Bastion and the girls spent a month in the black market before heading off to the nearest kobold tribe. During that time, they collected a bit of everything that was for sale, all resources uniquely found in Subterra's environment. There were plants of all kinds, corpses of strange creatures, rare unidentified minerals and metals, broken ancient artifacts, mana-filled materials, and a whole host of questionable ingredients, ranging up to Rank 3.
That wasn't the reason they spent an entire month there, though; that was just their compensation. The real reason was that they were hired to produce custom equipment and carry out repairs.
They tried to refuse at first, since their original plan was only to buy what they needed and leave immediately. However, things changed when the adventuring party they had arrived with spread word that they were merchants and craftsmen capable of producing top-tier Rank 2 equipment.
That information quickly caused a commotion, as a full bidding war began, with multiple parties competing for their services before they could even properly decline. The negotiations effectively concluded without their input, ending in an offer so high that Bastion couldn't reasonably turn it down.
So, for the next month, Bastion got the golem assembly line churning out Rank 2 weapons and armor from the materials he was provided. Seraphina worked her butt off repairing, patching, or replacing cloth and leather equipment, and on occasion, she was also asked to set gems in jewelry. Lilia stayed busy enchanting everything the pair made and was even asked to upgrade or repair certain enchantments that had expired or been damaged. Needless to say, they hadn't slept a wink over the past month, working to finish all the requests as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Elyra kept them fed with the oddest food combinations she could come up with. Granted, they were all unbelievably delicious, but there was only so much tolerance that could be afforded, with dishes like cave leech strips with congealed umbracap secretion, giant molerat broth thickened with abyssal mushroom, or shredded earthworm noodles.
The main reason none of them complained, aside from the fact that the food was delicious, was that they had been mildly trained to tolerate disturbing meals ever since they arrived in the kingdom. On the bright side, they were eating meat now, no matter how questionable the creature it came from.
The only one who had nothing to do most of the time was Ariel, who spent her free time drinking in pubs and gathering information. That included the location of nearby kobold tribes, stories about the kingdom's efforts to hinder adventurers, and even which kingdoms were worth visiting from their current location.
Everyone was quite busy throughout the month and quite relieved when they finally left. Bastion, Seraphina, and Lilia slept for a few days, while Ariel drove the carriage with her storm elemental and Elyra guarded with her shadow clones.
A week later, they arrived at a particularly large cavern filled with tall red mushrooms that regularly released deadly spores. At least, deadly to everyone except the kobolds, who purposefully cultivated them to ward off invaders. Fortunately, Bastion and the girls had their purifying masks, so they had no trouble surviving the environment.
"We're here," Ariel called out. "Skarrix's kobold tribe is just ahead. They've probably already detected us, so we only have a few minutes before the battle starts."
"How large is this tribe again?" Bastion asked.
"About a hundred thousand strong plus the servants. This particular tribe is on the smaller side because they mostly focus on attacking nearby cities rather than going on long raiding trips to target the more distant towns and villages."
"That's about a tenth of our tax requirements, wait… they have a Rank 3 so about a fifth, no wait… there's probably plenty of Rank 1s and Rank 2s as well so—" Seraphina mumbled before Ariel interrupted.
"Actually, they don't have that many Rank 1 and Rank 2 combatants because they keep dying out on raids, so they're only worth about 2 magic crystals plus a minimum of 10 mithril coins for taking out the base. Also, didn't we make a ton of money at Mycelora and the black market? I'm pretty sure we've already accrued at least 30 magic crystals in taxes by now."
"Definitely more," Bastion added. "I earned a massive profit off the plate armor alone. I'm a bit afraid of how much they'll tax us."
"Ah! They've found us," Ariel shouted. "They're forming ranks outside their camp."
"Good," Bastion said with a smile. "The more of them rush at us blindly, the better."
In a blink, Bastion's casual shirt and shorts were replaced with his full plate armor. Then he swapped his helmet for his face mask to avoid being poisoned by the spores in the air, not that he would be affected, given his Diamond Body ability.
