Part Seventy-Six

I flicked the blood off of my swords before sheathing them, and made my way over to Braddock and Kalia. I couldn’t even begin to describe how lucky I was to have run into the two of them of all people. Kalia’s spell gave me the boost to finish off the monsters chasing me. Dealing with them on my own while preserving my mana would’ve taken awhile, and I probably would’ve been injured at some point further sapping my stamina.

“Hey. Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sunny with a chance of monsters. Beautiful.”

Ah, she bantered! Wahoo!

“Erhm, do you know what’s going on?”

“Oh do I know. There’s this box at the courtyard where the Archmage put that anti-movement Array thing. Monsters are coming out of it, and a number of ‘em are guarding the thing. Oh, and one of the Mid-bosses too.”

“Tch, so that’s what they were up to. We’ve got to destroy that portal before we’re overrun."

Apparently, the Aerial division had done the same thing they’d done a couple days ago. But this time, they’d dropped a dozen more War-Machines spread out in waves. What was odd was that there were thousands more birds involved in this attack, and monsters had soon started running throughout the fort, disturbing the attempts to deal with the War-Machines. It had only taken ten minutes for chaos to break out.

How the heck did I sleep through all that!? It didn’t all happen while I was preparing either. Jeez, I didn’t think I was that deep a sleeper.

The avenue we were on was remarkably empty, with no NPCs or mercenaries to be seen, though I could hear the sounds of combat from nearby. If we could gather enough people, we could launch an attack to crush the monsters and their portal. And maybe kill the Mid-boss while we were at it. Braddock quickly agreed with my suggestion, springing into action.

“Eileen, Grant, go round up as many fighters as you can. Michael, could you go and try to find the members of the strike squad? You’re probably the fastest one here.”

“Gotcha. Where are we meeting?”

“Hm, the central tower. It’s near that plaza, but not so close that the monsters will detect us. Kalia, you and me will head there first, gathering people as we go. Let’s aim to start ten or fifteen minutes from now. If we take too long, there’s a chance the fort will fall before we even start.”

That was a good point. Considering the Dungeon Scenario had an obvious win condition, it must’ve also had a loss condition, though I didn’t know what it was. Clearly it wasn’t as simple as monsters entering the fort, but it might just need a certain number to enter. If we took too long, we risked finding out the hard way.

That would completely suck if we failed after coming this far.

Once Braddock finished his instructions, I took off, sprinting as fast as I could. I didn’t bother with Beast of the Nightmare or Sonic Burst so as to conserve my mana, but I still made record time. I dodged around anyone or anything that got in my path, though I made sure to wound any monsters I saw. They’d at least be easy prey for the others.

“Behind! There’s more behind us!”

Bingo.

After barely more than three minutes of searching, I’d stumbled upon a few familiar faces. Alicia had teamed up with Brad's friends at some point, and had also commandeered control of the group. They were making quite the showing as they fought against a group of Orcs and Minotaurs, but the monsters' numbers were slowly pushing them back.

I slipped up to the monsters exposed backsides, and began a one-sided slaughter. It wasn’t because I was stronger than them, it was just that they literally couldnt turn around. Brad's group was quick to realize I was there, and they made sure to keep the monsters occupied while I critically injured them from behind. And once they were dead, the mercenaries were able to shift to those behind them.

“Alicia, we’re all supposed to gather at the central tower! Head over there once you’re done here!”

I got a thumbs-up from her, so I turned my attention away from them and back to the fight. I killed two more Orcs before disengaging, and headed off to look for more fighters. This was their fight, not mine, and I knew they could handle it.

I spent the next ten minutes searching for more people, recruiting them, and occasionally stopping to fight monsters. Some didn’t want to help, but most agreed right off the bat. Especially after I told them about the Mid-boss. Even though it would be dangerous, the thought of the reward they could earn was simply too good.

And that was the situation when I came across this.

“Yahahahahahaha!”

“RAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GET CRUSHED!”

