COI C186
The reports reached to the headquarters of the district representatives. “Bzzt* The ruins have been cleared, I repeat, the ruins are cleared. All forces preparing the defensive positions for further instructions”
King heard them with a surprised look on his face. The Victory Rooks with adventurers who had the Jigeram runes able to secured the ruins that fast. The other district representatives didn’t react to it as they are struggling their push from Taiyou Industries. The counter assault was a success from Mihayara district, but their line of assault is retreating back to the defense.
The workers and the Mihayara personnel have able to maintain the back line for supplies at the rally points. The adventurers all together from Fuku City, City guild, and the rest of Victory Rooks are bruised while their rune armor protected them from the harmful effects of the Jigeram’s light and the wrath of their enemies. Silfa brought back her teams from the fight couldn’t believe to see such monsters only taken in humanoids forms. They forced them back to the city with their strengths barely hanging on. Alongside with Gordon’s and the other S ranks being carried by the men from Stranding Island.
The leaders observed the situation “The runes have done its work”
“Aye, the Enders had done so well to protect their soft skinny little muscles facing the oblivions. I can’t say now with the best falling like flies. It gets the bad taste for our future drink”
“You and your dwarven talks. I’m just glad the boyz are coming to serve again. Those idjits finally get out from the toll and go fighting at the front”
The goblin leader says it as his tribesmen can only do cleansing ritual the returning adventurers covered in dust or crystallized. Nothing but being medics. The goblin leader still speaks out confidently
“Fight those rock gitz, boyz”
Outside of the city, the monsters are coming out from the tree. The magic it stole from the city barrier and transforms it into the what is left to recover their bodies. The rat men with their skulls are the only subpar intellect were able become good substitutes, it wasn’t taken too long as the army is being controlled by the souls of the masters’ servants. Warriors with might that compelled many adventurers to fall back. They able to withstand to the other side where the elves ceased their hidden mana transferring to the tree. The voice comes to them.
Defeated by Team Platinum, where its secrets are turned to crystals. The voice has no weakness against this crystallized dust storm. It’s voice easily catch their dead ears as they are struggling to reach their actual strength.
“This is some convenient circumstance. The waste of your returning lives back into the harshness of many years of preparation. I am amazed how you of all dead souls waking up in this condition”
“We are devoted to our masters. Great warrior demon, why didn’t come here to end us just like before?”
“That offer is been over and done in many ways. I have brought my helpings inside the city. A noisy acquaintance of mine is wanting me to rally your bits of your men to her”
“Then why are you here? The remnants from the undergrown have fled to this desperate assault on this doomed city”
“As far I can know about your army, I’m going to make a visit inside the tree”
The light blue fog brandish with little left with the brown red cloud. This demon didn’t hesitate to corrupt the environment with its presence. The tree starts exploding once more to open enough one little room hiding inside the demons he knows. The link of dead magic lies inside. The voice sent an avatar manifest in order to reconnect the others.
Once it turned back on. The remnants of the monsters are recovering a little bit of their strength. The voice stops them from feasting its own mana. Daring to their own risk, they have endured the resistances and consumed then degrades their bodies. The humanoid form with their famine like bodies. The bodies they have are forcing what little mana they took from the voice. That little mana is enough to transform them more capable bodies within their corrupted souls. The demons have arrived and witness what happened to their efforts.
“Finally . . .” They whisper from the other side of the continent. The voice took out its familiar sighs and many of the demons recognized the lousy being who won’t be revive any time soon, haunting its presence to remember its legacy. They called out its name
“ACURSE!!!” Acurse bluffs off from its breath and to hear his name for how many years they fell into the Fall Era. The demons were not happy to hear him without a body to their presence during a desperate siege. The conversation leads to another, and Acurse will hear the memories crawling back in as him existing once again has a purpose.
“Our purpose to reawaken are armies are true. The threat of this world had finally summoned the world it originates”
“Our minions were reacting to the unknown force is true. Those people from another world had come. Acurse, why are you not cooperating with our old enemies?”
“Blaming others for your failed slumbers, I wasn’t awoken on my own. You can remember who I was with all those years ago. This era has no purpose unless I have something to gain from it”
“The souls we have gathered. They should’ve able to fight against our enemies without mana”
Acurse shows them from below. The horde didn’t have the materials against their cunning tactics; runes and rituals are gone. It gives the demons totally wasteful efforts. The demons were not easily given up, just yet. Acurse is here and the companion he talks about let him to exist a bit longer. The reason why he helps them is a mystery. More while Acurse look around the surviving tree possessing demonic mana without any interest with it. The demon that had no obligation to be involved, and the demons around him are intentionally wanting him to lead the assault.
