The days in the town of Orgo are normally a picture of activity and life, but today is an irregular day, as the townsfolk aren’t milling about doing their business. Currently, many of its residents are gathered at the central plaza either buzzing about with gossip or silent with anticipation since the call for an entire town gathering is an action their ‘beloved’ Governor has never done in the many years of his service.

Some are worried that the Governor may finally have gotten way over his head and request something unreasonable of the town. Others were simply curious as to whether the Governor actually has something planned at all. The majority, however, were simply anxious in case there was such dire news that most of the town had to be called for attention keeping them from doing their most important everyday work.

Regardless, only their Governor has the answer and he soon made his appearance atop a platform overlooking the entire town square. With the aid of a magical enchantment from one of his mage guards, he gave his speech in a clear and loud voice.

“Dear people of Orgo, hear me! It is with great pain that I must inform you all… that a great crisis is about to befall our beloved town! With the noble sacrifice of some of our beloved adventurers, I have discovered that two great monster waves are fast approaching our town!”

When Bremv made his announcement, it is of no surprise that people starting making cries of panic as well as outrage towards him. The fact that another two monster waves are approaching is a situation that is incredibly rare and is akin to two natural disasters converging at once. Despite this, why are the people angry at Bremv? Simply, the sins of Bremv are many, and to the townspeople, chief among them is his apparent lack of action towards the reinforcement of the town guard and its patrols, as well as manipulating the adventurers.

Had any effort been made to bolster their security, perhaps the signs of a wave would have been found sooner. For years, the merchants and travelers have suffered under the constant attacks from bandits and monsters in their travels, especially his rivals and enemies. Because of this, most, if not all, believe that the responsibility for causing this situation falls on Bremv.

“People! Please listen! All is not lost! I have found a way to save us all through a reliable alliance! And it is with great confidence that I guarantee his strength in handling the coming monster waves!”

Some of the people quieted down when they heard this. Their first thought was the mysterious and odd scalekin who recently arrived in town and blasted his way up to being regarded as a hero for having singlehandedly defeated a Monster Lord, a feat only heard of in legends. The people brightened up and were about to cheer… but froze instead when they saw the being that appeared next to Bremv.

“Have no fear, everyone! I understand what you all might be thinking since you know what he is and I truly can understand your anxiety… but please rest assured that he is a friend! He has splendidly been supporting our town for years, and with his help, we’ll be able to push back the waves! After all, a scalekin has recently become our hero, so why not a powerful Mahjin-kai?”

A scalekin was one thing, but a Mahjin-kai was another. The scalekins were openly hostile to humans while wary of the other races, but they make their hostility known and were upfront about it. The Mahjin-kai, however, were great deceivers as well as spellmasters. They were as powerful as they were cunning and what sets them apart from the hostile scalekin was… their great pride and disdain for all races other than their own. That they are called ‘devils’ isn’t an understatement, and the common knowledge for the people living in the southern continent is that should one come in contact with them, only a great disaster awaits.

Indeed… to believe that one of the ‘northern devils’ was willing to aid their town was nothing but the height of folly… and Bremv knows this. If it weren’t for many of their plans going down the drain and his desperation, he wouldn’t have had to rely on such a foolish ploy in hoping the people would actually believe him. But a cornered rat would even strike a hungry cat, so despite the angry response of the crowd, he continued to desperately appeal to them… until the final nail was struck.

“Don’t listen to that pathetic fool.”

Everyone turned their eyes and saw the Guild Head, Gren, while emitting a strong aura of commanding pressure walking towards the platform then stopped in front of it.

“Gren… Worrick…”

With seething hate, Bremv called his name. His hostility stems from the fact that his hold on the entire town would have been perfect if not for Gren. So that complete authority wouldn’t be centralized to a single figure, Gren proposed the system where the town’s power would be split between the Guild Heads and the Governor. The Town Council agreed to this and because of it, Bremv wasn’t able to move as he pleased.

Time and time again, many of his schemes were ruined because of the ‘authority’ the adventurers held as well as the nature of their occupations. Bremv had to pull more strings than necessary as well as nearly milk his funds dry at most occasions because of the ‘greedy’ adventurers. This was why he had Merik spirit away some of the weaker parties in order to cut the Adventurers Guild’s strength at the base. This was a slow process, however, and over the years his patience wore thin, which in turn further increased his hatred for Gren.

