"Ozone, do you know what is going on exactly!? What type of encounter are Scarecrow 1-3 and Disciple 1-2 in!? Over!" As I ran through the streets of Droideir, I looked at the marked destination in my MIDT trying to track how far away I was. Unfortunately, it seemed that Kalene and Scarecrow 1-3 got caught in something far away from me as my MIDT was telling me that I was about a kilometer out from their location. Even with how fast I was running, it was still going to take me multiple minutes to get there, if not longer if anything gets in the way or gets worse.
"Negative Disciple 1-Actual, I do not know what is happening exactly. Before my relay to you, I received a relay from Scarecrow 1-Actual about Scarecrow 1-3 requesting back up from them. Due to the majority of the Scarecrow squad being already tasked in a different mission altogether, they requested me to send someone in their place. At the moment, you're the only one we have nearby. All I know in regards to this emergency is that Scarecrow 1-3 was requesting offensive back up and is currently reported to be in combat. I do not know who or what she requested help against, neither do I know anything regarding their circumstances, however, it is critical that you assist them in any way you can. Not only that but when you arrive, you are to relay to me the situation for analysis. Over." Ozone explained into my ear as I kept running.
Fucking hell... I left them alone for almost an hour and something has already gone wrong. What the hell could have happened that caused Scarecrow 1-3 to request backup as an emergency!? Not only that but why the hell have I not heard from Kalene herself!? She's capable of communicating with me, so why did I have to hear this from Ozone or Scarecrow 1-3? Shit... Don't tell me something happened to her. I can't tolerate her getting hurt in the middle of this, not with the way I'm going to get punished if she is.
Fuck! I knew this was going to be a mess from the beginning. Valkyrie better not push my shit in if this goes wrong...
Wait, even if I get there, what the fuck am I supposed to do? Valkyrie told me to keep a minimum profile, but if this situation is bad, I won't be able to do such a thing. Am I supposed to fight without mercy? Or am I supposed to hold back somehow? There is no way we'll be able to maintain our cover if I have to go all out to guarantee their safety... Ah fuck it, I'll ask Ozone. I'm sure if I work with his words, the blame won't fall entirely on me.
"Ozone, once I get there, what exactly am I supposed to do? You said that I'll serve as reinforcement, but if I'm to maintain my cover, how exactly am I supposed to pull this off? What are the rules for this type of thing? Over." I asked as I kept tracking the remaining distance to my destination.
"Just do what is necessary. If you are capable of pulling Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3 out of the problem while maintaining your cover, then do so. Otherwise, if you think it is helpless and that your cover will be ruined, relay to me so that I can plan an extraction for you all. Regardless of what happens, a mission failure in this scenario is excusable as long as you survive with your teammates. Just make sure that you all are in one piece, especially Disciple 1-2. Regardless of what the problem is, it is of utmost priority that, at the very minimum, Disciple 1-2 is extracted. Over." I see... Well, if you say so Ozone. I will not tolerate getting my shit pushed in for anything that happens here.
"Understood! I'll see what I can do. Out!" I tapped out.
Fuck me, fuck all of this.
Emergency Location (100%)
"Creeper! Watch your back! Watch your back!" At the far end of the street I was in, I heard a man yell with urgency, causing me to turn in his direction. He was a guardsman that was wearing chained armor and wielding an iron sword, a look that was shared by the numerous men and women that were patrolling or fighting about in the area. He was pointing in the direction of another guardsman that was distracted by a zombie in his view, but unfortunately, as strong and as fast his callout was, it was not enough to save his comrade. Within seconds of his yell, the green quadrupled legged green scaled monster he called out began hissing and lighting up like a torch, and then, within an instant, an explosion roared into my ear.
The explosion rocked the street, destroying it in the process and causing a ginormous crater in the dirt ground where it had blown up. As part of the creeper's accomplishment, I was able to see parts of a nearby building disappear and get blasted away, blowing shrapnel in various directions, impaling multiple guards that were in the area of the blast, causing them all to fall to the floor with blood pouring out of their bodies like fountains. Not only that, but the guardsman that was sneaked upon by the creeper was essentially nonexistent as his only remains were a splatter of blood and the tattered pieces of his organs and body parts laying around. His armor did nothing to shield him, not that it could've.
I had made it to my destination where my MIDT had marked the origin of the emergency, and as so, I was currently running around trying to find Kalene and Scarecrow 1-3. It was clear that this emergency was the result of what seemed to be a monster invasion as there was an endless amount of them. Almost everywhere I faced, I saw either a giant spider, a small poisonous cave spider, a skeleton, a zombie, an enderman, or a creeper walking around, attacking a guard or a civilian that was trying to escape the area. This entire area of Droideir was essentially a battlefield as there was nothing but death everywhere.
How the hell did all of this happen? I had walked through here before and it was completely calm, or at least, it was as calm as you would expect from Droideir. Now, all of the sudden the entire area is a warzone. Aren't monsters deterred by light or settlements? Is it possible for monsters so spawn in areas like this? No, that can't be. Considering the panic and enforcement taking place, this has to be an anomaly. But if so, then how did it happen? Droideir is far too big for monsters to stroll in, and even if they did, they'd have to cross the security at the border of the entire Sevali Union, if not all of the security within. Even with the lack of security in Droideir, it still wouldn't make sense that they'd be able to stroll through. Not only that, but this entire section is the only part that is under siege right now, which doesn't make any sense as it is unlikely that a wave of monsters would stay in such a concentrated area. Seriously, what the fuck happened here?
While avoiding all of the chaos going about, I kept searching around for Kelene or Scarecrow 1-3 in the general area of my destination, all while attempting to dodge the various monsters that were tearing the place apart. Doing so was not easy, mostly because I had no armor, putting me at risk against every little bit of danger present. I was, however, capable of requisitioning an iron sword from the ground, only because its original wielder had gotten torn apart by a monster beforehand. The sword was banged and cracked with stains of blood splattered all over it, meaning that its durability was somewhat low already, but that was fine as there was a countless amount of swords lying about anyway, all for the same reasons.
Even though I was searching quickly and thoroughly, I was not able to spot neither Kalene nor Scarecrow 1-3. Of course, it wouldn't have been easy to find them, not in the middle of this tremendous crowd and panic going about. Every corner I turned I would run into a set of guards either fighting, patrolling, hiding, or running away. If it wasn't guards, then it was civilians who were doing the same, if not getting mutilated by the horrors that plagued the city. Not only that, but the sun was already setting, causing darkness to begin settling in, increasing the threat of the monsters about. Even with the torches placed everywhere, there was still a considerable amount of darkness throughout the city, causing some of the monsters to hide in corners and ambush their victims.
Luckily for me, I was more than capable of keeping myself safe, but damn I wished I could say the same about everyone else. It was spine-chilling to hear people scream as their flesh would get bitten or ripped off, that is if they weren't poisoned or impaled by a projectile first. If a person wasn't sitting in the ground getting eaten alive, then they were incapacitated with a hole in their bodies. If they weren't incapacitated, then they were poisoned and sick, dying a slow and painful death as they would throw up or have their breathing stunted, causing them to die from asphyxiation. At best, a poor victim would die a quick and relatively painless death from a creeper that'd blow them up into nothing more than a pile of burnt flesh and organs. At worst, however, they'd survive the explosion and have to lay on the ground for something else to finish them.
