Arnold, Stella and Melina reunited after Arnold left the alleyway. The two of them finished buying whatever the hell those keychains were called.
"Where do you want to go next?" Arnold asked Stella since he had some time left before he needed to leave.
"…I want to look at some battle gear outfits. I'm thinking of becoming a mercenary on the side."
"A mercenary? Why not an adventurer?" Arnold asked in confusion.
"Mercenaries are free people. They aren't tied down by their Guild. They don't have to follow rules. You can also fight with anyone you want as long as it's a duel."
"So you want to fight people to test your own strength, huh?"
Stella nodded, "There's a woman by the name of Flora who recently joined the Mercenary Guild. They say she killed two fully grown ground dragons. Those things are A-class at least."
Arnold wanted to say that it would be impossible for Stella to ever beat Flora as she was now. Aura and Fire Lily or not, Stella had no chance against Flora. Even Arnold would struggle to fight against her if she was at full power considering her abnormal physical power and agility. Considering how Stella wanted to fight strong people, their paths might one day cross.
"I see. Don't act cocky, though. Mercenaries hate people like that."
"…." Stella looked at Arnold with a strange expression. Her face seemed to say, "What nonsense is this idiot spouting?".
'Yes, I know I am being a hypocrite.'
Arnold von Berkley was the one who flaunted his power all over the academy. No, the entire empire. He had challenged many people before and won most of the time. As the saying went, "You can only act arrogant if you have the power to back it up".
"So when will you register yourself at the guild?" he changed the subject.
"When I'm done with the written exams. I'll be going on quests until the new year begins."
"I see."
The two walked in silence down the street.
God, this is awkward, thought Arnold.
If someone else was with him then they could be the mediator for a conversation. Someone like Liumiala would be great right now.
But something saved him from the godawful cringe that might've come if this continued.
"HELP! HELP!" someone's yell startled the people walking along the street.
Arnold, Stella and Melina looked towards the direction of that scream.
"A monster…! A monster bit me! It tore off my flesh!" a man with a bloody dangling arm ran down the street with a face of despair on his face.
"It hurts so much! All of you need to run! Uwaah! My arm! It hurts!" the man grabbed a nearby person.
"Kyaaah!?"
"Why are you still standing around!? It's going to kill you all!"
'What the…' Arnold frowned at the bad acting of the person, 'Don't tell me…'
He could feel a strange presence coming from the person who was flailing around his arm. It was a sense of dread that most demons possessed.
'A doppelganger? Did Vetis send it here to make a scene and incite panic?'
Arnold smirked, 'Clever bastard.'
"Ohooohoo! The pain is unbearable! Those knights are so incompetent! They dare leave their posts while a monster is killing people! I lost my entire family! Can you believe they also left the gate open!? Oh, ooooh what incompetent fools! They will cause our deaths! Look at my arm! If the monster didn't catch that other unlucky fellow who passed by then I wouldn't be alive to warn you all!"
The man continued screaming like a crazy person. Even the woman he was shaking repeatedly was already crying. The people around him looked weary.
Could what he said be true? Well, he had multiple wounds on his body besides his broken arm so it must be true.
Arnold noticed stab wounds on the guy's upper body. Those were definitely not that of a monster's claws since it looked so clean.
'This bastard killed the knights at the wall but they resisted…'
Arnold felt someone's hand grabbing his. It wasn't Melina's since she was already holding onto his leg.
That soft hand trembled.
It was Stella's.
Seemingly noticing what she did a second later, Stella pulled her hand away.
"W-What's going on?" Stella asked.
"Hmm…. It seems the knights left the gate open so this man managed to escape."
They were fairly close to the border wall since the shopping district was the district closest to the wall. They were about three blocks away.
"I'll go see what's going on," said Arnold as he took Melina's hand off his sleeve, "Stay here with Stella, Melina."
"B-Big brother, don't leave me!" Melina cried out but Stella held her back.
"Don't worry. You can follow behind me but don't leave Stella's side, okay?" he patted her head.
A large crowd was gathering around the crazy man. A few others were moving towards the gate to see if what he said was true.
"…." Melina nodded obediently.
"Good girl."
*
Arnold ran towards the wall where the knights were stationed. No, where they should've been stationed.
It seemed that the Doppelganger Demon erased any evidence.
"Sir, are you thinking of going to the city? I'd advise against that since a few people had been murdered brutally in broad daylight."
An apprentice knight stopped Arnold from approaching.