“Leave Gren! This has nothing to do with you!”

“You must have truly gone mad for actually saying that a Monster Wave is none of MY business. Mad or not, your days as Governor are over, Bremv.”

“How dare you! You don’t have the authority to-“

“I don’t, but the town council does. After some efforts made in investigating your actions these past few years while you had me unceremoniously ‘tied down’, I’ve discovered quite some disturbing facts involving your hand in the disappearances of many of my adventurers along with your competitors… all with the help of your friend there. Regarding the two waves, all leads also point towards that devil’s actions as well… This time… there’s no hope for you Bremv.”

Bremv turned pale while his mouth froze. Truly, had Gren not been kept in check over the years, he’d have long since discovered and taken care of Bremv’s unsavory abuse of authority over the years. And while he hated Gren, this does not mean that he didn’t fear him, for indeed… his power as a Gold rank adventurer was real. Cornered and panicked, he soon felt a hand on his shoulders and somewhat became calm as he faced his only hope; the blue-skinned man with the ever-confident smile…

“Well, this turned out mostly how I expected it. Now Bremv… it is ‘time’ for you to receive the honor of becoming a Voidborn. Oh how ‘bright’ your 'future' will be by becoming an agent of destruction serving one of the Imperio Elektitaj!”

…and his hopes were forever turned to despair.

As Merik said those words, something within him started to stir. Worms or tendrils appeared as if crawling underneath Bremv’s skin as he screamed and panicked from the pain. He then started swelling up slowly like a balloon being inflated. Like putty in a child’s hands, his body started to morph onto itself while it swelled finally turning him into a 4-meter monster with a grotesque lumpy body of pulsating molded flesh with the ends of his arms ending in large hooked tentacles instead of hands. His head was bald with pulsating veins and had two pale dead-looking eyes. He had no nose, but everything below his eyes opened into a vertical slit all the way to his lower abdomen with each side lined with human-like molars, looking as if it was a giant vertical crooked mouth. With each breath and pulse of its flesh, it looked to be in suffering as it writhed.

Screams of panic and fear erupted from the crowd while the transformation was happening. Gren, with a look of anger, ordered the adventurers and guards to calm the crowd and take them to safety.

“Oh dear… it looks like instead of a Voidborn, you’ve ended up becoming a Mizera. Truly unfortunate… however, your purpose hasn’t changed and you could still have a bright future should you succeed in fulfilling your role. Now Bremv… go out and have a feast…”

Despite the creature’s size, it moved quickly as it jumped to one side of the crowd, seemingly to instinctually avoid Gren. It soon started catching unfortunate people by twos and threes with its tendril-like arms, and started tossing them into its stomach slit; the ripping sounds of flesh and crunched bone was so loud it almost seemed to drown the crowd’s screams.

Gren took action as soon as he could while avoiding hurting the people through the force of his movements. When he reached the creature-turned-Bremv, a lake of blood already pooled underneath it along with bits of mangled weapons, clothes, bones, and flesh.

“Thrice-damned netherspawn! How in the hells did you get yourself into this Bremv? I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you were this stupid… Look at you now… turning into a damned Wretched.”

The creature, probably having gained confidence after its meal, tried to entangle Gren as well… but for some reason, it couldn’t move its arms… or rather, where were its arms?

“You won’t find an easy prey in me, Wretched. It’s time to put you to rest for good, so I suggest holding sti- what in the gods!?”

The creature, having lost its arms from Gren's sudden attack, simply decided to regrow new ones. It then began its assault anew looking for prey other than Gren since it decided he was too much trouble.

“Oh no you don’t!”

With superhuman agility, Gren moved swiftly looking as if he warped in front of the creature then kicked it face first smashing onto the platform where Bremv made his announcement earlier.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

The sound of clapping could be heard above and behind Gren. Merik floated there with an amused expression.

“Bravo, bravo! I wouldn’t have expected any less from the man known as the War Lion King! But it wouldn’t be any fun if you were to win this easily now wouldn’t it… I also don’t like getting my hands dirty, so… do you remember those two Monster Waves, old Gren?”

“…”

“Oh don’t be like that! It IS your business as you so pointed out earlier after all. Regarding those two waves… you were right! I did happen to be involved with them! And do you know why I bothered to mention them? Because they’re your problem now!”

