The next day was a repeat of the previous. They gathered, and the dwarves gave them words of encouragement before they were teleported away. He couldn’t be sure, but the teleportation process seemed longer than before. When the light faded, he found himself in a small, old western style town. At first, he thought the Network teleported him through time to the Old West, but that wasn’t the case. It was more like someone had heard what an Old West town and then created it from that description. The center of the town was a saloon. It was a two-story building made mostly of wood. It even had the tavern doors on it. There were four other single-story buildings, though they lacked any identifiers. He wasn’t sure, but he thought one was a church. As he pondered the environment, several more pillars of light appeared along with more people. This time it was only humans, and there were around a hundred. When the last person appeared, a voice filled the air.
Defend the town from the invasion until time runs out. Time Remaining 5:59:59.
He wasn’t sure if that meant it would be a continuous battle for six hours or if the monsters would come in waves. For now, they weren’t under attack, so he decided not to worry about it.
“Hello, not sure if you all can understand me, but we should all gather in the saloon.” A man who wore black and red robes with an impressive saber on his hip. The blade looked like something an ancient king would’ve used in battle. It even had a black tassel connected to the handle. Maximilian wasn’t sure if people listened to what the man said, but everyone headed toward the main building. Maximilian didn’t move. Instead, he looked around. He wanted to know if the Network had created a world or if it was more like a video game. If he walked far enough, would he reach a barrier? Would the world just stop loading at a certain distance?
He had several other questions but doubted he would get answers today. Or ever, really. He started in the town and found something odd. There was furniture in them. There were counters, beds, chairs and everything else you would’ve expected. All of it was right for the era, or at least he thought so. He was the furthest thing from a historian. He was going to leave everything alone when an idea came to him. He picked up one chair and broke it until he had a single piece of wood. After that, he broke a few of the tables until he had gathered a handful of nails. He brought the two together and made a makeshift mace. He wasn’t sure how useful it would be, especially since the wood had splintered in a few places. It would still be better than nothing. This quest seemed to be about Endurance over power, which meant he needed something he could use once it came down to the wire.
He checked around the outskirts of the town, but there was nothing. No bugs, no birds, no critters — it was like they were in a dollhouse instead of an actual town. The area bordering the town was a hilly grassland as far as the eye could see. It was oddly idyllic for a place that was about to be the site of a battle. The lack of wildlife made it creepy. It further emphasized the lack of realness. He was about to head back when the horizon changed. At first, it was a black speck, the size of a basketball, but that one speck became two and then five and then it was too many to count. “Bugs?” He asked no one in particular. He watched the swarm approach for a few minutes, but he couldn’t tell what it was. He waited a few more seconds before he headed back. Less than fifteen minutes had passed, which meant the Network hadn’t wanted them to prepare an elaborate defense. He went directly into the tavern, where he found the group of a hundred in the middle of a heated argument.
“I am telling you we should abandon the other buildings and focus on this one. The town is open on all sides! There is no way we can protect everything without massive losses.” The man who had called the meeting replied. He gripped the sword as if he were a moment away from drawing it. The person he argued with was a mountain of a man. Nearly seven feet tall and held a massive two-handed war axe on his back. He had dark brown skin and long dirty blond hair.
“We don’t know what the rules are, and we don’t know what the Network will consider a loss. If we fail the quest, we might get trapped here. Everyone would die anyway.”
The pair looked like they were about to rip into each other when Maximilian got involved. “Our enemy is coming. I couldn’t tell what they were, but they resembled insects. There were enough of them to form a cloud on the horizon. Each one was about the size of a basketball.” That got everyone on their feet.
“How long do we have?” The swordsman asked.
Maximilian shook his head. “Hard to tell, but based on the timer, I would say between thirty and forty minutes. We need to assume the Network doesn’t want a detailed plan. We need to defend what we can until time runs out.”
“Alright, everyone with ranged weapons or skills, head upstairs. Take a window or, if you can get onto the roof, support us on the ground.” The swordsman started.
“The rest of you join me outside.” The axe warrior bellowed as he drew his weapon. “It’s time to earn our place in Valhalla!” He then rushed through the door like a Norse god of war. Everyone froze and stared after him in disbelief. Maximilian’s surprise turned into excitement as he let the situation take over.
