Chapter 349   - 348 - The Other Races Attack(Part 5)

Point-of-View: Cusnai Bronztan

———————————————————————————

Quick, I need to find a teleport spell...I was barely able to focus with all the pain I was feeling, I'll probably pass out once the adrenaline wears off, I need to hurry and get away from here!

I took out my Spell Cards and shuffled through them hurriedly with one hand, as my vision blurred and darkened, dropping a couple of the spells in my rush. Here it is, found it! Alright, this'll teleport me five kilometers in whichever direction I point it in.

As Sylvar stumbled back in a panic due to being blinded by my adhesive slime and began shooting out wind blasts in desperation, I pointed the Spell Card to the south and activated it, right as a wind blast struck my shoulder.

I let out a sharp cry of pain as I reappeared...in an area littered with corpses and entrails. Dozens upon dozens of human bodies, including women and small children, and I recognized a few Adventurers as well, all dead now.

There were also a few Elf corpses, but barely even half as many as there were human corpses. I gagged as the overwhelming stench of death invaded my nostrils, making me dizzy...or that might be the blood loss, either way, my consciousness is hanging on by a thread right now.

I better cast the invisibility spell on myself again and find a place to hide until-...where's my invisibility spell? Crap, don't tell me I dropped it earlier...if that's the case, there's no helping it.

I struggled to try and get on my feet, before collapsing back down onto my knees, my vision darkening further...not good, I can't stay out here in the open like this. I gritted my teeth and crawled my way over to the nearest building, pulling myself through the doorway with all the strength I could muster.

I couldn't even tell what kind of place I was in, it could be anything from an apartment to a restaurant, I have no idea...I can't see anymore, I just blinked and then couldn't muster the strength to lift my eyelids open again.

I collapsed onto the ground, my consciousness rapidly fading. Yeah...I think I'm done, I definitely won't be playing any further part in defending the Rustlands during this attack...

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Bell Fairbairn

———————————————————————————

Something is strange...it has been about ten minutes since all the Halflings made it through the west gates and began attacking the humans on this side of the Rustlands, but...there should be a lot more of them.

Many of the buildings are completely empty, especially the residential ones...we still came across plenty of humans, including those that fought back, but there are far less than there should be.

Perhaps they have been evacuated...if that is the case, I am concerned, how could they have known to do so? After Lord Laus took down their protective barriers and replaced it with his own barrier in a matter of seconds, we attacked effectively immediately, there would not have been nearly enough time to evacuate.

Furthermore, where would they evacuate to? I had attempted to contact Lord Laus and inform him of my concerns, but...he was not interested, it seems that he is currently fighting Belia. He simply commanded me to follow his orders and stand by, he also seemed displeased by my interruption.

He had commanded us Elemental Sages to stay posted by the gates, while the rest all move in...I did not quite follow those orders perfectly, as my suspicions upon seeing the lack of humans prompted me to move in a bit further and investigate.

But I suppose I should not push it any further...if Lord Laus does not care, then there may as well be no point to me doing this. I have not agreed with some of his decisions recently, but even so, I cannot disobey him. That would make me no better than a human.

I suddenly sprinted away in a rush as something came shooting towards me, a strange orb of light, before hitting the ground where I had been standing and erupting into an expansive yet silent explosion. What was that!?

I glanced over in the direction that the blast came from, to see a man with golden colored hair and eyes, and Demonic features, along with another, a man with brown hair and also possessed Demonic features.

Now I see why Lord Laus had us Elemental Sages stay by the gates, in order to take on any humans that are strong enough to get past the others.

"You are a Halfling, correct?" Spoke up the brown haired one, a dark smirk on his face, "From the way you move, you are clearly far stronger to the ones we encountered."

I froze in shock and rage as he then held up two of my fellow Halflings, both on the verge of death.

"H-how dare you-...let them go, you lowly human!" I snapped furiously, lightning streaks bursting out of me.

"Lowly?" He scoffed condescendingly, "You simple creature, how ignorant you are...I am Hacte Routh the last, proud survivor of THE GREAT VALAQUE EMPIRE, and I will not be disrespected! Allow me to enlighten you...have a taste of despair."

My eyes widened in horror as the two Halflings in his grasp suddenly let out excruciating screams as their bodies morphed and mutated grotesquely, until they were completely unrecognizable.

"Wh-what did you do...?" I stuttered in dismay, which was quickly replaced by an absolute burning fury, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM, YOU FUCKING HUMAN!?"

Is this...Corruption Magic?

"Hahaha, behold my flesh monsters!" He declared gleefully, before adding sadistically, "If you wish kill me, you must first destroy these...meat shields of mine."

I sprang back as one of them clumsily sprinted towards me and swung their arms at me, which I evaded easily...they have been reduced to mindless, pitiful monsters that are at the mercy of that accursed human...

I...I do not want to fight my fellow Halflings...both were approaching me, letting out low, ugly groans, showing no sign of intelligence. This...this is...unforgivable...

"You...you will not get away with this...I WILL NOT LET YOU!!!" I exclaimed furiously, blasting out powerful bolts of lightning at the two former Halflings, destroying their heads and putting them out of their misery.

"Ah, how cruel, I was told that you other races feel a strong kinship towards your own kind, and yet you murdered them so easily," He taunted with a laugh, before holding up a small, rectangular object, "Now, then, Extract."

Suddenly, several bodies appeared in front of him...all Halflings, and all beaten near to death. No...no, not again, I will not allow him to-...I was forced to spring back as the other one fired another of those expansive, silent explosive orbs of light at me.

Hacte then touched one of the injured Halflings, who screamed in agony before mutating rapidly, along with the rest, a total of eight of them...

It was strange...I felt more furious than I ever had before, and yet...I also felt calm. What is this sensation? My rage was growing stronger and stronger, but my mind was clear, as was my objective...I do not care about anything else right now, just that I must kill him...!

Lightning sparked around me and exploded into powerful, crackling streaks as I unleashed my full power, entering my Lightning Sage Mode, my eyes and hair glowing as streaks of lightning crackled all around me.

I then shot towards the former Halflings and drew out my hidden daggers, taking aim at their throats and flinging the daggers at them with all my strength and as accurately as I could manage, the daggers coated in lightning.

Each of them hit their marks, striking the necks of their targets and bursting through, all eight of them collapsing lifelessly before they were able to react. I then shifted my gaze towards Hacte, my eyes burning with fury, causing him to flinch and stumble back.

I then shot towards him, closing in before he could react or even move, grabbing his throat and zipping forward with my grip tightening, slamming him onto the wall of a large structure with an immense amount of force, several cracks appearing on the wall, spreading out from the point of impact as he coughed out blood.

"You will suffer before you die," I remarked coldly, as I began to charge up lightning to run into his body, before quickly letting go and backing away as he attempted to grab my arm.

Tch, I got careless in my rage, he nearly used Corruption Magic on me...I should attack from a dist-...

"Druj, what are waiting for!? Kill her! Kill her right now!" He exclaimed hoarsely, blood spraying out of his mouth as he yelled.

I sprang back and got some distance as the golden haired one fired his explosive orbs at me...they may be far weaker than I am, but if I allow my anger to influence me too greatly, it may give them openings to defeat me...I will not make the same mistake that I berated Sylvar for, during the initial reconnaissance we performed.

"You have succeeded in infuriating me, the both of you...I shall eliminate you now and-!" I began, before Hacte held up another rectangular object...and disappeared.

Teleportation?

"Hm...I lack the necessary power to face you alone," Remarked the golden haired one, before taking out a rectangular object like the one Hacte had used, teleporting away before I could intervene.

"Tch...those damned cowards."

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP