69: On Both Perspectives
“God fucking damn it all!”
Volburn shouted at the top of his lungs, fury becoming his whole being. He was making sure every single one of his subordinates knew about his displeasure.
This shouldn’t have been this way. This shouldn’t have happened at all. Sure, he underestimated the shitty mage, but who would’ve thought that the damage would have amounted to this?
Each one of his buildings was decimated, which included everything that their gang had ever stacked up on from the prior months and perhaps years’ worth of trading, looting, and stealing. While some did survive through the carnage, the expected losses were too much to even imagine, let alone go through.
The loss of lives from his men wasn’t even enough to consider as all Volburn could think of was the broken trade agreements he had piled up. The loss of so many valuable magical items wouldn’t just ruin his carefully crafted reputation as a businessman, but could seriously land him in some hot water. This impromptu war seriously ruined his future plans for years to come.
And it wasn’t even a war. It was a one-sided massacre.
Bodies littered everywhere, staining the once grayish dark zone red like their brand, but it was nowhere near his liking. The more he saw his own group being left like this, the more his guts fumed with anger and vitriol. This was worse than the time the Chainlords and the Stained Brotherhood united against them by taking their clients for themselves, leaving them out to dry several years ago.
He wouldn’t blame the Stained Brotherhood. Unlike both Red Riot and the Chainlords, those mercenaries only want one thing–power. That was gained through leveling, fighting monsters, and acquiring rare equipment and items to further enhance their power. It was no wonder why they would always charge ridiculous prices, considering their might. But Volburn believed that his idea of hiring some of them would be cheaper rather than getting a whole set.
He now realized how little that counted. He should’ve bought the entire gang if it meant avoiding this situation.
“Volburn… everything’s ruined.”
He heard the whiny Bosnier’s words, only ramping up his anger further. He had been bitching about his ruined relic for days on end, and after finding out from their sources that Nina Alcatroz somehow still lived, he was just livid.
Now, he grew beyond that. He walked over to the side, noticing one of his men on the ground screaming in pain. One of the swords that the fucker mage brought down on them managed to slice his arm clean off, leaving him in a pathetic state where he held onto his limb, crying out in tears.
In frustration, Volburn smashed the screaming head of the man to the ground, killing him. At least that way, his suffering would end quickly. But that wasn’t enough.
No matter how many lives he would take, it wouldn’t be enough to settle the rage dwelling within him. The very fact that it was none other than Nina herself who sent that fucker after them brought him to the edge.
“Everyone, gather what was lost and bring me a status report,” Volburn shouted, his overpowered stats giving credence to his voice. The other gang members who watched their comrade die under their boss’ foot quickly followed his words without fail. All the while, Bosnier just stood there, looking as lost as a goddamn puppy.
“And you,” Volburn sneered. “Do something useful for us and get out of my sight! I had enough of–”
“Don’t you hear that?”
Bosnier suddenly intervened, which only agitated Volburn further. Despite how he looked before, he suddenly looked awake, his eyes peeled open. There was a cold sweat pouring down his pale skin, catching Volburn off guard.
“What are you talking about?” Volburn asked. “What did you hear?”
“...Noises,” Bosnier said. “But… they feel so far away. But they’re also coming closer. I…”
Volburn only looked at the man with a mix of anger and pity. The man utterly lost his mind at this point since he wasn’t making sense anymore.
Just when he was about to slap the man into making sense, he heard it too. A sound that was strangely inhuman that Volburn couldn’t make sense of.
He turned to where he believed the sound was coming from, and found himself staggering when he saw pits of darkness that suddenly formed at random places of the Dark Zone. The other men saw them too, quickly pushing themselves back away from these pits that seemed to radiate a sort of darkness that was blacker than the color itself. Air seemed to suck in before a strange shape broke through these dawning pits, forming into what looked like hands or… claws.
They dragged themselves out, revealing several strange shapes with wide white eyes that showed nothing, but Volburn knew it deep in his bones. They were out for blood, and had already chosen their first victim.
“A-Aaaagh!”
One of the creatures opened wide and bit onto one of his men, who just so happened to be close enough for the creature to swoop in, too fast to see, and grab the man by the torso. The monster lifted the screaming man up into the air before opening its mouth again, this time swallowing the man whole and silencing the scream once and for all.
As if that was enough for them, all the other monsters swooped in to do the same. They all came after his men, crushing them, eating them, and doing everything they could to destroy what remained of the Red Riot.
“What the fuck is going on?!” Volburn shouted, this time aiming his attention to Bosnier, seemingly the one who knew what this meant.
However, Bosnier only showed a strangely giddy expression. His eyes widened while a big smile was plastered on his lips, even though so many men of their own were dying left and right as his arms opened wide.
“T-This is… more than I have ever imagined,” Bosnier said, almost lost in his own mind. “To think that the relic could contain this much power… if we restore the relic, then we can take control of all these monsters and–”
Before Bosnier could continue with his ramblings any further, a mouth suddenly swallowed Bosnier whole right beside him. Volburn jumped back in surprise when the giant black demon raised itself high, Bosnier gone and swallowed into its gullet before revealing wide teeth that were square like a human’s.
Volburn could only grit his teeth as he let out a roar, unleashing his weapon and taking out all his anger onto another problem landing onto his plate.
…..
“What?”
Nicky asked, obviously confused when Van suddenly came up to them at the guild and said his words.
According to him, the attack was already starting, and they needed to get ready to fight for their lives. This was all done after receiving the news that there was some kind of war going on within the Grim Corner, and Nicky was just about to head out with both Ander and Bill to see what the commotion was about.
That’s when Van rushed into the guild, looking panicked and sweaty before finding them and telling them about Aidan’s warning about a monster attack coming for their city.
“It’s true,” Van said. “He said there’s a whole bunch of them coming to the city, and we need to get everyone on board and fight back!”
“Whoa, whoa, just suddenly?” Bill asked, raising his hands. “Wouldn’t there be some kind of warning or something first? How sure are you that this is real?”
“Fucking Aidan was the one that said it!” Van nearly shouted, exasperated. “What else do you need to be convinced with?!”
Bill had no answer to that, soundly defeated in this argument before turning to Nicky for advice. Ander remained quiet, looking contemplative before speaking.
“What is Aidan doing right now?”
“Right now he’s with someone else and probably out of the town by now dealing with the masses.”
“Can he really do it? Does he need any help?”
“Again, this is Aidan we’re talking about,” Van said, though he quickly looked hesitant as he added. “Though after what happened at the Grim Corner, he might be a bit exhausted.”
“Wait, you’re saying he’s somehow involved with the war going on in the Grim Corner?” Nicky asked.
“Yeah, a bunch of Red Riot came storming into the Raining Treasures and took Haley, so–”
“What?!” Nicky nearly slammed the table in response. “They took Haley?!”
“But Aidan already took her back!” Van shouted, calming down the agitated Nicky. “That’s when he got notified about the monsters approaching!”
Nicky let out a breath, considering that all of this happened right when they were just at the guild discussing their next plan of actions. She felt guilty for only just learning this now, but considering that it was Aidan that saved her, she felt a little better.
And now that very same Aidan was outside, fighting back against the horde. Standing up, Nicky assessed the situation.
“Then let’s get moving,” Nicky ordered. “We’ll go and–”
Before Nicky could say anything else, several high-pitched screams echoed from the outside, reaching their ears. It didn’t take long for the noise within the guild to die down when they realized that the scream sounded horrified to their ears.
More screams and rising panic started to flow, with a person barging in through the entrance door and screaming louder than the shouts from the outside.
“M-Monsters! Monsters are invading the city!”
Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. As soon as the news hit them, the adventurers that were hanging around having their fun or strategizing for their next adventure immediately began moving out. They each wore their weapons without much preamble, their professionalism taking place as they headed out of the guild.
“Come on, let’s go!” Nicky shouted to her team, rushing them out along with Van.
When they left the building, Nicky couldn’t believe the sudden change that seemed like it came straight out of a story. People ran for their lives, screaming with panic and fear away from the monstrosities that covered their streets.
There weren’t that many, thankfully, but she had never seen these sorts of creatures before. Completely black in color, with strange shapes and distorted body sizes that glowed with different colors from their markings. Their white eyes were devoid of any emotion, all except for one thing–slaughter.
She spotted one of the monsters already smashing its teeth against a poor citizen who didn’t get away in time. The young man screamed as his body was chewed up, blood pouring like water to the ground before getting swallowed up entirely. That wasn’t all as other creatures opened their mouths and began shooting gouts of flames that covered the buildings and their surroundings, destroying their opposition to find more people to eat and kill.
She already had her bow out, shooting a big arrow straight at one of the incoming monsters trying to kill someone who fell from the run. It punctured through, and the monster roared in pain which proved that her attacks did some damage. While their names from her scan sounded horrifying, the fact that they could still get hurt gave her enough relief to try again.
“Fight back!” Nicky ordered, and not only her team, but everyone in the guild responded in kind, raising their weapons and fighting back against the onslaught of monsters that seemingly came out of nowhere.