Dark swirling ovals started appearing across the entire town square. Soon, monsters started appearing from within them and came rushing out like a massive wave. While this was happening, the creature-Bremv soon came out from the rubble that was the platform.

“Hahahahahahaha! What can you hope to do alone Gren? Your beloved town is… going… to… be… … by the Imperiestro, what is this?”

Merik’s reaction was reasonable… after all… the monsters that started pouring out were mostly bloodied and mangled. Fear was in their eyes as if they were running from something… as if an unknown predator was out to hunt them all…

“GAWROOOOOOOOO!”

An ominous howl-like roar came from within one of the portals and soon a massive plated dinosaur-like beast flew out of the larger portals smashing onto some unfortunate monsters turning them into meat paste. After some time, an even larger scaled wolf-like monster came out of the portal bringing with it an army of wolf-like beasts, hellhounds, and even giant komodo-like lizards that appeared much more ferocious and more importantly healthier than the creatures that came before them.

Merik stared at the plated dinosaur beast then looked at the scaled-wolf… after some pondering, he voiced only one thought.

‘That… is NOT one of mine…”

And for the time since meeting that High Dragon, he once again lost his smile.

…

“How is everyone holding up?”

“We’re able to deal with it somehow, but it’s not looking good. They don’t seem to tire and their coordination is impeccable, almost as if their movements are… unnatural.”

“…what do you mean?”

“I think what Dustin means is that they are moving like machines?”

“Machines? Like what Artificers or Tinkerers make?”

“Somewhat. You could say it means that they move in an otherworldly manner so precise that it can’t be done by a living being. Simply put, they are being manipulated. I can sense the miasma spilling from all of them and some of them are already to the point that it feels like they’re made of the stuff.”

“That’s… horrible…”

“Indeed…”

From what I’ve learned about miasma from the others, it’s the residual power of the dark entities that once plagued this world. It feeds off malice and all other negative energies from emotions or spirits while accumulating in areas with low concentrations of the presence of higher races such as humans, beastkin, and the like. Ironically, while it is repelled by the concentration of life energies from the sentient souls of the races, it is also attracted to the energies on an instinctual level akin to a predator hunting prey; hence it attaches itself to smaller or individual organisms corrupting them until they become monsters.

Glenn’s and Angela’s reactions are understandable… to forcefully expose concentrated miasma to someone of a sentient race is to corrupt their souls and transform them into powerful monsters… I heard it’s a slow and painful process and once turned they can no longer be saved. The new creatures are then called Mizera, or by Origin of Words’ translation… the Wretched.

“How are Catras and his men holding up? And the bandits?”

“Not good. Catras was pulled into the earth by some Wretched earlier, causing his men’s remaining morale to be almost nonexistent right now. The bandits are doing what they can while being carried by Bolgruk’s strength, but it’s honestly looking grim as well. It’s only a matter of time until we’re overrun.”

“…It seems that things are quickly going south. If you all are willing to listen, I have a plan that I’m pretty sure would get us out of this.”

“No need to be polite about it Camus, go ahead and tell us.”

“Alright, everyone needs to gather around me and hold off the Wretched for as long as you can. When I give the signal, you must all then close your eyes and cover your ears. I know what it sounds like, but I hope you can all trust me on this.”

I could fight them all off myself, but it’s going to take forever and would be very unproductive. Not to mention that everyone wouldn’t want to sit still while I did everything, so it would only increase the likelihood that someone would get hurt.

“Don’t worry, Camus. Your methods are at times questionable, but I know you won’t let us down. Everyone! Call out to the bandits! Tell them to gather with us as the center! With their help, we’ll be able to endure this longer!”

“Is that wise, Ellen? They might turn on us when the chance arrives.”

“Unlikely… unlike well disciplined soldiers, they’ll more likely be desperate for any chance to live longer. Besides, Bolgruk is an honorable one, making him a predictable sort. Once this hell’s done with, we’ll settle things then.”

“Got it.”

Everyone started calling out to the bandits and even Catras’ men. To be honest, I wanted to get rid of them alongside the Wretched, but I guess we’ll make use of them for now. The bandits were obviously unwilling to listen at first but it seems their Chief brought them all together…forcibly. He gave me a fierce look and a nod as he was ordering them around. Looks like he’ll trust me for now.

