COI C98
The citizens are outside of their evacuated centers at South Shore Bay. Night is here with their expectation going low but hopefully high as the people who volunteered leak the information, they are getting concerned about it. Safe for now, and nothing much information happened about the adventurers but the reality of hearing the monsters are coming closer to the city. They remain themselves calm as long as it didn’t reach the evacuation center. The police heard the rumors as they are ordered to remain in the area, during that time, the people keep talking about it. Others, well, not so likely.
“I can’t believe they couldn’t fight back the monsters”
“Are you an idiot or something? You heard the rumors, demons! You haven’t forgotten what happened when we first encounter them. Those people join them out of the blue and become the monsters from one of those fictional novels”
“Geez, sorry. I was thinking about those monster events from an online game”
Other people joined their conversation, treating this world what they expect was never part in their mind. “This is not a game that is planned out in every event you can predict. The monsters fled inside in fear because of the moon, killing them. Now is that demon shit keeps messing around is what is real. An intellectual monster”
The conversation grew into a lecture as if it is truly a story to warned everyone about. The mysterious moon such as Alga’s light had produced more life than it needed be, like how much people actually here to consume with that large amount of produce and livestock multiplying. The Isekai city had proven to take the advantage too as their improvised small garden would fit enough to feed a whole family nearly half a year. That moon makes anything into a working factory under an hour or so in full ripe for harvest. It is the daring to say among the people that foods were not the issue. On their hands, their devices, are now the main issue, oblivious how the wilderness works in this world.
“Until now, we soon to see the counterpart of the moon. Killing all life when it hits, thankfully, we had the barrier, but . . .”
“But until the barrier breaks through. I’m glad that reconversion power grid had replace a lot of the magic power into actual electricity. Still, it will get worse when the dust hits further when time goes on”
“It makes you realized the moons are the seasons of this world. How devastation would it be compared to winter and the dusts”
“It shouldn’t have happened if we have to leave this world earlier and . . . Augh! If I really want to stay here, I should be better off reincarnated instead”
The alarm turned on and the people return to their respected area. The evacuation provided as much safety as it can. The citizens heard some good news and worse news when they return to the evacuation areas. The public services were able to secure their things, everything, inside the magic inventory. All secured and untouched, where the whole rooms were not tempered and magically teleported inside the magic inventory. However, it shows to them that their own residences will soon be affecting for the worse. Soon, the buildings will turn into ruins.
The empty buildings were now wipe clean from all utilities and other household, office, and structural appliances. The artillery being transport inside as their powers could lift it to any position. Lifting a rune made weapons and equipment made it harder for them to carry, the adventurers with their mana control let them to their own mix of strength and able magic to carry out the equipment. The building inside is shifting to fit their structure for their weapons as more and more trying to redesign the interiors as fast as they could. Tonight, they need to hurry as for the new day to come. The elves won’t be able to last long as they agreed upon.
Manager Kubo supervises the project, she looks at the workers alongside and she is busily trying to find a right place for their weapons. Aiming to take the target inside of their city, they have been ordered to plan out if the barrier fails and the monsters will breach. Through surveying across the open streets, the buildings are redesigned and it opens a gap for the artillery to shoot through. They look down where the foundation and floorings of the building are. Taking its concrete for the artillery’s support foundation and making it into a blockade to the entrance up to the 3rd floor, she checks the process of her workers as they soon grown tired as they used rune tools.
Fuku adventurers, chosen by the cult leader, had brought to the east border of the city. Already stepping their way to the industrial zone of Taiyou Industries. Not fully manned and only defenders are here are the workers of this district, they won’t last long if they focus here to raise the defenses. One of the Fuku adventurers felt something on his feet. Others follow and felt It too, the runes hidden under the streets where it covered with road tar. Recycled but they still felt it, they decide to move on and only believe it would help them hold here.
The road leads to the intersection, leading to Taiyou and the other to the toll road. There should’ve been more as this is how far where the city was transferred to another world. They walk further to the elevated highway. it is good place for them to rendezvous or camp. They set up their camps as the empty road lost its street lights. The lights from the Taiyou Industries are still operating and all the while it ended where the highway road kept in the dark because of the tree they are going to take.
“It’s been better to be at their post with the lights on”
“You would, but how much a lazy bitch you are going to be nowadays”
“You!”