“Well, you heard him. We might as well have fun.” He considered going with the ranged fighters, but something told him not to. That he would be better on the ground, in the thick of the fighting. He gripped his makeshift weapon and stepped outside with the line of warriors. Spears, swords, maces and axes rose as the group belted out a war cry. The axe warrior in front recited a speech that sounded like it came from an old war movie, but it worked. The crowd chanted and thrust their weapons to the sky as the thrill of battle surged into them.
The whole thing reminded him of a three hundred except he could see the hollowness in it. The momentary glances. Checks to make sure they weren’t alone. The slight hesitation in the callbacks. They weren’t an army by any stretch of the imagination. The swordsman joined the axeman in front of the group as the first signs of the enemy appeared. It started so softly that Maximilian wasn’t sure what it was. When it dawned on him, his throat ran dry. He remembered it from a history documentary from high school. The sound grew in volume until it was like the drums of war. The war cries ended, and fear sat in.
“Locusts.” Someone whispered as if afraid the bugs would hear them.
“Don’t those eat you?” Maximilian didn’t have the heart to check to see who had asked that question, nor did anyone offer an answer. The bugs appeared in the distance like one of the great plagues. Grass disappeared as locusts the size of basketballs advanced like an ocean tide.
“Stand your ground.” The axe warrior bellowed, though it was barely audible over the cacophonous sound.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
For a moment, it felt like the plagues of Egypt had become real. A wall of insects flowed toward us. The world held its breath for a moment that stretched on forever. Somehow it felt both too long and too short, and then it was over. Maximilian wasn’t sure if someone had ordered a charge or if everyone had the same idea. It didn’t matter. Any semblance of order, of control, faded as soon as the locusts crossed the invisible barrier of the town. Fire, water, ice, wind and dozens of other projectiles rained down on the locusts, but it made no difference. For every bug that died, three more took its place. A voice in the back of his mind said the battle was impossible, that the Network brought them here to die. He crushed it. The two sides crashed into each other, and any semblance of battle lines fell apart as chaos reigned. Maximilian lost sight of the swordsman and the axe warrior.
He saw a man with an axe get drowned beneath five locusts before he could activate his skill. Screams of panic and fear merged with the noise of the locusts as Maximilian swung his makeshift mace. Any worries he had about running out of spiritual energy disappeared as he focused on surviving. The kill energy was enough to sustain him on its own. Despite that, he couldn’t help the hopelessness that crept in. This wasn’t a fight. It was a tightrope. One where any mistake meant death. A woman to his right swung her sword when she should’ve retreated. She claimed one locus only for two more to slam into her. Once she was off her feet, there was nothing she could do. Maximilian unleashed a Static Bolt, but by the time it landed, three more locusts had joined the attack. Her screams cut off a few moments later. He forced the screams to the back of his mind and hoped he could forget the look of terror in her eyes.
After a while, he ignored the timer. He wasn’t sure if it was because afraid of how much time they had or if he didn’t want to get distracted. He told himself it was the latter. He imbued his legs with spiritual energy and leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding a pincer attack from four locusts. An attack that would’ve killed him. His actions bought him a momentary reprieve, so he surveyed the battlefield. He wished he hadn’t. The swordsman and axe warrior were alive, if a bit worse for wear. They both had dead looks in their eyes, and Maximilian couldn’t judge them for it. They couldn’t even count the dead since the locusts had eaten so many. Not even the ranged fighters were unscathed at this point. The wave of insects had climbed and jumped onto the roof to get at them. At first he thought the attack could be ended before the timer, but now he wasn’t sure. It seemed like this quest was less about the town and more about survival.
He was about to unleash yet another Static Bolt when something changed. There was a pop, and the skill drained almost a third more spiritual energy than it should. He lost control of the skill, and its energy surged back through his channels. Searing pain surged into him like lava. The momentary distraction left him off balance just long enough for a locust to slam into his chest. His robes activated, and a bubble shield protected him just long enough to avoid three more attacks. He did several leaps backwards as he tried to figure what had happened. His initial thought was that he had somehow damaged the skill symbol, but that was wrong. If anything, the symbol was better than before. It looked more real, as if the earlier version was a rough draft.
