Adrian tried to appreciate the refreshing cold air and the massive amount of experience he was getting.
They were the only positive aspects of this mess.
He was nearly a kilometre above the ground. Monsters were drifting towards the dome. Frustration was rising.
Adrian summoned a thousand swords within himself and manifested them into reality in batches of a hundred. He was fast enough that for the most part, it was only corpses that hit the ground. A sword beam from one of the floating swords orbiting him annihilated the remainder and the rare few survivors who managed to land on the dome were prey for the vicious plants he had grown on the surface.
Poison and Acid were truly wonderful.
It was effortless and Adrian felt a weight lift from his chest, people had stopped dying here, but his frustration remained.
Adrian Dashed again. He cut across the city with Blindsight. The dome proving to be no obstacle to his senses.
Hundreds of corpses. Thousands of injured people. A mother weeping over the brutalized form of an infant. Tired adventurers who had collapsed in the middle of the street laughing as they realized that they were alive.
He saw it all. But he didn't see Motoyasu.
Adrian landed near a gate, skeletons, massive insects and giant dogs, was already approaching, and used his projected swords to sweep the area with a Sword Beam. He left the sword behind. It was possible that they'd need it later.
He repeated his actions all around the city, flattening the entire area. Reducing forests and uneven ground to plains. It would probably have some negative impact on the economy and ecology of the area.
Adrian didn't bother considering such factors.
The Wave was an odd one. It was located directly above the Hourglass and was heavily focused on the city. The monsters were much stronger than the ones he had faced before, something he suspected was because both Itsuki and Naofumi had spent time without fueling the barrier, and they weren't stopping. Even stranger was how it had used his teleportation skill to bring him here. Not the Hourglass'. It was why he was only frustrated with Motoyasu's absence rather than terrified.
Of course, it was the Hourglass behaving oddly that made him feel lightheaded.
Malty had somehow managed to summon a Wave by draining an hourglass. His previous assumption of the Hourglass working against her as possible but he could see a lot of other options as well. The situation was fucked up. He had assumed that it had been some form of possession or mind control or something, but it was just like Malty threw a tantrum and ruined the Kingdom that she could not inherit.
Cruel and stupid was pretty much her go-to strategy.
He shrugged it off, furious at himself for being distracted, and focused on the wall guards. A Dash took him to the man who was barking orders. The armoured knight jerked backwards and flailed around for a moment after Adrian appeared on the wall overlooking the east. The dome expanded above the walls protecting them a little once he realized that they were exposed.
It frustrated him. The Knight was at least level 60 but he was far too slow. These people wouldn't be able to stand up to the Wave properly.
"Sw-sword Hero," the man said, before going down on one knee, "It is an honour-"
Adrian suppressed his desire to roll his eyes.
"Stand up," he said, impatience heavy in his voice, "I need to know where all the nearby settlements are. Now."
His final word was emphasized when the man stared at him dumbly. Adrian felt like leaving. Telescopic sight combined with the heights he could reach should allow him to find all the settlements that were nearby. He needed to get there soon. Adrian was not naive enough to think that he had done enough. The capital was safe for now but the Wave had been in full swing when he had arrived. Hundreds of monsters were around the city as well and while he'd cleared them out it meant that there was a good chance that the nearby villages were still in danger.
His caution was getting people killed.
"Well?" he asked, tempted to blast the idiot and ask the next person.
"There are five settlements, sir." said a man behind the one on his knees, unlike his superior this man had only saluted Adrian, "I can show them to you on a map."
Adrian nodded and changed his sword form to project a map using his cartographers' sword.
"Will this suffice?" he asked, dashing to the man's side.
The soldier flinched but nodded and pointed out the locations. Adrian nodded and dashed away, irritated by his behaviour.
He had seen all of these settlements before with his skills.
Adrian moved and attacked. There were plenty of monsters to slaughter on the way. He felt relieved that he was strong enough to kill everything in his path. It wasn't enough, not really, but it was better than being helpless. He couldn't imagine anything worse than being teleported and then proving himself to be too weak to matter.
