COI C97
Minutes earlier, it was dark and nowhere is safe. Isekai city’s scouts had met with the people they have found, expecting them to be what many others said from Stranding Island. The order called from the City Guild leader and nothing much to respond in this current time. The elves are busy stalling from the other side near of the city border, where they are now is beyond the dungeons and closer to the west. Surround or around this part of the unknown underground location, they are facing that what they have expected. The scout began to run.
“Huff* Cough* Breathe* Thank goodness I brought them out of there . . .” The sounds of the prowl are coming after him.
“. . . Either is me or five others, we don’t have much time to go here all over again . . . Breathe*”
The chugging of steps from him and the others behind, he hears the steps that no normal people run sounds like. Their pets are coming to get him, through where he is going or lost himself to the blind darkness where he steps to. He stops as he got distracted where he pointed his light on a familiar emblem.
“Benedictus . . . No, I have to -Ugh!”
Quills of pins hit him on his lower back, his mana begins to leak and heard the footsteps of the beasts. The scout quickly runs forward deep within this newly discovered place to nowhere. The whistling of range projectiles passed by him showing the mystic into the air sparks light when it almost hits him. He uses his magic to seal off the tunnel. The wall raised and blocked the path as he continues to run. The wall breaks through as the enemies breached in rubles and dusts.
The scout continues running further and further as he reached leaning downward of the tunnels. The area is shifted with an entire trails of monsters’ bodies stack to the walls. A closer look through his magic abilities as he identified it, he was sadly mistaken from what he sees in first glance. One of the piles of bodies tear open and a trap set loose. The man takes the hit to his feet then tumbling down to the ground. He is rolling to the piles. The scout looks at his mini map and to see where he is now. Somewhere closer to the elves were at, he found a secret passage where the roots block it with elven magic.
He casts a clone of him and continue to run what the tunnels lead to. As the animals continue to follow it, he waits there until no one is around. Finally, he crawls his way to the secret passage and tries to open the sealed roots. He touches the roots, but nothing happened. He touched it again with magic, the secret passage opens. A shook of luck put his gaze open to see the roots opening up. When it opened, a big lizard appeared from the secret passage pushes him away.
It climbs to the wall and starts shaking its body while looking at him with its mouth gape open. Scout tries to go back, but someone pulled him from his lower back where the quills are. The pierced needle leaves him dripping his mana, the people who chased him see he’s enduring the painful needles. The man tries to fight back, but they brought dusts with them. He gives up for even trying to fight or talk to them, his powers were easily defeated by their wits. He never knew they have that kind of weakness. The scout had remembered their figures, the men he faced in the City Guild’s sphere. Not too kindly for their actions, but these people are no criminals either.
The lizard continues to dance and looking at the scout from the wall. The lights spark close to them under the lights of Enders. Light gray or brighter than what tells the others would see it. The scout looks at their faces one more time, covered, armored with animal hides and weapons made of ivory. The quills that stick on him continue to bleed off his mana like blood, and in their hands through his dripped mana transferred to one of them. One of them takes his mana and uses it. The scout’s eyes turn pale and the man before him becomes a monster.
Only few drops of the scout’s mana were taken from him, the power level is on match with him. The monster hid within the dark but there’s glow roaming around them. A soulful spirit comes out from the armor sniffing him, like a spirit creature among the goblin spirits. But this is no shamanism, he starts to sense its aura and the man stood still and let the spirit beast sniff him out more. Once it is done. He executed him on the spot with his new powers, piercing through his skull. The scout disappeared as the failsafe activates. The scout is gone and back to the city where he was rallied to.
The footage shows what the district leaders saw. It was recorded after the escape. King recognized them and said to the scout.
“Those are huntsmen! Those are definitely hostiles. Did they really trying to kill you?”
The scout laughs disappointingly with his hands rubbing on his face as fast as his head trying to find the right word to say.
“. . . They let us speak and decided to attack us. They tricked us on giving them information and the details about our abilities. Yet, it was so convincing at first”
“Then spit it out, how did they managed to persuade you to talk?”
The scout was given a chair by the old man Ban as there is no need for sitting on the floor disgracefully. He sits and explained what he knows
“They use a fake monster, that lizard you saw was a decoy to think there are monsters attacking us. Clever little beasts for its size that half of our height in their lengthy body, with to no knowledge how it can do, we were overwhelmed by their tenacious hit and run, and herd us in on place. Their mouths were filled with dust, that’s where they come in as we were ‘nearly’ used our failsafe. Later we shared information after that, then the motives revealed once those lizards start dancing and open its mouth gaping high”
The man coughs as he touched the quill marks on his lower back, he stands up and checks on it. They saw it and the dwarf leader sees the marks on him.
