In no ti, Astrid heard the rabid screams of spawn. They sounded human-like, but no matter how much they resemble humans, they couldnt’ get rid of the whistling intonation.
A cloud of dust was kicked underfoot in the distance. Whatever was approaching them wanted to tear them apart.
The Leviathan had sent its older offspring.
That realisation dampened Astrid’s mood. Her mother and the strongest of the camp couldn’t penetrate the bubble walls no matter how hard they tried. No matter how much energy they consud. It was pointless.
“Mother, what's the other plan?” Astrid shouted.
“We fight.” Her mother dropped her flaming leg as she watched nurous spawn approaches. Most of them had human features. And so of them were taller than the other offspawn. Not only that, they held sparkling equipnt. Spears, swords, plate armour, flexible armour. It was all high quality. Most adventurers would kill for such equipnt. Astrid could feel the mana radiate from them.
In the next mont, the entire camp was engulfed in a chaotic battle. Eli Sinwen dealt with the strongest, but even she couldn’t stop them all from breaking through her line.
So of them filtered to Havel and his n. One of them smashed through, hurtling toward Astrid and her friends.
Astrid blasted the air, tugged at the monster's eyes, and blanketed its surroundings in an obscured illusion. To Astrid’s surprise, she was able to stand toe-to-toe with one of Leviathan’s Spawn. It was all thanks to her powerful energy source. Her engine thrumd. It churned. She could feel the heat blazing in her mind.
Grabbing hold of a piece of wall, Astrid threw it to the spawns body. It crunched against its flesh, sending it tumbling to the floor. But it was back to its feet in the next second. Not even.
It moved in a flash to Astrid’s side. A blade, not fast or slow,slashed through the air, cutting into the spawns' already wounded chest. Daniel was ready. His eyes displayed various lines all intercrossing with each other. One of them was red. One of them was black.
Astrid knew the peculiar skill granted him the sight of premonition. But it was even stronger than she had thought. It seed no matter the speed of the entity, the experienced wayfarer always had a path to strike.
It was the sa for the other party mbers.
Brett ducked in the shadows, his emotionless eyes erged for a split second before his blackened daggers drank blood. Each slash targeted the beast's tendons, making it slower, and slower.
Rob also had an uncanny mind for protection. Even though the spawn offspring was extrely quick, he was always in the right place at the right ti. He flashed forward as the monster attacked Daniel. He slamd his enormous shield onto the ground. The shield sunk into the soil as the monster’s sharpened claws screeched against it. It slashed chunks out of the tal. Rob couldn’t defend for long.
Astrid made sure that the spawn couldn’t move freely. Wherever it moved, there was a rock waiting for it. Colliding against its body. If there wasn’t, then wherever it stepped, the ground beneath its feet beca unsteady.
Astrid was like the queen of the battlefield, changing it to her whim. It was the power of an illusion mage.
Losef stepped, teleporting in a blaze of fire. Like a phoenix awakening from its rebirth, his spear slamd into the offspring’s chest, killing it outright.
The others were still fighting their targets, so Astrid and her team moved to help them out. It turned out that their help wasn’t needed. At least not Daniel and the others. Only Astrid was able to contribute with her illusions and earth manipulation.
It wasn’t long before they turned the tide, but not without losses.
Nurous soldiers lay dead on the ground. More gravely wounded. They couldn’t continue like this.
“Mother, what happened to the Order? Are they dead?” Astrid asked as she finished off another spawn with a psychic blast.
“No,” Eli said. They were only given a few monts rest as screams belted over the battlefield. They were nearing. “They are a lot more powerful than we anticipated. They had help.”
“Help?” Astrid frowned. “Pirates?”
“From another world,” Eli corrected.
“Another damned world?” Rachelle stomped over. “Like from a dungeon gateway?”
“Not exactly,” Eli continued. “It was a high-tech teleporter. Seven of them arrived all at once. We were overpowered within the dungeon. And then they summoned the Leviathan. Right now, your father, and the other elders, are facing them.”
Astrid grit her teeth as she watched the fight unfold in the distance. It was a fight that she could only imagine in her dreams. Or Nightmares. The mana split the air, each attack quaked the earth. Lightning intertwined fire. It reminded her of the end tis.
“It was my job to return to Rebirth and begin evacuation procedures,” Eli said.
“Evacuation…” Leena mumbled under her breath.
Everyone was shocked. Humanity had suffered the worst the ocean could throw at them over the years. Sea monsters of giant stature, saw-like tides that threatened to ravage the arc into scrap tal. Not once had they ever thought about abandoning ship.
The situation was perilous.
“Then they are in danger,” Astrid said as tightened her fists. If she flew over, could she be of any help? Would she get in the way? She didn’t want her weakness to impede her family. Worse, what if they couldn't fight properly because they had to protect her?
