Revelation

by Sisa, Michael

  “Understood!”

  By this point, the assistant had already given up on convincing Big Mona to evacuate the city. He realized that the fat merchant would rather die here than leave all of his wealth behind.

  Big Mona gritted his teeth. If only the City Lord was capable, he wouldn’t have to spend this much gold and mana stones.

  “I swear, if Valcres is the cause of all this mess, if this happened because he kept poking his nose on that adamantite vein!”

  The City Lord was probably hiding again inside his castle right now, waiting for the storm to pass.

  Back in his younger years, Valcres was an exemplary leader. He was the reason Lion City grew into the city it was today. But alas, those days had come to pass. Now, he was nothing but a shell—an incompetent one—of his prime.

  Big Mona went toward the western gate. As expected, hundreds of soldiers were already there, ready to cut down any monsters that would be able to breach the walls.

  The archers on the battlements were accompanied by several foot soldiers. By now, they were already accustomed to the patterns of attacks of the gorilla-frog monsters who could climb over the walls. This time, the soldiers had come up with tools to push the monsters off the walls. Below the walls were Commander Daltos and his men. The soldiers in front held large spiked iron shields, while those at the back were holding spears.

  Big Mona also saw several carts moving toward the magic towers scattered throughout the city. They unloaded crates filled with kalrane stones, ready to replace the ones used by the magic towers once the battle went on.

  The mercenaries, led by their new leader, Kain, also arrived. They exchange several words with Big Mona, before eventually assuming defensive formations near the wall.

  “Mona, this will soon become a battlefield,” a hoarse voice said. “Go back. Hide in a safe place.”

  Big Mona looked for the source of the voice and saw the Master of the Tower of Pollux, along with several dozen magicians.

  This was the first time these men were participating in the city’s defense. It seemed that even their master couldn’t resist the middle-grade mana stones Big Mona offered.

  “I plan on hiding, of course,” said Big Mona. “I simply came to check on the city’s defenses. With all of these soldiers, mercenaries, and magicians defending the western gate, it seems that there’s no longer a need for me to evacuate the city.”

  The Tower of Pollux’s master’s face was grim. “Mona, do you know why we decided to come out of the tower and participate in the defense of the city this time?”

  It’s because of the middle-grade mana stones promised as a reward, right ? thought Big Mona.

  As though reading what was on Big Mona’s mind, the master shook his head and said, “The mana stones are enticing, but that’s not it. Mona, you saw the thing in the sky, didn’t you?”

  “The huge sphere that appeared in the sky several hours ago.”

  The master nodded. “It resembles the thing described in our books. A portal. And judging by the size, it’s definitely one that connects our realm to another.”

  The hair on Big Mona’s nape rose upon hearing this. He finally realized why these magicians who usually secluded themselves in their tower came out to help defend the city.

  The monsters were one thing. But if the sphere that appeared in the sky several hours ago was indeed a portal to another realm…

  Big Mona couldn’t even imagine the fate that awaited Lion City.

  “The portal closed as soon as it opened,” said the master. He stroked his ashen beard. “I wonder. Opening and closing a portal that big is no trivial matter.”

  The bells of the city rang once again.

  The monsters were finally spotted on the outskirts of Lion City.

  ***

  Lark flew out of the window of his office the moment he felt the massive clumps of mana in the sky. When he saw the lightning vortex in the sky and the sphere that emerged from it, his eyes widened.

  It was a portal. There was no doubt about it.

  But peculiarly, the portal closed the moment it opened, as though someone on the other side had been controlling it.

  Several thoughts started running through Lark’s mind.

  Why did the portal close as soon as it opened? Where was the portal connected to?

  Unless they’d made preparations beforehand, closing something that big was no easy feat, even for him.

  The small communication crystal tied on Lark’s neck glowed softly for a second and a familiar voice was heard.

  “God Evander, are you alright? Should we fly straight to Blackstone Town right now?”

  It seemed that even the Scylla felt the massive clumps of mana despite its distance from Blackstone Town. The amount of mana that swept through the kingdom when the portal appeared was so large that even the non-magicians felt it.

  “Hey, why are you the only one talking to him?”

  “That’s right! Look at what you did! You ruined our very first message!”

  “I won our competition fair and square! So, shut it!”

  “What competition? You won only one out of the three!”

  “This damn cheater! I’ll bite your head off!”

  Using draconian language, the Scylla’s heads bickered with each other.

  “I am fine,” said Lark. All seven heads shut their mouths and listened attentively to Lark. “There’s no need to come to Blackstone Town. I’ll fly over to where that thing appeared and check it myself.”

  “But it might be dangerous!”

  “Please at least take us with you!”

  “That’s right, God Evander! Please let us accompany you!”

  “Also… We’ve recently made a very comfortable chair befitting God Evander! You can use it while you ride on top of my head!”

  Lark smiled. He could only imagine how odd it would look.

  “Top of your head? What are you saying to God Evander? We’ve all agreed that it’s better for him to ride on top of our body! It’ll be more comfortable that way!”

  “Everyone, calm down. You are being disrespectful to our God.”