Acurse hears her voice. The message from Fuku City “The extermination, they are using this opportunity to end the influence here. They’re using old allies of ours from Circoston Region. The same army who occupied the northern coast region of Kintennou. I know you don’t have a body. Please finished what I want you to do and bring them here. This will be my last reign inside the city and exiled myself to the other district”
He is hesitating, the amusement he is being called out by many demons around him.
Another message from her “This is great, this is enough for me hold off and gather my things. This strange sensation, it is bewildering of me and my followers’ creation. These souls you brought to me. They are questioning its existence”
“From all those time that you helped them to become stronger by your influence, I am not going to lecture you of beings with their differences. Both dead and alive”
“That’s not what I’m on about, they are really annoyed by the sight of the young girl. They know it is a doll and a powerful one too. It is obvious it was fanatically viewed”
“It its behavior was the obvious. However, your defense will be nothing of use but to stall”
“Sigh* I should’ve found you a host. You can able to this more than giving me time”
“Even you were supposed to do that. The people here are nothing else to gain with obsession with magic. Without developing the right skills, I need to recreate the powers I once have. All this time, I thought we will forever slumber in this endless cycle with him. The first summoned had appeared and the summoner who took all our rights to bring forth life into this world have returned. Our old friends and enemies will be happy to see each other again. Chuckle* If only these people will leave this world, and there is nothing left for us to bring, but to him”
Acurse hears the might of the citizens pushing back the demon army. With his own power delivered by her, only he can do is to fight what the other demons have brought. The army is rallying with strength recovering only to his presence. The massive tree surges down to him and gained a little of power. His body is formed along with the crystals manifesting around him, torn down his body and reveal only the flesh able to persist it. The voice of the souls who served their masters approach to him as they bow.
“It is an honor for our master to bring aid for their dire need”
Acurse smirks and gives a calm look. Something inside of him tries to come out. The magic he tries to bring out wasn’t enough.
The bodies all around them fell apart and absorbed in his presence. The tree preserved the army they have secretly trying to protect. The true demons’ army since the start of the siege. The demons’ puppets are all inside. Fully perfected and made in order to consumed the mana of their enemies. The single purpose of this siege. To gather mana of the summoner’s, to collect what remnants of the magic, and to finally found out where that summoner is. For Acurse, he joined because of her summoning him. The never-ending disturbance he always putting through, he might as well get involved, and being weak.
The sun is setting from above of the dusty fogs. Everyone shares the fate of the crystal contaminating everything all around. Boulders of crystals where life is concentrated and sands where nothing but death across the land. The citizens have given a slight advantage as the enemies are backing away. The marked they have brought them with great surprised as the legends spoke out by the Agatheans are true. The souls of the ancient, neither they are enslaved or forced into. Those are the souls who are willing to serve the evilness of the demons.
The city barrier had left an open cracked that is their only entrance and exit for now. The use of Archscience technology pierces through and able to open it without a problem. It needs now to open a small hole for the flanking force. The time is getting dark as they need to hurry forth. The citizens switched to their shifts as all adventurers are stepping into the evening. The small breakthrough, they were able to use another of their numbers of rune magic blasting away all the dusts and the monsters again. Whereas the demons’ army never reach the barrier, yet.
“The day shift has really got themselves the bad start. The monsters appearing inside the crystals are really a menace”
“What are you talking about? They were pushed back because of the monsters near the tree. When they step closer to that thing or even giving a little damage on it, those monsters are bursting out and attacked them in full health”
“Heh, don’t you worry. The Fuku adventurers are no push overs”
“You can say that again when we saw you guys at the convention”
“. . . (Sigh* Please do tell, I am not going to listen my doubles about their fucking happy life)”
The batch has been switched, wearing the runes to the exposure outside of the city. Their UIs identifying the condition they are now is mostly their mana can’t flow out. The runes are working and they are protected from the dusts. They can fell the harshness around them as they step forth for the first time. The citizens in the day shift are rugged to their feet and their bodies covered in crystals. The taints and grimes coming from the enemies they slew. It was barely to be seen as it easily wipes off because of the dust. When they made it into the front, the tree’s roots shatters from the ground and another batch of warriors coming out.
They raised their runic weapons, magic, and anything in their ranks to cast down a wave of dusts pushing to their enemies. The demon’s army in the form of well armored mannequins start appearing and able to counteract their rune magic. The citizens witness the enemies are resisting their attacks. That’s what they thought. The runes are taken affect, leaving the mannequins down to the ground as their body armor is melting. The adventurers continue to push as they look at them down and faded to the roots of the tree.