He arrived above the village and grimaced as soon as his senses grasped the situation. Adrian didn't wait or plan.
He fell.
Within seconds he was blazing towards the ground, cold wind buffeted him, projected swords moving even faster than him killing the more difficult targets. Moments before he crashed he triggered a Dash. The cold cut off instantly and he landed in front of a farmer holding a pitchfork, desperate to defend a child who was hiding.
A slash was followed by an immense firestorm.
Adrian carefully directed it to hit only the monsters. His mana guiding the flames away from the people.
Blindsight let him understand his failure.
Five people were killed. Many more injured. Homes were in ruins.
It was a microcosm of what had occurred in the city. Only a handful of monsters had managed to arrive here, mostly flying beasts or those on the outskirts of the Wave, but even that was enough to devastate the village.
Adrian didn't wait for them to react. He wasn't sure what he could say to them that didn't sound like mockery. A series of Dashes let him move around the perimeter of the village. He noted the paltry, shattered defences and placed a handful of seeds in a dozen different spots. A small trickle of SP later they had started to grow into a proper defensive fortification.
They expanded underground first before rising upwards and sideways to meet each other. The ten-meter tall fence that was created drew gasps from the village folk. Adrian noted awe and worry but no fear. It had not had time to arrive.
The tops of the trees began to change shape. Swiftly they folded inwards towards the centre of the village. A dome forming around the village, support pillars dropping as he slowly cut the village off from the rest of the world.
Adrian landed inside the area before it was sealed off. He directed the support pillar near him to form a flat surface. Something akin to a table.
"Healing Potions. Magic Water. Stamina Potions. Salves. Food" he said, manifesting some of each item as he spoke to the man with the highest quality robes in the village, "please use them freely. I'll be back to check on you within half an hour or whenever the Waves end. Don't leave the dome."
He waited. Then realized that he had killed the monsters and created the dome in less than ten seconds. Their surprise was understandable.
Still, "Do you understand?" he asked, more forcefully this time and got a nod.
Adrian nodded back and then dashed upwards. The dome closed behind him and flowers bloomed inside lighting the village up. He promised himself that he'd return and help them restore their homes. It would be the work of moments for him and it would probably matter a great deal to them.
He glanced back at the Wave and grimaced at the sight of monsters already pressuring the defenders on the walls. The dome was doing well but little else was.
He should have sealed off the entire city. The defenders on the walls were quite useless.
Adrian launched a dozen long-range sword beams to cut down the numbers, wincing at the hit to his SP even through the Status Enchantments. He moved. Feeling like there was a hole in his chest he ignored the defenders for the moment. There was a nearby village that he had to shield and it was their job to protect the walls. To die if need be...at least in theory. He very much doubted they trained for things like a Wave centred directly on their city with no warning or preparation time.
He was leaving them to die.
Adrian promised himself to be better prepared. None of this would be a problem if he had an army. A real army rather than the mess that Melromarc had.
Then, he remembered the bitch that had managed to trigger the Wave and cursed her instead.
His worthless thoughts were removed once he arrived at the village. Monsters infested this one as well.
Sword flew. Screeches rang out for an instant before they were silenced.
Emotions don't matter, he reminded himself, I have a job to do.
It didn't remove the bitter feeling of helplessness as he saw the dead again.
Two hours. One second. Five minutes.
It had taken two hours for the Chimaera to emerge. One second for it to die and five minutes for the Wave to fade after that.
It was only after the reddish hue vanished that he realized that dawn had passed him by during the battle. The sun was there, weakly poking its way through the clouds. He heard a loud cheer from the soldiers and adventurers on the walls.
A laugh escaped his dry throat and he pulled out some water from his sword. For a single moment, he shut his Blindsight and drank the cold, clean water. It was a guilty relief not to see the unmoving bodies or that shattered parts of the city below him.
He landed on the dome, sending a fragment of his SP to the plants and causing the dangerous variants to recede. Adrian moved with a deliberately slow pace, absorbing the monsters, trying not to think and simply taking deep breaths.