Sampson and the weirdo were merrily(?) smashing monsters left and right, or rather, their corpses. Whatever they’d fought was long since dead, and they were simply continuing to smash the corpses. Given their bloodshot eyes, it was obvious they were berserk.

Nope, not touching this. I’m just gonna sneak off and get the hell out of here. So weird.

***

“Phew, we made it.”

“It’s all thanks to your splendid leadership, Alicia. If you weren’t with us, we never would’ve made it here.”

“Hey, didn’t I tell you to quit that? Don’t put me on some pedestal. Geez, where’s Michael at? I thought he would’ve beaten us here.”

“I don’t see him either. You don’t think he ran into something?”

“Considering his luck, I can’t deny that possibility. He always seems to be running into some issue no matter what he does. It gets annoying being his teammate sometimes.”

“Well if you feel that way, you could alway-.”

“Upbupbubp, don’t even think it. He may be a pain sometimes, but I still consider him a friend. I won’t abandon him.”

“Aha, I was just joking. Lighten up Alicia, you’re really tense.”

Says the guy sweating buckets. Haaah, just how awkward are you? Michael, please get here so he leaves me alone.

***

“Whhhyyyy!? What did I do to deserve this!?”

“”“NNNNRRRRRRRRREEEE!!!”””

Not one, not two, but three Golem War-Machines were attacking me. Thinking back, it should’ve been obvious that some of them were still running amok. Braddock had said that the other monsters appeared while they were dealing with the War-Machines. If I’d been more cautious, I could’ve avoided this fight, but now I was stuck between three rocks.

Rockets flew past me on all sides. This was probably the worst outcome for me. Unlike any other monster in the Dungeon, Golem War-Machines were a terrible match-up for me, as their inorganic bodies were completely immune to [Rot]. Granted, I did know a spell that should work on them, but I couldn’t actually cast it. I should definitely remedy that later on.

As for surviving my current predicament, I had no ideas. The simplest way would be to use the white sword’s ability to cut through their mana tubing, essentially disabling them. But doing that would consume way too much mana, if it even worked. If I focused on one, the other two would just shoot me in the back.

Thankfully their rockets didn’t have a ton of force when they exploded, so I was able to use a nearby building as cover to catch my breath. I needed a plan, now.

*CRACK!*

“NREEee…”

That sounded like a gunshot! But then… Hunk-lite? When did he get here?

The bullet had torn right through the torso of one of the Golems, destroying its core in one shot. The sudden attack caught the attention of the other two, giving me the perfect opportunity to attack one from behind while it was distracted. The white sword, charged with mana, stabbed deep into the Golem’s torso and crushed its core. A second gunshot sounded out quickly, destroying the last War-Machine.

Well that wrapped up nicely. Fighting those three monsters on my own would’ve been tough, but a little backup made it a breeze. Though I have to ask, where’d he get a gun that powerful? Those bullets bored straight through solid stone, so imagine what they’d do to flesh.

The only problem was that I couldn’t find Hunk-lite. He’d either been sniping from a distance, or had moved around after each shot. Either way, he was nowhere to be found after the dust settled, though it wasn’t like I had time to look for him.

“Hey! If you’re still there, we’re gathering at the central tower in order to deal with these monsters! Uh, just meet us there, I guess!? Yeesh, I hope I’m not just talking to myself here.”

“You’re not.”

“Gah! Where the heck did you come from!?”

“…? I was right behind you though?”

“But I… ah, whatever. Thanks for the help though. Golems are a pain in the ass for me to deal with.”

“Mn.”

Awkward silence ensued, neither of us making to continue the conversation. After a minute of awkwardly standing around, we both turned simultaneously towards the tower and set off. We encountered a few monsters along the way, but made short work of them. It almost felt like a competition to see who could kill them quickest, though the guy with the guns obviously won. I wasn’t that fast.

“REEEEEHHHHH!!!”

“Shit! That’s the Mid-boss!”

