Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)-11-48. Outsider

Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)-11-48. Outsider

“What level is it?” Elijah asked.
Helen shook her head. “A little over two-hundred,” she answered. “But I sense that its power stems more from cultivation than from levels.”
Elijah nodded. “I kind of got that impression as well.”
The way the giant troll moved was a warning sign to anyone with any sort of battle experience. It was strong and fluid, entirely confident and in control. It reminded Elijah of the various titans he’d fought back in the Elemental Maelstrom. Not in theme – they were devoted to various elements, while the troll was clearly a creature of blood – but rather, in bearing.
Either way, the creature would not go down without a fight.
He glanced at Sadie, who sat on the other side of the table. The others were all there as well. Each member of the army’s leadership. Ivin, of course. Kurik too, though he looked disinterested. Colt stood in a corner, leaning against one of the tent’s poles like he didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile, Carmen loomed beside him, her armored arms crossed in distaste.
Even Lamar chose to participate in the discussion, which was abnormal. He normally just did what he was told. He wasn’t averse to leadership – as evidenced by the situation in Philadelphia – but for whatever reason, he preferred to let Helen do the talking when it came to the army.
“Plan of attack?” asked one of the Tacticians from Ironshore. Elijah had never even learned the man’s name.
“I’ll take care of it,” Elijah offered.
“No. I will,” Sadie stated.
“Nobody has to take care of nothin’ alone, you two idjits,” Kurik said. “Maybe you can pull straws to find out who leads the vanguard, but ain’t nobody lettin’ you attack that thing alone. We do it together or not at all.”
“Agreed,” said Ivin.
Elijah glanced at Sadie, who clearly didn’t like being overruled. In truth, Elijah didn’t much care who killed the thing, so long as it went down. Because it did need to die because it was currently blocking the entrance to the Primal Realm.
After that, the leaders all chimed in with suggestions concerning their tactics. In the end, they chose a straightforward variation of their normal strategy. Elijah would go in first, softening it up with his various afflictions, and then the melee fighters would close in. Meanwhile, the ranged attackers would pepper it with spells, arrows, and javelins from afar.
There were other moving parts, like what would happen if the giant troll broke through their defensive lines, but in the end, Elijah’s part in the battle would be similar to every other fight in which he’d participated. He wasn’t really part of the army. More of a wildcard who would fill in the gaps where necessary. Like a quick reaction force comprised of only one person.
But there were also a host of logistical concerns that didn’t interest Elijah at all. Moving the army was no small feat, and doing so with purpose was even more difficult. After all, they not only needed to prepare for the coming fight, but they intended to hit the Primal Realm directly after.
Some of the leaders argued for a couple of days of rest, but the rest ruled that out, and for one simple reason. They had no idea how long the entrance would remain clear. They couldn’t afford to wait, lest they find themselves faced with another giant troll.
So, in addition to preparing for the battle itself, there were also discussions on how to best set themselves up for success in the coming Primal Realm. As Elijah wasn’t going to be part of that – much to his lingering annoyance – he barely listened to that ongoing conversation.
After the meetings concluded and the plan had been set, the camp broke into motion. Everyone helped break it down, taking the palisade apart and loading it into crates that would be carried by a team of Porters from Ironshore. They technically worked for the city itself and were part of its defense force. So, they were equipped with the same gear as any of the others. They knew how to use it, too. However, they were not true soldiers. Their job was to help with logistics, and in that arena, they were incredibly efficient.
Not only did each of them have incredible strength and constitution – for their levels, at least – they were well-equipped to handle massive burdens. Between the four of them, they could carry the entire camp on their backs.
There were plenty of other non-combatants in the army as well. They ranged from Administrators to Tradesmen, and while most of them were like the Porters in that they could defend themselves, they were also highly specialized to play their roles.
“Impressive, ain’t it?” asked Kurik. He always traveled light, which meant that he never had much to pack when they broke camp. “Reminds me of home.”
“How so?” Elijah asked.