“Don’t try to talk funny here, I was barely got out by that headless rune neck buggy freak when we tried to fight it”
The three people who fight together at the start of the morning. Flashes and with two others made their way to the west to the north for the entire day. Those three had a lot of bad impression to each other until they performed well when surviving and taking out those monsters with runes. Other Fuku adventurers busily making dinner and stand watch as the three kept their mouth high and open.
“You two are on my back for the entire day. I’m lucky that we made it this far without any problems with your attitudes”
“Not lifting a finger at the start as you know how to fight against runes. Don’t you?”
“Hey! I don’t want that other ‘me’ get the fame that I deserved, and I can’t see why their videos recording in the middle of a fight!”
Flashes spoken out the truth “I get it, you hate that double of yours. We are here to protect the city, and I don’t want to go back living in the wilderness. Even I have this moronic face”
She looks at Flashes and his unhealthy chubby body. His performance did great with that obvious fatty body, he is able to move like an athlete as if he cheated with magic. She can’t believe that this is his disguise.
They continued “Like we had said before, we don’t let these faces to be the star of this battle. With or without our true powers, we need to lay low to where it looks natural to fail but not died”
Flashes look at the man as he gets the point across. Others are busy to make camp had no obligation to speak out, the man is right, laying low would be a great chance but it is the cult leader to decide to do with their mission. Flashes look at the tree glows brightly around the monsters hid away from the dust. They all prepared with their dusts to fight against the monsters. Only thing to worry is to reach their objective.
The cult leader’s message reached their thoughts. “I have brought news; the monsters are not active for some reason and the magic they used recently didn’t appear to be threatening your failsafe. I know you people can switch your RAP, and with your lives at stake and the people you disguised as, they will be as annoying if you finish it to your best of your abilities. Don’t make scenes that you ended up making lies for themselves. Always to keep yourselves in check. Go for the objective, this is my last reminder”
The Fuku adventurers look among each other as if they could make a scene. Thoroughly identifying to whom they don’t want to give the fame to the doubles. All of them seem to be as hateful as they could believe, faces covered in disguised, and show their faces with unsatisfying resolved. One of them had to say it
“Neither all of us”
All of them agreed by that statement. They all nodded as they take their rest in their camp. On top of the highway, they could not be seen except the campfire. Waiting and preparing, to set foot on the enemy’s newly conquered grounds.
The personnel look through their binoculars, all in worn hidden through the dark. Patrolling through the streets, they found a light by the campfire as they see people resting there.
“Those must be the people trying to check out the tree”
“It’s fine, they have their failsafe. We will find them at the Mihayara district center once they failed, eventually”
“I heard they are chosen from their district leader himself”
“Pfft, what con artist would he do to allow ‘professionals’ that are coming out from that introverted part of the city, what they can do?”
One of the Fuku adventurers spotted the personnel with his UI pop ups, he was in the middle of change his settings to remove the failsafe manually. Others follow, but he has RAP to be stealth oriented, he said to them
“They won’t stop watching over us”
Flashes disappointedly responds “You get used to it, even I had going on about questing with the adventurers as my supervisor”
“I was a police officer back then. Those new staff always keep watching us. It’s like they don’t trust each other”
“I say it to you if I were them”
“Maybe, or maybe mentioning about corrupt government who form a coupe against the former mayor”
The other person sighs in relief “Thanks for speaking out what we don’t care”
The adventurer walks by just to say that to him. The man shakes it off as the others who are still setting up their RAP, these youths already taste worse from the outside. Flashes returns to his business and check his RAP.
“Required Actions for failsafe to remove . . . Really, that much points. The other option is full disconnect. It is cheap but lose all personal customization like the inventory. So much mana control to stop that thing even working”
The auto lock failsafe requires 50 points, the new highest points needed beside the high tier ones required just only 10 points or less.
Others had their faces match the same as his, this is the problem look of their faces as they can leave their max points to lose more than they have thought. They are not going to tell their points as they only show their disbelief. It was Flashes’ group, he said
“50! That’s how much it demands for us not to escape? I even rephrase some abilities I have on against PVPs. Damn it all, I don’t think our side would never bother this kind of cheats”
Flashes returns with no change of his expression “If I have cheats, so then the system cheats. Anyway, we have already experienced our breakthroughs and our own personal UIs. Everything went complex when we advance further”
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The woman with them thought otherwise “Or it was probably because it was never meant to be controlled in the first place. Traits and abilities differ one another and our RAP is meant controlling our abilities effectively without treating magic as everyone else’s control”
The Fuku adventurers heard her and not to seem to understand what she meant. She looks at them as they barely know anything and they only perceive it to be complicated stuff on the simple things. Flash and his companion understood it, different stats mean different functions. Failsafe is indeed an automatic signal and RAP is their total amount of control freely adjustable without worrying to check themselves for mistakes.
