Point-of-View: Neo Cronje
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"H-hey, what is this...there’s just...there’s just way too many. How is this even possible?" Muttered Aurora, her eyes wide.
Hm? Can she sense sothing that I’m not seeing?
"What are you feeling? Monsters?" I asked her.
"Not quite...it’s the rifts, they’re everywhere. So of them are really big too. If we go near those spots and they sense our Auras, they’ll be able to almost imdiately breach through to this world. I don’t understand...does this an that they already absorbed enough energy to use as catalysts? Because the rifts are definitely open. They won’t start shimring until the Monsters actually start to use them, but they’re definitely there," She inford , her hair standing up slightly.
Wow...thanks to her incredible senses, she understands how the Mirror Dinsion and dinsional rifts work better than most. Even I didn’t know that about rifts.
Or maybe I did and just forgot. After all, you usually only need to know that Monsters breach through to this world when there’s enough energy to use as a catalyst, the specifics aren’t normally that important.
Well, either way, this is definitely going to get rough. What do we do? Thanks to her senses, we can avoid getting too close to any rifts, and also choose which ones to provoke and then kill the Monsters that co through.
"Hey, do you think you can tell how long it’ll take for these rifts to close on their own?" I inquired hopefully.
"Normally, yes, and the biggest of these rifts would usually take a few days to close up naturally...but sothing’s wrong here. It doesn’t feel like these rifts are gonna close anyti soon...it’s hard to explain, but it’s like the Monsters have gathered enough energy to keep them open for a while."
"You can really tell that much?" I responded in surprise.
"Well, I got a feel for rifts when I was constantly attacked by Chupacabras, and so of those rifts stayed open for months and-...oh, it was my Aura. I didn’t ever consider suppressing my Aura back then, so the Monsters had a constant supply of catalyst energy to keep the rifts open. And when they finally did close, that was probably because I killed all the Monsters within the range of my Aura!" She realized, her eyes widening.
Hm? What does that have to do with-...oh...ohhh...
"You an to say that soone’s been unleashing their Aura here in order to fill the area with an abundance of energy for Monsters to use as a catalyst?" I surmised with a frown.
"I think so, yeah. That would explain how they’ve been triggering Monster outbreaks all over the world like this. Hey, does Harmony have any bases in France?" She asked .
"Yeah, a couple...but they’re a bit far from this area. Since the Eiffel tower is here, it’s always crowded, not a great place for a secret hideout. Oh, I see what you’re getting at...since the bases are a fair distance from here, they’re too far away to have sensed any unleashed Aura, allowing the perpetrators to act freely. Since Chaos is made up of Harmony traitors, they would know that," I deduced as I gritted my teeth.
"So, then...what do we do? I know you said that Eden isn’t behind this, and I agree, but if they also accept that ta-Humans probably can’t remain in hiding like you said before, then they might make a move too, and attack us once we’re worn out," She pointed out objectively.
Yeah, she’s right...even those stubborn higher ups accepted it, that’s why we weren’t instructed to eliminate any witnesses like usual. If those obstinate old farts decided that they had to accept it, Eden might be doing the sa.
"Damn it, this just keeps getting ssier and ssier...okay, for starters, let’s go et up with the other Category 0, they should be arriving at the rendezvous point any minute now."
"Yeah, okay. Where’s the rendezvous point?" She inquired, as I led the way...
...
"...seriously? When you said ’rendezvous point’, I was imagining a more, I don’t know, secretive spot. This is the exact opposite of that," She sighed in bemusent, as we reached the spot...below the Eiffel tower.
"Ah, Neo, there you are! It is good to, er, how do you say, see you again!" Suddenly ca a familiar, cheerful voice, as a woman bounded over towards us.
"Wow, she’s pretty...," Murmured Aurora.
"She’s also an idiot, FYI," I whispered to her.
Yeah, she is rather attractive...she had silky, golden blonde hair that went down to her shoulders and past her eyebrows in front, bright red eyes and a slender figure. She cos off as elegant and graceful, but she can be kinda dumb at tis...
"Huh, so French people really do say ’how do you say’ sotis when they speak English?" Aurora remarked, as she reached us with a grin.