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“That was easy”
“Yeah, what happened to them when they attacked during the day”
“. . . It’s because you living don’t know, we can reposition close to you for a better hit”
They turned around as they hear a voice that is too foreign to speak in such an accent. Their bodies feel the pressure being piercing through. The demon’s armies become elusive as the roots of the tree releasing mana and at the same time crystallized. The adventurers saw their enemies using different tactics. The magic they used are crucial in any given chance they have. The enemies have formed guerilla tactics.
The back lines were prepared and used the dusts to capture the armored mannequins into the crystals, sealing them before they fade away. The adventurers were kept being ambushed and the orders from the transmission to call out to the others.
“All forces to slowly push to the tree. The enemies are sing guerilla tactics. Find any parts of the tree and burn it down with your rune magic. Take it slow or we will be never going far until . . .”
A battle cry across the distance, the enemies are charging colliding their own to get to their targets.
The adventurers are falling back to see what’s going on. The surprised in their eyes as they saw them merging together as they charged. The armored mannequins are charging with their bodies combined into a blob of limbs. The limbs turned to weapons, and mana cores exposed to shift ballistic projectiles as they fired at the adventurers. The numbers of attacks keeping the adventurers at bay, neither their rune defenses are resisting as the core crystallized them. Causing powerful disrupting chain effects where the adventurers caught in the blasts into the crystallized trapped.
Two forces trapped in place inside the crystals. The moment of pause gives the shortest moment to respond their freedom. The adventurers with runes strong enough to break free, and at the same time, the enemies are readying themselves to strike. The shatters of the crystals explode throughout the area. The adventurers take advantage the enemy forces trapped inside the crystals. Using them as barricades and pushed deeper into the tree. The demon’s army followed their brilliance and do the same, but altered with their own positioning their weapons at them as they crystallized in place.
Both sides are going against their way to use the demon’s puppets as obstacles and traps. The magic erupts deeper to almost beyond the belief. The Jigeram’s light scurry all of its dusts into the fight, molding like fungi as it grew faster in the presence of mana. The persistence of the demons’ army rages on as both magic reaches to their forces. The adventures bear the overwhelming force. Raking down by their weights and their perseverance from their enemy’s experience in warfare, the enemies brutally use the existence of non-living strength and forces it down like they are nothing but zombies.
The ground shifts and made gaping holes all around as the rune magic of the adventurers retaliate. They barely covered the ground as the crystals are appearing faster before they bury them. The demon’s army climbing up while the rest trying to bring their every reaching limb to hold one of the adventurers and pulled them to the gaping holes. The adventurers’ runes are breaking apart and force to open up their modern weaponries. They brought rune heavy equipment and spray down with rune magic mixing together with distilled water. Cleansing the dusts and forcing the souls back with the rune’s magic.
The demons’ army recovered and keeps charging as they piled themselves more and more as their numbers being moshed into the gaping hole. Once the hole is cleared from the crystallized dust. The adventurers push them into the ground and moved the ground to bury the rest of them. One after the other, many were buried and the runes they cast on it sealed their escape. The glows on the ground as they continue to move forward. The tapping of the enemies’ weapons and hands trying to break free. The adventurers were hesitated, until one heavy vehicle comes along to set itself to the front.
A small truck passes through the valley of the battlegrounds. Equipped with Dwarven runes fused purely on rune magic. The starting of its contraption hearing the shake of it as it vibrates to all of its parts together, rumbling to hear that it is working. Many feared of its unstable noise, yet this dwarven machinery, revived in Isekai City. They have unleashed what was forgotten in the Fall Era. The gunner is a dwarf and raises his runes on top of machinery. Overloading itself with large amounts of runes, the enemies are stepping back as the rapid fire spread around them.
The adventurers heard the loud gun shots firing behind them. The runes phases through them as their armor harmonized with it. Sadly, they scattered because of its overwhelming sound both firing and devastation destruction to their enemies. The enemies shred and disappeared leaving nothing for them to rematerialize. The pathway to end the siege is closing near. The tree’s barks, branches, and roots are withered and fell like leaves. The dusts are killing the tree as fast as it could. The sounds of their citizens calling for a push as they march further as the night dampen their vision.
The elves saw the far distance as the citizens are using everything in their powers to get through to the tree. They can’t help them as they form a sealed barrier for any reinforcements coming from the far distance. Where they blocked numerous demons to come and aid their creations. The elves, however no longer have the ability to march and aid them. The Jigeram’s light is thinning their reach both them and their enemies. They have to listen the sounds of the warring grounds as they hear the roaring destruction and the cheers of the citizens.
