One-Hundred Eighty Petals!
Chunhua’s weapon turned into a blur as she released a torrent of lightning fast jabs, each of them flickering with off-pink light that shot out at a distance, catching a dozen of the figures that were approaching in formation. I need to thin them out, they’re coming faster and faster. Something’s going on outside, she thought quickly as a man in a suit of armor charged at her, broadsword raised over his head. She snapped a kick out to the right and cratered his chest. Monsters that look like people. This is worse than those dire elves, she hissed as two more came running up. She whipped her sword up and then down in a rigid arc, bisecting both of them before stopping through the wave of blood.
She planted her foot gracefully as momentum built. Power circulating through her body, she brought her weapon up and then down in a smooth motion that belied the terrible force behind it. Ninety-Ton Flowering Branch! A wave of pink light, a visible ripple, rushed out from where she swung and mowed over the column of armored soldiers that were fast approaching. She caught her breath, lowering her weapon as she searched the area with her senses. She turned her head back and looked over her shoulder.
She was standing on a drawbridge made of some manner of metal that could even withstand her attacks. Ahead of her was a cliff that sloped down into an open field, hilly terrain past that where dozens of castles loomed in the distance. Beneath her, a long drop to water and rocks. Behind her, another castle stood. This one had been cleared entirely of the strange armored warriors that inhabited the dungeon. “That’s another wave!” she shouted back, empowering her voice to reach those inside before kicking off the ground. She landed on the air and kicked off again, doing it three more times before alighting on the wall. She frowned, Without knowing the situation outside it's hard to enjoy finally being able to use my powers without restraint.
She twirled her weapon and sheathed it before stepping over to the other side of the wall and looking down at the small crowd of men and women who had raised their fists in celebration. They were standing in the small courtyard of the castle-fortress. It was sparsely decorated with a few training dummies on one side and a single large building that served as the main structure and barracks. That celebratory attitude quickly dimmed into exhaustion, though, as she saw the same realization wash over them. We’re far from done and their numbers keep increasing. Something is happening to push mana into the dungeon. She looked back towards the fields, Waiting for the monsters to come won’t be an option much longer. I need to go out there and thin them before the dungeon hits critical mass. That or find the boss.
“Nietz!” she shouted.
From the group below, a young man leaped high enough to land on the wall next to her. He was a simple looking boy with a pretty face and short hair. He wore a standard issue suit of body armor from the Pandora Committee. He looked up at her as he landed, “Yes ma’am?”
She turned to face him. During the scouts investigation they had been confronted with numerous dangers. From what she’d heard from the others, after they sent out their distress signal they had lost their leader in a skirmish with the monster-knights, a big one apparently. One that rode a horse. Neitz had gotten them to the fortress alive where they’d managed to clear out the monsters and set up camp. She looked him up and down, “Did your team figure out anything new about those hieroglyphics? I need to know where the boss is.”
He scratched his head, “Well, sort of,” he said with a huff and looked out towards the green fields and the castles beyond, “From what we’re interpreting, the boss isn’t anywhere. Yet.”
She narrowed her eyes, “What do you mean?” she asked.
He pointed to the other castles, “I think the one we’re standing in belonged to the horse-riding knight that was chasing us around, it's still out there somewhere. The images seem to suggest that there are guys like it at the other castles, we’re thinking five in total,” he scratched his neck and then put his hands on his hips, “Our current guess is you gotta beat them all and then the big man in charge will show up. Fortunately they seem to be roaming around rather than guarding their castles.”
She groaned, “Of course,” she said, “That means I’ll have to leave, though. I can’t stay and defend-”
The two of them spun in time to see a massive wall of ice rise up in the midst of a forest far to the western side of the green fields. That’s where the entrance is, she thought, Evergreen!
Chunhua only gave Nietz a single look before he nodded and she darted off. Bursting forward with all the force she could manage she threw her arms back and kicked off the air, accelerating with each step. Her sword already drawn, the small force of foot soldiers that were marching in the direction of the scouts encamped fort were cut down before they even realized there was an enemy present. Their armored bodies clattered to the ground as she turned into a black dot in the distance.
