Chapter 39 | The Phoenix 2
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At the Riverside fort, Commander Dustin was readying his forces to defend against anything, whether man or monster. He received a distressing message from Teizen and Elise, that human rebels in the elven territory attacked Jeromy’s expedition. This would explain their delay. Also, recent activity in the forest also caused concern of a horde forming.
Monster hordes were as they sounded, a dreadful horde of monsters moving in unison and could destroy towns and kill anyone in their path. They formed when a large number of monsters in a densely packed area begin to migrate. These hordes could also be controlled by a Dungeon Master in very rare circumstances.
This concern was realized a few hours into preparation when a huge surge of mana was felt throughout the town emanating from the Elven Forest, near Teizen. He didn’t know how but Dustin knew this had something to do with Jeromy. It was like nothing he had ever felt through his mana sense. It was such a powerful force that could be felt from miles away.
Everyone then started to take this precautionary fortification a lot more seriously.
***
Alisha could sense the surge of mana from the direction of the Elven Forest and so could Jack but they both chose to ignore it. Alisha showed concern in her eyes but Jack’s calm nature made her dismiss it despite her anxiousness about it. But she still had Guide record this event for future reference. A couple of hours passed since then with Jack explaining the intricacies of his human body.
After Jack was done with his explanation about his body, Alisha wanted to start work on her new body immediately. However, they were interrupted.
The sky turned black. The light which came from the window faded into nothing. Jack looked concerned but didn’t go out of his seat to look.
“You can’t tell me that the sun going out is no big deal!” Alisha exclaimed.
She searched his feelings and found no surprise. Did Jack expect something this extraordinary event to happen? Alisha walked to the open unglazed window and looked out into the darkened sky. Everyone was doing to same. This wasn’t normal at all.
They came out in droves from their houses and business to witness what many would assume to be a sign of the apocalypse. They couldn’t help but look at the bright source of the darkness.
Given a strong enough light source, it could eclipse the light rays coming from the sun. The sun looked like a small candle right now. The dominant light in the sky was white and twinkling in the sky as it casted a long shadow through everyone it touched as it traveled through the air.
Alisha immediately thought it was a meteorite. Given its intensity, it was a large and powerful one that could leave a giant crater in Theia. Alisha turned to look at Jack and he just shrugged like it wasn’t anything special to him.
Everything was in black and white as the object streaked through the sky and passed them overhead at unimaginable speeds. The shadows it casted on the buildings in Riverside followed the object as it reached the horizon and detonated over the Elven Forest. It reminded Alisha of a nuclear blast.
A blinding light rained upon the humble people of Riverside. The flash gradually dimmed after a few seconds and it took seconds more for the sky to become blue again and for the sun’s light to reach through to the ground. The huge vapor trail in the sky was proof that it was a meteorite. But why did it explode over where Jeromy’s expedition was?
“What was that?” Alisha demanded an answer.
“What was what?”
“…” This wasn’t the time for jokes. She gave him the silent glare.
“That was the orbital strike. This type of denotation was common in my era,” Jack was amused at the face Alisha was making, one of pure astonishment. “Not only do the Guardians control every human being in this world, but they also have a large military force… in space.”
“How are the Phoenix going to win this war if the Guardians are capable of—THAT?” Alisha pointed to the Elven Forest where massive black smoke was billowing.
“We’ll survive and fight.”
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“Does the Phoenix have a plan?”
He shrugged his shoulders, “Do you want to back away? A lot of people in the Phoenix don’t know what the Guardians are truly capable of. Now that you’ve seen what you’re getting into, will you reconsider?”
Alisha spoke without a hint of hesitation and filled with determination, “No! I want to fight.”
Jack chuckled at his new ally, “Good! I expected that from you!”
Alisha could see how the clouds shifted their position in a line that quickly approached them. A column of air hit Riverside sending people off their feet and anything not nailed down was tossed. The shockwave wrapped around buildings, ripping pieces, and creating debris that flew to the ground below. The loud explosion sound finally reached their ears as many eardrums popped and left people disorientated.
The sudden burst and sound were nothing anyone in Riverside had ever heard, especially with their own ears. It wasn’t over as a milder explosion sound followed the first within seconds but didn’t do much damage as the first.
Riverside was left in a tattered state with everyone scared and running to their families.
