Chapter 693 - News from the Fourth

After Hela escapes, the attacks stop as well, though I think the real reason is Morwag rather than the velnar leaving. Morwag charges toward the source of the attacks, letting the projectiles crash harmlessly against his body or turning them into colorful mist before they reach him.

Weslin, seemingly unfazed by the long dagger still piercing through his torso, studies the ring he got before tucking it away into his pocket and tossing the severed finger behind him.

Just in case I burn the finger, which earns me a raised eyebrow.

“You fine?” I ask, pointing at the dagger.

"Pulling it out feels risky. Whatever it does can wait until I’m back at the branch, with the Doc there to hold me down. Until then, this much pain is bearable." As he speaks, the red glow slowly fades from his eyes.

I nod and choose to respect his decision.

When the attacks finally stop, work resumes, and the outpost nears ignition. Only around a week remains.

The rest of the day is uneventful with no more surprise attacks, even though Morwag seems to have fun somewhere in the distance.

When we reach the city at nightfall, Weslin goes straight to the basement and signals for the healer on duty.

I watch him descend the stairs, weak yet steady.

***

The next day, we barely return to the outpost when the long-range bombardment starts again. I pick up the defense, mindful of my reserves. I track the projectiles and activate the barriers only where it is needed. It is a riskier option, but much more mana-efficient at the same time. It just requires fast channeling, good tracking, and enough processing. Unfortunately for the assholes attacking us, I have all of it.

The black orb already floats around me, and I send it into the trajectory of the stronger mana attacks. So far, it is easy to call the orb back and control it, but the more mana it gathers, the harder it becomes.

If there is an attack based on fragments or primordial energy, I manifest a powerful segment of a barrier to clash against it.

In some way, it is fun. Sometimes they send only a few strong attacks. Other times, they try with plenty of weaker ones from every direction. They keep trying to be sneaky too, throwing in traps, disruptions, and other bullshit.

So far, I recognize the mana signatures of around five people, three more with primordial energy based attacks, and two more using fragments. Over time, I learn these signatures and connect them to their attacks, slowly finding out the tendencies of each user.

For example, there is one bastard I am sure has the Regeneration upgrade for mana. He or she prefers weaker attacks but creates a lot of them, usually trying to change their direction at the last moment to counter my strategy of activating only the necessary barrier segments.

Another one with Potency likes to compress projectiles as much as possible and shoot them straight, with mana trailing behind. The idea is likely to make the projectile faster than my black orb devouring it or my reaction speed. These attacks usually come in the middle of the heaviest bombardments, too.

I hoped some of them would be at the level of Tess’s railgun-like projectiles or my lances, yet none have that piercing power. Even though I would be in trouble if they did, I still hoped for it. It is something I will sooner or later need to improve my reactions to.

That group of ten always runs when Morwag stops by the outpost. For a while, they attack even with him here, but after a few minutes, he gets pissed at the bombardment and charges them. So they disappear, clearly having some kind of teleportation to escape.

I even thought about charging them myself, but they sometimes split into two or three groups to attack from different sides. That would leave the outpost exposed if I attacked at the wrong time.

Lately, they have also learned to stop their attacks when Morwag passes, since they know it annoys him and makes him charge. Instead, they wait for him to leave before resuming the bombardment.

And of course, I constantly expect Hela to appear and strike, and something tells me Weslin would appreciate the rematch. Maybe he wants to chomp off another finger of hers.

A day ago, we heard that more guild members were attacked near several outposts, and a few were even killed. The demon members of the group were found with their chests cut open, their Demon hearts missing.

Currently, Primordial Knights have stopped recruitment for now, trying to prevent spies from slipping in. Some newer members are being examined, too, after suspicions of information leaks.

The outpost in Black Tower is the safe zone where we have the biggest guild branch, but there are several others nearly as large.

Morwag is clearly being hunted and targeted, or they are at least trying to hunt him down. So far, there have been three major attacks on him, always led by Hela and backed by multiple powerful A-ranks. They tried to poison him, ambush him with a suppression field. They tried to lure him into confined tunnels somewhere deep underground. Assassins, strikes from the shadows, attempts to wear him down with swarms of lesser attacks before moving in for the kill.

The only outcome is that Morwag appears to be enjoying himself. Sometimes he joins us just to talk for ten minutes straight about yet another fun attack against him.

Just his presence here shifts some of the pressure off us. The question is whether they target him because he is the strongest member here, or because they want his heart.

Well, others can think about that. Talon, the Branch leader, and some others are already discussing it extensively as they gather information. In some way, it is amusing how Talon snuck into leadership. But I guess there are not many people here who like to deal with that kind of stuff. A big part of the Primordial Knights are demons, and demons are not exactly diplomatic or patient enough for that.

