HARMONY [LITRPG / ISEKAI / PROGRESSION / OP MC]

The sounds of screams echoed all over, creating a horrific scene that would probably traumatize anyone regardless of age for years to come.

For Nina, this was something to be expected. At the same time, it daunted her at how horrific the scenes actually were.

Monsters were everywhere, each one a dark shadow that stained the streets red on every occasion. Buildings that were once so natural to the eye were now destitute and destroyed, leaving nothing but small remains of what they once were.

But in her mind, this was par for the course. The adventurers working tirelessly to defend the city were already doing their utmost, all thanks to the Wise Guys doing their part in keeping them in place when the attack occurred.

Of course, Nina wasn’t idle while she made her way to the Grim Corner. Her daggers flashed as she sliced through the monsters one by one. It was clear that they had a high physical resistance, but her spells let her ignore their physical resistance for a short moment, and thanks to her talent, she could easily spot the cores and destroy them in one slice.

Her talent wasn’t just useful for peering into another person’s status, but also useful for peering into the monster’s capabilities. In this instance, her talent told her that they had a core at a specific part of the body, allowing her to quickly kill them without using up too much time and resources. She only did this to the monsters that stood in her way, or those that dared to go after her.

But even then, the number seemed to increase more and more. She wondered what the hell Aidan was doing, taking his sweet time outside while they already had monsters inside the city, but knowing the kind of man he was, it was possible that he was facing an even worse situation outside. That was why she hurried to the Grim Corner before things could take a turn for the worse.

She had to make sure that at least somebody she knew was fine, and as long as that person was fine, then no matter how bad the city would turn out to be once the threat is over with, she could recover her finances and keep the stability intact. When she eventually reached the location she was aiming, monsters were already crowding around the building.

These horrors looked like decrepit insects as they crawled all over the building, and according to her estimations, there were more monsters in the Grim Corner than back in the city. She supposed that’s a better alternative than the other way around, the Grim Corner not being a very populous place to begin with.

Still, she couldn’t check on the person’s well-being with those horrors in the way, so she was about to start attacking when her instincts flared and forced her to stop.

Giant pillars of fire flared up from below, taking each horror out and flaying them to smithereens. Their bodies quickly dispersed, leaving nothing behind as the powerful gouts of fire quickly vanished.

From the building where the fires began, a door opened up to reveal Madam Welsh, her pipe in her mouth, letting out a ring of smoke from her lips as she watched the entire thing from the inside.

“I see that you took my warning seriously, Madam Welsh,” Nina called out, sheathing her daggers and walking up to her.

“Ooh, dearie, there you are,” Welsh smiled whimsically. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d have such a big heart to tell me beforehand about all of this. It honestly made me a bit suspicious when you told me an attack was coming, and all without even making me pay for it.”

“I knew you wouldn’t take it seriously if I did. There’s nothing more suspicious than receiving a troubling warning without payment, and I know how you work more than anything. I wanted your trust, and this was the best way to do it.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that you did this out of the kindness of your heart? That you want this sweet old lady safe and unharmed when everything is over?” Welsh scoffed. “Don’t take me for a fool, girl. Though I do appreciate the warning. But how did you know? Is it through that boy, like I suspected?”

“Nothing gets past you,” Nina answered. There was no point in hiding that information as she knew Madam Welsh would find out sooner or later. Perhaps even suspected as much from the get go. “He’s already working overtime on dealing with a massive army on the outside.”

“And that is wise?” Welsh asked. “To leave that young boy out to the wilds to deal with these… things?”

Welsh looked uncomfortable as she looked at the locations where the horrors once existed. Nina understood completely, never having seen these creatures before in her life.

She knew the cursed relic had everything to do with it, but seeing the creatures for herself, she could only wonder just what the hell was that accursed thing doing in their city that led them to this situation.

“If anything, he’s the only one capable of handling this,” Nina answered to appease Welsh’s concerns.

“I suppose that’s better than nothing,” Welsh said, then pulled the pipe out of her mouth. “Oh dear, it looks like more are coming.”

Nina also sensed the creatures approaching. From the distance, more horrors were closing in, their scraggly limbs creepily marching on them, their mouths wide and drooling to eat them.

“Unfortunately I ran out of mana with that last attack. Had to prepare quite a few things to protect my assets, you see. Can you be a dear and help this old hag out for a little, Nina?”

Nina only scoffed. “You sure like to pull out that grandmother schtick when you’re asking for favors, huh?”

“It’s the benefit of reaching old age,” Welsh’s lips twisted into a wide smile. “You’ll understand soon. Everybody will.”

“That’s only if they live long enough.”

