Chapter 277 - Place to Die (Patreon)

We run like the Seven Devils are out to get our souls.

The maze is no more. As I suspected, the entire thing was a glamour of the fae. Considering the depth of the illusion, perhaps it is the work of the marquess himself. Without it, the true form of the Magitek Wonder’s interior is revealed. There are lines on the wall, red lights streaming upwards to the top as if transferring some kind of energy. It worries me, since we still don't know the purpose of the Wonder.

We arrive at the stairs that are built surrounding the massive central pillar. Going down floor by floor, each an expanse of buildings and facilities.

The fae haunts our every step.

Portals that can suddenly appear from anywhere around us are spitting out enemies. The fae use human-wave tactics as bug-hybrid fae stream in from every direction. They act like beasts, no coherence whatsoever, just more bodies to the pile. On the other hand, we move as a unit.

The elves take point, acting as windbreakers and plowing the fae away from our path. Viers at the right, Bryan at the left, Damon and Wendy acting as the rear guard. I’m in the center, carrying Master Mita.

These fae are hardier than the ones we encountered before. We can't defeat them quickly enough. Sometimes, they even come back up despite half of their body being eviscerated by the Level 4 Kailu. Changing strategy, moving them out of our way is the next best option. We started pushing the fae from the stairs using various methods. Depending on their bug parts, some fly and some don’t.

It might be my imagination but Viers seems to be giddy while giving a straight kick to a fae's chest, one after another. When he could not do that, he shouted loudly, forcing them to fall with the force generated by his voice. Force Speak Arte, if I remember correctly. A combination technique between him and Paina. The broadness of Viers’ means amazes me.

Furthermore, the Victa signature, heavy presence, Arte shocks, and rumblings from above us keep us on edge. The battle between Alvared and Judith is akin to thunder constantly blaring too close to the ear.

“Gwah!”

Conn takes a hit but his Unreality Field and Tomthur’s runic protection bear the brunt of the damage. June comes to his aid and knocks the fae away, sending a fae with an arrow in the head free-falling. The terrain is perilous. Even a kid knows to not run on the stairs, especially if the stairs are thousands of meters high but we don't have a choice.

Gradually, the fae are coming faster than we can deal with and Damon makes a call after seeing the turning wind.

“Unity!”

“Roger!” Wendy replies. “You as the nexus?”

“It will be too defensive. Ciel!” Damon puts his broadsword into a fae’s chest and tackles the fae coming from the other side.

Hearing her name called, Ciel decisively nods and raises her hand above her head.

“Commencing War Formation! Everyone, please!”

Finally, the time for the Silver Legion to fight as one has come.

Bryan is the first, hitting the breastplate on his chest with his fist. “Initiative!”

“Endurance!” Damon does the same.

“Knowledge!” Wendy follows almost instantly.

One by one, we put our fists above our hearts and speak of our virtues.

Rachel’s caution, Conn’s diligence, June’s haste…

“Ha!” Viers hit his chest with eagerness. It doesn't need to be that forceful. The gesture of a fist above the heart will do. “Dedicate your heart! Freedom!”

Freedom… so that’s Viers’ chosen virtue.

It fits him.

Then comes my turn.

“Gratitude,” I speak softly.

Master Mita is still unconscious and the two elves are unable to participate so eight virtues in total converge on Ciel, who will be the core.

On Ciel's raised palm, there are now eight sparks of light, connected to one another like star lines, a constellation.

Grasping it, Ciel puts her hand above her chest, adding her own virtue.

“Justice! Army of One, activate!”

I feel them, the other eight. Power flows from them to me and me to them. The sense of becoming something, coming together to form a greater whole. It’s my second time experiencing it but no less wondrous.

A mythical symbol appears on our foreheads, a holy symbol of the Estellian faith. With it, the War formation is in effect.

“Arte - Swirl of Flowers!”

My flower storm seems to carry the weight of eight others and the burden of casting is lessened. Bryan, Ciel, and Viers’ Artes pack even more destructive power than mine, like driving a stake through the swarm of the fae army. Empowered, emboldened, the fae fall before us like flies.

Army of One, another signature Arte of the Silver Legion. Each virtue gives different empowerment. Damon’s endurance and June’s haste are easy to interpret. Wendy’s knowledge and Viers’ freedom have more opaque meaning but it still compounds to the whole.

