The wind whipped against the jagged rocks at the base of the mountain.
Warlord Gorak descended the goat path. His heart was still hammering against his ribs, the image of the Hydra skull burned into his retinas.
"Warlord," his guard panted behind him. "Slow down. We are exposed."
"We move," Gorak snarled, gripping his greatsword until the leather creaked. "We must warn the Council. The Age of Steel is over. We need to fortify the Onyx Hall before those monsters come for us."
He rounded a bend in the canyon, a narrow pass that served as the trade route between the subterranean mines and the swamp lowlands.
Gorak froze.
Below them, tramping through the dust, was a caravan. Twelve Molekin Laborers. They were hunched over, carrying heavy wooden crates on their backs. The crates clanked with the unmistakable sound of metal on metal.
Gorak's fear instantly transmuted into rage. These blind moles were feeding the enemy. That iron would become spears. Those spears would kill his people.
"Supplies," Gorak hissed. "They are arming the lizards."
He looked at his two Honor Guards. He saw the same hatred in their eyes. They couldn't fight a Hydra. They couldn't fight a God. But they could kill a dozen blind laborers.
"We cannot let that metal reach the city," Gorak commanded, drawing his massive blade. "We cut the vein."
"For the Onyx Hall!" the guards roared.
They charged.
It was a thunderous descent. Three tons of armored Troglodyte muscle sliding down the shale slope, weapons raised.
The Molekin heard the vibration before they heard the shout. They stopped. They didn't run or draw weapons. They couldn't outrun a Troglodyte, and they had no combat training.
Instead, the Lead Laborer dropped his crate.
CLANG.
He fell to his knees. He slammed his palms flat against the rocky ground. The other eleven did the same.
"O-GORR!" the Lead Laborer screamed, his voice pitching high with desperate faith. "STONE-MOTHER! THE WOLF IS AT THE DOOR!"
Gorak leaped from the final ledge, his sword raised to split the Lead Laborer in half. "Your Stone-Mother cannot save you, worm!"
The blade descended.
RUMBLE.
The ground snapped.
Six stone spikes, thick as tree trunks, shot out of the earth at supersonic speed. They didn't strike Gorak directly, but the air around him.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK.
In a blink, the spikes curved inward, locking together like the fingers of a giant granite hand.
Gorak slammed face-first into a wall of stone that hadn't been there a second ago. His axe clattered uselessly against the rock.
"What?!" Gorak roared, bashing his shoulder against the barrier.
He looked up. The cage was sealed. He looked back. His two guards were similarly encased in stone coffins, only their heads visible, gasping for air as the rock squeezed their chests.
The Lead Molekin lowered his head, shivering. "Gorr protects. Gorr keeps."
In the Void, Red was just drifting into a much-needed sleep when the obsidian slab vibrated so hard it rattled his spectral teeth.
[ INCOMING VIDEO CALL: GORR ]
Red groaned. "Can a God get a nap?"
He sat up and tapped the accept button.
The screen flickered. The massive Stone Hammer avatar appeared. But this time, the background wasn't a dark cave. It was a live feed of the canyon pass.
"Look what I caught in my garden," Gorr's raspy voice chuckled.
The camera paned down. Red saw the three stone cages. He saw the Troglodytes trapped inside, thrashing uselessly against the Divine Miracle.
"Troglodytes?" Red rubbed his eyes. "Wait... that's the Warlord. The one who insulted my scout."
"Gorak," Gorr confirmed. "He tried to ambush my delivery. Bad for business. So I put him in timeout."
Red leaned closer to the screen. "You trapped him? Just like that?"
"Of course."
"Why didn't you kill him?" Red asked. "Smite him. Zap him. Squish him."
"And waste the DP?" Gorr scoffed. "Besides... I can't just 'Smite' a Warlord directly. Not easily."
Red frowned. "Why is that? I Smited the Lizard Chief, but I couldn't smile him."
Gorr's avatar rotated, as if facing Red directly.
