-31- War
Page 1/3
Gone? How did it leave?
Gripping the hilt tightly, Rosaline stared suspiciously in that direction, nearly doubting whether it was all just her imagination.
She then glanced around, turned, and headed toward her magic-powered hoverboard, unwilling to linger another moment.
But at that instant, faint noises behind her triggered a warning bell in her heart. She spun around, crossing her blade horizontally. The incoming bone blade struck fiercely against her alloy war blade, unleashing a sharp metallic clang and a shower of sparks!
As expected, the creature’s departure was merely an illusion! It had silently concealed itself in the shadows beneath the rooftop, exploiting its prey’s anxious haste to launch a deadly ambush!
“Buzz—zzzt!” The effects of high-frequency oscillations and high-voltage currents activated instantly. Rosaline seized the momentum, lunging forward fiercely, pushing her blade to counterattack.
Yet the attacker showed no intention of trading blows with the girl. It retreated at once, putting dozens of meters between them, hovering outside the rooftop on its delicate, dragonfly-like twin pairs of wings.
Then it lowered its head to inspect the bone blades on its arms. These grayish-white, bony weapons were clearly not as tough as the alloy war blade. After a brief clash, small fractures appeared on them.
But strangely, a contemptuous, malicious smile still lingered on its face, as if utterly indifferent to the damage.
The next moment, under Rosaline’s vigilant gaze, it transformed into a nearly invisible, jet-black blur and vanished in an instant, merging into the shadows of the ruined skyscrapers without a trace.
...
"The Twin-Blade Demon..."
At dusk, after hearing her disciple’s report on the exploration of Gray Harbor City, Yvette set down her teacup, her fingertip unconsciously tracing the smooth surface as a frown crept across her brow.
“Twin-Blade Demon” was the name Rosaline had given to that humanoid aberration. Given its uniqueness, a specific designation was warranted.
She had long suspected that the aberrations on this island, nurtured under such conditions, would inevitably produce high-level mutants even she would have to respect. Today, one had finally appeared—though it was partly because she preferred to stay in Ish City, rarely venturing into neighboring Gray Harbor or northernmost Luya City. Had she patrolled regularly around the island, she might have crushed such threats before they grew.
What a troublesome creature... she sighed inwardly.
If it were just strong in direct combat, it would be tolerable. But the Twin-Blade Demon was clearly a stealthy assassin, adept at ambushes with terrifying speed—an enormous threat to fragile mages. She could maintain her “Crimson Armor” in low mana consumption mode while sleeping to guard against sneaky attacks, but Rosaline could not.
Fortunately, on the way back, Rosaline had taken counter-surveillance precautions, avoiding a direct route home and instead traveling through the city’s sewer network, now an underground river with natural ecology. Otherwise, her residence would have been exposed, and a midnight ambush while asleep would have been possible.
Page 2/3
“Teacher, I think that aberration might possess intelligence close to humans. It ambushed me and even smiled... completely different from any I’ve seen before,” Rosaline said anxiously. Just recalling the anthropomorphic smile she had witnessed earlier made her dread nightmares tonight.
She wondered if her teacher would allow her to temporarily sleep in her room...
“Then we’ll classify it separately, above the ‘evolved type,’ as a third level—let’s call it... ‘elite type,’” Yvette mused, her tone somber. “Its most distinctive trait is higher intelligence, perhaps also cunning.”
“I’ll go with you to Gray Harbor City tomorrow. We’ll see if we can eliminate it and investigate the source of the aberration tide’s unrest,” she added.
...
The next morning, midsummer on Ish Island still shone brightly under a cloudless sky.
But thoughts of the aberration anomaly in Gray Harbor City cast a serious mood over Yvette and Rosaline as they set out.
Along the way, Yvette briefed Rosaline about two locations: the Ish Mountain Range and Luya City.
“Those are the two largest aberration nests on Ish Island,” Yvette explained.
“Nests?” Rosaline pondered the word.
“I’ve never been inside and know little about them,” Yvette replied, shaking her head as she drove. “But if aberrations can indeed reproduce and grow their numbers, the source must lie in those two places.”
Years ago, after escaping from the abyssal base beneath the volcanic crater lake, Yvette had undertaken a circumnavigation of the island. Besides collecting important, uncorrupted books, she primarily surveyed the island’s conditions, confirming human survivors and studying the ecology of various animals, plants, and aberrations.
She found that aberration populations were far denser and stronger inside the Ish Mountain Range and in the northernmost Luya City, compared to southern Ish City, Gray Harbor City, and other scattered towns. Thus, she concluded these two hubs were the island’s most dangerous zones. Even their sheer monstrous numbers alone could intimidate anyone.
The current upheaval in Gray Harbor City hinted at a subtle shift in the aberration ecosystem on Ish Island. But why it was changing and in what direction remained unknown.
...
Compared to Rosaline’s previous explorations, Gray Harbor City was much quieter today. Few aberrations were encountered en route, while many wild animals seized the chance to roam freely, bounding and darting through streets resembling forests.
After a short while, they drove the hovercar near the port district. Following Rosaline’s directions, they edged deeper into Gray Harbor City, then heard raucous noises coming from the city center.
Continuing forward, they saw a massive horde of aberrant tide worms passing an intersection ahead—each over a meter long—numbering in the hundreds or thousands.
Page 3/3
What was especially strange was that despite the hover magic bike hovering about five meters above the ground, clearly within aggro range, the tide worms seemed oblivious. They allowed the two to observe from the vehicle without interruption, pressing on relentlessly toward their destination.
“Teacher, what should we do?” Rosaline was confused. She had even prepared to use her rudimentary ranged spells to cover a retreat, but the aberrations remained indifferent—truly baffling.
“Let’s see what their purpose is,” Yvette said, maintaining about a hundred meters of distance as they followed alongside.
“Do you think they’ll suddenly attack?” Rosaline asked nervously.
“I’ll handle it,” Yvette replied calmly.
Hearing her teacher’s steady voice, Rosaline’s anxiety eased.
With the alloy war blade, after three years of training, she had developed considerable individual combat prowess. She could exchange blows evenly even against her teacher in one-on-one practice. But crowd control remained her eternal weakness. Facing hordes of monsters, no matter how powerful her alloy blade was, she had to strike one by one, and overwhelming numbers would engulf her within minutes.
What she truly admired was her teacher’s elegance: snapping her fingers to unleash a barrage of destructive spells that could wipe out entire monster swarms at once—the epitome of a pure and graceful mage.
...
After flying over several city blocks, the hovercar landed atop a skeletal skyscraper entwined with massive tree roots.
Stepping out, the two gazed down at a grotesque tableau of war.
The streets below writhed with a vast tide of aberrant worms, a red, pulsating flood advancing toward the city center.
At the intersection in that direction, several hundred assorted bizarre aberrations—an irregular militia—roared thunderously, fiercely resisting the worm horde’s assault. The rotting worms spewed acid; many-armed beasts swung their fists; multi-headed birds dived like dark clouds, ripping and tearing...
Watching this chaotic, bloody, and inhuman spectacle, Yvette narrowed her eyes.
Undoubtedly, this was a war among aberrations.