Chapter 110. The Final Anchor

The Blackstone Road Marshal lowered its raised hand and more than thirty shields moved forward together.

The soldiers did not rush. They crossed the station courtyard in three tight rows, every step landing at the same time. Red lines spread beneath their boots and connected them to the final Road Anchor behind them.

Kaia moved everyone closer before the formation reached them.

"Bearkin in front. Archers behind them. Do not spread out."

Brann and the shield-bearing Guardian took the centre. Garr and the fourth Bearkin protected both sides. Carlos stood beside Kaia behind the first line while Two remained near his feet.

The enemy reached them and Brann struck first.

His hammer hit the nearest shield with enough force to throw an ordinary soldier backward. The shield bent, but its owner only moved one step.

Red light travelled up from the road and entered its body.

The soldiers behind it pushed forward and three spears passed around the damaged shield. Brann knocked one aside. The shield Guardian blocked the second, but the third cut across Garr’s shoulder.

Carlos thrust between the Bearkin and struck the wounded shield soldier in the chest.

The spear entered its armour.

The red light beneath the soldier brightened, and it remained standing.

"Back!" Kaia ordered.

The Bearkin stepped away together before the enemy formation could surround them.

Carlos pulled his spear free.

"What the hell is keeping them up?"

The answer appeared before anyone spoke.

--

[Final claim stage reached]

[Road Anchor Three is maintaining hostile Road Authority]

[Blackstone Road Marshal and connected troops receive increased strength, balance and injury resistance]

[Claim requirement updated]

[Break the three Control Rings protecting Road Anchor Three]

[Breaking all three Control Rings will end hostile Road Authority]

[Defeat the Blackstone Road Marshal after hostile Road Authority ends]

--

Carlos looked past the soldiers.

The final Anchor stood inside the station courtyard. Three iron rings surrounded the black pillar, exactly like the rings protecting the other Anchors.

The system had told them what needed to be done. But getting through more than thirty soldiers was the problem left for them.

Kaia read the panel once and immediately pointed toward the right side of the courtyard.

"The line is thinner there. Nessa, clear the raised platform. Carlos, hold the centre with us. Two goes to the Anchor when the right side opens."

"Two goes alone?"

"It can pass through the cage. None of us can."

Carlos looked down at the Slime.

"You hit the rings and nothing else. If anything comes close, come back."

Two bounced once.

The enemy formation advanced again.

Nessa and the two Woodland Archers fired toward the right platform. Their first arrows forced the crossbow soldiers away from its edge. The second group of arrows struck two soldiers trying to move down the steps.

Kaia raised her sword.

"Push toward the right side."

Garr and the fourth Bearkin moved together.

Garr caught an enemy shield with the head of his hammer and pulled it aside. The other Bearkin drove one shoulder into the opening. Two soldiers were forced away from the red line beneath their feet.

The moment they left it, their movements became slower.

Garr’s next strike threw one of them across the stone.

Carlos saw the difference.

"Keep them off the lines!"

Brann struck the centre again, this time aiming low. His hammer broke the edge of the road beneath the first rank. One soldier lost its footing and fell against another.

Kaia entered the gap and cut the spear from its hand.

Carlos followed her. His shield caught one strike, and he drove his spear into the unprotected leg of the next soldier and pushed it away from the glowing path.

The red light left its armour, and Brann finished it.

On the right, the Archers kept the platform empty while Garr widened the opening.

"Two, go!" Kaia ordered.

Two compressed its body and shot through the gap.

The Slime crossed the courtyard faster than the soldiers could turn. It reached the cage around the final Road Anchor and passed between the bars.

The Blackstone Road Marshal moved for the first time.

It crossed one red line and appeared on another several metres ahead. Its black sword came free as it ran toward Two.

Carlos sent the Warden Chain forward instinctively. He wasn’t going to let his beloved Slime get attacked.

The Chain wrapped around the Marshal’s sword arm before it reached the cage.

The Marshal stopped and pulled, dragging Carlos two steps through the enemy line.

