ARC 2: Bloody Onslaught_God Yuje

ARC 2: Bloody Onslaught

After the stunning revelation, the group had decided to change their course. Instead of Limperd Ruins, a monster infested area, they unanimously agreed to take a detour towards the north. They supposed that Erika was still alive. Moreover, there was a high probability that she had other students with her. Everyone was determined to infiltrate the war-ridden area.

“The north huh?” Taki bit his lower lips as he looked towards the setting sun. “We have no choice but to go through Kulaima. It’s the fastest route available.”

“This is too risky…” Kath uttered. She pulled her cloak tighter around her body as she tried to calm her shaking knees. The idea that they were probably the only students left alive in the repugnant continent made her, along with everyone, be filled with fear.

“We’ll take the route through Kulaima.” Yuje said with finality. Somehow he was left restless after he found out that Erika was in peril.

“Train me.” Raul spoke to Yuje. The freckled man’s masked face was half covered by his shoulder length hair. The smell of human flesh from the slave capital still lingered.

“No.” Yuje replied. “Now’s not the time. We need to get to the north as soon as possible.”

Somehow, Yuje’s voice seemed different than usual. The cold, indifferent tone was mixed with a hardly noticeable glint of anxiousness. Taki noticed it and smiled underneath his mask.

“Still…” Raul raised his palms and repeatedly flexed it. “I can’t afford to be a burden. I need to control this power.”

“We understand where you’re coming from—” Taki responded. He hopped onto the bow front and stared at the sea of trees below them. They were near the city’s exit. “But we don’t have the luxury called time.”

~RUMBLE

The group heard a large rumbling sound. What followed afterwards was the sound of multiple footsteps hurrying towards their direction. The fully-plated warriors that extorted money from them before lined-up before the city’s exit.

“Close the road!!!” The beast man with drooping nose and armband from before hollered. With multiple trickles of sweat on his crumpled forehead, he ushered his soldiers to move a large boulder to block the city’s exit. “HURRY!”

~CLAG

The city’s exit was successfully closed after a few more seconds. Heaving a sigh of relief, the beast man turned towards his back and immediately knelt after seeing the divine-like creatures.

“Master Maricia!” The beast man was still kneeling. In front of him were dozens of high elves fully cladded in garb made of cambric. “We have successfully closed the eastern entrance! The enemy—approximately around a hundred thousand!”

The high elf called Maricia flinched after hearing the amount of approaching invaders. Brushing her golden hair to one side, she turned towards her subordinates.

“Archers!” She lifted her fine delicate fingers and pointed towards her left. “Assume positions on top of the boulders! The Bruhans shall take it upon their selves to protect this city!”

She issued her orders in a fierce yet delicate tone that seemed like a lullaby from the angels. Following her words, the high elves climbed the ornament-like boulders; stepping stones were dug on its sides—facing the direction of the city. Though lacking gates, the city of Po was strategically partitioned by innumerable colossal boulders. These boulders served as a blockade during times of peril.

“Approaching!” An elf that was on top of the boulder yelled. A large smoke dust seemed to come closer to their location. Along with it were the tens of thousands of enemies.

~RUMBLE

The ground shook violently as if about to disintegrate at any moment. With the rumbling sound seemed closer in each second that passed, everyone readied themselves for the upcoming battle.

Maricia raised her long bow into the heavens and pulled tight the string. Taki and the rest of the group was surprised that the leader of the Bruhans did not put any arrow in it.

“What is she doing?” Mui murmured.

~TWANG!

Maricia released the string of the long bow. Surprisingly, a translucent blue arrow formed out of thin air. The chilling aura that emanated from it sent shivers down everyone’s body.

~SHOOOOAAAKK

The translucent blue arrow instantly multiplied after reaching the horizon. Painting the sky blue, hundreds of arrows cruised towards the approaching mob after it reached the peak.

~TWACK ~TWACK ~TWACK

Hundreds of ghoul-like creatures that scurried towards the eastern path of the city of Po were pierced by the barrage of arrows. The arrows, after piercing their targets, broke into thousands of chilly fragments that embraced the whole area. The ghouls adjacent to those who were pierced froze upon contact with the chilly mist.