As disturbing as my environment was, I did notice, however, that for some reason, I was not deeply affected by the gore and misery I witnessed. Perhaps it was because I have suffered countless injuries myself, or perhaps it was because of my nature as a survivalist that kept my mind busy and indifferent. Regardless of the reason though, the fact that I was not affected by such an experience caused me to question my health mentally. Surely there was something to worry about when I watched people die without care, right?
What am I even thinking right now? I got more important shit to worry about.
"Disciple 1-Actual to Disciple 1-2, talk to me. Where are you at? Over," I pulled up my communications display and tried to get a hold of Kalene. Unfortunately, when I tried, I was met with a notification that Kalene was unavailable and in a state of emergency, shutting me out of the option to talk to her momentarily. When I looked over to Kalene's codename box in the name code tree, her box was flashing red and orange with a sign on it that read 'Unavailable: In combat'. When I clicked on it to see if it could give me more information, my MIDT pulled up with the same destination point that I had used earlier, causing me to sigh in frustration since I wasn't getting anywhere near to finding out where she was. "Scarecrow 1-3, this is Disciple 1-Actual, where are you right now? Over." I tried contacting Scarecrow 1-3 instead. Once again though, I was met with the same fruitless results. Goddammit, come on. Where the hell are you both at!?
"Disciple 1-Actual to Ozone, I've arrived at the emergency location that was marked on my MIDT. It seems that some sort of monster invasion has occurred in the area as countless monsters are wandering about tearing everyone up. I have no clue as to how it happened, but the situation seems incredibly severe as not even the security here can keep themselves alive. I'm currently looking for Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3 but have made no progress. Is there anything you can do to help me here? Over," I requested of Ozone.
"Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone. I've heard you loud and clear. Standby for advice, over." Ozone answered my request promptly. For a couple of seconds after his answer, he left me alone, however, thankfully, it seemed that Ozone wasn't planning on taking his time to help me out. "Disciple 1-Actual, be advised, we've managed to tag a tracking location on Scarecrow 1-3. I'm sending it to you now so you can use it. Notify me if it works, over." Suddenly my MIDT pulled up in my view with a new destination point, one that seemed to be moving slowly in the direction opposite of me. Considering the distance and direction, it seemed that Scarecrow 1-3 was close to Vala's Valiant Hardware store, if not far enough to be at the Red Rosary inn instead. Perhaps she'd managed to retreat from this hell hole of a place and is now seeking cover.
"Ozone, I got it. It seems that the tracker is working. I'm on my way to verify the tracker's origin, over."
"Understood Disciple 1-Actual. Relay to me once you've made contact with Disciple 1-2 or Scarecrow 1-3. Ozone, out."
Alright, I've got a lead now. The question now is: are both of my targets okay? I hope so. I'm sure they're okay. I can't handle anything being otherwise.
Scarecrow 1-3's Location Tracker (59%)
Agh! Can't you all learn to fuck off!? I got more important things to worry about, you know!? Why are you all even here!?
At the very moment, I was fighting off a zombie that had tried to grapple me from the front, an attack he committed to after I had cut into his abdomen beforehand when he tried to bite me from my side. To retaliate against his attempt, I countered with a strong horizontal swing leveled with his neck, cleanly slicing the zombie's head off, causing its body to fall limply onto the ground before leaving a puddle of rotten blood on itself. Not too long after his death, the zombie then disintegrated into white particles, only leaving a couple of pieces of its rotten flesh behind.
As I traveled for my new destination, I noticed that I was slowly having to deal with more and more personal encounters with the monsters around, a result due to the lack of prey in their surroundings now. Most of the civilians in the area had either gotten murdered or had escaped, and the guards had either chosen to retreat or die in battle, meaning that now, in these streets, it was only me with the occasional survivor fending for themselves, causing us to gain what is now the tremendous level of attention from the dense number of monsters that were plaguing the district. Stealth at this point was nearly impossible, and evasion was slowly getting eliminated as an option due to how the monsters would begin to occupy all of the space around you as they tried to kill you.
This is bad, way too bad. This place is going to become a ghost town if it lasts any longer. How has this even lasted this long? How many monsters could have possibly spawned here like this? There seems to be no end to their existence, almost as if they are strictly originating from somewhere in the area. How though? The amount of monsters all over this place gives a similar impression to that of the density of monsters I would run into in the open plains by my home village, but even on those plains, there were fewer monsters than this. They were not as dense in population as they are here in Droideir.
All of a sudden, as I was thinking and recovering from my fight with the zombie, I heard a loud hissing noise from behind, alerting my instincts and causing me to turn around almost instantly, only to notice that an igniting creeper was trying to sneak up on me. Without any delay I proceeded to thrust my sword straight into its lengthy torso, piercing straight through his scaly green exterior and killing him before he had a chance to blow me away. Now, from having had died, he slumped lifelessly on my sword before I pulled away, causing him to plop onto the ground before disintegrating into a small pile of gunpowder.
Without letting me catch a break, a small cave spider tried taking its turn on trying to kill me from my front, however, due to my superior speed and awareness, when it tried to lunge for me to take a bite, I performed a vertical swing downwards straight into its skull, splitting it in half and killing it instantly, causing a pool of dark blue blood to spill all over the ground with some of its residue poison leaking into my sword's blade. Before I knew it, due to my sword having already been mercilessly used for the past twenty minutes or so, the poison caused the already weak metal to decay, destroying the spine of the blade in the process. At this point, I found myself needing a new weapon, one that could hopefully last at least tens worth more of encounters. At this rate, if I kept being interrupted, I would run out of my means of self-defense.
Using my heightened vision in the dark, I made my way over to a dead, purpled, and ruptured human body that was on the ground to pick up a nearby iron sword for use.
Poor guy. You won't be needing this anymore. Not when you've died from poisoning and bites.
Now that I was armed, I began making my way to my location which was still moving away from me. It seemed that Scarecrow 1-3 must've still been in trouble since she was still moving.
Shit. I got to hurry. Come on, me. I need to get a leg up on this bullshit.
While trying to maintain a fast pace, I kept fighting the monsters that kept getting in my way, although, as I previously mentioned, due to the scarcity of regular people now, it was becoming more and more common for me to get intercepted by these damned demons. Slowly, little by little, my opponent count per encounter would go up, and before I knew it, just when I had developed a decent pace, I found myself surrounded by a considerable swarm of monsters.
Come on, you're fucking with me here. Give me a break at least...
Around me were about thirty zombies, seventeen giant spiders, about ten cave spiders, and a couple of skeletons, all of which were focused on me. Without any self-restraint, all of them were making their way over to me slowly but surely, releasing all of their signatures sounds in the process to alert me of their intents. At this point, I found myself needing to stop holding back. There were too many monsters, and if I wanted to get out of this place alive, I needed to fight with more vigor. To fight with more vigor meant that I would have to display some of my innate abilities, meaning that if anyone catches me using them, I'd blow away my cover as a regular civilian. After all, when you consider how many people have died so far simply trying to fight one monster or two, I doubt I'd look normal if I survived an entire swarm by myself, especially with what my abilities can do.
Luckily, since I was the only one seemingly around, perhaps I could get away with trying at full force, or at least, using some of my full force. Still, I found myself hesitating. I wanted to make sure I could get away with this with as little attention as possible. It would benefit me greatly if I can stay undercover for as long as I can if I am meant to continue my mission here.
"Ozone, this is Disciple 1-Actual. I need some advice. Over." I figured if I asked Ozone for advice, I might be able to have an easier time making my choice. After all, he's my leading guide here.
"Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone. What is it? Over."
