novelraw Chapter 136 : Outbreak (2)
Chapter 136 : Outbreak (2)
Chapter 136: Outbreak (2)
“…What.”
Just what in the world was going on?
The second son of the Taurus Family, one of the Eight Great Houses of the Empire.
Stefan Taurus muttered briefly as he leaned his head into his recording artifact.
“Where did all those Beasts suddenly come from….”
Though the Taurus Family was the only media family among the Eight Great Houses, their main domain was far from proper journalism and closer to sensationalist press, so their reputation among the public was far from favorable.
Unwilling to accept that reality, he rejected his family’s support and headed alone to the Empire’s largest media company, ‘Ribenia Spiegel.’
In just three years since joining, he had exposed seven major incidents to the public, and recently even published a column on the Centre Agreement and the conflict between Mallet and Dellowell.
Though he had yet to receive proper recognition due to the contradictory perception of being an informant reporter from the Taurus Family, that evaluation would soon be overturned.
Because he was about to become the only embedded war correspondent at Mallet Main Tower, currently considered the most dangerous location in the Empire.
After obtaining prior consent from Lieutenant General Alvin Caldwell, he entered the scene under the identity of a Special Task Force member.
Using the excuse of being a newly dispatched supply soldier, he assisted with logistics transfers, then slipped away from formation at the right moment to scout filming locations.
At first, he only installed artifacts in the narrow gap between the main tower and the outer wall, but after the tower was destroyed by Betty Scarletwood’s attack, he discreetly moved some artifacts through that opening as well.
Through the artifacts placed throughout the area, he had recorded all the major battle scenes.
The Dellowell vanguard entering the plaza, the appearance of the Golem, the performance of Eugene Carter, the arrival of the two Executors, the joining of the Mallet—Karbenna allied forces, and the fierce battles that continued afterward—everything.
When it seemed like the situation was calming down, he had planned to leave before being discovered.
But suddenly—Beasts.
Watching the horde rushing in from afar, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
There were countless questions, but one thing was certain.
This place was dangerous. He had to escape immediately.
Acting on that instinct, he hurriedly grabbed only his recording artifacts and headed out—then suddenly stopped.
“…Wait.”
If I run, won’t I just get killed faster?
Thinking about it, that was true.
At that speed, it wouldn’t even take 30 minutes for the Beasts to surround the tower.
Naturally, some wouldn’t stop there and would scatter across Flock.
Anything human they saw would be torn apart. That was the instinct of Beasts.
And—
With his sluggish legs, there was no way he could escape their pursuit.
In that case, it would be far more likely for him to survive by staying here and hoping those people won.
Even as he immediately changed his strategy, Stefan tilted his head uneasily.
‘But… even if Beasts have appeared, there’s no way those two opposing forces would suddenly join hands and fight together….’
“Huh?”
And yet, astonishingly, that was exactly what was happening.
“No… how…?”
They were aligning their formation as if it were the most natural thing in the world…!
It wasn’t like they had grown close while fighting each other, yet their shift in stance was unbelievably swift.
The capabilities of the Special Task Force and Dellowell elites were already well known. Their ability to respond to variables ranked among the best in the Empire.
But even so, entrusting their backs to enemies they had been trying to kill just moments ago?
Were they planning to deal with the Beasts first and decide later whether to keep fighting?
Genuinely impressed by the sight, Stefan let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha, haha….”
He had expected it when he decided to come to the scene, but this would be an even bigger scoop than anticipated.
Dellowell and the Mallet alliance, who had been locked in a life-and-death struggle, had joined forces in the face of the Beasts.
In the end, what mattered more than disputes over interests between factions was the will to protect fellow humans.
The high-ranking figures of the Orthodox Church would probably be shocked out of their minds if they saw this.
‘…This will shake the board completely.’
With that thought, Stefan slowly shifted his focus to the right-side turrets, which were beginning to be recaptured.
Though dark circles hung heavily under his eyes from not getting even proper naps all day, the smile on his lips showed no sign of fading.
---
“Keh… keeeek…!”
Crack! Crunch!
After crushing the neck of a struggling low-rank Beast and cutting off its breath, I glared at the enemies retreating step by step.
“What, already done?”
Kyaaaak!
The group of Beasts in front of me growled as if they understood my words, yet they did not step into attack range.
“…….”
The control was tight.
Or their vigilance toward us had been greatly heightened.
Beasts were still living creatures. No matter how strong their malice toward humans was, if they judged they couldn’t win, they would retreat at any time.
Of course, that only applied to nest Beasts with individual decision-making authority.
For Gate Beasts, whose life and death were determined by absolute command, that possibility didn’t exist.
I slowly exhaled and looked around.
Three turrets had been recaptured in 20 minutes. Among them, Mallet’s mages who had joined us had already reactivated two.
They were still focused on defense rather than interception, but once the Mana Stones were fully charged, they would resume bombardment.
The Beast horde swarming the turrets gnawed at the barrier from all sides, searching for openings, but whenever a gap appeared, Frederick and Dale pushed them back, preventing entry.
Which made sense—no matter how complete they were as Beasts, their average rank barely exceeded E.