Her mind buzzed. But her mother brought her back to reality.
“We need to find a way to escape,” Eli said. “It’s obvious we can’t brute force our way out. And finding a hole in the wall would take too long. We need to discover who or what is locking the bubble.”
“I can scout the area,” Brett said.
Eli turned quiet for a second before nodding. “Go. If you find the culprit, co back and let know. Do not engage. We may only have one shot.”
“Yes ma'am,” Brett saluted with a smile and turned.
“Brett.” Leena nibbled her lips. “Be careful. And don’t die.”
“Oh please, this much is nothing,” he said, walking away.
Daniel never once diverted his attention from the Leviathan. Ever since it had arrived, his gaze was locked. Without looking at Brett, he said, “Sa here. You co right back, you hear?”
“Aye,” Brett said. “Don’t worry boss. We’ll get our chance. We’ll cut that damned oversized lizard into fish food, you hear? Then our parents will rest well.”
Rachelle and Rob’s eyes turned watery and red. Rachelle bit her lip, while Losef’s expression was hidden under his helt.
“Loud and clear.” Daniel flashed a bloodthirsty grin as Brett disappeared into the shadows.
Just like , they really want to join the fight, Astrid thought. She took a breath, then turned to the bubble. She approached it, placing her hand over the solid structure. If brute force wasn’t the answer, then there was always another way.
If soone was channelling mana into the bubble, hardening it sohow, then there was a possibility Astrid could track it back to the owner. But the spawn offspring were approaching like thunder.
“Take your ti,” Her mother said. “I’ll keep them off your back.”
Eli now had the role of an iron blooded general. Although her words were no longer as sweet as they once were, Astrid still felt the warmth contained within them. Once a mother, always a mother. Astrid nodded, and turned her full focus to the wall. She ignored the intense clash of sharpened blades and bone. She had to figure this out.
It took Astrid around ten minutes before she spotted sothing. As she focused on it, her vision changed. A string of blue energy cut a straight line to the backside of the bubble. Passed the Leviathan. It wasn’t where she hoped it to be, but it was better than walking in the dark.
Astrid cut the connection and turned to join the fight.
After pulling the eyes out of an offspring, Astrid shouted to her mother, “I found the one responsible. I don’t know if it's a person, a spawn, or a device doing it, but it’s behind the Leviathan. On the other side of the city.”
Her mother frowned, but nodded. “Everyone follows . We are going to the backside of the bubble. Stay in formation! Your life depends on it.”
With grim expressions, everyone followed Eli Sinwen’s lead. It was true what she said. Everyone's lives depended on Eli taking the brunt of the attacks. If she wasn’t here, they would have long been slaughtered.
Astrid focused her mana on illusions. It wasn’t perfect considering the high intelligence of the Leviathan’s offspring, but it helped a lot more than her attacking.
The monsters knew their general direction, but the illusions made it difficult to pinpoint their exact location. When they approached, Eli shot out of the illusions, killing them in an instant. It might have not seed like much, but the effectiveness of an illusionary mage was not to be underestimated.
They warped the battlefield to their desire, tricking the eyes of their opponents.
Along with Daniel’s Skill that transcended human ability, and Astrid’s brother; Kaylan, they were able to put up a fight even though they were underleveled.
Because of that, they were making good ti.
That changed when Astrid felt sothing approaching from underneath. It wasn’t just her, in fact, Lisa had spotted it first. By the ti she had warned everyone, the monster had arrived. Teeth broke out of the earth, swallowing one of Havel’s n whole.
It was huge. It was a worm. Thick fish scales acted as armour, and with twin horns attached to its head, it looked terrifying.
Havel entered a rage. His twin axes cleaved into the worm’s body, sending scales flying. Blackish blood splattered the surrounding area. Havel included. It burned his flesh, but he wasn’t bothered by the pain. Like it was nothing to him in his mindless state.
Eli Sinwen spun on her heels, kicking the worm's head, slicing it off in a blaze of white flas. The ground rumbled. Astrid swore. More worms were approaching at high speed.
Astrid readied herself to deal with the worms. Three smashed out from the earth, but now everyone was ready. In an instant, attacks of all kinds pierced the worms.
Astrid focused on her own target. She flexed her mind, feeling the powerful energy granted by her Internal Engine. She readied her mana. The monster was about to erge from the soil.
Co here little worm!
But it wasn’t a worm. Her eyes widened as a human with devilish long hair broke free from the underground. His weapons of choice were two bladed batons. His weapon slashed across her chest. The impact was too much. The man’s strength was too great.
The intense impact flung her backward, smashing her against the hard bubbled wall. Blood seeped from her chest. She coughed, spluttering red onto the soil.
The man grinned with sharp teeth. He licked his lip and charged once again with unstoppable force.
Reviews
All reviews (0)