Chapter 496: Island Rescue(1).
The island was huge, but moving at top speed would get you from one end to the other in no time.
If you traveled in a straight line of course...
The entire Central Island was covered in the remains of towering buildings and numerous intersecting streets and roads. This means moving through it, even towards the center was going to take some time even though they were already close by.
The most dangerous part of the mission was being careful. If they encountered a large group of wandering Mutant Beasts, even though they were Tier 1 and were probably going to be fine, it would still take some time.
But that time was going to be used to surround them with even more Mutant Creatures, turning into a never ending cycle of killing until they ran out of stamina and were killed themselves.
Their feet hit the ground lightly, making a continuous stream of soft sounds as they made their way through a street that still had a majority of the buildings fairly intact. This way, they would be able to stay moderately out of sight.
"How's it looking?" Leah turned to Sisi.
A frown hung on her face,
"Not bad. I can see that the wall is covered in enchantments, so breaking through will be a big issue."
"Even for me?" Kai asked, her eyes wide.
Sisi shot her an amused glance,
"Yes, even for you."
"Meathead..." Lin Lin said dryly.
Leah's face relaxed, "That means the Mutant Creatures will also have a hard time getting in."
Sisi's face changed, "Well..."
Roselle suddenly spoke, "The {Sea Drakes}. Although we are much more powerful than them, they individual firepower is terrifying. And there are a lot of them. Enough to bring down the wall eventually."
Lin Lin frowned, "If the creature under the island wants to take the entire thing down, what is the point of trying to destroy the wall?"
Leah sighed, "It's a twofold attack. One is bait, the other one is the real deal."
"By flooding the island with Mutant Creatures, it forces the idea that its desire is to destroy the wall. Meaning, more likely than not, the people on the island will be more inclined to try defending it, instead of fleeing."
Lin Lin's face turned cold, "I see... It wants absolutely no survivors."
Sisi's face was pale, "What kind of creature can have such intellect?"
"Well, whatever it is, I sure as hell don't want to be here when it does whatever it wants to do."
Roselle turned to face the earthen wall. It was strange, seeing a huge towering stone wall, something that should have been in use thousands of years in the past, in the middle of a semi-destroyed modern city.
The wall was huge, and there were already hundreds of Mutant Creatures surrounding it, throwing random attacks from all directions, some even trying to scale it inorder to feast on the succulent human flesh hidden within.
However, the perpetual twang of bowstrings and loud bangs from arcane firearms made it so that the exterior of the walls were constantly being painted red and blue.
'Still...'
The number of creatures arriving at the wall continued to grow every second. The Lightslayers were battling a majority of the Mutant Horde on the shore, but there was only so much they could account for. The island was big, and there were multiple areas the Mutant Creatures could sneak in from.
That was the main reason the wall had been built. And it was doing its job perfectly.
A sharp glint appeared in her eyes. Without wasting a breath, she drew her weapons. A shrill cry echoed through the empty street, but it was droned out by the loud roars and growls from the Mutant Creatures congregating towards the wall.
"Rose... What the hell are you trying to do?!" Leah immediately moved to stop her.
Roselle was calm, "We can't keep staying here forever. We have to move. It's now or never..."
Kai suddenly stood straight, "She's right. If we are going to do it, might as well get things going."
Lin Lin sighed and slapped her forehead,
"You do know they consider us enemies, right? They might very well treat us the same as those Mutant Beasts and shoot us down as we attempt to save them."
Roselle was indifferent, "Their weapons, compared to what Cain can make, can barely harm us. We will be fine."
While it was a stretch to say 'barely', it was true that the weapons the Lightslayers used was quite subpar. The quality was many times inferior to the weapons Cain could create.
The firearms were crude, and judging from the sounds them made after each round was fired, it was easy to guess that their durability fell by the shot, and they had to be repaired quite often.
Seeing the somewhat proud expression on her face, Lin Lin nearly lost her mind.
'This chick is going crazy!'
Leah eventually spoke up,
"Our goal is to warn them about what is coming and possibly extend an olive branch. If we are attacked, we are well within our rights to turn around and leave."
"But..." Roselle tried to say something, but was cut off,
"Rose... I've made my choice. There's nothing more important that our lives."
"Especially a fleeting crush..." Lin Lin muttered under her breath, earning her a rough shove from Kai.
Roselle eventually nodded after a few moments of hesitation.
"Sisi, you climb one of the buildings to stay face and support us from afar. Lin... Protect her and give us long range support as well."
Sisi nodded, "Noted."
Lin Lin shrugged, "Sure thing."
"Kai... Rose... You're with me. Let's give these overgrown fishes hell."
***
Adjusting her glasses, Suki cast a cold, yet worried look over the scene below the walls.
'What is going on?'
For a while now, she had been seeing the island swarmed with hundreds of Crimson Warriors. These savage men targeted anything they saw, be they human or Mutant Beast.
Most of the time they met a Lightslayer squad, it usually ended in mutual destruction, but when they did come out on top, they would proceed to do absolutely vile things, especially of there were females in the group.
Suki couldn't wrap her head around it. How had they managed to overcome the seemingly unbreakable immortality granted to them by their god?
Well, it was not very complicated. Because the Crimson Warriors also possessed a special blessing of their own. The War God of Blood, Azimuth, had granted their weapons the ability to dispell magic. Against the jaws of Mutant Beasts, their bodies could stand still.
However, the ability to dispell magic in and of itself was quite rare. And lethal...
Against physical shields, this blessing would be useless. However, a magical barrier could be torn to pieces by this ability.
Coupled with the fact that numerous magic circles needed were placed on the island for the Blessing of Immortality to function, and the Crimson Warriors were destroying them the moment they made contact, it was only a matter of time before everything became undone at the seems.
'Lukas... What are you doing?!'
Suki had no doubts that if Lukas was here, he would be able to solve this problem in a heartbeat. Because he wasn't on the island, she couldn't sense what was happening to him.
And to top it all off...
A mysterious third... or rather, fourth party had appeared non the island, attacking everyone else without distinction.
They weren't a lot of them, but they were very meticulous. They knocked out Lightslayers, killed Mutant Creatures, and disposed of Crimson Warriors altogether.
It was strange. They had just come from nowhere, appearing out of the mist.
However, because she had a firm grasp of everything happening on the island, she knew...
That a few of them were making their way towards her current location.
"What should we do? Do we blow them away as well?" A Lightslayer stronger than the rest, yet lacking access to the system stood at her side and said. He was one of the more fortunate in the group, receiving a fairly strong Blessing from Yagani.
Suki frowned, "We can't be sure of their intentions yet."
The middle aged Lightslayer frowned, "But you said it yourself. They've been harming our men since they got on here! We should give them a taste of hospitality."
Formerly working as a security guard for a campus official, he had a bit of a violent bone in his body.
Suki shot him a glance, "Nobody is allowed to attack until I say so. Understood?"
The man frowned, a bit offended, but didn't say anything else.
Suki sighed, "We can't be sure of their intentions yet. They haven't killed any if our men, so I can only assume they do not have ill intentions. If we attack now, any trace of potential goodwill, will be flushed down the freaking toilet. I can't have that happening..."
Now that things were getting dark, she had to take everything into account. They absolutely couldn't afford to lose now. They needed all the help they could get, even if that help had to be offered by potential enemies...