While all this was happening, I took out a new weapon. At this point, people may actually think I specialize with a sword or melee weapons, but in truth it turns out that after training with dad, I found out my combat specialties lie in another area… a bow.

This actually surprised me at first since I was never good with shooting or FPS(*) games, however, when I used the bow for the first time, it felt really comfortable in my hands. Not to say I was talented or anything since I couldn’t hit anything when I started, but I managed to hit my targets in only a few short days as opposed to other weapons which took me more than a week to fully grasp. Even mastery of my gun took months.

The weapon in my hands also isn’t an ordinary bow. According to pops, among all my weapons, it’s the only one not made in Ellara since it’s a special weapon given to the Kingdom as a gift from the firstborn of the elves, Aldwenari, the High Excellarch of Runegaia, the capital and origin of all elvenkind.

It’s a beautiful and intricate jade-green bow that appears to be made… or somewhat grown out of wood, but I could sense mana pulsing within it as if it was a living organism, implying it’s a magic bow. I won't be able to showcase my bow skills with it, but it's the right weapon for the task at hand. I’ve used it only once, and its power is tremendous… to the point that I could say that on the level of destruction, I have no weapon that could rival it. My dad called it Heaven’s Bolter, but I called him out on it saying it didn’t exactly sound elvish so after egging him several times, he gave up and told me its true name… the Star Flinger, Ichaival.

“Camus! Everyone has gathered around us, but we won’t last long! We’re being attacked on all sides!”

“Alright, EVERYONE! CLOSE YOUR EYES AND EARS!”

The first step to my plan… is a little device I recreated from my old world thanks to magic and the ores I found here. It’s a little stronger than the original, but it should work nicely since the enemies are great in number. I lightly threw a cylinder in the air above me and as it reached the peak, some of the Wretched adventurers tried to shoot it down, but it won’t stop what’s coming next.

*BOOM*

With a loud sharp explosive blast and flashing light, the area around us became bathed in noise and a blinding flash. I could hear the Wretched scream in pain from the sudden burst of the ‘stun grenade’ I threw. While all this was happening I closed my eyes and aimed Ichaival at the sky directly above me and fired a single mana-bolt arrow.

Reaching a height of over a thousand feet in the air, the arrow soon started ‘twinkling’ as the energy within itself was building up until… it burst… into a cluster of thousands of shining needles of light that rained down upon the earth around us.

“Gaaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Aaaaargh!”

All around us, the Wretched were screaming as hundreds – thousands of arrows of light rained down upon them, shredding them like pouring rain on thin ice. If I hadn’t adjusted the energies surging within the bow, the damage would’ve been greater and scars upon the earth would’ve formed.

Surprisingly though, some of them weren’t erased by the arrows and instead were cleansed of miasma. I regulated the energies and directed it only to attack the sources of the miasma, but I didn’t expect that the arrows would only target the miasma itself and release the ones that were prematurely corrupted. I can’t help but feel this is one hell of a good coincidence even if not all of them could be saved.

“As usual, you always somehow create miracles.”

“What can I say? I honestly wasn’t expecting this outcome, but it’s definitely better than expected more or less.”

“Indeed! I don’t know what you did sir Camus, but as always you’re amazing! A lot of the adventurers can be saved!”

Hehe… when you all praise me like that, I can’t help but feel embarrassed. I refrain from making stupid faces and gestures though… that would be uncool. Everyone’s celebrating and there was a light atmosphere all around. Hm? I heard the sound of crumbling earth over there… Oh, it’s just that bastard, Catras. Heh, looks like he lives.

“Boss!”

“You’re awright boss! Waah! I thought you’d be dead!”

“Knock it off you louts! I’m fine! As if a bunch of corrupted bastards can take me out!”

Catras seems to be fine as he and his men come over to us. As usual, he looks very pissed.

“I guess I have you to thank for this, scales. I heard from my men you helped them while I was pulled under. I thank you… and… sorry.”

“Think nothing of it, Catras. Besides, we needed all the help we can get.”