He couldn't convince himself for long. Adrian began to Dash around quickly absorbing the monsters so that he could remove the dome from the city. He'd built it rather hastily and he didn't want to find out that it was unstable once weathered by time.
Skeletons, bees, snakes, spiders and many others were consumed. He unlocked hundreds of swords but it felt odd. Adrian tried to shrug it off but it didn't fade away. As he analyzed the area with Blindsight it felt even worse.
It took him a moment to realize that he felt bad for gaining this power after failing to protect so many people. Adrian didn't think that he was some kind of God or all-powerful being. He was being irrational. Stupid. He knew that it wasn't his fault...at least not completely.
Emotions didn't listen to logic.
He could see the hundreds of bodies strewn around the city. The guards had been mobilized. People were being helped but many more were trapped in rubble or moaning in pain or staring blankly with nothing in their faces.
Adrian let out a shuddering breath and moved upward after the last monster was absorbed. The rays of the sun lightly caressed his face but he ignored the warmth and focused on the five villages he had fortified. They seemed to be fine with only some weak monsters struggling to overcome his barriers.
Adrian moved swiftly. Within a minute the monsters near them had been eradicated and the domes removed. He left the fences as they were, only adding a gate, as an apology for trapping them in the dark.
He couldn't imagine many things more terrifying than being trapped, dependant on the kindness of a stranger, helpless and worried.
Adrian moved up higher into the sky and tried to relax. He savoured the illusion of freedom; of being truly unconstrained. His mind began to slowly reach stillness as his breaths grew longer. The cold air spread from his lungs to his mind. He sipped at a Stamina booster.
This had been a disaster, but recovery was possible for many of the people down there. It was also an opportunity.
But to make full use of it he'd have to deal with an immense challenge.
Politics.
Before his courage faded Adrian repositioned himself directly above the central pillar that was anchoring his dome, open a small hole in the dome and let go of his skills.
His stats let him contemplate for a very long time even as he enjoyed an absurd version of skydiving. His hands were comfortable despite being exposed to the frigid air, his breathing was calm and his heart rate steady.
It was oddly boring to skydive when you felt no fear of falling. The thrill had been destroyed.
Adrian triggered his Dash and emerged outside the tent that the arguing nobles were using to coordinate their plans. He could see Agatha pacing while speaking to the others who were seated. They were scared of her. It amused him. Then, Mana sight confirmed his suspicions and inflamed his anger.
He walked in with a pair of floating swords as his escorts. The guards didn't try to stop him once they got a good look at his sword.
Adrian kept a placid smile up.
"Good morning," he said, as he called on the roots nearby to make a throne for himself, it rose underneath him and slowly the entire tent was uprooted and consumed as a building formed around them. He did his best to make it as Majestic as possible. A mirror of the throne room that Aultcray had first attempted to control him with.
It felt right.
The nobles stared at him nervously as the room around them changed. None of them protested as their chairs were removed forcing them to remain standing. The table they had been organized around was destroyed and their servants were gently pushed out by a couple of vines. Vines that were quickly covered in crystals, mana draining crystals. Only Agatha caught that. She observed them with incredible focus and only relaxed once she was certain that they were on the walls.
The atmosphere had changed. The smell of wood, the beautiful crystals that were arrayed around the room, the flowers that acted as the light source, the fact that they were forced to stand while he was seated on a throne.
Adrian felt a sense of triumph at the reversal from the day of his summoning. Back then he had been forced to submit. It was strange to use the lessons he had learned from a man he had just killed.
It took less than a minute for them to be left inside alone with him, no guards or protective tools. He savoured the atmosphere feeling a strange cocktail of satisfaction and fear. He was planning to deal with experienced politicians. He needed to do it on his terms.
Agatha shattered the ambience with a cackle.
"Great entrance," she said, "9 out of 10 for drama and scaring the soul out of these bastards."
He smiled.
Adrian could see that she was nervous. Her mana was flaring but her expression was carefully controlled. Adrian was tempted to see if he could scare her as the other nine but decided against it.