"Ozone, the monster presence in this district is starting to get unbearable. Due to the growing shortage of people around, I'm finding myself having to fight way too many things at once. I won't be able to keep myself alive and running if I keep holding back. I want to go all out, but it might cost me my cover. Please advise, over." Momentarily at first, I was met with silence. This pause, as a result, caused some angst within me as it made me worry about what I had requested. After all, to ask for permission to risk my cover is essentially me asking to risk mission failure.
"Copy Disciple 1-Actual, you're granted combat permission to go all out. Relay to me any results afterward or if you've been found out. Clear? Over." Oh, say no more...
"Understood. I'll be employing full combat capability. I'll relay to you any important results. Disciple 1-Actual, out." Alright, here we go...
As the swarm of monsters kept getting close, I suddenly jabbed my sword into the ground in front of me, impaling it into the dirt right by my feet. The action kicked some dust up to my waist, dirtying me from below completely. Not only that, but my action also managed to cause a couple of the leading zombies in the swarm to flinch, stopping them in place and as a result, stopping the entire swarm momentarily.
Good, good... feel the pressure... feel the fear...
I removed my left hand from my sword's hilt and then proceeded to hold my hands together in front of my chest, all while I closed my eyes and calmed my breathing to a slow, peaceful pace. I needed a clear mind to allow myself to prepare.
Focus on yourself...
Fixate on your desires...
Maintain peace...
Maintain control...
After my initial chant, I split my hands apart, and in one sudden motion, I clapped them together, producing a wide and red-ish blast to emerge from them and outward into my surroundings, stunning all of the enemies in place momentarily as they tried to get their bearings back.
Feel no fear...
Feel no hesitation...
Feel the power...
Feel the potential...
Once again, I clapped my hands together, causing another blast, one that was stronger. This one was so strong that the monsters at the front of the swarm fell backward onto the ground, nearly getting crushed by the sheer force of the blast itself.
Crave the desire to fight...
Long for the desire to resist...
Very slowly, I separated my hands again, all while I calmly opened my eyes to reveal a red-tinted vision that was pulsating yellows lines outwards towards all of the individuals around me. They were highlighted bright yellow as a result, marking them to my mind as I analyzed every single one of them. I was able to hear every little sound and I was able to feel even the tiniest movement from the monsters, all of which were a result of my instincts having had grown potent and sharp.
Fight with prowess...
Fight with intent...
Suddenly, around my body, I was beginning to emit a brightish red patterned light, a light that was somewhat similar to the light that regenerated me when I was injured. However, unlike the regenerative light, this new light on me was not a simple bright light that shined strongly in a dedicated place, but instead, it was a more so one that seemed like a chain of details that seemed engraved all over my body like an ornamental design, similar to the way my Phantom Company brand looked on my left arm. This new light wrapped all over my body, decorating me as if I was a canvas for the brand. The new light pulsated slightly and had a waving effect, an effect that was similar to that of a wave in an ocean. Its detailing was rougher but still intricate, containing spiky waves and a design that was akin to that of fire on my skin.
Show no regret...
Show no grief...
In sync with my heartbeat, this patterned light on my skin was beginning to pulsate strongly, slowly getting darker in shade but stronger in luminosity. Little by little, its color began to change from a bright red to a darker crimson red, making me look as if I was bleeding the light out of my skin.
Show no attrition...
Show no weakness...
Now, in tandem with my mind's chants, the patterned red brand throughout my body began to emit a growing waving visual on my skin, a visual that looked... just like fire... a fire that was rising from my skin.
Show no grace...
The flames on me grew taller, stronger, and intensely, shrouding me within them little by little as a result. Within seconds I was masked beneath a raging red cover of flames on my body, flames that looked ready to burn anything in their path. They shined fiercely and crackled loudly, showcasing their tremendous desire to burn.
Show no mercy...
Suddenly, in an instant, just as I had chanted the last line, the flames on my body erupted outward as a wave and lit up all of the monsters around me completely on fire, causing them all to begin screeching and screaming their pain into the air. Their bodies were enveloped in the crimson red flames, scorching them all into ash within seconds, not giving them a single chance to survive in any way, shape, or form. Before I knew it, not even a single one of my opponents was alive, but instead, only had the cinders of their remains as proof that they were here. Just like that, I had gotten rid of all of the demons that had threatened me earlier.
Good, that was perfect. Now that I get to go all out, this will be significantly easier.
Having had accomplished my goal, I picked up my wedged iron sword, noticing that the second I laid my hand on it, the entire weapon was turned jet black with red engravings infused into the metal of the blade, engravings that were exactly like the ones on my body at the moment. Not too long after this initial change, the sword became enveloped in the same crimson fire that was all over my body, setting it aflame. However, while it was on fire, it was not getting burnt or melted, but instead, it seemed that the flames had imbued themselves on my weapon, making my sword its host.
Good, this is the type of strength that I needed... however... I don't think I need to try this hard. If anything, this amount of power is exactly what I need to hide if I want to keep my cover. I need to tone myself down a bit, otherwise, it'll render everything I've done so far pointless.
I closed my eyes again and tried to calm my power down by focusing on my desire to be free of any signs of it. As a result, I felt my power dwindle slightly, although not by much. Not only that, but when I opened my eyes again, I noticed that I was no longer on fire, neither did I have any engravings on me. My sword was also back to looking normal too, so it was no longer conspicuous. However, while I no longer looked like a searing demon myself, I still felt energized as a couple of test swings from my sword showed a significant increase in speed and power. My instincts were also still heightened and my vision was still pulsating, looking for something to tag in my view.
As a result of it all, I was now satisfied since I had remained empowered while also maintaining a relatively inconspicuous demeanor.
Alright, time to get a move on. This should be significantly easier than before...
Scarecrow 1-3's Location Tracker (90%)
This is getting severely out of hand now. Why are they all of the way out here? I know for sure that this place was clear before...
I had managed to cover most of the remaining distance to Scarecrow 1-3's tracker relatively quickly due to my empowerment, and now, as a result, I was only a couple of minutes away from what was supposed to be her current location. Unfortunately, even though I had managed near my current destination, it came to my attention that there were now monsters all over this section of Droideir too. This fact was more than enough to cause me angst as they shouldn't have gotten this far. The fact that they had meant that their numbers have grown too strong and that they were failed to be suppressed by the security around. At this rate, if this monster invasion is not abolished, it would not be long before the entirety of Droideir is overrun, and it won't be too long after that before the Amali District is caught within it too.
"Ava!" As I ran down the current street I was on, I suddenly heard a man's voice scream into the air with exasperation, forcing me to turn in his direction behind me. Once I did, I noticed that there was a moderate cluster of six spiders and seven zombies that had grouped up by a broken-down house to my left. The man himself was a couple of meters to the right of that swarm, fighting off a different group of five giant spiders that were all trying to bite him. When I investigated the situation further, I managed to sense a small presence past the initial group of monsters, and with a little more analysis, I noticed that there was a small girl that was trapped by them. She was unarmed, as expected, and was sheltering herself using her hands as she was sitting on the floor, trying to keep herself from crying. She was shocked in place, not reacting externally to the demons that were about to make a meal out of her.
Without thinking, I made my way over to the bigger swarm first, initiating combat with them suddenly. With barely any effort, I sliced and diced every single zombie and spider that was there, most of which were incapable of defending themselves against me. My swings with my sword were like a hot knife through butter when I made contact with their bodies as every single time I attacked, I sliced through them with perfection, killing them instantly without a sound coming out of their voices. Before I knew it, all of the monsters in the bigger swarm were dead as they had fallen lifelessly on the ground, clashing and mixing in one another's blood and body parts before they perished into white dust on the floor.
