"This is Amanda Ravithier speaking," the woman said on the phone. On the other side, it was General Becker. The man asked for the woman's help some days prior, and she and her troops quickly reached New Alexandria.
"Hello, Miss Ravithier."
The fierce Lioness received the general's call as she predicted. She was grinning from ear to ear due to the situation unfolding, as she knew she was going to reap a lot of benefits and money from this whole ordeal.
"It's time for you and your troops to step in," General Becker said.
"I know," Rebecca's mother replied. The woman was wondering what the reason was why they hadn't asked for their help earlier, as the situation was very dire. To be honest, the reason was simple. The army assured the general they would be able to solve the problem, and the second one was pride. The general was an extremely prideful guy and didn't want to resort to the mercenary help if he could avoid it. He was the damn strongest person in Frant; admitting he wasn't controlling the situation was a blow to his ego and reputation.
"When can you mobilize your troops?" The Becker asked.
He knew that waiting for the mercenaries' deployment would be a mistake. Still, if he asked for their intervention, then not only the army's but also his credibility would plummet since he was the organization's leader. But not having called the mercenaries before the monsters came in showed the general's inability.
"The troops are ready," the fierce Lioness replied.
"Good, send them immediately; we are having huge problems here," Becker said.
"All right. Is there a particular place you want me to send the soldiers first?" she asked with a conflicted tone.
"I need your men on the wall; there are too many thaids, and we are having problems stopping them at the moment," Becker replied.
At the same time, the fierce Lioness smiled, and she then said while grinning from ear to ear: "Then, if there is nothing else, I-"
"Wait," the general stopped the mercenary from closing the call. "We need you to go to the Red Palace," he said.
"You want me to kill the Blirdoth, I presume…" It wasn't hard to guess.
"Indeed," he replied. Not only the future of the nation was in that place, but also the awakener was there. He had a lot of plans for the young man, and he couldn't risk him dying while he was still a little chick.
"All right, I will go immediately." She said as she hung up the phone. Now the mercenary had a look of focus; she was already thinking about how to deal with the Blirdoth. She was aware of the situation at the university since she scattered some drones all around the city, and she knew that she had to be fast, or many people would die.
"Adina, I want you to mobilize the troops; send them to all the battlefields, but focus on the monsters outside the wall."
"As you wish," Adina replied with a solemn look. Her eyes were filled with determination, and her body language suggested she itched for a fight.
***
The mercenaries sat in a briefing room, getting information about their mission. The quest was situated inside the city, which was very different from what they usually did. Most of their quests were located inside the forest spreading throughout Etrium.
"You have to be particularly careful about this particular beast." Different Blirdoth images flashed on a flat screen hung on the wall. One image depicted a giant dog-bear monster, its maws open wide, looking down upon the humans who were running away.
Then another picture appeared, in which the Blirdoth was shown again, but this time it was standing on only two legs and letting out poison gas. It had a human-like look that gave it hints of intelligence.
"This is the Blirdoth roaming around the city. It is a rare specimen since it is several times bigger than usual Blirdoths. Normally, as you should know, these creatures are rather meek and do not search for fights so often. However, Frant's army thinks that an Heniate is currently using this thaid as an avatar, which is also why this specimen is so big and aggressive. Besides, compared to other Blirdoths, this one increased the strength of its gasses, which can now melt living tissue in a matter of seconds. Reports say that it is due to this creature that multiple Frantians' military squads disappeared." A female voice spoke from behind a table.
They all turned to face the speaker; she was a tall woman with long red hair and wore black leather armor decorated with golden trinkets. She looked like one of those adventurers that used to frequent the taverns back when they lived in the capital. Someone raised his hands.
"How do we kill it?"
"It is not your task to kill it; that's the boss's task. If you see it you have to retreat immediately," Officer Laria said.
The weaker and newest members started murmuring as they couldn't believe that there was a creature so strong that their leader had to fight it directly.