Nina unsheathed her daggers before rushing and taking out the many horrors that surrounded her. They were easy pickings, and as soon as their numbers dwindled, she retreated before Madam Welsh cast her spells and launched a volley of fireballs that aimed precisely where their cores would be. Of course, this was one with Nina’s input, making them easy targets for Welsh to take out.

As soon as the horrors died out, Nina asked what was next on her mind.

“What about on your end? Did you manage to work things out?”

“I gave as many warnings as I could, but just like you, I also faced some opposition. I was able to at least get the orphanages evacuated on time and sent to their bunkers, but it’ll only work if these monsters stop appearing out of nowhere. As far as I know, they just seem to spawn randomly and without end.”

Nina worried about that as well. She saw the dark pits that kept appearing around town and how the horrors just crawl out of them. There was no hint of anything being used as a catalyst, and it really looked like they were born just for the sake of tearing this city down from the very foundations.

“Still, I didn’t think you care enough to let the orphanages survive through this,” Welsh said, sounding genuinely surprised.

“Isn’t it natural to save as many of the working class as possible for the future?” Nina answered. “I don’t want to end up growing old and not having many to rely on for the mundane chores I’ll have in the future.”

“Hah!” Welsh let out a harsh cackle. “You’re as every bit as a shrew as I figured. You’re just like me. Can’t wait to see what sort of mess you’ll make in the future.”

“Somehow, I find that rather disheartening.”

Despite their relationship, Nina was at least glad that the old bat was alive. Out of every informant, she was her favorite, probably because they both went through their tough times in the underworld. She was also her favorite due to her mindset of saving the unfortunate like the children, even if they’re backed with funding Welsh stole from tricking poor fools with false intel, eventually reaping their loot when their information failed them at their weakest.

She could respect that sort of cutthroat mindset, and wished for Madam Welsh to live to at least work for her in the future. Because if there was anything she had faith in, it was the fact that once they survive this, Forontia would be at a state where the leading authority would have no clue on how to recover from the massive damages caused by the horrors.

But with a certain bodyguard she had on hand, she knew she could take the reins of this broken city and turn it into however she wished. With that goal in mind, she dashed off to another close contact, ensuring their survival and, of course, her future working relationship with them on better terms.

…..

She knew that at her level, it wouldn’t take much to defeat her in combat. Despite that, Yin knew that she was the weakest when it came to long-living beings like herself.

She knew others in her lifetime that had surpassed level 100 and above, reaching the higher echelons of the system and becoming nearly god-like to those around her at the present. Though she also knew that for these people, level 100 is a dream within a dream, something that could only be achieved if you believed yourself to be an ancient hero with a powerful bloodline and talent.

However, she was starting to change her opinion little by little the longer she watched Aidan fight against the horrors. She hadn’t seen anyone at such a high level for a long time, becoming more and more scarce as time passed by. While the stronger ones got older and weaker with age, the younger ones, being granted the safety brought about by the stronger ones, had grown weaker and complacent.

People had settled for a decent level, not bothering to go above and beyond to reach level 50 for a Class upgrade at the very least. Back at High Stasis, the forest she was born in, it was natural to reach level 50 to receive a class upgrade, and from there you specialize and live your life, whether it would be to continue increasing your level or to stay and keep honing your skills and abilities.

But from how Aidan kept mowing down the horrors, it didn’t seem like he intended to just stop at level 50. If anything, he had the drive that she hadn’t seen in anyone else for a long time. She only noticed just how relentless Aidan was after realizing that her job was getting easier to deal with as the one in the rear guard.

The horrors kept flooding towards the city, the other guards trying desperately to keep the numbers back with their meager weapons and spells. It certainly helped, but they would’ve fallen a long time ago had Yin not made the wooden walls to protect the ramparts of the city. Her wood magic came alive, the branches extending outward and grabbing as many of the horrors before squeezing them tight, making them disperse into motes.

But she knew that such tactics only brought her more time, not actually bringing a resolution to the matter. More and more horrors kept approaching, and the only reason why she insisted on using the squash tactic was due to the fact that she could not accurately take out the cores that kept the horrors alive. Even at her level, the creatures were surprisingly resilient, and were just as violent as they looked when they stepped all over each other to overcome the wooden barrier she produced.

According to her estimates, she was killing roughly ten or fifteen horrors while Aidan was killing three times that in the same span of time. Rather than getting deflated with the comparison, she was only more impressed that such a young spirit was able to keep up. Naturally, the power of harmony was essential to dealing damage to these unnatural creatures.