***
A horde of monsters was coming. Like an ominous and prophetic event, the sky turned black and was shattered. The Elven Forest was set ablaze which stretched for miles. Ash rained upon Riverside in the hours proceeding the event. The town bell tolled endlessly, warning everyone indoors and a handful of citizens to flee. The cheery and kind town Alisha knew was thrown into chaos.
The tavern and the entire New District were evacuated. The citizens crossed the river in droves to protect themselves from the upcoming battle. Now that the forest was disrupted to such an extent, the monsters were on the move towards Riverside. Commander Dustin cursed the elves under his teeth.
The elves were notoriously environmental and didn’t want to suppress the monster dens in the forest in fear of losing the natural beauty. Due to that, monsters in the forest had become quite ferocious. Dustin didn’t know when the attack would come but he held out hope that they could still have time to prepare.
The town’s defenses weren’t great. This wall was made of wooden logs so it could break if the strain was too great. A major advantage in defending on a wall was that the monsters could pool below you and then you could use an area-effect spell to wipe our scores. With his flimsy wall, that wasn’t an option.
They had to kill the monsters before they grouped up too much near the wall. For that, they had the cannons. They didn’t look like much but that was all they needed when they had spell-infused shells. Each cannon was seventy millimeters in diameter and could fire a shot over the speed of sound. They were mounted on strong metal stands that allow free motion to aim by hand.
The shells were filled with gunpowder and spell gems consisted the flack. They carried freezing, holy, and explosive spells. They were perfect when dealing with monsters.
Dustin has been under a large amount of stress lately. But he went through worse than this and he trusted his men and they were capable. He wanted to show the Association and his King what the Imperial army could do.
The stage was set as his scouts returned with news of an impending incursion. All of his soldiers made final preparations. The flag that flew over the banister was that of the mighty Vultian Empire. He made it very clear that no one from the Association should be defending the wall. The town militia had a party that was ready for direct engagement but that won’t be needed if the monsters stay away at a good distance.
***
Elise ran upstairs very frantically, “Jack! Have you heard any word from Selina or Jeromy?!”
Jack told her somberly, “I’m sorry. I haven’t.”
Elise then started to cry in front of them. She collapsed into a chair and wept. Alisha never saw Elise cry before and wanted to comfort her. Jack was standing still but Alisha brought Elise’s crying face into her small shoulder and hugged her.
“I’m sorry. It may seem that catastrophic but they will survive.”
With that Jack left the empty tavern. He simply vanished from her Monster Sight. He didn’t use a cloaking spell so Alisha was bewildered.
Immediately after the sky exploded, Reinold ran out of the tavern and picked up Yuli from school. Benas sent out a message through the Soul Phone gem to meet at the Alton manor, this included Samuel and Tasha.
Alisha spoke with Elise a lot after her meeting with Jack. A group called the Guardians, who claimed to be the New Gods of the world, attacked the Free Association expedition to the Grethenian Kingdom on their return trip. It seemed like the Guardians weren’t tolerating the existence of the Phoenix any further.
Their purge of anyone who reincarnated in Theia was understandable for what the Guardians wanted. They were a threat to the status quo they established. The Guardians couldn’t control them with the Network like the natives of this world. Being hunted was par the course for the reincarnated in this world. But why did Zephon care for her in particular?
Elise and Alisha were the last to arrive to the manor and were led in by Hans. As soon as they walked in, Elise was confronted by Benas.
“What happened?” Benas asked sternly as Elise quivered. “Does this involve the Phoenix?”
Her silence gave her answer and Benas began to rub his temples.
“If I had known what the enemies of the Phoenix were capable of, I would’ve preferred ignorance.”
Alisha shifted to her human form and spoke, “How did you know that the Phoenix was involved in this incident?”
“It’s because the reincarnated are miracles who can change the world. The Gods are angry.” It was always the directive of the church to kill any reincarnated they encounter but according to the latest newspaper—the statues of the Gods were glowing. In churches around the world, a call was heard by everyone to hunt the reincarnated down, reaffirming the text of the scripture.
However, the church leadership got a more detailed message from this omen: that a group of reincarnated formed and sought to destroy the world. They were making the leader of the Phoenix, Nolan, sound like a Demon Lord.
This talk made Alisha uneasy and Benas could see it. He beckoned her over to him and hugged her. She reciprocated. They didn’t say anything but it told each other all they needed to know.