novelraw Chapter 460: Seven Wounds in the Sky (9)
Chapter 460: Seven Wounds in the Sky (9)
Reidar's blood went cold.
The creature that was standing on the horizon was like a mountain that had decided to move. Its body was so massive that the buildings between Reidar and the monster looked like toys, and even at this distance, he was able to clearly see every particularity of its body.
—[World-Carver Behemoth—Level 763]—
That number alone told Reidar how powerful the thing was, because the system's detection range for nametags was limited, and the fact that he could read the tag from this far meant the Behemoth's body occupied enough of his field of view to trigger the reading.
He had known the Behemoth was in the area. Lyra'xis had told him as much. The monster had been circling Kingsgate for months, kept at a distance by the Aegis Phalanx's diversionary operations. But Reidar had expected the Aegis to keep pushing the monster away.
He was wrong. Apparently, the Aegis Phalanx had either called their soldiers back for an impromptu coffee break or someone forgot to pay the monster-deterrence subscription fee. Or—and this was Reidar's favorite theory—the Behemoth had simply looked at the tiny armored bugs trying to shoo it away, shrugged its metaphorical shoulders, and thought, "You know what? I'm going to the buffet anyway."
"Fuck…"
Kingsgate was now filled with the highest concentration of living beings the region had seen in a year. Reidar's army of nearly 50,000 summons, the Aegis Phalanx's forces, the portal monsters streaming in from other worlds, the forest monsters converging from outside the walls, and the hundreds of thousands of survivors inside the city. All of that mana was crammed into one place.
For a creature that fed on mana and lived to consume, this was simply something it couldn't miss.
The creature was still relatively far, at least several kilometers away from the outer walls, but it was moving. Each step covered hundreds of meters, and the ground trembled with every impact despite the distance.
Reidar estimated he had maybe three to five minutes before the Behemoth reached Kingsgate's walls, which meant he didn't have a lot of time to figure out what to do about a level 763 monster while also closing the remaining two portals and dealing with the forest monsters that were now flooding through the breached sections of the wall.
It was at that moment that the five Aegis Phalanx soldiers Lyra'xis had sent arrived.
They came sprinting around the corner of a collapsed building, and their armor was streaked with blood from fighting through the streets. The lead soldier, a female Kytinn, spotted Reidar and changed direction toward him.
"Reidar Miller!" she said, stopping below him and catching her breath. Reidar flew to the ground.
"Legate Lyra'xis sent us."
"For what?"
The Kytinn looked around. "It was to tell you about the forest monsters and the World Carver Behemoth… but…"
They arrived too late. Reidar had been battling those things already, and the world carver behemoth was already there.
Reidar looked at the soldier, then at the Behemoth on the horizon, then back at the soldier. "I know. I can see the big one."
"Sorry," the soldier said. "Coming here hadn't been easy at all…"
"Never mind, you did what you could…"
The five soldiers exchanged looks. One of them reached for the communication device on his arm and began transmitting to Lyra'xis.
Reidar didn't wait for the transmission to finish. "Here's what needs to happen. I will deal with the Behemoth and close the remaining two portals. Your forces need to handle the forest monsters as much as you can. You should be strong enough."
The lead soldier's mandibles tightened. "That is... we would need Legate Lyra'xis's approval."
"Then get it."
The soldier relaying the transmission spoke in Kytinn for several seconds, then paused to listen. More Kytinn. Another pause.
Then the soldier turned to Reidar. "The Legate accepts."
Reidar blinked. He had expected resistance, at least some push-back about a native giving orders to the Aegis Phalanx. But Lyra'xis was smart enough to know that arguing about protocol while a level 763 monster walked toward the city was a waste of time.
"However," the soldier said, "the Legate wants you to know that you cannot fail. If the Behemoth reaches the city, the settlement will be destroyed, and the casualties will be catastrophic."
"I know."
"The Legate also says that if you can kill the Behemoth, she will reward you handsomely."
It was at that moment that Reidar got a new quest.
—[QUEST RECEIVED: Bulwark Against Annihilation]—
Goal: Prevent the World-Carver Behemoth from reaching Kingsgate's walls
Sub-Goal: Subjugate the World-Carver Behemoth (Optional)
Time Limit: None
Reward: 50,000,000 C.L.A.S.P. Points, 10,000,000 Survival Points, Title - "City Guardian," Aegis Phalanx Favor
Bonus Reward (Subjugation): 150,000,000 C.L.A.S.P. Points, 30,000,000 Survival Points, World-Carver Core Fragment, Title - "Legendary Slayer," Legendary Equipment Cache, Permanent +100 to All Attributes
Special Conditions: The Behemoth's movement cannot be reversed once it reaches the walls. All defensive measures must be coordinated with Aegis Phalanx forces.
Description: The World-Carver Behemoth, a catastrophic-class threat of level 763, has set its sights on Kingsgate. The concentration of mana within the city has drawn the creature from its circling path, and it now advances with singular purpose. If the Behemoth breaches the walls, the city will be destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of lives will be lost. You must organize your forces and stop the creature before it reaches the settlement.
Warning: Failure will cause the complete destruction of Kingsgate, the death of all survivors within, and losing all currently active quests in the region. The Aegis Phalanx will be forced to evacuate, abandoning Earth's defense in this sector.
—[END]—
"Tell Lyra'xis I'll try."
The soldiers nodded and turned to leave, heading back toward the settlement to coordinate with Lyra'xis's forces on the wall defense.
Reidar stood alone for a moment and stared at the Behemoth. The thing took another step, and the ground shook. Even from here, the tremor was strong enough to rattle loose stones from nearby walls.
But mosquitoes could redirect a bull if there were enough of them. Plus, Reidar had plenty of secret hands at his disposal. It was just that it wasn't the moment to uncover them yet.
Reidar reached out through the Overmind Consciousness and began pulling forces away from the portal cleanup. He couldn't take all of them; the two remaining portals still needed to be closed, and the monsters pouring through them were still a threat. But he could spare a significant portion from the portals he had closed already.
He pulled 200 Elemental Demon Lords, 15 Shadow Specter Kings, 30 Primal Chimera Colossi, all 84 Death Knights and their 42,000 Skeletal Warriors, and 5,000 of the Eternal Death Host's elite undead. He also summoned more Vorathid Abyssal Horror while leaving those that were in the city to deal with the rest of the monsters. Thanks to his perks, Reidar's mana was full again.
The rest of his forces—the remaining Demon-Lords, the Spectral Army, and a few thousand undead—would continue the work of closing the last two portals.
"Let's see what we can do…"