Chapter 10: Battle Is Always Sudden

Chapter 10:
Battle Is Always Sudden

 

FOR THE LAST WEEK, Honest had been sending soldiers out on patrol to watch for monsters. At the first sign of the siege, they were to fire signals into the air to warn the town. The signals they sent now gave us a little warning, but not much: in a few minutes, the siege would descend.

Most worryingly, the signal shots came from all directions. According to records, that was typical during the siege. The monsters came from everywhere. Even sea monsters assaulted the town.

I still didn’t understand how this worked. I mean, it’s not like the monsters had a meeting to decide on the right date and time to attack. Did they have a leader? I couldn’t think of any other way to explain it.

As I mulled over this, we ran as fast as we could to the training grounds. A ton of soldiers were already there, and we soon met up with Emma and the others. Everyone seemed much calmer than I’d expected. Even the soldiers kept their cool. Well, we’d prepared for this for a while.

“Listen up!” shouted Stey. “The siege is upon us. It is time to execute our plan. Everyone, take up your posts!”

Everyone started moving all at once. As an independent unit, we were free to position ourselves wherever we liked. We headed up the main street, guiding civilians to shelter as we went. Most of the stragglers were street vendors who couldn’t simply abandon their wares outside, so we lent them a hand moving everything out of the way.

“Hey, I found a lost kid,” Emma shouted. “I’m going to go look for his mom.”

“Good idea!”

Some people had panicked at the sound of the bells—they’d tripped or fallen and injured themselves. Luna tended to their wounds and, after about fifteen minutes, the majority of the town’s population were shut away inside. The only ones left were those who couldn’t move easily, and people trying to escape along the road.

“Save me! Demons are coming!”

Some aerial enemies had already slipped past the watchtowers and gotten inside the town.

“Let’s go!” I shouted.

“Yeah! Let’s do this!”

The five of us ran toward the sounds of the attack. Near the south gate, a purple harpy was trying to snatch a man up in its talons and drag him into the sky.

“I don’t think so!” Luna cried.

She nailed the harpy right in the ankle, shooting off its foot. The man dropped safely to the ground, and we all set about performing our roles, just as we’d practiced. Our melee fighters, Lola and Leila, helped get the man out of the way, while I pulled out the Enchanted Bow of Progress and aimed at one of the harpies.

“Whah?!”

The creature crashed out of the sky. Easy as pie! Lyrica’s training really had helped. These weren’t weak creatures by any means. If anything, they moved faster than the ones that showed up last time.

“Ah! They’re too high up!”

Emma’s Wind Strike had a limited range, and she started to struggle.

“Hnnnnngh!”

“Whah?!”

“Egh!”

“Gahh…”

Unsurprisingly, Luna’s Speed Shot was unstoppable. It didn’t take long for us to put down ten of the harpies, but they just kept coming. Seven or eight falcon monsters crossed the walls, ignoring us and heading further into town.

“Let’s go after them.”

We leapt to action, but Lola raised her hand to stop us.

“What are they even doing here?” she asked. “And why are they all headed for the town square?”

“You think they’re after something in particular?”

They could just be driven by instinct hunting down the few people we hadn’t yet gotten inside.

“Somebody save me!”

The voice came from an alley. Were there other monsters down there?

“What shall we do, Noir?”

I was technically the leader of our unit, so I gave the order to split up.

“Emma, you and Luna press on after the falcons. The three of us will help whoever’s shouting.”

After all, Leila and Lola couldn’t do much against flying enemies. They would do better with me.

Down the alley, we found several soldiers on the ground. One of them bled badly from the neck, while five or six more stood back to back with their swords drawn.

“Please, help us!”

“Where’s the enemy?” I asked.

“In the shadows! It’s lurking down there.”

In the shadows? I observed the area carefully for a moment before it hit me: I could use Discerning Eye to get a read on anything hiding there.

 

Name: Shadow Ghoul

Level: 88

Skills: Shadow Weaving; Sharp Talons

 

Talk about lurking in the shadows! And it was pretty strong too. That Shadow Weaving Skill had to be helping it hide. I inched toward it. Then something shrieked right behind me.

“Eeek!”

A monster appeared out of the ground behind Lola. It looked human, but for its blood-red eyes and pure-black body—almost like it had been charred. It also, bizarrely, had three talons growing out of each of its hands. The creature lurched toward Lola. She swung the Blade of Divine Punishment, but the monster was too fast.

“No! Lola!”

“Hngh!”

With a grunt, Leila struck the creature smoothly and powerfully. The ghoul’s head went flying. Her insane destructive power came from her Demon Fist skill. She turned toward me.

“Noir! Behind you!”

“Huh?”

