Chapter 329: 329. Crackling Infiltration

Seven moons filled the night sky. Dallion was eager to put the plan in motion, but the guardian urged him to wait a few hours more until the Green Moon was in its apex—the time most beneficial for dryad echoes. During that time, there was nothing left for Dallion to wait and practice forging. In general, it was a bad idea to reveal skills to others, but crafting skills didn’t have a direct effect on standard fighting skills. Also, the promise between Dallion and Duzhd ensured that the guardian would share no skills with the rest of his group. Given that the loss of this temple would threaten the entire realm, no complaints from the other guardians were expected. If anything, Dallion assumed they would be keeping an eye on the whole situation, eager to see the outcome. If things went well, there was a chance that others surrendered as well.

Another dagger was hammered into being, then unsummoned like the ten before it. There was no doubt that Dallion had gotten the hang of creating them, and still his forging skill hadn’t increased by a single point. That, of course, was normal. Crafting skills increased based on the masterpiece principle—only when the crafter forged an item far better than anything he’d created so far would the skill increase. That meant that it would take thirty-eight outstanding items in order for Dallion to reach his current level cap. It also explained why crafters were treated so differently from other awakened.

You know that you need to actually forge the items in order to increase your level, the armadil shield said.

I know, Dallion summoned an iron ingot and started shaping it, barely looking at the provided markers. I just want to get the feeling of it. Get a solid foundation, as Nil likes to say.

Right. The echo has been weeping with joy, you know. Now that he’ll admit it.

An annoyed cough resounded in Dallion’s realm.

It’ll be time to go soon. Better get ready.

I will. Dallion kept on hammering the piece of metal. Getting the shape right had become quite easy. Of course, it helped that the ingot was mailable as if it were red hot. I thought you’d spend some time chatting with the guardian, given that you might know each other.

The dryad union was a huge place, far bigger than the current human empire. You don’t expect me to know everyone, do you?

All the more reason to get to know him.

Nah, I dislike child prodigies, the armadil shield replied.

“It’s time.” An echo approached Dallion.

“Sure.” Dallion unsummoned the dagger half-done. The anvil and hammer disappeared along with it. “Let’s go.”

It was a short walk to the edge of the guardian’s domain. While walking Dallion tried to get Gleam to emerge, but the shardfly stubbornly refused to do so. As she had been saying all along, she was only going to emerge once Dallion left the dryad’s land and not a moment earlier.

I need to have my illusion before I step out, Dallion said. I’ll step over the moment I do. Promise.

I really don’t like this, the familiar sighed. Moments later, she emerged above Dallion;’s head and started sprinkling him with glitter from her wings.

Dallion could hardly feel a thing, but based on the dryad echo’s reaction that the effect was working. After about a minute of flying around him, the shardfly disappeared back into his realm once more.

There, she said in an annoyed voice. You’re ready. If anyone asks, you’re a crackling knight.

Knight? Fancy. Thanks.

It’s the only passable thing I saw, she replied. Having a squid enter the front gate of a city would be stupid.

The mental image was enough to make Dallion crack a smile. Maybe he’d have her try that on some other occasion. For the moment, though, it was time to get serious.

“Let’s start.” Dallion stepped onto crackling land. The top layer of the soil crumbled beneath his foot, creating cracks in the ground. Clearly, the shardfly’s illusion was so real that the environment also reacted to it. Thinking about it, that was outright scary. If she were of a higher level, there was no telling how powerful her illusions could be.

Once he got used to talking, Dallion broke out into a jog, then a full run. It still felt slightly weird. He could almost feel the weird of being a crackling as he made his way towards the city walls in the distance. Several minutes later, the sound of horns filled the air—the guardian had started its echo attack.

Multiple city gates opened, releasing a torrent of armored gremlins. This time the squads merged into larger knights the moment they went into the open, rushing to meet the invading dryad army. A terrifying thought went through Dallion’s mind.

What happens if a crackling tries to merge with me? he asked.

That would be an interesting case worthy of careful analysis, Nil replied. In theory, it should start the process of changing you into a chainling. However, since the merging would be of a more benevolent nature, maybe you’ll simply become isolated from the rest, like an air bubble in dough. Bottom line, I’d advise that you stay far away from any “fellow” cracklings.

Thanks for nothing.

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Flocks of birds filled the air, assembling in the sky above each city. The cracklings were clearly going all out, creating their own air forces. Moments later, it became obvious why. A new entity had appeared in the air, or rather an old one—the vine whale—attacking from the side of the sea.

A two-prong attack? Dallion wondered. So far, he thought that guardians couldn’t join forces. Their domains were so far apart that they shouldn’t be able to. However, that didn’t hold for minions. As a familiar the whale could do whatever it wanted—Dallion himself had tested that during the battle at the third temple.

