"Smoke, You're now the Maneator King. Albeit you only have three subjects, but I think these three are worth more than an army. Now, before I breathe my last dying breath. Let me give you your inheritance, and kneel before me."
The DarkElf's eyes grew even bigger. He thought that he received all the rewards from Mitleid's quest.
Konig Mitleid lifted his handless arms and dripped his blood over the DarkElf's white ponytailed hair.
+ Gained Title: 'Maneator King'
This title is awarded to Konig Mitleid's heir. As such, all maneators will show fealty to you and will follow your commands.
* +5 to all basic stats
* Intimacy with the Maneators increased to 'Worshipped King'
* You're now responsible for the well being of all Maneators.
* If all the Maneators are dead, the title will be stripped off.
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"You have been anointed with my blood. It now flows within you, and with it you have become my representative. Lead the maneators well and protect them with your life. Spread the greatness of the Maneator and fulfill my repentance."
+ Gained Ability: Beast Monarch
+ Gained Ability: Maneator's Roar
+ Gained Ability: Blood Rage
The abilities' description flooded Smoke's view that he wasn't able to read all the abilities in detail.
"Mitleid, this is too much. I don't know how to thank you... But I think we should still try to cauterize your wounds."
"No, it's useless. Even if an Arch Bishop was here, it would still end up in my death. The Tenebris' curse would counter any form of Light healing. Besides, it's better this way. I'm leaving the maneators in good hands, with you as their King."
Konig Mitleid looked at the three maneators and called out to them.
"Weise, Stark, Rasant, could you indulge a request from your former King? I'd like to see how you three fight before I go meet my judgement."
The three maneators respectfully bowed down their heads. As they solemnly looked up to Konig Mitleid, all three of them let out their loudest roars.
All three maneators gave Konig Mitleid their final bow to him and leapt down, straight to the ground.
A deep crater was created by the three behemoths. After they landed, they quickly scattered in different directions.
Smoke asked Adder and Espion to join the three maneators down below. Unlike the maneators who hopped directly from the four-story tower, Adder had to jump to the nearest shorter tower and fought the bandits on top of it.
Espion decided not to jump. Instead, he nailed his rope made out of wolf spider thread, on the floor of their tower. He then speedily rapelled downwards.
The young Spy used his sideways momentum to swing himself to the top of his targeted tower. Swiftly, Espion equipped his green dual knives, and became a blur as he attacked the bandits.
The DarkElf also ordered Thyrsus to maintain his station in the tallest structure, and order the militia to support the troubled towers.
Smoke used his 'Telefax Vision' ability to scan the entire battlefield. The Brandals had four black ctenosaurs piled on top of each other in order to cross the trench that the DarkElf created.
These black ctenosaurs were extremely well trained. The Brandals had to travel through various terrains which forced them to teach the lizard mounts to form intricate formations.
The Brandals used the same technique on Smoke's towers. This time they made steps out of the black ctenosaurs.
The first step had one black ctenosaur, followed by two of piled on top of each other, and was completed by three lizard mounts stacked together.
The war chariots of Laernea and Gandiva with Sharur and Jinggu on top, protected six towers altogether.
Vijaya with her six falcons managed to defend two towers that were close to each other.
Adder cleared out the Brandals on the tower where he landed on, and ran down to the next tower closest to him.
Rasant, the fastest Maneator, ran towards the furthest towers. He took out his borrowed bullwhip and attacked the Brandal leader blocking his path.
Like an orange blur, Rasant dodged the bandits' attacks, and coiled his bullwhip around the Brandal leader's neck.
The orange Maneator pulled the bandit to him, and stabbed the bandit rapidly with Espion's throwing knives.
With the Brandal leader's life bar almost depleted, Rasant snapped the bandit's neck like a twig.
Rasant laughed at the corpse of the Brandal leader. He then looted the bandit's bullwhip and equipped it for himself.
With an evil smile, Rasant dual wielded the two bullwhips. Ruthlessly, Rasant flogged all the bandits within his range on the way to the furthest towers.
Weise, the smartest Maneator, aimed for the neglected towers in the middle. He searched for the optimum position which allowed him to defend three towers.
The gray Maneator was armed with Smoke's Gora shield and Flamdius sword. With a calculated look, Weise cleverly aimed for the weak joints of the bandits and blocked all of their attacks simultaneously.
Stark, the strongest Maneator, went for the undefended towers closest to him. With Smoke's Rzeka glaive, Stark forcefully dealt with the black ctenosaurs riders in only three strikes.
A stroke for each arm and a clean slice across the bandit's neck, but the Brandal leaders were a different story.
Angrily, Stark executed ten strikes of the Rzeka glaive in order to dispose of the Brandal leaders. The Maneator shouted in frustration as it took him longer to kill the leaders.
Filled with content, Konig Mitleid sat on his throne and watched the three maneators slaughter the Brandals below.
Smoke wanted to join the battle, but decided to wait for Mitleid to die before he left the Maneator's side.
"Smoke, if you don't mind? Can you send my zweihänders to Stark? I think he'll have a quicker time dealing with the Brandals if he'll use them."
The DarkElf inspected the two massive swords and carefully set them down.
"I'll give it to him as soon as the time comes."
"Alright. Then you better give the swords to Stark now because my time's up."
Smoke patted Mitleid's right shoulder and grasped it firmly. Mitleid spoke to Smoke for one last time.
"No words could remove the pain that I've inflicted upon you, but know that I'll spend all of eternity regretting it in the afterlife. Forgive me, Smoke..."