Right as I had finished there, I looked over to the right and performed the same acts of extermination on the group of spiders that were harassing the panicked man, killing them all with swings to their heads, shattering their skulls, and dicing their brains apart before they perished as their companions had beforehand. In no more than a minute, I had cleared out all of the monsters in the area, causing my two witnesses to stare at me with a jarred expression on their faces, almost as if they had a hard time believing what they had seen.
"Get her out of here quickly, or else this is going to happen to you again," I spoke to the man who was bathed in sweat and rotten blood, all while I pointed at the little girl who had gone out of her way to close the distance between her and him.
"T-thank you! Thank you for saving me and my daughter... thank you... thank you so much!" Suddenly, he bowed his head down to me with tears running down his face, displaying both his gratitude and the fear that had previously taken over him. "I would have lost her if it wasn't for you. Please... tell me your name... I'd like to thank you later if I can." He then requested as his voice shook between his words.
"Raise your head old man, I only did what was natural for me to do..." I brushed off his gratitude, causing him to look at me in the eye as he followed my instruction. "... If it matters for you to know, my name is Castada Alphanier," I answered before I turned away from him. "Now... do yourself a favor and get out of here. You don't have the time to sit there and act as if you're clear of danger." I said as I then proceeded to run again for my destination.
Due to my haste, I didn't bother to check thoroughly behind me whether he was okay himself, neither did I bother to check the surrounding areas for monsters. I had my task at hand, and I didn't want to waste any more time. I'm sure with the lighter amount of monsters here he'd survive, especially with the conviction and emotion he showed.
So much for not trying to get attention... What am I trying to be here? A hero?...
Scarecrow 1-3's Location Tracker (100%)
There we go, finally...
After all of my efforts, I had finally managed to lay my eyes on the two people I was looking for amid the chaos around. They were together by themselves in front of the Red Rosary inn with Scarecrow 1-3 sitting down on the patio and Kalene standing in front of her, seemingly checking her over. They were occupied within themselves and seemed exhausted as their movements were fatigued. I took notice that Scarecrow 1-3 was injured too, most prominently on her right leg as she had a large stained bandage wrapped around her right thigh. Not only that, but her clothes were generally torn as her dress shirt was opened up and ripped by the stomach, her black skirt was ripped a little from the bottom, barely working as a decent piece of clothing anymore, and her stockings were nearly nonexistent on her legs due to the numerous tears on their silky material. It was clear that Scarecrow 1-3 had taken some abuse from combat and was incapacitated, but at the very least, she seemed to be in one piece, which was good enough for me.
"Kalene!" To get her attention I yelled out Kalene's name, causing the jet-black haired girl to turn in my direction, allowing her to notice me instantly before running to me. Without much of a delay, she crossed the distance between us before stopping herself in front of me. She looked me over completely, checking me visually just as I was checking her. It seemed that she was relatively fine as I saw no injuries anywhere on her, only dried blood and sweat that was glistening from her work clothes and skin. She was rugged and dirty as her clothes were somewhat torn and stained, although nowhere near as bad as Scarecrow 1-3. I also took notice that on her back she had a sheath and a holstered sword, both of which were stained with blood, telling me that she had gotten into combat herself, albeit with better luck than our teammate.
"Good to see you're okay. Well, not that I was expecting anything different." She commented as she ran her eyes all over me with a relieved smile.
"Yeah, although it seems that I've been better off than you both. You two are a mess." As I spoke, I made my way over to Scarecrow 1-3. Once I had neared her, I noticed that she was barely awake as her eyes were drooping down, struggling to keep themselves open even after she had noticed me standing in front of her. "It seems you got the worst of it all between us. Are you okay?" I asked her as I analyzed her bandaged leg visually.
"Oh yeah. Just a scratch, that's all." She joked with a weak voice, just barely loud enough for me to hear. As she spoke, Scarecrow 1-3 tried looking up to me, giving me a small smile before it collapsed from her strain.
Easy now, don't push yourself here.
"It seems you're okay enough to make a joke," I commented as I placed my sword down on the ground near me. After that, I proceeded to kneel and get closer to Scarecrow 1-3, moving close enough so that I could analyze her wounded leg physically. At first, I dragged my finger lightly around and above her bandages throughout her thigh, causing Scarecrow 1-3 to tense up slightly as a reaction. After that, I undid her dirty bandages carefully to reveal her wound, letting me notice that she had a small but deep bitemark, a mark that was also purple and inflamed. The fact that it was purple and swollen meant that the injury was a bite from a cave spider, although, by the looks of it, it seems that the bite and its poison was neutralized quickly after its infliction. She was taken care of properly, so that was good, although it was clear that she was still suffering from the effects of her injury regardless.
Having had finished my visual confirmation, Kalene ended up tapping me on the shoulder, causing me to face her and notice that she was handing me a clean bandage along with a warm wetted towel. Having had understood her unspoken request, I began wiping any dried and dirty blood around the wound on Scarecrow 1-3's thigh, cleaning it of anything that could infect her more than she already was. After cleaning her wound, I then dragged the warm towel throughout the entirety of her leg, cleaning it all from dirt and sweat, causing Scarecrow 1-3 to tense up even more.
Perhaps it was due to the poison making her sensitive, but after a while of me wiping her leg, I heard Scarecrow 1-3 beginning to coo and moan lightly, causing me to tense up along with her as a result.
Her moans sounded sweet and full, hinting more of pleasure than pain. As so, before I knew it, I found myself listening to her voice curiously with keen attention.
"Mmm..." Her weak voice engraved her cooing into my ear, distracting me momentarily as a result before I forced myself to maintain focus.
"Are you alright?" I asked, wanting to make sure that I wasn't hurting her in any way.
"Yeah... I'm fine... just... keep doing that for a minute for me, please?" She asked as she placed her hand on my arm, guiding me on how to keep rubbing her leg with the towel.
Her guidance was very delicate, although not subtle in terms of what it was doing to her. The process was slow but passionate as she'd move my hand all over her thigh, slowly inching me upwards into her groin as I rubbed her down, just barely keeping me away from there before she'd guide my hand in an opposing direction. As every second of this passed, her breathing gradually grew deeper and heavier, all while her moans would become more and more amorous with encouragement. Not only that but her face grew slightly flushed, tinting her face a pinkish color that displayed her restlessness.
It seems that the poison within her has made her very needy and sensitive. Although, the nature of what that sensitivity seems to be about is... questionable to say the least. She's very reactive to my touch, perhaps even too reactive for what this situation is supposed to be about. After all, she's poisoned, isn't she? It's the poison that is causing her to be this way, right?...
As much as it disgraced me to realize it, the fact that she was behaving this way had begun making me overly conscious and attentive of her, a result that I found myself needing to purge away from existence. The way she looked, while disregarding her injuries, did not help me one bit as her torn work clothes did wonders to cover her up in any meaningful way. Her opened dress shirt was displaying her slim stomach and waist while her torn skirt, as previously said, was just barely enough to make her sufficiently clothed from below. The fact that my senses were still heightened was also not helping as her soft skin was easily felt by my fingers through the towel while my vision was capable of focusing intensely on her fairly lustrous skin. At this point, almost everything about this girl made it unbelievably difficult to not think of her in a way that wasn't appropriate.
This scenario is severely testing my self-control right now... Not only that but I swear these girls and their uniform will be the end of me at some point... It's simply outrageous how alluring they can be when they're combined...
