"Beasts approaching!!"
A deafening cry emerged from the outskirts of the forest and about eight or nine soldiers dashed out of the vegetation. Their faces conveyed alarm and fear as they cried in unison. "Beasts approaching!!"
The guard standing over the walls was startled by the sudden bellow and he turned around to see blood smeared faces reflecting dread. At once he dashed at the nearby pedestal and smacked the crystal on top of it with all of his strength. Mana coursed into the stone and a bright beam of light emerged into the sky.
"What? An attack?"
"Quick! Trigger the formation."
"Sound the alarm!"
Unrest was released into the air as a number of bright beams of light were shot up into the sky. Within a minute, the frightened soldiers entered the gates of the kingdom, just a few seconds before the final pillar of brightness emerged into the sky.
Vooom!
A crisp humming resonated as the pillars of light were connected by a transparent blue wall. The film continued to grow upwards and formed a dome over the entire area.
The Trunail Kingdom has deployed its defensive formation!
Though far away, Bezoth and Amegoth detected the intense mana fluctuations coming from the direction of the elven kingdom. Before they could probe what was happening, the communication chamber of those countries lit up with some words.
"Otherworldly beings attacking. Catastrophe-tier Rift. Requesting Help."
The advisor council of the two neighbouring nations were sunk into discomfort as they debated whether they are to acknowledge the request or not. Without giving room for further arguments, the kings impassively declared to uphold their alliance to the end of the times.
"Prepare the teleportation array. We can't take our sweet time to reach there!"
Not accurately, but the contents the kings conveyed were similar to the above sentences.
Thus, a large army of dwarves and zoomorphs arrived at the Trunail and witnessed the commotion.
"Didn't you say that the Otherworldly beings are attacking? Why do I see a beast wave?" A high-dwarf jumped into the air as cast her sight on the rampaging beasts and brave warriors. As soon as she materialised inside Trunail, she was eager to witness the proper outflow of a Catastrophe-tier Rift.
"Look closer, dumb girl. Do you think that normal beasts emit such intimidating wild aura?" The female ranger whose bowstring ceaselessly moved back and forth in accordance with her inhuman agility scoffed at the newcomer's stupid comment. She quickly pointed out the weird halo these beasts were emitting and turned back to her business. The arrows imbued with a chilling cold disappeared from her bow and pierced multiple beasts.
It was then the female dwarf noticed the abnormally violent vibe emanating from the beasts. Their crimson skin tone indicating a sense of rampage conveyed that the creatures aren't entirely native to the overworld.
"So the usual, huh?" Rubbing her chin, the fairly beautiful dwarf asked her friend.
"Just shut up and do something! We're losing men!" An angry roar was the reply.
The dwarf rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist. A wand appeared in her palm and she extended it towards the beast horde. Her eyes closed and a solemnity veiled her.
Muttering something unintelligible, a brown glow began to surround the gem on top of the wand. As soon as it intensified, it suddenly stretched into a magic circle.
"Earth Spike!"
With a powerful roar, a sea of tiny stone spike emerged from the ground and impaled the beasts. Their mobility was greatly affected by the unforeseen attack.
Puchik~
Slash~
Kacha~
A rain of stabs and slashes pulsated through the atmosphere along with the barrage of fireballs and ice-lances. Windblades whirred and stone needles drifted to their targets with utmost efficiency.
"Mages, focus on the spectres and flying beings."
A shield-wielding dwarf shouted and conveyed the necessity to kill the ethereal enemies as soon as possible. And the response was quick and collected.
"Allow me."
A figure hastily appeared in the sky above the dwarf and spoke in a soft tone before raising his hand unhurriedly. The snow-white beard dancing in the chaotic winds reflected an archaic aura. The stripes over his skin were concealed by the long green robe.
"Cleanse!"
As if a thunderclap descended on the battlefield, every single invader was startled by the deep and commanding voice. Their rhythm of actions was disrupted as they sensed overwhelmingly oppressive energy pressing down on them.
Rawr!!!
