Empire Builder 1: Breed, Populate, Conquer Dante King (i read books txt) 📖

“Are you sure?” Ben asked.

Melody nodded.

Imogen spoke up. “I will go with you also, Benzhameen.”

Ben was deeply touched by the dryad’s bravery.

“Without you, we have nothing left to live for,” Lulu said.

Vinata stepped forward. “You can’t stop us if you try, Ben. We’re with you to the end.”

The loyalty of the women moved Ben. He hoped it would be enough.

“Let’s go then, time to put an end to these slavers. I’ll use Drain. Sir Gallant,” he called up at the ceiling. “Be ready to summon gravel ghouls to defend us in the entrance.”

“Consider it done,” the intercom squeaked back.

Melody gave the null locks to the nymphs. “You hang back and be ready to use these as soon as you are able.” She drew her wand and held it at the ready. “I will attack with my lightning spell.”

The nymphs took the locks.

“Lulu,” Ben said. “I need you to use whatever water you can find in there to attack Uzax. Hopefully water will work against his fire magic.”

Lulu nodded in response.

Ben marched toward the Dining Hall entrance. “Open the doors, Sir Gallant,” he shouted at the intercom.

Sir Gallant the Elder strode up to stand beside Ben, shielding the women before the entrance. Nipper rubbed himself up against Ben’s leg and stared at the door, fangs bared.

The doors unbolted and slid open, revealing the carnage inside. A wave of heat washed over Ben and his companions from the burning furniture.

Lexi was standing on the left side of the blazing dining table, slashing at Pearl, now a giant werecat, with her spear. Her strikes were lightning fast, and Pearl was only just managing to defend herself.

A scorched blob hung from the ceiling, the blade fiend having been mostly reduced to an impotent form. But it had done its job, eviscerating the last of Lexi’s soldiers as the doors opened.

Uzax tossed fireballs at the blade fiend, causing burning hunks of dripping flesh to drop onto the table with a sizzle.

Adremor was hurling whatever dishes and bits of furniture he could get his hands on, even the bones of dead footsoldiers, severing the monster’s limbs.

A row of gravel ghouls rose from the floor in front of the doors, shielding Ben’s party.

“Control limit is at maximum,” Sir Gallant the Younger announced into the intercom of the room Ben was still standing in.

Ben walked forward, taking up position behind the gravel ghouls, as the stone giants came to life and advanced on the mages.

As they entered, Adremor managed to slice off the last of the blade fiend’s body, which crashed with a splash onto the table, smashing it apart and throwing splinters all over the room.

The two mages turned their attention to the advancing gravel ghouls.

As they did so, the body of the blade fiend was absorbed into the floor, and more gravel ghouls and vine monsters appeared from behind them. But these would be no more than a distraction.

Everyone leaped into action. Sir Gallant the Elder, put on a surprising turn of speed, vaulted over the gravel ghouls to engage Adremor in combat. He practically flew over the stony giants, drawing his great broadsword as he went. The blade sang as it left its sheath, and firelight flashed along its length.

Lulu conjured up water from the spilled liquid on the ground. Vinata cast spells on the vine monsters, causing them to grow longer and larger. Imogen picked up a gravel ghoul and made for Uzax, swinging the giant around like a ragdoll, while the frenzied Pyromancer dodged and threw fire at her. Imogen kept her distance, as the heat appeared to be too great for her.

Melody cast lightning bolts at Lexi, giving Pearl enough breathing space to retreat and rejoin her mother and brother.

Uzax glared at Ben in between dodging blows from Imogen. “Traitor!” he yelled.

“You have entered the domain of Benzhameen, the Forgotten Ruler!” Ben announced. “You have threatened the welfare of my women. For that you will all die!”

Lexi and Uzax scoffed in disbelief.

“Forgotten Ruler?” Uzax echoed incredulously. “He’s out of his mind if he expects us to believe that’s who he is.”

Ben prepared to prove him wrong, stretching out his hands and gathering his magical energy to cast Drain. Strands of energy appeared in chaotic webs all over the room. Physical energy from his own monsters filled the air with green strands, while the mental and emotional energy of the mages and his women provided only a splash of blue and red.

It was the purple energy coming from the mages that really caught his eye though. He recalled having seen purple strands when he first used Drain on Melody, but the strands he could now see inside these mages was a much more vibrant purple. It was magical energy, the source and power of their incredibly potent spells. If he could drain them of their spells, the others could easily overwhelm them.

When Ben tried to sap this purple energy however, nothing happened. The energy simply wouldn’t respond to his efforts to draw it out. It was like he was being blocked.

“Are you going to dance for us?” Uzax taunted as he dodged another swing from Imogen’s giant stone ragdoll.

Ben had never encountered this resistance before. He suspected he was being blocked by some sort of magical immunity the mages had, but there was no time to speculate on that. He needed to get the null locks around those mages so that their magic would be nullified. Once that happened, he could drain their energy.

But how to get closer? Uzax was throwing out too much heat even for Imogen to come close, and Lexi was fighting Melody and Pearl and Nipper with such ferocity, they were being driven back against the wall.

Sir Gallant the Elder was keeping Adremor engaged, but Ben didn’t like his chances against the Force Wizard when he was unarmed.

Ben’s only power was Drain. He realized he needed to think laterally again, to come