=====Vol2 Chap 15=====
Calamities descend suddenly and out of nowhere, this is the reason they are called calamities: no one is able to predict when and what they come as. However, I would have been able to avoid such a calamity, by exposing myself, not keeping secrets like the coward I was. Alas, one came to learn such lessons too late.
When I legged myself to the roof, black gaseous beings floated around, devouring people as if someone had bathed them in acid. Their skins melted and soon came their muscles, all up until there wasn’t a single speck of the person left.
I didn’t stand there and stare blankly, trying my best to use any magic to heal my fellow companions, but that further increased their screams, as they experienced the horrifying feeling of being melted once again.
I wasn’t sure enough of using flames to the point where it will only burn out the strange beings, so I tried everything else: wind, water, earth, and even pure mana - yet none of them worked.
Hopeless, this was the first time I had such a feeling, but I wasn’t about to let it take over me; however, the only method that I hadn’t tried was fire, so I just let it out. Flames swirled around me before moving from person to person, orbiting around them like planets, burning out the gaseous beings.
At the same time, I kept healing the people since their bodies are being burned rather than melted, up until all the gaseous beings vanished, in their place were my flaming orbs, but rather than being of a red-orange colour, it turned pure white.
I tried dissipating them, but it was of no use, making me sigh as I stare at the mess in front of me.
There were 20 fighters in our group, 12 had come up, yet only 5 survived, causing my heart to ache, alas, I am unable to revive anyone other than myself, and even then I still need a body.
Ignoring my feelings, I started scanning over the survivors, finding Roland laying on the ground, eyes closed. As I moved over towards him, his eyes twitched momentarily before opening up, with me crouched right beside him.
“Are you alright?” I asked him worriedly, but he replied with silence.
His eyes flickered around, glancing at everything around him before focusing onto me, then he sat up.
“How many are alive?” He asked bitterly, knowing that many had died, yet he needs confirmation.
“5 out of the 12 that came up. Sorry, this was the best I could do..” I lowered my head.
He frowned, before opening his eyes wide, “I couldn’t see much; I only saw parts of the battle, but.. Was that magic I saw coming out of you?”
“Yes.” I replied, proudly.
“..Thank you.” He stood up, but his legs went limp, making him fall back down next to me.
Worriedly, I picked him up and throwed his arm over my shoulder, supporting him as we entered the building.
…
2 days after the incident, we were on the rooftop, mourning those who bravely rushed towards the roof before dying in such a terrifying manner.
Men and women of all ages were gathered around the graves, grieving in pain for those who fell. In those months, everyone formed connections; they got to know each other better and made relationships of all kinds, there were those of who passed that had adopted children whose parents had died at the first invasion, others became lovers that would seemingly never betray each other. Ultimately, what everyone remembered is that we aren’t ready for calamities, and never will we be, because..
We are living in one.
The current situation isn’t about heeding the rules or the laws, nor is it about making money to live better. Instead, it is about survival, and the best way to survive in an apocalyptic situation is by being in a large group.
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Not to mention, the fact that ‘survival’ doesn’t mean food and water; we have much to keep us living for months, even without the gardening we do, but we even have to watch out for monsters that roam around and strike out of nowhere.
Yes, this is what became of humans now, and because they now know. So, a man mustered up his confidence and shouted, “People! Please listen!”, turning all heads toward him.
The man, Roland, continued, “I’m going to be honest: I doubt we will be able to survive alone.” He said in a heavy tone. “I do not want to watch all of you die in front of me, and I’m sure you agree with me, so I propose we move out. Out towards the Staves, a faction not hellbent on fighting like the Dual Eagles, nor are they sexist like the Whips, or so they are known as. Nevertheless, they are our only hope, seeing as the bare majority of us are not trained for combat, it seems like a very good idea.” He concluded.
He went silent for a moment, giving people the chance to ask questions or object, so I took it and said “I have two problems.. On the road, we might encounter monsters, and seeing that we don’t have any vehicles, we will have to walk, not to mention that the last time we heard from them, according to you, was just before I came, so there is a chance that they, well.. You know.”
He didn’t seem surprised for my reasoning, smiling bitterly before talking, “I get what you mean. I’m not an idiot; I considered those possibilities and I say it is better to try than not. We won’t always be lucky to have some randoms with amazing powers join us. We need to act, otherwise death is what follows.” He said, painfully.
The group stared at him, some doubtful, some with uncaring eyes, others seemingly having a flame burning in them, but I didn’t continue.
What I said was purely out of impulse, but I know that he only wishes for the greater good of the group, so why should I stop him? While the city is tens kilometers away from us, we could walk it in a few days, and the monster activity is not so high as in the beginning, thus being not so bad of an idea.
“I agree. Let us move from here.” I said my consent.
“Alright, until the end of the day, I’ll wait if anyone wants to object; however, if not then the plan goes as follows: tomorrow we prepare and package all our travelling equipment, and after tomorrow we embark south.” As if those words marked the end of today’s ‘meeting’, the people scattered, some of which kept standing at the graves, tears falling down, hands clenched, or laughing hollowly.
One of them was Roland, moving from grave to grave, and in the meantime I decided to wait for him. Once he finished and was on his way back inside, I followed him to the library, becoming alone.
“Roland, I.. always had an ability from the start, but I hid it up until now. Sorry, if I used it before, we could have-”
“I don’t know what you think you could have done, but either way, no one knew that those monsters would have came at that exact moment.” He interrupted. “And about your ability..” He massaged his temples, “While I knew something was off about you not having a ‘power’, I didn’t mind since no problems came out of not knowing it.”
Unconsciously, I bit my lip. “I’m going to take a stroll around the place. Let’s hope nothing happens today.” I left the room to do just as I said: stroll around and at the same time constructing a small barrier.
‘This will be the last time such an unexpected thing happens,’ I promised myself such words and hoped to live up to it, however…
…
On a bright sunny day, we marched at a brisk pace to reach our destination : the city called Basmantic.
A city that lays by a river that stretches across the country; its weather particularly cool by summer standards, and its citizens loved by most. In the past, I was born there before moving away to the city now in ruin, for reasons such as high density and expensive living.
Hopefully it wouldn’t have been destroyed by the time we show up, otherwise we may have huge problems that, in the very end, I could solve.
“‘Tis truly a harsh road without any vehicles, huh. Thankfully we haddn’t met any monsters yet, eh?” A man mumbled next to me.
“Yeah, it is actually surprising-” I stopped midway as I noticed massive amounts of magical power seeping from the land next to me, so I moved my head quickly to view what was happening.
Seeing my sudden movements, the man moved his head in the same direction before chuckling nervously, “Me and my big mouth..”
A humongous, dark castle rose from the ground, emitting a menacing aura and somehow darkening the weather around it, filling it with not so dense fog that represents a scary yet gloomy atmosphere.
On the walls, however, gathered people that seem similar to the beastmen tribes, some of which look like the lion-man, others look like the bunny princess from before - possessing a human-like body with features like ears and tails (which I’m guessing the latter since I’m unable to see through walls.)
“Move quickly!” Shouted Roland from the front of the group, causing everyone to increase speed.
Honestly, seeing a castle growing out of the ground is both fascinating and creepy, but I’m leaning more towards fascinating.
“Don’t stop! Ignore it!” Encouraged Roland even more, before an ice glacier appeared in the sky, covering the sun.
“Oh, lord.” Those were the last words heard before the glacier hit the castle, causing massive explosion, with a booming sound following after it…
…
=====VOL 2 CHAP 15 END=====