Maricia, after the barrage, turned towards the elves on top of the boulders and spoke. “Fire!”

Valleys of arrows were released by the high elves and rained down towards the still charging ghouls. Like their master’s, each of their arrows was imbued with magic. Some were imbued with paralyzing poison while most were enclosed with ice magic.

~TWACK ~TWACK ~TWACK

An unending barrage of arrows rained down upon the invading monsters. Maricia kept releasing shots from her bow that then multiplied and scattered in all directions. The unending onslaught decimated the surrounding sea of trees from a distance.

“Captain Murlo!” Maricia signaled the droopy-nosed beast man. Slightly panting after using her magic multiple times, she lifted a hand into the air.

“Now!” The leader of the Bruhans exclaimed. Abruptly waving her hand down, she stared at the colossal boulders in front of her.

Captain Murlo and his soldiers activated the pre-made magic circle that spanned the entire eastern entrance. A translucent aqua glowed beyond the boulders.

~SHHHHHHH

~RRAAACCKK

A wall made of freezing ice sprouted up from the asphalt ground. It was conveniently created in front of the gargantuan boulders. With a towering height of around fifty meters, the wall of ice enveloped the entire eastern side of Po.

It was a one-sided massacre. The subzero wall of ice created an impregnable blockade from the invading monsters. With the location of an upslope to their advantage, the high elves perpetually launched volleys of arrows one after another.

~TWACK ~TWACK ~TWACK

~GROOAAAGGHH!!

The ghouls were left with nothing but cries of anguish as their bodies crumbled to dust. The army that was previously around a hundred thousand was reduced by a third of their number. In just a span of less than an hour, the high elves of the city of Po annihilated thousands of invading monsters.

~GRAAAAHHH!!

The remaining ghouls assaulted the magically created wall.

~BAG! BAG! BAG! BAG!

Tens of thousands of ghouls had finally reached the eastern side of the city. Banging their rotting body against the wall of perpetual subzero, the ghoul’s bodies were frozen and immediately shattered afterwards from the stampede of assaulting mobs.

“Fire!” Maricia kept firing unto the heavens. The magical arrows fired then cruised down towards the still innumerable number of enemies. Trickles of sweat were now evident on her pale ivory skin. “Do not stop! We cannot let them pass through here!”

Her subordinates did as was told and kept firing their magical arrows one after another. Everyone was exhausted after killing tens of thousands of enemies. Captain Murlo and his men stood in front of the blockade in case the wall of ice broke.

~TWACK ~TWACK ~TWACK

~RRROOOOAAARR

“Follow the Priestess’ lead!”

“The ice wall near the plaza is close to breaking down!”

~CRACK

The wall of ice created from the pre-made magic circle formed cracks after the series of onslaught from the innumerable monsters. After a few more moments, the left side of the partition broke—creating a large opening for the monsters to pass through.

~GRRUUAAAAHHH!!!

“Defend the city!” Captain Marulo charged head-first towards the monsters. Following behind him were his soldiers that were fully cladded in silver-black armor.

~CLANK! ~CLANK!

~STRIKE! ~STRIKE!

Using their broadswords, the soldiers of the city slashed away at the ghouls they kept appearing from the breach. The almost-mindless ghouls kept their charge towards the city and chomped at anyone they saw.

“Keep your ground!” Captain Murlo yelled towards his soldiers. Dodging a ghoul’s strike from the rear, he took a side step and hacked at another ghoul near him. “We must not let them penetrate deeper into the city!”

Hundreds of soldiers confronted the invading monsters. With the persistent characteristics of the undead, just using their broadswords were not enough to inflict much damage. Even after chopping the arms and legs of the ominous creatures, they kept with their perpetual assault towards the defending beast men.

~CLAW ~CLAW ~CLAW

~BITE ~BITE ~BITE

The creatures literally clawed their way through the blockade of soldiers. Even with fully plated armors, the ghouls managed to dig their rotting fangs deep into the beast men. Inflicting paralyzing poison from such teeth, the ghouls weakened the defending soldiers bit by bit.

~TWACK ~TWACK ~TWACK

The high elves kept firing arrows towards the ghouls that had not yet entered through the breach.

