COI C100
The stadium, the Isekai City’s center stage for concerts and other sport events, now as a battle competition to where the city states leaders took witnessed the people who are willing to take the challenge, but the beginning was . . . the intermission had shown great embarrassment from two Enders who are able to defeat the S ranks, loved by many people. Now sheltered after the brown red cloud covered the northern part of the city. Whereas the district leaders were forced to retreat here without any preparation to barricade it. The Advisor and King had made a request to rally here as the other leaders trust their decision as the remaining manpower are able to fortify this place with magic.
The cult leader hears the mind of countless Fuku adventurers, it is certain for him to call them out and ordered them to any possible chances they can go to. The thoughts are raging to his mind. The warning about the monsters they are facing are their own people. An illusion or just their imagination, but the cult leader hears their wrath. He calmed them down and as their failsafe is activating and make the use of their very will they have to overcome it or recalled. None of them didn’t waver but furious to see them again after what they did back in east coast.
“Boss, the new guys are not retreating. They are fighting back aggressively against those talking ghost”
“I already know, pick one of them who are not committed against it and rally them here or go ahead with the plan. I have discussion with the district leaders soon. Focus on the open areas”
“Alright boss, but we are able to take them down effectively yet they are still coming”
Another contact “Boss, we are here from the rally point area inside Mihayara city center. They can’t let us go until the order is finalized. We can’t do anything . . .”
The cult leader stops and turns to the two leaders who decide to station here as they tried to reach their signal to Enders Bridge. “What’s going on here? You said you will be readying the special reinforcement”
Advisor replied “I know I didn’t plan to go here, but the horde scattered around the city. Their numbers divided and the wraiths limited where the clouds reached. I heard from your men are able to resist them since they spread around or surrounding themselves inside the buildings”
The cult leader complained “And here is the best for what exactly?!”
Manager Kubo and Old man Ban approached to them hearing the argument. They listen to Advisor for his reason, the monsters breached tremendously after the barrier failed a section of it when the cloud breakthrough. They defend their command post long enough as the Advisor ordered them to retreat to the stadium. The leaders from Stranding Island distract the horde as they retreat to Mihayara district center. No words of them reaching there yet. Now looking at the time as it not yet reaching noon for another few hours. The siege happened far too fast.
A call received through their newly installed surveillance system, with an added message that already been sent for hours now. The advisor answered the call “Apologies for the delay, did you bring the reinforcements?”
“It took more time than we should, but my men need a quick seminar to operate your request”
The person on screen is the operator, the man who is been staying in Enders Bridge for some time. His face is sweaty as the background on screen shows the finished train. The train is already loaded with the raw materials and other special shipment packed inside the containers.
Manager Kubo asks him “What is it inside of those crates? I’m guessing you didn’t know. Taiyou Industries is under siege and I don’t think the train won’t be able to go there. Just send it near the bridge, there are some people there and would be able to make something out of there”
The operator is about to respond, but a loud explosion behind him, distorting the signal. They tried to reconnect but the area they are tracking had lost signal. The advisor smiles for no reason as she confronts him
“What’s with that look?”
King couldn’t imagine why there was an explosion, other district leaders are looking right at the Advisor as he is still grinning. The advisor said to them “This is good, we have to hold the line and distract them to the bitter end. Fail safe or not, they need to bait those monsters to the designated area”
Old man Ban asks King about it “What’s wrong with him?”
“I imagined that the reason we need to station here should summarized what he is planning with that train”
“Uh huh, I’ll keep follow his orders until Chojima district is overrun. I have gone too far to listen his plan, but I’ll stop when my district is attacked”
The brown red cloud is hovering like a germ, slowly moving then sometimes rapidly moving as if it’s finding its prey. It breaks the city barrier immensely of its presence moving the barrier deeper inside the city and deformed that covered the districts into ruins. Northern district of Mihayara and the Main Taiyou Industries’ factories are covered with the cloud. Monsters inside are running rampant, hidden away where wraiths sprung up after its defeat. The people who saw those wraiths or fight against them, they feel like they are fighting against Horsin in their spirit form.
The goblins’ shamanism able to banish those wraiths once they leave the cloud. The spirit pets of the adventurers are able to find it and the goblin spirits are the ones will end them. Without a proper ritual, the banishment only happened mostly those goblins. Stretch thin to the point they are lone to each team patrolling the barrier for any supernatural phenomenon. All of their roles, excellence of their scheming, turned to shaman wikars (weaklings).