We were only a few dozen yards away from the tower, when a pillar of flame burst up into the sky. This was the same spell that nearly killed me and Kalia in the forest, so I was certain the Wyvern was responsible. That spell was strong enough to melt the ground and completely incinerate trees. Anyone hit by it was already dead.

We came into the central plaza to find a scene of carnage. Those that had gathered were being attacked by monsters led by the Wyvern. Corpses were littering the ground, though the vast majority appeared to be monsters, and one side of the plaza was scorched black, with a heat haze still hanging over it.

Shit! What the hell happened!? Did it somehow find them!? Answers could come later, the others needed help now. At least the Wyvern wouldn’t be using that spell again any time soon. It had retreated immediately after using it last time, so I assumed that it couldn’t repeatedly cast it. Though there was no telling how many were dead from that one blast, but what would happen if I was wrong.

Pushing unnecessary thoughts to the back of my mind, I set about killing every monster within arms reach. The monsters seemed to be congregating here, as were the mercenaries and NPCs, turning this fight into one massive brawl. I wanted to get at the Wyvern, but the throng of fighters prevented me from getting close to it.

*BANG!*

With a single blast, a group of nearby monsters were blown away. I’d almost forgotten Hunk-lite was here, but his shotgun quickly reminded me of his presence. And it gave me an idea.

“Hey Hunk! Can you get a clear shot at the Wyvern!?”

The Mid-boss was sitting by itself up on one of the buildings, only throwing the occasional fireball. If Hunk-lite could use his sniper rifle to kill the Wyvern, or even severely injure it, we could at least claim that we killed a Mid-boss in exchange for all those losses.

Actually, why is it all by itself? It can fly, so wouldn’t it normally be flying all over the place dropping fireballs on people? And where’s all the Young Mountain Rocs? And now that I look closer, the Wyvern's bleeding all over. What happened here?

“Mn-mn. The monster’s got a heat barrier up. My shots won’t be able to penetrate it. Wouldn’t your magic work better?”

He did have a point, but [Rot] wasn’t very good at range. The spell would never make it that far. It honestly didn’t matter if we killed it though. For the first time, the monsters were vastly outnumbered here, and were getting massacred. But letting such a powerful monster get away would just be plain stupid, not to mention the reward I could get. For the moment, it looked like it was content to rest and recover, but there was no telling when it would take off again.

“Then help me get close to the damn thing.”

Will [Rot] work on the barrier? Miasma’s supposed to be able to strip away energies like mana, and that’s all [Rot] is, but the fact is that there’s a spell that specifically states that it’s for this exact purpose. Well I can at least give it a shot.

With the two of us decided, we began actively fighting our way towards the Wyvern, though the other monsters tried and failed to stop us. There just weren’t all that many of them left anymore. It kinda felt like the flow of monsters into the plaza was dropping too. Within a minute, the Wyvern was in [Rot]’s range.

But the damn thing saw us coming, and launched a fireball at us before taking off. We dodged the fireball, and both Hunk and I took potshots at it. My spell missed it by inches, but Hunk’s shot caught in in the shoulder, disrupting its flight. The Mid-boss spiraled to ground, before hitting with a sickening crunch we could hear even past a couple buildings.

Tch, damnit! I’m pretty sure it just landed in the same place where their portal's at! We’ve got to catch up quickly!

I didn’t even hesitate. Considering how the effects of Kalia’s spell were still going, I’d been able to preserve most of my mana. So I was able to charge forward while activating Beast of the Nightmare, transforming me into a one-sided killing machine. The E and F-Rank monsters in my way were no match for me with my abilities double boosted like this. And the covering fire from Hunk only made it easier for me.

By the time we made it to where the box was, there weren’t any more monsters nearby, except for the Mid-boss and those guarding the portal. Even the steady flow of monsters from the portal had stopped, which probably meant that they’d exhausted those they’d gathered for this attack. I had no doubts that the Wyvern and the other important monsters would soon be trying to escape.

