#10 Stonevic Cultist Extermination Battle (Noa, Renoa - Big Tits Double Paizuri♥) (2)
The cultists continued their grim work, methodically piling up blood and corpses.
Then, without any warning, the change came.
Pffft! Pffft!
"...Guh...?"
Muffled screams began echoing one by one around them. By the time they wondered what could be causing the sounds, they themselves were already pierced through by the same thing.
It was black thorns. Like awls surging up from the shadows.
But the thorns weren't the only attackers. Here and there, groups clad in black robes collapsed with heavy thuds. Amid them, flashes of pink hair appeared and vanished repeatedly.
Every time that figure materialized and disappeared, one more cultist in the group toppled over, throat slit.
The lanterns illuminating the dark warehouse had gone out midway through. Caught off guard by the sudden chaos, they lost many numbers before finally grasping the situation and shouting.
"Enemy!!"
"Light the place up!! Kill them!!"
The air stirred. The mages among them tried to summon light with their magic, but the moment their forms became visible, they became targets for Heart's knives and Lete's shadow awls.
Realizing that creating light made them targets, they froze. Meanwhile, the two women used their Dark Vision skill to pick off only the cultists in the darkness, unhindered.
Even if they wanted to flee the warehouse, Lete's shadows sealed the door tight, leaving no escape.
Cultists dropped limply one after another.
The cultists panicked, their confusion deepening.
Lete and Heart picked up the pace.
Even more cultists fell in the gloom.
"Youuuuuu fuuuuucking biiiitcheeeees!!!"
And then.
The room blazed bright all at once.
A mage's spell had lit the entire space—not just a single orb of light like the others, but enough to flood the whole area in brilliance.
Naturally, Lete and Heart were exposed. And so was the carnage they had wrought.
The floor was littered with nothing but corpses. Excluding the civilians the cultists had just slaughtered, every single one was a cultist felled in the dark.
In this vast warehouse, only the mage who had lit the place and his four guarding cultist warriors remained.
"Kaa!! Kaahaaaaah—! Wh-what is this, what is this horrific... aaah, aaah, my comrades, my, my, my comrades!! We who serve our great god, aaah, oooh, why this atrocityyyyy!!!"
"Damn you, damn you sow bitches!!"
The aged, ragged-looking mage bellowed. Tears streamed down his face. His teeth chattered, he bit his lips until they bled, clutched his temples, and whipped his head around wildly.
Especially horrifying were his eyes. Wide open, they rolled independently like glass prosthetics, pupils spinning madly.
"...He looks dangerous enough at a glance. I wouldn't want to show something like that to Master Gaon."
"More than that, it's disgusting seeing them play the comrade card after slaughtering so many people... Though I guess cultists aren't right in the head to begin with."
Lete flicked her hand. Following the gesture, a shadow awl surged from the floor at the old mage's feet.
But the rising thorn was blocked by the warriors' swords and the mage's magic.
None of them, including the old mage, were Hero Units. Yet despite that, each boasted stats and skills rivaling Hero Units.
'Warriors at Lv.2, the mage... at least Lv.3 or higher.'
Heart quickly gauged their strength with her Detection skill.
They were no pushovers. Far more dangerous than expected.
"Sow bitches... sow sow sow sows! Heroes blessed by the gods!! Perfect timing!! I'll use you bitches as sacrifices!!"
"All for 'Him'! For 'Him'!!"
Sinister dark orbs rapidly formed above the mage's head. They morphed into spear shapes and shot toward the two like lightning.
At the same time, his four warrior guards charged in unison. One at Heart, three at Lete.
Heart and Lete fended off the vile magic and the warriors enhanced by wicked power.
In the vast, gloomy warehouse, a cacophony of sounds mingled in fierce combat.
* * *
Beyond the outer walls encircling the city of Stonevic, heavy thuds and monstrous roars echoed relentlessly from a short distance away.
Until now, these beasts had unnaturally held position in the coastal shallows, blocking the path. But tonight, they surged toward Stonevic all at once. As if commanded by someone.
The night air carried their cries far. Even from afar, the chorus of numerous monsters roaring in unison reached the city clearly.
Their voices, the ground tremors transmitted through the earth, stoked the fear and terror in the city's residents.
The city was in no state to prepare. Cultist schemes had sparked riots everywhere, with arson, fires, and random murders plunging it into chaos.
The government offices were seized by cultist lackeys amid the city lord's absence, leaving the city utterly leaderless.
Without a leader to quell the chaos or an army to protect the powerless masses, the city faced doom from these ruin beasts.
They would be devoured, ravaged, trampled horrifically, and burned without mercy.
—Or so it should have been.
"Gu-woooooh!!"
"Guooooh!!"
"Chwiik—!!!"
From a different direction than the ruin spawn swarming the streets. Another type of roar emanated from the Bewitching Forest.
The source: orcs emerging one by one from the woods. Flanking them and bringing up the rear were massive skeletons and undead monsters crashing through trees.
These orcs handled territorial defense, turning invading ruin spawn near the territory into undead.
The undead were weaker than in life, but their numbers were vast—overwhelming the street-occupying ruin spawn.
Leading the horde, Orc General Barosy—wielding his massive axe—let out his signature grunt and bellowed.
"Charge! Charge! Chaaarge!! Our king has called! Our king has entrusted us!!! Chwiik—!!"
"Every bastard in front is the enemy!! Drive them out!! Lay down your lives for our king, warriors!"
"I'll lead the way!! Fear not! This is the path for our kingggg!!!"
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The orcs stomped rhythmically to hype themselves. Joined by the undead's advancing footsteps, it swallowed even the ruin spawn's tremors.
The moment the declaration ended, Barosy charged like the wind, like a storm.
Orcs and undead followed fearlessly.
Their morale soared higher than ever.
Soon, Barosy's Gaon legion clashed with the ruin spawn targeting the city.
* * *
[City Destruction Event]
This was a gimmick the strategy guide author had warned about repeatedly.
It only triggered on Insane or higher difficulty; lower ones didn't feature it.
A headache-inducing event that spawned countless variables.
With so many variants, memorizing and defending against them all was near impossible. Even knowing triggers, without prior prep, you couldn't stop or resolve them.
Late-game, players managed multiple cities at once. Micromanaging each for contingencies wasn't feasible.
Thus, the guide's advice: "If the event starts, just abandon the city."
Attempting it often failed anyway. Blocking one might trigger two or three more. Better to invest soldiers and funds in healthy cities.
'If this were just a game, I'd have followed the guide too.'
But this world I inhabited now was too real to call a mere game.
So I didn't want to give up.
I wanted to save everyone possible.
Do my absolute best.
After all, I'm just a kind-hearted, gentle, good citizen. Wishing no misfortune on the innocent and wanting to save them—it's perfectly normal.
