Kiseki's POV
Forty minutes before the incident...
"Something doesn't feel right, Cicily," I said to her,
She came forward to me and replied, "What do you mean?"
"This operation has been going smoothly right now. Somehow, I felt like there's something wrong with it," I tell her my thoughts,
"I can see that too. If the Devil's army was this easy to defeat, then why was other kingdom having a hard time dealing with them," Cicily responded,
I turned around and dispersed my weapon as I looked at her, "Exactly. These creatures seem too easy to kill. Even with how outnumbered we are, we still able to fend them off."
Cicily then put her hand onto my shoulder while slowly patted on it and replied, "I feel you, but it's better to just focus on our mission right now, Kiseki. Overthinking about something won't bring any good to us. We already come this far,"
"I know- I know. I just... didn't like the vibes that's I'm feeling right now," I responded,
She smiled at me and said, "If that's the case, we should stay alert and keep our eyes open at all times for something suspicious,"
"Okay, then," I muttered,
The last scouter that went on a search has finally returned; Poloppo came and notified us, "Captain, we have searched the entire eastern upper district. It's all clear and no sign of Uglin anywhere,"
"Very well. Regroup with the others and wait for my next command," Cicily replied,
"Yes, Captain," He answered while humbly bowed his head down.
She then walked towards the soldiers and said to me, "Let's join back the group now, shall we? We're ready to move onward to the southern upper district,"
"Certainly," I complied,
As soon as Ellisa was done healing up the injured soldier, the team made its journey towards their next destination. This time the formation has changed. Instead of having me on the frontline, Cicily demanded Poloppo to take that role. She said that getting myself at risk before fighting against Uglin would be problematic.
As we kept marching down the alley, a sudden eerie mood filled the surroundings. It is an odd feeling to have when we realize we haven't encountered a single enemy in our path. The area we're going through is as quiet as nighttime. We were pretty unsettled to think that the enemy could be regrouping themselves to the location we're heading to,
Soon when we reached there, our imagination became a reality. The Devil's army already waiting for us up ahead. With a frontline full of beast mounted soldiers and the middle section brim with their mage and shielder.
Cicily pulled out her bow and shouted, "Prepare for battle, lads!"
Everybody was hyped up and unsheathed their sword instantly. In just a blink of an eye, the mounted soldiers charged towards us at full speed. In a mere second, the battle raged between the enemy and us.
Poloppo did a splendid job of protecting the soldiers as they attacked. His posture is like a brick wall, unpenetrable, giving no chance for the enemy to deal any damage to our troops. Ellisa cast a few buff magic onto the others to aid them in battle. Meanwhile, Cicily took a precise shot towards the enemy at the rear end, slowly underpowering their soldiers.
I don't really like staying still and do nothing during the action. So, I as well pull out my magic staff to deal a significant blow in long-range and widespread attacks.
A while later, the enemy slowly backed themselves together and gathered in the center of the east district. None of our soldiers seems to be injured. Their morale is high in the sky when they succeed in putting pressure on the Devil's army.
"Keep up the great work, people! Charge all of them at once! And don't let any of them escape!" shouted Cicily while shooting her bow and arrow to the enemy,
Maybe this odd feeling that I had is just a spec of my imagination. Perhaps after all these years, the Devil's army really became dull with their attacks. Victory for the first time in Ruina history is imminent for us. Or so I thought,
A loud snoring sound suddenly appeared out of thin air. The ground started to shake wildly, making us loses our balance. That was a shocking event for us. We all stopped our attack upon the Devil's army to check what was going on,
"What was that loud noise?!-" I shouted at Cicily,
She looked at me for a while before diverting her sight towards one of the soldiers and said, "Scouter! What just happened?!"
The soldier replied to her, "I don't know, Captain!"
The enemy that we were fighting against started smiling at us sinisterly. Soon, one by one, they began to laugh maniacally. Instead of attacking us in this chaos while we were disarranged, they backed away and started fleeing the vicinity.