The blood-red eyed high-orc's cry didn't have the tone of arrogance or pride. It instead conveyed the dilemma of an intimidated animal. At once, the myriad creatures that viciously attacked the mortals turned around and dashed into the depths of the jungle.
"Oh, I don't remember giving you lot the permission to retreat."
Before the voice completed her sentence, a ruthless shank made of compressed air had already sliced down a portion of the retreating entities. The indiscriminating windblade also damaged the friendly units with flesh wounds.
"Karina, you should consider correcting your careless mindset. Haven't I told you that the Zephyr's Blade has no eyes to discern between good and bad units?"
The elder zoomorph scowled at the curvaceous young lady that materialised in the air while rebuking her. Finding the old man's demeanour unpleasant, she strode to him in a leisureful manner.
"Good kitty." Ignoring the old man's fuming demeanour, she patted his head with a delighted smile.
"You..."
The zoomorph fellow almost burst into flames when an elderly dwarf appeared near them. "Karina, at least act like a freaking saint."
His voice immediately turned impassive as he added. "Follow me. The kings have gathered at the chamber."
At once, the voluptuous elf's childish behaviour disappeared and the duo disappeared from the spot.
Several kilometres away, inside the Trunail's royal palace, the trio manifested out of thin air.
"Take a seat."
The three saints nodded and claimed a seat for themselves.
As soon as the noise died down, Trunail's ruler stood up and tossed a square diamond onto the table. Before it collided with the surface, it abruptly lit up with runes all over it and projected a series of images.
"What you see are the aerial images we captured using surveillance artefacts. According to our findings, this Catastrophe-tier Rift is the first one to appear in the past two decades. To be precise, even Vengeance and Nightmare grade rifts haven't manifested in about 17 or 18 years."
In the beam of light projected by the crystal, an area of forest could be seen inverted by the colour. The strange sight spanning far and wide beyond a kilometre in dimensions began to spew innumerable creatures from the other side.
"Wait a minute, are those werewolves?"
The ruler of Amegoth, the zoomorph kingdom, leaned forward and spoke as his eyes narrowed. His eyes shot towards the king of Trunail who nodded in response.
Werewolves might be considered as beasts but the zoomorphs discerned them as distant brethren. With bestial features in common, they always felt reluctant to slaughter those social creatures.
But the werewolves in the projected images were drastically different. Their bloodshot eyes clearly conveyed the lack of even the smallest quantity of mercy or rationality. In fact, their claws seem to be more developed and lethal as they sliced through the bodies of the elves and dwarves and zoomorphs.
Noticing the emotions fluctuating on the zoomorph ruler's face and sensing it intensifying with each passing second, the dwarf ruler coughed and pulled the former from his trance.
"Let me continue.
There have been vast numbers of rift formation in the past years. Though they were all Typical or Dilemma categories, the casualties were surprisingly few. The fiends were actually running away from the races as soon as they catch the sight of roaming sentries or even unguarded merchant convoys. This had posed quite an interesting puzzle that was left unsolved for almost a dozen years.
But now we have the answer."
The tall elf in his sixties with visible dark circles beneath his eyes tapped the table thrice and the images froze. Then a particular frame popped up filling the screen.
"High-Orcs were the major population in the forests between Tevran and Mizuriel empires. Their numbers were large enough to start a city and sufficient to rival our neighbour the Emeralkine Kingdom.
But about eight years ago, the merchants travelling through those forests reported that they witnessed large-scale migrations while travelling. They also notified that their numbers had dwindled and their morale had truly plummeted. After a thorough investigation, the Mizuriel Empire detected that they weren't migrating but escaping from kidnapping."
Badump~
Almost everyone in the chamber had their hearts skip a beat.
Kidnap?
High-Orcs?
Don't try to pull our legs!
The confused gazes demanded a detailed explanation and the elf added.
"The empire dispatched some Beast-Tamer class adventurers in the area to collect more information. A Mythril rank adventurer among the crowd wandered around before stumbling across a bunch of collapsed High-Orcs. After quickly nursing their wounds, the reality was disclosed."