All eight of them together in one camp, expecting to group up base their disguises and the fake relationships they have to pull through. They look at each other, looking rather young and timid how they look, looking confident, experienced through their expression, and the eyes of witness through their east coast journey. They pull up their devices and see what their doubles have to say. Using through social media as fakes as they send their messages between them. The woman however looked at her chat the worse. Easily impatient filled nothing but herself talking to her double. Not even once, and still ignore for weeks on.
Others received their responds are ok. Personally, they might know each other from before. The sad reality is their disguised hid too perfectly to recognize them. Complicated double faces, it made them surely enough to make this more dramatic if the other people recognize the faces they are wearing. No positive attitude or anything that removes their bad impression among people. All over again, this made a lot people hate them how they behave, but can’t deny their successes . . . So ironic. A loop that dares not to change or improve to the slightest. The only joy come out for these defectors are freely roam the city to relive their lifestyle.
They all huddled up in the campfire showing no improvement to their relations whatsoever to their doubles. None of them complains, but the assumptions of how they get along will be just business like. Now the Fuku adventurers show their emblems and seals among them by throwing something to the fire. Once lit, an image appeared and others will see and remembered who they are. The disguises hid their true self, voices and presence, and will be revealed through their guessing eyes.
First one is the woman who is with Flashes and the man, she throws it at the fire and the emblems sparks in smoke. They all look at her, her fame is known among the east coast but the face she wore irritates her true potential. None of them say otherwise, only thinking what made her stoop so low for this act to continue. Respects in mind that their lips will greet to her, but that face shows the irritation she had to pull through as her fame mix with the worse person she had to share with it. Then they went silent.
Flashes is next, showing the emblem, dystopian futuristic, it easy to say to his emblem marked as a maintenance worker. Clearly a defector who was hidden at the side lines protecting their hideouts, with him joining them, they are expecting good clearance to where they need to secure. As for him, he let his keychain toy at the edge of the highway, readying the camera for long sniping surveillance. He shows more of his equipment explaining what it is, with no proper understanding how it plays out. Same with the incident, he had to show them how it works. Flashes sighs of his unique skills.
The other man besides Flashes and that woman, throws a coal to the fire. He has no emblem nor seal to show he is one of them. The burning shows otherwise, they know him from many involvements at the east coast and facing the goblins head on. They gulp down with pure anxiety as the coal cracks and shows a shrunken head. He picks it up from the campfire through the flames he controls through his RAP, and it revert back into a coal on his hand. The woman feels the regret she had said and the man said to her
“How many people like me did you kick out from the battle?”
Later, other five Fuku adventurers show theirs, all of them are truly defectors they can recognize and trust. The cult leader had set a proper team they never know they have one from the beginning. The woman and Flashes are definitely backliner supports while those six of them are suitable to go through the new biome. The man they are with will be soloing through monsters’ attention, the five of them can be in a group. Only one front liner but this is not about taken out the tree, it is about how far they could gather the samples.
They started to head out down the highway to the glowing tree. Leaving Flashes and her to the stand near the campfire as they set out. The man they are with moved to the other direction where the shore he will be setting his position there. One of the Fuku adventurers gives them a radio then said
“You two won’t be able to group with us. We brought equipment pretending to be exterminators. I assume you know that man’s intention, right?”
Flashes know nothing about the man’s plan but the woman nods at her with a nervous look at her face.
“Yeah, giving him the feeds, right?”
The adventurer nods slowly as she puts up her mask.
She regroups with the others leaving the two at their own devices. Among the group, he sighs in relief,
“I shouldn’t underestimate ourselves”
“After that secret introduction, we never knew we have no names with us. Their presence alone would be easily to identify but . . .”
“Inside in this city, he can’t, but he brought souvenirs at least, heheh”
“That laugh sounds pathetic”
“You bet, now let’s see what those industrial workers given to us while we come here”
Everyone picks up their gears as they are waiting for the man to position himself far away from the highways and to the seashore.
