Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 49. It’s a setup
Gray begins to panic, and the sounds of cheers from the crowd and the noise of the exploding fireworks drown out Gray and Greta’s screams. Greta tries getting everyone’s attention, but it’s useless. The ground begins rumbling, meaning more monsters have gotten in, causing Gray to freak out even more. His hands are shaking, and Julius’ tone of voice when he tells him “Happy New Year” confuses him, this gets so bad it feels like Gray could cry from shock, but Rosemary concerts him.
She holds his shaking sweaty hand with her own shaking sweaty hand, calming not only Gray but herself as well. Soku takes action as fast as she can by snapping them out of their panicking trance. She blows a light bit of wind in their faces then quickly takes Gray’s communicator off of his belt and hands it to him.
Soku: “Remember, you can talk to us with this, but it doubles as a…what did you call it?”
Gray: “A microphone! Thanks, I almost forgot.”
Gray flows mana into the upgraded communicator, now looking like the Walgonian crest and not the Sects crest from the device the communicator was based on. He then speaks into it, can it echo throughout the area, easily getting everyone’s attention.
Gray: “EVERYONE! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! FROM WHAT I CAN SEE, THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE CITY IS BEING ATTACKED BY….ZOMBIES!? AND THE NORTHWEST IS BEING ATTACKED BY SEEMINGLY CONTROLLED OR MUTATED SPIRIT BEASTS! THE BEST OPTION IS TO STAY HERE! WE’LL USE THE LARGE SPACE TO GET EVERYONE TO SAFETY!”
Greta snatches the device out of Gray’s hand and begins speaking into it. She notices that the citizens are about to panic more than they are already, so she acts before all hell can break loose.
Greta: “DO NOT SCREAM! DO NOT PANIC! WE ARE CONSTAL! WE ARE THE PROTECTORS OF THE HOLY LAND, NOT JUST THE KNIGHTS! I WILL USE THE HELP OF THE HEROES OF WALGONIA OUR OFFERING AND SEND THEM OFF! ROSEMARY GOLDENWIND, YOU GO AND USE THE STRENGTH GIVEN BY YOUR PRESTIGE AND STOP THOSE SPIRIT BEASTS! SOKU, THE ELF OF WINDS, USE YOUR SPEED AND RANGED WIND ABILITIES TO STOP THOSE GHOULS! GRAY, THE PHANTOM KNIGHT WILL PROTECT YOU ALL HERE WHILE I SEND THE GUARDS TO CHECK OUT THE SOUTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST!”
The crowd quickly calms down and begins cheering for their mayor. Gray, Rosemary, and So are all shocked by Gretas’ quick call and answer to the action presented to her.
Lisa: “She used to be in the Dragon Army, she’s good at this.”
Greta turns around and shoves Lisa away, motioning for her to enter the office building.
Greta: “Now, you three, what the hell are you doing? Get to work!”
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Gray: “Be safe, both of you.”
Rosemary kisses Gray on his cheek and quickly enters the fifth stage then bolts towards the northwest. Soku sighs, takes out and unfolds her compact glider, and flies off to the northwest.
Gray: “Shouldn’t I go to the other side of the river?”
Greta: “You’re much stronger than I, so I need you to guard my people. In an hour or so, most likely thousands of people will roll in. Ganga and Julius, I need you to use the other three buildings for the people to reside in, Gray, you take control of a few guards and maintain your position.”
Gray, without his cloak, is on his own with the responsibility of saving Constal’s people on his back in the span of a few seconds, and it’s terrifying. Unlike in the raid on Walgonia, where he only had the role of taking Arthur out, he now has the role of leader in protecting Constal.
Greta: “Now, I’ll go get all of the guards I can from the stations over the river, and I’ll start evacuating.”
Greta enters a carriage with a small group of guards while Julius and Ganga round up everything and send them into another office building off to the side. Now, Gray is surrounded by the last couple of guards, and it’s a measly sight. They’re out of shape, look like they’re about to run away, and are almost useless, they at least have weapons. With no real experience of doing something on this level, even if they’re only thirty guards, not an entire army, he’s still unprepared.
He watches as Julius with a few members of the Dragon army, dressed in thick all-black armor, with shoulder spikes, a large helmet with a crown-like shape on the top, and a large golden flower, being the Valatrositce crest on the chest. Julius guides the thousands of people on the streets through the main gate and into the three large buildings around Gray, making sure no one gets trampled or abandoned. Gray feels his need to step in, so he does the best he can.
Gray: “Alright, I know it’s a tough way to start the new year, but we gotta work so no holiday. I need a few of you to group up into a group of ten, and the rest of you into five. Those ten of you will go assist our new king with the rest of you going to each side of this large ass gate. Make sure to guide people safely to the new gate, and fend off anybody trying to get in. If anything gets too hectic, scream out for me, because I’ll be helping wherever I can. If any powered foes show up, I’ll take over, but until then….GO, GO, GO!”
All of the guards bumble around each other, but quickly get into groups and runoff, defending their home while Gray stands his ground, feeling as powerless as possible. Rosemary, on the other hand, feels useful for the first time in months, having something her strength can be good for that isn’t just lifting heavy things, but she feels that it’s a bit undeserved since so many people are in danger.
Using the communicator, she projects her voice, telling everyone to run for their lives and head toward the Mayor’s office. Whilst in the fifth stage, her speed is only rivaled by Soku’s flight, leaping from building to building on the way to defeat all of the spirit beasts. Large slugs, snakes, bats, and a few high-level beasts. An Arch-Gorilla, a Deep Bat, and a Vole Rat, which is a large mole rat with insanely strong claws and durable skin.
The guards can take out the smaller beasts, though a few of them get overpowered and sadly die trying to defend the innocent. After almost thirty minutes of travel, she makes it to the monsters. She lands, grabbing and holding onto a spire of a tall building, staring at the hell below.
Destroyed buildings, bodies everywhere, and an idea brewing in her head. In the distance, she sees the Museum, and she can tell the monsters are getting closer and closer, but around the same distance away, she sees the park.
Rosemary {If I can lead them away from the buildings and take them out without in the forest, I’ll be helping keep damage to a minimum and save as many lives as possible. Edward mentioned something like this happening, a Regile walking around miles and miles from its home, just like these. Somebody is doing this, I wonder if it’s the same person controlling those pink monsters.}
Across the city, Soku makes it to her side, landing on a building to get a look at the situation. She didn’t get a good look at the monsters that attacked Walgonia, but the difference isn’t staggering, but it’s progressed. Instead of somewhat strong bumbling brainless monsters, they seem to have a point, going after buildings and avoiding some people. Their bodies don’t seem as sludgy, a few seem to have an arm along with their tentacle arms instead of them all only having tentacles, their mouths are closer to the right position instead of going straight down the mouth, and they have one eye that’s almost fully covered by their thick drooping pink skin.
Soku: “Either they just sent these things out, or somebody else is doing this. Lincoln said these things don’t stay down, so I’ll just have to slice them up till they’re minced meat. Damn, this is gonna be so gross.”
With everyone in their positions, the Sect of Anarchy’s scheme nears its second half, but the train of boxes of explosives and extra forces are on their way. Edward, Peter, and Lance are the only ones there to stop it, so they can only hope they do so in time.
End of Chapter Forty-nine