The sound of an empty soda can grated against the tarmac as a boot sent it flying. It bounced down the empty streets as five survivors moved hastily away from the city walls.
“The bridge is coming up, after we cross this, we have a nest to deal with, and from there, we’re clear to fly for a good while.”
As it turned out, flying the whole way was the quickest option, but just like anything else in the air, they had to deal with the threats up there as well.
The city was also hoping that if they destroyed the nearest collection of Ghasts, they could send out more drones on further recon missions.
So since their team was already out here they had asked them to destroy it along the way.
Mark didn’t mind, but the speed of the mission would be greatly reduced if they were going to be carrying out errands every two minutes.
Jonathan glanced at the map and looked back at them as they moved onto the creaking suspension bridge.
“Our mission is ten minutes out, it's a lot of abandoned shopping malls. Remember disperse about eighty percent and then lets get out of here. No need to hang around.”
Mark nodded silently as he ran after the frontline. Of course, they were traveling at a leisurely pace but to anyone else, it would have looked like a group of Olympic-class sprinters moving at incredible speeds down the empty highway.
They arrived at their destination far sooner than anticipated and Sam removed the one side the the large concrete building with a detonation of flame and wind. The explosion alone killed hundreds inside as their team moved into the collection of structures.
Jason stared on in wonder as Sam released wave after wave of shadow and light, killing everything that dropped from the rafters.
Jonathan killed any Leviathans who approached and Mark’s construct acted as a barbed turtle shell. Spearing the Corrupted that got too close.
Mark had taken a long, hard look at how he used his [Engrave Mana]. After the battle with Grace, he realized he’d been hesitating to use the spell to its fullest potential.
A Ghast charging them suddenly got its stomach opened up by a spike of compressed force before it fell to the ground dead.
The spell was just as Mana efficient as [Force bolt], but Mark could still send off the projectiles to distant targets, picking them off one by one.
Mark currently had three [Animated Minds] hovering behind him. One supplied him with the Mana and Prana needed to keep him in peak condition, while the other two took care of any stragglers the group ran into with a [Force bolt] of their own.
Every new room the five of them entered contained horrors they could never have imagined before all of this, and yet they cleared out the infestation of creatures with little emotion on their faces.
It only took them working together to rid the entire mall, including the parking lot, in a little under an hour.
Jason had stood out to Mark. From what Mark had seen back in the city, he had the strength and attributes to contend with the Corrupted, but that was different from actually fighting them
Even those with higher stats could be less effective in battle because of fear or doubt. If there was hesitation to kill, that held one back from exposing their real potential.
Jason did not have this problem. He killed with a savageness Mark would expect from a soldier. If there was one problem it was that he still relied too much on his massive blade and Aura.
As best Mark could tell, his stats were far more suited to a combination approach but he was still only using his Mana as an afterthought.
Wesley was exactly as Lisa had made him out to be. He was the most unyielding fighter Mark had ever seen. Positioned between their frontlines and Mark and Sam, he stopped the charges in their tracks—even from the Leviathans—preventing anything from getting close. And the whole time, he was smiling. Every strike, every new wound, seemed to make him happier, as though he were a piece of iron having impurities hammered out. Mark could see why Lisa liked him so much; he was focused on getting stronger, no matter how much pain he had to endure.
By the time they cleared the last store, there was not a thing in the place that had pushed them to their limits.
The closest encounter was when four Titans showed up at once –which was a strange thing to see in a nest of Ghast– but they to had been taken down with little fuss.
Gathering on the roof, Mark took a look around. It was mostly quiet, and even though the battle had drawn in many Corrupted from the surrounding streets, it was still strange to look around and feel so calm.
“Alright, we ready to head out? We’ll fly for a couple of hours if we can. Everyone good with this?”
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A round of nods and murmurs was all they needed to be off. Luckily neither Mark nor Sam needed to carry a single person as everyone could fly in some form or other.
Taking off in the direction of their mission, they all traveled in silence. The cityscape below them grew more concerning as time went on.
The initial destruction of the fall was everywhere, with crumbling structures and smoke-singed concrete as far as the eye could see.
The busy residents of the city were reduced to screaming husks below, moving through cordoned-off streets caked in black growths.
The fallen ichor had long since merged the environment and hardened, already bringing forth pockets of new twisted life.
It was heart-wrenching to look down at, as it went beyond the end of days. This was the start of a new world.
The further they went the stronger the stink of Corruption gathered until Mark had to deploy a construct to ward off the worst of it.
