to roar in apparent pain.

Considering that its quick reaction combined with speed was the only thing that kept it alive, the beast was quickly put out of its misery, with an axe-bearing juggernaut bringing its heavy axe down on the monster, sending its head rolling across the stone floors.

[You have slain a level 35 Dire Raptor]

Yeah, that checked out, pretty low leveled.

A loud crash of rocks and the crackling of stone brought my attention to the much bigger issue in the hallway.

While I doubted that these animals were part of a pack, considering their differences, something about their dungeon origin caused the Rex to become enraged at its ally’s death.

Fortunately, it had only managed to widen the breach slightly, meaning the size of the tunnel still constrained it, and the dinosaur could really only charge forward while snapping its large maw and smashing anything in its path. Of course, those teeth were still highly dangerous and could probably chomp through the golems easily, but their mobility would be heavily restricted.

The Alloy Soldiers attempted to use the same method as before, using their spears to hold back the beast. However, this beast was more on par with the Alpha Hound than its fellow dino. Without pause, it kept its momentum and barreled through the spears, which had mostly deflected. Only a few had actually done anything, but the damage was minimal.

With 9 charges of [Crystal Bloom] left, I curiously used one where the Rex was just about to step down with one of its heavy footsteps. Before the crystal spike could form, the dino’s eyes darted down to where the skill had taken root. Somehow, it managed to change its trajectory within the fraction of a second it took for the mana to activate, causing it to receive a glancing blow rather than a full hit.

The distraction did give the golems a few moments to readjust properly and slowed the charging dino, so while it didn’t do what I wanted, the outcome still was acceptable.

Lunging forward despite its massive bulk, the beast slammed its foot down upon a fallen alloy soldier, crushing the metal construct beneath its weight.

I mentally winced. That’s one ruined.

The remaining Alloy soldiers made sure to stay further back, while the juggernauts took matters into their own hands. Codex had taken control of one, temporarily possessing its controls. I could do the same, but he was more suited for the artificial body.

Commanding two juggernauts to rush at the T. Rex, the runic assistant decided to sacrifice one while the other tried to slow it down. The dinosaur happily accepted the metal chew toy, its teeth grinding and slicing through the thick metal body of the sacrificed golem.

In the meantime, Codex had gotten close enough to reach the massive maw of the beast. Using the leverage provided by the scrapped juggernaut, he began to pry at the mouth of the Rex.

Codex spoke to me while the T. Rex tried to throw him off its body. “Please use your [Crystal Bloom] charges when the opportunity opens.”

Sure enough, when the Rex managed to dislodge the golem, the sudden weight shift unbalanced it, sending it sprawling on its back.

Knowing this is what Codex meant by opening, I activated all eight remaining charges of [Crystal Bloom], wanting to make sure it died from them. I poured more mana into the skill than necessary, resulting in quicker, stronger, and larger spikes.

Once again, it was clear that the beast could detect the skill, but it was unable to get up in time to dodge the crystals once again.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Sshhick

The spikes pierced deep into the Rex’s belly, slicing through its dense muscle and even shattering bone. Its eyes dilated, and after several minutes of thrashing about, it died.

In its death throughs it had destroyed five alloy soldiers and three juggernauts.

[You have slain a level 53 Adolescent Eldermaw]

That was an adolescent?! What does an adult look like? Better yet, how strong would it be?

Despite the highly foreboding message, I received what I had been waiting for.

[You have leveled up]

[You are level 50]

[Congratulations, your race has evolved.]

[Holy Obelisk-> Grand Arcstone]

[You have gained the skill Auroric Channeling]

[Animate golem has been upgraded]