Point-of-View: Ilex Sarralot
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"Any trouble on your end?"
"No, um, we’re okay over here. No sign of the True Nobility so far," I replied, before adding, "Um, what about over there?"
"It’s all clear over here too, there’s been no sign of them. Having all these Knights around is stressful though, I have to stay out of sight for as long as they’re here," Gior responded with a sigh.
It’s the 17th of Martius, 2020, about a week after Larrk and the others left. And as I later found out, the True Nobility had inflicted far greater damage across the nation than I’d anticipated.
Pufph Town and Blont Town were completely wiped out, only a handful of residents managed to survive from those towns, by running away when the attack began. Even their Diamond ranked Adventurers were killed...just like here in Kaygee Town, powerful Monsters were unleashed in every town and village.
Four of the villages were destroyed too, the rest were saved by the Knights but still sustained several casualties and imnse structural damage.
All the survivors in the villages and the two destroyed towns have been relocated and spread out between the remaining five towns, and five of the six Knight Captains are stationed in each town as well.
The Commander and remaining Captain are in the capital, to protect the Royal family and the citizens there. I suppose we can’t complain about that, the Knights may be a less vile group than they used to be, but they’re still Nobles, it’s only natural that they’d prioritize their own.
Also, the capital is a lot bigger than any of the towns, so there’s more ground to cover, even if there are less people to protect. Naturally, there are a lot more Commoners in the nation than there are Nobles.
The Knight Captain stationed here in Kaygee Town is the sa one who challenged to a duel a few days ago, Lynks Perisey. And he’s leading a squad of twenty-five Knights, the sa number is in Cusch Town as well, where Gior and Phyurio are, sa with Kaygee Town, where Rosary is. Presumably, the other towns, Marri and Hasch, have similar numbers there too.
So, including the captains, there are about one hundred and thirty Knights spread out across each remaining town. The Knight Order has a lot less mbers than it used to, thanks to the purge of their ranks.
I’ve also been spying on the Knights here and listening in on their conversations, as a result of which I’ve found out that most of the Knights who were purged by the Commander are nowhere to be found in the capital. And there are a few hundred of them...she really didn’t hold back with that, did she?
I’ve been in contact with Gior in Cusch Town and Rosary in Kieph Town, and we’ve co to the pretty obvious conclusion that those Knights are highly likely to be involved with the True Nobility.
"By the way, um, have you heard from Larrk and the others again?" I asked Gior.
"No, he only called the one ti so far. But I’d imagine he’ll be calling again in a day or two at the very least," He replied, as I heard footsteps approaching.
"I should go, soone’s coming. I’ll talk to you later," I remarked, hanging up the call and putting my phone in my pocket, right as the footsteps I heard turned around the corner.
Oh, it’s the Knight Captain.
"Oh, there you are, I’ve been looking for you. I think we’ve got a problem, co with ," He instructed, a grim look on his face.
"Is it them?" I inquirer with a frown.
"It’ll be easier to show you," He replied, gesturing to follow after him.
Well, that’s not ominous at all. I trailed behind him warily as he led the way, heading for the north border of the town. Protective barriers have been placed around all the remaining towns and the capital, a physical barrier as well as one that prevents teleportation, to keep them from teleporting right into town and attacking from within before we even realize they’re here.
As the border ca into sight, the outer walls of the barriers visible, my eyes widened in bewildernt at the sight just outside of the barriers. What the...? What is this?
A large horde of Monsters, they’re swarming the barrier, trying to break through it and get into the town. The other Knights and several of the Adventurers were arriving too, looking on in horror.
"This shouldn’t be possible...those are all Labyrinth Monsters. A Goblin outbreak isn’t unheard of, but...," I frowned in disbelief.
"Yeah, there’s a wide variety of species," Nodded Lynks with a grimace.
"Sothing isn’t right, they...they look scared. It’s almost like...," I trailed off, before deciding to test my theory, "Manifest Soul Weapon: Mana Armant."
I then pointed it down and fired out a jet of Mana from it, shooting myself up into the air before regulating the amount of Mana shooting out, maintaining my position and hovering up in the air as I got a higher vantage point.
"What are you doing?" Called out Lynks from below.
"It’s just as I thought...there’s several Disastrous Grades and a few Catastrophic Grades up ahead! They’re shepherding the weaker Monsters this way!" I yelled down to warn him, "They’re all different species, cooperating like this isn’t natural, especially not with such coordination! There’s no doubt about it, it’s the work of that woman who can control Monsters with her Soul Weapon!"
This is sooner than I expected...the second wave of the True Nobility’s attacks on us. And I imagine it won’t be the last either.
"Tch, it’s Drisbell...damn it, I never liked her," He muttered with a frown, as cracks started to appear in the barrier wall.
"Hey, it’s starting to break!" I exclaid in alarm.
"Yeah, I can see that! These barriers are powerful, but if dozens of Monsters are attacking in unison, it’s not going to hold up much longer! There’s no choice...prepare to fight, they’ll force there way in any second now, get ready!" Commanded Lynks, before chanting, "Manifest Soul Weapon: Ring Blades!"
The other Knights and the Adventurers were quick to follow suit, manifesting their Soul Weapons and charging up Spells and Skills, as the cracks in the barrier began to deepen.
There’s so many Monsters...we’re ridiculously outnumbered here, they’re only Common and Interdiate Grade Monsters, but their sheer number is going to wear us down at the very least, which is likely when the stronger Monsters that are being controlled will join the fray.
We have to take out as many of the weaker Monsters as quickly as possible, ensuring that most of us have enough energy to deal with the Disastrous and Catastrophic Grades.
I’ve been working on this for a while, and I’m still nowhere close to mastering it...during the last attack on Kaygee Town, I could barely trigger it even one out of every ten tis, and every failed attempt would eat away a large chunk of my Mana, so I didn’t bother trying back then, the risk was too high.
I’ve worked on it tirelessly for the last week, and I’ve managed to get to a fifty percent success rate with triggering it...so this is still a gamble, but one that’s worth the risk. Here I go!
"Please work...Soul Weapon Ascension:...!" I began to chant.
"Wait, what?" Blurted out Lynks in disbelief.
"...Mana Armant Level 2 - Double Armant!"
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