On a different note, did Scarecrow 1-3 and Kalene both fight with this uniform on? How would that even work properly? They're wearing heels... and a skirt... Surely that's not practical... right?...
The fuck does this matter? What's wrong with me? It's just clothes for fuck's sake... Move on from this already...
After a minute of cleaning her injured leg with the towel, Scarecrow 1-3 finally let go of my arm, allowing me to pull away and shut off the bullshit thoughts in my head. Without allowing my mind or my vision to wander, I bandaged her wound back up with the clean bandage, doing so slowly and carefully so that I didn't injure her. Once I was finished, I looked over Scarecrow 1-3 again, trying to make sure that she wasn't severely injured anywhere else. Luckily, apart from her leg, she only had small thin cuts on her abdomen and her left leg, injuries that could be considered negligible in this scenario.
"Hey..." Suddenly Scarecrow 1-3 broke my observations with her voice.
"Yeah?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Can you wipe the cuts on my stomach and left leg? They're itching and burning like hell right now..." She pleaded. Without responding vocally or allowing myself to think, I began to wipe down her left leg in the same fashion I had done on her right leg. Since her left leg wasn't significantly injured, my action didn't cause her to tense up or flinch. However, it did cause her to moan more. Of course, since I didn't want to allow my mind or heart to suffer, I tried to ignore her titillating reactions, however, this attempt only got so far before it fell flat on me.
As I wiped, I noticed that the closer I got to her thighs on my own, the more she would react vocally and intensely, openly displaying the obvious 'pleasure' she was feeling as a result. Because of that cause and effect, for her sake, I focused most of my attention there once I had cleaned her small cuts everywhere else, just so that I could sate her sensitivity against the poison's effects within her. This went on for no more than a minute, however, since I didn't want to have to spoil her and do this for the rest of the time.
"Mmm... Can you... can you... rub my stomach now?..." Scarecrow 1-3 worded airily, her voice hinting of her sensual intoxication. Following her request, I leaned closer to her and placed my right hand on her lower back, and began using my left hand to wipe her slim stomach. For once, it was I who was invading the other's personal space, not that I had done so without consent.
At first, I focused solely on cleaning the light cuts on her waist and abdomen, however, once I was done with that, I began wiping her lower torso delicately as she seemed to have enjoyed. Naturally, she did not hold herself back from expressing her satisfaction auditorily, however, when I looked over at her face in the process, I noticed that her face was not any less suggestive. She was biting on her lower lip while displaying a sly smile, maintaining eye contact with me while doing so, almost speaking of her desires from her facial expression alone. She was blushing as her cheeks were tinted red, although, when considering her lack of sensuous concealment, it just made her look more lascivious to my eyes.
"Why does your touch feel so good?" She whispered to me suddenly. At this point, it was clear that whatever the poison was doing to her was doing so well because right as I made eye contact with her, she took it upon herself to reach up with her right hand and cup the left side of my face, almost as if she was setting herself up to do something more. Because of this development, I took it upon myself to stop rubbing on her stomach and grabbed her hand, pulling it away. As intense as this moment had become, it had no fruit to bear. After all, in the end, it was the poison that caused her excitement, and as so, I won't allow anything to happen, not that I would want anything to happen if she wasn't poisoned.
"It seems you're losing yourself a bit. How about you consider allowing yourself to rest a little?" I suggested as I placed her hand onto her stomach, causing her to give me yet another sly smile. At first, since her smile seemed mischievous to my eyes, I thought that she was going to try something else. However, contrary to my expectations, she took to closing her eyes instead and reclined onto my right hand that had been supporting her back softly, making herself comfortable.
"Yeah... that... that sounds good to me too..." She agreed before she fell asleep almost instantly, surprising me slightly as a result.
Well then... It seems that you had yourself hanging on the brim of consciousness...
Now that Scarecrow 1-3 had calmed down and I had finished fulfilling her requests, I removed my hand from her back and lowered her onto the ground delicately, that way I wouldn't cause her any strain. After that, I then proceeded to pick up the iron sword that I had nearby before I stood up, facing Kalene in the process. Right as I did though, I noticed that Kalene seemed incredibly flustered as she was blushing and fidgeting a lot in place. She was staring at me intently, almost as if she was wrapped by my presence, a detail that caused me anxiety as a result, mostly because of what her restlessness may have meant.
As apparent as her state was though, I opted to ignore it as I had a different plan in my mind altogether. Instead, I began scanning our surroundings with my pulsating vision, causing the signature yellow lines to move outward in my sight, trying to highlight anything that was nearby. Just as I had assumed and hoped, I noticed that no one was remotely close to us. As far as my eyes were able to scan, I was only able to spot monsters around, all of which were a considerable distance away from us. As so, now that I had confirmed our isolation in the area, I returned my gaze to Kalene who was still stuck in place with restlessness.
"Kalene, do me a favor and use your healing power on Scarecrow 1-3. There's no one around us so we should be able to get away with it without gaining any form of external attention."
"Hmm?... Oh..." My sudden question caused Kalene to snap off of her fluster. "Are you sure? Won't that be risking us getting caught doing something extraordinary?" She asked as she regained her bearings.
"We'll be fine. If anything, I'd prefer it if she recovered as soon as possible since this entire district is a clusterfuck right now. Otherwise, if we leave her to recover naturally, she'll be a burden for all of us here."
"Alright, if you say so. Just give me a couple of minutes to get it done. It'll take me a while to stabilize her from the poison's effects." As she granted my request, she kneeled next to Scarecrow 1-3, initiating the green light that was her healing power on her right leg, healing her most severe injury first.
"While you're doing that, can you also explain to me as to what the hell happened to the two of you?" I asked, remembering that I have to relay the situation and any of its details to Ozone now that I've found Kalene and Scarecrow 1-3.
"Sure, although, to be quite honest, I don't have a good clue as to what happened. We just happened to get caught in the middle of something problematic." She began with a sigh. "As part of my objective, Aria decided that I should go out of my way to explore Droideir a bit so that I could get used to my surroundings before my shift at work. As so, after I got dressed, we headed in the general direction for Daisy's Drinks. It was somewhat eerie, however, as Aria and I were getting eyeballed constantly, but generally speaking, it wasn't anything too suspicious or out of place from what you'd expect from Droideir. However, when we had finished looking around and had made it to Daisy's Drinks, that's when things started to get out of hand." I see... and is Aria Scarecrow 1-3's name?... Noted.
"Inside the bar, there was a huge scandal happening, something to do with the manager and a customer. They were in the middle of a heated argument, one that seemed irrelevant to the service of the bar. Instead, they were threatening each other, something to do with how the customer was going to destroy the place in spite while the manager was threatening the customer that he'd have him killed for being an arrogant 'patron', or something along those lines. At first, it all seemed like a blown-out argument, but... well.. after that, everything went wrong."
"The 'customer' wasn't just any regular customer. Instead, once he had his patience wrung dry, he displayed himself to be some sort of magical summoner. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the intricate details of what I saw, mostly because of what happened afterward, but to put it simply, he placed some sort of portal in his place, a portal that began summoning a lot of monsters at once. Within seconds, what was a moderately filled bar with people was filled with creepers, and then... well... they all started to blow up, destroying the entire place within seconds. Luckily for me, I had managed to get away completely fine as Aria had teleported us outside into an alley in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately for her, right before she teleported us, she had chosen to shield me from the shrapnel of all of the explosions during the split second she was activating her teleportation. As a result of that, she suffered a puncture into her right leg, not only injuring her but also breaking her concentration and making it so that she could only teleport us a block away from the bar."
