Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Invasion of the Eighth District
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"No pity for the likes of you."
Tacha raised his foot and stomped down on the head of the fallen monster. There was a dull crunch as its skull shattered.
Chopping off limbs wasn't enough. You had to smash the head to stop their movements.
Some kept thrashing even after their heads were severed, but it never lasted long.
A foul stench emanated from its body. Withered souls reeked just as badly.
He wanted to dunk himself in the river. Clutching his glaive, Tacha looked up. Far off, atop the clock tower, was Edan.
The falcons of the Roppa clan darted here and there, indistinguishable from spirits themselves. He watched the messengers carrying reports, then slipped into an alley.
The stench lingered without end.
The hunt was still far from over.
* * *
"What the hell?"
Edan shaded his eyes with his hand and squinted. The monsters rampaging through the streets were all moving in one direction.
At first, he hadn't noticed. Their attacks seemed indiscriminate. But after observing for a while, he spotted a pattern in their movements.
They were stealthily heading northeast. One leaped from a rooftop, abandoning a corpse as it bounded away. Another bursting from the adjacent block did the same.
Did they have a goal?
Edan descended from the clock tower. The area was already secure. Central Guards had been deployed around the civilians evacuated to the left district. This place should be fine now.
He slipped two fingers between his lips and whistled. Dao swooped in low. With a hand signal, he asked for forward scouting. Dao would alert him immediately if it spotted any monsters from above.
He followed the monsters' path. He might not know much else, but he trusted his stamina and speed. He scaled the tightly packed rooftops, bounding from one to the next.
"Head that way! There's a shelter set up!"
He gave a quick explanation to the citizens he encountered on a rooftop, then leaped onward. He couldn't catch up to the monsters right away, but with Dao's help, they'd enter his sight eventually.
Dao let out a cry. The warning call signaling danger. He halted and climbed higher.
Caution, and more caution. Monsters were swarming from all directions toward the most dangerous district in the Holy City.
Their destination was District 8.
* * *
Ariel took a step, then froze. She slowly turned her head left and right. How was she supposed to interpret what she was seeing?
Dismembered monster corpses lay piled high. She couldn't even begin to count how many—individuals, or beasts, she didn't know. No one else was around.
It was only natural. This was District 8. Off-limits to civilians. All major facilities were underground, leaving nothing but scattered entrances across an empty plain.
"Did you handle all this alone?"
Ariel shook off her daze and approached Lander. Unlike the blood-soaked ground, he was remarkably clean.
Bits of monster blood and flesh clung here and there, but it was hard to believe he'd just fought a brutal battle.
"Long time no see."
"Yes, it has been. But first, will you answer my question? Lander, did you clear all these out?"
"Yes. I did."
She knew Lander's skills were extraordinary. She'd been impressed once before when he defeated a Tarin warrior, but she hadn't imagined this level.
"Have you met Tacha of the Black Heart?"
Lander asked. Ariel sorted through her tangled thoughts and let out a small sigh. She'd forgotten. There was something she needed to say first upon seeing him.
"Yes. Thanks to your consideration, I've gained some strength myself. I should thank you properly, but given the circumstances, I'll make it up to you later."
"The only request I made to that Tarin warrior was to meet you. Earning his trust was your own achievement, so no need to thank me."
"I'm grateful just for the opportunity you gave me. But before that, I owe you an apology, Lander."
She gripped her sword hilt with both hands and bowed her head.
"The advice you gave me that day was right. It was my mother who drove my father to his death. When I heard it, rage clouded my mind. I couldn't think straight, convinced it couldn't be true. So I lashed out at you. It was foolish."
"I'd have done the same. We deny harsh realities at first."
"It's kind of you to say that, but it embarrasses me. Later, I learned the truth through Willett, and it allowed me to prepare. On the surface, I'm still on good terms with my mother, but someday she'll pay the price."
The grace of birth and upbringing meant nothing now. Her mother was an enemy to be executed.
An archfoe she must crush to protect the Tian name.
"We have much to discuss, but not now. Later."
She raised her sword and turned. Monsters appeared at the entrance to District 8.
Beings no longer worthy of the name human, twisted into grotesque forms. Blood oozed from bulging veins.
The charging monsters suddenly halted. They growled like startled dogs, then bolted toward the walls encircling District 8. Back in the streets, they'd lunged without hesitation.
