Fury of Tempest
Prologue - The One Whose Anger You Should Fear The Most
How long had they remained underground? A few hours? Days? Perhaps even a week or two, regardless, as an evolved monster he was able to stay up during it all, even if it pushed him to his limits. From what he could tell, they were likely effectively all that was left, as he waited for the moment he could mount an escape. Tempest's future relied on him protecting who was left.
Where they were hiding was effectively a makeshift hole, quickly put together by him and his men in the week they had before their second attack in order to hide as many people as they could, prioritizing women, children, and their families, while the most powerful Fighters like Benimaru were out fighting directly. Geld, whether fortunately or unfortunately, survived, having taken the role of protecting those hiding should something go wrong. He, and a few of his men were now likely all the Fighters remaining in Rimuru City. While they had detected the shield had likely been down for a few hours now, maybe even an entire day or so, the lack of Magicules which would have normally been present had the city been filled with monsters made it clear that there weren't any. Some of their own strength had returned, but as the Magicules were still filling the air in Rimuru City, it wasn't enough. Had the city been bristling with monsters once the barrier was taken down, they would've detected far more magicules. For now, he could only sense a small amount of magicules as the area seemed to settle more towards the levels normally natural in the forest.
Until it wasn't.
Everyone felt it, it was like Magicules were now swirling in abundance above. The effect was felt less from where they were hiding underground, but they could still detect it easily. He knew something was happening, but the question was whether or not to investigate it.
"This could be our only chance to escape! For all we know a counter-attack may be happening! Better yet, reinforcements! It's only a matter of time before Dwargon and Brumund join!" One of Geld's strongest strategists points out. He was the one to come up with the idea of hiding everyone away just in case, Geld acknowledged the possibility, but was it practical? No, he was right, this was our only chance. Regardless of what's causing the magicule increase, it would still leave them at full strength, and allow a fighting retreat in the worst case scenario. Still, Geld wanted to make sure he wasn't running head-first into either a trap or a false flag.
"You're right, but I'd rather survey it out first, make sure we're not heading out at a dangerous time. Just me and you for now, don't want to drag out attention. Our location is fairly isolated on its own, so we should be fine to take a step out, especially with these magicules concealing ours." Geld takes a step out, lifting up the fake tile which blended the entrance in with the ground of Rimuru City, peering around before acknowledging they were clear, stepping out and surveying their surroundings.
It was fairly obvious what had caused the increase in magicules. Massive walls of black flame had surrounded Rimuru City. There were very few monsters who Geld knew could do this. And all but one of the ones he knew of… were likely dead.
Yes, this could only mean one thing.
He's back,
They're dead,
And he's PISSED
"Head back down, it turns out we won't need to evacuate" Geld says blankly, his face making a small grin, the first genuine one he'd made for some time.
"If you're sure then, Geld." he says nodding, heading back inside as Geld gazed up for another moment. It was at that moment the beginning of the end came, and Geld knew they had won.
"May the gods have pity on them, their deaths will not be painless."