Arnold looked to where he was pointing. There were two disfigured corpses on the ground near the gate on the other side.
"Yeah, I can see the chaos… Have you heard anything from the knights tasked with patrolling the area?"
"My superiors aren't responding to the transmissions we're sending out. I, along with the other knights, were stationed further down the wall so we didn't witness anything. We'll have to wait to confirm what actually happened. For now we can only assume that a terrorist is involved. I sent one of the apprentice knights to check what's happening. Ah, here he comes now."
A knight came running towards the wall from the other side.
"Close the gate! Now!"
"What?"
"Close the—"
When the man was about to continue, something flew from the side and tackled him to the ground. It tore apart his helmet and bit into his neck.
Arnold's eyes widened.
'That's not a monster found in any of the monster zones surrounding the empire. It's… a demon type?'
The monster turned to look at them. Most of the people who tried fleeing to the capital instantly turned back around when they saw that thing kill the knight.
"C-Close the gate. CLOSE THE GATE!"
Even if they did, the monster would still reach here before the gate was fully closed.
"Uwaaah! It's too fast! Fight if off!"
"Are you crazy!? That thing tore apart armor with only its fangs! That guy was a full-fledged knight with enchanted armor! What can we do with our cheap armor!?"
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do!?"
The monster was running towards them at astonishing speeds. One could feel killing intent just from looking at it.
But it suddenly slowed down when it saw that Arnold was standing there. It instantly came to a stop and turned back around.
The monster attacked another fleeing citizen.
"Eh? What's going on?" the knights looked confused as to why the monster stopped running towards them.
"You there," Arnold looked at one of the squires.
"Y-Yes?"
"Go to the Adventurer Guild HQ and tell them what's going on here."
"B-But we have to defend the wall. We can't let that thing enter the capital."
Arnold grabbed the kid, "Do as I say, worm. I'm ordering you as the eldest son of the Berkley Household."
"!? Yes sir!" Fear was on the boy's face when he heard Arnold's identity. His decision to stay at the wall instantly changed.
The boy ran past Arnold, in the direction of the street where the Adventurer Guild was located. It would take awhile but he should reach the guild before any major damage was done.
'My first priority would be to find Claudia and her family. But I can't leave my sister in this chaos.'
"Shit…" Arnold looked around at the knights who were silently looking at him, "Where is the commander of this wall?"
Of course, Arnold knew they were dead. However, they wouldn't know that.
"He's currently on an errand, sir…" a knight answered Arnold. He was lying. He didn't know at all.
"I see… Then I'll be relaying orders to all of you since I hold the highest authority here at the moment."
Arnold was still a noble. None of these low-rank knights were above him in terms of status.
There was a law from the empire that stated:
-"Any qualified persons in possession of a noble status is urged to take control of a fortress, wall or castle if no one is there to command it." Imperial Law 567, Article 44, Section 16a.
"Qualified" in this context referred to a person who had experience in leading armies or subordinates. Liam was a former Vice Guild Master so he had a lot of experience leading people.
Not just any noble could command an entire castle worth of knights. The law was literally referring to those experienced in field combat or persons who are retired generals.
"Listen carefully to my instructions. If your commander has any problems with my instructions later on then he may consult me about it. All of you just say that you were following orders. I'm required by law to command you."
The knights stood with their chest high at Arnold's shout.
Some seemed hesitant but the majority seemed willing to follow Arnold, despite his history.
"First order of business is to shut this gate," The gate was still half-closed since the monster from earlier disappeared. Knowing it was gone, they left the gate open to allow people to escape through. "Next I want you to send letters to all the nobles in this district to request assistance."
"Assistance?" one of the knights spoke, "But it's only one monster. I'm sure we can hold it off until the adventurers get here."
'You poor soul.'
That monster was the least of their problems. Their ignorance will get them killed.
"But who's to say there isn't another one or several of them just waiting for people to cross this gate again? Think like them. It is better to run after their prey or wait until they are all together and then attack?"
"Eek."
All of them looked around in a hurry.
It seems like they believed the bullshit Arnold was spouting. He didn't know what kind of monster it was and neither did the knights.
He was only using common predator tactics from those nature documentaries he watched on earth.
For example, look at the lion. It would stay in hiding until the herd of buffalos draw nearer. Once one was close enough then they'll strike. It was even better if the prey wasn't on guard. This was especially easy if the prey came to a body of water.
"So that's it!"
"I-I can't believe we haven't thought of that."
"We'll write the letters immediately, sir Berkley!"
Most of them scattered while only a few remained.