“Lad, this man needs a rest”
The goblin leader agrees “I know that needle marks. Stop using your mana and return to your resting place. This nodda is telling you this using your big talks”
The goblin speaks formally as a sign of suspicion until they prove their words from their quotes using ‘nodda’. The leaders look at him surprised where a goblin like him being worried to another race.
It doesn’t matter. The scout needs medical attention anyway but he was supposed to be at the recall area. Why did he rush here of all places? The scout continues
“This is not the time. Please let the other remaining scouts to venture forth to the west. We have information that we can contact more people like the Enders. Ugh! Please! Don’t recall them, the numbers of Enders are incredible enough to handle those demons’ puppets”
He sits back as he lower back starts to ache. The medical staff have arrived and try to heal him.
The goblin leader stops them. “There is no need, the marks on his back needled through his mana flow. It will keep dripping your mana as it is bleeding, even this far, just don’t use magic for the time being”
The scout listens to the goblin leader and stops using his mana, the aching pain disappears but the pain still there and bearable. He was taken away leaving the district leaders put their option into doubtful. King had suspected much as it takes time to negotiate with them, they would continue nonetheless. They return back to the plan as the next stage of the fight is coming soon.
The advisor faced the leaders from Stranding Island. “Where’s the leader representative for Enders Bridge?”
Dwarf leader shakes his head given him a negative expression. The elf leader said to the advisor. “There was no leader to begin with, you already know that no Enders wish to go there for negotiation. Not even today, not one of them came for help with their best defenders available”
The advisor can’t say anything but wonder why they are found in the underground network. It would be grateful they could help the elves to fight the monsters.
One of the leaders said to the others. “You people don’t know why those Enders are appearing there, right?”
None of the district leaders knew about it, and even King who had information outside of the city where the adventurers venture through Agatheus City and Isekai City in between. No information except until now, the elf leader looks at them in questions and had to tell them.
“My kind had other plans for them to do, I’m guessing they’re the one who are going to replace them while they were gone”
King asks her “Can it be possible asking them for help?”
The leaders grew doubting the idea. They remind them about their relations “As of now, the people at Stranding Island are all mercenaries and independent individuals. We don’t know anything about the relations between you two as Citizens and Enders, but they are already in a heavy load of work as the sieges happened in their city. It took them years to make it functional while this city is new and they don’t know the nature of this region. Our cities were able to defend what left that happened in the Fall Era. This battle of yours and we alone won’t be any good to help without knowing what this city is”
The dwarf leader cuts them off “There is no need for excuses, we all agreed that Enders Bridge is not much have friendly relations with Agatheus City, historically. I mean I let the past behind us but let’s focus if the Enders decide to help. Any ideas where to expect?”
King listens the dwarf as if they expect anyone will bring reinforcements. Yet, there is no telling how successful those scouts can be. Only words alone from the scout asking him to let them continue as it is. King looks at the map, one last time as the new line of defenses is already in place and some disadvantages to the east part of the city.
The people at the center of Mihayara district remained unconscious, the men from Stranding Island check them vigorously to the last conditions to the hours they taken it. Doctors and nurses are there joining in to see what happened to them. The other adventurers and personnel had recovered slowly but unpredictably to each of them recovered randomly. All work is done and many more still baffled by their own technology they made to find a new phenomenon they have checked.
The medical staff ironically said to the men “I never would imagine asking for Myrrkei to do some research about this”
One of the men is a support who is able to do medicinal procedure, hearing them to say that made the other men from the Island think they are a bit too hasty. Carrying the documents to fill up the data for each patient, nothing for the support to understand their grief hearing the name of an Enders. He checks to the recovered adventurers as they are continued to be analyzed. The medical staff said the results.
