Once I eventually carved my way out of the corpse, I saw that Parker, Amos, and Hank had already collected the loot—besides the carcass itself.

Perhaps because they were still uncertain about the Lamia Impression’s death, we had a brief respite from the monsters around us.

It was a shame that the carcass of the Lamia Impression wouldn’t fit in my Interdimensional Pouch. I was too preoccupied to properly deal with this corpse, which meant that Toronto was going to receive quite the influx of wealth—assuming they knew how to deal with the corpse properly. The corpse was a house-sized collection of E-rank hide, blood, interior organs, and bones, all of which could fetch a significant price.

It seemed that the Lamia Impression had consumed a half dozen or so magicians, but somehow controlling or reanimating the bodies so that the Lamia Impression was able to use the same skills as its dinner.

Thanks in large part to my increased Luck, several of the spell books of the magicians that the Lamia Impression had fought, had reappeared.

There was Void Blade and Void Shield, two E-rank spells for magic users with a Void Magic Affinity. Then there was Fire Whip, an E-rank spell which was the same spell River had used against the Manticore.

Of course, it also dropped a City Token, which I happily collected as well.

I re-equipped my Bloodied Battle Robes, letting it start draining my health in order to increase its durability.

“You haven’t changed much, eh?” Amos said, surveying the corpse of the creature in front of us. “For some of us, this is the way of things, yeah? Back to the natural order of things, again.”

Amos gestured over to Hank, who still had a few tears trickling down his face. “We’re not all cut out for this, of course,” Amos added. “Parker! Come over here. Parker, here, he’s really stepping up. Sure, he’s had his breakdowns, too. He doesn’t have your instinct, that’s for sure. But, he’s getting there. The Lamia Impression was targeting all our magic classes, and Parker was the only one who survived. Lots of skill, there.”

Parker, still searching the ground for loot, looked up and gave a quick nod at his name.

“What about the others?” I asked. “Did Petrov make it? And Adia?”

“Most of the ex-Crucible, you know, they had their breakdowns,” Amos said. “Petrov though, he was cool as ice the whole time. Once he had his daughter safe next to him, he signed up right away to join Daybreak. You know they say he was a Russian spy, right? Nothing can phase him. Makes me wonder if his daughter is really his daughter, you know? Maybe she’s also Black Ops, judging from her skill. They start them young, they do. Anyway, he’s strong enough to lead his own team defending New York. Last I heard he’s fine.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“What about Adia?”

Amos frowned, and I felt my heart skip a beat. “She didn’t take kindly to the whole mind control situation. Or her father’s death. She lost it, you see. Couldn’t handle all the bad memories. She left Daybreak and joined some anarchist group.”

At least she’s alright. Some selfish, lazy part of me was glad that I wouldn’t have to see her, and apologize again.

I took out my Communication Amulet, adding Amos, Parker, and Hank to my contacts, and then called Dawnbreaker.

“The Lamia Impression is dead,” I said, the moment I had a connection. “What’s next?”

I felt distinctly uncomfortable, walking through the streets of Daybreak City. Somehow, my feet led me towards the plaza where Adia’s father—Haki Wright—had killed himself.

How many other people had Lord Ignatius silenced, in order to keep his secret?

The road had been repaired, and there were no signs of the explosions that I had caused in the streets.

It felt slightly careless of Dawnbreaker, to allow me into her city again. She had invested an incredible number of coins in the city—not just for productivity, but to make the residents comfortable. It was evident from the expensive businesses lining the streets, the personalized residences, and the guards patrolling many street corners.

Eventually, I found my way to the main gate of Daybreak City, the same gate that I had fled out of. I could still remember the fear I had felt, facing Dawnbreaker, Cy, and Alex for the first time.

I met up with Alex on the ramparts of Daybreak City. She stood facing the monster horde below us, chanting and holding her giant tome in front of her. Most of the monsters that were attacking Daybreak City were Water Elementals.

