Chapter 304: Needle in a Haystack (Patreon)

A once serene sanctuary of towering pines, flowing rivers, and rocky outcroppings had been transformed into a chilling, unpleasant domain. Winding trails weaved between jutting boulders, overlooked shallow, stone-filled creeks, and were criss-crossed with moss-covered fallen logs. They were untouched, lying dormant, ever since the assimilation began. The air was heavy, contaminated with alien mana that shrouded the region in a murky gray, and what should have been clear, sparkling water was black and syrupy.

This was a place that had been lost to the native inhabitants of earth. The Fallen Zone had become well-known to humans all across the continent, mostly due to the tremendous amount of territory it had swallowed up. It was exactly as unwelcoming as advertised.

All of the human alliances in North America were touched by the edges of the shadowy domain. The Primal Constructs had successfully developed their own massive stronghold, north of Neptune’s Bridge, and expanded across the American South, from the Atlantic Coast in the Carolinas to the arid Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas and Northern Mexico. It was a shadowy mark that swept through the continent.

Monstrous variants of the forces that made up the alien invasion were belched from the darkness of the forests, constantly pushing their borders in a clear corollary to the Swamp Lord’s strategy, but with a much different motivation. They were manifestations of external conquest: a metallic army of darkness intent on destroying the surviving humans.

Neptune’s Bridge stood like a bulwark against the swarms of monsters for the Lighthouse territory. The residents fell back to the end of their bridge, and used elevated platforms and towers to pick away at the swells of invaders. Hundreds of ships from the Tempest Fleet provided support while thousands of ranged soldiers chipped away at the enemies, day and night, in an unending battle with strict rotations that had been adapted from the experience of Ghost Reef during the Siege Event.

Still, even with the extensive defenses constantly engaged with the metallic alien creatures, the most robust individual invaders managed to reach the towering gates before they were fully depleted. They scraped, scratched, clawed, and smashed the white gates, but human engineers burned their mana to prevent them from breaking. So long as the damage never exceeded the rate the locals could repair, the perilous balance was maintained.

The tops of the walls were riddled with holes, like they protected the sentry towers from machine gun fire, though the monsters only rarely applied ranged attacks. Humans were actively restoring the fortifications while standing side-by-side with others who rained spells upon the river of invaders.

The nautical settlement had been undergoing a one-sided Siege Event for months. While the situation had become precarious enough for them to seek to abandon their settlement in the past, the reinforcements and reorganization from Ghost Reef had prolonged their defense, giving them a second wind that had carried them a few steps further into the assimilation. Ultimately, the reinforcing tactics were no longer adequate after the Underlayer Event concluded.

The only reason they had sustained the defense for so long was the way the monsters funneled into the long, narrow bridge, subjecting themselves to miles of steady ranged assaults. The defenders feared that blowing the bridge would result in a wider scale expansion across the sea, as the obvious path to their settlement provided a release valve for the enemy domain. Rather than finding relief in a full separation from the shore, they worried about losing the one advantage keeping them alive all this time.

By forcing the monsters into a zig-zagging obstacle course, lined with towering defenses, the forces of Neptune’s Bridge were able to hold out for significantly longer than if they stood toe-to-toe with the invaders. Traps were repeatedly reset, impediments established, and simple anti-siege tactics were spread across the length of the bridge, forcing the invaders to weave back and forth along the already extensive distance. Not even an inch was given without resistance. It was a classic game of tower defense.

As the monsters became stronger, so did the defenders, and gradually, an equilibrium was established through blood and sweat. The current problem was that the monsters had continued growing while the Underlayer Event occurred, but the residents of Neptune’s Bridge had a welcomed break while trapped inside their settlement’s mana dome.

The break was a double-edged sword, because while the local residents enjoyed the reprieve from battle, they had fallen over a month further behind the monsters in terms of experience. They hadn’t actually participated in the event, so they didn’t make any individual progress while the monsters frenzied outside of their territory. When the dome vanished, the resultant surge had pushed farther along their bridge, and the following waves kept the pressure on. An inch lost among miles was difficult to assess on its own, but consistently, over the course of days and weeks and months, the lost ground accumulated.

They hoped that Coop would offer them a small release from the pressure, and the person his people had left in charge of Neptune’s Bridge was unafraid of criticizing his tardiness. Hali, the teenage Champion of Ghost Reef’s subordinate settlement, greeted him without any pleasantries.

“It’s about time you showed up.” She stated, arms crossed, acting like a forgotten younger sister that Coop had left behind after going off to college. When he first arrived, though she was happy to see him, she maintained a facade of disappointment in his neglect.