“Alone with humiskis, I thought of much you people should be aware why goblin like us exist in this world”
“This city is getting shit as much as I have time to wonder about your race. We can listen to you if you’d like”
“Ah! Don’t bother, my tribesmen are what you call beyond normal to you. The spirit tribes will give you the nut heads as mine is wise. When the day you people know more about our lives with the spirits, I will bet your rituals are meant to drive them out instead like the wraiths we are doing right now”
The people continue their patrol as the goblin said his warnings to them, they saw the yellow toy duck again as it stares at nothing but the clouds for some time after their few passes. Again, the goblin shaken a bit. They walk pass it again, then again, the duck turns its head looking at one of them as they passed by. The goblin follows it’s stares and quickly moves away. The goblin nods as the duck returns back looking at the cloud. The patrols follow this routine as they finally ignored it, it was a waste of time for them to wonder why the duck is still there. But for the goblin, starts listing down on a piece of wood in fear as his shamanistic spell forms the carving.
The duck continues it gazes, its big wide small dotted eyes looking through the cloud. The brown red abyss looks closely at the duck in return, a flash of light emits as the duck gaze it with its glowing eyes. More flashes of light appeared before it and the wraiths it sees can’t be seen by the patrols. Waiting, waiting it to appear to spoof their enemies and engaged the attacks. The duck raises its both flappy fins/wings to its head and opens it big beak
“Psai”
It calmly said it as if it is bored. The wraiths switched their eyes on it, showing themselves as a standoff.
An announcement pops up on screen, built in inside the public area and other places for all the people to see. Everyone looks at the screen as the report among the district leaders showing their progress throughout the siege. The people were wary and at the same time confused from rumors as there was no progress happened in the defense. Underestimating everything that happened and thought of any videogame related logic they were told about. Others worried or feared and knowing they were not able to fight such strange monsters breaching through the city.
In the meantime, at the Mihayara district center, witness the reality of this so-called phenomenon. They look at the monsters they had not face, only hearing the monsters from the underground caverns at east mountain and from the dungeons infested by new monsters from Alga’s light. Now here, they are too new for them to fight against. It reaches deep near the center of this district and words reached the Taiyou Industries is overrun as they speak. No words happening between Fuku City and Chojima district, they prayed and listened to the locals describing this demon’s power. Alas, they knew but . . . acting as if they are still hope as parts of the city are falling.
Impatient people both desperate and anxious as they remain hiding in the evacuation areas in South Shore Bay or City Guild. It’s been more than a day or so, but hearing news as they see outside of a cloud in brown red glow covered the northern Mihayara district. Many workers from Taiyou Industries returned after they were attacked in their factories. Describing what they have saw and the words of ghost sprung every encounter as they defend their district, including the mysterious haunting, yet familiar language.
Advisor is on screen as he starts explaining on the details “For months, we are limited with the resources we have inside in this city. Even by pure magic alone, the monsters are able to breach easily and take advantage with our limited defensive equipment. They added a great surprised for us with ghosts, or what we called them as wraiths. Demon magic is no laughing matter and manipulate so many others thinking they are own people. This trickery won’t held us back any further, and probably the reason why it stops us from ever leaving!”
The population hears the claim with opened eyes and ears in disbelief, the leaders from the Stranding Island managed to reach the city center and heard it. This announcement starts to question about that Advisor’s reasoning.
“The Lady had spoken true, and the conspiracies are stretching so far as we are involved. How far will those lies go?”
“This is not the time to argue lads. We barely got here and we need to prepare the defenses here”
The demon elf tilted, hearing such claims played predictably through her mistress’ doubts, she murmured herself “She made a mistake letting them take the key first”
The Advisor continues “The defend of this siege is playing with us, none of our friends and family members were not killed during this siege. Able to pretend how excellent our powers wield. You have witnessed multiple times in the news and the tragedy happened in this region. I apologized to doubt during this crucial time, but there is no way even our own allies in our side hadn’t lost a single man as well. Our best technology, maybe, but limited resources calling it the best? I am no fool to be that dependent. I promised you all, this siege will be over and witness this world’s lost and finest”
Their angers start to shift, not because of the Advisor spewing facts but the logic of how they survive differently. The first day, they face a monster who are capable to take them down and put their people to sleep by a demonic rune. Today, they are playing around their city repeatedly as if dying is nothing important. The strange switch put their heads spinning as they cannot distract themselves by the change of monsters. Humiliation is not too kindly to their minds, hearing that they are being played let out a big cry among them, the adventurers and the personnel are already sallying out as the speech end abruptly.