- Maneator King: Konig Mitleid has died.
Smoke stared blankly at Mitleid's body as it slowly started to fade. He remembered how he used to hate this Maneator to his core, but now a tear shed from Smoke's eye.
As Konig Mitleid's body disappeared, item drops started to appear. Smoke reflexively picked all of them up.
+ Acquired Maneator hide.
+ Acquired Maneator horns.
+ Acquired Maneator hooves.
+ Acquired Maneator embryo.
+ Acquired Maneator dna - hybrid class.
+ Acquired Maneator essence.
Smoke smiled with tears. Mitleid left him with enough materials to create one more Maneator. Sadly, Smoke could only give life to a Maneator inside the labyrinth.
The DarkElf placed the zweihänders inside his backpack window. He couldn't give it to Stark because the red Maneator was still at level 101, and the zweihänders' level requirement was 300.
Smoke pulled up his hooded cloak over his blood drenched hair, and wiped the tears from his eyes. He took in a deep breath before he scanned the battlefield.
Smoke asked Thyrsus to estimate how many bandits were left. After scouting with his falcon's eye, Thyrsus answered back with 3,102 Brandals. They were outnumbered ten to one, and against seasoned marauders.
The DarkElf glanced over the scattered towers and found that four towers were outside of anyone's defensive reach.
Smoke thought that the militia had suffered enough. He wouldn't allow anyone else to die on that day.
He used his 'Lunar Gravity Boots' and jumped up to the sky. He then spread his hooded cloak, and glided through the air.
"Igniz, create firewalls below the undefended towers."
Smoke dove down to one of the undefended towers and stunned the Brandals on top of it. This particular tower only had five militia members left.
The survivors stood closely together with their backs against each other. They were shocked to hear Smoke's loud landing.
The DarkElf took out his improved 'Power Chainsaw Bow' which he transmuted inside the labyrinth. Masterfully, he released a multitude of arrows.
Smoke's fire enchanted arrows dealt 12,500 damage points against the black ctenosaur riders. It only took him one volley of eight arrows to take down a mounted bandit.
After he finished the five black ctenosaur riders on the tower he stood on, he targeted the black ctenosaur lizards which formed a ladder formation towards a different tower.
It only took two arrows from Smoke to kill the lizard mounts. As his damage against the monsters were tripled by his inherited ability, Beast Monarch.
When Smoke targeted a Brandal leader on the ground below him, his power chainsaw bow revealed a damage of only 9,000 points.
He switched targets and struck the bandit's mount instead. The Brandal leader fell down on the ground, and tried to scrambled to his feet trying to avoid Smoke's arrows.
Smoke took advantage of the bandit's exposed back and turned him into a human pincushion with sixteen arrows stuck to the Brandal leader's spine.
The DarkElf stopped attacking with his arrows. He only had 3,192 arrows left and there were still 2,812 black ctenosaur riders to kill.
Smoke assessed his situation. The most threatening aspect about the Brandals was their great maneuverability.
Which made him decide to focus all of his attacks on their mounts. With his 'Lunar Gravity Boots' and 'Hooded Cloak of Cologus', Smoke made his way around the battlefield with ease.
Five hours passed, and the DarkElf finally used up his last arrow. He killed a total of 1,596 black ctenosaurs.
He destroyed the ladders that the Brandals created with their lizard mounts, and temporarily secured the safety of the survivors.
Despite their valiant efforts, they still lost more volunteers and were left with only 212 militia members. Whereas, the Brandal horde still had 1,216 black ctenosaurs, 2,102 bandits, and 32 Brandal leaders. They were still outnumbered five to one.
Everyone on Smoke's side was exhausted. They were out of arrows and bolts. All of Smoke's men stayed on top of the towers for safety.
Smoke elevated the ground around Laernea and Gandiva's war carriages, and raised them to the top of different towers.
It had been ten minutes since the Brandals' last attacks. In the lull of the bandits' attacks, Smoke ordered Espion and Rasant to collect the arrows, bolts, and fishing spears scattered on the ground below them.
After they took their meals, the two fastest members on foot immediately obeyed their orders. Smoke smirked as he remembered his first time meeting Espion.
The young Spy was a spoiled brat. Espion had to lose his right eye in their first battle against a Krampus before he saw that he should obey Smoke's commands.
Smoke assumed that this break had two purposes. First was to reorganize the ranks of the bandits and second was to give them a mental breakdown.
Most of the militia survivors felt the coming of their death. This made them easier targets for the bandits.
The DarkElf was racking his head for a plan that would ensure their survival. They already suffered enough loses of their militia.
Smoke didn't want Mitleid's death to be in vain. He wanted to save all 212 survivors, even if it meant dying.
As the DarkElf was thinking of a strategy, he received a call from Sierra.
"Hi, how are you guys doing? All of the militia survived, right? Please tell me you wiped out all the Brandals when you arrived."
Hearing Sierra's questions made Smoke remember the dying faces of the militia volunteers and the last moments he had with Konig Mitleid.
"I'm so sorry... If only I was stronger, or faster. I could've saved them."
"No! Don't tell me someone from the private army died?"
"Konig Mitleid... He's gone now, and so is 75% of our militia. At least Mitleid saw the maneators I saved from the labyrinth... Do you remember when I was still working for your uncle and I was telling you about the monstrous Maneator?"
Sierra didn't respond, but Smoke heard audible sobs.
"Who would've thought that the monster who tortured me would become a close friend."