Kurik shrugged. “We were constantly movin’ from one place to another. Exiles, remember?” he reminded Elijah. “We never stayed anyplace for long. My mother always told me that they needed to be able to break down the camp in less than an hour, just in case. We drilled it endlessly when we was kids.”
“I don’t see you lending your expertise to them,” Elijah pointed out.
Kurik grinned. “They’re doin’ just fine on their own. Don’t wanna get in the way.”
As it turned out, the army didn’t quite meet the dwarven standard, but they weren’t that far off, either. So, within two hours, the force was moving through the tunnels that would eventually lead them to battle.
And to the Primal Realm.
Elijah ranged ahead, as much to avoid the claustrophobia that came with the crowd of strangers as because he needed to scout. Idly, he noticed Helen and a few other scouts dash ahead of even him, though they each disappeared from his perception after only a few seconds.
Benefits of being an Explorer.
No one had better stealth abilities than those that came from that archetype. Rangers came close, and Elijah’s own Guise of the Unseen was no slouch. But Explorers would always be the best at what they did.
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Fortunately, there were no real surprises on the way to the Primal Realm chamber, and soon enough, the forces had amassed just outside of the troll’s line of sight. It probably knew they were around, but it refused to move from its position in front of the jagged, onyx spire.
The delay gave Elijah plenty of opportunity to study the environment and his enemy. Truthfully, with that spire standing behind the troll, it was easy to miss the huge, hairy creature.
The spire itself looked a little like glass slag. In places it was perfectly smooth, but in others, there were sharp protrusions that practically radiated danger. There was no symmetry to it, either, which gave it an almost natural cast. Putting the lie to that perception was the intricate enchantments tracing ruby red lines across the whole structure. Elijah couldn’t make sense of them, but even he could tell that they followed a prescribed pattern.
And at the top of that massive spire, which stood at a height of nearly a thousand yards, were a series of ruby phalanges that glowed with ethereal red light. At its base was a simple gate, before which stood the troll.
It was clearly an elite among its kind. As large as an ogre, it was at least twice Elijah’s height. Perhaps thrice. And its armor gleamed like black enameled steel. Upon its back were a pair of swords that, for a human, would have been claymores. For the troll, they were closer to shortswords.
More importantly, it radiated ethereal power that marked it as a champion of sorts. Not unlike the boss monsters he’d fought in other Primal Realms. Thankfully, it didn’t have an advantage in levels. At best, it was around even with Elijah, but he doubted it even reached that degree of power.
Though that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous, even to him. It clearly was. Elijah wasn’t certain if it was due to cultivation or some system interference, but the thing was more than capable of killing even him. If anyone else – aside from Sadie – took it on, it would be a massacre.
To Elijah, that just cemented that she and the rest of the army were getting in over their heads. But he’d said as much already, and he had been overruled. As much as he wanted to go with them – or hold them back – he just didn’t have the authority to do so.
But if he was honest, he only really cared about handful of them. Sadie. His family. His friends. Everyone else might as well have been faceless automatons.
Once the army was in place and arranged appropriately, Elijah confirmed that everyone was ready. When he got the go-ahead, he sprang into action.
His first attack came in the Shape of Scourge, accompanied by Lurking Swarm. He and the phase spiders he’d conjured leaped upon the giant troll, biting, stinging, and clawing for all they were worth.
The damage they inflicted healed almost instantly. Elijah had expected as much, but he was still shocked at how little good his afflictions accomplished. More, the troll was no lumbering idiot like the others Elijah had fought. It was fast, coordinated, and strong. More than once, he found himself on the receiving end of a massive blow that sent him skipping across the terrain.
But just as the troll was difficult to put down, Elijah had plenty of tricks of his own. In a battle of regeneration versus healing, he felt confident in his chances of success. So, with Wild Resurgence coursing through him, he leaped back into the fight. After only a few minutes, the creature was loaded with so many afflictions that even its massive regeneration struggled to keep up.
That was when the rest of the army attacked.
Elijah leaped high into the air and sprang off of Cloud Step to get clear of the massive volley of spells and projectiles that suddenly filled the air. Arrows and javelins, beams of weaponized light, fireballs, and ice crystals slammed into the troll. Most pinged off its armor, entirely ineffective. But with the volume of attacks, even a fraction of landed blows was enough to rip the creature to shreds.