In the stadium, the cult leader stops the broadcast prematurely. He is clapping his hands sarcastically to see the advisor acting his own gained instead with the others “Trying to gain the glory would be stupid of you when you are facing us, you don’t even want to tell us about the train properly. Secrets . . . sigh* . . . so many secrets, I don’t get it, you grow confident in all of a sudden after how we failed the defense and the powers we possessed is clearly belonged to the demons. I thought we can handle it, but look at us now, lock inside where our people are struggling . . .”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
He pushes Advisor by the shoulder “. . . You just announce it while we were busy”
King and the other district leaders were confused from how the Advisor said in his speech, it was too sudden, no introduction, no proper information, and no clear idea when the train is coming to help them. The message left he gave to the defenders to sally out now of pride for some reason, this is not him alone had caused everyone to respond on that speech. The cult leader knows about these tricks, it takes more coordinated people to act it out in the side lines. Through his telepathy channeled among his subordinates, one of them mentioning about it.
“Someone is taken action and the others ignored them. They are heading out without us”
At the Mihayara district center, a confused sally out ordered disorganized on each district. The personnel ignored them as they are too busy patrolling the new borders setting up against the cloud. Some adventurers are already heading out including the Fuku adventurers to follow them. The volunteers are with the personnel including the workers building the new border in their respective districts. They can’t stop them as the threat is near. They lost their cooperation after the speech, while others regroup who can still coordinate. Reluctantly forced to maintain order as everything turned for the worse of their own morale.
Altair stands by with Ode and the support from Stranding Island. It’s been not long the cloud reach their positions, and they already moving out. Hearing about the siege will be over soon as if they could believe that. Ode plays sad violin tunes with his magic. The support laughs
“Why am I get the feeling that sounds funny?”
Ode ironically laughs “Yeah well, it meant for us hear it during that speech. I was wondering about that old world thing he mentioned about. I would love to see it now than keep losing all the time”
Altair speaks out “Still losing, and we didn’t lose any lives yet. I kind of admit with that official, this strange activity, who is playing with us all this time?”
Gordon reaches out to them as time is in the essence. “You guys still here, great. We have need someone from the fort to help us to deal with those idiots going out”
The support picks out his mace and brings his baggage of mana batteries with him. “I was wondering I won’t be drafted. What’s wrong with your people after that impractical speech?”
“The fuck if I know, but orders are in hold by that governor’s representative. He is acting on a whim for some reason. Our leader halted us because of that, while those bastards are getting riled up. Not everyone is good being a leader, I guess”
Ode pushes Altair to them and said “Better go help them too, you look kind of curious when you look at your trainer who brought a heavy load of mana batteries. Don’t worry on this section of the district, this place is close where other people will notice. Like you said to me before, it is kind of strange that a monster kept playing with us that none of us died, yet”
Altair sees the two about to leave with the other men joining them, he nods to Ode as they passed through the barrier. The men noticed him coming along and giving him a hand to join in. As the cloud covered them in dense brown red smoke as they start to raising their arms for the slightest movement.
Altair walks with them, sticking together in this brown red fog, and with his magic already nulling his strength to his control. The mana around them starts to decay as the excess remains of the adventurers leak a path for them. Gordon kneels down and touch the goop before him, rubs it on his hand and his UI pops up with his magic item to enhance the identification.
“Mixture of dusts and excess mana being molded into this goop . . .”
The goop starts to glow, and everyone readies their weapons
“. . . Leading it to form wraiths, I’ve wasted my magic item to identify what they already told me . . . me!”
The wraiths appeared before them, attacking them all around. The men pulled Altair inside the group along with the support to get into formation. No time for question as they form a turtle formation, with dusts in each of their bags, as Gordon is pulled to them as they are ready. A flock of wraiths surrounding them as they march forward along the streets, the ground had formed mounds and cracks appeared as they clear through their sweeping steps. Gordon sensed something on his feet and realized something is not right.
A great stomp on his feet where his earth pikes pointed at the small mounds, through the sidewalks and on the post that leans down. The pike rosed up and see something that he never thought it comes to the city. The roots are here, but it looks different as dead bones attached to it. Altair sees the roots in front of him as it tries to consume Gordon’s earth pike. It consumed it slowly as Gordon stops controlling it as it drained away. The men throw dusts on it and it crystallized, one of them bring a blunt rune weapon and shatters the roots. The shattering shards burst forward as it spread to the other roots.
