"I'm planning on killing them. All of them. My sleep was disturbed because of those fuckers." The edges of Cain's pupil flared a violent red; the rings within his eyes slightly dimming into the growing darkness of his iris. Cain's voice once again reached the ears of the bystanders. The absurdity and tone of it were enough to send goosebumps throughout their entire being, worsening their state of mind. The wolf lowered its head and tucked its tail to its side, attempting to show complete submission so it wouldn't be killed.
'So this pupper is close to S-rank without mana and still has human-like intelligence… Interesting. Ha… Let's just get this over with so I can go back to sleep.' The thought of sleep caused another yawn to force its way out. The frontline of the invasion was getting closer and closer with each second, currently 1 kilometer away from where Cain and Maddison were; the very front of the human frontlines.
{Author's note: The distance from the castle walls to the border of the forest is roughly 2km}
—Dms: Cain and Bob— (8ms)
Cain: Do your portals emit any mana?
Bob: Nope. Not sure for SRI though.
Cain: Hmm… In that case, can you create a portal connected to the mana storage above the army?
Bob: Understood.
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A small portal was created roughly 50 meters above the highest flying wyvern. Cain had 69 streams of mana emerge from the portal and form a massive magic circle in the air, although it was disguised to the maximum. Sight, mana sense, even smell and hearing were nullified just to be safe; the streams even flowed along the Aether veins while forming the circle.
Despite Cain's precautions, some extra sensitive wyverns dove down some to avoid what could not be seen. Cain noticed this and sped up the creation of the magic circle, programming it to tag every being among the invasion. At the same time, Cain shot a stream of mana directly from his mana zone to the enemy frontlines. It targeted all of the monsters that were roughly 4th circle and below.
Cain then programmed those tags to cut off the nerves to the brain and damage the brain stem, the medulla, which controls body functions. At this time, Cain's mana had tagged every being that had less than 100,000 mana. He had to change the parameters midway after realizing monsters and beasts don't create magic circles around their hearts.
—Dms: Cain and Bob— (17ms)
Cain: I'm going to pick off some monsters right now, will you be able to collect their bodies before they get badly damaged?
Bob: I can. What are you planning?
Cain: Hehe… you'll see. An experiment came to mind after trying to read the memories of the little pup next to me.
Cain: Their corpses need to be preserved in a storage dimension though, can you do it?
Bob: Interesting… I can change the parameters of the entrance and exit portal to the dimension to save time. We'll have to do a detailed sweep later though.
Cain: Noted.
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Cain immediately executed the program on those tags, eliminating a male, female, and a random gender of each species that had less than 100,000 mana within their body. Bob then teleported each corpse into the preserved storage dimension within milliseconds of their death. The sudden disappearance of the monsters near them caused the frontlines to slow their pace some due to the confusion.
Cain smiled lightly after seeing the chaos he created, then erased the smile a few seconds later. 'Now for the main act. The disappearance of the invasion.'
—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (8ms)
Dresil: Master, you should do it openly then disguise it as someone else.
Dresil: Perhaps use your "Master" persona since you've already mentioned this a few times.
Cain: Oh? How important is this on a scale of snacks to buffets.
Dresil: It's important.
Cain: …yikes. I'll do it then.
Cain: Protect Maddison just in case; things are about to get spicy.
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'Change of plans then… ah well, it doesn't really change that much.' At the end of that thought, Cain revealed the massive magic circle to everyone on the field. The sudden emergence of a magic circle spanning the entire battlefield caused the charging frontlines to come skidding to a halt roughly 185 meters away from the Cain. The adventurers nearby gasped while some started to gossip about the sudden appearance of the magic circle and it's possible relation to the unknown cloaked figure next to Maddison who tamed a wolf. Yes… to them Cain's blanket looked like a giant cloak.
After ensuring his connection to the mana storage dimension was still stable and the tagging of the invasion participants was done, Cain began his next act. He turned off all of the disguises on the mana within the storage dimension. The sudden pressure from 750 million mana caused any creature within the invasion army who had less than 75,000 mana to perish on the spot. The other creatures felt a suffocating weight on them, getting lighter the more powerful the creature was.
Although the frontline of the adventurers were roughly 1.3 kilometers away from the entrance to the portal, they could still feel the massive presence emanating from what was presumed to be the magic circle. Some instantly fell to their knees, while most dropped their weapons. Even the S-rankers and A-rankers were no exception; although the battle hardened amongst them still kept a loose grip.
The Dean, who was on the castle wall, dropped his beer in astonishment. It landed on a poor soldier's head; the clang echoing off the castle walls. The soldier grumbled about the empty cup falling on his head then continued to ramble to his nearest colleague about how unusually hot it was in the morning and his low pay.
The Dean knew Cain would intervene due to the loud bells, he was even hoping for it. Yet he never thought that what was unfolding in front of his eyes would have ever happened. The wolf near Cain's side whimpered slightly while Dresil's mana took form as a green aura and covered Maddison to protect her from the pressure.