The man made it out from the highway, where the railroad tracks stood near him. He sees the integrity of it still up to par with the modern standard, he clearly remembers the train went out to from few days ago. Going to the west where the bridge is made and the rest further to Enders Bridge. He walked pass as he set his equipment with the double’s jacket hoody, through the dark valley when the moonlight can’t descend through the barriers. The jacket hid with a special viewing pleasure. The place is dark and hard to see, he whistles to it, his ‘fuck you’ to his double. The man starts to run.
Flashes sees through across the far distance and sees the man already moving forward, with his GPS worn, he called out to her as she sends the signal.
“He is getting to his position, head towards the targets”
“Affirmative”
The two is looking at different sides through the dark valley. All wearing or casting night vision as they begin their mission. The tree glows as it shines from the distance with the magic globe at on its branches grasping it visually. Marching through the road, the new biomes start to form along with the dust.
The five Fuku adventurers step forth on the biome they have not anticipate. All geared to be ready to face the unknown in the night, monsters start reacting to hear the footsteps with their dangling gears with such noise. The ground starts to shake and the runes appeared beneath their feet, a flash of light shook them with a shock but with the mask shades protecting their faces. The monsters start to gathering around as the magic markings among its bodies glow. Already surrounded by mere seconds as they tried to defend in all sides.
Holding with their sprays and other equipment at their hands. They are facing the monsters they never seen before with demonic writings on them. No sounds of them coming from the monsters’ expression, they stared idly but their movement are swift like most animal pacts wanting its prey. All of them swoop together as the flash of light hits them as they stood still for a moment. The digital laser printed on the monsters quickly digitizes and pulled them away from the adventurers. Flashes takes his camera and redirect the monsters he captures then sent it to the lone man at the shore.
The Fuku adventurers recovered from the flash as they see what the backline did. No respond from the radio, this is something they would say to them with their arrogant comments, but this time this is not the time to gloat without the failsafe on hand. They continue to move forward as the runic grounds start to brightens up and release to the surface, the runes however, it explodes rather activating. They expect nothing less to the woman they remembered. One of the adventures raise her hand and direct them to the position they need to go. They go across the valley as they search for more hidden tricks like they did before.
Flashes of light kept going through around them, a use of the spray for hidden monsters from the camera and few good kills with their hand guns given by the city personnel. It is like a walk in a park for them. The runes secretly hid and removed, others they tried to pick a piece of it but dim down once it breaks. They continue to move on as the ground with runes are all engraved with demonic magic. The runes are made fragile for them not to take it, leaving others to take a recording with their devices.
“Recording the samples, through video. Runes made immediately but easily destroyed when physically touched. Impossible to retrieve it”
Few silent shots occurred to their side, some of them knocks back as their armor is being scratched. The undead rooted monsters appeared and spewing dusts among them, the exposure crystallized parts of their bodies. Monsters tried to come closer but the flash of light caught them in a moment of its attack. Digitized to disappear, the situation is being handled affectively. Slowly moving forward as the dusts are getting denser. The crystallized dust eventually breaks as they smashed it with their bodies to the ground. Other waited until they unleashed their strength to break free.
“Any of you know the strange phenomenon that the dusts can do? Even with magic, they can control dust on their own will and still somehow not get frozen into place”
Flashes knows some, flash* “I’m not proven my experience when I survey underground, just take this as a grain of salt”
“Try me, We are getting closer to the dense cloud of dust”
“Strange, that place you are now would damage the signal”
“I set my RAP on the device, the dust is still able affecting me by its sheer heavy density”
“Ok, I’m guessing only the quality of the dust is not pure. The dust fall incident is the real deal because how it comes from the sky. Meanwhile already contacted dusts must have lowered its effectiveness”
The Fuku adventures step on the roots of the plant they are searching for. Looking through the roots as it attached to the falling electrical wire, cut, but still stretching closely to the transformer from the electrical post.
“Let’s discuss it later, the tree stretched so far with its root . . .”
He cuts him off as they proceed to take a look at it, others had collected the samples they need and the monsters they killed. Now with a special container at their disposal, rubber gloves or rubber made equipment. They touch the roots as the current cause static.
“I guess they were right on this matter, fantasy or not, a plant produces electricity or absorb it like a battery question my view of things”
The flashes of light hit them out of nowhere as they are frozen in place, they move their eyes to see what happened. Monsters are coming for them as they covered in dirt. It digitizes the dirt leaving their actual body prevented to be teleported from the digitized. Short moment as they prepare, the monster revealed back to the shadow. Everyone starts spraying and shooting around them whereas the monsters retaliate. Infused with magic and slight tainted with dusts. Crystallization formed and smashes into pieces like bombs.
Monsters got hit after hit then exploded with crystallized mana erupted through its bodies. All of them fell down to ashes collected through the soil. Dusts are scattering, bodies fell to crystallization, and the remains being thrown back at them as more monsters appearing shredding parts of the roots. Sudden shakes on the ground as something is trying to burrow up. They quickly get the samples of the tree’s roots, one of them throws an explosive and release and thunderous boom. The electrical strikes reaching out to anyone who is near from it. The monsters were electrocuted and taken out.
Everything got hectic as the fight continues where more hordes of monsters are coming to their direction. The released of electricity discharged to their direction as the dusts sealed it back. Something appeared from the shock of the electricity as the current is directing to a monster. The monster breaks through the dust as it surprises them from the back. Strange magic hits them as it immediately crystallized them, the marks of the magic quickly turned to dust. They tried to fight back, but it recklessly diving into them as it is being gun down, and using its own body and imploded itself leaving the dusts all over them. Everyone froze as the monsters attacked.
A Flash of light hits them and all of them freeze, a powerful focused beaming its light as it touches them, they feel the warmth then the burns as if it desperately wants them to be digitized. Flashes checks batteries as it already running out within seconds as he holds them in place. He brings everyone inside to his camera, separating them from the monsters and shoot to the other way. He brings them out from his camera, tired from the mysterious ordeal, the woman who is with Flashes acting relief that they made it. The Fuku adventurers thought something was bad when they were fighting, looking at those two, they are not pretending. More than that, what monster they were facing?
Near the shore, the last batch monsters appeared before him. The rest of the monsters were easily been dealt with no light for him to see, the sounds of those monsters destroyed amused his senses on his vision like a bat, until ‘sees’ the last of them. He raises his skills as he senses something more dangerous than he had faced. Ending them quick and took some of its mana as his own, he converts the demonic mana to his own to refuel his mana from the exposure. Managing through his RAP in quick succession, he stands where the monster arises from the dark visage.
It attacks without a chance for him to break apart the remains for him to see the monsters. The man nearly sees the figure of the monsters. A humanoid rat man with its skull made out of black stones carved with ritualistic runes but cultic writings on it. A recognizable pentagram on its forehead with no flesh except its carcass dried body, it blows its breath at him as he dodges back, hooks then grabbed its head, and throw it to the side. The rat man flew and lands on the ground with its two feet. It pulls out from its gut wielding a gemstone, written in runes, and shines it onto him.
The man switches his RAP momentarily to fight against a rune monster. In quick succession, he is able to endure the rune’s presence as the rune almost drawn to him. He moves forward and punch it to the gut up high, destroying its body with one punch. The head remains in the air and quickly picks its body back up as it teleports. The man’s senses were surprised, as it counters him with its tail and whips him towards his face. He dodges down and grab the tail swing it down to the ground.
It bounces up and proceed to swing one more time. The rat man slammed for the second time and pulled to him then landed his blade on its black stone head. His attack was deflected and the rat man counters with its gem runes. The shards inside of it releases wind magic clouded with poison gas. The wind magic formed into rats and begin to reach him. He covered his face and his clothes begin to decay as fast as he tries to get away from the chasing rats. The man turns around and quickly dives in to the rat man and cut off its hand holding the gem.
The gem floats and returned to its other hand, the rat man’s head glow withs its rituals and proceed to headbutt him. He got annoyed from what he sensing and quickly grabbed the head and slammed it to the ground. Its body covered with poison gas continue to decay his equipment on his back. There is nothing he could do to fight it off with its head to be the primary of its strength. The poison gas weakens him through his skin and his stats proceed to lower as his RAP is continuing to lose points. He pulls out a talisman on hand throws to the ground. It exploded forcing the rat man to the air dispersing the poison gas.
A big crater opens up from the smoke and the remains of the rat man leaving only its head with the gem runes nearly floating with it. It recovers quickly as the man is already gone. It looks around the area as it piles scattering body parts of the other monsters. The gem pulls the rat man back inside to the gem. Remained in the air, there was a sound coming from it then it disappeared. The man walks to where he fought it, a monster with shamanism power or what he dared to see as cultic magic. The mission is already over, and found more threats than they have never seen during the siege.