In the distance, more monsters scaled the walls into District 8. They shrieked as they charged the facility entrances.
With a thud, flesh-and-blood bodies crumpled. The sturdy entrances wouldn't yield no matter how hard the monsters rammed them.
She narrowed her eyes. She'd thought they lacked purpose, but now it seemed the underground facilities of District 8 were their target.
She'd wondered if this chaos stemmed from the emperor's secret magic research. But their behavior suggested otherwise. A third party was clearly manipulating them with intent.
The monsters' clothing varied wildly. If ordinary citizens had been transformed by some spell or curse...
She didn't want to imagine it. This went beyond mere loss of life. Turning an enemy nation's people into raving monsters could reshape the nature of war.
The Mage Accords had supposedly halted inhumane research and experiments, but who believed that? Everyone was pursuing it in secret—the emperor, the Alliance Kingdom leaders.
If the Alliance Kingdom was behind this, the celebratory banquet for the third year of peace would turn into a war council.
Someone desperately wanted war, but not her. At least not until her house stabilized. Her mother alone was overwhelming enough; add war to that?
"They're not too bright. They can't smash through that with brute force."
District 8 was fortified like the emperor's palace. Those entrances protruding from the plain were symbols of perfect security.
The walls around District 8 weren't especially high, and though off-limits, no guards patrolled them—all thanks to the entrances.
They were made of the same material as Giant Soldier outer armor. In alert mode, mana flowed through them, granting strength and hardness impervious to ordinary force.
Monsters that tore humans apart barehanded stood no chance against the Think Tank entrance.
A monster scaling the left wall veered toward her, charging on all fours. Ariel assumed her stance, bracing for the assault.
But it was pointless.
It was sliced apart. No other way to describe it. She hadn't seen the sword's arc.
The monster split in two and collapsed into the corpse pile. Now she understood why bodies surrounded Lander.
Her palms sweated. He'd been right beside her, yet invisible. Was that possible? That speed?
Even body techniques using mana shouldn't transcend common sense like this.
"I wasn't seeing things that day. How is that even possible?"
No better way to put it. Swordsmanship, body arts—neither fit.
"Practice makes perfect."
"I... see."
On second thought, the man before her was no mere veteran. He'd claimed to handle rearguard duties in Andun and met her father by chance, but that was surely a lie.
The Empire, the emperor—they didn't let talent slip away. This man was surely tied to the Empire's core.
She lowered her sword and gazed at the Think Tank entrances. Dozens of monster corpses littered the area.
Lacking any learning ability, the monsters kept charging the entrances.
"Better to open all the paths and let them kill themselves."
Roppa falcons wailed as they circled overhead. The Roppa had noticed the monsters' odd movements too.
How to resolve this? To minimize casualties, let them smash themselves against the walls. They couldn't breach anyway.
She brushed back sweat-dampened hair, surveying the scene, when she spotted a monster atop the right wall. Something was off.
Unlike the others, it didn't charge straight for an entrance. It scanned the surroundings, observing.
Their eyes met. In that instant, she knew. This one was different—possessed of reason, unlike the rest.
Alarm surged as she whipped her head around. More monsters climbed the walls, surveying. Lander sensed it too and moved.
The ground thumped against her ears. Her body lurched toward where Lander had dashed.
She barely regained balance and looked ahead. Lander was already atop the wall, facing the monster.
How fast was he? It was almost laughable. Lander swung at the confronting monster. This time, she saw it. The wall-perched beast tumbled down without resistance.
Hallucination? They seemed dangerous. She turned. Leave that side to Lander. As she leaped toward the opposite wall—
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion rocked her skull, the ground shuddering violently. She gasped and dropped low.
Dust engulfed where Lander had been. Gray clouds blanketed the area.
A massive blast. Her ears rang with a piercing whine. Several low-flying falcons, caught in the explosion, plummeted around her.
"This is..."
She stared at a dead falcon. Its flesh was melting. Ariel knew this phenomenon—exposure to dense mana melted living tissue like this.
Her mind blanked briefly. The observing monsters, the explosion, the dissolving falcons. It hit her like a slap. She jerked her head up.
The monsters atop the walls, peering at the entrances, moved in unison. Their bodies were turning white.
(To be continued)