Freeze them all is a great description of what happens next. The Ogres meet up with the defenders at the top barricades, causing [Pestilence] to rapidly spread through their ranks thanks to Vala. Then Nathaniel calls forth Blighted Paladins into the Ogres closest cluster of Shamans, causing chaos in the ranks as the charge falters and Ogres turn to defend their healers.
Her instructions to wait for the proper timing complete, Laura leaps into the air and the pair of Dragons lay down a stream of Ice Fog the length of the river valley. This had the unintended effect of freezing the river, letting even more Ogres advance, but Cain is dropping lightning Arrows into them, killing dozens a second and spreading Pestilence from the back side while the Plague Mages curse them with [Cripple] causing the lingering damage to thin the tanks even more.
The Ice Fog breath of an Opal Prismatic Dragon lingers for nearly fifteen minutes if not cleared away, so Laura has time to widen the field, until it covers the entire Ogre army.
They seem to be lost, directions are ignored, horns blow contrasting notes and finally Cain catches sight of an Ogre King and his retinue.
"Laura, how do you feel about a passenger? I've found their leader, but he's out of Arrow range. You Frost him, I'll drop him with Penetrating Arrows." Cain calls to his pearly white flying companions.
"Don't think to make a habit of it. Dragons are not horses. But we will allow it this time." Laura declares, landing to let him mount.
With the amount of damage Pestilence and Ice Fog are doing to the Ogre army, this will likely be a single shot fight. Nothing is surviving his Lightning Arrows buffed by Might of Many to deal a percentage of the damage his summons have done in the last 30 seconds.
But just to be safe, he will be going with the higher single target damage of a Multi Shot barrage of Penetrating Arrow to begin, then clearing the area with Lightning Arrows.
Laura swoops low, laying a thick Fog of breath over the Royal compound before three Arrows streak out from Cain's bow, impaling the King and pinning his corpse to the ground. Laura lands, choosing to fight in melee and leaving Cain to draw a melee weapon for the first time in ages, choosing a halberd from his inventory to maximize his reach.
Cain has a total of one melee skill. Cleave. But it is enough. Might of Many makes it a single shot assassination technique, killing multiple Ogres with every swing and Laura cheers in victory.
"I knew anyone brave enough to Summon me could actually fight on their own." The Dragon congratulates him as the area clears and he switches back to his bow. He's had this thing a long time now, it's a bit outdated for his level, but with 99 percent of his Ranged damage being from Might of Many and Pestilence, the bow itself doesn't really matter much. The best upgrade he can think of would be a better rate of fire and longer range.
Maybe the Guild bank has something? But that can wait.
[Ogres are almost in siege weapons range in the cliff side. Trolls will be firing rocks at them soon] Misha sends in Guild chat. Her and Char have taken up their usual spot at the back of the main Guild force, putting them right next to the Troll catapults that litter the center of the plateau.
"That's our cue. Laura, take me back in to the air and let's see if we can find the other King." Cain calls, but the Dragon next to him takes off alone.
"It's your turn sister. He's heavy, and he didn't specify which of us needed to fly him." She taunts as the other Dragon lands.
So that's how she's going to be.
"Don't take it personally, I've got you." The other Laura reassures him, seeing an imminent threat to her flow of snacks in the look he is giving her twin. At least they do still follow his orders, in their own way.
The first thing he notices is that the second force isn't using their horns to communicate. They must have heard the panic on the other side and decided it meant the Elves were messing with their communications to reduce their fighting capacity.
Both Dragons lay down a swathe of Ice Fog as they travel, pushing the Ogres towards the center just as Pestilence starts to spread among them from the Lightning Arrows Cain is firing. Maybe he doesn't need a longer range bow, just to convince his stubborn Dragons that it is actually an honor to fly him around. This is amazing.
The King or Leader is nowhere to be found in this army. He must have blended in with the attackers, or he's hiding further away. That feels unlikely though, as the honor of defeating the Troll King is a big thing to them. Cain has Laura fly wide, looking for stragglers, but comes up empty handed.
"Boss Cain. I think I see him." The other Dragon calls, turning North as her clone sister turns to follow. Indeed she has, what her nose indicated was hiding Ogres is actually a thirty thousand strong army advancing from the North. With the ten thousand they are already fighting from that force, it should be an Ogre Kingdom's entire force. They've sent everything that two of their thirteen Kings have here today to try to eliminate the Troll forces once and for all.
[More Ogres coming. Estimate one hour to arrival. Enough to surround the Plateau, please let the others know.] Cain sends in Guild chat.
[Done, they know, but they don't look happy about it.] Nathaniel sends back a few seconds later. That's fine, they don't need to be happy, they just need to be prepared.
The force in the river valley has dwindled to a tenth of their original numbers and are doing their best to retreat, but the archers and mages have done a magnificent job at killing off their healers, and the lingering Fog and Pestilence are dropping them at a steady pace. If nothing changes, very few will live to see the reinforcements arrive. Cain wonders if that was intentional, the second King delaying his arrival to let the first one soften the target and take most of the casualties. They're always in competition with each other as far as Cain knows.
He turns Laura back to get ready for an even more intense fight, receiving a notification just before they land.
[Ogre King defeated and forces Eliminated]
[Quest Partially Completed. Experience Granted]
[Level Up]
So that's about what it takes at this point, fifteen or twenty thousand lower level Ogres to advance. And that's with his experience buff from a maximum sized raid party in effect. Cain almost feels sorry for the other raid parties in the defense team. Darklight Host and Yellow Tusk Guild just barely fit into one raiding party, putting a few squads of the Elves Elite forces in with them to round out the numbers.
"This is a good fight. I can tell already that meeting with you has been good luck." One of the Elven Elite Mages cheers when Cain lands. He is now Level 81, so if Cain's calculation is right, he should have gained about three levels so far today.
The others in the Darklight Host should be getting close to level 90 now too. Experience between levels had been doubled or more every advancement lately, so if Cain got one they likely got two, maybe closer to three.
Math is hard. But they should be doing well.
The second half of the Ogres from the first group have tried charging the plateau without success and have moved around to try coming up the river valley side, with even less luck. They've been left with nowhere to escape, Dragon Breath on all sides, Pestilence spreading through their ranks and to top it all off, now they're in range of the Elven Mages. Not a good day to be an Ogre.
Everyone is hurrying to get them eliminated before the others arrive, the fewer there are to pass on intelligence the better. A lot of lives could be saved if the new arrivals aren't aware of the defenses set to slow their approach. Even with the extra healing, Cain can see a number of bodies spread out under blankets behind their lines. Unlucky sorts killed before a healing spell could come in.
With Vala on their side, and Pestilence applied by the thousands, the healers of the two Guilds have been entirely focused on the Elves and Trolls. Enough healing is coming in that there is no need to cast anything on their own forces. Hopefully that holds true through the next fight as well. Any battle where you don't lose a friend is a good one.
The new force has taken a five pronged approach. Not encircling the Troll position as anticipated, but forming five separate forces arrayed around them, with the intent to all charge at once and overwhelm the plateau with pure shock attack numbers. It's a good strategy, if they can't stop them from getting up the cliffs, they likely don't have enough forces to deal with thirty thousand Ogres.
Even if some survive, there is no way they'll manage to save most of the Troll and Elven forces.
