"What the fuck is going on in that tower?" The slayer master bellowed.
"I've sent out the signal multiple times Sir. I'm not getting any response."
"Well! Then, keep sending until you do!"
"Umm, Yes sir!"
"The Lodestones, give me an update!"
"All dead sir! They all went dark at the same time."
"How the fuck is that possible? Did you imbeciles stick my Lodestones up the goddess's arse or something!?"
A giant figure appeared out of the sand storm.
Hikari emerged, carrying an unconscious slayer on her back.
The slayer wizards rushed up to her as she dropped the slayer off.
"Scram!" The slayer master pushed the wizards to the side.
He checked the whole body. Inserting his needles everywhere and checking their color.
"Turn him around!" He barked. It took two of his bulky body guards to flip him over.
"What in the world is that?" The slayer master looked at the gaping hole on his back in disbelief.
He turned to Hikari.
"Tell me very slowly. Don't miss any detail. What the actual fuck is going on in there?"
"The slayers went berserk and killed everyone."
"Anything else?" The slayer master demanded.
Hikari did not speak. The slay master glared at her.
After a long pause, The slayer master's rage subsided.
"Where is the general?" he asked.
"Psshhh." Rey whispered from inside her chest.
"Just say I'm dead. I don't trust him yet."
"Missing. His barricades were destroyed."
The slayer master shakes his head.
"Did you see what was in that hole in the slayer's back?
Hikari thought for a bit.
"Dark crystals"
The slayer master's eyes widened. He paced around anxiously.
"Not a word to anyone. We'll report a simple defeat at the jaws of the wyvern queen. Unless you want to be shot for being in cahoots with the cultists. The same goes for the RazenHeir knight, though after what you did at Carla, no one would suspect you."
The slayer master went back to his tent. Hikari can feel him pop open a wine bottle.
Hikari went back to the RazenHeir camp and pulled Rey out of her chest, dropping him out of her sock inside her tent.
Rey took a deep breath as he was freed from the stuffy cotton prison.
"So what now?"
Rey yawned, he laid back on the ground sheet, staring blankly at the ceiling of the tent.
He laid still in pensive silence.
"Nothing. The raids busted. My men are dead. The Slayers have gone off the rails. As for the queen wyvern, who knows. At least I can get a vacation at the Heartstone estate now."
He laid there.
The sound of the wind howling outside.
Rey sat back up.
"Well. Do me a favour, Hikari. Put me back in your sock. Put my supply cache in there with me and load me on the cargo section of the train to Fort Escher. After being the only one to return alive, I don't want my men to see me. As for you, if you're done enjoying the scenery, you can go join your Lady. I'm guessing she's probably evacuated to Escher. Otherwise, if you want to loot around and then go back. That's fine too. No inspector is gonna check you now. It's been a pleasure working with you."
Hikari paused. She gently tapped the top of his head with her finger, getting an annoyed groan in response.
"See you around."
Hikari did as Rey instructed.
She waited at the train station for the train.
Once it arrived, she dropped Rey into the cargo hold after it had been filled up.
The train worksmen push the door shut. The sound of steam being released. Followed by the cranking of gears. The train left the station.
It was evening already. Most of the camps and the population of the town had been evacuated.
The lanterns have mostly been extinguished.
"Madam Knight, looks like our mission is done, shall we rejoin Lady Ria in Escher?"
The scout captain approached Hikari.
Hikari turned towards the wyvern peaks. Her ruby eyes dimly glowing as the sun gradually sets.
The wind blows.
The scout captain stood patiently behind her, waiting for her reply.
"Go. I can get to Escher on foot."
"We won't. We promised lady Ria to ensure you get back. If you fall, we find your sword as you would find ours."
Hikari paused. Her eyes glued to the wyvern parks.
The raid is over. At least that's what everyone feels.
But she felt unsettled.
After a long pause, she spoke.
"Anything shows up, run."
"Yes, madam knight."
Hikari empties a ration pack into her mouth.
She filled up her back pack with whatever leftover supplies she could find before dashing off in the direction of the wyvern peaks.
Before long, she reached the mine entrance again.
"No need to go underground again."
She leapt up into the air.
The cold wind brushed her hair.
Her feet touched the cold stone as she hopped atop the mountainous surface.
She skipped past the mine shaft opening, reaching a high point just before the colossal tower.
Below, she saw slayers, some half mutated, wandering aimlessly like zombies.
"Slacking off on the job are we?"