And for a moment, Elijah thought they were winning. He was almost disappointed in how easily the thing was going down.
But then, the dust settled, and the thing put itself back together.
It had the regeneration of a wild troll.
And with the rest of its power…
It dashed forward, meeting the front lines with a massive crash. Thankfully, it chose to attack the vanguard, which was entirely comprised of Ironshore’s people. And with Carmen’s armor protecting them, they managed to maintain the integrity of their shield wall.
By that point, the Sorcerers’ abilities were off cooldown, and they bathed the thing in a massive deluge of spells. At the same time, the frontlines jabbed out with their spears, digging deep into its flesh. The wounds were inconsequential, but keeping it at spear’s length was absolutely invaluable.
The ranged attackers continued to fire, one spell or projectile after another. Elijah could practically feel the creature’s vitality ebbing. For his part, he stayed back, having landed and returned to his human form so he could heal and channel power into Eternal Plague.
Soon enough, healing rain had enveloped the front lines while biting gnats descended upon the monstrous troll. The afflictions continued to pile up, but Elijah didn’t dare channel Eternal Plague for more than a few minutes. Doing so would drain his ethera too much, and he preferred to keep a sizable reserve just in case the army needed a massive dose of healing.
Instead, he threw one instance of Nature’s Claim its way. Even as mushrooms erupted from its back, Elijah lamented that he hadn’t taken the spear evolution of Storm’s Fury. Without it, he had limited options for ranged attacks.
As it turned out, he didn’t really need them. The army was perfectly capable on its own, especially with Sadie aiming one barrage of blades via Righteous Storm after another at the creature.
But the real damage came from Isaak, of all people. The young man’s unique soulfire was incredibly damaging to trolls. The only issue was that he tended to focus on massive, long-cooldown spells. However, even his bread-and-butter fireball-esque spell was enough to melt the troll’s flesh. Where those purple flames hit, its regeneration struggled to repair the damage.
And Isaak could throw those things out without delay.
Of course, everyone else participated. The elves, along with Miguel, acted as flankers, lancing in and out of the fight and leaving massive wounds in their wake. The guild adventurers were far less effective, but they tended to step in when one of the Ironshore frontliners went down.
Through it all, Elijah continued to pile on his afflictions. Every now and again, he shifted back into his scourgedrake from to leap upon the troll’s back and infect it with Ethereal Sepsis and Spreading Blight.
Ever so slowly, it wilted. Just like any other troll, its vitality was limited. Eventually, its regeneration would wither away. And with their organized tactics hindering its every move, it was incapable of doing much more than bang its shortswords against their shields.
That was not to say there weren’t a few close calls. And a couple of casualties. But the Healers were well-trained and quick to mend any damage caused by the troll’s furious attacks.
Elijah knew it must’ve been much scarier for those on the frontlines. The same was likely true of everyone else in the army. But for him? He had the benefit of distance, which gave him the ability to mentally detach from the fury of battle. It also helped that he was never in any real danger.
He was faster than the troll, and what’s more, it had no counter for when he used Cloud Step to escape. It did give Elijah an idea of how he would attack the situation had he been alone. For one, he’d have used Eternal Plague to its fullest. For another, he would have used abilities like Lightning Domain, which weren’t really viable with so many people around.
He also suspected that Incinerate would go a long way toward finishing it off.
Otherwise, he would have used hit-and-run attacks. It would have taken a while, but he felt confident he could have taken it out.
But the army performed better than Elijah could have expected. And when the troll finally went down, they let out an adrenaline-fueled cheer.
Their elation was well-earned.
And what’s more, their victory showed that, so long as they stuck together and maintained their organization, the force could probably hold its own in the Primal Realm. Or perhaps that was just a rationalization meant to make him feel better about letting them go it alone.
Elijah pushed that thought to the side. It didn’t matter. They were going in there, and he wouldn’t be with them.

11-48. Outsider