Chapter 370: Array Towers


    Most people looked relieved to hear that Zac would take care of the array towers. Charging those things was to risk ones life without the potential for any gains in levels, so they breathed out in relief when they heard they didnt have to do that. However, Joanna and Emily looked worried when they heard that he would charge into that deathtrap alone.


    Youll handle them? the Murk said with barely contained skepticism. Do you have any of your old world weaponry, like tanks? How about I contact the other forces? They might be able to help us.


    Its fine, Zac said with a shake of his head before he turned to Verana. Wheres Smaug?


    Hes hiding amongst the rearguard, the beast mistress leered. He scurried back there the moment he saw the towers.


    Zac snorted and walked back to the end of the convoy, and he soon enough found the person he was looking for.


    I have decided I will defend the rear for you, lord, Smaug immediately said when he saw Zac approach, emitting the aura of a brave warrior. I am afraid I will just be in the way in such cramped quarters. My arrays cannot distinguish between friend and foe. It is truly a shame, but I will pray for your sess as I will defend your backs with my life.


    Isnt that nice, Zac snorted. Dont worry, I wont make you go to the frontlines. Thats not why I brought you here. Do you have any more of those concussive arrays?


    I can buy five right now, at 20 million each, Smaug said with some relief in his eyes.


    Zac sighed, but he nodded in agreement as he transferred the funds.


    The concussive arrays were something that Smaug had procured while they fought the Underworld incursions. They were array crystals that essentially functioned as superpowered hand grenades. They caused a tremendous explosion in a somewhat contained area, and the arrays were great at utterly destroying fixed structures.


    They werent as efficient at taking down actual cultivators though, as they had a small dy that would allow most to move out of the way or activate their defenses. But they would be perfect for taking down a couple of towers each in case things went out of control.


    So youre really doing this thing? Smaug hesitantly said as he looked at the rows and rows of tower arrays. These golems arent messing around, and I dont think that the turrets theyve built will be anything tough at.


    I have enough cards up my sleeve to feel confident Ill survive for a while at least, and if it turns out to be too dangerous Ill back off, Zac sighed. I cant send my people into such an obvious trap. Theyre not strong enough.


    Its not just fun and games to be on the top is it? Smaug snorted. At least youre also on the top of the Powerdder as well so people dont try to rob you every two days.


    Zac could only let out a deep sigh in agreement as he walked away. It had been a bit odd to reacquaint himself with Smaug during the trip, as this excursion was the first time they met while he was in his human form. He had pulled out all the stops to ingratiate himself with Zac, doing everything from providing arrays from his limited license, to updating him on rumors or valuable deposits, to even trying to set him up with a fewdies.


    His over the top enthusiasm was a bit hard to swallow, but it truly is difficult to punch a smiling face.


    After he got the arrays he simply sat down on his prayer mat. It actually kept him cool even in this environment, and it allowed him to smoothly wait out the three hours until the agreed-upon time. The only interruption was that Murk confirmed that the other sides of the pir were normal, but the closest tunnels had all been closed down or filled withve.


    It had elicited a short discussion about whether they should spend two days or so to head to the closest open tunnels instead of walking into this obvious trap. Zac Eventually decided that they would stay the course. The Golems had the means to close down the tunnels, and he didn''t want to waste two days only to find that their new point of ingress had been closed as well.


    A few daring scouts had dared to test out the pirs on the edges, and not surprisingly the towers were fire attuned. They all shot out balls ofva that were roughly the size of a ser ball, and they both possessed kic force and fiery heat. The only upside was that it almost looked like they were dropped from the top of the tower rather than being shot, so their speed wasn''t troubling.


    The real trouble came from the fact that one tower could shoot out quite a few fireballs in a volley every five seconds, and there were over a hundred towers. If their army entered together they would be assaulted by a thousandva balls in no time, and such an attack would cause massive losses.


    The time finally arrived, and Zac hadn''t figured out any better strategy than running straight in. He would take down the towers one by one without stopping, allowing him to avoid as many of theva balls as possible.


    A rain of fire from the sky almostpletely blotted out the ceiling to wee his arrival. They looked like fiery drops of rain, mming down all around him. Zac nked out for a second by the majestic sight, but he shook his head to snap out of it. He immediately appeared in front of the nearest tower with the help of <strong>[Loamwalker]</strong> and swung arge fractal edge toward the base. The de was already imbued with his new and improved Seed of Sharpness, and it cut through the pir without any trouble.


    Unfortunately, that was it. The pir still stood in the same position, as Zacs swing hadnt actually managed to move it at all. He could only take a few steps back and infuse himself with the Dao of heaviness as he tried to topple the thing over with a body m. However, the collision must have looked like an ant trying to topple a tree, and Zac only managed to make the tower shudder a bit.


