Zapdos

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Pathetic.

This was the overall sentiment of Zacharius, not just of the people from another world, but of Zigmund Mugba-Zarak. 

“Such a pathetic thing you were, Zigmund,” he said, talking more to himself than to his opponent. The metal man sighed, then swept away a group of trees with a swing of his axe as he walked closer to Adam. Predictable.

“Always so prideful in your skill, your power. And you couldn't even kill someone as weak as this?”

More trees. And with that, another literal motion to destroy them. Almost effortless.

“Really, it was just borrowed strength anyway. It was never really yours.”

The same thing, again. With the same result. Zacharius could hear heavy breathing from the Druid. It had to be desperate at this point.

“No matter. I will do what you couldn't, Zigmund. I'll kill this odd man and all of-oh, what a surprise.”

This last, he said thick with sarcasm, again using his axe to destroy the trees sent his way. But what the man didn't realize until after he had swung was that there really was a surprise headed his way; an entirely new plant hidden behind this arboreal cluster. A strange one he had never seen before, which had the shape, size and pattern of a whole watermelon, with the stripes being an almost black-colored hue of blue and the rest being a slightly lighter red. It would be impossible to dodge this. Zacharius realized just now that Adam had been timing his earlier strikes, making sure that whatever this was would hit him the first time. No matter. It would be be useless, just like-

“YEEEEEAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”

The agony! The pain! Oh, the soul fusion was nothing compared to this. The strange plant was actually an acid bomb, one that exploded on impact with his metal skin. The bright green liquid that was currently melting him alive was beyond anything he had felt before, that was for sure. He had underestimated this Druid, and now he had paid with his life.

Pathetic.

Adam watched Zacharius die with a mix of relief and a slight amount of pity. Despite knowing the latter would kill him given a tenth of a chance, he knew what kind of suffering he had gone through. There was no time to dwell on that though; the city was still in danger. The monster had been dissolved completely by the acid bomb, so there was no need to worry about that anymore.

…but what had just appeared in Adam's hand?

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Jay009 those were good, and more than bearly so!

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Teyao glad you like it!

My Hider

This round, Adam lived by the skin of his teeth :P

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Something worked, which relieved Adam quite a bit. Specifically, the Natural Energy Beam combined with his Zigmund ploy had caused Zacharius to actually get hit.

And then, the relief disappeared as the enemy got up, hardly hurt at all from the blast. This guy might be even stronger than the water ninja, the Druid thought, hoping to be wrong. Just then, the metal man spoke up.

“You…you are one of them, aren't you?”

“Yes, and-”

Adam wasn't even able to finish his thought as Zacharius charged at him. So much for being able to bluff his way out of this. It wasn't like he could defeat him like Zigmund was anyway, since there was no team for him to fight with this time. Being bait certainly wasn't fun.

After a few narrow dodges, this new opponent casted magic that charged his axe. Then he slammed it onto the ground, causing the street to crack open with a series of explosions that created a straight line of destruction heading right for Adam. The red-eyed man jumped out of the way, but the impressive display of power was actually a feint. Right after that strike, Zacharius charged straight at the Michigander, swinging his axe from the top to cut the Druid up like a log.

There was no time to dodge. Only one option presented itself.

Right at that moment, Adam transformed into his bear form, using his newly-enhanced jaw to grab the sharp part of the weapon. This ran so against anything Zacharius intended that he briefly stopped his attack out of surprise. This was enough for the fisherman, who yanked the weapon away from his opponent and slashed him with a bear claw. A bear claw, that much to the striker's dismay, did nothing to the Zigmund lookalike.

And as the enemy was harmlessly struck, he did something - maybe a spell, Adam couldn't tell for sure - that made the axe disappear out of his mouth before it reappeared in his hands. And seemingly instantaneously, Zacharius attacked again with a swing of the axe. This time, there was no way for the bear to dodge, and he was sent flying back through a nearby building. And this was no ordinary attack; whatever it was, it forced the American out of his ursine form and back into his bleeding human one.

Adam knew that if he hadn't been transformed, that hit would have killed him. He also knew that there was only one way he was going to defeat this opponent. And fortunately, being hit as hard as he was created some distance between him and his attempted killer for him to try this plan.

So, as quickly as he possibly could, the Druid began casting. He knew he would only get one chance at this, and he was not going to waste it.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Jay009 same here, and that definitely includes your posts!

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Teyao it was good! In hindsight, I maybe should've had Adam tell James a part of his plan, though the way you handled it works quite well. Maybe the guards and mages formerly under Adam's command can help James somehow, I dunno.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

The trees and roots Adam had created would help defeat any enemies, he had hoped, creating a barricade that would allow him to take on multiple foes at once.

Nope.

What he didn’t count on - really, couldn’t have expected - was the stone battle axe of Zacharius, destroying the majority of the defenses in one fell swoop. The rest were aimed straight at the Druid, attempting to cut him up into pieces. This was certainly no wolfman.

The red-eyed man didn’t have much time to think beyond what the heck is that? and this guy reminds me of- before he had to react. Somehow, miraculously, he was able to dodge the next two strikes. Narrowly, but successfully all the same.

The next? Not a chance. This new enemy had cornered Adam, and the American knew he was going to get hurt.

Not, however, without making this metal menace pay. So, as Zacharius slashed the adventurer’s stomach with his axe, the Druid slammed two trees into him like a pair of cymbals, then pushed him away from his bleeding self. This would inflict some damage upon him, and more importantly, give Adam a chance to prepare what was next. With one hand, he fired a natural energy beam at his opponent, and with the other he grew more trees to prepare for the inevitable counter-response.