I cut off my thoughts as another barrage of attacks rises. This time, I dig deeper into my reserves, connecting to the array and covering the entire outpost in a translucent pale blue barrier.

Its surface wobbles and ripples from the impacts as dozens of projectiles smash against it. From above, a green cloud forms, and soon a green rain starts falling, droplets gliding along my barrier while corroding it. More clouds gather, the rain intensifies, and the other attacks light up the area in colorful flashes.

“Need help with that crap? It’s some weird fragment, but I can cut it off with my void,” Weslin says next to me.

“No need. Keep watching for Hela.” I answer as I focus on the attack. In some way, it is pretty to watch that green cloud, and rain fall against my barrier in constant attempts to melt through it.

Ten minutes later, he asks again, 'Why didn’t you get rid of it? You could have, you know.'"

I nod. “I could, but it’s fascinating. Probably not that old or strong of a fragment, but I have to keep modifying my barrier, and that thing keeps evolving to counter it. I’m using it for training. Also, it is connected to someone five miles away, so I’m carefully tracking that connection.”

“Why?”

“That dumbass keeps it for feedback to modify the clouds and the weird rain. But where there is a way in, there is a way back. Sure, there are some safeties, but I think I can do it.”

At this point, my Mana Wavelength Iris is at its limit. It takes ten minutes longer, but I manage. By then, it had already been half an hour since I started gathering a mix of thermal and kinetic energy inside an orb shielded from prying eyes.

One of my Ley Lines is also reaching that way. This one is made to be single use, as undetectable as possible, even though the normal ones are barely noticeable anyway. It will break apart when I send the orb through, unable to handle the load because of how thin I made it, but it will be good enough for a single strike.

In a few more seconds, everything falls into place. The frequencies align, the orb is ready, and the dumbass is attacking again, his concentration slipping.

My mana flares up together with my [Eclipse]. My control rises like a moon in front of the sun, overshadowing and taking over as I match the right frequencies.

The orb disappears, and I cut off the connection so they cannot send it back. Another pulse from me shoots toward the clouds, disrupting their base and causing them to start breaking apart.

I count down three seconds.

Three.

Two.

One.

No notification about the kill comes, disappointingly.

So I channel my mana, making it roar through my body and spill outside. There is so much of it that my unique arcane passive strengthens from the sheer amount. A tricolored orb forms in front of me, as big as my fist.

Then I send it to the mark I have hidden inside the first orb I sent through. A tiny core no bigger than a grain of rice, yet serving as a [Tether].

This time, there is an explosion a few miles in the distance, but it bursts in one direction only, which means they likely redirected it or defended only the side they were on instead of containing it fully.

Quite competent, aren’t they?

I send another tricolored orb, and this time, a bigger explosion rocks the area. The difference is that with this orb, I also sent one of my mana constructs: another rice-sized piece designed to head toward the closest mana signature. I give it a few seconds. A low-frequency signal pulses back from there as the tiny orb spends its allocated mana and triggers, which means someone tried to remove it after it successfully latched on.

Yet another of my orbs teleports through.

[You have defeated Ward Enforcer - lvl 364]

[You have defeated Ember Conjuror - lvl 366]

[You have defeated Line Breaker - lvl 341]

[Lvl 346 > Lvl 347]

I gather more mana and quickly send another orb. This time, it explodes properly, with nothing blocking it. The mana construct placed there does not latch onto anyone, even as I wait a full minute. The conclusion is simple: they ran away.

“Got three,” I tell Weslin.

“I can see you want to go there.”

“Weslin, maybe their cowardly friends ran and left the bodies and items behind.”

“As if they would leave anything undamaged.”

“I guess,” I say, disappointed.

For a moment, I try to examine my feelings, to see how I feel about killing real beings and not just natives from the tutorial. I find no regret, no disgust with myself. It is simple, kill or be killed, and it was them who started it so eagerly. I feel no regret for people like that.

When Talon moves closer, I redirect my attention to him. From his expression, I already know it will not be good news.

“I got a message from the branch leader. Morwag destroyed a branch of some smaller mercenary guild inside the city. He killed three dozen of them and damaged a good chunk of a street. One of the servants of the master of Black Tower got super angry and threatened him, saying he would be jailed and then exiled from the city at night.”

“That’s like threatening him with a good time,” Weslin mumbles. “Anything else?”

Talon nods, serious. “Both Nyssa and Lyraen left the 5th floor and went to the 4th. Everyone is shitting themselves.”

***

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