    He could only summon a couple of more fractal des andunch them at the tower as he danced around like a monkey to avoid the increasing amount ofva ballsnding all around him. It was not exactly how he wanted to present himself, but it was the best he could do without wasting a huge amount of Cosmic Energy. Each de was infused with the seed of heaviness this time, and the attacks mmed into the tower with the force of a truck.


    The base was alreadypletely cut through, so the attacks were enough to topple it without any problem. Zacs eyes lit up when he saw that he was able to destroy a tower without much effort, and he hoped that taking down the first tower would have a cascading effect. The towers were clustered quite close to each other, and he pushed it over in the direction of its closest neighbor.


    But a shocking change took ce the moment the tower started to topple. It lost all its structural integrity in an instant, and it quickly turned into a tube ofva that spilled down straight toward a gaping Zac. Even he didnt want to take a magma bath unless necessary, even though he was pretty sure he could withstand it for a second or two without getting seriously hurt. He shed away with <strong>[Loamwalker]</strong> toward the next pir instead, leaving arge pond ofva in his wake.


    After the first experiment he started to get a hang of it, and the second tower only needed three quick swings with the help of his Dao Seeds and <strong>[Chop]</strong>. But the intensity of theva balls only increased as he got within range of more and more towers, and he quickly became unable to dodge them all without being forced out of the entrance.


    He was forced to bear the brunt of some of the attacks if he wanted to keep going, so he activated <strong>[Natures Barrier]</strong> to block the handful of theva balls dropped in his directions. Leaves were obviously not the greatest defense against fire, but with the help of the Dao of Trees they had an unyielding vitality that allowed them to knock the balls away before burning up.


    However, as more and more hits struck his defense he realized that he would waste even more Cosmic Energy this way than if he simply unleashed a greater strike. After a short deliberation the energy around him started to surge, and the enormous forester''s hatchet appeared behind him. His body strained under the pressure, but a wave of destruction rippled outward causing one tower after another to fall apart into pools of magma.


    What better attack to destroy what looked like a bunch of stone trees than <strong>[Deforestation]</strong>?


    The first swing of <strong>[Deforestation]</strong> was all he needed, as it destroyed over half the towers. He had already taken down around ten before that, and the big gap gave him a breather from the relentless bombardment ofva projectiles. There was no need to use his second swing for the remainders as he saw it. He instead threw out a couple of boulders to avoid stepping inva and threw out his concussive arrays at the tightest clumps of towers.


    Lava kept raining down from the falling towers, but the threat was dealt with thanks to his <strong>[Axe of Felling]</strong>. What remained was to simply take down the final towers with his Daos, and it only took a few minutes of his time. Zac signaled the army it was fine to move forward after the final tower copsed, and they quickly sped toward him as they vigntly kept watch for any remnant defenses.


    But it appeared that there were no hidden arrays, among the obvious towers, and the only remnant threat was the massive amount of magma that filled the whole entrance.


    The army seemed to have anticipated this though, and the stronger warriors threw out one huge block of stone after another, effectively creating a wide bridge to pass. Zac nodded in appreciation as he jumped up on the bridge from one of his boulders, and the army entered the true Incursion together.


    A pir of the purest mes entered their sight the moment they stepped inside the cave where the golems had built their base. Zac first thought it was the volcano that the Council mentioned, but he soon realized it was the Incursion pir itself, and it showed just how closely rted to mes these golems were.


    The other Incursions he had encountered had generally been simply color-coded to match the force, apart from the Undead Empire who had turned the pir into a beacon of Miasma, where specters slowly circted the beam.


    The me golems seemed to have the ability to do the same thing, as the Incursion was a huge red me that almost blinded Zac when he looked at it. He swiftly turned his eyes away, a bit leery about whether the sight meant the golems were powerful enough to enjoy special treatment, or that it just looked that way because all the golems were fire-attuned.


    Such musings would have to wait forter though, as he knew that they needed to act quickly. They hadnt spotted a single golem so far, which made Zac believe an ambush was just around the corner. Besides, his new allies were currently fighting the Golems ording to Murk''s report, and the longer it took for Zac to take down the leader the greater the losses would be among the Councils armies.


    The group kept rushing closer and closer toward the Incursion Pir, but they didnt see any structures anywhere. However, the inside of the enormous stone pir was still a marvelous sight. These golems were not only insidiousbatants who had nopunctions about drowning people in magma, but they were also great artisans.


    The golems had for some reason decided to spend a massive amount of effort on thousands of sculptures, each of them a lifelike masterpiece. The motifs were almost always of nature, with everything fromrge trees to unfamiliar creatures lovingly carved out of transported stones, or even out of the ground itself. The only exception was a huge boulder ced on a hill in the distance, the only stone that lookedpletely untouched.


    Most people thought it was some sort of art, but Zac immediately knew something was wrong, as the boulder actually made him feel threatened.