Though he wanted to pat her head and reassure her that she hadn’t been abandoned, she practically chased him out of her settlement, telling him to come back after he’d done something about the scourge that infected the northern shore. They were falling behind, despite having levels that rivaled all but Ghost Reef’s original residents, thanks to the constant combat that they had undergone.

Hali was over level 250 herself, but despite being a master of stealth, she was no longer capable of exploring the forest, countered by environmental damage and overleveled enemies. The monsters that appeared on their doorstep were already level 350, and only defeated through persistent chains of attacks and skill combinations as they trudged across the winding course established on their miles long bridge. The scary part about the Fallen Zone was that, as far as they knew, these high level monsters were merely the forerunners for even more developed enemies hidden deeper within.

They presumed that, like the simpler Infestations and Hives, an individual monster was at the center of it all, and it would naturally be stronger than what they saw on the fringes. A Siege Boss of a higher level than ever before was a real possibility.

Coop was sent off without a tour of the gleaming, floating, bleach-stone city, despite his interest in the organization of their multi-layered levels and connecting elevated bridges. He only got a short look at the bustling canals, where hundreds of his own phantom ships came and went, docking to switch crews for battle, undergo temporary repairs, or ferried Lighthouse faction members throughout their network of ports.

Hali didn’t have much to say other than wanting to make sure Coop held up his end of their bargain. That she was glad he had come was obvious, but she avoided saying it outright. Before the Underlayer Event’s conclusion, Neptune’s Bridge had been satisfied with the support provided by the Lighthouse, but afterwards, they needed a shot in the arm to bring them back up to speed. They were floundering, caught by surprise by the monster buildup, and would eventually be drowned beneath the flood of Primal Constructs if nothing was done.

They weren’t asking Coop to clear their bridge, as it would simply be filled once again. They wanted him to hit the monsters where it hurt, in a way that might slow the production of more enemies for a period of time until the subjugation armies of the coastal alliances could have an impact. That meant sending him deep into the unexplored wilderness. His mission was to hunt bosses or lieutenants that might force the domain to halt its expansion while it expended mana on promoting interior replacements.

Coop was happy to oblige. He set off, feeling confident in his ability to punish the Primal Constructs for their invasion. His experience across the Settlement Events had earned him that much. But after several hours of traveling and searching from above, he was forced to shift his exploration to foot. The forests, mountains, swamps, and rivers all seemed inexplicably dormant.

As the day waned, he was already running out of ideas for discovering his quarry. He wasn’t sure what he was missing. Finding an individual boss monster in an area that covered thousands of miles was like searching for a needle in a haystack. His assumption that there would be something to guide him had been a bit too naive.

A veil of natural mist hung low in the old coniferous forests where Coop was conducting his search, rising from between thick fern stalks, and obscuring the floor while casting eerie shadows upon ancient trees. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves. But more than anything, it was suspiciously quiet.

The stillness was only briefly interrupted by the rustle of branches as the few unseen creatures that survived within the domain skittered here and there. The mournful hoot of an owl echoed from deep among the thick tree trunks before a second more distant creature returned the call. Even the animals were curiously absent.

From within the forest, the sun only appeared like a pale sickly orb, struggling to pierce the gloom enforced by the domain. The weak light barely filtered through the dense foliage, drawing unsettling patterns on the forest floor. The canopy shifted as if warding away trespassers with subtly threatening gestures. Danger hung in the air.

It wasn’t only the scenery that stifled the sunlight. The thick blanket of mana that hung on the entire region was like a frozen storm cloud that warded away hapless wanderers. Braving the gloom was clearly inviting violence and even animals seemed to understand, having mostly fled the region.

A snapping twig or the sudden racket of leaves crunching left a sense of unease to any who dared to trespass, even the Champion of Ghost Reef. He felt unseen eyes watching as he intruded upon the well established domain of the Primal Constructs.

To Coop, the scariest part of all, was that he hadn’t detected the auras of any enemies at all. When he flung himself deep into the domain, he had expected the monster density to increase, with levels rising as he drew closer to the epicenter of the fallen territory, but instead, it seemed completely empty, at least on the surface. His plan to follow the density to its core had failed before it had even begun.

[You resisted Punishment: Trespass]

A repeated notice appeared in his system messages. Roughly once every minute a minor damage event occurred, but his magic defense was so high, he resisted it over 90% of the time. Otherwise, he took less than a hundred damage as acidic energy condensed on his armor before evaporating with a fizzle.

