The first ring of cursed creatures was nothing but horrifying to look at. They ranged from crawling beasts with hundreds of legs to slithering snake fiends with humanoid bodies above their torsos. There were spiders twice the size of humans with iron-like bodies, undead, and more of the crab-like foes they recently encountered.

These creatures occupied the city’s streets and moved in a circular hypnotic motion around the siege tower where the undead king was habiting.

‘About two hundred cursed creatures are guarding the undead king.’ Luna guessed as she adjusted her suit’s binocular vision. With the suit, she managed to proximate a ten-kilometer distance separating the first ring of weaker monsters and the second ring. The entire distance from the Siege Tower to the first ring was about thirty to forty kilometers.

A distance that someone like Gail could cover in seconds if it wasn’t for the red wyverns patrolling the sky. It seems the undead king had thought this through.

“Valentine,” she called after observing everything.

“Yes?” the tall man replied under his suit’s helmet.

“We’ll split into two groups. I’ll head in first and keep the creatures occupied. Mira, Darkness, and Monic will work with me directly. The rest will be under your command.”

Valentine remained silent for a second. Then nodded to show that he understood.

“Are you sure about me lady Luna?” Mira asked, obviously surprised after hearing the captain say her name.

Luna nodded. “You and I can move through towering beasts without being sensed so you are with me. But first, I need your marksmanship skills. Get to that building, prepare your gun, and wait for further instructions.”

Luna gave her orders to the young woman. Now that their suits were fully charged, the nanomites were capable of shifting to even complicated shapes like a large gun if needed. The days spent under the sun weren't for nothing as they used that time to prepare and plan effectively for this battle.

With help from the recently awakened humans, the small unit had managed to create thousands of zenshi bullets and used the abandoned suits to create shells that temporarily held the zenshi. The whole process had been difficult and time-consuming. But in the end, it was successful thanks to a certain ascender whose ability could speed up zenshi recovery.

After giving Luna a nod, Mira jumped off the rooftop and landed on the ground with impressive force. Without waiting for a signal, she immediately ran to one of the tallest buildings which looked like an abandoned bell tower, and quickly climbed to the top and settled where the rusty bell hung.

Once she was sure she was in the right building, Mira proceeded to command her suit and activate the tiny nanomites connected to her brain. There was a single “beep” sound and the black metal flowed from her suit to her hand, shifting into a large black sniper gun that she rested down and started loading with glowing bullets from the crate placed in the tower for her.

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“I am here.” She informed Luna through the communication device in her helmet as she crouched down and confirmed her vision.

The suit obviously granted her the best microscopic vision, so the chances of her missing were very low. Also, she could sense life essence, meaning she was capable of striking the life cores directly, saving them so much ammo to use later.

This was the main reason why Luna had picked her in the first place.

“Good.” Luna smiled from the other. “Take down some of the wyverns and whatever monster you think is too big to handle. If it fails to die after one shot, strike another, we won't waste ammo by taking risks. Make sure your cover isn’t blown. And if it is, you know what to do.”

"Aye, Captain."

‘Here we go.’ Mira remained quiet as she moved her index finger to the trigger. The power coursing from the gun’s charge was intoxicating, fueling her focus as she searched for her first target.

Once she located one, Mira didn’t hesitate one bit to press the trigger. The gun powered up before letting out a thunderous roar after a glowing projectile flew out and struck through a flying wyvern, killing it instantly. Without wasting a second, she shot down three more wyverns before they could even make sense of what was taking them down.

Her bullets punched through their armored skin, striking life cores with lethal precision.

The creatures fell from the sky and crashed down into other smaller creatures. Some of the hypnotized creatures started to notice and began searching for what was killing them. But it was too late, bullets were already raining down on the abominations, claiming their lives within seconds. Some were caught in the crossfire, while others were unlucky enough to be her targets.

Mira was quick with the trigger. Her aim was perfect and the bullets only added to her lethal marksman skills. Each beast fell and showed no sign of coming back up after getting struck.

…Then, just as when things were moving smoothly, something strange transpired. One of the wyverns tracked the glowing projections coming from the bell tower and flew toward it at an incredible speed.

"Hmm...come at me, you bastard." Mira was ready to kill it with one shot when a golden arrow suddenly shot through its neck and severed its head from the rest of its body.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ve got your back.”

Gail’s sweet voice sounded through her helmet.

“Alright. Thanks for that.”

She turned her aim to a moving cursed beast that resembled the carcass of a giant armadillo with bones stretching out of its dry rotten flesh. Its armor resembled brownstone with webs of cracks distributed across it like it was about to break. It was one of the larger creatures here, towering over a few buildings at a frightening height.

She searched for its life core. And although it was faint, Mira could tell it was hidden inside its dead black flesh. But how was she supposed to penetrate its armor?

“Display weak points.” She commanded the suit.

[No weak points available from this distance]

The suit responded. Its robotic voice was emotionless as always.

Taking note of that, she established a connection with Luna and reported with urgency:

“I can’t take down the armadillo things. The cores are protected by something zenshi this weak can’t penetrate.”

“Don’t worry about that. Continue to take down as many as you can. We will take care of the larger ones."

She moved her eye to the group standing on one of the red buildings. They were staring at the army of frenzied beasts with serious expressions—at least that’s what she wanted to think—and hadn’t moved one bit.

Some of their adversaries were starting to separate from the ring, spreading into the city with caution after sensing foreign life forms.

Most of them were snake-like beings while others looked like a cross between over-sized crocodiles and Komodo dragons. Their tongues slid in and out of their mouths as navigated the streets.

The undead king had noticed their company.

Luna was the first to jump into action as she leaped from the building and landed on the stone floor. Her landing shattered the floor and alerted some of the creatures, especially the Komodo dragons which started breaking through the buildings while running in her direction.

Mira wished to help. But quickly changed her mind when Dark Blade revealed her battle aura and every monster in the ring turned its attention to her.

The world seemed to slow down as the cursed beasts nearby suddenly let out disgusting noises and started running towards Luna with intense madness burning in their eyes as if she had provoked them.

Mira was watching the fight unfold from afar. She also felt it...her captain’s warrior presence. It made all the hairs on her body stand.

“Mira!”

She was startled by Luna’s voice. “Yes Captain?”

“Turn your attention to every monster heading in your way. Protect yourself and get out of there once things get tough.”

Those were Luna’s last words before she dismissed her helmet and faced collapsing buildings with a weirdly calm expression. The only weapon in her hand was a black enchanted katana, deadly and void of light, as though it absorbed the world’s shadows.

She steeled her resolve once more and watched the cursed creatures run towards her.

If they survived this, she would be one step closer to figuring out the truth about their realms.

The fight for the Siege Tower had began.