This is our unity. Our trump card against Level 4s.

The greater the person’s chosen virtue is, the greater the boost and there is virtue in everything.

Army of One is also not limited to nine people. As long as the nexus, the one that becomes the center of the War Formation, can bear the burden, there are no upper limits.

In great wars of the past, hundreds of thousands of Silver Legionaries using the Army of One have turned back Hell’s invasion.

With Tomthur’s runic armor and Paina music boost, we rapidly come down floor after floor. Things are looking up. We can do it. We’ll survive and go home together!

“Gruaaaah!! None of you will get away!”

Just before we went down the stairs from a particular floor with lots of opened walls, Jerrold appeared from a portal, coated with swirling ashes of destruction. His appearance was no longer completely human. He was now closer to a bug-hybrid fae, with four long tentacles growing on his back. Damon and Conn blocked the sudden ambush but got knocked back. June jumped in to get me and Master Mita out of the tentacle pierce. The two broke through a few houses and almost got thrown out of the Tower.

“Kh! What a persistent bastard!”

Bryan engages the transformed Jerrold with Delimira and Kailu. The rest of us are fighting the other fae.

“Watch out!” I scream at Viers after seeing something from my peripheral vision.

Viers is a step too late. A small winged humanoid, a fairy-type fae, swoops in from above, grabs Viers by the collar and slams him down into the ground. He lands head first, cracking the ground.

Another Level 4!

“Ihihihihi,” the fae chuckles while looking at Viers. “Now you play with me.”

He's the first Level 4 fairy-type fae we've encountered! Can Level 4s cross over now?

“Reverse Waterfall!”

“Ooh!? Ahahahaha! Water play~”

Paina’s stream of water engulfs the fae but rather than suffering damage, the fae happily rides the current away. Paina is simply taken aback by the result.

“...That won't last long. Viers, can you stand?” Paina says.

“...It freaking hurts.”

Without the Army of One, he should be on the verge of death from that.

Viers picks himself up and observes his surroundings. He comes to a decision rather quickly.

“We jump out.”

His eyes are serious. I concur it might be our only option. With Level 4 enemies roaming, it’s too dangerous. Army of One won't last forever either. The team had thought of this possibility. After seeing the massively tall tower we each got a glider before the assault. Only, after seeing the throngs of Level 4 monsters guarding the airspace, none are eager to try.

But as we are using the Army of One, we have a chance!

“All that’s left is-” I point out my concern.

“Beating Jerrold so he can't interfere. Kill if possible, disable if not. We must be fast too!”

So he can't intervene during the retreat. Yes, I understand what Viers thinks. We as of now can do it, I’m sure of it.

“That’s a good face. You have grown.”

I hear a familiar voice.

“Master Mita!”

“I think I got the gist of it,” she rouses herself. “Do what you must. I’ll receive another visitor.”

Following her line of vision, I see Unem. The glamoured abbess is walking towards us with a smiling face, bringing several platoons of fae.

As if the situation is not complicated already.

Mita broke free from the yoke of glamour but Jerrold and Unem didn't. What’s special about the melody Paina played? Unfortunately, I’m not a sound Pathseeker and this is not the time or place to ponder about it.

“We go!”

Viers dashes towards Jerrold. I nod at my master before following him. From our left, Damon and Conn who were knocked away are making a beeline toward Jerrold too.

All of us, nine Level 3s, voluntarily pick a fight with a Level 4 peak. Normally the notion is lunacy but I don't think we're going to lose. Riding the wind of confidence, I dodge a tentacle from Jerrold’s back and slash him on the shoulder.

“Pesky small fries!”

Jerrold doesn't like our attempts at all, Army of One made our rhythm easily match each other, greatly improving our coordination of offense and defense.

The battle’s heat goes straight to maximum from the get-go, I convey the plan to others and so we focus on defeating Jerrold. Senior Bryan entertains the notion of fighting the main chess piece of the fae. Artes flying left and right to a dizzying degree.

With the tentacles, Jerrold has eight limbs. We pin them down with our weapons and the last of us, Ciel, brings down a shining sword at Jerrold’s head. The Level 4 tries to use his Domain. At such close proximity, I see the scene of an ash wasteland. The edges of my robes are turning to ash and I panic for a second. No. The Domain does not manage to activate fully.

“My thanks, Lord friends of the forest!”