While he had obviously entered an official domain, he hadn’t been offered any quests, as if the system was suggesting that he was too late to suppress the invasion. This domain wasn’t meant to be defeated. This was a portion of the planet fully claimed by the planetary sponsor, and it had been done without the prefabricated fortifications revealed in the Underlayer.

The Fallen Zone managed to make Coop uncomfortable, and he had fully expected to be beyond such challenges with his ridiculous level and overpowered build. He had tried multiple strategies to draw some opponents out, but it was like he was only chasing shadows.

Boldly announcing himself had accomplished nothing. Sneaking through the forest yielded nothing. Relying on Fog of War uncovered nothing. Running headlong through the underbrush, leaping across creeks, caught nothing by surprise. Mistjumping in erratic patterns found nothing. Eventually, he settled on a systematic search, by foot, checking every corner of the massive territory with his own eyes.

However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being hunted the entire time. It was like a primal fear had been unlocked, and no matter what, his subconscious was both terrified and exhilarated. Some ancestral survival instincts were awoken while he was in the gloomy forest, somewhere in what he imagined was approaching the Mississippi River, maybe still in what used to be Alabama or Tennessee.

Presence of Mind had him in a state of hyperawareness, where every sound, every leaf rattle, and every shadow appeared to be a potential threat. His heart pounded in his chest, and his breath came in short silent gasps while all of his senses were heightened. His neck was on a swivel as he tried to detect anything to explain the sense of becoming prey.

He was alone, in a vast, unfamiliar wilderness, hundreds and hundreds of miles from any other human, in the domain of something else, something that really felt alien. As he quietly stepped through the forest, taking soft steps, eyes wide as he desperately tried to find an enemy, a twig snapped behind him.

Coop spun, trusted ethereal spear ready, but when he turned, nothing was there. Despite himself, he felt a cold sweat on his brow. He was convinced that it wasn’t his imagination playing tricks on him. Something really was out there, getting closer, and he couldn’t detect it. At this stage of the assimilation, with his completely unexpected level, what could possibly evade him?

He could feel its eyes on him, watching his every move, and the fear it generated was almost tangible. The weight pressing down on his chest was different from the anxieties and responsibilities he had already overcome. It was an ancient fear that had sent humans on various paths of survival, long ago.

The hunted feeling was a reminder of human vulnerability that he had somehow been unable to outgrow and maybe never would. Somewhere deep down, it made him glad to know he was still human, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t growing desperate to turn the situation around.

He abruptly spun, hair rising on the back of his neck, despite not hearing any sounds, trying to catch his stalker by surprise. But there was still nothing. He scowled at the shadows, peering into the bushes before scanning the jagged elevated branches, reaching through the shade like broken claws.

At this point, he just wanted to confirm his instincts and prove that something was there. He knew he wasn’t crazy. It made no sense for the forest to be empty of native wildlife. He had seen time and time again that earth’s inhabitants were fierce survivors that wouldn’t give up so much territory for no reason. Something was absolutely stalking the Deep South, but whatever it was, it carefully avoided his detection.

Darkness was falling upon the already dim forest as the sun began its descent. The shadows grew longer, warping their forms into what seemed like grotesque marionettes. Coop continued his search, footsteps muffled by softened fallen leaves. He moved cautiously, through the undergrowth, slowing down as fear impacted his motions.

As he rounded a bend in the trail, avoiding a low cliff-face, he found a natural clearing framed by giant trees. He kept his eyes on the forest, pausing for a few moments before he pressed forward. He hesitantly left the cover of vegetation, walking through a tall grass filled with sticks and stones. There were no sounds other than his own breathing and nearly silent footsteps as the blades he stepped on gradually recovered their upright stance. The lack of any animal calls or even insects only added to the sense of foreboding. Then, he froze, an urgent warning appearing in his subconscious, realizing that something was amiss, as if raw killing intent was in the air, violating his subtle Fog of War, like an aura scraping against his Presence of Mind.

Suddenly, a needle whizzed through the air, and Coop used Vaporform to barely avoid catching the tip through the back of his neck. The missile shot through the mists, creating a swirling path of turbulence, as it pierced the air where he had been in a flash.

Coop’s instinctive activation of the ability caused the projectile to smash into the old bark of a grand tree further ahead of his position, leaving a tiny hint of green acid as it shuddered to a stop.

While still in the world of mists, Coop whirled on his attacker. The monochromatic world of mists inverted many of the colors, highlighting the flows of mana. Still, he saw nothing.