Arnold looked at those still standing in front of him.
"What can we do to help, sir?"
Arnold looked at the knight and then he looked at the wall.
"This wall's gate has stood for decades even during sieges from enemy nations, right?"
"Yes. I believe so."
"I see. Once that gate is closed then I want you to keep it closed even if people from Nuaria city come running here. It will be impossible for anything to cross if it's closed."
"Huh? Then what's the point of requesting assistance from the other nobles?"
"And the monster will kill the people if we don't open the gate when they arrive." Another said.
"It seems that news hasn't spread here, huh? Nuaria city's water supply is contaminated with parasites. Will you be able to tell who is and isn't infected?"
"…."
"…."
"I guess that's a no. The reason for calling for assistance is to protect the wall and keep whatever is trying to come here, out. Use long range firepower to slow any monsters down if people come to the gate. There are several small secrer doorways in the wall. Let the people through there individually."
"Huh?"
Arnold refused to elaborate further. He passed by the confused knights and went towards the gate.
"Like I said earlier, it's possible that there's more of those monsters around here. I'm not an expert in studying monsters but I think it's no coincidence that they're here because of those parasites."
"Ah…"
"That makes sense. Maybe the parasites are in their diet?"
"But what are those things? And why did they appear so suddenly?"
Arnold shrugged, "I have no idea."
He looked back and saw that Stella and Melina were standing among the crowd of people gathered near the wall.
Many of the people who stayed directly next to the wall vacated their residents and fled to the inner capital districts. The people from Nuaria city must've given them a fright since the danger was right next to them. Especially that Doppelganger who acted so well(?).
Arnold headed towards the crowd of people.
"I need all of you to back away from the wall. Those who do not follow my instruction will be dealt with accordingly."
"W-What's going on, sir noble?"
"Are we under attack?"
"Where are the knights who should be protecting the city!"
Arnold couldn't answer all their questions so he chose to answer the last person who spoke.
"The patrols were pulled back to focus more on the inner city districts which is is the safest place you can be in this empire right now. I suggest all of you go there."
'I don't want to explain anymore so please stop asking about knights that are already dead…'
"But what about our homes!? Will those monsters destroy it too!?"
"Your lives should be more important, right? So get out of here before I chase you all away." Arnold turned around and was about to head back.
"Wait," Stella grabbed his arm, "What about us? Are we supposed to go there too?"
Arnold glanced at Melina. She was looking around anxiously as she gripped her teddy bear. Fear was all over her face.
"Melina is my mother's responsibility now. I want the two of you to go back to the academy."
"What!? What about you?"
Arnold backed away from Stella, opened up his hand and surrounded his body in aura.
Similarly, a thick and dark blue aura surrounded his hand before it morphed into a sword.
Arnold's Aura Sword made the people gasp in awe. His overwhelming power made many of them mutter in amazement.
"I'm going to kill that monster."
Of course, that wasn't all he wanted to do. He had to go find Claudia and the others. The quickest way was to go through the city.
Problem was that there was a monster roaming around the city that would attack on sight. It would probably even attack him unlike earlier.
"Let me come with you. We can have the knights keep Melina in a fortress nearby. Just tell them that she's your sister, who's also a noble."
"I'll handle this on my own. I don't need anyone's help."
"Wha!? This isn't the time to be acting cool!"
Arnold simply ignored Stella's exclamation.
"Agh, that guy!"
Part 2
The scent of guts and blood filled the air.
Bodies lay sprawled on the streets.
The monster probably didn't kill to satiate its hunger but instead to make it seem like it was killing for sport.
"…."
Arnold stopped when he saw that a small girl was laying in front of him, her eyes ripped out of her head and her neck twisted. Her spine was even forced through her mouth.
"…."
He reminded himself that the casualties that ensue couldn't be helped.
Those things were monsters that could only follow simple instructions.
A vibration suddenly alerted Arnold. He held out his sword in a stance but the vibration faded as quick as it came.
"What was that…"
"—I hope this is to your liking, milord," a tall man, dressed in a pitch black suit was standing in front of Arnold when Arnold looked ahead.
"…What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Arnold stabbed his Aura Sword into the ground and approached Vetis.
"We were ordered to oversee this city's destruction and that is what I intended to do to the best of my capabilities. Are you pleased?"
"Capabilities, huh. So destroying cities is your fort."
"More or less. I've fought in countless battles growing up so I'm somewhat experienced in that field."
'This guy's tone sounds like he's in a merry mood.'