"No, she just likes playing up the stereotype, that’s all. Her English is actually a lot better than her French," I sighed in exasperation, "Anyway, Aurora, this is one of our Category 0s, Elise Rouge. Elise, this is the strongest Outlier, Aurora Pretorius."
"Hi, nice to et you, Aurora!" Grinned Elise, offering her hand.
"Yeah, nice to et you too, Miss Elise," She responded politely, before quietly muttering to herself, "Hm, should I have used Mada or Mademoiselle instead of Miss? Or would that have co off as pretentious?"
"Oh, just Elise is fine, no need to overthink it. So, what is the plan? I have four Category 1s on the way as backup, they should be here within about half an hour or so," She inford .
"Actually, the situation might be worse than we initially thought, so I’m still considering how best to proceed from here," I replied with a grimace.
"What do you an? To , it seems like things have cald down since this morning, I haven’t seen any more incidents reported all day," She responded in surprise.
"Yeah, about that. Aurora’s senses are much stronger than ours, and based on what she felt, we surmised that...," I began, before explaining our deduction to her.
As I finished explaining, she was silent, a serious look on her face, before she spoke...
"Hm, I see...okay, so, I don’t understand most of that, but the main point is that the Monsters are still here, and will co out imdiately if they sense Aura, yes? Also, most of these rifts are out in the open, so it will be impossible to fight without being seeing by all these people."
"Well, at least you get that much. And now that I’ve recapped it, I think our only option is to draw out all the Monsters and cut them down. The instant we’re done, we’ll portal out of here, just in case Eden is lying in wait to ambush us once we’ve dealt with the Monsters," I stated objectively.
"Fine by , it’s not like I have any better ideas anyway," Aurora shrugged in response.
"Yes, I have no reason to object either. But I think we should only target one or two rifts at a ti, so we’ll only partially unleash Aura...according to what you said, there’s way too many to target all at once, right?" Remarked Elise thoughtfully.
"Good point. Alright, get ready to cover your face with a mist cloud," I instructed Aurora, as I took out a face mask and put it on.
"Oh...I forgot to bring sothing to cover my face," Spoke up Elise sheepishly.
"Yeah, I figured as much," I sighed, as I reached into my pocket and took out a second mask.
"rci...wait, is it used or...?" She mused with a slightly apprehensive look.
"Just shut up and put it on, would you?" I sighed again with a shake of my head, "And no, it’s not used."
"So, what do we target first? A big rift or one of the smaller ones?" Aurora asked .
"Hm...if we start with a big Monster, maybe the rumbling caused by it could help scare away all the people around. Starting with a small Monster probably won’t have that impact, so...," I mused, trying to decide.
"Hey, are there any rifts close by?" Elise inquired curiously.
"Yeah, there’s a pretty massive one about thirty ters that way, above where the pavent is cracked...actually, now that I look closer, that area looks pretty damaged, must be a rather big and heavy Monster," Replied Aurora, pointing at the spot.
"Okay, then let’s start with that! I’ll partially unleash a wave of Aura that way, so get ready!" Grinned Elise as she put on the face mask, before unleashing her Aura.
"No, wait, you dumba-...!" I began in alarm, but it was too late.
The air got distorted, before a large reptilian-like foot erged, stepping onto the ground with a heavy thud, small cracks spreading out. Murmurs and confused whispers began ringing out as the ground shook, the Monster slowly but surely erging further out...
"What is that thing? It sort of looks like a dinosaur," Remarked Aurora, her hairs standing up as she stared at the Monster.
"This is bad...that’s a Viciousaur, nad that because of its resemblance to dinosaurs. And as it’s na suggests, it’s extrely vicious and violent...this is my first ti seeing one, the last known sighting of one of these Monsters was way back in the 1900s. But most importantly, it’s a Pri Tier Monster, it certainly won’t go down easily," I grimaced, as it’s head fully erged, its sharp fangs glistening with saliva...as it locked its gaze onto us and narrowed its eyes.
"S-so, uh, this isn’t a ’it can’t see us if we don’t move’ kind of deal, is it?" Inquired Elise nervously.
"Yeah, no, I highly doubt it," I responded, as I bead of sweat ran down the side of my face, before exclaiming as it fully erged, "Get ready, here it cos...!"
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