“Extend the perimeter out! Defend the fallback point, if they get past us they will have direct access to the center of the city!”
Liam Grantwood shouted to his men as they fell in line with their team. Mark had a feeling the man was exaggerating the city center's importance. The core of the city was mostly those that worked as part of the Loyalists or that could ‘pay’ their way to the top. Of course, that did not mean they deserved to be ignored, but it was the outer ring of the city that really worried Mark. This was where most people lived, with the least protection.
The Major came up beside them and spoke.
“The outer walls near the bay are still intact but we have reported sightings of exponential Corrupted activity from all across the defense line, especially from the unclaimed area beyond builder's quarry. NAS is dealing with it and they promised reinforcements but we’ll need to hold out till they arrive.”
Jonathan got there before Mark could ask.
“Be direct, what are we going to see going forward? We heard there's a city-wide threat coming and we’ve been feeling tremors for the last while now. The walls are still intact, so what, can this thing fly?”
Jeffrey piped up now with a grin plastered on his face.
“Nah Jonny, from what we’ve heard this thing crawled directly up the side of the wall. It's a couple city blocks large, and flattening everything in its path.”
Mark frowned at the fact the man still somehow managed to make the information sound condescending and Mark didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with it right now.
“Cut the snarky rivalry. I thought you guys had fought this thing. What kind of weaknesses are we looking at? How long till it arrives?”
Jeffrey raised a brow at Mark but he in turn narrowed his eyes at the man.
“...Weaknesses perhaps fire and probably a while till it gets here, it's fairly slow, but be warned this thing is like a living fortress. Plus it’s surrounded by countless Corrupted.”
Major Liam was glaring at Jeffrey out of the corner of his eye but he continued.
“We have attempted low-level explosives, all of which were ineffective, its hide is incredibly thick-”
“Speaking of explosions. Father headed to NAS’s doomed operation to lend aid, and we know for a fact that the bomb was triggered. The funny thing is he hasn’t checked in with HQ yet, you guys were there so it would be remiss of me not to ask if you’ve seen him.”
Mark stared the guy up and down and tried to figure out what he was planning. Sure, Mark would have felt sorry for him in a normal situation. But nothing about their relationship was normal.
Would a man like this even care?
The question was directed at Jonathan as Jeffrey had turned to look at him. The look in his eyes was calculating and the air surrounding him had taken on a staunch chill.
Jonathan looked at the man and released a sigh through his nose.
“Sorry to inform you Jeffrey, but Oscar perished,"
Jonathan's voice held neither interest nor sympathy.
“So you don’t know what happened to him?”
Jonathan didn’t say a word or give any indication he’d even heard the question.
Something wasn’t right, and Mark was sure Jonathan knew what was happening. Ethel’s eyes widened at the news but didn’t say anything.
Jeffrey continued.
“Then, I’ll take your silence to mean that our father valiantly perished in the explosion fighting off the Corrupted.”
Again, Jonathan said nothing, as though he were watching a play unfold, but Jeffrey didn’t seem to mind and pressed on.
“Except, that's strange because our father's bodyguard had a one-time defensive item to prevent that exact thing from happening.”
Mark could see where this man was going with this.
“And Vincent just reported in… You murdered our father?”
The area was completely still while everyone looked at the man. Jeffrey’s smile was not one of loss or even pain, he wore a grin that reminded Mark of Oscar in far too many ways.
Mark thought of the amulet the guy had crushed in his hands, how had he survived that? The item had to be silver-tier at least.
Jonathan remained silent, but he was watching Jeffrey closely now.
The man held the silence for a couple of seconds and just when Mark thought Ethel was going to interject, Jeffrey smiled and held up his hands.
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“Relax, no hard feelings. You did what you had to. The guy was becoming a major problem, so thanks.”
That was honestly the last thing Mark had expected, in fact, he wouldn’t let his guard down just yet, who knew if this was an act or not?
Sam broke the awkward stalemate.
“Look whatever happened, none of that is relevant to the obstacle right now. The city is in danger, Major Liam do you have an accurate time frame for when they will be here?”
“Ten minutes at most before the bulk of the horde hits.”
Sam nodded and looked at everyone
“Alright gather in your respective teams, We’ll change the spearhead every thirty minutes to give all teams a breather. Since we are in place, we’ll take the first slot.”
Mark didn’t know what to expect but he could already see the increase out on the streets, and it wouldn’t do to keep ignoring it.
So they split off into their three groups. Major Liam and Jeffrey led two separate teams. Though Jeffrey had a small group of younger elites at his back. They were mostly casters and more than happily sat behind their soldiers, completing to see who had the most unique magic. They were laughing amongst one another as though none of this affected them. Mark glanced past them, he didn’t have any care left to give, as long as they did their job.
Sam, Mark, and Jonathan moved to the front. It was closer than he normally was but with his new shield, he felt he could put up a decent fight even if he were surrounded.
