Tyler and Kaeya moved across the rooftops, their boots crunching softly against cracked stone and broken tiles. The city below them pulsed faintly with red light, the mouths embedded in the walls opening and closing in irregular rhythms, as if breathing. Kaeya did not hesitate. Each ti she reached the edge of a terrace or rooftop, she swung her sword in a clean, decisive arc, severing the mouths carved there. Stone shattered, fragnts raining down into the streets below.
The mouths writhed and shrieked, then fell silent.
Normally, they would regenerate within monts. This ti, however, the wounds lingered. Cracks crawled slowly across the stone instead of sealing instantly, and the red glow dimd rather than flaring back to life.
"They’re healing slower," Tyler observed, glancing down as another mouth failed to reform properly.
Kaeya nodded, eyes sharp. "They’re being forced to disconnect. Also The demon which is controlling them is likely under pressure."
Elsewhere in the city, that pressure was mounting.
Groups of adventurers and guards had split off, fanning out toward other districts. Those with wide-area skills locked their fire, ice, lightning, and force and whatever the skill they have to buildings. Those are enough to level buildings outright. The threat , the pressure intensified, mouths sealed shut or went dormant, their connection to the rest of the mouths in town abruptly severed.
anwhile, a dedicated search party advanced through the remaining streets, thodically attacking walls, doors, and alleyways, forcing the hidden demon to keep moving or risk exposure.
When Tyler and Kaeya reached their destination, Kaeya stopped at the edge of a tall building overlooking the southern district. She took a breath, then reached into her storage necklace.
What erged was absurdly out of place.
A massive cannon slid into existence, its weight cracking the rooftop beneath it. It looked similar to the cannons used by mortal armies, but that resemblance ended at first glance. Ancient carvings ran along its barrel like veins, each line glowing faintly as mana circulated through them. The tal was dark and dense, layered with materials Tyler could not imdiately identify.
Tyler stared at it, eyebrows rising. "Isn’t that the cannon the Princess used to save the Hero Party when they almost wiped out?" he asked his guess. This has to be the rumoured Magic Cannon.
Kaeya smirked slightly as she adjusted its position. "Of course. It was her order. The demon was annihilated instantly."
Tyler’s mouth twitched.
’If only you knew’, he thought, rembering a certain demon head currently being kicked around his farm like a ball. Outwardly, he said nothing.
Kaeya then produced a heavy, sphere-shaped object, tallic and etched with sigils. It humd faintly with contained power.
"What’s that?" Tyler asked.
"The core," Kaeya replied. "The cannonball. Crushed mana stones, refined tals, and rare magical materials compressed together. This is what actually does the damage."
She slid the core into the cannon’s chamber.
The carvings flared to life.
The entire weapon vibrated, mana surging through its channels like blood through arteries. Below them, dozens of mouths twisted violently, sensing imminent danger. One by one, clusters of mouths detached themselves from the sections now targeted by the cannon, severing their connection to avoid annihilation.
At the sa ti, the groups on the opposite side of the city unleashed their own pressure. More mouths went dark, disconnecting rapidly.
"Half the town is already cut off," Tyler said quietly, watching the patterns form. "At least we’ve narrowed the field."
Kaeya nodded, though tension lingered in her shoulders. "Now the search party has a chance."
For hours, the plan unfolded.
The search party advanced street by street, smashing walls and forcing reactions. Mouths vanished, reappeared, vanished again. The demon’s hiding places shrank steadily. Every movent it made beca more desperate.
Half a day passed.
And still, they found nothing.
Kaeya stood with her arms crossed, frustration creeping into her expression. "It didn’t work," she muttered. "It still slipped away."
The buildings and the wall the search party had destroyed earlier reassembled itself, stone knitting together as if ti were reversing. A mouth reford, opening wide as if mocking them.
"Yeah," Tyler said slowly. "Who would’ve expected the walls themselves to recover after total destruction?"
The city was repairing itself. Every wound healed given enough ti.
They had reached a stalemate.
"Looks like we’ve hit a dead end," Kaeya said, exhaling sharply.
Tyler hesitated, then spoke. "I... have an idea. It sounds like crazy"
Kaeya turned to him imdiately. "Say it. I’ll decide whether it’s crazy."
Tyler took a breath and explained.
As he spoke, Kaeya’s expression shifted, from confusion, to disbelief, to outright irritation.
"That’s insane," she said flatly when he finished.
Monts later, the search party returned, weary and frustrated. Tyler repeated the plan for them.
Silence followed.
Faces went blank. A few people opened their mouths, then closed them again.
Finally, a stocky dwarf adventurer scratched his beard and said, "It is a crazy plan."
He paused.
"But we don’t have anything better. I’m in."
Murmurs followed, reluctant agreent spreading through the group.
Kaeya looked at Tyler. "According to your plan, we need soone fast enough to sweep the town while the pressure is at its peak," she said. "Who’s taking that role?"
Everyone turned to her. Kaeya blinked.
A few minutes later,
Kaeya stood beside Tyler, explaining the cannon’s operation with brisk efficiency. "Aim is intuitive. The core will lock onto the mana flow you designate. Once it’s charged, you pull this lever and don’t hesitate."
Tyler nodded. "Got it."
"Don’t break it," Kaeya added sharply.
"I’ll bring it back safely," Tyler replied with a reassuring smile. "Now go. Hurry."
He practically shoved her away before she could argue.
Once she and the others were gone, Tyler’s smile widened just a little.
He lifted the storage necklace Kaeya had given him and stored the cannon effortlessly.
Then, without hesitation, he placed it inside his copper pot.
A mont later, he took it out again.
Perfectly intact.
He relocated it to a different rooftop entirely.
Below, the town square was empty now. People had been evacuated as planned. Kaeya stood in the street, sword in hand, adventurers and guards flanking her, eyes fixed on the surrounding walls.
"I hope he’s ready," Kaeya muttered.
Far above, Tyler steadied the cannon and aid it toward a dense cluster of still-connected mouths.
"Let’s see where you’re hiding," he said softly.
He activated the cannon.
The carvings blazed white.
The air scread.
And then—
BOOM.
A section of the town ceased to exist.
Stone, walls, streets, and mouths alike were obliterated in an instant, leaving behind a gaping void where reality itself seed to recoil.
The shockwave rolled through the city like thunder.
Tyler reached into the storage necklace once more and took out another core—the last one Kaeya had given him. For a brief mont, he weighed it in his palm, feeling the dense concentration of mana sealed inside.
Then he slid it into the cannon and adjusted the barrel, turning it toward another section of the town.
He did not hesitate.
The carvings along the cannon flared, light surging through its channels.
BOOM.
The explosion tore through the city, and in a single violent instant, another massive portion of the town was erased—stone, walls, and mouths alike reduced to nothing.
Just like that, half of the town was gone.
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