"They- They're leaving?" Ellisa stated,
Something really doesn't feel right at the moment. Why are all of them running away?-
Poloppo then said to us, "Guys! There are multiple new signals up the air! Look!" He then pointed,
It was a beaming red light instead of green. Seems like something terrible might have happened to the rest of the group. Furthermore, a ginormous hand suddenly appeared on the other side of the building where we were located. The hand landed on top of the building and smashed it instantly with its sheer weight. It was a shocking reveal when the owner of the hand slowly stood up off the ground.
A horrifying-looking creature with the disturbing anatomy of a fat deranged human towering thirty meters through the sky. The appearance of an ugly humanoid looks that only consists of one giant eyeball in the center with a creepy smile stretching over its face. The city was quickly filled with this creature all over the area.
Cicily looked horrifyingly at the monster and said, "I- It's... Titana Cyclops..."
She then quickly whispered to us, "Find somewhere to hide! Now!"
We didn't question her authority and quickly looked for a place we could take cover. It was a close call. The creature swiftly turned its face towards us and gazed its daunting eye to our location. Cicily and I were hiding right behind a fountain located in the middle of the district. Meanwhile, the other members of our group hid somewhere in the bushes or the abandoned building around us.
I was about to ask her something when she suddenly covered my mouth and nose, preventing me from talking or making any noises. She looked hysterical at the moment as she turned towards me; she stared into my eyes and shook her stuttering head slowly.
A moment later, the monster finally stopped and went its way to a different location. I couldn't imagine how it would turn out if it found us. These Titana Cyclops are far gargantuan compared to the Colossal Worm. Even against that monstrosity back then, almost got Ichijou, Ellisa, and I killed, let alone this one.
Eventually, Cicily let go of her hand from my lips and said to me, "We're a complete idiot! No wonder we can't find Uglin anywhere... This was all a trap!- We were being toyed around by the Devil!"
I swiftly asked her, "What the hell was that thing, though?!"
She responded, "That monster... it's called Titana Cyclops... I thought it was just a myth..."
"What do you mean a myth?!" I replied,
"Back in our empire, in the Great Library, there was a fairytale book called 'Cyclops; The Odyssy' where it tells us the story of this creature. It is said that these monsters used to roam the land of Ruina a few thousand years ago. Titana Cyclops is considered one of the most gruesome beings ever created by the Devil. They were never satisfied; they were loud and extraordinarily strong. This creature will destroy anything and everything in its path and only resulted in violence and murderous intentions. We didn't believe in its presence since there was little to no evidence that they ever existed in the first place. The description and artwork in that book depicted the same image like this one!" Cicily explained to me,
She then continued, "In that book, they also mentioned that the God of Ruina herself has to defeat these beings to stop them from terrorizing the world. I never thought that it was real... The book was just an insignificant fairytale... How could a mere Ender Human and Sinners like us stop this terror..." She trembling down her spine while putting her hands on top of her head,
"Look like the book is no longer fictional, huh. Now calm down, Cicily! I know there must be something we can do to kill them," I replied to her as I tried to calm her down,
Cicily began to take a deep breath for a few seconds, and eventually, she began to feel much better, "I'm sorry... I don't think trying to kill them is a good option."
"Then are you proposing to run away? That's impossible too, Cicily. They're everywhere. There's no way we can get past them in one piece! Especially with that big rounded eye, they used to search us!" I said to her,
Cicily then looked up to the sky and said, "I guess, either die trying or die running... Okay- we'll take the chance to strike those Cyclops."
"Guys! Are you alright?! What were those things just now!? They're ginormous!" Ellisa shouted while approaching us swiftly together with Poloppo on her side,
"Poloppo, get the soldiers ready. We need to plan out the attack on those Cyclops." Cicily said as she looked at him,
"What-?! Fight them? Are you for real, Captain!" Poloppo was shocked,
"Did I just heard it right- Kiseki?" Ellisa asked me,
I stared at both of them and said, "We have no other choice. Making our way out seems to be an impossible task. You've seen the signals that the other groups have sent to us just now, right? All was red at every entrance. The probability that the Devil's army had attacked them and secure back the exits is high."
