The Homeseeker: Elemental Adventurer LitRPG [Isekai] (Series Complete!)

Zalan witnessed fireballs, wind-fired javelins, and flaming spikes fired from atop the walls, barrage after barrage of endless projectiles against the incoming army. But for every Grimfang that would be brought to its knees, another leapt over it, ready to continue the pursuit into the city. A bright flash went off above the walls, and Zalan knew someone gained a Level, but had no time to celebrate with so many more monsters at the base of the city.

"Zalan, you should take on the smaller opening. Slauson and I will defend this one," Dimak determined.

"We should wait on Gorb's orders," Zalan said, looking up to the wall.

"He is inundated by the endless horde," Dimak said immediately, flicking his chin up to point to Gorb. He was a blur, jumping from one point of the wall to the next, throwing Moss's endless supply of javelins. "Go to the wall and defend it with your life. We will come to assist if we can."

"Why should we take orders from you?" Slauson asked.

"Because listening to me takes no time at all, and petty squabbles can cost lives," Dimak said.

Slauson's lips formed a thin line.

"Fair point," he muttered, looking at Zalan.

Zalan nodded and ran off to the other opening. As soon as he had a chance to look out, he knew he'd made a grave mistake. The Grimfangs were at a much more concentrated number here, as the guards had yet to arrive and put on a consistent assault. Zalan turned his head a fraction to call out for Dimak or Slauson, but a Grimfang dove through the hole just then, capturing Zalan's full attention. It brought down both of its arms together to bash him. Zalan imbued his full body in light and blinded the monster with his angelic aura, causing its weight to shift enough that Zalan could dip out of the way. He stabbed his sword into its underarm, but before he could pull it out, another Grimfang thrust a fist his way. Zalan bent back, releasing his blade and narrowly avoiding the blow. The first Grimfang kicked him in the chest, and Zalan grabbed it, catching the blow.

He looked down at the foot, surprising even himself with the fact that he could stop a monster's foot mid-swing. He threw the leg as hard as he could, slinging it away from him and back toward the open hole. To his surprise, the monster sailed through the air like he threw a sack of potatoes. He knew he was strong, but he didn't expect to be able to treat the Grimfangs with the same power they had over him.

Hopping from one foot to another, Zalan avoided a few close jabs from the remaining Grimfang, then grabbed its arm and slung it over his head, bashing it hard into the ground. Quickly, he dragged it across the floor and tripped more Grimfangs climbing through the entrance. With a loud cry, he sent it sailing over the wall. Before he had a chance to catch his breath, three more Grimfangs climbed through the opening.

Zalan burst into hot white light, blinding the three of them and rushing in to pummel them. He took a blow to the shoulder and felt it go numb with pain. In return, he dislocated a monster's arm and kicked it away. In the same motion, he landed a blow onto one of the monster's faces so hard that it caved inward, killing it instantly.

Zalan was lost in the battle. He barely had a moment to think or breathe before another Grimfang challenged him. Monsters would approach and be killed in hand-to-hand combat, but Zalan was always left with slowly increasing cuts and bruises. As much as he could overpower them, they always managed to get a single hit on him when he was outnumbered. At one point, Zalan even gained a Level. But he was so engrossed in imbuing himself with light he couldn't position himself strategically and only killed the nearest six monsters. Dozens more remained, always in an endless stream.

Caked with sweat, cuts, and bruises, Zalan wondered how much longer he would be able to last. He was determined not to let any of them get by him, diving and dragging some by their ankles to pull them back to the hole they poured through. The sheer number of dead monsters was beginning to become a battlefield in itself. Nothing felt like solid ground anymore beneath Zalan's feet between the fleshy mounds of the vanquished.

"Zalan! I am coming down, do not strike me!" Rep screamed from above the wall.

A moment later, Rep landed on the back of a Grimfang, no sign of Elemental Wind to slow his fall. He crushed the monster to the ground and burned its head before jumping to a stand. Rep was staring upward, and Zalan barely had a chance to realize why. The Elemental Dragon was descending rapidly, fire overflowing from its mouth.

Rep held up his hands and redirected the oncoming flame, spinning the massive wave of fire into a funnel and feeding it through the small hole to all the creatures trying to climb through to Wollstone. Zalan tried to blast the dragon with Elemental Light before it swooped back up, but it never got in close enough range for his attack to do significant damage. Zalan wondered how he was supposed to take something that was intelligent enough to avoid all of his attacks.

With Rep having sent muscle-melting fire through the hole, Zalan finally had a second to breathe. Rep fell to his rear, his eyes wide and bloodshot with strain.

"Are you good?" Zalan asked.

"I am at my limit," Rep said. He grunted, trying to pull himself back on his feet, then falling back down.

"I'm getting there too," Zalan said, every bit of his muscles stinging in agreement. He tried to roll his shoulders, but neither of them complied. He'd taken too many hits and was becoming sluggish in his maneuvers. "Is now the time to use either of my Artifacts?"

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"To use the Homeseeker would be to leave this place to die. And the Oculus of Annihilation would be a waste on a single Grimfang," Rep said, turning his head skyward.

"Yeah, I figured. I just wanted to see if you had good ideas."

"We need reinforcements. I am not certain that we can survive in these conditions. Gorb has had his leg broken by a monster and Moss passed out from exhaustion. On top of that, the dragon has already returned," Rep sighed.