She had fought the monsters and was the leader of the restoration efforts. He could respect that. Even if he was certain that she was his most formidable enemy here.
"Thank you," he said, "but why did I miss that last point?"
She smirked, "No explosions." she said, "An epic entrance always need explosions."
He shook his head, his smile widening reluctantly, she had destroyed his first move, "I'll do better next time," he said, before his voice turned cold, "We have much to discuss." He glared at the nobles one at a time using his perception enhancement to take his time analyzing them.
Most flinched. One showed genuine anger. Agatha stayed calm.
Adrian's smile vanished and anger was warped into fear. He cursed internally as Agatha's amusement only grew. She was a problem.
"Do any of you have experience in dealing with the aftermath of a Wave?" he asked, his tone light. He kept his senses blazing and his swords floated around him. Ready to kill if they chose to protest him taking charge violently. He didn't think they'd be eager to give up their authority.
Aultcray had used decades to build up his reputation. Adrian hadn't done anything in comparison to that. A show of direct power was needed. Adrian was no expert in politics or people but he understood fear.
There was a pause but one of the women gathered her courage and spoke.
"I believe that Lord Alamos was involved in managing the refugees from the previous Wave," she said while looking at an older man with white hair and incredibly ornate clothing. A multitude of gemstones, all of them enchanted, studded his form and he looked to be at least level 50.
The man probably considered himself strong. He glared at the lady but fear returned and he turned to Adrian slowly. Alamo's heart rate spiked and he began to shake a little.
"I did play a part, Sir Hero," he said, before pointing out two of the people standing, "As did Lady Katrina and Lord Nimlok. However, it was His Majesty and the Church that contributed the greatest fraction of aid."
"I see," he said, feeling a sudden burst of fury as the man confirmed his suspicions. Most of them had slaves. He could see the mana of the slave seal on them. Alamos, in particular, had a great many slaves bound to him.
Adrian's blindsight let him track down the slaves who had a seal that shared Alamos' mana signature. It wasn't far from the Castle and was nestled in the high-class district. The Waves had damaged the house that Alamos probably lived in but not as much as Adrian would have expected. A direct consequence of the reasonable defences around the house and the many skilled soldiers patrolling the location even now.
But none of this kept Adrian's attention. Instead, he could see the young lady with wolf ears cleaning the rubble from a wall that had been taken down, the children even younger than her who were milling around performing manual labour with the many servants populating the area.
They looked decently looked after, for slaves, but the sight of them was still infuriating. The thought of Raphtalia or Rifana or Isis being in their position was sickening.
"Sir Hero?" asked a voice. Adrian snapped out of his observations and glanced at the youngest member who was looking terrified.
Adrian ignored the teenager and looked at Alamos, "Then you played a part in the murder and enslavement of the people of Seaetto," he said, leaning back against the rather comfortable throne and tilting his head, "I killed Aultcray because of that. Do you have a reason for me not to kill you?"
Alamos' eyes widened and his fellows swallowed heavily but before they could say or do anything a loud cackle interrupted them.
Agatha had looked stunned, then a vicious grin had split her face, her cackling had soon followed, "These three weren't the only ones in charge. There are many others," she said, amusement giving way to bitter fury, "most of them aren't here but this bastard played a pretty big role. He was the main commander." Her finger was pointed at Alamos, "the other two were just in it for the fun and the chance to gain Aultcray's favour."
"That's not true!" said Alamos, panicking completely he turned to Adrian, "The King ordered us to do as he commanded. We would have never done anything like this without his commands…"
The man continued to rant and his two comrades joined in. Adrian had to admit that they were quite creative in their begging. But by this point, he had tracked down the many slaves that these three had. The others had them as well.
Most of those slaves were in horrible conditions.
It galvanized Adrian's decision.
Nine blades manifested. Three flew forward and stopped a couple of centimetres away from Alamos and his dear allies. Screams rang out and people flinched. Their eyes followed the swords that he had just created. No doubt realizing what the number implied.
"Silence," he said, smiled at the immediate obedience and turned his attention to Alamos, "cut yourself using that sword and keep your hand on the blade."