Even now, the way they even exist was a bane to her senses. Just being around them felt like spiders crawling all over her skin, making her spine chill in response. She was also certain, no, more than certain, that Aidan was feeling it the worse. Spirits were extremely sensitive to the magic that the world provided, but these horrors were not made naturally. They were made with demonic essences that seemed to counteract the purity of harmony, like a corruption that would infect them if they were not careful.

Even so, Aidan refused to yield even as the dark energies that the horrors were giving off were soaking him through and through. Perhaps Aidan might not have realized it, but that dark energy was insidious enough to affect spirits like him, and those who are naturally attuned to harmony like Yin.

But she had no way to contact him while she was in her position. She couldn’t even tell Aidan that the city was already under attack by the horrors that somehow managed to get into the city. Whatever it was that commanded these creatures had enough competence to somehow bypass all matters of magical security the city put up, causing this to happen. Though she was starting to wonder if saying that to Aidan would only make things worse, stress-wise.

Before she could think on this any further, as fast as a blink, someone landed straight into the wooden barrier, creating a crash that resounded heavily into everyone’s ears. Yin looked down, only to see Aidan himself stuck into the wooden barricade, his body deeply entrenched into the crater he made when he crashed.

“Gah… fucker!”

Aidan cursed as mana fueled his body before pushing himself out. He flew up into the air, his eyes dead-set on reaping vengeance to the one that put him there. When Yin looked to where he came from, she finally realized why he ended up like that.

Several horrors, the size of buildings, clamored and roared in the distance. She was so focused on the smaller horrors approaching the wooden barrier that she hadn’t realized that they could also come in such large sizes. Then again, controlling her wood magic wasn’t easy to begin with, so perhaps it was better that Aidan was keeping his entire focus on these giant creatures.

“Are you alright, Aidan?” Yin asked, catching his attention. Despite his anger, he looked back to see Yin with surprise.

“Oh, shit! Sorry about that,” Aidan said, quickly realizing that his crash ended up breaking her barrier. She didn’t mind though, considering his own circumstances. “Here, hold on.”

Aidan flew over and suddenly offered her what looked like a bottled container. Deciding to take it, she opened it to feel an incredible amount of power reaching her nose, surprised at the intense quality of the liquid inside. After Aidan assured her it was safe, she took a sip, only to feel her insides flourish with mana and actually filling up her mana pool to full.

“This is…”

“Soul-Mending water,” Aidan said, a small smile on his lips. “Great stuff. Found it at the dungeon and had it connected straight to this bottle.”

“So that’s how you can keep fighting for so long,” Yin said in amazement. She was actually starting to worry that her mana would dry out before long, considering how long they have been fighting here. “But more importantly, are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Aidan said, shrugging. “Just having some bad luck here and there. I think I would’ve died a long time ago if I didn’t have my own healing spell. My levels are increasing pretty fast though.”

Despite his energetic response, Yin could tell through her long experience in life that he was only trying to assure himself. She knew what he was truly fearful of, as she was constantly on the prowl as well.

“If we keep destroying the army like this, it will soon arrive, I fear,” Yin said, eventually bringing the topic up to bear. Aidan only frowned at that, knowing exactly what she was talking about. “We need to be prepared.”

“Is there anyone that can even handle it?” Aidan asked, turning his attention to the guards and soldiers that were running out to deal with the horrors down below.

Yin couldn’t really answer that as, quite frankly, the security of the city wasn’t doing that good against the threat. According to what she heard through her great Perception, things weren’t doing well over inside the city as well.

“It’s better that you keep fighting. Right now, you’re the only one capable of keeping this city alive,” Yin said earnestly. She was honest as well which got Aidan to purse his lips. “Do you need a break? I can keep up with the defenses for a while longer.”

“No, I’m fine,” Aidan insisted. “No way I can stop now. I can already feel so many people dying left and right in the city. Just taking a break now would probably increase the death toll.”

Yin was afraid of that. She didn’t even have to sense the amount of lives being lost to know that things were heading in a bad direction. But she was also reminded that unlike her, Aidan could actually sense the lives directly through his connection with harmony. If there was anyone who felt the heavy blow of loss, it was Aidan.

But no amount of comforting words would be enough, and she didn’t even have the time to even say the words as the earth shook from where they were. Yin’s heart trembled as her eyes widened from the power being unleashed from that tremor.

“T-This is…”

It felt like a geyser of dark corruption was being let out into the air, drowning the entire land in its disgusting embrace. It felt like oil clamored to her skin, making her break out into a sweat as one of the dark pits that usually showed up on the ground appeared in the air instead.

The dark pit gradually increased in size, reaching a height larger than life itself while the interior seemed to flare in purple heat, as if hell itself was opening up. It was there that their greatest fear came to realization.

As a hand shot out of it, large enough to put the building-sized horrors to shame.