Leo walked into the private chamber and found Nate bound onto a chair. It looked uncomfortable, considering that they would have been waiting for a day at least for Leo to return.
"Where is Aima?" Leo scanned the members in the room and found one oddly missing.
Sebastian let out a sigh before replying. "She was unconscious when we came to the monastery. Our carriage crashed and knocked her out. I've asked for the attendants to take care of her. We have - pressing matters to attend to." He directed Leo's gaze to their captive.
"So has he divulged anything else? I assume that these new beasts were his creations to create the need for 'guns' in this world. They seem to be adapting at neck-breaking speeds. Every time we think we have the upper hand, they change and wipe out half the city guards. We are in desperate straits at the moment."
Silence fell on the room as the mood grew heavier and sombre. Surprisingly, Nate struggled with his bindings as if wanting to join the conversation. Everyone looked at each other before Jin loosened his gag. They still kept him lashed to the chair and the blindfold on - they were not taking any more chances.
Nate stretched his mouth as if it had gone dry and debilitated. "You fuckers have done it now. Without guns or any strong offensive abilities, you can't hope to defeat them. Even I was surprised when they started changing and adapting at will. I left them in my warehouses with limited resources to dampen the speed in their advancement, but they must have used other resources to adapt. Use the strongest weapons you have! If you remain stingy, we're all fucked!"
His outburst left a lasting impression to the adventurers in the room. No matter how much they deny it, they couldn't ignore the fact that their captive was right. Leo unknowingly clenched his fists while listening. He witnessed how savage and brutal the new beasts' attacks were. The mangled bodies and ruined city sections bore testament to their tenacity. When they couldn't contact the other cities anymore, his heart sank lower each time.
Sebastian couldn't hold the tide of emotions back anymore. He leapt up from his chair and drew his sword. "You've brought this upon us! If only you didn't release them as a last resort. Do you ever stop to think about your actions?" He circulated his mana through Fulgur and lunged towards Nate, his bloodthirst was palpable.
Nate only smiled and turned his head towards the commotion, still unable to see due to the blindfold. "You're also here, you piece of shit. If I stopped to think about my warmongering then I would break down. Did you think I can easily ignore the brunt of my actions? I did it for me to survive! Were you there when I arrived in this world? I had to adapt to this brutal world as well! I was left on my own to fend for myself. I didn't have the luxury to be babysitted like you. Kill me, you cocksucking motherfucker. KILL ME!!"
As if on clockwork, Jin stepped in between Nate and Sebastian, bracing himself with his shield. He shook his head quietly while looking at Sebastian. "Don't do this. He's probably the only one who knows about these things more than us. We need to keep him alive - for now."
"We're back to this discussion. Tch. We're leaving to do something productive for a change. Let's go Zes." The master and slave went out of the room in a huff, leaving the dazed Jin and Leo behind.
Jin was about to replace the mouth gag and head off when Leo stopped him. "Leave him to me Jin. I'll have an extensive discussion with our prisoner. I feel like we're barely scratching the surface with what we know. You go on ahead. Your parents are on the first floor."
Feeling exhausted to discuss anything else, Jin nodded and walked out of the room. He had already postponed his reunion with his parents long enough. When he closed the room behind him, Leo began circulating the mana around him.
***
"Where are we going, Sebastian?" Zes spoke while clutching her magick sword tightly. She had an idea what he wanted to do, however, she wanted to personally hear it from him.
"We're going to assist the guards in defending this city. We've seen what the mutated beasts are and what they can do. They won't hold out if it's just them. Hopefully, by tomorrow we will have a better idea of what to do with Nate. Think of this as releasing some pent up stress."
"Understood. Should we fight in the frontlines?"
"I don't think so. From what I saw they were mainly using the ballistae on top of the city walls. We can support them from there."
After a few minutes of brisk walking, Sebastian and Zes finally reached their destination. The city gate towering in front of them was shut although it was badly damaged. Workers and guards worked around the clock in making repairs to it whenever they could. It was a tall order, considering they had to make sure the gates could still be opened even with the additional reinforcements. This act alone kept them busy and used a lot of their manpower.
Sebastian and Zes made their way up on top of the western city gate. They could see the plains and the forest outskirts in front of them. They saw the guards doing maintenance work on the 3 ballistae stationed here. Finding the nearest guard, they introduced themselves. "Do you need help here? We're adventurers - er, I'm a rank D, she's a rank F." Sebastian quickly remembered that they were still bound by ranks in the adventurer guild's standards and that they were unable to do any quests, causing stagnation in their ranks. Given the recent events they caught themselves in, their adventurer rankings was the last thing on their minds.
"No one gives a damn about ranks anymore. As long as you're able-bodied, you're welcome to help out here. We're pressed on scouts at the moment. We just need you both to keep a lookout here on top of the gate. I'll tell the other scout to rest for now. We can finally take turns." With a sigh of relief, the guard went to relieve the scout as mentioned earlier standing a few meters away from them. It seemed that they kept watch overnight and fatigue had come.
Once the guard came back, Sebastian asked him about the situation. "You said you were pressed on scouts. Did they send a scouting party out?"