The slayers wandered back and forth in front of a dense fog.
"That fog is rather unnatural. My mana sense nor my earth sense could pierce it."
She pulled out four musket balls, grabbing it in one hand. She slung it behind her, raising one leg vertically up.
With the full strength of her arm, she hauled the burning musket balls at super sonic speed into the fog.
A delay.
A sudden gush of mana as the spell collapsed.
The fog gradually cleared, Hikari could make out what seemed to be an active ritual circle, channeling dark energy towards the gate of the tower.
A volley of dark energy landed on her position. The mindless slayers turned around, firing their cannons at her.
Hikari jumped off her vantage point. She felt a spell activate on her chest.
A mark of dark energy was imprinted on her armour. The energy bolts suddenly started homing in on her.
She landed on the ground and darted behind the flesh wall of slavers brainlessly swarming her, using them as a meat shield against the missiles.
Using her flying daggers, she parried the straight forward attacks. Hacking off some arms and legs, she cut her way back into the cavern. The slayers funneled in after her.
She parried blow after blow, kicking and pushing back the front slayers, making the slayer horde clump up in the caverns.
Once they stacked up enough, she kicked the ceiling with a backflip, causing a cave in.
But it was not enough to hold down the mass of slayers.
It bought her a bit of time.
She sank her sword into the ground.
One hand above the other, a ball of fire gathered between them.
A torrent of flames incinerated the mass of slayers, burning their flesh to the bone.
"This costs too much mana, which makes me hungry. I really need better weapons."
She walked through the burning flesh out of the caves.
A volley of dark energy bolts converged on her.
She grabbed a boulder, allowing some of the dark energy to disintegrate it before blocking the rest with her mana barrier.
"There goes this handcannon as well."
She loads her hand cannon.
The fog ahead had cleared. She could see clearly three giant nodes of brilliantly glowing mana.
Acolytes standing around them, chanting eerie incantations.
"Those guys weren't invited to the raid."
She aimed the handcannon. A pause.
A thin line of flames. The musket ball disintegrates as it shatters the barrier, using the last of its momentum to break the fragile support of the mana node.
The sorcerer in the middle of the ritual circle began barking some orders at the acolytes in a language incomprehensible to Hikari.
Hikari pauses, allowing time for the barrel of her handcannon to cool.
The acolytes stab themselves in the stomach with a dagger.
As their blood spilled into the ground below, faceless demons emerged in their place from the runes etched into solid ground.
Vines emerged from their chests, wrapping their ivory flesh. Their arms harden into blades.
There was one staff wielder amongst the demons. It channeled mana into the stone at the tip. Hikari threw a dagger to interrupt but a smaller demon parried the dagger.
A ray of destructive dark energy barreled towards her.
Hikari poured mana into her barrier to match.
Sparks of energy disintegrate the stone around her as she advances.
As the energy in the staff was exhausted, the larger sword wielding demons moved into lock swords with Hikari. The smaller demons faded into the background with their camouflage.
"Let's not drag this out."
The air stirred as mana surges through Hikari's body.
Her sword clashed directly with the sword demon, instantly knocking it off balance as she overwhelmed it with her strength.
Its partner moved it for a counter attack but Hikari brushed it aside with a sword as she crushed the demon's limbs under her foot by stomping it flat with her bare foot.
The smaller demons unveiled themselves, attacking Hikari from three angles. Their blades pierced through Hikari's mana barrier and her layers of mana, but was unable to pierce her muscular body.
They blew up in flames as Hikari's flaming daggers brushed through them while their rapiers were stuck in her armour.
The demon sorcerer readied its staff. A flaming dagger shreds through its arm. Its fully channeled staff exploded as it hit the ground, releasing its energy and disintegrating its master.
Stomp! Hikari crushed the face of the last demon. Stomp! She crushed its chest and the dark crystal embedded within.
She drew her handcannon and knocked down another node.
The sorcerer flared up in anger. He started waving his staff, chanting his incantations loudly.
A whirling began to form around him. Arcs of dark energy struck the ground.
Hikari raised her mana barrier, bracing for a massive spell.
With a flash, the sorcerer disappeared. The mana in the ritual circle dissipated.
"He scared me for a moment there."
[Physique : 812 -> 817]
[Mana : 847 -> 890]
[Defense : 783 -> 790]
[Mind :785 -> 795]
[Height : 5.0 metres -> 5.0 metres]
[Weight : 2900 kg -> 2950 kg]
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