He ducked and launched a jab into another locust while he backpedaled. From what he could tell, the skill was fine, so he would investigate the change when he had time. He landed an imbued right kick into a locust that aimed for his leg. He felt the creature’s body buckle under the blow moments before its kill energy surged into him. He fired another Static Bolt and grimaced as it consumed more spiritual energy. It wasn’t enough to be a problem, but it would throw off his rhythm. It took a fraction of a second longer to charge it, which left an opening that the swarm could use. Fortunately, the benefits were well worth it. The skill’s power had increased and was enough to punch a hole in the ugly insects.
“Hey, we need to fall back to the building before we run out of gas.”
Maximilian looked up and found a woman with a tomahawk in one hand waving him over. Green blood drenched her robes, and she had a nasty cut on the right side of her face. Despite that, she fought on with a zeal and ferocity that left him exhausted. He didn’t bother with an answer. Instead, he kicked another locust out of the way and leaped after her. When he got to the saloon, he turned and unleashed a Static Bolt that caught a leaping locust in its head. The electric decapitation made him feel better.
A ball of flame caught another locust’s legs, and a second later, a red-headed man stepped out of the saloon. “Take a breather. We are defending the entrances off and on for ten minutes. Restore your energy.”
The man stepped past him and back into the swarm. Maximilian watched him for a moment to make sure he didn’t get overwhelmed, but when nothing happened, he entered the saloon. He gave everyone a halfhearted shrug and took a seat with his back against a wall. He closed his eyes and circulated his cultivation technique. He didn’t need the energy, but the mental refresh might as well have been a reprieve from heaven. A hand on his shoulder broke him out of his meditation.
“It’s your turn.” A gruff voice said.
Maximilian resisted the reflex to hit the speaker. He opened his eyes and stood up. The surrounding people were different now. Casters and archers, from what he could tell. They all had bags under their eyes, and scratch marks covered nearly every exposed inch of flesh. More than a few lacked chunks of hair. He rolled his shoulders and stepped back into the horde. The noise slammed into with an almost physical force as he surveyed the situation. The locusts had consumed most of the other buildings by now. Along with everything else in the town. Maximilian shot a locust the size of a beach ball in its stomach before it could bite into the dagger using warrior practitioner. The man gave him a nod and joined the battle.
Maximilian ducked behind a pole and slammed a fist into another bug as he leaped into the battle. He had been in the battle for a few minutes when he realized something was off. There were fewer of them. Not only that, but their attacks had slowed down. They still tried to bury them beneath a tide of bodies, but it was more controlled, as if they had orders. Maximilian looked around to find someone to warn, but he wasn’t the only person who had come to that realization. Before anyone could decide what to do, the locusts retreated. The sudden lack of targets was like an ice bath to his senses. He unleashed an improved Static Bolt into another target before he went back to the saloon. For a moment he thought they had succeeded. That the battle was over but a prompt ruined that dream.
Special scenario unlocked. Quest objective has changed. Defeat the Locust Queen. Quest Rewards have been modified.
“Son of a bitch!” someone exclaimed, and Maximilian couldn’t agree more. The people who had been resting stormed out of the saloon. Along with them were the axeman and swordsman. Neither looked happy at the announcement, but there was little anyone could do. Either the Network didn’t like the development or it had changed the rules to provide a new challenge.
“Alright, everyone gather up. We don’t know what is about to come, so I want everyone prepared.” The swordsman started. Just as everyone moved, the sound of wingbeats filled the air. It sounded like dozens of tiny wingbeats. The noise made Maximilian’s skin crawl. Everyone paused as if movement would somehow draw whatever fresh hell the Network created to them faster. He glanced around as balls of fire, spikes of ice and stone formed around his fellow casters. Archers drew their bows while warriors raised their weapons. A handful of people recited prayers, and for the first time in his life, Maximilian hoped someone heard them.
The ground in front of the town exploded as a black object slammed into it. The thing was fast. Even with his improved attributes, he could barely see it. As the dust cleared, his eyes widened as he fought the panic that surged inside his stomach. The Locust Queen was humanoid and about the height of a person. It had two thick back, locust like legs that made him think of a kangaroo. It had a set of small arms that ended in a set of three talons that looked more like daggers than anything an actual creature should have. The world seemed to freeze as the insect queen stared at us with creepy beady eyes. Maximilian activated Static Bolt as they waited. The peace shattered a moment later as the insect queen leaped toward them.