“Keep concentrating your attacks on those that are not yet inside the wall!” Maricia ordered. Glancing towards the breach, she yelled towards Marulo’s direction. “Captain! I entrust the blockade of the breach to you!”

Marulo abruptly nodded as he swiftly decapitated a ghoul that sneaked behind him. Twisting his large body to the side, he dodged another attack. He then used the recoil from the dodge to strike down three ghouls at once.

Maricia deemed it as the best action as of the moment. The breach was large enough to let pass only around ten ghouls at a time—a number that should be enough for Marulo and his men to handle. The most important matter at hand was the tens of thousands of ghouls that still lurked behind the wall of ice.

~CRACK ~CRACK

The translucent subzero wall was close to breaking. It was almost an hour since the ghouls banged at the colossal partition. Everyone inside the city went inside the solace of their homes the entire time the battle was ongoing.

“I’ve never seen so many monsters before.” Taki exclaimed. Grasping the granite wall of the building they fled to, he bewilderedly watched the battle from a distance.

“Amazing…those people.” Kath pointed towards the group that was continuously defending the slave capital. The sound of metals clanking pierced though the stale air.

“At this rate—” Onesa gulped. Her hair stood on its ends as she swallowed the words she said afterwards. “The city will be overrun by those creatures.”

From their position, everyone could clearly see that the breach was slowly but continuously becoming larger. With multiple cracks, the wall of ice was close to breaking.

[Yuje.]

A voice inside the man with ash-brown hair spoke.

[If you are to go towards the north, you would need to pass through Kulaima.]

Yuje was aware of what Gashka was implying. Once the ghouls overran the city, it would be harder for them to head towards Kulaima. Judging by the situation, it was highly possible that Kulaima had already fallen to the hands of the new Emperor of the East.

Taking a detour would also be another option for the group, but that would take them an additional month or two. With such revelation of peril, time was not a luxury that they currently have.

[This current wave…it’s just the start.]

The ominous words of Gashka resonated through Yuje’s head as he calmly watched the battle from afar. The soldiers that bravely defended the breach kept falling one by one. The accumulated injuries and fatigue made it harder for the remaining ones to hinder the rabid monsters.

The high elves positioned on top of the boulders were unable to continue firing their magical arrows. The task was so arduous considering that they needed to decimate a hundred thousand monsters. With wobbly knees, the elves tried to hold their ground—firing occasional arrows every now and then.

Maricia glanced towards her drained subordinates. “I can’t have this fight drag on any longer.”

Maricia regally placed her bow to her back. Raising both ivory white hands unto the heavens, she poured every last bit of her mana into her spell.

“Today—” Maricia, heavily panting, murmured. “It shall rain.”

~SHHHHHIIIIIEEEEKKK

Marulo looked towards the direction of the leader of the Bruhans. His eyes widened after he saw the giant magic circle that spanned hundreds of meters hovering above them.

“Everyone!” Maruco immediately yelled. “Get out of the way! NOW!”

Hearing their captain’s order, the remaining soldiers ran towards the direction of the city. Everyone felt the dangerous and menacing aura from grandiose magic circle above them.

~CRACK

The magic circle broke into tens of thousands tiny azure fragments that refracted the three moon’s red rays. The fight went for what seemed like an eternity. It was now early in the evening.

~SHWAACCKK

The azure fragments pierced through everything that was underneath the magic circle. It indiscriminately annihilated everything that was in its vicinity. Thankfully, Marulo and his men were able to get away from the radius of the grand magic.

~GRAAAAHHH!!

~ROOOAARR!!

The ghouls fell down one after another before the large scale magic. Shattering for one last time after it hit its target, the sharp particles of ice created a glimmering appearance under the crimson moons above.

“Huff* Huff*” Maricia fell down to ground from exhaustion. Just from that single cast from the ruler of the city, tens of thousands of ghouls were killed.

“Marulo!” Maricia exclaimed. She found it hard to even stand.

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Marulo turned towards his men and hollered. “SOLDIERS OF PO! CHARGE!”

“UUOOOHH!!”