"Now that we're out of the kingdom, we can finally test out our new guns," Bastion said as he released his six-barreled autocannon from his Weapon Slot.
It looked the same as usual but was now made with Rank 2 metal and enchanted for even stronger ammunition. It was more than resistant enough to survive Seraphina's strongest Rank 2 explosives. Unfortunately, the ammunition was only heat and pressure resistant Rank 1 metal, so its damage should be capped at Rank 3 at best due to the sheer force.
"I can't wait to start blasting," Ariel said from the side as she took out her own autocannon as well.
"Are we even needed?" Lilia asked.
"You still need to make sure we aren't swarmed from all sides," Ariel answered. "So yes, you're still needed. Besides, there's a Rank 3 kobold sorcerer in every one of the tribes of this size, so we might not have both guns firing at the crowd."
"Everyone ready?" Bastion asked as he looked around.
Seraphina wore her red mage robe with her grimoire in hand, while Lilia stood beside her in her usual blue robe, staff at the ready. Ariel was practically bouncing in place with the autocannon gripped in both hands, and Elyra waited in his shadow, ready to strike at any moment. All of them wore white face masks to avoid breathing in the deadly spores.
"Here we go," Bastion said as he opened the carriage door and stepped out, attracting the attention of the gathering kobolds.
They shrieked in unison before charging forth, their numbers swelling into a powerful horde. The ground trembled under the weight of their advance, a chaotic tide of brown and red rushing forward. Jagged weapons and crude armor glinted under the dim cavern light as their momentum built into an unstoppable surge.
Bastion took the left flank while Ariel took the right, their autocannons spinning to life as the barrels began to whirl. Then, from their feet, the earth sprang up courtesy of Pebbles, creating support for their feet and back to prevent the recoil from sending them flying. Ariel spread her wings for better stability, her breathing growing ragged with excitement.
At the center stood Seraphina and Lilia with their phoenix and ice golem, preparing their spells to intercept any stragglers the gunners might miss. Lilia added mines at the front while her mist lynx spread mist behind them to conceal the carriage.
Just before the kobold horde came within jumping distance, both autocannons opened fire.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT
The cavern erupted into a loud, echoing noise as a storm of bullets tore through the front lines. Kobolds were shredded mid-charge, their assault collapsing almost instantly under the relentless barrage. Entire clusters dropped in unison as the rounds tore through ten or more at a time. Their numbers dissolved into a collapsing wall of torn limbs, scales, bones, chunks of flesh, and sprays of blood, as the autocannons swerved side to side, erasing everything in their path.
Fear spread through the ranks as the loud, bloody mess unfolded all around them. It didn't even take a second of consideration before they all collectively turned and ran for their lives. It was a futile effort, however, as the autocannons' range extended well past the dying horde and began tearing into their encampment. Screams and dying wails went unnoticed, as the autocannons' roar was simply too powerful, especially in the confines of the large cavern.
Even with their original numbers well past 100 thousand, it didn't take long to smear them across the ground, while stray bullets tore into their camp. The battlefield had already become a haze of smoke, blood mist, and collapsing bodies.
A voice suddenly rose above it all, a Rank 3 kobold sorcerer screaming with enough force to cut through the autocannons' roar. Then, from the ground, a massive form erupted upward, easily 10 meters tall, a lumbering stone giant bound together with thick green vines and encased in hardened brown mushroom armor. It was a monstrosity that even Bastion doubted his autocannon could take down.
Still, that didn't stop Bastion and Ariel from shifting their aim toward it. Unfortunately, he was proven right. The mushrooms acted like sponges, absorbing the bullets before spitting them back out. The vines tore and the stone broke apart, but with each heavy swing of its limbs, the creature simply drew more earth up to replace what was lost.
It lumbered forward in long, grinding strides, but Bastion and Ariel had one clear advantage. It was slow, and it needed to cover too much ground.
"Ariel!" Bastion called out through telepathy via their face masks. "Bring out the cannon and aim for center mass. Let's see if this giant can handle enough firepower to bring down a Rank 4."
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