It contrasted the death and gore surrounding them.
"Where's the monster?"
"Ah, allow me to call it," a thick shadow expanded beneath Vetis' feet, "Kyurt, show yourself."
"Yes. Master."
A familiar creature manifested itself in Vetis' shadow.
Arnold took out his hologram card.
· Level 45 Beast Lord
"Hmm… That is an interesting magic item. Might I enquire as to where you got it, milord?"
"The Academy has an old artifact that makes these. It's illegal to carry these around so I suggest you don't tell anyone I have this."
"Ah, of course. It seems milord is breaking a lot of laws of the empire. Thy who invades his own country must expect punishment of the same value. This is a phrase said in the Imperial Law, article 145, Section 2b."
"I know I'm committing treason. No need to remind me."
"I'm not saying that to spite you. I want you to realize that your actions have heavy consequences, especially the second time around."
Arnold frowned, "…This is my first and last time committing treason against the empire."
"I see. I understand."
Vetis said so but there was a wide smirk on his face.
Even Arnold didn't believe his own words. If push comes to shove then he might make another decision that holds just as much weight as the current plan to destroy a city.
Saying it was for the benefit of the continent would sound like a lie if he kept using that excuse. That was why he chose not to think about it and just get this done.
"So this thing is a Beast Lord. Level 45. That's quite low for a monster lord."
"Summoning with spells has random effects. It's far different than using our Racial Creation artifact that can generate monsters that has 70% of our levels."
"Hm?"
Arnold's ears perked up at that name. It sounded familiar.
[Racial Creation].
He wanted to ask about it but knew that he would only waste his time here if he idly chatted with Vetis.
"So what's the cover story you came up with?" Arnold asked Vetis.
The cover story would only be spread around using rumors if the plan didn't succeed entirely.
"We will say that these breed of monsters feed on those parasites and were attracted to this city because of them." Vetis said while stroking the medium dog-sized monster, "Other monsters saw these monsters leave the dungeon after it was discovered that the dungeon couldn't hold them captive anymore. Some monsters are intelligent species compared to others. In fact, the majority of dungeon monsters are more intelligent than the average monster found in places like forests, plains or zones. Any veteran adventurer would vouch for this if they were to hear it from a reliable source."
"Will the people believe that?" Arnold was still skeptical despite the fact that Vetis' plan sounded flawless.
"I have spies in five of the seven Magic Towers on the continent. Most of our nation's people are integrated in trusted organizations as well. Even churches."
"So they are the trusted sources, huh. Anyone would believe our story if the Magic Towers responded on the matter and give their views. But in order for it to look that way we have to cause a big enough disturbance."
"Indeed. Please take a look at this," Vetis took out a hologram screen magic item from his ring dimension.
'Where the hell are they getting these convenient items? I want one too…'
Arnold made a mental note to tell Selia to give him one too.
The hologram screen floated in the air and expanded its border screen, thereby widening its angles.
A picture suddenly appeared on the hologram screen.
"…." Arnold's eyes widened slightly.
It was a village that was overrun with monsters. There were only a few bodies, but the destruction of the village and the surrounding itself made him speechless.
Vetis moved his finger as if he was swiping.
The picture changed.
"The Fairy Province might lay south from the empire but its territories are large and many so I had to get creative in my planning."
"What do you mean?"
"Monsters never follow a straight path. Some wander east, others west, most go where the weather is favorable, etc.… My point is that allowing the monsters to roam freely but end up in the same point is what's most important. Perhaps a certain monster's prey ended up coming to this city? Wouldn't that predator want to follow the prey here as well? It's the same with other monsters looking to hunt that same prey."
It made sense.
It was like a pack of wolves following deer but end up encountering a herd of bison. The bison in this case referred to the people of the cities and villages in the way. Much bigger prey.
"The crystals and summoning scrolls are all placed exactly as you wanted but, like I said I got a little creative with the monsters that were supposed to spawn near the Fairy Province. They will take a straight path to the empire once the time comes."
Vetis kept swiping, which changed the image on the screen.
"So those holograms are the destroyed remains of regions of the empire?"
"Yes. The attacks and summoning of these monsters are random to avoid suspicion. It would be a bad idea to let all the monsters appear at once. We'll let the humans come up with their own conclusions. Let us hope they connect the dots correctly."
'Right. It would be easy to assume that someone was behind this.'
Their plan was to give the empire and the surrounding nations a shock, not risk it all for nothing.