The three nobles hesitated. Agatha was smiling widely. Enjoying the show. He reassessed his opinion of her. She hated these people.
"Do as I ordered or I shall simply assume your guilt and act accordingly," he said, this time they did as commanded and Adrian triggered the Curse Seal formation. The three of them gritted their teeth as the pain started but horror settled in on the faces of everyone there only after they realized what he was doing to them.
"No!" said Alamos trying to back away, "You can't-"
Adrian had the sword stab Alamos in the shoulder while the wooden floor flared up and bound him with wines. The seal was soon applied.
He smiled at them once they were all bound by the seal. Released Alamos from his plant prison. Reduced the pain to the medium and restricted their behaviour quite thoroughly.
"Tell me the full truth regarding the events that occurred in the Seaetto Region," he commanded.
Alamos swallowed. He looked at the others who had been bound alongside him and then turned to the others in the room. Only Agatha met his eyes. Her mocking grin had Alamos turning to look at the ground.
He knelt.
"Please forgive me," he said, his head on the ground, his voice muffled, tears running down his face, "I'll repent I promise-"
Adrian felt his annoyance rise.
"Don't beg. Don't ask for mercy and don't waste my time," he said, "tell me everything."
Hope shone on the old man's face. He got up from the ground and said, "Yes! Of course Sir Hero. I…I played a role in planning the raids. His Majesty and His Holiness asked it of me and offered me the chance to gain the Lands belonging to Seaetto…"
Alamos hid nothing. Oh, he tried to but a jolt of pain and a floating sword was often enough to motivate the man.
To Adrian's surprise while some of the nobles were scared...a lot of them were shocked or disgusted by his confession of how he had killed Lord Seaetto, enslaved the people he was supposed to kill to make a greater profit and had not fully removed the monsters because he wanted the monsters to clear the area of all life.
Adrian flared his mana once Alamos was done speaking and the wooden floor consumed him. He didn't even get a chance to scream as he was drawn underground. Poisoned and paralyzed he was no longer a concern.
The other warily watched the room around them. Perhaps realizing that they were in his domain. He didn't need his swords to deal with them. The room they were in was enough.
Adrian found their composure to be rather impressive considering that they were one step away from the same fate as Alamos. Agatha had reason to be confident. The magic he had seen her using was powerful and she was at least a level 90.
The others were not even a minor threat. He had to wonder at their confidence.
"Anything to say?" he asked the two noblemen who Alamos had named as his allies.
One of them nodded, "We can only beg mercy for our families Sword Hero," he said, kneeling but looking Adrian straight in the eye, "Neither of us desired to take part in such an activity but our loyalty to our liege lord demanded it."
Truth. The seal told him that much. But it didn't excuse anything.
He had seen the horrific devastation. Tens of thousands had died in Seaetto. It infuriated him that they asked for mercy for their families and that the others in the room seemed to agree with them when thousands of families, children had been killed on their orders.
Adrian dragged them underground to join Alamos before he lost control and killed them. A breath let him relax and loosen the hold on the hilt of his sword.
The room was tense. Each one wondering who would be next. Adrian wanted to scoff. These fools wouldn't be dealt with for now. He had probably ensured their obedience and that was more valuable to the people down in the city than their corpses.
"Tell me about your plans to help the city recover," he said, "What have you done until now and what do you plan to do?"
"We've got order established," said Agatha after silence lingered for a moment at the sudden topic change, "your attack and the barrier you set up helped with that but we've got a lot of injured. Food and Water could also be a problem but not a very big one. In the long run, though we're in trouble. A lot of houses were wrecked."
Adrian glanced at the city, "Order?" he asked, "there's a fair amount of looting going on even now and you're guards are fucking stupid. They're trying to discipline the people rather than calming them down."
She shrugged, "It's not great," she admitted, "but with the time we had and with the chaos thanks to the Wave and the Castle's destruction it's' the best we can do."
Adrian felt like the second point was a jab at him but said nothing about it. It was probably true.