Acurse, watching over the battlefield while he reforms everything that the tree had consumed so far. The siege must go on. His blasted incompetence mood made the other demons who are desperate not losing their collections. The calming humming made them intense over his sheer lousy patience. The demons’ army is moving back and the tree is collapsing so easily. The first bombardment lands on the tree as its demonic magic was being consumed by Acurse himself. The high reaches of the voices of the citizens uproar even stronger than before. Then darkness comes and he calls out his men to play along.
The demons tried to reach him out, but he gives him his goodbyes “uh huh uh huh, you have your chances given me to lead. I just want my enemies to favor their advantages. Soon, when it reaches the darkest hour. Where the clouds they ignore will not see what my fellow ‘benefactors’ have brought to the battlefield”
Acurse turns to the army “Come here! Regain your Inhumanities! Your masters have sent to me. Take everything what the tree is hiding and follow me!”
“Cheer!”
“Huh, Obedient as always . . .”
Acurse humbly laughs and slowly set his eyes focusing secretly at his enemy’s formation
The tree starts to shatter faster than the city’s arsenal can throw at it. To the last core of the tree standing, the leaves hidden inside the large chunk of the wood broke off. More powerful and dangerous as the air turned harmful for the adventurers. The dwarf who is gunning down the enemies. Feel the horrible presence. He immediately uses rune stones and throw into the air, acting like a flare, and the fireworks explodes exposing the brown read cloud hiding in the dark. The chain of transmissions spread all around the ranks as the report reaches to the main base.
“They finally reach the final stage of our enemy. It is using all the power it had consuming around the area”
“The main front is now pushing. We can take down the core with another push”
“We can’t find the enemies near the tree. We need to stop and check for ambushes”
“A message from the dwarf, he wants the vehicle to retreat. He found something that lead to a trap”
“. . . Everything is clear. The massive tree is falling down to the (loud crashes) . . . I repeat the crystals have helped cut off the chunk of the tree”
The command post hearing news that it almost ending. The advisor hears the reports and called out the orders. But he was stopped by old man Ban
“What are you doing?”
“Did you hear the reports? We are almost ending the siege”
“But you hear the others, they said it might be a trap”
“There is no way we could win without taking risks. We don’t want to drag on the fight. They have already lost when they are exposed to the dusts”
Manager Kubo interferes “Since when you are commander in this city defense. You’re not leading Mihayara district personnel. Those are Fuku adventurers and other high ranked city adventurers”
A conflict between leadership happened in the command post. The advisor continues to hear the line of transmission as the front is closing in. The tree sounds collapsing as the sound of wooden materials crashes and breaks one after the other, with unnatural noise of currents and electricity happening near the adventurers. The advisor slips his mouth
“Use the truck and end the tree once and for all”
The line cuts after he said it. The district leaders reach out to him as they tried to cancel the order. They can’t, the line was cut, but the advisor didn’t do it. There is someone out there who did it.
In the middle of the battle, Gordon and King heard the order. King is furious “Continue the attack?! No, this is not the right hour. It is too dark for us to fight this deep”
“I knew you should be eyeing on that bastard”
“Come on, Gordon. We should head to the front and call the retreat. There is no telling what lies hiding in the dark”
They rushed forward and with others spreading out the words. Seeing the trails of people, pulled back to base as they are injured and exposed by the dusts. Armors leaked and damaged are everywhere from their bodies. More and more are retreating with injuries.
Where Gordon looks at his UI, and said to King “Have you find the strangest feeling that number of people are retreating is more than the number of people had sent to the front?”
“If it is true, then the truck! We need to retrieve the truck before they have a hand on it!”
They run further deep within the darkness as they could hear cheering after many steps further in. The horror they could hear voices of their own people keep cheering and the sounds of the fight is getting quiet. The adventurers who are supposed to move forward only keeps cheering, making their suspicions even more dangerous.
Acurse is walking through the battlefield. The darkness of the night able to hide the fight between them and the citizens. Another of the citizens fell and dropped with his body exposed by the dusts. He comes to him personally and taps his exposed flesh then pulled the injured man back close to the city barrier. The trails of dust of the defeated adventurers piled up into the path. Using their concealed mana as pathway as the succeeding demon army had formed a path on their own. The collapsing tree left a seed and Acurse carried it with his hand. The tree still stands as the size of any normal tree.
