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—--------------------
/At the same time, somewhere within the forest…/
/Crunch... Splat.../
/Gasp…/
"Haa… Haa… I'll really die at this rate." A middle-aged man said as he sat down atop a bloodied wooden box
All around him, corpses of monsters and beasts littered the ground, a battlefield of flesh and gore that made one think of Hell.
He was currently in front of what seemed to be a massive tall brown wall… In an open area that was full of wooden houses and dirty streets.
It seemed to be some sort of small town built next to a massive plateau while being surrounded by a wooden wall.
More like some sort of fortification hidden in the woods than a city…
/Inhale… Exhale…/
After taking a deep breath, the man raised his head to look around to see if there are any enemies left.
"This was... The Seventh wave..."
'Not to count the individual beasts that appeared in between...'
"Phew… I can't keep doing this… Perhaps I should just settle down a have a child… Haha…"
The man chuckled a little as he rested his longsword on a barrel next to him, thinking about what to do next.
'It's been over fifteen days already and no signs whatsoever of the expedition team.'
'Food isn't a problem despite my initial worries, all of these monsters rushing into our shelter have cut me the trouble of looking for meat… Even if most of it can't be used for such.'
'Either way, I can tell most are already getting tired of eating only meat, even if that used to be a luxury before.'
'It's not good for a balanced diet either… Though I don't think we'll last enough till the side effects of that start appearing.'
'The problem is these monsters…' He said as he kicked the body of a distorted creature next to his feet
'They've mutated, with most of these having failed the process… How did it come to this?'
'The Vitality of the forest is pushing them into a transformation and in tandem, causes their behavior to become bloodthirsty and maniacal…'
'So much so they can't even be called animals anymore, they're all abhorrent monsters…'
'Not to say the Demon or two mixed in between, those are the most annoying.'
'The question is, why are these beelining to us when there are so many other targets?'
'Are they being controlled by the 'Singularity' further East? That makes no sense, what would it gain by destroying us? How would it even learn of our presence anyway?'
'It isn't that, but then, why?...'
"I knew it, we should've focused on finding a way to deal with it the moment we learned of its existence... But we didn't and now it's too late to cry about it."
'The forest is already chaotic as it is and hope is as dim as a dying candle… And now I have this to worry about…'
"Sigh, at least I managed to fill their heads with something, they aren't worrying too much since they can have food…"
'But once food stops being a problem, they'll start thinking about something else.'
'And since I'm the only one that can keep them safe, safety would be their next worry…'
"What to do…"
'If I could figure out why they wish to come here… But I can't figure out the reason at all.' He thought silently as he watched the blood of the creatures he slew converge into a small red river
He pulled a small knife from his waist, gazing at it with a deep gaze.
'Perhaps… It is due to this?'
'The Knife and the Blue Obelisk… Relics of an age before I was born.'
'I'm not quite sure what it did after I stabbed it into the Obelisk, but ever since then, creatures have been swarming our Sanctuary.'
'I can't think of anything else aside from that… And I know for certain that the old man wouldn't pull a leg on me.'
'He's… Not that old and decadent to pull a fast one on his own son…'
/Grasp…/
'Yet… What am I supposed to believe if not that?!'
'Old man… You told me to resist for at least two weeks and here I am!…'
'Where are you?' He thought as he looked at the trees above him
/Step step.../
"Hm?"
Suddenly, the sounds of steps echoed in the streets...
"Wuril?" Someone asked as they approached him from afar
It was a gentle-looking woman that seemed to be in her early 30s wearing leathery clothes while having her hair tied into a ponytail.
She held a casket in her hands, it was covered by a pure white cloth that didn't belong on this dark red battlefield.
"Fir? Go back this instant, it's still dangerous." The middle-aged man replied without moving
"..."
But the woman did not reply, instead, her face got even more serious and concerned as she approached him, sitting on one of the barrels next to him.
"Are you deaf? I told you to go back..."
It was at this moment that he saw others also leave the safety of the insides of the mountain, giving him a headache.
"Everyo..."
"Shhh..." Fir replied as she opened her casket
"You're injured." She said lightly as she took out a small bandage
"It's nothing, a few scratches here and there aren't going to make a difference." Wuril replied with a scoff
"But if enough of them accumulate, it could be the difference between success and a serious one, no?" She replied as she bandaged his arms
"..."
"I knew it, you can't even move." She said with a pained expression as she looked at his arm
"Were you able to do so you would've already kicked us back inside."
"... I'm just giving you all a break from being inside, go back as soon as possible."