Crap, I’d completely forgotten to check for more! I barely managed to parry the second ghoul’s talons with my sword, but the power of the strike knocked me back into a wall. Pain shot up through my body, but I didn’t have time for that. Yet another ghoul popped out of the ground where it had hidden to land a finishing blow. This was it.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing to Mr. Noir?!”

Lola swung her blade down on the ghoul with overwhelming force.

“Guhh…”

Well, that killed it. Splitting a monster clean in half will do that. As I picked myself up, Leila closed in on the one that had thrown me and finished it off.

“Th-thanks.”

“Are you hurt?” Lola asked. “That looked nasty.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “But only because of you, Lola. You saved my life.”

“I was so scared I froze up! But when I saw you in trouble, I felt my body surge with power.”

Lola’s smile sparkled. I’m pretty sure she’d looked completely terrifying to that monster. The soldiers told us they thought a couple more ghouls had been in the pack, but they never showed. I couldn’t detect them with my Discerning Eye either. I suspected they had fled when we wiped out their friends. Surprisingly clever for monsters.

For now, we needed to get medical attention for that bleeding soldier. We kept guard while his comrades picked him up and carried him. As we went down the main road, a shadow suddenly fell over us.

“No way…”

Honest was doomed. We couldn’t hope to win this now. The shadow of a looming draconic form swept over us, its body surging across the sky.

 

***

 

I shuddered, but there was no time to quake in fear. And besides, the dragon flew right past us. Maybe it hadn’t noticed us? Still, something that big could do some serious damage to the town.

“That’s a wyvern,” said Lola. “They’re small as far as dragons go, but extremely ferocious.”

Even a party of high-ranking adventurers would have trouble taking that down. Emma, Luna, and I had fought an earth dragon not long ago, but it hadn’t been as strong as this thing.

The wyvern had flown past us so quickly that I hadn’t had a chance to use my Discerning Eye. Should we follow it? No, we had to get that injured soldier to safety first. Several medical tents had been set up throughout the town during preparations. When we reached one, it was already chaos inside. Tons of beds were filled with people receiving treatment.

Were things already this bad? We turned over the wounded soldier and his friends for treatment, then headed back out.

I had no idea what to do next. Go after Emma and the others? Hunt down the ghouls that got away? Or try to do something about that wyvern? I looked to Leila for advice.

“The ghouls seemed pretty powerful,” she said. “We probably shouldn’t leave them to their own devices. Lola and I will look for them, you rejoin Emma and the others.”

“That makes sense. Then the three of us can go after the wyvern.”

With that settled, we split up and got to work. But things couldn’t go smoothly, not now. The town teemed with monsters, and not just harpies and ghouls. Goblins and other creatures stormed the streets, wrecking everything in their path.

I caught a blue-skinned goblin dragging a young woman out a broken door by the hair. A middle-aged man nearby tried to fend it off with a sword, but another goblin launched itself at him, knocking him over. Goblins were small, but they were pretty powerful.

“Haaaaah!”

I rushed in, swinging my sword. My blade ripped through the goblin’s unsettling blue skin, spraying blood all over the ground.

“You’re strong, kid! Thanks.”

“Thank you for saving us.”

Neither of them seemed to be seriously injured, so I suggested that they head somewhere else.

I pushed forward again, disposing of any monsters I encountered as I went. There were so many different species! Some of them were especially lowly creatures, the sort lacking in any kind of intelligence. How had they all ended up in Honest at the same time?

By now, the wyvern was attacking one of the watchtowers. Emma and the others were in the opposite direction, but I couldn’t just let this happen. I hurried toward it.

Soldiers in the tower fired arrows and magic at the creature, but its skin was so tough that arrows couldn’t penetrate. The wyvern paid them no mind. It focused entirely on destroying the tower. It would soon succeed. Cracks ran down the building’s walls. That tower wouldn’t hold much longer.

“Get down from there!” I shouted to the soldiers. “The building’s going to collapse!”

They disengaged and ran for the stairs. At almost the same time, the wyvern slammed into the tower and the whole thing came crashing down. This thing was so strong! This time, I made sure to get an accurate read on it.

 

Name: Fire-Breathing Wyvern

Level: 105

Skills: Fire Breath; Body Blow; Hard Body

 

It was quite a bit stronger than most of the other monsters I’d seen, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Having said that, I immediately had to dodge back as it dove down from the tower, and fifteen feet of scaly beast with two horns and pitch-black eyes landed right in front of me. Its uneven skin shone dark blue, and its wings spread from its arms, just like the harpies.

The wyvern glowered down at me and opened its mouth. Oh shoot—was this its Fire Breath skill?

“Cover your ears!” someone shouted.

Everyone else did as the soldier said, but I raised the Shield of Champions instead. I wasn’t sure I could survive a direct hit from its Fire Breath, but—

The wyvern let loose a terrible roar.