Granted it was only a green zone but it was everywhere, as though the world itself was reaching a point of no return.
Hours of travel flew by as they adjusted their altitude or dropped down out of sight, only for a cluster of Ghasts to fly by. They were getting near their destination when Sam called for them to take a break. Landing at the bottom of a winding uphill street they came across a lone wooden building, and though it wasn’t free of the black muck, it was significantly better than the rest of the surroundings. A dilapidated sign out front read ‘Bar and Grill.’ Judging by the number of bikes out front there had probably been a large number of people here before everything went down.
The front doors looked like they had been ripped off their hinges by something far larger than them.
Long since dried blood trails leading out of the bar told a story none of them wanted to think to hard on.
From the looks of it, the doors had been destroyed from the inside, so when they entered the building they were on full alert.
In the low light of the building, all furniture had long since been pushed up against the doors and windows, much of it destroyed in the process.
Jonathan and Jason entered first scoping out the place for threats, but when they found it empty Wesley guided them in.
“Whatever happened here is over, but Mark make sure to set up a powerful barrier, who knows what will come when night falls,” Jonathan sighed.
Jason looked around.
“Wait, we’re less than an hour away from our destination. If we rush we could easily make it before it starts to get dark.”
Sam nodded up at him.
“That's true and while Mark and myself could probably go for longer, you three have used up a large portion of your Aura traveling today. Now I’m certain you could still fight, but we don’t want to take chances in this scenario. What if we get there and are met with heavy combat immediately.”
Jason bit his bottom lip.
“That makes sense, but we do need to hurry. For every hour I’m away from the wall that’s just a higher chance that one of my men could be killed.”
Sam paused and a soft look entered her eyes.
“We’ll make sure to move as best we can but we also need to move safely.”
Jason nodded to Sam but he still wore a worried expression.
As the evening approached they made alterations to the building Sam coated the outer windows with layers of rock to prevent light and sound from coming out, but also to offer more protection than the thin layer of cracked glass that stood between them and the Corrupted.
Mark worked on replacing the door and setting up a construct to coat the whole inside of the small restaurant. When he was done a thick iron door had been molded into the surrounding wood.
“Damn, you guys are as handy as any military engineers I've seen. Sam, I’ve both read and seen that you are good with fire magic. If you could make a sustained flame, I’d be happy to cook for us all.”
Sam gladly obliged with a floating ball of blue flame that looked like a willow whisp coming to hover in the middle of the room.
As the sun began to set the smell of eggs and sizzling bacon filled the room.
Wesley had taken out a pot of polish and was shining his shield. While Jonathan had some documents to read over, the sun left the sky completely, painting the world black.
The room was quiet other than people going about their business. Mark decided he wanted to practice his invisibility spell more so he began working with the light originating from Sam’s flame. Over the last couple of days, he’d gotten much better at matching the incoming light with his outgoing, and gradually a screen of light began to collect around the edges of the room.
It caused a faint shimmer to those looking out, but if someone were to look in they might see a dark empty room with small windows of light where they could just make out a small alcove of people relaxing.
Sam raised a brow in Mark's direction smiling as she did so. She was about to say something when a blood-curdling scream went up into the night.
“Help!” the voice echoed out from somewhere outside.
Every one of them was standing and ready with their weapons.
“Guys please, I know you’re in there. Please let me in.”
The voice was familiar to Mark and yet he didn’t move, his hand resting on the hilt of his dagger. They couldn’t be here, this had to be some kind of trick. A creature that could mimic human voices in an attempt to get inside.
Suddenly the sound of a fist slamming up against the metal rang out.
“Guys? Oh shit, I think they spotted me. Guys let me in.”
Mark took a step towards the door but Jonathan stepped in front shaking his head.
The banging continued getting louder and Wesley moved next to Sam as the sounds of moaning Corrupted began to grow closer..
“Mark please, I’m sorry I followed you guys, it was a bad move, just let me in. I’m completely out of Mana.”
Narrowing his eyes, Mark sent a construct outward from the door and sucked in a breath.
“Shit, It's him! Jonathan, open the door.”
Jonathan glanced back but clenched his jaw pulled back the thick length of iron barring the way and ripped the door open.
A back was pressed up against the iron and Jonathan grabbed at his collar and pulled him inside. Slamming the door shut before several meaty thuds crashed against the metal.
Terry collapsed backward on his ass panting and breathing heavily.
“Holy shit, thank you-”
“Mark get ready to give me numbers they’re trying to dig through the windows” Sam called out as the wooden wall surrounding them began to shake with the strikes of the Corrupted.