Chapter 96: Dark Fall Conquest (2)

The next spike came in low, and Logan didn’t so much dodge it as let Reaper’s Stride argue with his instincts about which direction actually counted as safe.

He landed three meters to the left of where he’d been standing, and the spike detonated into a bloom of green mist exactly where his knees had been half a second earlier.

’Focus.’ He steadied his breathing, watching the bug line reform at the treeline. ’Rishin said cut the connection, not the target. Try it small first.’

He picked the nearest one, chitin plating dark and segmented, mandibles working at the sides of a spike launcher built straight into its back.

Broken Chain.

The cut he sent wasn’t aimed at the creature’s body at all, and for a moment nothing happened, the thing was still charging its next volley like Logan hadn’t done anything to it.

Then the spike launcher fell off its back, clattering uselessly against the stone floor while the bug underneath screeched in confusion at a weapon that had stopped answering.

’There. That’s the shape of it.’ His grin came fast, Rishin’s exact words from that mountain echoing back with new weight behind them.

Alice caught the moment out of the corner of her eye, an arrow already nocked. "Did that thing’s gun just fall off?"

"New trick." Logan finished it with a clean Overgrim Slash before it could recover. "Still rough around the edges."

"Rough is generous." Alice grinned anyway, already turning back toward the next shapes breaking from the treeline. "But I like rough. Rough usually means it gets scary later."

```

[ Wave 11 cleared. +340 points. ]

```

---

Wave 12 came light and fast, a chittering pack of pale, wolf-rat things swarming low to the ground in numbers thick enough to blur.

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[ Bramblefang Runners ]

Uncommon to Rare | Level 40

```

They didn’t hit hard individually, but they came from every angle at once, and Logan found himself relying on Blade Veil Counter more than actual offense for the first several seconds.

Alice thinned the pack from range before it ever reached the tower’s base, three arrows splitting into nine somewhere over the treeline. "These are just noise. Save your energy."

Logan didn’t argue. He’d learned that particular lesson the hard way more than once already.

```

[ Wave 12 cleared. +410 points. ]

```

Wave 13 brought something with wings, leathery bat-shapes wheeling overhead and raining bone darts down onto every tower in range.

Alice shifted her stance without needing to be told, Starpiercer Volley angled skyward instead of level, each shot finding a wingtip or a throat before the swarm could line up a second pass.

"Vertical’s easier than it looks once you stop thinking sideways." She called it down without breaking rhythm, clearly enjoying herself. "You’re better at the ground stuff anyway."

Logan handled what got through regardless, Grim Harvest sweeping the stragglers off the platform’s edge. By the time the last of them dropped, he’d barely needed to move his feet.

```

[ Wave 13 cleared. +455 points. ]

```

Wave 14 slowed things down, thick globs of corrosive ichor oozing up from the forest floor itself, each one splitting into two smaller globs whenever a careless strike hit it dead center.

Logan noticed the pattern on his second kill, watching one blob’s cohesion ripple outward from a single point near its base rather than its center.

’Not the middle. There.’ He adjusted the next swing without thinking twice about it, and the ichor collapsed inward on itself instead of splitting, dissolving into harmless residue.

"You figured that out fast." Alice sounded almost impressed, watching him repeat it on the next three in a row.

"Sword Intent’s good for more than just the fancy stuff." He shrugged, though the small satisfaction of it sat warm in his chest regardless.

```

[ Wave 14 cleared. +490 points. ]

```

---

Wave 15 hit differently the moment it started, a low horn note rolling out from the treeline that neither of them had heard on any prior wave.

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[ Wave 15: Incoming. Legendary-rank Herald per tower. ]

```

Something broke from the dark ahead of the usual herd, tall and armored in bone plating that looked grown rather than forged, a spear of solid shadow held loose in one clawed hand.

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[ Ashveil Herald ]

Legendary | Level 40

```

"Finally, something with a name worth remembering." Alice’s grin sharpened, bowstring already singing.

Logan met it head-on, Overgrim Slash catching the spear’s first thrust and holding the line just long enough for Grim Devouring Slash to open a real wound along its flank.

It fought smart, though, pulling back the instant damage actually landed and circling wide instead of pressing forward like the fodder before it had.

"It’s testing us." Logan’s eyes narrowed, tracking the pattern. "Waiting for an opening instead of forcing one."

"Then don’t give it one." Alice’s shot caught it mid-circle, Radiant Snare blooming into a cage of light around both hind legs.

The root held for barely two seconds, but two seconds was enough. Overgrim Slash finished the rest.

```

[ You have eliminated Ashveil Herald. +900 points. ]

```

The system flashed a moment later, and both of them turned toward it out of habit.

```

[ Individual Elimination Leaderboard, Wave 15 ]

1. Lyria Windshard: 6,120

2. Leon Flanke: 5,980

3. Sylvana Emberleaf: 5,910

4. Ruby Starviel: 5,875

5. Kruk Bloodfang: 5,600

6. Corvin Emberleaf: 5,590

```

Alice’s eyebrows rose, reading the names twice over. "Fourth. Not bad for a girl who was tenth last hour."

"Lyria’s ahead of everyone." Logan studied the number, curious. "Whatever her team’s doing, it’s working."

Twenty towers away, Lyria Windshard crouched low behind Kruk Bloodfang’s braced bulk, gossamer wings folded tight against her back while a coil of raw lightning gathered between both palms.

```

[ Lyria Windshard ]

[ Class: Windwoven Storm Warden (Mythic) ]

[ Talent: Wildstorm Communion (Mythic) ]

```

Kruk met the Herald’s spear head-on, tusks bared, an Orc’s thick frame swallowing the impact without so much as a stagger.

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[Kruk Bloodfang]

[ Ironhide Warhost Berserker (Mythic) ]

[ Talent: Undying Fury (Mythic) ]

```

"Hold steady, almost got the angle." Lyria’s voice stayed calm even as the Herald’s spear rang off Kruk’s forearm hard enough to crack stone beneath his boots.

"Take your time." Kruk planted himself deeper, blood already welling along one tusk-scarred cheek. "Undying Fury just turns that into strength anyway."

The lightning finished a heartbeat later, arcing clean through the Herald’s skull, and it folded without ever landing a second strike.