Gordon controls the mana that roots consumed and enhanced it to his control, gathering the shards to his will and guide it as his magic projectiles. The shards spread shoots around them including the wraiths, they dispersed as soon as the rune effects slowly losing the wraiths’ form. Gordon grins a bit with his new learned powers, but he stops and ordered the others to continue to move forward. Leaving Altair with surprises that Gordon is way ahead of him based on skills. The support taps him at the back
“Get moving, we don’t have the leisure for sightseeing”
None of them said a word what happened they saw, as Altair kept his mind seeing what Gordon did and coordinate with them so effectively, but now he is being pointed out what happened inside the district affected by the cloud. The structures are being grown by weird vegetations and ghosts blinking as it images tried to recover but it fades. It feels like they are in haunted valley under the sun, even though the cloud is not too dark to for them to see. The densely cloud in brown red is clearly give marks of strange tidings in their views.
They found a group who setting a fortification in the middle of the pedestrian overhead bridge. These are not the people who ventured from Mihayara district but the defenders who tried to stall the wave. Only few of them stayed and they see someone is coming under them. Gordon said to them
“Have you seen groups of people moving from our direction?”
One of them pops out and flashes at them with a camera, they felt a slight paused for a bit but nothing to feel as a threat.
“Sorry, but this cloud gets into your head. Those ghosts imitating as if they are the people you know. If you guys are real, then yes, they are heading down to the sewers and the rest went red or shit in our eyes”
Gordon continued to ask “How about you? Are you the previous front lines holding off?”
“We are from the third line to be exact, coming from Taiyou Industries during the cloud assaulting it. For us to get here is a long questionable story, but it’s better you move along. We are staying here and gathering some new videos for research”
They didn’t see each other face to face but the sounds of their voices kept them reassure that there are others were assigned with different roles. They moved passed the overpass bridge as Gordon tumbles down.
The looks of the road should’ve been flat, but once his foot step there, he feels like he is stepping downward. The man with the camera flashes again as Gordon is about to fall.
“Sorry, I thought I was talking to a ghost there. Or did I forget that the cloud gets into your head?”
Someone else responds from the bridge “HEY! Don’t bother with us anymore, we are tired when we run through here all morning. Yawn, the failsafe is still working and we are ready as much as they will attack as anytime now”
The people at the overpass bridge are starting messing their heads yet they stay here keeping an eye all around them. Gordon resumes in motion and pulled back.
Others watch them at the top and look at Gordon. “Sigh* let’s move on, there is no need to talk about it any longer”
They head down on the hole as they continue to find them. The men think of a reason why he is so focus on finding them. Everything went too strangely as everything here is getting worse. No explanation but following the orders from Gordon with no other S ranks around him. This made Altair questions more about it than he should. One of them ask at the back
“I don’t think we are here to save someone . . .”
Altair looks at the others as they too feel something is not right. Gordon feels their presence start to question of why they have to rescue those deserters. If they failed, they could go back with their failsafe. This time, he is not sure why he needs to follow them. The Advisor is the most suspicious man he had experience getting to the top with without knowing he really is. Gordon never trusted him since the new leadership announced back when the mayor’s house arrest. The leaders from the fort offered him an emblem in form of a coin fits on his palm. It’s the Stranding Island logo, this shows authority without questions. He received it when they reach inside the city center.
Yet, no morale is breaking among them. He hopes that these people are able to face them when they are turned hostiles. The dusts in their bags will be proved useful if they retaliate. Gordon stops and listens to the footsteps, others waited for him and Altair starts to worry a bit. He had to speak out
“What’s going on?”
“Troubles, now I understand why he brought that emblem for”
“Emblem?”
“Just be our witness and for him as well, that emblem is entrusted in him for us to follow”
The piles of ghost bodies are soon faded away where the adventurers are, this crater show the sewers have been collapse as the roots have already rooted there. They saw Gordon walks to them as they used a special magic item installing at the ruins.
“The plan should’ve been set to be like this, that idiot of a representative is ruining the schedule”
“What schedule?” Gordon appears with the band of men at his back.
“Gordon?! I guess you don’t know but we are trying to open some holes for the counterattack against the infestation. You already see the mounds forming up on the city’s streets”
Gordon asks “What’s going on here exactly?”
“Everything, the contact with the people from Enders Bridge had told us to prepare any hidden blind spots where the fire projectiles should be landed”
Through the densely brown red cloud, Gordon clearly sees they are the stranded adventurers who went to Enders Bridge during the lockdown.