Ciel pushes her attack, landing a clean hit.

“So close, Hrrnnh!”

We got blown away by a horrendously strong explosion of ash and fire. My previous assessment was a mistake. A layer stopped Ciel’s sword strike from landing. He rushes to Rachel, who sends her two golems out. They barely slowed him down before getting wrecked. Paina saves herself by diverting his blow with a water barrier but at the cost of Jerrold’s ire.

“Fine. You’ll be the first. Don't think being able to turn incorporeal can save you from this.”

Jerrold holds Paina by the throat using a back tentacle and a spear of ash is in his hand. Not good, Paina’s going to get killed! I force my body to act but we’re still reeling from the last attack. Oh no! We won't make it in time.

There is a sound, a sound so great that it rivals a volcanic eruption. The Magitek Wonder shook and the sky lit up.

It wasn't Jerrold. It came from outside of the tower. What was that? It strikes fear into my very soul.

The others are the same as me, paralyzed in fear.

Even Jerrold.

Paina seems the least affected due to her ghostly constitution and flies to Viers’ side at the first opportunity, reentering his soul.

I turn my head to the outside out of reflex and I see the cause.

The top of the tower is being swallowed by a thick beam of death shot from beyond the dark cloud.

A barrier holds the attack back and the scattered residue of the plasma falls all over the place.

“WHO DARES!?”

The marquess's angry voice bellows from above.

As if answering the question, there comes a roar-like challenge.

A dragon flying in front of a stormy sky with a couple of other smaller dragons. Its bearing is like a king in his domain. Most of its scales are yellow but the area around its neck and stomach are white in color. Mighty wings and majestic horns, serpentine neck and teeth like swords. Its mouth still sparks with electricity after the fulminating dragon breath. A wrathful beating heart in the center of a storm.

“An Elder Thunder Dragon,” Damon says. “Must be, if the Dragon Fear is this potent.”

“Look! From the mountains!” June points her finger. “Goddess, they’re fast!”

A flight of dragons is coming from the mountain range. There must be hundreds of them. All are coming in this direction. There are many but the elder dragon is still the biggest in size, its wingspan from tip to tip can be as wide as the tower’s diameter.

“What are they doing?”

“Who cares? They are attacking the fae, that means the cavalry's here.”

I feel there’s more to this than meets the eye but I agree with Viers.

Power rises at the top of the tower, we can still feel the dreadful mana even after so many floors down. The big shots above are tangling with the Rank 5 dragon. Just seeing the tail of the dragon as it lands on the top of the tower is extraordinary. I can only imagine how great of a battle the Level 5s currently wage.

“Gwuaaahh!!”

Jerrold screams… Eh? Why did he scream?

A space tear opened in an unfortunate place. The way the tear forms is ripping half of Jerrold's body to another space. This is the danger of space tears.

But it’s lucky for us.

“Now's our chance!” Ciel leads. “Jump!”

We run towards the outside of the tower, intending to glide our way down. With the coming of the dragons, the bulk of the fae army is engaging them. There might not be a better time than this.

But my starting position is bad, I’m the farthest.

“Guh!?”

“Fuck! At least I’ll bring you down with me! Glory to the Marquess Foulfae!”

After hitting me with an attack, Jerrold tangled my arm with his tentacle and his aura was pulsing rapidly. He intends to blow himself away.

There’s no dodging this, I thought. His activation is too fast.

“Rose!”

“Don't mind me, go!”

They are too far away. Good, they might not get caught in the suicide blast.

But someone yanks me away from Jerrold after cutting the tentacle.

“Eh?”

“This is not the place for you to die,” Viers says.

The blast, it engulfs Viers and knocks me away. The ceiling comes down and buries the area with massive stones.

“Noooo! Vieeeeers!”

No no no. W-why?

I try to crawl back but Delimira stops me.

“It’s too late.”

“W-wait-”

Carrying me, Delimira jumps out of the tower, catching up with the others. Senior Damon and the others have already jumped. Master MIta comes from behind while carrying Unem.

The wind from high altitude envelops my body as I look at the smoking floor above me with shock.

Viers… sacrificed himself to save me.

Wait, Paina, Dia, and Farley, they are with him too!

“Curses!”

“Hold on!”

“Stay together!”

I didn't realize until it was too late that we jumped into a massive space tear that suddenly opened and we were swallowed into an unknown place.