The soldiers charged towards the blood-ridden battlefield. Thousands of ghouls were left alive even after the grand magic. With innumerable cracks from the barrage of monsters, the wall of ice broke down entirely. The remaining monsters rabidly charged towards the soldiers.

“This is OUR CITY!” Marulo swung his weapon towards the ghoul in front of him. Splitting the creature from the head down, he ducked the swipe from the ghoul at his right. After retaliating with a kick, he created a horizontal slash towards the rotting beast.

The soldiers arduously confronted the remaining thousands of enemies. Maricia and the high elves took out their exquisite short swords and joined the fray. Though exhausted of all their mana, the Bruhans bravely fought in the front lines.

“Raul.” Yuje, without taking his eyes away from the battle, spoke. “Now’s the best time.”

Raul was unable to comprehend what the Grim Reaper meant. Squinting his brows in confusion, he asked. “Best time?”

“This is a battlefield.” Yuje spoke. With an almost indiscernible smile, he turned towards Raul and continued. “Go on a rampage. This is your chance to test out that power.”

Raul was surprised by the words uttered by Yuje. With a glint of excitement in his eyes, he grinned.

“As you command—my God.” Raul placed a hand on his chest and lightly bowed towards Yuje. Such actions stunned everyone. Though Raul did it with the intent of some sort of gag, he found the gesture quite fulfilling.

“You as my God—heh ~ probably not such a bad thing.” Raul took out his clay mask and wore it. Glancing one last time towards his group, he jumped down towards the ground. Upon landing on the paved road, he unleashed his bestial crimson tails. Though only three, each of them screamed of the word bloodlust.

****

Maricia Likensen.

Being the sole daughter of the Emperor of the West, she was given everything she could have asked for. Fame, wealth, power, a doting father—she had it all. Blessed with unparalleled beauty, she became known as the jewel of the west.

Somehow, the sheltered life did not suit her. Wanting to experience what it was like to govern over everyone, she asked her father to grant her a city. Thanatos, although reluctant to expose his only daughter to potential danger, agreed. The only condition was that he would assign an army to protect her—Marulo and his soldiers.

With insatiable appetite despite her slender figure, she transformed her city into a human hell hole. Gathering her fellow high elves with the same voracious tendencies, she created the slave capital of the west. Of course, the specialty of the city was human meat.

“Do not falter!” Maricia yelled. Gripping her short sword tight on her left hand, she slashed away at the innumerable enemies around her. Her fellow high elves did the same.

“Master Maricia!” Marulo cried in an anxious voice. Unlike his wobbly soldiers, the beast man was still full of life. Decapitating multiple enemies one after another, the rank S soldier tasked to protect Maricia went to her side.

“Please retreat! I will handle this together with the remaining soldiers!” Marulo pleaded. Ever since the leader of the Bruhans was born, the beast man was tasked to protect her. It was his life’s purpose.

“NO!” Maricia replied. With fierce rage in her eyes, she kept hacking at the incoming ghouls. “This is my city…my city…my city…I WON’T HAND IT OVER TO THE LIKES OF THEM!”

The Bruhans, though high rankers with rank A each, fell one after another. The high elves were definitely great with their bows, but it was a different matter with handling a sword and confronting the enemies directly. Coupled with the fatigue from loss of mana, the high elves were getting killed by the innumerable ghouls that breached the subzero wall.

~CUT

~BITE

Multiple injuries began to accumulate on Maricia’s body. Her garb made of exquisite cambric was tattered with holes. The paralyzing poison from the rotting ghouls made her lose strength slowly but continuously. Though Marulo was with her, the beast man found it hard to protect Maricia against innumerable enemies from all sides.

“Please!” Marulo cried. The man had multiple cuts and bite marks on his bulky body. Protecting Maricia created many openings for the ghouls to attack through.

Maricia ignored the pleas of the captain. She deemed that she would rather die than let the city she built all her life be in ruins. It was her pride and joy—her most prized treasure.

“Ugh!” Marulo fell down to his knees. A ghoul had managed to pierce through his abdomen. Accumulated cuts, poison, and the arduous task of protecting Maricia made him unable to react in time.

“BLEGH!”