My whole body went suddenly numb. Only I had failed to plug my ears, and the loudness of the roar shook my bones. I readied myself to attack but, to my surprise, the creature flew off instead—heading for the center of town.

“Are you okay, kid?!” One of the soldiers ran over to me. He looked pale as a sheet.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I have a hearing protection skill.”

I’d made it back when we fought the earth dragon. It had been useful then, and it’d saved me again now.

“Glad to hear it,” said the solider. “If you hadn’t warned us, we would all be dead in the ruins of that watchtower. We owe you.”

“You really don’t. I’m more interested in how you knew the creature was going to roar rather than use its Fire Breath!”

The soldier laughed. “Most wyverns have a tell when they’re going to breathe fire: their body starts to shake.”

“Good to know. I’m going after it.”

“Hey, are you crazy? You don’t stand a chance!”

“Don’t worry!” I called back. “I’ll work something out.”

“Oh, wait! Are you the kid that held his own against General Stey?”

Well, I couldn’t really claim that. Stey had intimidated me from start to finish. Instead, I gave the soldier a vague shrug and ran off to catch up with the wyvern.

How long was I going to play tag with these monsters?

 

***

 

The closer I got to the center of town, the more monsters appeared. The majority were cannon fodder, but stronger creatures were mixed in with them. I couldn’t let my guard down. I made a point to use my Discerning Eye on everything before attacking. At least nearly everyone had taken cover by now, which made things easier. However, the orcs and goblins were destroying buildings. I couldn’t let that happen.

I took out my Piercing Spear and snuck behind a goblin demolishing a wall. I stabbed it repeatedly in the back, ignoring the pathetic look it gave me as it died. These monsters killed everyone they could find. No mercy.

As I switched back to my sword, another goblin burst out of a water barrel but, with the brilliant flash of silver light from my blade, it split clean in two. Even I had to admit that was pretty impressive.

“Noooo!”

A scream came from the house behind me. A harpy had broken a second-floor window and forced its way inside. The scream sounded like that of a child. I had to act fast. I headed for the house, but the door was locked.

“Sorry, but I have to break down your door!”

I smashed it with a large Stone Bullet and dashed up the stairs to the second floor.

“No, stop! Don’t eat me! I don’t taste good!”

A harpy was trying to kidnap a man in full plate armor who cowered in the corner of the room. He looked like some kind of noble.

“Close your eyes!” I warned.

I hoped he’d done as I asked—and I used Blinding Light. It had proved pretty effective on harpies in the past and, sure enough, the bright flash disoriented the creature. It smashed into the walls like a moth bouncing around in a basket. Soon, it cracked its head into the ceiling and fell to the floor. I quickly finished it off with my sword.

“Seems it forgot it was inside.”

Blinding Light had proved to be super effective at close range. Also good to know.

I turned to the man I had rescued. It turned out he was a bit of a character.

“My deepest thanks for rescuing me! Sir, if you had not come to my aid, I am afraid I would have been finished!”

“N-no problem. I really should apologize for breaking your door.”

“Fear not, good sir. You are my knight in shining armor.”

Actually, I’m pretty sure you’re the one in the armor here…

I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of him. What was with the armored hero look? Clearly he wasn’t prepared to fight any actual monsters. Maybe he just had more money than brains? I suggested he hide in the closet, and he quickly agreed.

“Excellent plan, sir. After all, there are many valuable garments in there, and someone must defend them!”

“Just make sure you keep the door closed, okay?”

Even if he did come under attack again, he would be fine with all that protection. I wished him well and used the broken window to hop out onto the roof.

I had a good view of the area from up there, and I took the opportunity to survey the situation. I soon spotted the wyvern in the center of town.

I jumped down and deliberately landed on a goblin to break my fall. I got back to my feet and ran, passing a number of partially destroyed buildings on my way. Was wrecking homes a monster hobby or something?

The second I got to the square, the wyvern slammed into an expensive-looking building. How much did they need to destroy before they were satisfied?! Worse, I knew some people were hiding in there.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!”

The wyvern was big, but I stood a pretty good chance against it. I fired off several arrows with my enchanted bow, but they just bounced harmlessly off the wyvern’s skin. It sure got the creature’s attention though! I watched for just the right moment and then…

“Roaaaaar!”

“Did you really think that was going to work?”

Bwoooomph!

I scored a direct hit with an Exploding Arrow. This time, it pierced the wyvern’s skin, even through its Hard Body skill. It staggered aloft, flapping its wings and trying to get away. Not on my watch. I fired off a Thunderbolt. The wyvern crashed into the fountain in the middle of the square.

Now I needed to take out the creature without getting me killed. I had two options: wear it down with long-ranged attacks or get in close and use the Piercing Spear.