Due to her low mana sensitivity, her magic circle count was amongst the lowest of those present. Only combatants of the 4th circle and above were allowed to fight on the frontlines. Those with less than four circles made up the back lines and those with more than four circles targeted the higher ranked monsters or ensured the battlefield did not spread out too far. Thus, Maddison was the only person with two magic circles on the frontline.
Her usual job during an invasion was to explain the event rules and direct the forces into lacking areas if need be. When the invasion started, she'd retreat to the castle walls immediately with help from the Dean. There was no issue with this since the invasion always started at noon like clockwork in the past decade.
Cain took a mental note of the results of his experiments, the reactions from the adventurers, their formations, and the pressure he felt from where he was. He then cleared his throat and let out one raspy, mana amplified word.
"~Die~"
Cain enacted the program on the invasion monsters' tags the moment he said this. With no exception, even to the S-ranked and stronger beasts amongst them, every one of them fell down dead. To Cain's surprise, the grass around his feet even withered some. The black wolf stared in disbelief as the hundreds of thousands of monsters died instantly. Even the trolls and cyclops who were known for their regeneration and sturdiness.
—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (81ms)
Rex: Daaaaaaammmnnnn dude!
Rex: That was awesome! How did you do that?
Rex: Also I'm pretty sure some pigeons, lizards, and other small creatures died due to the pressure.
Bob: Can confirm. Although most of the creatures were insects that were in the vicinity.
Cain: Hehe, insect genocide.
Cain: Anyways, I just programmed the tag to cut the being on the side of its neck with a sparsely dense/concentrated plasma, and continued to increase the density of the strike until blood was drawn. This was also used to measure how fast each being could regenerate and their toughness.
Cain: Then I used said plasma to destroy their mandela, incinerate their heart until only ash remained and destroy their mandela, incinerate their heart and mandela, or incinerate their entire brain and heart.
Cain: Depending on the being's toughness or regeneration capabilities, I did one of the 4.
Rex: …yep I didn't understand a thing.
Bob: Quite interesting. What's the difference between "Incinerate" and "destroy?"
Cain: When I incernated a body part, there is not a single cell left. When I destroyed it, I'd burn the areas around mandela or arteries so they were no longer connected to their respective organs, or just make it hole-y.
Bob: Intriguing… Shall I store all of those corpses?
Cain: Let me check with Maddison first.
Rex: Why did you have to pick a bow though… It'd be so much cooler to annihilate that army with a single sword slash.
Cain: Which would be better: waving a long metal stick that goes brrrrrr or a laser shooting T-rex with someone shooting a minigun on top of it.
Rex: …will I really be able to shoot lasers?
Cain: Eventually.
Rex: :hyperyay:
Dresil: Someone has been reading manhuas… Did you forget to do your daily quota of mana generation yesterday?
Rex: Nope! I created 300k yesterday and deposited it in the Mana Storage dimension. :proud:
Dresil: …then why does it feel hotter today?
Rex: Huh?
Rex: …oh, shit.
Cain: …Bob it looks like you'll have to manage the fuel for the sun and make sure its mass and temperature don't change much.
Cain: Can you still do that while creating the dimension for Rex and his star?
Bob: I can, but I won't be able to do much while doing so.
Cain: I can make do with that, just lmk if it gets to be too much.
Cain: Rex, your access to memes has been revoked for a week.
Rex: What?! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Cain: Oh, Bob. You can close the Mana Storage portal now.
Bob: Understood.
--------------------------
Cain made the necessary changes to the digital storage immediately, then hid the mana within the Mana Storage. The portal closed soon after and the magic circle in the sky dissolved. Cain cleared his throat then addressed Maddison once his tasks were done. "What should we do with all of these corpses?"
Maddison jumped at Cain's sudden question, still anxious from the events that just unfolded. "W-we'll um… *ahem* We'll just hire some workers to dissect them and harvest their parts." Maddison stuttered in the beginning and continued to waver despite clearing her throat, but eventually got what she wanted to say out. Dresil retracted her mana once she confirmed that there were no lasting injuries on Maddison.
Cain stared at the corpses then let out a small sigh. "I'll be taking some with me then. How much money will I be able to earn from this?" Maddison pulled out a small notepad from her pocket and tried to run some numbers, but eventually gave up in the end due to the lack of information. "I.. don't know…" She said with some hesitation.
"Hmm… then give 10% to the Horizon party and 1% to whatever party my meal ticket is a part of, but limit the expenses of the latter to just food. Also report that my master came by and ended the invasion as a gift for me leaving the mountain. The merits and gold of this event are included in that gift." Maddison wrote down what Cain said then looked at him for further instructions. Seeing that he was looking at the wolf on his side, Maddison inferred that there was nothing else he needed and began ordering some of the adventurers close to her and signaling the Dean to come down from the wall.
—Group chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (42ms)
Rex: Why did you give the meal ticket some of that money? I can understand the party since you'll be traveling with, but not them.
Cain: You really expect an average party to take care of my food expenses on top of their own?
Cain: They wouldn't be able to do so without doing some high-risk quests, in which they'll only be dying off faster, then I'd need to start paying for my own food.
Cain: The money is to give them some leeway so they have time to adapt to the sudden increase in expenses.
Rex: ooooh….