"... Stubborn as always." She said as she finished bandaging one arm, she was fast and efficient, it was definitely not her first time doing this
"... Thank you."
"... Don't, don't thank me." Wuril replied as he looked at the battlefield
"But I need to, thank you for being here... For staying."
"Stop it, I..."
"We already know they won't be coming back, they brought their families with them, only those that are alone are left."
"Those that have no one to rely on... You gave us hope and a purpose, a reason to wait for the sunrise..."
"But that's enough, look at your state... You..."
/Get up.../
As she said that, Wuril got up, standing tall like a rock.
"Don't say anything... I don't want to hear it."
"Go back now, we can deal with everything else once..."
/HUSTLE…/
"!!"
Hearing the trees shake violently, the man quickly stored his knife as he got into a defensive stance.
"Looks like rest time's over…" He mumbled to himself as his eyes sharpened considerably
/ROOOAAARR!/
"?!"
From within the leaves, a red creature dashed into the air, opening its claws to fetch one of the survivors!
They had no time to react, the beast moved before they even had to blink!
/Screams/
"NO! EVERYONE, GET BACK!" The man exclaimed as his sword started glowing
'DAMMIT! It's a…'
/ROAAAR!/
A mighty beast with a pair of two wings and horns, red scales, and massive claws…
"I-It's a Wyvern!!" Someone exclaimed as they pointed upward, falling backward into the dirty road
"Run-Away!"
"Everyone, back into the…"
/ROAAR!/
Chaos descended.
…
/At the same time, above.../
"I can't see much." Dale replied as he squinted his eyes
"This is indeed pretty strange... If the survivors are here, wouldn't they have contacted us by now?" Testros asked as he looked around
Atop the Old Trunk was a City very much like Resko.
A beautiful place built to last and with intent.
If seen from up above, it was possible to see how well-designed the city was and how every block had been taken into account.
'This is a fully-fledged city, it only needs to be reactivated.' Dale thought as he looked below
'Is it even possible?... It should be.'
'All of Quests point towards recovery and the future, this is the theme of the South as far as I'm aware.'
'To recover what was lost while also fixing the problems left behind by those that came before us.'
'Reconstructing Resko will definitely be a challenge, so I can't see myself making use of the infrastructure left behind by the Corps.'
'But there's definitely a need to explore some of them... At a later date...'
"Hm... I don't think there's anyone living in that city... If they are, they're hiding pretty well." Dale replied as he looked at the city
'It looks very much like Resko, I would even say it looks way better.'
'Way too many vines, but that is better than the sand and the heavy rain that submerges things.'
"..."
Testros was silent, definitely thinking about it.
"..."
'He must be thinking about his choices... It's not unusual.'
'He made a heavy choice to be here and things are starting to look... Grim.'
'If it weren't for my Quest I would've been a bit on the defensive as well...'
'The problem is that we don't have time to look for them, not only due to the Devil but also because of my Quests...'
'Where are they... Hum?'
Dale's attention was drawn to faint black smoke rising from the trees.
"Look! Is that smoke?" He said as he pointed to the right
"?... Let's check it out." Testros replied with a deeper tone, clearly somewhat excited
/Caaw!/
/FWOOSH!/
With a slight tug of the reins, Ubuk dived down with incredible speed, giving them a better view of what was actually happening...
"Something's wrong... I see fire!" Dale replied as he used everything he had to try and observe below
Thanks to his items, he could see many times better than Testros, allowing him to spot what was going on.
'I see houses... Fire... Carcasses... People!'
'Something's going on.'
"I can see them, people!" Dale replied with emotion as he looked at Testros
"..."
His gaze did not change but something about him seemed to be on the verge of bursting.
"What else can you see?"
"Bodies... Of monsters."
"It seems they're fighting something, it's rather chaotic."
"Then we need to increase our speed." He replied in a heavy tone as he pulled his sword from his back, ready to fight as well
"ROOOOAR!"
""!!""
Just as they approached the canopy of the trees, they heard the mighty cry of a beast they had never seen before.
And with it, even Ubuk was forced to stop as he started to hover above the trees.
Testros tried to force it down, but it didn't budge, it was already impressive it flew around calmly.
"Wait..." Dale said as he spotted a red flash below
'Is that...'
/SLASH!/
Amidst their observations, they saw what seemed to be a lightly armored man fight a...
"... A Dragon?" Dale replied as his eyes opened wide
'No, that's a...'
'Wyvern!'
Under the gaze of many, the scaled beast opened its maw as embers gathered within...
...
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Notes
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