“Right… anyway, where’s Ellen and Bolgruk? I need a rundown from the leaders of all parties while I was out…”

That’s oddly responsible coming from him. Perhaps his little near death experience changed him somehow? I didn’t need to tell him where she was since Ellen was making her way towards us… also, now that I think about it, how did he know Bolgruk was helping us? I didn’t think much of it at first because everyone was celebrating, but… then I sensed it. Only, I was a little too late….

“Catras, are you al- !?”

A dark purple mass flew out of Catras mouth and wrapped itself around Ellen, binding her body and her mouth. Then a misshapen mouth appeared at the end of the tendril.

“Hahaha! This is only a recording lizard, but I do hope you’re listening. When I aimed my spell at your party earlier, I saw that you reacted the most towards miss Ellen. No doubt she became my primary target but I never expected you to handle that situation so well. I knew you’d be guarded against me, so I took the next route… by placing a delayed curse into someone you could care less about, and unknowingly let them near. I knew your arrogance would work against you, so I do hope you enjoy your woman becoming a mindless monster of the Void!”

A dark swirling mass of miasma opened behind Ellen and pulled her in while the pseudo-tentacle mouth laughed in an irritating way.

“ELLEN!”

I couldn’t move earlier since I was in a panic, but now rage spurred me into action and I grew into my full form as I could now care less for anything anymore. I rushed towards the closing portal and without thinking I thrust my arms into it and pushed it open like I was separating two sliding doors. Without thinking as to why it worked, I rushed inside and flew in with all my might.

The first thing I noticed was how stifling the air was in here. Was there even air? I pushed all these questions to the back of my mind and rushed forward following Ellen’s life force. This place being devoid of life energy made it simple and I soon found her floating in the void while covered in some purple slime-like substance. She had a pained look in her eyes as it looked like it was forcing its way down her mouth.

My rage fueled further, in a flash I was before her and tried to rip the miasma off from her like with Lanfa before, but contrary to my expectations it simply slipped from my fingers.

I was shocked and desperate as I kept clawing at it but to no avail… Never have I felt so much panic since I was reborn into this world… was this how I start my adventure? Losing the first woman to ever recognize me since my first life? All because of some stupid arrogance that I failed to keep in check despite what Old Soul warned me? I don’t want this! I don’t what this to turn into some stupid tragedy that’s so popular with those annoying dramas! Ellen, I… I…

Maybe because she sensed my distress, her hand soon fell on top of mine. I looked at her and saw that her eyes were calmly looking at me.

How could you be so calm? You’re the one in pain right now… and I… I… wait… calm. That’s right… I need to be calm and use my head. Wasn’t there something I did back in the past that could deal with this? Think back… right… there was that one time… with the old man…

With renewed vigor, I decided to bet everything on this as I inhaled with as much as my lungs can take. With a familiar sensation of swirling energies from my lower abdomen, I built it up for as long as I could. And when the energy peaked, I unleashed it…

“GRAOOOOOOOOOON!”

I unleashed that roar once more… the roar that freed my father from his corruption. I honestly don’t know if it would work in the same way, but it’s the only hope I’ve got. I roared and roared with all my power that I could even feel the space around us shake and tremble from the outburst of the energy. I could even no longer sense the dark energies that stifled the space around us. After I spent all of the energy, I took a deep breath and looked around. I saw nothing but empty black space and in the middle of it, was Ellen, floating unconscious and free from the purple slime that was coiled around her.

I flew nearer to check if she was alright and placed the side of my head onto her chest carefully that she won't be hit by my horns to listen to her heartbeat. I could hear a healthy beating heart, but soon I gave myself a mental slap to the face when I remembered that I could have just checked her pulse through her wrists. I also found her breathing was fine, but I was afraid of checking in her mouth if there were any remnants of that purple blob. I slowly approached her face and gently put my hands on her cheek when she soon smiled.

“I understand you’re worried my dear Camus, but could we save this for another time?”

“Haha… Ah… well… it may sound like an excuse but… I was really… just going to check… if that thing was… still in your mouth…”

“Oh really? Couldn’t you have simply sensed it with your innate abilities to detect miasma? Hmm?”

“Uuh…”

Gah! To tell the truth, I was still half panicking to see if she was alright and I forgot all about the right way to do things instead of being stupid. Right now, Ellen’s giving me a mischievous looking grin, like she just caught a kid with his hands in the cookie jar… Ugh, I’m innocent, I swear!

