After discussing in detail what kind of Estate I was looking for, I excused myself from the Duke's office while he promised to let me know once everything had been settled and finished, which could take a few months, though I was in no rush, so I was fine.
However, as I walked through the market, having just exited the store that sold the spicy chips Vanye wanted, my heart rate increased sharply, causing me to stop immediately in place. Placing a hand atop my chest, feeling the pounding of my heart against it, I bit my lip, though a small part of me had been expecting this; my encounter with Katrina was too simple, too easy.
'Dammit!' Clicking my tongue, thoughts flashed through my mind as I tried to deduce what could possibly be causing my heart to warn me, though I was broken from my thoughts of a child. "Mommy, look, a dragon!" I quickly glanced at the dark-elf child, who was pointing into the sky, a wondrous expression on his face. "Honey, you're mistaken, that's not a dragon, that's— Hmm, I don't know what that is. I've never seen that bird… There is an awful lot of them."
Snapping my gaze to the sky, I saw a reptilian bird, not just one, though; there were tens of them, probably hundreds. As I stared at them, watching their movements, the reptilian birds circled overhead, directly above me, causing me to narrow my eyes. 'I don't like this.'
"Um, let's end today's shopping early, dear." "Eh, but I want to watch, Mommy!" As the dark elf mother & son duo walked away, disappearing into the bustling crowd of the market, the reptilian birds, which had doubled in number, suddenly released a high-pitched shriek. Their shriek echoed throughout the market, capturing everyone's attention as nearly everyone winced, covering their ears; only the strongest individuals seemed exempt from this.
"Dammit!" "The hell was that!?" "Oi, look! Above us!" "The hell? What kind of birds are those?" "No clue, I've never seen or even heard of birds like those."
While everyone in the marketplace was curiously observing the flock of reptilian-like birds circling above us, they finally made their move; speedily, they began dive-bombing, reaching us in only a few seconds. Clicking my tongue, I unsheathed Zartha and Trina from my body and leaped into the air, launching a massive wave of flames that intercepted the reptilian birds. However, given how these creatures were already performing a suicidal dive-bomb, burning them didn't do much other than add fuel to the fire.
The birds flew right through my wave of flames, their scaly skin burning under the intense heat, yet it didn't even seem to register to them as they crashed into the buildings and street, causing mass destruction and killing several people.
The marketplace instantly turned into a place of pure chaos; buildings were destroyed and set aflame, blood and guts littered the area, and people were being smashed into the ground by the reptilian birds. Gritting my teeth, I stayed in the air, continuously using [Air Step] to basically fly as I darted throughout the sky, killing as many birds as possible before they reached the marketplace below me.
I even received assistance from fellow adventurers who happened to be at the marketplace; none of them were that strong, but of course, they were better than nothing; however, despite our attempts to stop the birds, their volume was too much.
'Fucking hell!' Clenching Trina tightly, I was about to perform [Divine Wrath], to get rid of the flock of monsters, the same exact monsters that had carried Katrina away while protecting her, but before I could, an ethereal dome of pure mana was suddenly erected over the entire city, blocking the bird-like monsters.
Seeing how the birds weren't a threat anymore, I lowered my swords and gazed at the marketplace below me. The damage was pretty bad, but what really pained me was the numerous casualties; just normal people living their lives, yet now they were no more. I know Katrina was responsible for this. Monsters aren't intelligent; the fact that they could coordinate meant someone was controlling them, and she was the only person I knew who could do so.
Yet, I couldn't bring myself to blame her entirely; after all, her target wasn't a bunch of civilians, but me. Just because I happened to be in the marketplace, several innocent people were now dead because of me; the feeling was far from pleasant.
'If I could've just killed her that one time. This… This wouldn't have needed to happen.' While blaming myself, I suddenly felt a presence near me, causing me to raise my head, only to see Duke Gorgan; he looked the same as he did from our discussion, only this time he was holding a staff with a mana crystal embedded at the top.
"Were you the one who activated the city's defenses, Duke Gorgan?" The Duke, who had been observing the monsters that were no longer suicidally dive-bombing, glanced at me before nodding. "Yes. But it wasn't because of these monsters." His gaze was solemn as he looked at me, while I furrowed my brows, catching the word 'these', though before I could question him, he answered my suspicions.
He pointed his staff behind me, prompting me to turn around, only for my eyes to widen. "I did because of those monsters." Staring at the massive horde, akin to a sea of monsters attacking the northern gate, in the same direction where the Abandoned Forest resided, I tightly clenched Zartha and Trina.
There were three monsters, the same kind that populate the Abandoned Forest, and numerous reptile-like monsters, ones that reminded me of the dungeon that destroyed Hyphen.
"Monsters are currently besieging Cassandra. We've entered an Active-combat state. Since it is a special case, all active combatants, whether employed by the kingdom or not, are required to head to the city… Compensation will be handled afterwards." Duke Gargon's voice didn't hold that faint familiarity like before; the matter of saving his son's life was different, and just as he said, I'm now required to help.
Firmly nodding, I used air-step, launching myself through the sky as I headed to the northern gate. When I arrived, I was one of the first non-soldiers and knights to help, whom they desperately needed; they may have had the dome for protection, but they were barely killing any of the monsters.
The knights were doing decently, handling themselves well, but the soldiers were mostly just meat-shields; each of them was about as strong as a d-rank adventurer, and against this massive onslaught of monsters with very little help, they were just throwing their lives away.
I alone wouldn't be able to change the course of the battle, far from it, but at the very least, I could lighten their load; the longer they stayed alive, the longer they could stall for reinforcements to arrive.
Falling from the sky right outside the barrier, it cast multiple [FireStorms], consuming a decent amount of mana in the process. However, once they got going, they required little mana to sustain themselves, making this a spell perfect for a group battle. It should also help burn away my blood whenever I happen to get injured.
"Get up!" Slashing through a tree, I saved an injured soldier by grabbing him by his armor and tossing him behind the protective, shimmering dome, which was ever-so-slowly dimming. I dashed back and forth between the two ends of the northern gate, killing monster after monster while saving as many people as I could, but the actions of one person could only do so much.
"Roose, the hell, you trying to die!?" Standing between Roose, a moose demi-human, and a fellow adventurer, I was caught in the crossfire of a dozen apples that erupted into an explosion, striking my sword and protecting my back. "Tch, no dammit!" Furiously, Roose grabbed his two double-sided axes while I grabbed him by the antlers and yanked him onto his feet.
As Roose let out a battle cry, I continued on, maneuvering through the endless sea of monsters, receiving injuries left and right, but with such a massive amount of enemies, it was only natural. Everyone else received injuries as well; it wasn't just me, but unlike them, I didn't need to retreat into the protective dome and take a healing potion.
Kicking a young, terrified adventurer back into the protective dome, protecting him from a tree-monster, I grunted when one of the monster's roots pierced my stomach. 'Tch, bastard.' Slashing Trina behind, I cut the root off and pulled it out of my stomach. Just as I was about to retaliate, a wall, moving at high speed, suddenly slammed into it, trampling it and every monster within roughly ten meters behind.
"Alex, you okay?" Glancing at Vanye, I flashed a faint smile and straightened my posture as I nodded. "Yeah. You know that's nowhere near enough to kill me." Even without looking, I could feel my body healing itself at an astonishing pace.
Using [Heroes Gaze], I was able to see the rest of my wives, and Talis. However, it wasn't only them; numerous adventurers, as well as reinforcement soldiers, had finally arrived, causing me to narrow my eyes as Vanye and I lunged after Yuki, who was now being attacked from all angles after charging into the sea of monsters.