"After that, it was all just a roll downhill. Within the minute that I was trying to make sure that Aria was okay, I noticed that the man had also summoned several portals outside of the bar, and as so, I found myself almost immediately surrounded by monsters. From that point forward up until just a couple of minutes ago, I had been fighting and carrying Aria with me, occasionally healing her discreetly so that I could keep her alive. Unfortunately for us though, even when I tried my best, I couldn't keep Aria and myself safe, especially not at first when I didn't even have a weapon."
"Along the way, Aria had gotten bitten on her injured leg by a cave spider, and I had suffered a couple of bite marks from zombies and giant spiders myself. Not only that, but Aria was struggling to request backup as her injuries and poisoned body made it nearly impossible for her to stay conscious enough to speak. Fortunately, though, Aria managed to pull through for me in the end and spoke to her squad leader, and then, by the looks of it, contacted you before we were left to ourselves. After that, I pushed for our retreat towards our inn here, and along the way, I tried to contact you so that we could meet up as soon as possible, but for some reason, my communications were not working at all. Every time I tried to pull up my display, it would shut down, sealing me from being able to speak to you." Wait, what? So that's why I couldn't get a hold of you?
"So all of these monsters around are a result of one person's doing? That's how all of this started?" I inquired.
"Precisely. Those portals, as far as I can remember, never stopped summoning monsters."
"And you said that your display was not working at all? Did you not even hear my transmissions for you then?"
"Nope, nothing."
Fucking hell, you two got the shitty ends of the stick...
"I see... It seems that you both have been plagued with bad luck tonight." I commented as I opened my display. "Ozone, this is Disciple 1-Actual. I've managed to make contact with Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3. Be advised, Scarecrow 1-3 has suffered severe wounding but is currently being stabilized by Disciple 1-2 discreetly. Disciple 1-2 herself is currently okay and is stable, over." I relayed to Ozone.
"Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone. Copy all. Requesting: Do you have anything to report concerning the origin of their emergency? Over."
"I do. According to Disciple 1-2, the monster invasion currently going about had originated through the magical power of a particularly hostile individual from her workplace. It seems that he caused the chaos here as a form of revenge against the manager of her workplace, over."
"Do you have any information concerning this individual? Over."
"Unfortunately, I don't. Disciple 1-2 was not able to pay close attention to him as the situation had grown dangerous very quickly once she had become aware of it. Perhaps Scarecrow 1-3 can supply information, although not now as she is currently unconscious, over."
"Understood. What's the status of your mission and your cover stories? Over."
"As far as I'm aware, we have been capable of maintaining our cover despite the use of our powers and engagements in combat. However, be advised, that Disciple 1-2's objective location has been destroyed as part of the situation. Currently, she no longer has an objective area to work in, over."
"Copy. As a result of her mission objective no longer being available, she is to standby until further notice. Apart from that, what is the status of your current combat capabilities? Will any of you need to be extracted or relocated? Over."
"At the moment the entirety of Disciple 1 is capable of combat, and within time, once she's been healed, Scarecrow 1-3 will be the same. However, a good portion of the city is currently in danger and our safe house will soon be compromised as a result. We won't need an extraction sometime soon, but if this situation gets any worse, we may lose our residence here, over."
"Understood. I'll organize a secondary safe house for you in the background in case things go wrong. If you need it, let me know to put it into effect. Apart from that, is there anything else worth mentioning? Over."
"Yeah. Be advised, Disciple 1-2 brought to my attention that her communications display had failed her earlier during her retreat from the monster invasion, over."
"Copy. What type of error was it? Over.'
"Her display kept shutting down and disallowed her to contact me when she tried. Not only that, but it also kept communications from getting to her as she hadn't received any of my transmissions when I was looking for her earlier, over."
"Understood. We'll remember this for analysis in the future. Is there anything else? Over."
"Negative, I've said all, over."
"Understood. In that case, from this point forward, you are to maintain your covers and go with the flow of your situation. Once the entire situation has been settled, if it does, relay to me for mission guidance and briefing. Until then, keep yourselves alive, keep yourselves undercover, and continue to maintain your mission profile. Clear? Over."
"Clear, over."
"Understood. Good luck. Ozone out." He tapped out.
Man, this is a damn pain in the ass. How long are we going to have to put up with this?
"There, she should be healed up fully now," Kalene mentioned out loud, causing me to take notice of how Aria no longer had any wounds anywhere on her body. "However, it might be a while before she feels okay. I removed all of the poison and healed her wounds, but she may still have some residue effects within her mentally." She warned.
"Eh, that's good enough. Now that you're done with that though, we need to figure out what to do next. Until this chaos calms down, we won't be able to continue our mission properly, and soon this area will get overrun and we'll lose our home." I said as I tried to think of a plan.
"Do you have anything in mind?"
"Not really. Do you?" I asked for advice.
"Not really. At most, I think that we could defend this inn so that we can guarantee our home, however, it'll be pointless to do so if those monsters manage to make their way over here in a nearly infinite number."
"Yeah, I thought so too. However, the only way to know if those monsters have stopped spawning in is if one of us goes back there to check, and going back there to check means that we'll have to put up with combat when we're barely armed." As I spoke, I also checked my watch, taking notice that it was barely nighttime. "Not only that but even if we defend this area, it's currently only 5:57 PM, meaning that we'd have to defend this area for almost twelve hours straight before daytime comes and pacifies all of the monsters around. If we consider the amount of pressure we felt on the way over here and consider the idea that such a level of pressure will replicate itself here, then we'd be lucky if not one of us dies or has to be extracted."
"Considering the number of problems we have here, do you think that it'd be fair to consider this a mission failure? If Droideir gets destroyed, then what exactly would we be able to do? Maybe we should request extraction and just call it a day?"
"We could... but..." I trailed off, not wanting to consider the idea for too long.
"But then you might get punished for giving up on the mission when we've yet to face a hopeless circumstance..." She guessed.
"Yeah... That's the only reason why I haven't requested an extraction yet despite our circumstances..." I confirmed. "... Say..." I perked up. "What are the chances that the guards in this place manage to subdue the problem?"
"Uh..." Suddenly Kalene gave me an unsure look. "I... don't know if the security here in Droideir can handle this. I mean, most of the guards that I came across earlier either deserted the field, died fighting, or 'retreated' for an unknown amount of time, all while barely protecting the land or the civilians around. Unless any reinforcement arrives from the Amali District or the Sevili District, I doubt that this would get solved by them."
"Can't they just request for reinforcements from the other districts? I mean, Droideir is part of the country all of these districts are in, right?"
"They can, but unless the trouble concerns the other districts directly, I doubt they'd agree. Even if the three districts all share the same country in name, their division is far too strong for such a simple level of companionship. Especially when Droideir is the district in question." Suddenly Aria spoke up, causing me to face her due to her having had startled me as a result. When I looked over to her, however, I noticed that the moment I had made eye contact with her, she looked away, and instead, she preoccupied herself with fixing her clothes and lifting herself off of the ground. Even after she was done with that though, she still went out of her way to avoid my eyes.
I see you've returned completely back to normal already, although, with some shame sprinkled within.
"I see... But if this monster invasion gets out of hand, won't it reach the other districts too? Isn't that enough motive to come here and help?" I returned, turning my eyes away from Aria so that I could alleviate her from her internal embarrassment.
