The East Wall

“Marooner! You must be the Marooner. You are here to save me, right?” Lucy exclaimed in hope. The figure she was feeling in her zone was Marooner’s.

“You misunderstood me, Lucy. It is I, Miles Cross.” Miles looked back in a gobsmacked expression as he explained.

“Oh.” She answered disappointedly. “Oh, took you long enough!”

Although she tried to hide her disappointment, Miles heard it clearly. He knew Lucy had the hots for the Marooner but didn’t know at the verge of death, the person she was dreaming was his alter identity.

“Sorry, I was late.” Miles looked at the monster in front of him, as he sighed. Not long back, she fought along with a monster when they found the peak artifact. The Moth-woman looked much like the monster in front of him.

“Miles! Where the hell have you been?” Lucy rebuked as she gazed at the monster over Miles's shoulder. For a reason, the illusion broke apart as soon as Miles appeared. She looked down on her body, which was tied by silk. She was so helpless at the moment.

“I was held back.” Miles shook his head as he swung his sword. The sword was a fire elemental he found on his way back. Although it was only high-tier, it was super effective against the silk.

“Oh, a newcomer.” The monster looked down on Miles from where she was standing. She was still under Lucy’s zone, so she couldn’t float, but she was taller than Miles, standing at 2 meters.

“I will deal with you in a second, monster. Now be quiet for a while.” Miles looked at the monster as he said, then turned back to look at Lucy’s face. “She is using spores to create illusions. You will be blind and worse if you stay near her. I can cancel it for a while for you, but cannot do it in mid-action. You should fall back. Let me deal with her.”

“How can you be immune to illusions, so that you can even cancel it for me?” Lucy asked grudgingly.

“I awakened Energy. Can clear my body from the spores, and did the same for you. But it uses a lot of juice for others.” Miles explained. Although it wasn’t all true. The eyes he got from the vampire could see through the illusion created by the spores. Miles didn’t know if the eyes could see through all illusions, but for now, he wasn’t in the position to test it.

“Alright, I will leave her to you. I have to check other battlefields.” Lucy nodded and was about to leave when Miles talked once again.

“Two of my friends came with me and will aid Porseila and Mihr. You should only check the West Wall.”

“Are they dependable?” Lucy asked.

“They are. Don’t worry.”

“Alright, I will leave it to you guys,” Lucy said and turned to leave. Miles looked at the monster who was seeping in anger now. With Lucy’s departure, the monster was now free of gravity pinning her to the ground. She flapped her wings gracefully and floated once again.

“So you can use energy? Commendable.” She said, “But it will not change the outcome.”

“Why are you attacking the stronghold? From what I observed, you are not strong enough to win. Although your spores are annoying, it is not enough. So, what is your aim?” Miles asked. It didn’t make sense. Monsters were, most of the time, mindless. But when it came to Portal Raids or Stampedes, the one in charge would be a sentient monster, mostly a humanoid who could calculate the success rate. But this time, they had no chance of winning at all. Over the three days of battle, they still couldn’t break down an outer wall.

“Who knows.” The monster shrugged her shoulders and answered nonchalantly. “Now that you sent that little girl away, you lost the chance to beat me. After all, without her pinning me to the ground, you have no chance to win at all.”

“You know, I have met lots of creatures with the same attitude. Even an idiot who turned into a dragon… But they all ended up dead.” Miles smirked as he fished out a white orb that turned into a crossbow. It was his latest drop while he was traveling towards the mountain. He nocked an arrow in the bolt slot by forcing it and aimed towards the monster.

“You talk as haughtily as I.” The monster snorted, “Do you think you can win all by yourself just because you are immune to illusions?”

With it, green fumes started to move in every direction. Without even testing it, Miles knew that cloud of spores was poisonous. He fished out another orb and it melted into a necklace. Within a second, a barrier of wind started to form around him.

“I never thought this damned bird would be useful. Crazy world!” Miles genuinely shook his head in shock. When the damned albatross first annoyed, then summoned lots of different monsters, he thought it was just a curse of hunting down many monsters in Portal World finally caught up with him. But even the damned necklace had some use. So soon at that too.

Green cloud came near the air barrier, but couldn’t pass through it no matter what. Miles even realized that the spores causing the illusions had been filtered as well. Only the things he considered ‘useful’ would pass through the barrier.

“Pesky humans and your gizmos! Now die!” The Butterfly-monster looked at Miles in anger as she floated down. Her claw-like leg was covered with a purple sheen as she swung it down on Miles's shoulder. The latter moved aside to dodge the attack and raised his sword at the speed of sound. The blazing sword cracked the air and barely missed the creature.

Miles grunted as he swung his sword once again, while in his other hand, the crossbow fired the arrow. The arrow flew straight to its path and grazed the monster’s shoulder. The latter was smug but realized the arrow was poisonous. Although the tier was low, it was still poisonous. If accumulated, it could create problems even for her.

She snorted in rage and was ready to attack once again.