On the other hand, every individual on our side was a decisive weapon designed to fight S-rank Beasts. It was only natural they couldn’t respond properly.
My doubt started from that very point.
‘For something that charged in as if it had been waiting, it’s too quiet….’
Were Gate Beasts really this foolish, wasting their forces like this?
I had expected their core forces to emerge all at once and planned my tactics accordingly.
I rubbed my lips.
‘This too could be a trick to make us lower our guard.’
We had to consider the possibility that they had already prepared numbers large enough to render the recapture of the right turret line meaningless.
“…….”
As that thought crossed my mind, countless possibilities began to sprout in my head.
Nearly 3,000 Beasts in less than 30 minutes since their appearance, an extreme shortage of Command Entities, yet control strong enough to prevent reckless charges.
Which meant—
There was a being nearby commanding the majority of the Beasts.
“…Where?”
Right then—
A powerful hostile presence suddenly surged from the plaza, and my gaze snapped toward it.
Crunch, crack!
At the center of the plaza, which had become empty as the formation tightened—
It rose, like a sprouting seed.
“…So this is your move.”
Erosion Pillar Scatter. Its alias was “Mist.” Rank: at least A+. A lifeform closer to a Demonic Tree than a Beast.
Born in the form of a seed, it took root in the ground with the help of surrounding Beasts.
Once rooted, it absorbed the mana of the land and bloomed like a plant, becoming a pillar that granted various status effects and abilities across the area.
After fully blooming, it accelerated erosion by absorbing mana not only from the ground but from everything in the vicinity.
Its performance was so vicious that it never appeared in nests, and only manifested in three modes among all MAGA modes.
And yet, Scatter had already appeared.
‘…It’s not like I was being careless.’
Either way, now there was truly no time.
Mallet Main Tower was filled with countless artifacts and Mana Stones.
Artifacts often had their own defensive functions, but Mana Stones did not.
Though we discovered it late, there was still some time before full bloom.
Before Scatter could affect the tower’s contents, we had to burn it down quickly.
I headed toward the two Executors who were in the middle of recapturing the fourth turret.
“We should leave this side to the mages now.”
“What do you mean all of a sudden?”
“Is it because of that strange tree trunk?”
“Yeah. This entire area will soon turn into a wasteland. We need to stop the erosion as quickly as possible.”
Betty glanced between me and Karen before pointing toward the center of the plaza.
“So we need to return to the plaza, right?”
Before I could even nod, she grabbed both of us.
“Hold tight.”
She kicked off the ground with full force and leapt toward the plaza.
KWA-AAAAANG!
The moment we landed, Betty casually set Karen and me down.
Karen stood firmly without even flinching, while I instinctively rolled to absorb the impact.
As soon as I steadied myself, I launched a slash forward.
It wouldn’t be enough to break through its barrier, but I had to at least force it to focus on defense.
But—
Tiiing!
The slash deflected away before even touching the trunk.
As if something invisible stood in between.
“…Don’t tell me… cloaking?”
At that moment, a surge of mana erupted from the direction of the main tower.
“…….”
On the terrace, Master Aleph was activating magic.
A large-scale barrier spell combining four Field Magic types: Observing, Recovery, Amplify, and Resist.
As the barrier enveloped the entire Mallet area, including the plaza, the identity of what had deflected my attack was revealed.
Grrrr….
An A+ rank Beast—Were-Reptile.
---
The 대표 example of humanoid-type Beasts was the Werebeast, but their forms typically followed mammals.
In contrast, the base of a Were-Reptile was reptilian—think reptilians or draconians.
If Werebeasts excelled in close combat based on animalistic senses,
Were-Reptiles were far more troublesome, equipped with unique abilities on top of that.
Among them, the Were-Reptile before us—Caiman—was famous for its defense.
Its body, covered in bluish-green scales, glistened with a colorless secretion.
‘…This just got more annoying, damn it.’
That secretion contained an extremely dense concentration of mana, enough to deflect most bladed weapons.
The fastest way to subdue it would be to crush it entirely—but the surrounding environment didn’t allow it.
Because right beside it were an Apos Mammoth and an Apos Smilodon, breathing heavily—they wouldn’t just stand by.
Bwooo…!
Kyaaaah!
Though easier to deal with than the Caiman, they were still A+ rank Beasts—just as troublesome.
With sizes of 5 meters and 1.5 meters respectively, they specialized in close combat and mobility, complementing each other’s weaknesses.
Without prior preparation, only the two Executors could face them head-on right now.
“Less than an hour, and there are already four A+ rank Beasts….”
On any other battlefield, each of them would have been more than enough to serve as a commander-class Beast.
And yet, they were all focused solely on protecting Scatter.
The meaning of that was crystal clear.
I let out a bitter smile and muttered.
“…It’s coming.”
As I remained silent, Karen tilted her head beside me, pointing her halberd forward.
“Weren’t we supposed to smash it immediately? Why did you suddenly stop?”
“It’s already too late.”
“…What?”
“Forget what I said earlier. We need to revise the plan.”
They looked puzzled.
As if answering their confusion, the ground began to tremble violently in all directions.
It was time to face the face of calamity.