Arnold looked around in confusion, "Where are the other monsters? Did one of these Beast Lords seriously cause all that trouble in the villages and forests outside the city?"
"No, I summoned several dozens of these Beast Lords. They are very territorial so they were the perfect monsters to attack multiple regions at once. All of them were very cooperative when I ordered them to not kill the people."
"Then where are they?"
Vetis turned his head to his right, "It seems they are attacking a nearby building. May I ask what your plan is by coming to this city? You should know that I can't control this many monsters despite how high levelled my summoning skills are."
"I was going to save the people who are in danger. This way I can boost my reputation as an adventurer."
Arnold wasn't planning on hiding the fact that he was an adventurer from Selia. They were equal partners so it wasn't a good idea to hide that.
He opened up his magic bag and took out his magic earring, adventurer gear and sword.
He made his Aura Sword disappear. There was no reason to continue using it since he only wanted to show the people how strong he was earlier.
"I see. This does indeed sound like a good opportunity considering the current situation. There are no adventurers close to the wall yet so you are free to kill all the monsters and save the citizens. Your reputation will skyrocket at this rate. This does indeed represent the meaning of two birds with one stone."
"Are there any other adventurers who came to the city before the attack?"
"Only one. The adventurer team is holding off some monsters that way," Vetis pointed to the right.
'Claudia and her family are the priority now. Let's hope those adventurers can hold out until I get to them.'
It was already bear dark so Luke's family could be here at any moment or they were already in the city. Whatever the case, Arnold had to go look for them.
If he didn't then he would risk the future of this world.
If Claudia and her family got into danger or any of them died then Luke would never become the Hero.
He would follow a much darker path.
"Is there any way I can help, milord?"
Arnold silently looked at Vetis.
'He's really helpful already.'
Demons were a lot of things but being generous wasn't one of them. Vetis definitely had a different motive for being here helping Arnold instead of Lunaria.
As long as Vetis' motives had nothing to do with Arnold then he didn't care.
"No. But tell me, has anyone entered the city in the last hour?"
"I don't recall seeing anyone passing by the city gates since I was observing the fruits of my work from the clock tower. The clock tower is the highest structure in the city so I had a clear view of the gate."
Arnold sighed in relief. That meant that Claudia and the others were safe since they hadn't entered the city yet.
Although monsters would be summoned outside the city to make it more believable that it was a kind of migration, they wouldn't outright attack people.
Vetis only ordered them to not attack people, not defend themselves so Arnold was certain that the monsters weren't a threat against Claudia and her children so long as none of them attacked or intimidated the monsters. It would be smarter for them to run away.
"How many people made it out of this city?"
"Not a lot from my estimations. The majority are held up in their homes or hiding in alleys."
"Alright," Arnold changed the color of his hair to silver, "You're clear to summon all monsters, Vetis."
An eerie smirk appeared on Vetis' otherwise handsome face.
"I shall carry out your command dutifully, milord! May our nation's relationship with Arnold von Berkley continue for years to come!"
Vetis bowed exaggeratedly.
'You're too excited about this. People will die because of this.'
Whatever, I guess this is his true nature as a demon, thought Arnold.
That true nature was enjoying the suffering of others.
◇
"Hmm… Hmm… Hmm…" Vetis just saw Arnold von Berkley off at the city gates.
Vetis was standing on top of a rooftop to avoid being seen by the people who were hiding.
He looked over the empire.
"Such a majestic nation. How pitiful that it has to go through this." he activated his magic ring and pulled out a black ball.
The black ball started floating in the air.
It stopped after reaching a considerable height.
Vetis' body was overcome with excitement.
"Ah… Ah… It's almost full. Just a few more before my dream is made into a reality," He looked at his watch, "I think it's time for the cleansing of this city to begin. A few causalities wouldn't hurt, right?"
He looked at the black ball. A kind of black energy was rising from multiple locations and heading towards it. One could tell from looking at that energy alone that it was surrounded in malice and death.
In other words, it belonged to the souls of the dead.
It was half full right now but when it was full then Vetis would be able to fulfil his dream.
"If I serve that man then maybe I will be able to make it a reality sooner than I thought."
He laughed in glee before taking out an activation scroll. It was meant to trigger certain scrolls that had its symbol connected to them.
Multiple vibrations resounded followed by explosions when he tore apart the magic scroll.
Beams of light appeared outside the city. All of those beams of lights meant that the monsters were being summoned.
Roars were heard from multiple directions. Monsters—gigantic and small alike—were the sources of those roars.
"And with this the night of terrors can begin."