“Wait a minute, you have contacts with them”
“Yes, it should’ve been the right time for us to head out about stalling procedure. Then that stupid speech along caused the others doubt of suspicion. No one knows about the Enders are sending the train here with added upgrades”
“Upgrades!? I didn’t hear it from King”
“King? You mean one of the leaders like you? But this is not the time, we need to continue to make open holes for the bombardments to expose those roots from blooming inside the sewers”
The ground starts shaken, and everyone look at the sky as something moving up to the air. A tree, the same tree that overgrown the toll roads. One of them send a familiar to the air to check it out. Flying wraiths come to it as it tries to evade them. Once reach a perfect view as the summoner opens a screen for them to see.
“Taiyou Industries is covered by that huge tree. This is not good”
The men call out to them “Wraiths are coming in at our way. This is no mindless spirits were facing”
Some men pushes back where flocks of wraiths dive down like a storm. Altair raises his protective barrier as it bounces off then ricochet around to the back. Gordon grabs the bouncing projectiles crushed it with his bare hands.
“Ugh! We got troubles. What ranks are you anyways?”
“C ranks, but we are capable as you can see”
They face the wraiths as they look fully equipped and their presence are demeaning of its ghostly images.
Their ghostly bones and the magic along with them glow with unfamiliar magic around them. The adventurers throw a holy water at the wraiths as the water sprayed through them.
“It doesn’t affect them. Why?”
The men respond “I don’t know what lore tell you that’s their weakness, and always remember that you are using neutral mana. Both different attributes but with the same mana source, I doubt it will work against a demon”
One of the men brings out a mana battery and shines at them, one of the wraiths are being pulled into it and sealed inside of it. The support who brought the mana batteries drops it to the ground. The men pick it up one by one.
Either one of them has mana or none at all, Agathean men, and facing the wraiths setting as men as them. Weapons clashes and magic bounces like they are the same. Rune weapons in hand and wraiths dispersed like dreams, the wraiths hit them painfully as soon Altair and Gordon realized it is impossible to fight them back inside this dense cloud. The support behind their surrounding circle raises the mana battery trying to capture those wraiths. None of them resist the powerful blows coming from the wraiths as the ground crumbles.
The men spread out and use what abilities they can to escape, the cloud blow to them as everyone pushed away and separated from one another, where each of them fighting the wraiths. Altair brings his barriers blocking the attacks. He sees the appearances of the wraiths as it is too foreign compared among each other. The slashes of its arm that looks like a single blade, shrouded its hood like dust fading through the cloud. A long mantle hidden its arm as it prepares to attack. Altair tries his best to protect himself as its body blown with dusts.
A dust clone moves forward striking him, Altair raises his barrier then a sudden shock from behind as he sensed a powerful blow piercing through his barrier. It was the same wraith. It is using dusts of itself forward while the other using its wraith’s abilities to surprise him to the side. Gordon appeared behind it and slashes down with his sword. The wraith fell to dust but Gordon traces it to where it hid. Chasing it down where the wraith reappeared. Gordon using his double team to send his double. The wraiths appeared before the double and immediately dispersed.
The men and the adventurers work together to regroup together after that cloud blow. The wraiths are slowly taken inside the mana battery, as they carefully switching their positions. The wraiths are getting stronger as the density of the cloud is getting thicker as its ghost bodies are starting to glow brighter. The runes they wore are starting to fade away from the brown red taints. As Gordon finally breaks through from the other wraiths, it raises up with its arm blade piercing through his skull upward. Gordon blocks it but the barrage of dusts blown it up from his hand. He re-equips to his other hand, quickly slashes its arm off, casts his lighting speed attacks on it then cut off its head.
The wraiths head fly off its shoulder, Gordon feel something not right. A wave of demonic magic flows through them in terrifying rate. The wraiths fight back stronger as the cloud it is getting denser. Their runes are being erased and weakening their durability. The fight turned around into an equal footing, the mana batteries aren’t strong enough to capture them as it is able to resist it. Their runes equipment starts to corrode by the demonic magic. The adventurers are closing in to use their failsafe including the men with their rune talisman. But then a powerful noise crashes near them.
The bouncing container hits the streets, the cloud is becoming lighter and the dusts fell to the ground. The wraiths got hit by it and shatters like glass. Everyone around them losing consciousness as the exposure completely reached full exposure. The men shouted to the others
“Full back! They’re here! Bring the citizens back to the city center, the failsafe is useless here”
More containers coming flying to the ground, hitting one of them out of accident. The release of dust coming out from it recovers their runes. The men see the citizens fell unconscious from this strange container as they hurry to pick them up as the cloud disperse. Through the light clear brown red cloud, they saw numerous projectiles are bombarding into the city.