“A flunk, this is now about mana control. There are no other ways to check their status when unidentifiable symptoms misinterpret our diagnoses”
One of the men suspects much, and the equipment they are using are not fully made runes. Semi-hybrid of a machine that led many lives secured through mana. The demonic runes had taken over their impressive invulnerable health. The support looks at the person who always wanted to learn magic from him. Earth magic, and the man who is lying down is about to wake up. Altair looks at him and said,
“Huh? I thought it was another checked up for research. What’s bring you here in this ward?”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
The support looks at him and the others, they would believe to be trained from the Island. It took them longer to recover even with their mana control improving to the basics, comparing the others who wakes up immediately once they were brought to bed. A handful they are, but mostly of them are residences from Mihayara and Fuku City districts. He said to him
“Do you remember while you were taken out from the demonic runes?”
Altair can’t remember a thing, and all he did was getting blinded by it then forced back from his own failsafe.
Altair rubs his head “I for one don’t know, everybody said the same thing and nothing much I heard they found the source. This demonic power though, does this happens to your people too?”
The support, profession to be an adventurer who travels from top to the bottom of this region. It is unlikely to get quests without studying the situation first. High ranks from the City Guild may be, but the knowledge they have never experienced their own caused and effects. The support answers him
“There is, demonic presence can disrupt our magic items freely as they wish. Yet we kept our mind in control on our equipment in at hand. Even us will be able to stop it from controlling what is ours”
The support wasn’t finish, he steps to the side and see the other adventurers forced to their seats as they are perfectly fine. Gemina looks at him and said to Altair
“Hey look, your teacher is here, Altair”
“I know, he wants to check on me”
“Hmph, I was hoping to bring us out of here. Laying around and focus on our devices won’t stop the monsters from attacking”
According from the medical staff they need to rest as the situation of the border already backing them to this exact same place like the previous ones. They need to learn and know more about this phenomenon as these people continue the diagnosing.
Gemina can’t bear herself sitting here and the staff are there to watch over them. One of the staff said to them with a stern look “I understand you guys are having a pain in waiting, but demonic curses are what you are here for. We can’t take a risk that some of you might change into something”
“I know! I know . . . This is just fucking great. Until to this day, none of us was able to find a way to stop the demonic influence”
All of them resting are not accepting that kind of ordeal, while the men leaned to one another whispering about the adventurers.
The men from Stranding Island tell one another without them being heard from any citizens’ ears. “I reckon their conscience can’t be differentiate between the demons’ and theirs. Or may I be wrong about it”
“Neither will I, our own people succumb to them eventually. Yet this eventually is too soon to believe they could be cooperating with them from the beginning”
“Shush your mouth, we never know why that everyone who entered this world got their powers are beyond from any previous mortal men”
“Sigh* Even how we were scrutinized to their eyes, but I’m gladly take them on if their powers quickly obliterated me from their annoying complaints”
The balance of power from the start was absolute from the time those citizens held their first powers. No one knows how they quickly go beyond to the limits of any Horsin lives throughout the first encounters. Now is slowly founding out where they are at now, even the infamous Enders who hunted down the troublemakers and the criminals alike. Capable now to take them down against their own powers. More and more of the others gathering more crucial information as words got out that citizens are dying by the hands of the Horsin people. Soon, they will able to kill them. Yet, they fear what lies after.
An announcement coming from the Mihayara district with an upsetting news. The call goes loud while everyone busy doing their work. Others woke up from the sheer boredom as they are continued to be analyze from the medical staff.
“Sincere apologies to anyone who are residing near the northern border, the next phase of the defense is becoming setting in barricades near the streets of Mihayara district and in the facilities of Taiyou Industries. There were breaches because of the strange powers that disable the citizens. But we won’t let the monsters go closer to your homes, we have given you our words”
Gemina and the others slams their fists anywhere to beat off from their frustration. Altair soothes them with his magic. “. . . You guys think that you are able to fight them again with your runes. A new biome is made during our fight among those no head beetles. We can’t go there without knowing the dangers it has. Ruby had already tried that”
They turned and look at where the hospital is at, can’t been seen here but Gemina didn’t respond after their hasty recovery. A second time when they are under comatose. Their stats were block and their physical conditions still has no signs of injuries. They feel like the demon is just playing with them.
The men get in with them as to settle their frustration. Ignoring much they have to be stubborn to talk about it. They show them their companions’ report. “If you guys are still that reckless to go on fighting, then care to see what our friends found”
They look at the magic scroll, a circular vision where the horde’s nests somewhere inside the underground network. The elves where there continue to destroying everything the nests have. The monsters kept returning after being obliterated, to the men’s eyes, it is a nuisance. Even before the siege, this siege will be a great burden for all of them.