When the experienced warriors saw pictures of the Blirdoth, they thought fighting such a dangerous monster was impossible. Only the boss, the Fierce Lioness, could do something about it. Avoiding this beast was oLionesstmost importance.
"If you don't mind me asking, sir, how many soldiers does the boss have?" Someone asked.
Laria sighed before answering. "I cannot give out any more details regarding the boss. Now, it would be better for you to focus on my orders; if you do, you'll make it through this alive." Murmurs spread again among the group.
A short guy with dark skin stood up and addressed everyone. His name was Darnel, and he was the youngest member among the people present. He didn't really care much about the fact that the boss was a legendary warrior; all he cared about was surviving the day, proving himself, and of course, earning money.
"Enough with the chat; we have work to do…" Laria said.
After the briefing, every person in the room went out to change into their combat attire.
They walked over to their locker, where they stored their gear. On top of them lay large backpacks, which contained everything the soldiers needed to perform the quest. Inside the pack were various items: food rations, water bottles, first aid kits, weapons, and tools.
After everyone was ready, the group met inside a hangar filled with vehicles, whether cars or trucks. Each group went inside a vehicle; a couple of those mounted machine guns, and naturally, some people manned them.
Everyone jumped into the vehicle. Each of them had been customized to suit the needs of the individual squads taking part in the operation. Some of them were armored; others carried extra fuel tanks. Others had mounted machine guns and anti-thaid cannons. The machines were designed to move quickly across rough terrain, even though they weren't meant to take heavy fire.
Machine guns were enough to kill some low-level beasts, but they were not omnipotent and were mostly used to keep the monsters at bay whenever the situation required. After all, their power was enough to make at least the creatures suffer.
As the vehicles left the hangar premises in which they were kept, a column quickly formed. Initially, they were all going the same way, but after a while on the road, they split and went in multiple directions. Some trucks headed south toward the main square, while others traveled north to reach the city's northern exit.
Others took off westward to search for thaids, especially the Blirdoth. One of the convoys moved down the streets, heading east, until reaching the city's outskirts. The convoy passed the countless defenses that had been placed near the eastern gate and headed straight toward the city's entrance.
Later on, they arrived; the group of mercenaries stopped as they reached the eastern gate.
The mercenaries arrived near the breached door. There were still people trying to close it, but very few people remained due to the Blirdoth attack. They were barely enough to ensure no more monsters entered the door.
The vehicles were parked next to each other, forming a defensive line around the entrance. Behind them, the mercenaries placed themselves in position; they got off their cars and trucks; the artillery pointed toward the door, and the mercenaries channeled mana to shoot at the beasts crawling from the door gap.
"Secure the perimeter!"
"Help the injured!"
"Get ready!"
Orders were shouted to the mercenaries. They obeyed as if it were natural, but they were not dogs; no, they were hounds, and they came here to kill.
? ***
At the same time, in another location, the police could be seen battling the group of thaids that gave chase to the citizens. The creatures were munching on the corpses of multiple people, almost making the police officers puke.
Guts and gore could be seen everywhere, and puddles of blood were sprinkled on the asphalt.
There were still people alive amidst the myriad of insect-like legs skittering on the ground; some screamed as dog-like creatures as big as tigers ate them alive, while others could only make some light noises. The police knew it was just a matter of time before they lost control of the situation, and they already had many problems protecting the citizens.
Suddenly, multiple car engines sounded from a distance as the vehicles that produced them drew closer. It was obvious that reinforcements had come.
"Quick, give me a binocular," The chief of police, Grimes, shouted to one of his men.
He took the binoculars and looked at the insignias painted on the hoods of the cars; they depicted a head with pointy ears and one eye only, which recalled the mythological figure of a cyclops.
"It's the band of giants," Luca said. Gratefulness sparked inside the chief of police's heart as there was still hope to save the kids from the thaid's jaws.
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