Armies clashed in both land and sky. While larger in size, the giant gremlin knights were quickly drilled by roots shooting up from the ground. Behind them, dryad echoes rushed forward like blades of a meat grinder, slashing everything in their path. Dallion would have loved to be able to carefully observe their movements and hopefully learn them for his next fight. His priority was different, though. Relying on his athletic skills, he kept on running towards the open gates, taking a slightly roundabout path.

The crackling squads kept on emerging in greater and greater numbers. If the first gremlin knights were composed of fifty individual cracklings, the following were of at least a hundred, possibly more. Tens of thousands of soldiers from this city alone had gone onto the battlefield. On the other side, the echo army was nothing to be scoffed at either. The guardian had released several dozen echoes—around sixty from what Dallion could determine—but they proved enough to hold off the first waves, and even push further into crackling territory. This was probably what the armadil shield had meant when he had compared the guardian to a child prodigy. Huge skill was required to create that many echoes, not to mention still use long distance root attacks. It was somewhat curious that no additional creatures were used. Dallion could only assume that those required non-corrupt land in order to survive.

It was only by the time that Dallion got close to the city walls that the flow of armies had gone down to a trickle. Potentially, that was a good thing—it meant that most of the city would be empty.

Do you think they’ll abandon it altogether? Dallion asked.

It’s possible. Cracklings don’t have civilians. Besides, there’s no point in anyone remaining in a city since the threat is quite obvious.

I’d have thought they’re better planners.

For all you know, they might be, dear boy. There’s simply not much we know about cracklings in advanced stages of development. All our information comes from corrupted ancient artefacts. It might well be that we’re observing only the exceptions.

The city gate was twenty feet wide and twice that in height. The architecture seemed medieval. There was nothing remotely impressive about it other than the material it was made of. Holding his breath, Dallion slowly moved on.

There’s no pause between gremlins, Gleam said.

That’s why I’ll have to get creative, Dallion replied, as markers appeared on the walls. Originally, his plan was to enter through the gates, but with all that chaos running up the walls was the better choice.

Charging along the markers, Dallion leapt up. Within seconds a sequence was complete, then a second, granting Dallion the ability to bounce off air. He did, propelling himself further up. Soon enough, he found himself on the top of the wall. Unlike human castles, there were no guards present—such were never planned. Cracklings never had the need to protect themselves from enemies sneaking in. Most often they weren’t the attackers; if they had grown to the point of forming a city, that meant that the decay had crept in deep within the item. This was all the better for Dallion, who simply continued along the wall for a better spot to jump in.

The inside of the city was both similar to a standard human settlement and not. The streets and buildings were positioned, as one would expect. Everything else, on the other hand, was like a bad copy and paste. Looking closely, there were only three types of buildings within the city: forges, barracks, and crude homes. Shops, statues, even entertainment structures seemed to be alien. Even the inner castle seemed to be like a fortified neighborhood than anything else.

You don’t have much time, dear boy, Nil said. With this number of crackling troops, the guardian’s echoes won’t be able to last for long.

Right, Dallion nodded.

Finding a good spot, he leapt along the roofs of buildings, making his way towards the city center. Below, gremlins continued to trickle along the streets—in far smaller numbers—rushing to forges and emerging in full armor.

They’re only knights? Dallion wondered.

It’s not like they are a complex society, Nil noted. At this stage, it’s all what the heart-flame decides is best for it. The gremlins themselves are just parts of the whole. If knights are the strongest that the city has to offer, why go with anything less?

As much as that made sense, it didn’t feel right. There was something more, but Dallion couldn’t put his finger on it.

Music, he thought.

Large blocks of hunger emerged through the city, taking up entire buildings. The gremlins also had their individual emotions, but those paled in comparison to the point of insignificance. Scariest of all, a large ball of devouring personified pulsed in the middle of the inner castle, making Dallion’s skin creep even from this distance. That was what he had come to destroy. How exactly was he supposed to do it, though? The flame was clearly too large for Dallion or any of his familiars to handle. Even if he reached it without attracting any attention—which was looking more and more likely at this point—what was he going to do afterwards?

Harp, Dallion thought. Any chance you can summon water here?

No, the nymph replied in her usual manner. I can help control water, but not summon it out of nowhere.

Any chance that you can get it from the sea?

The lack of response gave Dallion his answer. He was going to have to use something else to extinguish the flame. At the end of the day, though, it remained a physical presence. As long as one could do physical damage, it could wound it. The trick was wounding it enough.

Suddenly, the ground shook. Miles from the city, all the gremlin knights had merged into one giant entity, only to be knocked down by the whale minion which had crashed into it. Things had quickly entered into the endgame, which didn’t give Dallion much time.

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