Kaia caught the back of his armour before he fell forward.

"Do not let it reach Two!" Carlos shouted while being dragged into danger too.

The Marshal pulled again, and Carlos released the Chain before it could drag both of them into the formation. The Marshal turned toward the cage, but Nessa’s arrow struck the side of its helmet.

The arrow did not enter, but it made the Marshal look away for one second.

Inside the cage, Two formed Water Shot, and the blast struck the lowest Control Ring.

Iron bent away from the pillar.

--

[Control Ring One damaged]

[Control Ring One integrity: 62%]

--

"Again!" Carlos ordered.

The Marshal charged toward the cage and Carlos met it before it reached Two.

The black sword struck his shield hard enough to numb his arm. He did not try to overpower it. He kept the shield between them and moved sideways, forcing the Marshal to turn away from the Anchor.

Kaia attacked from the other side.

The Marshal blocked her sword, then struck Carlos’s shield again.

Two fired a second Water Shot, and the damaged ring broke from the pillar.

--

[Control Ring One destroyed]

[Hostile Road Authority weakened]

--

Several enemy soldiers stumbled, the attacks made against them finally showing some effect.

The Bearkin pushed them back, and Two attacked the second ring.

The Marshal tried to leave Carlos, but the Warden Chain caught its ankle. Carlos pulled just long enough for Kaia to strike the gap behind its knee.

The Marshal dropped onto one leg, drove the end of its sword into Carlos’s shield and tore the Chain free from its ankle.

The second Water Shot sounded behind it.

--

[Control Ring Two destroyed]

[Hostile Road Authority critically weakened]

--

The red lines across the courtyard began flickering.

Enemy shields lowered. Wounded soldiers who had remained standing finally fell.

Brann broke through the centre of the formation.

He did not stop to fight every soldier. Garr and the other Bearkin held them away while Brann ran toward the final Anchor.

The Marshal saw him and turned.

Carlos attacked before it could move. His spear scraped across its chest, but the strike forced it to block. Kaia drove her shield into its side.

While the Marshal was occupied, Brann reached the cage but could not pass through the bars.

And there was no need to.

Two struck the final ring from inside while Brann brought his hammer against the same point from outside.

The cage bent inward, and the third ring shattered.

--

[All Control Rings destroyed]

[Hostile Road Authority ended]

[Blackstone Road Marshal reinforcement removed]

[Connected troops reinforcement removed]

[Final claim requirement]

[Defeat the Blackstone Road Marshal]

--

Every red line went dark.

The Marshal’s armour lost its glow.

Carlos felt the difference when its sword hit his shield again. The strike was still strong, but it no longer felt like the whole road was standing behind it.

Kaia cut across its weapon arm with a proud smile on her face.

Nessa’s arrow entered the gap beneath its shoulder.

Garr struck its shield from the side. Brann hit it from the front.

The black shield broke between both hammers.

Carlos stepped through the opening and drove his spear into the damaged plate in the Marshal’s chest.

The Marshal tried to raise its sword, but Kaia knocked the weapon away.

Carlos pushed the spear deeper, and the Marshal fell onto the dark road.

The remaining soldiers stopped moving. Their bodies and weapons broke apart into black smoke that flowed into the dead Anchor.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then gold light travelled across the bridge, through the station and beneath Carlos’s boots.

--

[Blackstone Road Marshal defeated]

[Road Anchor Three disabled]

[All claim requirements completed]

[Crossing integrity: 88%]

[Hellbound Conquest Level 5 complete]

[Blackstone Supply Road claimed]

[Calculating rewards]

--

The barriers sealing the bridge lowered.

Carlos looked back at his party.

Garr’s shoulder was bleeding. The shield Guardian’s arm hung beside him. Brann breathed heavily while leaning on his hammer. Kaia had a cut across one side of her armour.

But all ten of them were still standing.

His eyes went to Kaia. She looked satisfied, but there was still some dissatisfaction in her eyes.

Even he felt something wrong with this conquest.

’Am I... depending on luck a little too much?’ he asked himself.