Marulo puked unto the corpse-ridden ground. Glancing to his rear, he saw the remaining soldiers fell one after another. Only a handful remained after confronting the tens of thousands of enemies. With severely battered body, only his will to protect Maricia was what pushed him to move forward.

“ALL SOLDIERS!” Marulo’s voice echoed through the entire battlefield. “WE SHALL MAKE THIS PLACE OUR GRAVE! FIGHT! TILL THE LAST!”

The soldier’s morale plummeted after the resolved cry of their captain. Forsaking their lives, the remaining soldiers charged towards the remaining thousands of enemies.

“UUUOOOH!!”

The remaining soldiers hardly amounted to a hundred. More kept falling one after another as the battle went on. The a third of the Bruhans were killed. The place was a nightmare they would all rather forget.

~GRROOOAAHH!!

The remaining thousands of ghouls decimated the remaining soldiers and Bruhans in the battlefield. Maricia herself was unable to move anymore. Thankfully, Captain Marulo was protecting her with his life.

At this rate…my city…my city…my beloved city…

Maricia wept as she watched the ghouls get past the soldiers and destroy the eastern side of Po. Most of the residents chose not to flee the city. The ghouls indiscriminately killed the resident beast men of the city.

Someone…please…father!

~RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

A deafeningly nauseating cry echoed throughout the battlefield. A bloodlust so extreme that it made even the ghouls stop in their tracks was emanated in the eastern side of the city. Looking towards the direction of the pressure, everyone was utterly shocked at the bestial appearance of a creature with three tails. Wearing a clay mask, the creature dashed at a frightening speed towards the ghouls.

~GRAAHHH!!

Raul was unable to control his power. With overwhelming strength surging inside him, he erratically assaulted anything he saw. His three tails with crimson glimmer mowed down the entire battlefield. Hundreds of ghouls were immediately killed a few minutes after his appearance.

“Who is that?” Marulo was agape. Standing close to Maricia to protect her, the beast man watched the peculiar battle style of the creature.

The extreme bloodlust from Raul made the ghouls change their target. Instead of the city, the mindless ghouls deemed Raul as top priority. The remaining hundreds of ghouls charged towards the berserk creature with three tails.

~GUUURAAAHH!!!

Raul was in frenzy. Unable to contain the pulsating power within himself, he directed it towards the incoming enemies instead. Without a definite fighting style, he just kept his barrage of attacks towards the remaining ghouls.

~STRIKE ~STRIKE ~STRIKE

Everyone stood their motionless as their watched the frenzied battle. In a few more moments, all of the remaining monsters were decimated. The creature with three tails kept his rabid appearance as he restlessly banged his tails at the paved ground.

~GUUAAAHHH!!

Raul kept destroying the ground and the boulders within reach of his tails. His fiery dark eyes glimmered a faint hint of bloodlust.

“That enough.”

Everyone looked towards the direction of the voice. The creature was wearing the same clay mask as the rabid beast. Behind him were four others with the same get-up. Raul turned towards Yuje. After consuming almost all of his mana from the unreserved rampage, he had finally gained control of himself.

“Yes my God.” Raul’s tail broke into thousands of tiny crimson fragments. Slightly bowing towards Yuje, he walked towards the rest of the students. Finally standing side by side with Taki and the rest of the group, he walked behind the grey eyed man.

Everyone was left speechless after the scene of carnage—especially after the utterance of the word ‘God’. Completely battered and exhausted, Maricia, Marulo and the rest of the soldiers and Bruhans awaited the next scenario that would surely happen.

The appearance of the masked creatures was nothing but ominous. If the rabid creature that decimated the remaining monster were that strong, how much more would the so called ‘God” be? The presence of four other masked figures aside from the two made it even harder to breath for everyone.

Was every one of those in that group as strong as the first one? There was also the possibility that they were stronger. Such thoughts sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

“Who are you?” Maricia spoke. Standing on a wobbly leg, she refused the offered support from Captain Marulo. Even with a battered body and tattered clothes, the leader of the high elves’ beauty made the crimson moons above pale in comparison.

“……………………”

Yuje did not bother to reply and instead slowly walked forward. If what Gashka had told him was true, the first wave of monsters was just a start.