"Yeah, theoretically, it will, and as so, their aim should be to come here to avoid the problem altogether. However, they won't, mostly because they won't need to. The security in the Amali District is remarkably stronger than the security here in Droideir, and the security in the Sevili is even stronger. If and when the invasion reaches them, they'll be more than capable of suppressing it without letting the district itself get overrun. As a matter of the fact, their security is so strong that they'll even be capable of maintaining their borders intact. As a result, because they'd be able to survive that way, they'd rather wait and prepare than to come here and help directly."
"Why is the division that strong within these districts? The way they operate seems fruitless when they're supposed to be one country altogether."
"As I said, the districts here may share the country in name, but that's all. Anything that happens within them is their concern only, and if any of the districts need something, they'll have to compensate for the favor asked. In our case, we're stuck in Droideir, the district with almost nothing to its name. Without a doubt, since Droideir can't offer anything, the other districts will turn their back unless it is of most importance that they fight here. Even then though, we'd be lucky if they help clean everything up as opposed to just coming here to get their interests done."
"I see... Well, if we can't rely on the district's security to save this place, then what do you suggest that we do?"
"Since our mission has yet to be compromised, we can either hole up here and defend this inn, or we can fall back away from the Sevali Union with my teleportation."
Teleport away? I almost forgot she could do that...
"Will it be convenient for you to teleport us away?"
"It's easy enough to do, however, we won't be able to monitor Droideir's internal state if we do. For the most part, I suggest that we stay here and only leave if we need materials such as food. After all, if we consider how deserted this district has become, it's likely that we're going to have to go out of our way to supply ourselves in the meantime."
"Seems good enough..." I trailed as I walked over by to the entrance of the Red Rosary inn. "Well then, since we're going to stay here, I guess I'll stand guard first. You two can go rest up or do anything you'd like."
"Are you sure?" Kalene perked up, showing a concerned look.
"Yeah. You two have gone through a lot already. I'll prefer it if you two rest up, especially you Kalene. That healing power will be our savior and I need it to be ready and full at all times." I explained. Although she seemed concerned, Kalene didn't object to my decision, neither did Aria. As so, without any words, the two ladies made their way into the inn while I sat outside, beginning my guard duty for the night.
"Augh... Fuck..." I groaned out loud as my words were spaced out by my heavy breathing. "Yeah... I should've been... more careful about this..."
At the moment it was only a little past eight at night, and yet, I was already dealing against the full brunt of the monster invasion that had reached our inn. It was all just as I had expected, an invasion that felt nearly endless to fight against. Every time I cleared out the area of a wave of monsters, it'd only take a couple of minutes before an entirely different wave would take their place, forcing me into combat once again. Even with my empowerment, the amount of pressure I felt was overbearing, mostly because I had to do everything in my current ability to keep those monsters from breaking into our inn.
Usually, I would've kept myself inside the inn, staying on the main floor and making sure that none of the monsters broke through the windows or the door to enter, something that they usually would not do or be able to succeed with. However, it wasn't long into that plan that I learned that these monsters were far more aggressive than usual. As so, when I tried to hide behind the counter to avoid their attention, even though they probably didn't sense me, they began banging on the door and the large window panes, almost breaking them in the process before I changed my mind and fought them. Ever since, I've been running around outside, just fighting them and keeping them generally away from our inn. As you'd expect, because that is what I've been forced to do, I'm now growing excessively exhausted even though I'm using my ability to empower me.
Well, even though I'm complaining, it's not as if I was faltering in any way. My innate ability was doing more than enough to keep me moving, and at most, my exhaustion was more mental than anything. After all, it was very mundane to have to swing a sword at things that, for the most part, don't even have a chance to hurt you. At the very least, it would've helped if there was something here to give me a challenge. Then again, my personal feelings were not the type of thing that should be satisfied right now. As tedious as this is, I'd take this over any life or death scenario that could've happened instead.
Too slow...
Suddenly an enderman tried teleporting behind me, and as so, as I've always done, I turned around immediately and punctured his torso, impaling him through his jet-black skin before he fell to his knees. Even though he was already severely injured, his conviction didn't falter as he reached for my throat with his long thin hands, choking me the second they made contact with my skin. Unfortunately for him, as scary as that would've been to face, especially with how surprising it was to find out that he was still aggressive enough to fight, it didn't faze me. Instead, I pulled my sword out of him, took a step back, and then lunged into his thin neck, killing him instantly then. As a result of my victory, I got splattered all over my body with his deep purple blood before he disappeared into white dust.
Too loud...
A creeper suddenly sneaked up behind me afterward, all while it was preparing itself to explode. As so, he hissed loudly while lighting himself up like a torch, taking away what would've been his perfect chance to kill me while I was distracted. Naturally, since I had noticed him, stopping him was as simple as swinging my sword hard enough that I sliced him in half. As a result, now that he was in two dead pieces, his ignition sequence was stopped and all that was left of him were two piles of gunpowder that had flowed out of his cut halves.
Yeah, yeah... You all want to eat me. Please tell me something new...
As you can imagine, the next group of monsters that tried to kill me was a pile of zombies, giant spiders, and cave spiders. When compared to endermen or creepers, they were far, far easier to deal with as they didn't do anything that could catch you with surprise. Spiders, when you consider their nature, simply try to grapple you to bite you, but if you're quick or keep your distance, they can only do shit worth of nothing to beat you. Zombies are essentially the same, losing to speed or distance when fought against. As so, killing this group of enemies was light work. Before they knew it, they were all turned into nothing but sliced pieces of dead flesh.
For the next hour, this process was not any different. I fought and fought, clearing the area out consistently so that the inn would not be destroyed, and in the process, I noticed that because of my efforts, the inn was the only place around that was still standing in place. The monsters, due to their heightened aggression, had broken into every other building and had nearly destroyed the entirety of the buildings around with combined efforts. First, zombies and spiders would bang on the doors or the windows, breaking them down, and then, after that, endermen would work their way inside and would begin taking the place apart due to their strength, either that or a creeper would blow up without having had been provoked, annihilating the place through its suicide.
All things considered, it seems that these monsters have been summoned with an aggression level higher than regular. As far as I've known, monsters wouldn't go out of their way to destroy anything that didn't concern them, especially when they weren't provoked. Hell, even when they were provoked, they wouldn't destroy their surroundings. The only time they would is if it was simply collateral as part of their chase for you. After all, if they did destroy things like the way they are now, I'm sure my village would have been destroyed countless times with the lack of personal security there.
They're likely more aggressive due to the individual who summoned them. If that's the case, then why would he go out of his way to summon all of the monsters this way? If he planned to simply destroy Daisy's Drinks by itself, then it was more than sufficient for him to have used all of those creepers as Kalene had described. To summon all of these monsters afterward is nothing but overkill. Perhaps, his aim was bigger than just destroying the bar? Don't tell me his plan extended as far as destroying this entire district? If so, then why? If Droideir is as empty or worthless as it's known to be, what could he possibly stand to gain by destroying it? Or was his aim even bigger than destroying Droideir?
Augh... why did my mission have to get this complicated? So much for it being an entry mission for me Valkyrie...
Suddenly I heard a loud groan emerge from behind me, one that sounded like a zombie's. As a result, I made the effort to turn around so that I could fight it. However, right before I could've done anything, for some reason, my instincts shot up and before I knew it, I had instinctively dashed to my right with immense speed, avoiding whatever the peril was that had alerted me. At first, I had no clue regarding what had happened, however, once I had retrieved my bearings, I noticed that the zombie that I had spotted was no longer in one whole piece. Instead, he had a large hole that spread throughout its torso, allowing me to see its dead organs hang around the opening before the zombie itself dispersed into white dust immediately after.