I scratched my head since I was at a loss on how to respond, but Ellen just kept on surprising me as she gave me a peck on the side of my… cheek? I dunno if I have those so let’s just say face. I looked at her sheepishly as I touched the spot she gave me a light kiss.

“Hmhm. I know… you were just worried and I’m truly happy for that. But since we’re still in a predicament, just make do with that reward for now. So… where are we?”

“Uh right… this place should be… the void?”

“The void? The space between the physical plane and the spirit world where mana and miasma is said to gather? If that’s the case, how are we alive?”

“I’m not sure what else this place could be… I wasn’t exactly thinking straight since all I could think of at the time was rushing in after you…”

“Hmm… well, even if it is, my only concern now is… how do we get out?”

“…I’ve been too preoccupied to notice it earlier but… how about through that?”

What I was pointing Ellen towards was a huge ‘hole’ within the space that was behind her. Light was pouring in from it, so I think it might just be an exit. We approached it and as the light grew brighter, the sight before us gave us quite the shock.

“Is this… Orgo?”

That’s right… the ‘hole’ in space showed us Orgo. And right now… it’s a complete mess down there.

[Fenril, can you hear me?]

[Of course, My King. Is there something you need?]

[Where are you right now? How soon can you arrive at the town?]

[I’m already here.]

[…um…what?]

[I said I’m already here.]

[Uh, I know what you said but… didn’t you say it would take you a day?]

[Indeed, but as I was messing arou- I mean, as I was gathering an army worthy of you to aid me in protecting the town, I was in the middle of tossing around another boss monster, but soon it flew towards a swirling mass of purple energy and got swallowed up by it. Its minions followed after it so I though it was trying to escape, then suddenly I found myself in a new place filled with humes, beastkins, and other monsters. Seeing the weird structures, I thought this might be the town you were talking about and decided to do what you asked me to.]

I'll have to question him thoroughly later as this was one hell of a development, but I'll leave it for now.

[Um… right… can you tell me what you see?]

[I see a human man with a nice looking grey mane battling an ugly fat monster with tentacle arms.]

[Ok… that just sounded weird… but you seem to be in the right place.]

If he sees a man with a grey mane, then it can only be old Gren. It seems he got lucky and was teleported into the town by one of Merik’s portals. Talk about convenient.

[Anyways, now that you’re there, help that man and protect the town and its people. I’ll be there shortly.]

[Got it, My King. Also, aside from that boss I was facing earlier, I could sense another. There might be two monster bosses in this town, so I can’t be sure I’ll be able to hold off from breaking stuff.]

[Just make sure not to hurt the people. That’s more important.]

[Alright! I’ll be sure to make you proud, My King!]

As I ended the mental conversation, I looked towards Ellen with a smile on my face.

‘Well… this turned out to be a fortunate event.”

“Hm? How so, Camus?”

“Fenril got caught up in one of Merik’s portals and ended up in Orgo. He’ll be able to help with keeping the monsters down there in check. In fact, the monsters we’re seeing that are battling the others happen to be his.”

“Really!? Fenril was incredibly powerful, so its help is really appreciated!”

“You’re not concerned he might make a bigger mess since he’s a monster?”

“Well… there’s that but… he’s one yours, right? So then it should be alright.”

“… You really shouldn’t make it out as if anything that’s associated with me is always good…”

“I can’t help it if that’s how things seem to be going so far. Hehe just kidding… but honestly, Fenril’s strength is reliable and one that I personally felt firsthand, and I trust you so I’ll believe in it.”

“… Thank you… as for now, go back and call the others. I’ll keep this portal path open for as long as I can.”

“Got it… and Camus… please don’t be reckless.”

“Haha… after what just happened… I won’t.”

Ellen nodded and smiled. To follow the path back, I took out Ichaival once more and fired a fully powered shot in the direction I could sense the others. The arrows of light tore away through the miasma and soon created a straight path. As Ellen left, I made sure all my magical senses were locked onto her to ensure she arrives safely. While I closely monitored her life force, I looked out onto the battle in the town below.

Merik… you made me taste a hint of despair… I thank you… for knocking me back to my senses. But now… all I want is to make you disappear. It’s your loss for underestimating me and making sure I didn’t die… since after all, I firmly believe in the saying… that what doesn’t kill me… has made its last mistake.