"I... That can be possible too..." Poloppo responded,
'"just when I thought things can not get any worst, this happens..." Ellisa said while slowly getting upset from what I have just spoken to them,
After we finally moved all our units into one of the abandoned buildings, we started planning out our attack,
"Cicily, from the book that you read before, did it ever mention the weaknesses that the Cyclops had?" I asked her,
"If I remember correctly, the only weaknesses they had are the one that is obvious to us all. Its eyeball. Their skin is too thick to cut through with our blades, so it's pointless to even do it," Cicily explained to me,
"The eye, huh," I replied to her,
Cicily further stated, "If we want to attack its eye, it will be a very risky move, though. Based on what's written in the book, Cyclops possess the most incredible eyesight amongst monsters. It can see even the slightest movements from a great distance,"
"So we will only have one shot to attack the Cyclops eye. If we succeed in blinding it, what's next?" I asked,
"Either Ellisa or you have to deal the final blow right to their heart. Sword probably can't go through the Cyclops skin, but I bet magic can," Cicily responded,
"What happens if we fail to deal any sort of damage to the Cyclops eye?-" Ellisa suddenly interrupted,
"Then we all die," Cicily replied to her in seriousness.
With all the plans sorted out, we commenced our mission to kill one of the Titana Cyclops roamed around the city. Based on what we get from our scouter, there are about 8 Titana Cyclops within the city's walls. One of which is nearby to us. We were lucky to find out that the one closest to us is separated quite distantly from the other Cyclops.
We approached the monster quietly from behind. We tried not to make any loud movements that may expose our location. In the plan we've created, I will be the one that will shoot the eye of the Cyclops; meanwhile, Ellisa will be tasked to use her magic skills to strike its heart,
This is the moment, the intensity of knowing that this mission might go wrong really makes my heart pumped,
"Are you ready, Kiseki?" Ellisa asked,
I nodded to her and replied, "Launch me,"
"Here we go," Ellisa responded,
We've surveyed every possible location to easily shoot the Cyclops eye without missing, and our answer to that is in the air.
Ellisa cast a magic circle underneath me that functions as a launcher to get me up high in the sky. I was quickly forced up in the air in mere seconds. This is the moment of truth; our life depended on this mission.
I finally slowed down and began to divebomb straight to the Cyclops' head. I summoned my bow onto my hand, and when it was about time to shoot, I screamed at that monster to gain its attention,
"Oi! You ugly beast! Have a taste of this!"
The Cyclops took the bait and looked towards me up above him. I released my arrow with the help of Artemis power and shot it on point to the Cyclop's eye.
The arrow was rushing down like a meteor strike, hitting the eye of the Cyclops instantly.
Its whole head was covered in smoke from the explosion that my bow created. It was a success, NOT.
I was shocked when a hand suddenly sped through the smoke and came straight to me. The punch that the Cyclops did to me slammed me down to the ground almost immediately. I was dragged onto the ground while rolled for a few meters and came to a stop after smashing my back against one of the building walls,
I can't feel my entire body. Did I just fail?- I can faintly hear the scream coming from Cicily and Ellisa over the distance. My last vision before I fell unconscious was seeing the Cyclops swinging its leg towards them and obliterate the building they were in,
Ichijou POV - The arrival of Cyclops for Ichijou's group
** Note: It's the same ending scene as the previous chapter**
Soon, we were surprised by the appearance of ginormous Titana Cyclops, with its height soaring just below the clouds throughout the city. I finally realized, we were dumbfounded all this time. This was a trap from the beginning. We're not really the one that's hunting; we are being hunted. They let us breach the city just so that they can trap us all in here!
The gigantic Cyclops began swaying their legs onto the buildings in the city. The destruction that they made was unimaginable. From the sound of swords clashing into our ears not long ago changed into the scream of horror by our comrades.
"ALL MEN SEEK FOR COVER!" I shouted to them when one of the Cyclops rushing towards us,