The sounds of gun fire still firing his army. The fallen bodies of the armored mannequins are broken because of the runes’ might. At his presence, he is able to bring them back to their full form. Acurse had enough of the machine and jumps toward it. The driver detects a powerful threat, but immediately incapacitated and crushed toward the group of armored mannequins. The dwarf crashes over them and immediately surrounded and butchered where landed. The blood spilled without a sound of struggle as they break through his rune armor. The driver can’t move and see the horror of the dead dwarf.
The citizen impulsively used his failsafe. It didn’t work, as the runes and the dusts have stop him to use it. The panic of his eyes trying to escape, and Acurse appeared by the car door. Not impressed of the face of the summoned being to fear such world they are in. With only his hand reaching out to touch his armor, melting off the protective runes he had. The scream he brings out to the demon’s ears as he was disappointed. A large hit to Acurse’s side as he slides back and quickly parried Gordon’s images.
King rushes to help the driver and pushes him to the passenger sit. The driver puts a sigh of relief. As his body getting exposed by the dusts, they need to hurry before he is fully enclosed by the exposure. Gordon takes on the gunner and keeps firing. Acurse quickly taken out the copies easily as the rune magic on the doubles weren’t strong enough. Watching them escaped, Acurse sense all around them that all the defenders have lost their advance to the tree. The army hidden in the dark appeared before them. The dead souls who have the same features of the citizens. The Isekai citizens who died in this world are here with him.
“Not only for the past few moon cycles, my daemos in arms have such fine broken collections. If I was alive and step foot into your depression view on this world, we might not all be getting too hasty. Believed me, I know your haunting, torturous, regretful faces shower my presence. I have seen that you still have the soul in you all not harming to your own people . . .”
He looks at the dwarf “. . . Yet, no resistance to kill other than your own. Then keep trying to save your people. I have my own humans wanting your people to be part of this devastated fate. Ah yes, the look of your soulless eyes reminded me a certain soul I trapped myself inside my host”
Gordon and King made out alive with the truck with the rune machine. The driver they brought out is fully concealed by the dusts. Manger Kubo and the advisor are present at the border.
“Are you guys alright? I thought we are going to lose one of the functioning heavy equipment”
King sees the advisor and smacks his face to the ground. “Why are you not sticking to the plan? We just need to crack the shell of the tree in order let the dusts consumed the rest of the monsters out there”
“But, you managed to take out the core of it”
“We didn’t”
Manager Kubo shows to them “According our radar, it shows the tree’s mana core is gone. Then who is the one is taken the core?”
As the radar loses it reach, there is something coming in with the mana core. There are still people retreating back, and the men from the islands are still able to take down the enemies trying to kill who are retreating. One of the leaders comes by and saw the district leaders.
“Is there one of you able to negotiate?”
The advisor reacts “Negotiate? What are you on about?”
“The demons supposed to have the advantage but reconsidered that they negotiate with you”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m Agathean, a fight this long has a reason for . . .”
The city barrier breaks open wider and ever as the roof for Taiyou Industries falling from the sky. The dust storms entered through some parts of the facilities. The demon appeared before them and with his group of mannequins revealing the complete entity provided by the tree. Emerged from the darkness, the monsters he brought and the humanoids he transforms are all human like. The faces are forged only in masks. Acurse almost step inside the city, but the city barrier stops him.
“I am surprised that you don’t know your own people are losing, did the sounds of identical race bothered you?”
They citizens saw the faces only by the illusion that the demon can make. It is definitely their people, in the same world. A different identity, westerners, while they are Asians. The sight of those souls revealing to them made them feel awry. Gordon says it out
“Are those Americans?”
King shakes his head “How can it be real? So, those people are from the same world as us?”
“. . . No, they aren’t. They are the inhabitant of this world. Their ancestors chose here and left their descendants here to their cruel fates”
The demon elf appeared behind them as she rushes and gives a strong scream banishing the souls, leaving Acurse all alone.
The demon elf angrily stood in front of him “You! Why are you here exactly?”
“Why not convinced them leave this world? I have been stuck into the middle of many of our old friends and enemies. You know this is the least realistic siege I have to pull through. With every counting second, I have to lead these insufferable souls to feast any life around it. I’ve been screaming at anyone of our own kind to why let them out during this madden fasting cycle . . .”
The talks between demons had put between either force into confusion. It wasn’t that long to end as Acurse left in a hurry. The demon elf turns around and said to everyone.
“This is not good, he is right. The next morning, your lives for this city will become the fate of your futures”
Everyone around them see the conditions they are in. They don’t know they were pushing back, and at the same time very deceptive how Acurse quickly change the tide of battle so suddenly. Acurse returned to where he is ready for the seed to infest the city. Where the dead souls of man are haunting behind his back, he succeeded. The last line of the reform will break through the city barrier.