Spearbound Ch. 68

Kade stopped far from the city. It was under siege.

There was a legion of monsters moving closer step-by-step, unphased by the culling of their vanguard by the defenders.

Most of the monsters he had dealt with in the Class F rift zone were goblins and gnawers, with the rare troll at the end. The legion was much more varied.

What were once mere pests that were target-practice now stormed the battlefield as hulking monsters, each out-muscling a goblin. Scaled raptors no higher than a few feet sprinted in packs, slashing bone sabers with surprising finesse, and colossal spiders strode above the legion, their towering bodies forming living canopies that shielded the chanting mages beneath.

Kade could barely believe what he was seeing. “System, have you dissolved any Class E rift zones?”

“No, we currently limit it to Class F rift zones.”

He had to accept that there were some Class F rift zones that were truly hellish. Perhaps the unexpected initial transfer killed the most promising there.

“What’s the mood with the residents, Finn?” Kade wasn’t sure if he should act. Even though the monster legion looked formidable, the defenders had everything under control.

Finn: Wary. Have you arrived?

“Yes, but don’t announce it.”

Finn: Understood.

That was the shortest Finn had been with him. He checked the organization's chat.

Diana: I’m up next. Any suggestions?

David: Same, I just got called to the front.

Jalen: Listen to your orders. There are many of them, and a few of us. We need discipline to hold the line.

Carlos: I agree with Jalen. But how long can we hold, though? You saw how the strongest of the monsters just watched us from the back of the wave. They’re waiting to exhaust us.

Jalen: With an attitude like that, we’ll fail soon enough.

Carlos: It’s not us I’m doubting. The other orgs have much higher casualties and keep asking us to reinforce them.

Finn: Mr. Beckett is on the way. We hold until then.

Carlos: And Ms. Brooks?

Finn: Her assignment is outside the city.

Jalen: Makes sense. Mr. Beckett’s attack resembles a nuke. Calling Ms. Brooks would be overkill.

Kade dismissed the interface.

Their hopes of his arrival doing nothing to move him. He decided he would only act if the city came under an existential threat.

Killed the legion of monsters wouldn’t give him any significant benefit, but for the defenders in the city, it would have a veritable feast for their experience.

He looked away when his sharp eyesight caught blood splattering from a brutal cut on a man’s neck. That defender died under the bone saber of a two-legged reptile.

Kade knew casualties were unavoidable, but it was a sacrifice he had to force upon them. He didn’t wish for anyone to die, but neither could he act like an angel protecting them from all harm. It would only make them complacent.

“Eliza, what are you doing right now?”

He looked around as he waited for a response. The safe zone funneled monster waves into manageable openings around the city, the only reason a comparatively small number of defenders could hold firm.

Kade wondered if monsters reacted the same way humans did with him.

He winced when two of the defenders lost their lives by bisection. They were unprepared by a sudden surge of energy of the monster wave crashing into the line of control.

Kade heard unintelligible chatter at the back of the legion. It clicked in his mind that the stronger monsters acted like generals, directing the ebb and flow of the grunts at the front.

The legion’s discipline is frightening, considering its makeshift.

He looked at the sea of monsters with new, suspicious eyes. There was a hierarchy that was blatant, but one he ignored because of his bias.

Kade’s toughest challenge had been in the Class D rift zone. However, the karnathi armies only had a loose level of order, with any semblance of it breaking down one pushed to a breaking point.

“System, you mentioned Class F rift zones were specifically created for Earth… does that mean monsters originating from the same location populated them?”

“That is correct.”

Kade eyed the monsters at the back of the legion, the goblins with an unnerving shrewdness, upright replies that chattered with eyes that displayed savagery, and the abnormally strong guards of various species surrounding them. The few trolls stood in isolation, as much as was possible in a packed army.

He estimated their [Arcana Level] to average in the mid-twenties, and the highest touching thirty. The trolls approached level forty, which was disconcerting.

None were a threat to him, but it was ominous for the future dissolutions of higher-class rift zones.

“Why are they so much stronger on Earth compared to the rift zone?”

“They are no longer under any suppression.”

Kade nodded slightly, his attention drawn more to the trolls as he considered his next step. He couldn’t allow them to approach the safe zone.

It wasn’t so the defenders an easier time. That wouldn’t be enough of a reason for him to act. However, preventing a possible breach past the line of control qualified as one.

Eliza: I was talking to the silly people who lived outside the city. They really don’t trust the System. You should meet them. They claim this is all a trap and the only way to win is to not take part.

The woman who wanted to rebuild the destroyed settlement came to Kade’s mind. “Win what? And did you ignore my message to gossip with those people?”

Eliza: I have no idea what they’re going to win. But they keep saying it as if that explains everything. And yes, I ignored you. Talking with them is more interesting.

He rolled his eyes, confident there was another reason. “Return to the city. There are level forty monsters threatening the line of control. I want you to handle them in the areas I can’t reach quickly.”

Eliza: If I leave, there won’t be any protection for the survivors I gathered.

Kade pressed his lips into a thin line. “I know.”

He didn’t get a response, but he didn’t expect one. He had ordered Eliza to leave the people she had just saved to certain death.

Kade considered it lucky she wasn’t beside him to act on her displeasure. Still, he felt he made the right call.

It would be simpler if he eradicated the monster legion, since that wouldn’t have required Eliza’s presence. The careful balancing act of keeping the city’s defenders at their limit without breaking them needed additional eyes to ensure there were no mistakes.

The preservation of the safe zone and growth of human power took precedence over everything.

Kade saw that his conversation drew the attention of some monsters with sharp hearing, specifically the two-legged, upright reptiles among the generals.

He wasn’t trying to hide his presence. Since he had already decided to get rid of most of the trolls, he needed to make sure the strongest of this legion knew his intentions.

If they interfered, they would die along with the trolls he targeted. If they kept their distance, they would survive.

Kade figured it would go exactly as he planned… or it could cause the generals to turn the legion’s focus on him.

He really hoped it was the former.