  With those words, the Scylla once again quieted down.

  Lark said, “If my hunch is correct, the thing that appeared in the sky is a portal. Judging by its size, it could be connected to the continent of Marut, or worse, to the Demon Realm.”

  “Demon Realm,” repeated the Scylla. “Then… are demons invading the kingdom?”

  “It’s unlikely.” Lark shook his head. “The amount of time the portal was open was too short. Although I still don’t know why a portal opened right above the Kingdom of Lukas, it’s impossible for a demon army to cross over to this place in such a short period of time. I’ll check it all by myself. Blackie, while I’m gone, please watch over Blackstone Town.”

  “Understood, God Evander.”

  “Thank you,” said Lark.

  Lark deactivated the communication crystal. After leaving a note on his desk informing Gaston that he would be gone for a short period of time, he flew up and shot toward the portal.

  VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 2

  “Commander, we’ve opened the southern gates as you ordered.”

  Commander Daltos, the professed protector of Lion City, nodded his head upon hearing the report of his men. Currently on the battlements, his eyes gazing at the approaching monster horde.

  “Good work. You may go back to your post,” said the Commander.

  The soldier hesitated for a moment then said, “Sir, is this… alright? We’re going against the Lord’s command.”

  Without turning around to face the soldier, Commander Daltos, his face grim, uttered, “I will take full responsibility. Let those who wish to leave the city flee through the southern gate. I’m uncertain if we’ll be able to protect everyone this time. This is the right choice to make, even if we have to go against the orders of Lord Valcres. Do you understand?”

  The soldier clenched his fists upon hearing this. He saluted
. “As you command!”

  Commander Daltos couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling in his chest. Although they were protected by the towers created by the Lord of Blackstone Town, for some reason, he felt that they wouldn’t be enough to defend against the monsters this time.

  That creature at the back…

  Commander Daltos felt uneasy whenever he looked at the creature at the rear of the approaching horde. It looked like a giant wasp with a disproportionately large belly occupying almost its entire body.

  “Commander, that monster at the rear of the horde…” said one of the soldiers next to Daltos.

  “We’ll need to kill that one at all costs,” said the commander.

  The soldiers around him all agreed. They also felt uneasy whenever they looked at that creature. Their instincts were telling them that one was extremely dangerous.

  “They’re almost within range,” said the commander. “Sound the horn.”

  One of the soldiers blew the horn. Hearing it, those assigned to operate the towers scattered all throughout the city started moving the blocks located at their base, and placed the kalrane stones inside. The towers sucked in the energy from the kalrane stones, activated the sigils, and gathered the energy into their tips.

  “Ready.” Commander Daltos raised his hand into the air and abruptly pulled it down. He roared, “Fire!”

  The gong was struck, and the towers started firing bolts of lightning at the monster horde, one after another. Although there was only a few bolts, each of them was powerful enough to kill a monster with a single strike.

  But it wasn’t enough to deter the horde from advancing toward the city. The gorilla-frog monsters in particular started running toward the walls upon seeing the humans on top of the battlement. The archers started shooting them the moment they were in range, but their muscular bodies proved to be strong enough to repel the arrows. Using their webbed hands, and sharp claws, the gorilla-frog monsters began climbing the walls.

  Commander Daltos pulled out his sword and ordered his men to activate the simple devices they’d invented just for these monsters. The large logs sitting on top of the merlons were pushed out of the walls, their ends tied to a previously erected pole. The logs struck the monsters climbing the walls, crushing their bodies in an instant.

  “Pull out the logs!” shouted the commander. “Crush their skulls! Beat them to a pulp! Keep hitting these disgusting bastards!”

  The soldiers pulled the thick ropes tied to the logs, lifting them back to where they were, then pushed them off the walls again, crushing the next wave of monsters.

  The soldiers’ morale rose seeing their simple device was this effective. Maybe, they would be able to survive this monster horde without suffering a single casualty? Such thoughts went through their minds as they repeatedly crushed the climbing monsters.

  But they soon realized that they were naïve.

  After repeating the same tactic over and over, the ropes tied to the logs started to break, rendering the device useless. Soon, the gorilla-frog monsters managed to reach the battlements.

  “Archers, fire! Spearmen, protect the archers! Use your spears to push these monsters off the walls!” said Commander Daltos.

  The commander swung his blade and beheaded the monster to his right, before leaping back to evade the claws of the monster to his left. In a second, he retaliated and stabbed the monster right in the eyes. Commander Daltos twisted his blade, pulled it out, and kicked the monster off the wall. But before the commander could even catch his breath, several more monsters jumped right at him, their maws opened wide.

  Knowing that it was impossible to dodge, Daltos activated his magic—his trump card. Flames quickly covered his body, forming a shield that rendered him impervious to swords and arrows. The monsters that tried to bite his arms off were engulfed by the flames, took several steps back in panic, and fell down the walls.

  Commander Daltos quickly looked around him. Unlike him, the other soldiers weren’t capable of holding their ground against the monsters. The archers were immediately ripped to shreds by their claws, and the other soldiers could hardly penetrate the monster’s hide with their spears.

