Cain “slept” while the others talked about some things here and there. When they got to the Disinfection Zone, Cain interacted with the mana within to check on the progress of the guild. They had cleared out the pathways that were blocked by the corpses, otherwise the hired labor and the guild had only completed roughly 30% of the job. The dissection was getting to the point that skilled butchers were needed to accurately remove the parts and preserve them well.

Looks like they should be finished before we get back. Cain thinks while double checking the pathways within the zone to ensure they were not affected. The carriage passes through a passageway seemingly made of rib cages and flesh. Each rib arched over the path, casting a shadow onto any travelers. Some shouts amongst the works could be heard, yet they sounded like echoing wails of the dead.

“Damn, that was eerie.” Jared sighed once the carriage left the confines of flesh and bone. The party murmured in agreement then picked up from their previous conversation. Hmm… this is troublesome… Cain thinks while he extends his a portion of his Mana Zone to the border of the forest. He accessed the database containing his memories and sifted through all of the views that contain the magic circles of the boundary.

They arrive at the border of the forest while Cain was doing a crash course on the magic circles. He used his mana to lift the ground beneath the carriage while Dresil removed the vines used to prevent Cain from falling out of the carriage. The last set of wheels ran over the bump, causing Cain to go flying.

Veronica yells at Jared to stop the carriage while Cain rotates his body so his chest faces the ground while he is airborne. Cain tucked his knees to his chest then extended them outwards, setting his feet onto the ground; essentially standing up while his upper body hardly moved. All of this happened while Veronica was yelling at Jared to stop the carriage. These actions were not needed, but in Cain’s words: “It was the fastest and easiest way to leave the carriage then walk.”

Cain waved to the party, notifying them he was ok, then walked up to one of the guards who was oddly stationed here. “Is there anything wrong, officer?” Cain asked the guard when he was in earshot distance. “Nothing much, just the barrier is malfunctioning.” The guard replied then was immediately snapped at by a colleague, “We can’t just go around telling people that!”

“Well… we can’t have that now can we?” Cain mumbled to himself then stared at the magic circles that were supposed to encompass the border. Cain’s eyes allowed him to see each and every magic circle that was supposed to be there, and yet there none down to a little past the pylons. I guess since the mana that was used to replenish the barrier was used on me instead it started fading away… Cain thought while placing his hand on where a magic circle once hovered.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (47ms)

Cain: Do you guys think I can repair this rn?

Bob: You have the capabilities to, but I doubt your soul power will be enough, even with a magic circle to increase the efficiency.

Cain: Should I gradually repair it then? It’d significantly drain the amount of mana I have though.

Bob: That could work, although you’ll only be able to do so by approx. 3 billion mana at a time. It’ll take around 22 billion to repair any patches and this area, and maybe 9x more if you gradually do it.

Rex: Dang… that many?

Cain: The boundary does span the entire country, so it makes sense. Some parts of it have definitely faded or deteriorated some.

Cain: And if I gradually do it, I’d have to repair faster than it can deteriorate so it’d take more to make up for what was lost during the repair time.

Bob: I’m surprised the boundary hasn’t faded already. It’s been 2 days since it was supposed to receive it’s annual deposit of mana.

Dresil: Roughly. The invasions never happened on the same day of the year, but mostly stuck to the same week.

Rex: …I’m just going to look at memes.

Cain: Bob, can you open a portal to the Mana Storage?

Bob: Understood.

--------------------------

Cain established a magic circle that stretched half of the space of the area between the pylons and roughly a thousand meters into the sky, where the top of the barrier sat, the moment a portal appeared behind him. The magic circle slowly loaded the ones Cain once saw on the barrier, immediately stopping the guards who were rushing to Cain in their tracks.

The magic circles that were loaded were visible for a short period of time before disappearing once again. The party sat on the carriage or stood by it as they watched the spectacle. “Wow… I knew he was op, but this is insane.” Jared mumbled as he saw the hundreds of magic circles appearing and disappearing.

Cain moved the massive magic circle used to load the barrier, The Loader for convenience’s sake, to cover the other half of the area between the pylons. The Loader was invisible to the naked eye, but small traces of its mana could be felt by those who were close. A few more minutes passed as Cain completed this task then centered The Loader between the pylons.

He continuously pulsed roughly 3 billion mana throughout the entire length of the border. Numerous magic circles lit up and disappeared as they were reestablished and synced back into the mainstream barrier. Although Cain could not see those circles beyond the pylons in detail, with the information he had, he deduced the pattern that was used to establish the barrier and copy and pasted it where needed.

“Alright. The barrier is fixed now.” Cain sifted his hand against each other, moving each one alternately up and down, as he spoke and dispersed The Loader. The guards stared at him dumbfounded, completely clueless what to do with this unknown man.

“Here, take this to your superiors and report what happened.” Cain reached into his pockets and created a titanium disc within his palm then engraved his Signature Verification into it. A sub magic circle was created to display a hologram version of his symbol using mana a few centimeters from the face of the disc. Cain took his hand out of his pocket and tossed the disc to one of the guards.

The guard who answered Cain’s question caught the disc and stared at the symbol. It was the same symbol that the higher ups ordered them to be on a lookout for and to report anything related to it to them. But only if the symbol was made of mana. This last fact had always puzzled the legions of foot soldiers and menial workers who were informed by their boss’ boss. Everything made sense to these two guards after what they witnessed and received though.

The guard bowed his head, “Yes, sir!” and filled in his partner. They mounted the horses they used to ride over here and swiftly rode to the city as fast as possible. “Alright, let’s continue then.” Cain said while hopping back in the carriage. Everyone but Catherine and Victoria immediately went inside.

“What the… fuck?” Catherine mumbled as she stared baffled at where Cain stood. “You’ll get used to it.” Victoria replied with a smug smirk while patting her shoulder and entering the carriage. Catherine was snapped out of her daze by Victoria’s snarky remark and followed after her. They took their normal seating arrangements then continued their journey into the woods.

The party sat there, staring at the canvas walls and each other; their silence deafening the forest around them. “Hey… Cain. Can you play some music or something?” Jared broke the endless, mute ambience as he turned around. Cain nodded his head then used SRI to open a portal on top of the carriage.

Another magic circle appeared above the portal as it gave rise to a small boom box. The magic circle froze the coordinates of the boom box to prevent it from tumbling on the ground during the ride. Cain loaded some songs into a magic circle installed on its back then began playing the first one.

A mini Dresil appears to the right of the boom box playing the guitar solo. A mini Rex joins in with a drum set shortly after with a mini Bob appearing on the left of the boom box playing another guitar. Their tune echoed throughout the forest, drowning the silence it once held.

In the far reaches of the dense forest, a balanced party were hunting down a demon wolf. The echoes of a song reach their ears mid fight. “Albert, the hell are you doing?! Stop tapping your foot and attack the wolf!” The mage yelled to the warrior. Albert looked down at his left foot which was unknowingly spreading the rhythm of the tune to the ground.

“What sorcery is this?! Elizabeth, cancel this spell right now! We don’t have time for these jokes!” Albert hollered back at the mage, desperately trying to stop the contagious beat from infiltrating his bones. “I’m not the one who’s doing this!” Elizabeth screamed back then stared at the wolf with slight confusion.

“In any case, it seems to be affecting the wolf… and everyone.” The calm and collected healer commented then paused when he noticed everyone’s heel smacking the ground to the cancerous tune that echoed off the trees; his feet were no exception.

Livin’ easy, lovin free

The contagious tune began spreading its gossip off the numerous vegetation. The tank of the party joined in on the sermon, preaching it to the wolf who was slightly bobbing its head. “What the hell are you doing, Fred!” Albert’s voice struggled to overpower the sonorous song. “I don’t know man! Somehow I just knew the lyrics and started singing!” Fred barely managed to speak before the melody’s voice voluminously reached every soul.

I’m on a highwaaaaaayyyyy to hell!

Every living creature within range of the tune danced to the rhythm. Monsters, humans, even plants swayed in the air, controlled by the harmonious cadence. It was not a moment of conflict, but it carried the same excitement of a life or death battle. The synchronized movements of every living creature beating to the rhythm resounded throughout the forest and rebounded back to the source.

The party’s carriage vibrated slightly in tune with the song. It swayed side to side while the horses’ hooves hit the ground; each minute movement, beat, and thump followed the song. Heartbeats aligned, breaths shook. Every living creature amplified each other’s existence in this moment, spreading outwards like a deafening roar, full of rock music.

The song ended shortly after, yet every creature affected by the tune departed from the area, unable to resume their battles after that experience. Throughout the later years, this day would become recognized as The Echoing Silence, a day of universal peace, free of conflict; in remembrance of the song that shattered the suffocating silence left from the invasion and in hopes that it would one day return.