Chapter 189: Field Test
“I guess it’s been a while since one of these guys showed up.” Coop sighed, resigned to the fact that another Icon of Mana had revealed itself to the planet.
Given that Coop hadn’t been the one to trigger the Icon, its appearance was probably a bad sign. Maybe an extremely bad sign. The Eradication Protocol was meant to be something to worry about years in the future, but if Icons of Mana were already casually introducing themselves to the planet, it might be closer than anyone anticipated. The Icons were supposed to be precursors to the protocol. Unique circumstances surrounding the siege event with the continuous mana dome covering Ghost Reef and the mana siphon ritual conducted by Madison to cure Jones’s blood curse had given them a window to materialize prematurely.
However, Coop hadn’t done anything that established an extraordinary mana concentration such that an Icon should have appeared this time around. He had to hope that Huracan had been working on something special that led to mana pooling in the region. Otherwise, the only conclusion would be that the assimilation would be further complicated by another powerful force entering the fray much sooner than anticipated. Whatever formation the black stone spires and the living flame had created may have been enough, but Coop wasn’t enough of an expert to be sure. No matter the circumstances, even the mere fact that someone else could have brought an Icon would be a grim development.
Lyriel, the self-proclaimed Avatar of the System had promised years of prep time based on the progress of Earth's assimilation and its concentrations of mana. Coop began harboring doubts about the accuracy of her predictions, and now with a third Icon appearing, seemingly on its own, he was fearing the worst. Outside of Ghost Reef, humanity wasn’t ready. Even the territories that The Lighthouse had claimed wouldn’t be prepared to face the forces of mana. Empress City was basically a fresh settlement, building from scratch, and Neptune’s Bridge had just lost a significant portion of its fighting force in the Sapphire Armada’s effort to claim Ghost Reef. Corozal was hardly ready to deal with roaming Field Bosses, and there was nothing to be said of the rest of the world. None of them would know what was coming before it arrived on their doorstep. Coop had to hope that Marcus was spreading the word effectively as he negotiated relationships with other settlements, but they would still need time to refocus on the looming threat.
Coop shook his head and dismissed all those worries. Like the small wildfire, he just needed to take care of what he could. Refocusing on the matter at hand, he took a deep breath. He had an Icon of Mana to smack around. When he had the chance, catching the outline of its wing at the edge of the sandstorm, he double checked the monster’s aura.
[Siege Boss: Inevitable Conclusion (Level 175)]
[Shadow of Power]
[Icon of Mana]
Coop considered how to handle another encounter with an Icon of Mana. The first Icon, Irrevocable Condemnation, had only been level 75 and had appeared by absorbing the mana accumulated beneath the mana dome during Ghost Reef’s siege event. Back then, Coop had the full support of his surviving allies at his back. At the time, they had all progressed way beyond what normal mana levels would have permitted under regular circumstances thanks to the unusual Siege Event. He hadn’t known the danger he was actually facing when he first saw the monster, and he treated the confrontation like any other, by poking and prodding at his opponent while he sought an advantage and determining its strengths and weaknesses. It had worked out in the end, but not without significant contributions from the other residents and phantoms.
The second Icon of Mana, Monolithic Destiny, had made its entrance through Madison’s mana siphon within the Merciful Medical Center’s ritual chamber. It had really jumped the gun, appearing in a swirl of mana that was rapidly extinguished as the ritual concluded long before its form could fully materialize. The premature arrival had given Coop an opportunity to smash the monster back to wherever it came from. Still, even in its incomplete form, it was a durable level 100 Siege Boss that he had desperately fought to prevent from laying waste to his settlement, sustaining a pummeling from Coop that no other had been able to withstand, with maybe the exception of the Sapphire Armada’s Champion and council of Chosen.