Before I could decide, the wyvern opened its mouth and made a strange coughing noise. Then its body started to tremble—starting at the tip of its tail, then up through its torso into its neck. The Shield of Champions had A-Grade Fire Resistance, so I whipped it out and hid behind it.

Then the fire came. Even with the shield protecting me, the heat was tremendous. I only managed to withstand it because I had Heat Resistance too. If I hadn’t, the shield alone wouldn’t have been enough.

Once the fire died out, the wyvern coughed violently. This was my chance! I fired a pair of Icicles at its wings, freezing it to the ground. It looked hurt now, so I ran over and stabbed it through the head with my spear.

As soon as the wyvern was dead, some adventurers ran over, drawn by the commotion. Embarrassingly, they exploded into a round of applause.

“Wow, you’re incredible!”

“I can’t believe you defeated a wyvern.”

Ack—it was definitely time to get out of here!

As I left the square, I met some familiar faces coming from the other way.

“Noir!”

“Sir Noir!”

No matter how relieved I was to have defeated the wyvern, I was even more relieved to see Emma and Luna again.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I ended up fighting the wyvern all by myself.”

“Those falcon monsters took more time than we thought.”

It sounded like they’d had a pretty hard time, but I was hardly surprised to hear they’d gotten the job done. Leila and Lola were probably finishing off those ghouls even as we spoke. I wanted to know how they were doing, but it wasn’t safe to stay here and chat. Monsters kept coming from all directions.

“Hey, doesn’t it seem like there are more monsters in this area than anywhere else?” Emma asked.

“It does,” I agreed. “It’s weird. What could they want?”

Even as I said that, I caught sight of the statue of Gaien and the Stone of Peace. That’s right! Right before the attack started, Gillan, Lola, and I had been about to investigate it.

I went over now to take a look. I started with the statue, but it seemed completely normal. The real question was whether something was hiding in the Stone of Peace. After all, hadn’t Gaien made it right before his death?

I used my Discerning Eye and discovered the stone had two skills: Life Seal and Monster Call. I looked into them with Editor.

 

Life Seal: Seals a living creature inside an object. The creature will remain alive until the seal is broken.

 

Monster Call: Once a certain amount of magical energy is accumulated, an item will emit a power that attracts monsters. As the energy pool grows, it will attract more monsters, even distant ones. Once the call goes out, the magical energy is consumed, and the process begins again. The process repeats until the item is destroyed.

 

“Th-this is the source of it all…”

It all made sense now! This stone gathered up magical energy over time and, when it reached its required amount, it called monsters to it, creating the siege. The call depleted its reserves, at which point it would just start the whole process over again. That’s why the cycle repeated every ten years!

“Listen, you guys, the stone is attracting the monsters.”

“Seriously?!” said Emma. “I mean, I suppose a first-rate alchemist would be capable of making something like that, but…”

“But why?” Luna asked. “What was he trying to achieve? Didn’t the townspeople say Gaien fought off the monsters? Did he have some kind of grudge against Honest?”

I didn’t think so. I had suddenly remembered something from Gaien’s journal—about how, if he couldn’t become immortal, he wanted to live on in people’s hearts and minds.

In times of peace, people forgot their heroes. But maybe, if monsters regularly attacked the town, they’d inevitably remember how they’d once had a hero who protected them. That way, the legend of the great hero that saved Honest would be passed on and on, through the generations. If that memory was what Gaien had been after, he’d succeeded.

“Let’s destroy it. Right now.”

I pulled out my unnamed mallet. It had a Stone Crusher skill, which had proved extremely useful in the hidden dungeon before.

“Smash it to bits!” Emma cheered.

“Indeed, Sir Noir shall sever the chains of misfortune that bind Honest!”

Breaking it would destroy the skill and stop the monsters from gathering, right? I wasn’t sure if it would break the Life Seal skill, too, but it was worth a try.

“Eat this, Gaien!”

I brought down the mallet and the stone cracked down the middle. Nothing happened. One hit wasn’t enough, so I kept going. Before long, the stone was a pile of rubble and my Discerning Eye showed that the skills were gone.

“You did it!”

“That’s Sir Noir for you.”

Emma and Luna high-fived, but I had to wonder: Would the monsters really retreat now?

Before I could check the situation across town, smoke billowed up into the air from the stone, pouring out of the rubble. A powerful gust of wind rushed past us. I closed my eyes against it.

By the time I opened them again, something truly strange had happened: an unfamiliar creature stood right in the center of the square.

The thing wore full plate armor. It stood at least fifteen feet tall and carried a sword just as long. With the seal skill broken, the creature inside had been released.

“GLORY TO GAIEN!” it bellowed.

Was that Gaien? No, he’d probably sealed it in the stone to prevent its destruction…or to get revenge.

Either way, Gaien was an absolute piece of crap.