"You really are new, aren't you, Rubedo?"
"Explain," Red said, his voice serious. This sounded like a tutorial mechanic he had missed.
"It's the Soul Density Rule," Gorr explained. "Or 'Levels' as the gaming generation calls it."
A chart appeared on the screen, overlaying the trapped Gorak.
[ TARGET: WARLORD GORAK ]
[ RANK: MORTAL (LEVEL ??) ]
[ SOUL DENSITY: HIGH ]
"You are a Rank 3 Deity," Gorr lectured. "Your Divine Authority is strong, but it has limits against resistance."
"Think of a Mortal's soul like a shield," Gorr continued. "A regular Lizardman? Level 5. His shield is paper. You can target his heart and stop it with a thought. Easy." "The Hydra? It was a beast. High HP, but low Soul Density. No intelligence to resist your will. And it was out of its territory when you attacked him. You just needed enough voltage."
"But him?" Gorr pointed a spectral cursor at Gorak. "He is a Warlord. Level 45. He has Willpower. He has Pride. His soul is dense. If you try to cast [ HEART ATTACK ] or [ DIRECT SMITE ] on him, his soul will resist. It will cost you ten times the DP, and it might just fizzle out."
'Wait, what. level 45? Can she see the level? Why can't I? It can't be because of my rank since there is only 1 rank difference between us. Could it be her talent?' Red asked himself. 'So... other gods also have special skills and talents like I do.'
Red blinked. "So... I can't kill high-level enemies?"
"You can," Gorr corrected. "But you can't click on their forehead and press delete. You have to be creative."
"Creative?"
"Indirect Fire," Gorr said. "I didn't target Gorak. If I tried to turn him to stone, he would have resisted. So, I targeted the ground beneath his feet. The ground has no soul. The ground obeys me instantly. I told the ground to become a cage."
Red's eyes widened. "That's why the mud trap worked on the soldiers... and why the lightning worked on the Hydra."
"Exactly," Gorr said. "You targeted the Mud. You targeted the Iron Spike. You used the environment to kill the enemy. That is how a God fights the strong."
"There are other rules too," Gorr added. "Territory matters."
"I am currently in my Trade Route," Gorr said. "This is designated neutral ground, but since my followers were here, my influence extends here. If I tried to attack Gorak inside his Onyx Hall In his territory, it won't work. The System protects a species in their home."
"And finally," Gorr's voice dropped. "Never, ever try to directly target the Believer of another God."
"Why?"
"Because then you aren't fighting the mortal," Gorr said ominously. "You are fighting the God protecting him. If you try to Smite a follower of Aurelius, you aren't hitting a man. You are punching a Rank 9 Deity in the face. And he will punch back."
Red absorbed the information.
1) Level Gap: High Level mortals resist direct magic. Use environmental attacks.
2) Territory: Home field advantage is real.
3) Divine Protection: Don't touch made men.
"So," Red looked at the screen. "What are you going to do with him?"
"I can't do anything. The cage will soon weaken and they will break free."
"He has information," Red said. "He knows the layout of the Northern Mountains. I'm going to squeeze him until he pops. Give him to me."
"Unfortunately, I can't ship him to you. And my molekins are not strong enough to fight them. So you will have to send someone from your side and get them."
"How long till the cage weakens?" Red asked curiously.
"I suppose a few hours at the least."
"Alright, let the molekins deliver the iron first. I will send someone to grab them."
"You're the God of Fear, aren't you?" Gorr chuckled, the sound like grinding gravel. "I imagine a broken Warlord would be a nice trophy for your collection."
"I didn't know I had a title like that."
[ CALL ENDED ]
Red sat back in the Void. The fatigue was still there, but his mind was racing.
"Indirect fire," Red whispered. "I can't just be a sniper. I have to be an architect."
He looked at the map of the North. He looked at the blueprint for [ ALCHEMICAL BLIGHT (RUST) ] he had saved earlier.
"Perfect."