Zalan barely looked up in time to see a blast of sand wash over the walls, the Elemental Dragon spitting a desert from its mouth. As the sand washed over the guards, hindering their already strained efforts, the sand suddenly shifted away, rising like a cloud. Without seeing her, Zalan knew it was redirected away by Gorb's mother. The guards of Wollstone weren't completely beaten, yet. But the flying monster dove low enough to crack the wall once more with its tail. The systematic breakdown of the walls was progressing, and their energies were quickly waning.

As Zalan looked back to the hole he was defending, Two Grimfangs stepped through, their focus on Rep. Zalan raised his arms against their protests and blasted both creatures in the eyes with all the power he could concentrate. One of the monsters gripped its face, falling to the ground having had its eyes fully burned. Zalan barely registered that this was only possible after having gained a Level, his brain bleary with exhaustion. Zalan couldn't focus well enough on the second creature, and it only received a glancing blow of Elemental Light.

The monster focused on Zalan. Rep let out a wisp of fire, trying desperately to take down the monster in his weakened state. It walked right through the flame, marching in front of Zalan.

With his body lightly imbued, Zalan knelt down and threw his leg up in a quick kick, hoping to take the monster by surprise. It bent out of the way, then threw a fast jab at Zalan's chest. With no other options, Zalan had to tank the blow with his forearms, feeling an explosion of pain arc through him when the powerful hit landed. It felt like his right arm was folded in a direction it should never move, and his shoulder went numb. One arm hanging at his side, Zalan was no closer to defeating the monster. Rep was dragging himself closer and the Grimfang kicked up at Zalan's jaw.

Zalan fell backward, letting his fatigue take him quickly to the ground. But then he was trapped. He had no way to maneuver and no strength to get back up on his feet. Knowing full well that these could be his last moments, Zalan couldn't help but grin slightly.

It was like he finally got the joke that Fran and Xavier knew in the moments before dying. He finally had the opportunity to try to his last breath. The actual result was important, but the fact he worked at it was far more crucial. There was no shame in putting his full effort into something noble like saving innocents. His mother would be proud.

Preparing himself as the Grimfang's fist came for his skull, Zalan flinched when the sound of something cutting through the air startled him. Staring in shock, Zalan witnessed the Grimfang crumple to its knees, then fall to the side, dead. Zalan immediately looked to Rep who shook his head.

"Not me," Rep said immediately.

"Who was it?" Zalan asked, searching the walls for his savior. He wondered who still had the strength to take on any more monsters.

"Gorb's parents are still fighting on the outside," Rep shrugged, wincing with the movement.

Zalan continued to scan the upper area until he saw more figures climbing through the gap in the walls. To Zalan's surprise, both figures were humans. Ones he recognized and was stunned to see.

"What the… Magnolia? Enzo?" Zalan asked, looking between the two.

"Zalan! You are a hard one to find," Enzo said, grinning at the sight of Zalan.

"More like an annoying one to find," Magnolia said, seven balls of sand circling around her slowly. She turned around and fired two of her dense sand-bullets through the heads of two approaching Grimfangs. As they toppled over, Zalan realized Magnolia had been the one to save him, firing a sand bullet through the creatures just as it was about to strike him.

"What are you doing here?" Rep asked, smiling as Enzo helped him to his feet.

"Captain Buttonwillow sends his regards," Enzo said.

"He insisted he still needed to pay back Zalan for the gift of The Aegeusson and decided the best way to do that would be to send him allies to reach Aetheria," Magnolia said.

"So you're here on Captain Buttonwillow's orders?" Zalan asked, shaking his head in amazement. "I told you not to come during the wedding!"

"And Captain Buttonwillow told you we would think about it," Enzo replied.

Magnolia turned around to shoot down three more Grimfangs.

"Do you realize how difficult you made it to follow you?" Magnolia asked, her attention on the hole as more sand formed into dense bullets floating around her. "You told us that you wanted to go see a friend of yours named 'Gorb' and that you intended to reach Aetheria. When we tried to ask residents of Oriton about a 'Gorb' we were waved off until we discovered his true name is Gorbonifus! Truly, you gave us nothing to work off of!"

"It wasn't supposed to be something to work off of!" Zalan said, his whole body throbbing mercilessly as Enzo pulled him to his feet. "I told you guys not to come!"

"But it is a good thing we came when we did," Enzo said. "This may have ended a lot worse."

Zalan looked around at the disarray of Grimfang bodies surrounding them. With a chill in his spine, he acknowledged the idea that he could have been among the bodies of the monsters if Magnolia and Enzo arrived moments later. He nodded at Enzo, smiling with gratitude.

"You're right. Thank you for saving us. Really," Zalan said.

"We did not have to do much," Magnolia admitted. "By the time we arrived, the two powerful Elemental users on the outside of the walls had sent torrents of water, sand, and plants to take down the majority of these creatures. We were able to race through the rest of them, though we lost our mode of transportation."

"The Grimfangs are mostly defeated?" Rep asked, hopeful.

Enzo nodded to him enthusiastically.

"We did it," Zalan exhaled in relief. "We actually stopped them."

"Not all of the monsters, unfortunately," Magnolia said gravely.

Zalan turned to see how many Grimfangs she was looking at, but realized her neck was turned to the sky. The Elemental Dragon was descending, fire licking at its mouth as it prepared to blast a nearby wall. Even if they defeated all the Grimfangs, it didn't look like it was going to let up. And if it kept attacking, there would certainly be more monsters attracted by the scene. Smoke rose high to be seen for miles around. On top of that, so long as the dragon continued to attack, nobody would be able to partake in a Healing Rest and be prepared for more monsters.

"I guess we have to kill it," Zalan said, watching as it incinerated a building before pulling back up to the sky.