~RUMBLE

The entire city shook as a large cloud dust threateningly came towards the direction of the city. It came from the direction of Kulaima—just like before. Though, this time, the rumbling sound was greater and seemed fiercer. The entire city located on an upslope seemed to crumble away from the deafeningly loud rumbling sound.

“Wh-wha…” Marulo was unable to comprehend the scenario before his very eyes. The sea of trees that surrounded the entire city was crushed to smithereens before the absurdly large army. With his keen vision, he saw the surreal number of hundreds of thousands of monsters coming their way.

Around two hundred thousand ghouls were scurrying towards the city. Along with the creatures were monsters with the size of around 20 meters each—Kaprese. The hairy creatures with four eyes and absurdly large canines numbered around a thousand.

“It’s over.” Maricia said as she fell down to the ground. Shaking and pale beyond comparison, she awaited their deaths with resignation.

~STEP

Yuje slowly walked towards one of the boulder. After reaching one, he leaped instantly and placed himself on top of it. Overlooking the entire army that would soon be neck-to-neck with everyone, he gathered an astronomical amount of mana into his right hand. The Demon of Grimfort did not summon his blood sword.

[You’re really in a hurry aren’t ya? Heh~]

Occassional remarks from Gashka were heard inside Yuje’s head. Dismissing the voice, he created a grand magic circle that spanned the entire army that was scurrying towards their direction.

Blood Autumn.

It was one of the three strongest techniques in the art of Hiryu along with Blood Conversion and Blood End. It was a technique used by the mythical clan to annihilate absurd amounts of weaker enemies in a single instance. Unlike Blood End wherein the radius was smaller but more concentrated and stronger, Blood Autumn allowed the user to create a large scale magic, but with weaker damage than Blood Conversion and Blood End.

Judging by the fight Yuje had just witnessed, he deemed that Blood Autumn would be enough to decimate the charging monsters.

~SHHHHHHHHHH

A crimson magic circle that spanned several kilometers hovered above. With his current state of having an access to only around 35 percent of his former prowess, Blood Autumn would deplete him of almost all his mana.

[You could regenerate your mana at an astronomical rate as long as I’m merged with your soul. I’m really GREAT! HAHAHAHA!]

Gashka kept spouting things one after another.

“Shut up.” Yuje muttered towards Gashka. Irritated, Yuje made fluctuating signals made of mana inside his body—directed towards Gashka.

[AAAAHHHH!! STOP! My head! My head! Okay Okay! I’ll be quiet so please…]

Yuje inwardly sighed and resumed casting his magic. Raising a hand towards the heavens, he then abruptly pulled it downwards.

~SHHHHHHKKKKKK

Innumerable crimson leaf-shaped droplets rained down from the heavens. Though minute, the crimson particles were as sharp as the blood sword. Millions of drops of rain poured down towards the invading monsters, piercing their rotten bodies.

~GRAAAOOOHH

~GGROOOAARR

The ghouls and the Kaprese cried in agony as their bodies were decimated one after another by the Grand Magic. After seeing the absurdly large magic circle hovering above, everyone in the city watched the battle from afar. They were all stunned after seeing the surreal scenario—hundreds of thousands monsters were being mercilessly killed like child’s play.

~GROOOAAAHH

~GRRAAAAGGH

The monsters were left helpless as they were assaulted by millions of particles. After a few more moments that seemed like an eternity to those that watched from afar, the two hundred thousand mindless creatures were utterly annihilated. Only the calming sound of the pouring rain was heard. The three crimson moons above created a regal appearance as it was reflected upon the pool of blood.

Yuje was almost depleted of his entire mana. Thankfully, Gashka gave an inexhaustible supply of mana from inside his body.

Calmly looking towards the blood-ridden ground below the city, he then glanced towards the crimson moons above.

“Such a beautiful sight…” Yuje softly spoke. The soothing breeze brushed against his cloaked body.

“Erika…are you seeing this too?”

Serene silence enveloped the area for a while.

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Author's note: Why do I keep posting on this site? haha. anyways. Cheers.

ARC 2: Bloody Onslaught

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