Chapter 322 - What an insane bastard (Patreon)

POV Nina

One after another, our lines break down. Hundreds of veilshriekers push through, even at the cost of their lives. Every time one dies, two more climb over its body, shrieking with hate that makes guards shudder.

It reaches the point where we stop on the clearing in front of the iron door into the Sanctuary.

(Housekeeper, how long? We are in trouble here! The moment the first veilshrieker sees the door into the Sanctuary, he will send a signal to the Veil and summon the Guardians.)

It doesn't take that long to answer, but even then, it feels like forever. After long hours of fighting, my mana and stamina are at too low levels.

(They should be there any moment. Got to go, we also have company, just hold on!)

The connection cuts off, and I fight against the want to smash the device in my hand.

And then, just when I'm about to exchange positions with my tired team member, two figures appear in the air. There is no mana radiating, no wings, no other energy I could sense. They just float there as if they are standing on solid ground and everything else is moving around them. There is no jerking, no movement from side to side.

Just two figures floating in the air, unaffected by any force.

One of them disappears, and a split second later, brilliant golden flames blaze high in the air somewhere from where the monsters are coming from. The other figure slowly lands near me. The man called Nathaniel.

In his arms, he holds a little girl, a disciple of his, and the calm expression that never leaves his face is really relieving to see right now.

Without any charging or collecting mana, a stream of golden flames shoots from him too, reaching the pathways between rocks and melting the stone and monsters using these passages.

No heat hits me or my men near him, all of it directed only at the monsters that die so easily that it makes our struggle seem be pointless.

“No monster can see the entrance to the Sanctuary, they will summon the Veil Guardians otherwise,” I warn him and allow myself to relax slightly.

“Huh? Really?” his flames disappear, and his eyes examine me. A hint of interest in them.

Then he says something to his disciple and puts her down. Right after, he disappears, and when he appears again, he holds a veilshrieker by its neck, the monster struggling and trying to attack.

The man called Nathaniel then lifts the monster up and forces it to look towards the door into the Sanctuary.

Immediately the monster freezes and lets out a screech that I had yet to hear from them. A pulse of mana is sent from it, and Nathaniel does nothing to stop it. Right after, the monster's head disappears in a burst of golden flames, and the dead body falls to the ground.

“What have you done,” I can only ask with horror.

Out of thin air, another man appears, the exact copy of the one that has doomed us all.

“I noticed the signal; you let it pass on purpose?” the newcomer asks.

“Yes, it seems like veilshriekers are programmed to send the signal to the Veil the moment they locate the bunker. It should summon the Veil Guardian.”

“Only one? Two of them would be better.”

What the fuck are they talking about?!

“If it's two, I will get the minion into the Bastion, and we can split them. If it's one, you will stay and keep her safe.”

“Sure,” the second Nathaniel says and turns to me. “Hey Nina, where is the healer guy? I have stuff I want to talk with him about.”

“You… you!”

The growl deeper than any I have heard before sounds into the area, and in the middle of the clearing, the monster lands. Just the pressure the monster lets out nearly forces me to my knees, and its eyes are something I'm sure I will take to my grave.

Before I'm even able to scream, a barrier stronger than any I ever felt surrounds us, and one of the Nathaniels appears in front of the monster.

Creating a crater on the ground, the monster is sent through the air, disappearing in a blink, its powerful body crashing through the stone.

Then armor forms around his body. It's simple and functional, but there is a regal kind of beauty to it.

With unhurried steps, he then heads towards the monsters, his mana surrounding him like a ruler's mantle.

***

I'm really thankful to Nina for telling me. I almost killed all of the veilshriekers before I even learned about them being able to summon a Veil Guardian.

The attack crashes against me, and I feel air escape my lungs as I bulldoze through the tonnes of rock.

Damn, I barely saw that one.

I strengthen my armor even more, just in time to take on another attack that sends me through the air again.

Lately, [Regalia] has been slow to level, so I'm not infusing it with kinetic energy to absorb the damage, nor am I using a voidsteel blade. What I fight with is only armor and weapon made of mana.

Just [Focus], [Regalia], [Mana Manipulation], and [Mana Domain] shrunk to surround only my body and armor. Oh, and plus [Redistribution] and [Infusion] to have as much mana in the armor and weapon as possible.

Okay, maybe it isn't just a single skill, but it's the main one I'm using, and others only supplement it at places.

The armor around me is dark blue with streaks of purple and light blue flowing through, and the weapon is the same. I don't push further and instead, only make the mana denser and heavier.

[Regalia - lvl 21 > Regalia - lvl 22]

I form a shield around my left forearm and block another attack, the voidsteel of the Veil Guardian slashing through and biting into my flesh.

Dodging another swing, I repair the shield, make it smaller, and send more mana in.

The result is the same, the blade cuts off a piece of the shield, and another swing cuts my sword apart. I dissolve the shield while flying through the air from the kick of the Veil Guardian and reform the sword in my hand into a long spear that I point in front of me.

The Veil Guardian reaches me in a split second, one blade arm cutting the spear apart and the other one burrowing into stone near my head. The armor surrounding my knee extends into a spike, and I burrow it into the monster, immediately the gravity around me increasing further.