Something (perhaps the significant pain of the first attack) had told the caster that the magical blast would not be enough to defeat this new foe. With that in mind, he had said something before launching his magical blast.

“Hello, Zigmund.”

He knew it was inaccurate, but maybe it would get this guy talking. Anything that would give the Michiganer even the slightest increased chance of victory would be worth it, and he intended to find and take whatever advantage he could get. It took all of Second Chance to defeat the water ninja, and now Adam had to fight one of them himself?

Yeah, any advantage would be great right about now.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@AvaP oh, there's a plan in mind, I can assure you of that :P

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Success. Briefly, that is, as one tower halted. Adam thought that his magic might be able to help stop the towers further, but that was not the case. Instead, the enemy was advancing, and the Druid wasn't sure what to do. His trees could be useful, though with the coordination of the archers, perhaps they'd just be in the way.

An explosion to the southeast was heard, and he had his answer. While growing a tree and turning it into improvised armor, the red-eyed man had his second and final order for the three men protecting him.

“Do what James says, and don't worry about me.”

Following this, Adam surged away from that specific battlefield, heading towards the explosion. Innocent people were in trouble, and the red-eyed man knew everyone else had specific military assignments. Out of everyone in Second Chance, he was the only one free to stop whatever this was.

Once the Druid got closer to the scene of chaos, he identified what looked like a military officer directing an operation of some kind. Maybe an evacuation? The American couldn't really tell, and he didn't have the time to learn. Instead, he had a somewhat different thing to ask about.

“Excuse me, what's attacking the citizens here?” Adam pointed to his source crystal, hoping he could be taken seriously because of it.

“Wolfmen. They're attacking anyone with those crystals, so I'd be careful out there.”

The Druid nodded, then headed further into the scene of chaos, though he deliberately chose a section free of civilians. It was not a pretty scene; it felt like there were body parts every other street, many of them belonging to adventurers. He did not waver though; once the man got far enough in, he held out his crystal in a lackadaisical fashion, seemingly advertising himself to the enemy. 

“Now, where are they…”

Adam said this, but he knew where they were. Or knew enough, anyway.

One Wolfman charged at the caster, thinking he would get an easy kill.

This was not the case. Instead, the Druid held out an acorn he had in his hand, turning it into an oak tree and slamming it into the enemy in one motion. The dog had been successfully put down. There was little excitement though, only anticipation and dread. The nature magic user knew - and in fact was counting on - that more Wolfmen would be arriving, attracted to the scene of their fallen comrade. 

It was not a role Adam relished, but he knew every enemy after him was one that wouldn’t be hurting innocent people. And he also knew they would hunt him specifically, as someone who the Witch Queen desperately wanted dead. And so he prepared more trees and roots, ready to battle against the vile forces that would strike against him.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

There really wasn’t more time.

Between the work at Golden Tree Park and the lumbermen politely forcing Adam to a celebratory dinner for his newest achievement, he wasn’t able to meet MacKensie like he wanted. And now, the siege had begun. No time for searching.

4 AM wasn’t an especially early time for the Druid, who was an early riser anyway. He went down to the lobby of the Drum, wanting to talk to the Ranger in case he didn’t make it, but she was nowhere to be found. Nobody from Second Chance was there, in fact. That or he was just too distracted by what was to come to notice. That notion annoyed him; it would not do to be unaware when it was time to fight. So briefly, yet intently, the man meditated. Whatever his personal feelings were at this time, they would not overcome his desire to help the people of Valheim.

Immediately running towards his assigned position after that, Adam held some acorns in his hand. Seeing ghouls here and there on the way, the red-eyed man had a fully-grown oak tree for each one, splatting them into oblivion. This was certainly a different variant of the phrase “hit and run” - there was no time to linger, not when there were bigger fish to fry in the northeast part of the city. Or in this case, a monstrous bat-like thing that was dropping enemies from the sky. Strangely, the first thing he felt was pity towards the creature, clearly suffering in some way. Perhaps this was like putting down a sick farm animal, in an odd way. And on the bright side, James was approaching the platforms there also, swinging his anchor and shouting commands at his men.

To arms! Melee fighters kill the ghouls before they cause more damage! Light Domain bring down the Corpse Dropper! Earth and water target the troops! Everyone else go for the towers!

James Sirius

The American knew he wasn’t Light Domain, but he did know how he could help stop the abomination. He also knew he formally had command over some troops - a mage of each Domain and a few melee soldiers - though he felt less qualified on that topic. An 18-year old fresh out of high school was not going to kill others with his inexperience.

“Mages, follow his commands,” Adam said, gesturing to James. “Soldiers, protect me please.” Basic orders only, yes. These were grown men and women, they didn’t need to be micromanaged. Now he could focus on what he was good at; plant magic. Without saying anything else, the spellcaster held his hand up, carefully aiming at the Corpse Dropper. Once he felt confident, he fired a Natural Energy Beam at the large creature.

Whatever the result of that was, he would then focus his attention on the slightly more conventional forces invading Valheim. Specifically, the parts of them made out of wood. His “nature sense” gave him an advantage in this way, knowing what vulnerabilities of each structure to target specifically. A siege ladder? Snapped in half, leading to troops falling to their deaths. More advanced siege towers? Wheels slid off to stop them in place. Flaming logs fired by catapults towards the good guys? Stopped mid-air and sent back to their place of origin. Some of this took more time and effort than others, but these efforts would hopefully help the city stay safe.