Did they really go to all this effort just to harry us? That would mean all the monsters were just cannon fodder. I know most of what I saw were only F and E-Ranks, but can they really afford to just throw away so many fighters?

The Wyvern was perched atop the portal, receiving healing from several Mivians around it. If it fully healed, it would almost definitely escape.

“Can you deal with that damn portal!?”

“Heheh, can I, heheh. Yeah, yeah I can.”

I didn’t get why he laughed, until I saw what he pulled from a bag. I’d joked about it before, but it turned out he actually had a rocket launcher! Where the fuck did he get that!? You can’t just walk into Walmart and buy one! ………Can you? ‘Cause if you can, then I want three.

Though on second thought, maybe it wasn’t a rocket launcher. The damn thing was utterly alien to look at, composed of several tubes twisted around each other. Dials and knobs jutted out from it here and there, seeming to serve no purpose but decoration. Hunk-lite fiddled with a few before he took aim and pulled the trigger.

With a small click, and a soft thump, the tube spat out five rocket-like objects, each about the size of my fist. The projectiles each spun around each other, leaving dazzling patterns drawn with light in their wake. It barely took five seconds before the rockets slammed into the portal, and completely blew it up. The force of the explosion was so great that it knocked the two of us off our feet, even as far back as we were.

I shakily climbed back to my feet, only to see that there was nothing left of the portal. The Wyvern was likely dead too, as well as the other monsters. That one blast had killed them all. No rocket launcher should be capable of that. Who the hell is this guy?

“Uh, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep quiet about that. I’d imagine that the others aren’t too enthusiastic about people like me, after the debacle Finnél caused.”

And that confirmed it. Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t from Earth. And considering that he wore full-body armor, he probably wasn’t even human.

My first instinct was to kill him. Otherworlders had given us nothing but grief while in the Dungeon, and we didn’t need more variables running around. But, he had helped us deal with Finnél, and hadn’t really done anything worthy of dying for. Heck, he’d even helped me personally, and I wasn’t one to reward good with bad. So as much as it would worry me, I’d keep his secret, for now.

“REEEEEEEHHHH!!!”

Suddenly, the rubble from the portal burst apart, as the Wyvern, still very much alive, emerged from beneath. The monster had clearly seen better days, as most of its scales were cracked, and wounds crisscrossed its body. It was a wonder it was still even alive.

Before either of us could react, the Wyvern took off, painstakingly making its way higher and higher. The creature was quickly out of my range, and probably Hunk's too. It all happened too fast, and neither of us were able to react quick enough to get a shot off. The Wyvern was going to escape.

Or would it?

*Shwooooooooooom FWOOOOOOOOOOM!*

A spear made of black-tinged flames soared across the sky, striking the Wyvern just as it turned to leave. Even from so far below, I could see that both its wings had burnt away, and it now had a huge hole through its stomach. Whatever that attack was, it was highly lethal.

Now on the verge of death, the Wyvern started to plummet towards us. Hunk and I hurried to get out of the way before it hit the ground. Having a half-ton of monster land on you was probably a bad thing.

*BAM!*

A massive dust cloud was kicked up by the impact, and blood sprayed out in all directions. It was probably safe to say that the Wyvern was dead, in possibly the most abrupt fashion possible.

Did someone just steal my kill? I don’t understand what the hell just happened.

***

Somewhere by the central headquarters……

A lone figure stood by one of the auxiliary exits to the headquarters, covered in blood that was neither theirs, nor that of monsters.

Sporting a pleased grin, the figure registered that they had just stumbled into a stroke of good fortune. They’d just accomplished the first step in their grand plan, and had emerged from the underground cells, only to notice the wounded Wyvern flying high above. Realizing an opportunity when they saw one, they launched a single, devastating attack at the monster, killing it. They knew that because a black bow appeared before them, the reward for killing the Mid-boss.

“Hahah. Hahahahha! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

Reading the description for their new weapon only made the figure happier. It was perfect. No, it was beyond that. With this, revenge might truly be possible.