She hit the treeline without stopping as a powerful wave of cold crashed through the forest. The sides of the trees she passed were coated in ice as was much of the front of her combat robe as she brought her arm up to block it. A loud crash and a thunderous bellow gave her a better heading and she shifted her trajectory slightly, cutting through trees that got in her way rather than slowing down to adjust. Her eyes narrowed and she cast her senses forwards, she felt the familiar presence of Evergreen just a hundred meters away surrounded by a dozen dwindling presences and one bright one.
She crashed through the last of the treeline, sword drawn and took in the scene. Evergreen was standing, hunched, in front of the portal that had been entirely encased in a block of gleaming ice. Around her were frozen statues of men in armor in various poses of attack and retreat. Amidst them, a massive knight riding an equally massive horse stood half as tall as the trees around them. She took one last look at Evergreen, noting her ragged state, and turned her focus to the rider. It turned its helmed head to look in the direction she’d come as she landed opposite him, swiping her sword down to clean the blood off the blade.
It rounded on her with a bellow before its arms fell off along with chunks of its shoulders. Then its head down to the collarbone followed. Chunhua let out steaming breath, her fingers shaking from the exertion as another intense wave of cold blasted out behind her. She stepped forward and turned, raising her sword in time to see the horse that the rider had fallen off of just in the midst of pivoting when it had been flash frozen by her ally. She lowered her weapon and looked to Evergreen. She was about to thank her when she saw the color of one of her hands. Chunhua’s eyes went wide and she raced over as the woman began to collapse, she caught her and helped her to her feet. “Your hand!”
“I’ll have Lifesaver grow me a new one or something,” Evergreen chuckled, leaning against her.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Liberty happened,” Evergreen said and smirked, “Not without paying for it, though,” she turned to Chunhua, “We need to talk. A lot has happened while you were in here.”
Chunhua nodded, “I’ll take you to the others. They lost their leader and Nietz took over,” she said and knelt down.
Evergreen nodded and climbed onto her back, “What killed him?”
Chunhua gestured to the fallen horseman, “That,” she said and kicked off the ground, zipping through the trees, “Liberty,” she trailed off for a moment, “No big press conference explaining why?” she called over the wind whipping past them.
“I’d say ‘why not’ but this is serious,” Evergreen shouted back, clinging to her, “A seventh dungeon burst in Tokyo. Someone hid it and it went off at the worst possible time. Bunch of internationals went over to help burn off the mana in the main city dungeons. Lots of people are dead, Chunhua.”
Chunhua’s heart nearly collapsed in her chest and she had to catch herself to keep moving, “Sonya and Lillian are there!”
“I know! No news is good news though. I haven’t heard anything. Anyway, point I’m trying to make is that no sooner does that dungeon go up that Liberty shows up here, pretty telling. I think she might be involved in the Tokyo break,” Evergreen explained as they burst through the treeline. She glanced around, “Holy shit this place is huge.”
“I did notice the monsters respawning faster, she’s trying that here as well? I assume she’s got Halloway with her then to replicate the elf dungeon, no reinforcements in that case,” Chunhua surmised.
“Could be, though if I were Liberty I’d keep him hidden,” Evergreen said before pausing thoughtfully, “They had some men with them carrying a bunch of boxes but I could only sense them through the snow. Didn’t get a good look. Took out one of her lieutenants before she got to me though,” she said with a chuckle.
“Which one?” Chunhua asked.
“The creepy one that grins all the time, looked kind of like a monk or dancer,” Evergreen said.
It wasn’t hard to remember that face, he’d been a terror during the camp raid. “Sir Ellis. Good to hear it!” Chunhua said as they crested a hill and caught sight of the fortress on the cliff. She swore. There was already a small army of the mindless warriors marching on it and yet another one of the riders. The massive warrior was swinging a spiked club around as the scouts fired down at him and his soldiers from the battlements. A few shapes darted between his swings and one in particular landed a kick to its arm before it swatted the figure away with a roar.