Free The War (Play to Live: Book #6) by D. Rus Page A

business and rarely left survivors. Most of her hits resulted in so much damage that everyone within her reach fell dead.
    I tried to help Tigress by using the Healing scrolls I had on me. But it was like slapping band-aids on a whale. The tigress had the HP bar of an armored train and my treatment was about as helpful as stuffing bullet holes with silly putty. It had a purely visual effect.
    The feline handled everything herself. Her coarse tongue flashed incessantly, making the scarlet holes in her luxuriant fur quickly disappear.
    The enemy was not happy about having to deal with her again. The Light leaders, cursing and shoving, ordered their warriors to attack one more time.
    They formed a wall of shields that approached us slowly like a constantly jamming mechanism. The leaders of the independent clans were not eager to engage in a fight with the mega-boss. They would acquire neither fame nor loot, only lose XP points and money. A minute of slaughter, and the Light warriors would find themselves in the yard of their home castle. It’s called went for wool and came home shorn.
    A leader making such moves can expect his warriors to abandon him. After all, these people came here to beat up the bearded, barbaric Slavs, to have fun and to make a few bucks. They were already upset over the four-hour wait as it were. It took some serious diplomacy and logistics genius to assemble the hundred anarchist gangs into a single, well-ordered formation.
    Tigress stopped licking her wounds and cast a heavy gaze upon the nearing enemy. They shuddered.
    The feline gave a terrifying growl, making the attackers draw back sharply. She then spit out a hairball.
    The enemy’s rear lines cut off all escape paths, so the front ones started walking forward again. Tigress heaved a weary sigh and came at them.
    I sat still as a broody hen. Six tons of loot had rooted me to the spot. If I tried to leave it, my greedy pig would cut me open and burst out of me like those fetuses from Alien vs. Predator. Leaving by portal wouldn’t save me, plus my kitties wouldn't understand...
    The fierce battle continued on all fronts. The enemy concentrated on the remaining basilisk and managed to make his HP plummet to a critical 3 percent. The Wild lizard backed off once again, unwilling to dissolve in the Great Nothingness.
    With a deafening howl, he used a last chance ability; the monster’s body became immured into a wall of basalt, acquiring outrageous armor stats that neared absolute invincibility. The basilisk froze and towered over the sands like a majestic Sphynx, ignoring damage and regenerating infinitely slowly.
    His brothers were furious. That ability must have had a dark side. The two remaining lizards began a counterattack. The surviving dwarves and demons, all in a frenzy of war, promptly joined in.
    The enemy employed the same mass attack tactic against Bagheera. The Lightside analysts must have decided that the death of the boss would make the monsters he had summoned disappear.
    Maybe they were right. But once Bagheera’s HP meter turned an alarming orange, the puma gave an imperious summoning growl for the third time. An additional 500 monsters from the Lost City undermined the enemy attack. The amount of gravestones appearing every second was more than the attackers could handle. They started backing up.
    Soon, the wizard I had sent for the unhatched basilisks returned. He was breathless, accompanied by panting mules carrying a dozen eggs. A retreat signal rang out on the battlefield.
    The wizards left by personal portals. The more conscientious ones helped the warriors escape by group portals. Some used teleport scrolls. Two thirds of all survivors managed to escape.
    The rest kept fighting. Some were hoping to snatch some loot from the rich Darksiders. Others were trying to complete quests and get achievements. And there were some who got so carried away by the battle that their personal priorities changed. Their new goal was to kill