Seeing as his Prana was more limited, he chose to practice with [Telekinetic control] and [Earth control], at this point they were both competing with one another in terms of efficiency.
Once his spears of iron were created their cost dropped to almost nothing. While [Telekinetic control], simply allowed him to redirect the surrounding force near a moving Corrupted. Similar to his ‘absorb’ modifier, but on a larger scale. He could turn their own force against them, slowing the bodies to a crawl. Strangely enough, if they crawled they actually advanced further, the more force they used, the slower Mark could make them. He’d found that pinpointing his targets had become much easier because he could feel the force they created. So tiny localized expressions of force could easily crush his enemy in droves, but he decided to do it sparingly or his Mana would never last.
Instead, he focused on slowing down his targets and sending the spears around to finish them off.
From above it looked like Mark had extended a cushion of invisible force and anything getting too close suddenly slowed as though they were pushing through honey.
This made it look like their fighters were having target practice as things slowly approached them. Blocking them all was difficult but Mark didn’t push himself right now. His mind felt suspiciously good he wasn’t taking chances.
When the time to swap came around they moved off to the side and watched the side paths. The number was significantly lower here but allowed Mark to retreat and regain some energy. Which he then sent to their team. Flexing his [Clensing surge] and new [Invigorate] created a potent cocktail of excitement and anticipation. As he grew more proficient with the spell, he realized he could tone down the amount he hit their mentalities with. This meant he could avoid overzealous accidents, but if he truly wanted he could probably whip everyone here into a frenzy, not unlike Terry and Bonnie's magic.
Frowning Mark pushed yet another painful thought aside and threw himself into helping those nearby.
Because their numbers didn’t even break a hundred, Mark found he was able to watch over every individual's status. Applying [Regeneration] where he saw fit.
When they swapped back into the middle almost an hour later Mark saw they were in a difficult situation. The Corrupted numbers were climbing rapidly and he could tell problems were starting to arise.
It was not that they couldn’t block the incoming threats but soon the sheer number of Corrupted would wash around their blockade. They couldn’t cover enough ground with the fighters they had right now. No reinforcements had come and if they spread the line thinner, more injuries would begin to wear them down. However, if they didn’t, then the Corrupted would start to circumvent them.
‘Ethel, what’s the update from Karter!’
Mark sent a cloud of tiny iron needles through the air, in sweeping arcs. The night falling had only invited more danger, and Ghasts were beginning to flood the skies above the city. Heaven help anyone traveling alone in the streets right now.
‘The base is surrounded, but he has concentrated our forces on the inner rings. We are safe to fall back whenever we want. Also, NAS has had complications and will be arriving far later than we hoped.’
Mark frowned at this but sent confirmation down the link. If they wanted to move now, it would have to be a fighting retreat. Slow and steady to avoid casualties. The loyalists had shown they could hold their own and Mark was honestly impressed by the unending amount of bullets they seemed to have. Never allowing the sounds of gunfire to die down. In some cases, Mark even saw shots filled with Mana. It had become a known technique to enhance one bullet through proper crafting and Mark was pretty sure he saw a spell being used every now and then.
Of course, Mark knew firsthand how powerful strengthened munition could be, but it had the same constraint of limited use. One had to be conscious of every shot fired. The enhancement spells were news to Mark, but it stood to reason that they existed, there were spells for everything else.
The scions on the other hand held nothing back. They unleashed their most powerful-looking spells one after another, wasting pointless energy on making them look pretty. Multicolored flames jumped over the frontline, along with lightning in the shape of flamingos, and paper dolls as sharp as glass. Though Mark could not deny the skill it took, nor the fact that they were making a large dent in the enemy line. When they inevitably ran out of Mana, they simply took out what looked like a dry cube of powder and popped it into their mouths. Mark registered what they were when a couple of minutes later they were back to their extravagant spells. Realizing that as long as they held their own, he didn’t care how they did it, he turned back to see Jonathan gathering up their people and calling out to the other nearby teams.
“Alright, we’re falling back, watch you fellow man, and let's get home safely!” Jonathan's voice lifted the spirits of their fighters.
Major Liam and Jeffrey had already been notified and they were finally leaving.
The tremors spreading throughout the city had slowly been getting closer, and through the distant skyline, Mark had seen buildings collapsing as something massive pushed its way through the city. It was still a ways out, but now Mark could just make out the tops of something moving toward them. Black peeks poked out from behind the remaining buildings. Glimmering with the shine of a beatles carapace.
One final building collapsed, giving them an unobstructed glimpse through the structures. Whatever this thing was, moved through the streets like slow-moving death, its mass creeping forward without the need for legs. The tremors they had been hearing were the buildings collapsing under the weight of its body, as it pressed into the narrow streets. Its undulating tar-like flesh gleamed with the light of distant streetlamps, yet further up its nightmarish body, it remained still and steadfast like a wall.