Cain: Bob, can you store one female, one male, and one random boi of each species into a dimension? You can just nab a random boi of each species that we already have stored that died to the pressure.
Bob: Understood. It'll take a few seconds to increase the dimension to fit everything.
Cain: That's fine. Do a sweep to make sure they'll be preserved properly when you're done.
Cain: Rex, if you can keep the situation the same or improve it by the time Bob is done, then I'll shorten your ban to 4 days.
Rex: Hell yeah!
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Cain let out a hefty sigh while looking over the corpses then back at the wolf beside him, his mind finally sobering up and completely awake. 'Fuck… that was more extravagant than I thought and multiplied my workload for today… Heck, looks like today is going to be busy agai-wait, what? When did this pupper get so big?"
Cain's thoughts trailed off as he realized the size of the wolf beside him was almost doubled. Before, the wolf's back, when he was on all fours, would barely be over Cain's hip; so roughly one meter. Now, the wolf reached the same height while laying down and his back would probably be above Cain's shoulders when on all fours.
[When the heck did you get so big?] Cain transmitted to the wolf, who swung his head and stared at the human as if here a monster. [You can use thought communication?] The wolf communicated back, poorly hiding its shocked tone.
[Answer the question… Also do you have a name? I'm Cain.] Cain's indifferent tone reminded the wolf of this human's prowess, silently pressuring him to respond honestly. [I've always been this size, I just shrunk so I could assassinate that lady behind you. I have no name either.] The wolf's sedated tone coursed through Cain's mind.
[Hmm… then your name will be Sinclair. So long as you obey me, you'll be treated well. Basically, just don't be stupid. …and don't call me master.] Near the end, Cain remembered the uncomfortable feeling from being called Master by Dresil repeatedly. Although the feeling has been somewhat numbed due to the frequency of her actions, it was still there and would only worsen with another addition. [Yes, sir.] The wolf replied then laid its head on its front paws, waiting for further instructions.
Cain sighed once again, then turned his body to face the corpses. He searches the piles and heaps, recognizing some empty plots of grass where Bob extracted Cain's specimens. 'I guess I'll make sure they don't decay as fast. With the recent display of power, the guild should be giving me a part of the sales from the monster parts out of fear, reverence, or trying to curry favor… Preserving the corpses means more money, which means more food… Yep, it checks out.'
Cain confirms the process another time then uses the remnant mana from the corpses tags to form a disguised magic circle that spanned the entire deceased invasion force. The magic circle projected a mana zone above it in the form of a cylinder of roughly 10 meters in height and eliminated any and all microorganisms within this zone. During this moment, Cain also enacted another experiment on a whim.
—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (18ms)
Cain: Dresil, can you fine tune that magic circle so it'll at least last a week or so?
Dresil: Understood, Master.
Cain: Bob, can you create a living space for Sinclair? I don't really have anywhere to put the boi at the moment.
Bob: Understood. The dimension with your specimens has been created and filtered.
Cain: Sweet.
Cain: Oh, don't forget to nab some snacks from the corpses. Coordinate with Dresil to find the best species.
Bob: Understood.
Dresil: Will you be taking this wolf on your journeys?
Cain: Probably, although he'll probably just join me in lazing around.
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—Spatial Requesting Interface (SRI)— (389ms)
Cain: Create a portal to my room in the inn. Entrance must be opaque.
SRI: Processing request…
SRI: Request processed (343ms)
SRI: Performing request..
SRI: Request performed (43ms)
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—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (43ms)
Dresil: Are you not going to stay and flirt or try to get closer to Maddison?
Cain: Nah, her personality doesn't mix well with mine.
Dresil: …When did you find this out?
Cain: Another one of my experiments done on a whim. It was after I finished the programming for the disinfection zone of the corpses, when I was waiting for it to establish itself.
Cain: I briefly scanned Maddison's memories to see if I could interpret her personality from her actions and thoughts.
Cain: Of course, if she encounters trouble because of my stunt in the guild two days ago, then I'll help out.
Dresil: …I see.
Dresil: What about Veronica?
Cain: Idk yet. Right now her affection is more of a form of admiration than romantic interest.
Cain: Her personality doesn't seem to show any conflicts with mine rn and we'll be spending a lot of time questing so there's no need to look through her memories either.
Cain: We'll just have to wait and see if it fades or evolves into a romantic interest.
Dresil: …you're just lazy.
Cain: That too.
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A portal opened in front of Cain and Sinclair. Sinclair looked at Cain warily, uncertain what to do with the sudden appearance of the two portals. Cain just gave a lazy nod and waved his hand towards the wolf, ushering him into the portal. Sinclair reluctantly agreed and went inside the same moment Cain went through his.
Because the entrance was blacked out, the surrounding adventurers only saw the mysterious being disappear into the portal and not where he went. Maddison started barking out orders to the surrounding adventurers, issuing a new event designed to speed up the harvesting of the hundreds of thousands of corpses. Although the adventurers were no pros, most had some experience in this field since they needed to eat parts of monsters while in the forest to survive.
And with that, the largest monster invasion in the history of the continent came to an abrupt end.