Water Elementals were collections of water, shaped a hundred different ways. Thinking back to my battle with the spirits, if I had to hazard a guess, the Water Elementals would be what you get when you have spirits possessing water.

Most of the Water Elementals were in vaguely familiar shapes. I could see crabs, fish of various sizes, and clams.

It was vaguely surprising that the water that made up these shapes looked so pure. After fighting the Lamia Impression, I was expecting these monsters to also be stinky and evil, but the Water Elementals in front of me almost sparkled in the sunlight, like some bottled water commercial.

They ranged in size from the amount of water you could fit in your sink, to the amount of water you could fit in a raised outdoor swimming pool. I could easily see thousands of them.

The hordes of Water Elementals were sacrificially charging the Mana Shield around the city. The shield had no trouble blocking them, but I knew that with every attack, the shield was slightly weakened.

As Alex finished chanting, I saw a massive golden net appear in the sky, with an area of easily a few acres, and it fell on the Water Elementals, first trapping over a thousand of them, and then constricting and drawing them together until they were forced to press tightly against each other. Then, the net continued constricting, pressing against the Water Elementals, traveling through the water itself and burning the spirit that possessed the water.

Soon, one by one, the Water Elementals caught in the net popped like water balloons, until just a few more minutes, there was nothing but a soggy patch of ground under the glowing golden net.

Alex stopped chanting, and the golden net disappeared, and the mana that had called it into existence dissipated into ambient mana.

“I don’t think we ever met, properly,” Alex said, closing her tome and turning tired eyes towards me. “My name is Alex.” She studied me through her golden-rimmed glasses. She wore Sorcerer’s Robes—robes whose sole purpose was to increase her Mana Pool. Alex was likely in her 30s, with tan skin, brown eyes, and long, brown hair.

She was clearly trying to act politely, but I could tell she was still on guard, that she didn’t trust me.

“Jarek Novak,” I said. “Is the Region Lord here?” Looking over the sea of Water Elementals—and other monsters mixed into the horde as well—there wasn’t a Region Lord clearly visible.

I didn’t see the point in any pleasantries. I wasn’t here to waste time. Hi, how are you? Oh, I’m doing well, just trying to save thousands of lives…how about yourself? The conversation didn’t seem appealing to me.

I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about it.

I did feel bad about leaving Amos, Hank, and Parker so quickly though. Parker and Amos had seemed to be genuinely sad to see me go, and I had barely said a few sentences the whole time I was there. It’s just…everything was such a rush, and Dawnbreaker had sent me here right away.

Alex’s response cut my musings short. “The Region Lord is here, because otherwise the other Water Elementals would not throw away their lives in such a way,” Alex said, gesturing to the Water Elementals that were flinging themselves at the city walls.

“But I have not found it, yet.”

“Let me look for it,” I said, focusing completely on my Mana Sensing skill. Every Water Elemental shone with a soft, white light, indicative of the mana that controlled the water around them.

The various other monsters outside the city shone with mana as well.

There was a dense film of mana, similar to the District and Region walls, that surrounded the city—the Mana Shield that stopped the Water Elementals from just entering the city and wreaking havoc.

The Mana Shield extended into a dome well above us, and also a relatively flatter version of a dome underground.

To my surprise, the Mana Shield seemed particularly dense underground, something I had not noticed with other cities.

Samantha said.

I focused my full attention on sensing the mana underground. There was the familiar Mana Shield, yes. But there was a bulge on the Mana Shield, a particularly dense concentration of mana, directly underneath the Mana Shield.

“It’s under us,” I said. “The Region Lord has tunneled underneath the city, and is waiting for the shield to weaken before attacking. Are you using a D-rank Mana Shield, or an E-rank shield?”

“E-rank,” Alex responded. “That’s why you were sent over here. The Region Lord could probably take out our shield in a matter of seconds, if he wanted.”

As if on cue, I saw the mana in the city’s shield suddenly drain, pouring towards the ground, under the city, or—to be more precise—directly underneath Dawnbreaker’s villa.