He sighed, feeling a headache startup, "Leave food, water and shelter to me." he said, planning out how to alter the pillars he had used to support the dome so that it became more useful, "I'll need your support to maintain order, manage the logistics of getting the resources to the right place and deal with search and rescue. Any other concerns?"
The nobles looked stunned at his sudden reversal but a glance at them was enough to remove their surprised expressions.
"We must consider the nearby regions Sword Hero," said one of the women.
Adrian waved it off, "I've dealt with them already. It would be wise to send a party to confirm it but the nearby villages are safe and the monsters were killed for the most part."
Another wave of surprise passed through and even Agatha looked a little off balance.
"You dealt with the entire Wave," she said. It was a statement but her flat tone sounded rather disbelieving.
"It is my job," he said, "it would be rather pathetic if I couldn't."
She snorted at that, "Absurd. You've got a lot stronger Sword Hero."
Laughter bubbled up against his will, "Not calling me a brat?" he asked.
"You've graduated past that," she said with a smile, before speaking more seriously, "Do you know why the Wave happened so early?"
"Nothing certain," he admitted truthfully, even if he was not being fully honest, "I have some sources to contact and I'll check on the Hourglass to figure out what I can but…"
He trailed off and she seemed to understand. Adrian was stunned. Agatha seemed to treat him with casual respect even though he had killed Aultcray and abandoned Melormarc.
Was defeating this Wave that important to her?
"Mind giving me an update once you get some news?" she asked.
"Of course," he said, with a nod, "Keep in mind that the next Wave is coming early as well. It will hit Melromarc in fifteen days."
That had been an unpleasant surprise. Malty's impact was long-running and he would likely be facing Glass more than a month in advance. He needed to get ready for that as well.
It was part of the reason he had decided to take over Melromarc and why he would be teleporting the slaves from here to his base.
Two independent power bases. One which he would have total control over but was weak and a second more established one that would be harder and riskier to control.
"Got it," she said, "any idea where it'll hit exactly?"
He shook his head, "No," he said, "but I'll be expecting Melromarc to have an army ready to join my Battle Formation during the Wave. That way you'll have people on site. I won't expect much support in the way of fighting the Wave but rescue and evacuation will be on you."
Plus, if Glass showed up he'd need something to keep the Wave at bay while he was busy with her...and if he died then at least the Wave wouldn't be allowed to spread for a long time.
"I'm not the person you should talk to for that," she said.
"Who is the right person then?" he asked.
"Well...you killed the last one," she said, smiling to take the edge off, "so Mirellia is your best bet."
"You mean the wife of the man who I just killed." he said, tone hard, "and the woman who had all four Heroes summoned into her nation."
"Nope," she said, ignoring his annoyance, "I mean the woman who is the actual ruler. Who was blindsided by her idiot husband and who needs your help if this country is to exist past the month."
He considered that for a couple of seconds, "Has some declared war on Melromarc?" he asked, wondering if that was what could make Mirellia desperate enough to ask for his help.
"Someone," scoffed Agatha, "try asking who hasn't decided to go to war. The conference broke down after the Shield Hero was killed by those fuckers who run the Church. Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden are already getting ready to invade and I'm sure that we have others who are going to follow."
War.
The thought was worrying. He could imagine just how horrific war with magic could be. Adrian wondered just why he hadn't considered the possibility before shaking the thought off.
The Wave was the concern for now. He'd worry about warfare later.
"Irrelevant," he said, "Mirellia isn't here."
"She will be within a couple of hours," said Agatha, he caught one of the noblewoman nodding. Adrian marked her as a potential Mirellia supporter.
"Fine." he said, already planning how to get some leverage on her and wondering how to isolate her for an honest conversation...and possibly simply leaving, he wasn't sure how to face a woman he had just widowed, "but let's get on with our immediate concerns."
He received a nod and the meeting quickly shifted into a planning session for dealing with the aftermath of the Wave. It was quite interesting how useful the nobles were when fear was driving them.
A dozen floating swords were quite useful as a very blunt threat.
It hardly took ten minutes for a decent plan to be hashed out.