The guard shook his head. "No. We'd be lucky if we had the manpower to even consider that option. These damned beasts have undergone another change. Just 2 of them managed to wipe out an entire patrol. We're now reduced to merely protecting our remaining walls from within."
"Wait. You said that they underwent another change? What does that mean?"
"You were the ones from the carriage a day ago right?" The guard cocked his head to the side.
"Yes, so?"
"The one chasing you was a mixture of a werewolf and a wolfbear. Frighteningly fast and agile, with an increase in size. These new beasts are now a mix of a werewolf, a wolfbear, and poison spiders."
"Excuse me? What?" Sebastian couldn't believe the mixture of beasts and had to reorganise his thoughts. Zes beside him also exclaimed out in shock.
"Imagine a werewolf with the strength of the wolfbear, but with 8 limbs that resemble that of a spider. Each limb is capable of ripping apart a grown man in half."
"What..."
"Wait. What's that." The guard peered into the distance. From their height advantage and with the sun shining bright, they were provided with a good vantage point of the nearby fields. However, they couldn't figure out what the guard was pointing at. It seemed that his recent experiences heightened his detection abilities.
"Let me check as well. [Augment] Steel mind and body, Hyper sense." Circulating his mana through his eyes, Sebastian was able to zoom into the distant area where the guard was concerned.
It was as the guard described. An unholy fusion of mutated creatures galloped across the plains. Even though the creature had to use its hands to run, it still achieved this at neck-breaking speeds. What was more disconcerting was the dark mass it seemed to be carrying behind it. It looked like another mutated beast but at this distance, Sebastian wasn't entirely sure what it was or why it was being carried by another mutated beast.
"Arm the ballistae! Positions!"
A guard called out nearby, bringing everyone's focus back. The guards moved liked clockwork, loading the projectile onto the ballistae while sliding it into position at the same time. With their frequent use, these guards could easily operate the ballistae in their exhausted state.
Sebastian quickly called out to the guard beside him. "What do you want us to do? How can we help?"
Without missing a beat, the guard replied while positioning the ballista. "Use long range spells if you can. If you are the support type then focus your spells on the guards here. Use your mana conservatively. If you're the combat type then wait here and pray that you won't need to see action anytime soon."
It was a brief but concise command, one which carried a lot of weight in it. Sebastian took a deep breath and prepared his weapon. He didn't circulate his mana through it yet. He kept his augmentation active and monitored the mutated beast's movements. Zes also did the same, while staying beside him.
When the beasts were in range, the ballistae automatically fired. The guards didn't wait for any command whatsoever, they already knew which targets they were in charge of.
WHIZZ! WHIZZ! WHIZZ!
Three projectiles flew through the air with such speed and ferocity that they only appeared as blurs to the naked eye. When the beasts heard the familiar sound, they suddenly tensed up and began to spin.
"What are they trying to do?" The guards muttered loudly. Even though they were puzzled at the beasts' actions, they didn't stop in reloading and repositioning the ballistae.
Sebastian was the first one to figure out what they were trying to do. "I think... They're going to throw the beasts! Shoot them down now!"
Even without his panicked command, the guards already fired another volley. Two of the mutated beasts were hit before they could do anything and collapsed without a sound. The third one, however, managed to throw its package before it was impaled by the wooden projectile. The guards and the two adventurers on top of the city gates could only watch in horror as the mutated beast traced a parabola in the air. One major flaw of the ballistae position was that they couldn't aim at a target higher than their mount.
"It's heading over the city gate! Breach positions!" The guards belatedly called out when they figured out where the monster was going to land.
Sebastian and Zes hurriedly ran down the city gate and directed the workers away from the expected landing site. 'As long as the beast lands behind the city gate, then its an acceptable attack. Worst case is if it manages to damage the ballistae on top!' Sebastian recalculated mentally where the beast would land. He circulated his mana in anticipation and Fulgur started to hum. '[Augment] Steel mind and body, Hyper Senses, Maximum physical reinforcement, Adrenaline rush!'
While it was traversing mid-air, the mutated beast spread out its 8 limbs in preparation for the attack. The guards were able to experience the new beasts' strength and agility, thus they prepared for it. What they didn't realise was that the new beast also had the poison spider's attacks.
SPIT!
"Gaaaahhh!!"
Screams could be heard on top of the city gates, where the ballistae were mounted. Sebastian couldn't see it personally, however, he could sense by the screams alone that it was a fatal attack.
As the mutated beast passed over the city gates, it continued to spit whenever it could, which was closely followed by dying screams.
"[Ice Lance]! [Fire Ball]!" Zes saw the chaos being sown by the mutated beast and decided to attack it while it was mid-air.
Bam! Schwik!
Both spells found their mark and the mutated beast staggered, halting its attack.
'Fuck! When does it land?!' Sebastian eagerly anticipated while holding Fulgur and another sword tightly. He would rely on his augmented speed and physical ability to pounce on the beast when it was within his striking range.
Boom!
The beast finally landed in front of Sebastian and some city guards. Due to Zes' attacks, it fell in an awkward position and had some trouble getting up. They didn't waste any time and started their onslaught!