  Even the towers, now firing short-range, wide-area spells, couldn’t suppress the monster horde. The number of monsters that had managed to climb the walls already surpassed a hundred.

  Commander Daltos knew that at this rate, the soldiers stationed at the battlements would all be dead before the day ended.

  The commander channeled more mana into his spells. He roared, attracting the attention of most of the monsters. “Over here, damn monkeys! Come at me! I’ll take on all of you!”

  The taunt was surprisingly effective. The gorilla-frog monsters roared, started ignoring the other soldiers, and went straight at him. Commander Daltos soon found himself surrounded by enemies at all sides.

  “That’s it! Come at me, hairy bastards!”

  Although the monsters held enough strength to tear the limbs off the body of an ordinary soldier, they weren’t powerful enough to penetrate the flames protecting the body of the so-called Fire Golem.

  Like a cornered rabid beast, the commander fought his way through the encirclement. When his sword broke, he punched and kicked at the monsters, throwing them off the walls whenever the opportunity arose.

  After the commander successfully distracted most of the monsters, the burden was lifted off the soldiers’ shoulders. With the help of the towers, they eventually managed to cut down the enemies’ number.

  As for the monsters that managed to climb down the walls and enter the city, they were taken care of by soldiers stationed below. Moreover, the mercenaries and magicians from the Tower of Pollux actively took part in the defense of the city. With their help, no monster was able to break past the soldiers’ defenses. At the same time, those assigned to operate the towers relentlessly recharged it with new kalrane stones. The towers scattered throughout the city didn’t stop firing their spells at the monster horde.

  “Just a little bit more,” huffed the commander as he continued to mow down the monsters using his bare fists. Although the flames protecting his body were strong enough to block arrows and swords, it drained large amounts of mana upon activation.

  They’d lost track of how much time had passed by now.

  Commander Daltos looked around him. At the soldiers lying dead on the battlements, at the monster horde, and at the soldiers, magicians, and mercenaries below.

  It felt like the number of monsters wasn’t decreasing at all.

  No matter how many monsters they killed, several more would come out to replace them. They should have killed thousands of these monsters by now, but for some strange reason, the horde looked untouched.

  And the commander soon realized why.

  He looked at the wasp-like creature at the rear of the army and was stunned to see eggs coming out of its disproportionately large belly. The eggs formed cracks, and from them, the same monsters they’d been fighting emerged.

  So, this was the reason for the uneasiness he’d felt.

  The creature at the rear of the monster horde was capable of mass-producing these monsters!

  “It’s eating the dead monsters?”

  From the monster’s bloated belly, tentacles would shoot every now and then and grab the corpses of the nearby monsters. It would then throw them inside the large opening underneath its abdomen, before churning out several monster eggs.

  “N-No way…”

  Despair slowly loomed in on the Commander. If the monster was capable of reabsorbing the monster corpses around it, it could probably produce those eggs indefinitely.

  Commander Daltos looked around him. The two hundred soldiers stationed on top of the walls had been reduced to a few dozen. Even now, his men were dying pointless deaths. As long as that monster was alive, all of their efforts would be fruitless.

  Sharp pain shot through the commander’s body. He looked at his shoulder and realized that a chunk of it had been bitt
en off by one of the monsters. Blood gushed out of the wound. He was feeling ever more lightheaded as time went by.

  He was almost out of mana. The fire protecting his body had greatly weakened by now.

  Unable to hold the monsters back, hundreds of them started descending the walls and entered the city. The soldiers, mercenaries, and magicians’ desperate attempt to stop them had proved futile.

  Over a hundred of the monsters went deeper into the city and started attacking barricaded homes, massacring those who didn’t flee through the southern gates.

  ***

  Lark whizzed through the sky as he flew toward where he saw the portal. Now that he’d recovered almost a third of his previous life’s mana pool and obtained the Sword of Morpheus, using flight magic for several hours was no longer a problem.

  Lark’s mind was filled with various thoughts. He wondered why a portal that gargantuan had suddenly appeared above the Kingdom of Lukas. Furthermore, there was the question of how and why the portal suddenly closed and disappeared straight afterward.

  Closing a portal was no easy feat. Even a portal half the size would require an astronomical amount of mana—enough to cast pinnacle-grade spells—just to suppress it.

  For a couple of hours, Lark continued flying northwest. Eventually, he arrived at Lion City. When he saw the people fleeing through the southern gate, Lark realized the tragedy that had befallen the city.

  Lark sped up and entered the city. He hovered in the sky as he looked at the battlefield below. He could see hundreds of monsters starting to spread out in all directions, scattering throughout the city, massacring everyone they saw.

  Although the soldiers were desperately defending the western gate, it seemed that they’d been overwhelmed by the number of invading monsters. Even the towers had proved useless this time, now that the monsters had managed to enter the city itself.

  Lark looked up and furrowed his brows. It wasn’t a full moon tonight. The next one should be at least two weeks from now.

  “A low-ranking nest.”

  Lark saw the wasp-like creature standing outside the city. Monster eggs were continuously churned out of its bloated belly. It was probably the reason the soldiers failed to defend the city against the monsters this time.