Later, the vision switched to the outskirts of the city, the beetles and swarm limpers are settling themselves outside of the city and slowly making its marks. There’s a group of people, elves? No, but there is one familiar figure comes forth. They are heading to the monsters. Bringing rune weapons in hand and someone is carrying a large crossbow, quickly to its nests, and the man fires his crossbow with explosive shots. During the skirmish, the strangers took something from the nest, as it is glowing and immediately retreats.
The adventurers saw it and the men explained. “There are other people who are willing to help, limited resources they bring and still many people come to help. The elves have allies, but they are wasting time against the undying horde. There are ways to deal with it. You can see that you can stall it by destroying them as it recovers eventually. Or doing most of the difficult task, compressing the mana into an object like you saw earlier. Then they pulled one at the time as it will attracting the other monsters. The monsters that settled there will become lifeless puppets until new magic fills it and revived”
The adventurers realized “You mean to tell me there is an actual way to prevent them from reviving”
“And you know how to?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Were saying like it is, it’s obvious to see those people are Enders. Probably individuals, they should’ve continued the attack if they have demons alongside with them. Anyway, the demons’ powers are reaching too far from east mountain. They will eventually making magic gems or mana batteries for clarification, and keep their monsters existing. The most trusted monsters to carry it are to be those puppets”
To use that kind of method against a large scale, this will take a lot of time. Altair summarized “What he said is true, separated their source of mana would be difficult with many variations. That means why those elves are stalling because the monsters’ bases are hiding underground. The idea for a counterattack would be dangerous than I thought”
Gemina continues to grunt and slowly in relief “Shit! Then the monsters from the outskirts are finally dead, right?”
“Yes, for now, wait until the new set of gems bringing them back again. This endless horde are coming to your city will become more of a challenge than we were at Enders Bridge. Your city can’t last forever in this state”
Gemina and Altair grew a bit bitter about it. The plans on their part were to defend long enough to wipe out its numbers. The puppets are carrying gems filled with demonic magic. The elves have known about it and send that information to the leaders, they know how to handle against the horde but why they are struggling during this siege. They heard support’s words
“There is no way for this city to fall. Lady Hivites and Lord Lori’es of Enders Bridge had already planned this could happened. Where will they use it?”
The day reaches evening, and the citizens have grown anxious and hid under the bunker of the city guild. A replica of the Agatheus city’s realms for each of them having a place of their own environment. The conditions of their presence made it livable but the price of their own powers led them grew tired rather feeling safe. Their imaginative paradise quickly bore them as it only entertained themselves mentally. People get to share their interests to, but time lies short by different taste, right now, the residences from the north area start doubting their homes won’t survive the siege.
Others were able to calm themselves down as the others were allowed to leave and be secured somewhere else instead. The screen shows the city’s condition and the places are zone of its status. It didn’t show the progress that is happening during the fight but they show the conditions of the people who are involved during the siege, all alive and well. Not telling where they were and how they are right now, the people are expecting this siege to be ending soon than have initially expected. While as the lower rank adventurers are monitoring outside of the safe areas with the serpent floating above them.
Other citizens are wondering around as they need the fresh air and the quietness after getting inside the bunker for hours now. No orders for strict lockdowns, and only limited free to roam at the South Shore Bay District. Where there are some frontline personnel being reassigned after recovered from the failsafe.
“The condition went down fast. Too many things that the devil knows about us and we are here thankfully that none of us die”
Out of a blue of their running mouths, they return to stay quiet as many people walk out and see what happened outside.
The personnel are reminded to the others for being here. “We are here to secure the area, when the districts are starting to overrun. It is our time to build the barrier here. We all know how limited our resources, but with the resources we are using are the structures before us. When that time comes, you have to build the barriers close to the main highways”
“Yes Sir!”
One of the personnel responds “What about the secret weapon? Before the previous mayor got kicked out, shouldn’t we . . .”
One of the personnel stops him “From what happened to the Foundation, I don’t think that weapon will be fully operational”
Foundation was already finished, and probably that weapon needs to be ‘done’.
Meanwhile at the borders, the third line is securing to the west side of the border, with the amount of free space for the machineries to relocate, they have the flanking maneuver to the north and also at ranged to the beetles hiding among the webs. The dust fog continued to slow the monsters down as the others are moving fast to the east side. Their ammunition is plentiful with wooden carved explosive cannon balls. They are waiting for real ammunition when they heard about the manager telling them to keep the machineries active for the upcoming shipment.
It’s been almost two days where the shipment made it here. Others wiping their heads after setting up the new heavy gun chambers and the newly made triggers for the new ammunition models. Carefully manufactured for the upcoming munitions to reach their city. Hearing rumors about that, they are focusing their place of work is now getting closer to be swarmed by the monsters. Everything is ready as they use the wooden ammunition to continue their bombardment.
“This is not going to be easy for all of us, many of us can’t believe even a barrage of our well-made cannonballs have decent effects on those insects and many other strange creatures”
Boom*
“Keep firing at the destinated targets, we have the advantages when those strangers from the north causing a ruckus there. Add a few more incendiary runewords on the wooden cannon balls. Thanks to this magic, we will take them down before it comes back”
Boom*
There was a flawed steel and wood, one shot caused the wooden cannonballs to explode inside the barrel forming a shot gun blast. The third line sees the spray of splinters going up to the air, maintaining what it’s left then rain down on the nest in pieces. They check on the equipment as the old parts start to break.
They are hitting the monsters quite effectively as much as the monsters won’t attack, either this stalemate is for their advantage or those monsters are expendables. However, their nests are able to endure a bit, except for the one place that was attacked recently. It is being destroyed easily. The workers are reporting it to the command post.
“Uhm, one of the beetles’ nests were attacked recently by some unknown forces. We found out one of the webs losing its structure, it starts crumbling and begins burning throughout the area. We have sighted the monsters. They are down and seems to be lifeless for the moment”
Later on, the police personnel come to them with urgent orders. “We are relocating to a different location, get the machinery that would be able to fire across the city. If not, then continue your attack on the nest”
“But that kind of equipment are still being manufactured near Taiyou industries. It won’t be done for a couple more days”
“Couple more days?! . . . You mean the parts it needed are coming from Enders Bridge?”
“Yawn* I couldn’t say yes, and I am wondering what are they going to do with it without the right ammunition for that machinery”
Back in the command posts, the district leaders are struggling to find a way. Meanwhile, they spoke about the hybrid tree would be good resources for the time to come. The elf leader stands before them pointing at the tree as it already being bulk and healthy with its magic. It gathered around the branches as it is forming a ball. The elf leader said
“Getting the wood from that tree would be dangerous, but what magic lies inside would be great for the aftermath. Are your researchers able to do it during this siege?”
The advisor listened to their plan. “It is kind of suspicious when you talk about it. I understand it will drain our electricity, but draining its mana. That’s a bit of a coincidence, don’t you think?”
The other leader says to him in response “It either be coincidence why it placed there or something that we already know about that tree, I’d say something about manipulating mana is far too common for the demons to play around. We have to do it or else nothing much for us to accomplish as the elves delay the main horde”
The cult leader is humming to their idea “Turning their strength against them, what strength will that plant can do?”
Manager Kubo looks at the map “Either way, my arsenals won’t be reaching there with that thing is stealing our barrier’s power. It stretches it like rubber and still able to protect itself from the bombardment”
Old man Ban reminds the advisor “You heard them, a hybrid plant that will absorb energy, electricity, a plant with that amount of energy used and can be a nutrition for the monsters. We don’t want their advantages getting bigger, same that happened when the roots are prying through those magic barriers. This is not our chances to fight against a horde with many people being affected from that monster’s power”
The advisor looks at the books again about the plant. The appearances are clearly different but how it acted remain the same. He looks at them and said, “Can you really going to revert it back to its actual specie?”
The leaders are looking at the elf leader, knowing too well of her intention. It was the advisor’s desperate plea, yet they still have not lost yet but his eyes trying to prove the people as they are as unbeatable as they were before. The elf leader watches his eyes being sulk into the idea of overwhelming power. If she let them show more of their potential, then there will be a disadvantage for the Horsin people to stop them.
The men appeared before them is a mix of troops only entirely from the cult leader’s district residences. He said to them “I have brought these people to settle the matter. If you people can’t give some men to get it, then I’ll bring my own instead”
King couldn’t respond with his a third of his fellow adventurers remaining. He can’t afford to give more as they must recover, while the advisor’s personnel are committed to defend the city first. The other two agreed to let the cult leader has his way as he raises his command in front of his men and proceed to head out. The whispers of telepathy already given them the information, and they’re marching to the east with only little time left when the day goes dark.