I give up on some of the skills and resonate my mana, getting rid of the slowing effect and dodging another attack as well as fighting against attempts to disrupt my mana.

Running to the side, the monster dodges a barrage of compressed mana javelins that I left in the air and triggered just now. Each of my attacks pierces deep into the ground.

Close-range fight seems to be counterproductive. My [Regalia] just isn't at the level to handle voidsteel weapons. Instead, I put distance between us and more javelins form around me, each boosted by kinetic energy from my Vortex Core.

Their speed is enough to catch the monster, and they pierce through the skin, wounding it in the process.

I disrupt the signal the Guardian tries to send to the Veil.

The duplicate was right. Knowing what to look for and mainly being able to deal with the disruption of the monster and its gravity field makes the fight almost easy. I just need to avoid its quick attacks, but even that is easy to do with [Tether] I can now use even as the monster tries to get rid of it.

Continuing with my plan, I use projectiles made of mana, and while we destroy a bigger and bigger chunk of the landscape as we move all over the place. It takes a bit longer and I almost get cut apart multiple times, but gradually kill the monster.

The reward is two level ups and another level in [Regalia]. Not bad at all.

After getting two voidsteel slicers, epic weapons, from the corpse, I sell them to the system shop. Each of them getting me just a bit over 700 shards, getting me over 30 thousand shards in total. It could've been 45 thousand if I hadn't bought my newest epic passive, but hey, with the way it allows my mind to endure the strain, it's more than worth it. Now I need something similar for my weak body.

Nope, no stats in constitution. That's for weaklings. Real mana enjoyers have their bodies broken after the simplest uses of their mana and then complain. Or do stuff like coughing out blood because of weak bodies and say things like, “Good job, you made me use 10% of my mana.”

Okay, maybe it doesn't sound as cool as I thought.

Also, my good mood seems to be showing. It seems like soloing Veil Guardian made me happy. I'm level 230, and he was just over 290, so that's good, I think.

When I teleport back after placing a few anchors, I find Nina talking to my duplicate, and when she sees me, it almost looks like her eyes will fall off.

Good, finally some appreciation.

“Master! Good job! That monster was so scary.”

Oh, even the minion, is it my good day?

“Thanks, Vega,” in a good mood, I decide to call her by the name I gave her, and the reward is the smile she gives me, her good ol' master.

“So, how does it look?” I ask my duplicate.

“Granny and her father Irvin are both alive and in the Sanctuary. Everyone seems to be ready to leave too, so we just need the Armorer to land somewhere close and get people in while we do some fighting.”

“Having both healers alive seems to be better for your plan,” I mention, and he nods. Then I turn to Nina, “Where is Darren?”

I know her answer from her expression, but then she says, “He was killed and a few weaker of his men as well. As punishment. Stronger ones are used for dangerous missions.”

The exact emotion she holds is hard to read, but there seems to be at least a bit of hate towards me.

“For feeding human meat to people?” I ask. “How come you are alive then?” I do not try to be sensitive about it.

“Ask our new leaders,” her eyes meet mine, and I decide to return her gaze.

I ask her, “Do you hate me?”

“Such a fucking dumb question.”

“Did your father curse me in the end?”

“That's the most fucked-up thing. He did not. Even as they executed him, he just let it all happen. My father did it all for the people and took the sin on himself. He understood theirs and your decision.”

“He was always too dumb and caring. He should have just let these people die.” The granny exits the Sanctuary, spitting on the ground.

[Vitalist - lvl 103]

That doesn't seem to make Nina happy. “I would fucking beat your ass if I could,” she says.

“Sure you would,” the old woman giggles and then spots me and my duplicate, her eyes ticking between us.

She even takes a few steps closer, and her mana examines us.

Only then she sighs, “What an insane bastard.” That's all she says.

So very charming.

Meanwhile, more people get out of the Sanctuary, all of them carrying as many things as they can, scared and looking around with big eyes. They are passing by us on both sides, creating groups on the clearing after getting a signal from the scouts and their new leaders. Within the group, there's one man I know.

[Lifebloom Weaver - lvl 216]

He is even 10 levels higher than the last time I met him. Irvin, the guy that used to be locked in the tunnels under the Sanctuary to serve as a food supply. At the start willingly, and in the end against his will. But now he seems much better.

His beard and hair are nicely cut, and he is wearing clean white clothes, but the biggest change is his expression. It's not as crazy as before, even though some trauma lies there. But right now, he seems more reliable and even happy? If that's the right word to use.

The duplicate seems to be most happy to meet him. He puts on our “friendly” expression and reaches into our very small reservoir of social energy.

Amused, I watch as he greets the man and the granny, as he compliments them somewhat sneakily and still awkwardly, and then just says it, probably too annoyed to wait longer, “So, I need your guys' help. I want to transfer one of my eyes into my cute disciple over there. I just need a bit of healing and some other stuff. Of course, I will help you in exchange with something you guys might ask. Even that weirdo over there,” he points at me, “agreed and will help as well.”

Indeed, even though his chances for survival are really low, the duplicate Nathaniel is not taking it lying down. No, he is cooking.

And I'm too fascinated to stop him.

***

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