What the fuck? What the hell just happened?
"Hey! Watch your fire! You almost killed a civilian!" To my right and down the street, I heard a strong disciplinary yell emerge from a man, causing me to face his direction. Once I did, I noticed almost immediately the overwhelming group of people who had, at some point, arrived, all of which who were armed to the teeth with weapons and heavy armor. The group was mostly in a formation with two at the front, and two lines of ten people behind them, all of which who were armed with iron swords, spears, or bows, along with heavy iron armor.
It seemed that the two at the front had a slight complication as the one to the right, probably the leader, was chastising the one on the left, an archer who was in the process of reloading.
"Civilian?! What type of fucking civilian dodges like that?!" The archer exclaimed as he pointed directly at me, causing the leader to face me himself.
"It doesn't matter what he did! The problem here is that you could've killed him! Fix your aim, or else I'll shove that bow right up your ass! Have I made myself clear?!" The leader argued back. At the same time, he wielded his sword from his sheath and pointed it at the archer who had flinched as a result.
"Yeah, I understand! Damn... It's not like I killed him..." He acknowledged with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, prompting the leader to groan with frustration.
Who the hell are these people? Are they reinforcements? Sure looks like they are...
"Spread out! Clear this area! Make sure nothing else goes wrong while we're here! Anyone who slacks will be used as bait!" The leader rang out an order, prompting everyone in the formation to break away, going on their separate paths and engaging the monsters around the area that we were at.
Reinforcements huh? Not from Droideir either. Are they from the Amali District? Their armor and weaponry match the ones at the main gate, so it's probably them.
"Sorry about that. Some of these asshats haven't got the practice to know not to screw simple things up. Are you injured?" The leader approached me, wearing an apologetic but stern look on his face. Since he was closer, I examined his overall look and noticed that his iron armor had a golden tint to it, perhaps signifying his status among the rest. Not only that, but his sword was also the same.
"I didn't die. That's good enough for me." I responded as I looked around for any unoccupied monsters to fight.
"Yeah, gladly. I'd hate to have his first mission deployment to be collateral, even if it involves a district apart from ours..." He sighed as he faced the archer who was shooting at zombies on his own. Even though that archer was careless, it was clear that he was strong. For some reason, the arrows he shot had tremendous stopping power and speed, completely obliterating any mobs that got caught in its trajectory. It was almost as if his bow was more of a cannon than a bow. "... Although, you're not just any regular guy yourself, are you?" He then turned to me.
"Hmm? How so?" I feigned ignorance, causing an uncertain smile to emerge from his face.
"Come on now. You're seeing what his arrows can do. The fact that you dodged them even though you were distracted is something I'd call inhumane. Surely you're aware of how crazy that must make you?"
Every second that passes, I grant myself more and more attention huh? I'm screwing this up way too much for my good...
"Not really. I'm just a man who's trying to survive. There's not much else I can tell you." I evaded.
"I see... Well, anyway, do you happen to know anything about where these monsters came from?" He changed the topic. "We were told that it'd be easy to figure out where all of these demons were coming from, but by the looks of it, these freaks are everywhere. Not only that, but it seems that the guards here all ran with shit coming out of their asses so we haven't been able to ask anyone else either... "
"Uh, yeah. My sister told me about where this had all began. She said that a customer at her workplace today had a problem with her manager and that he then summoned all of these monsters there to destroy the bar. Your aim should be where Daisy's Drinks is... well... was." I answered.
"Daisy's Drinks? Yeah, I don't know where that is exactly..." He placed one of his hands on his chin, rubbing it as he thought. "... By any chance, is it close from here?"
"Not really."
"Yeah, I figured. And by any chance, since I don't know this district very well, what are the chances that I'll get lost, even if you give me directions?"
"Very likely since you'll be constantly distracted along the way..."
"Ugh..." He rubbed his forehead as he sighed, displaying his frustration. "... This is why I hate going to other districts. No one on my side knows anything worth more than shit. I know you're not obligated to help me, but is it possible that you can guide me and my men to this bar?" He asked as he then bowed his head to me, resigning himself to me.
This is not what I expected to see from an Amali soldier...
"I... don't mind as long as your men can keep me in one piece. However... I don't know how my sister is going to feel about me going over there, especially when she barely avoided death while she was escaping herself." I lied, trying to make myself sound reasonable. Technically I'd be perfectly fine to go there with them and Kalene would be perfectly capable of keeping herself safe here, however, I need to try harder at keeping myself more believable.
"I understand. Say, where is your sister then?" He asked me as he looked around.
"She's in there with her friend," I answered as I pointed toward the Red Rosary inn, the only building that was standing properly in place around.
"In there? Wait... If she's in there, why are you out here?" He followed up, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
"These monsters are far more aggressive than usual. When they got here, they tried breaking into our inn even though we were nowhere within their senses. Because of that, I had to go out of my way to stay out here and defend the place to keep her and her friend safe inside."
"So you've been defending this area by yourself this entire time? For how long?"
"For a couple of hours now."
"Hoh..." He exclaimed with a surprised voice. "You're one hell of a man then..." He commented. "... Well, as I said, you're not obligated to help me. There's not much I can do if you feel the need to stay here to keep your sister safe yourself. However, if you help me, I promise you that I'll make it up to you somehow. I understand that you may still not be inclined in my favor, but I'm sure that our goals will align if we, at the very least, are guided in the right direction. After all, I doubt that you want this to last much longer, even if you can handle it, right?" He tried to bargain with me as he lowered his head again, causing me to sigh.
"If I go, how am I going to keep her and her friend safe? As I said, I'm the one that has been protecting them this entire time. If I leave, who'd take my place?"
"I'll leave two of my best here. I have confidence that they'll do a great job of keeping them safe. I promise you my life." As he answered, he pointed over at two particular guards who were fighting side by side, almost in sync with one another with extreme speed. Their speed with one another was so great that they both looked like after images of each other. It was clear that they were as good as their leader was boasting them to be.
"I see... Well, I can't promise you that I'll help, but at the very least, I'll ask her if she's okay with it. It's the least I can do, I guess..." My answer prompted the leader to smile at me, a smile that displayed nothing but appreciation.
"Thank you. We'll stay out here while you two talk. Although, please make it brief?" He asked as he wielded his golden tinted iron sword.
"I'll be back," I told him as I turned around, facing our inn and making my way inside. Afterward, I then made my way upstairs and down the hallway up to where our assigned room was at. Before I walked in, however, I stood outside by the door, readying my keys in my hand so that I could unlock it.
So much for avoiding attention... Now I'm getting involved with the security of an entirely different district just because he asked nicely... It can't be helped right? It's all inevitable... Maybe it's just my damned fate to be noticed during every second that passes... Either that or I'm just a moron who doesn't know how to keep to himself... somehow...
Once I had unlocked the door, I walked inside and turned around to close and lock the door behind me. After that, I then rubbed my eyes and the temple of my head, mostly because after everything that had happened, I was exhausted above all else.
"Kalene? Aria? I need your advice on something here." I voiced my concern out loud as I turned around while still rubbing my eyes.
"Woah! Woah! Wa-!" Suddenly, with extreme urgency, I heard Kalene's voice exclaim, prompting me to clear my eyes and to face her, trying to figure out as to what the hell she had gotten so lively about. At first, because my eyes were blurry from having had been rubbed, I could not tell anything worth of shit in terms of what I was looking at. However, after a couple of seconds of them readjusting and clearing themselves up, I realized as to why she had gotten so worked up suddenly.
God... fucking... damn...