(A.N: Long chapter ahead)
A man, followed by five people, was walking down a narrow aisle in tunnels under the outside walls. It was General Armand Becker and his underlings. The man had a look of utter focus in his mind—all the errors that had brought the situation to be the one they were facing.
He was very disappointed by how his men and women managed the situation and was furious. The General then started addressing his followers and asked, "How's the situation?"
"We managed to secure the outer wall thanks to the mercenary's intervention; it is only a matter of time before we repel the monsters below," the man replied, trembling.
General Becker was a man of power; he was a skilled warrior, the strongest inside the nation. His body naturally released a powerful mana aura, similar to that of the thaids', which made everyone shudder at his presence.
"Good, at least these filthy mercenaries from Etrium can do their job properly." The commanding officer had a repulsion for the mercenaries; he thought they were the most unreliable and greedy bunch of people out there, and this was because they moved only if money was involved, not caring how many people were dying or suffering. The fact that they came from Etrium was even worse.
The six people left the narrow aisle and directly faced the empty space between the walls and the stretch of land surrounding the city's barrier. They quickly went to the top of the defensive building and looked down below to see how the situation was unfolding.
After settling things on the walls, Camille and Ramon directly descended the tall construction and started killing beast after beast; they were unstoppable and proved very effective on the battlefield.
General Becker looked at them with a strange glint in his eyes; the pure hatred he had for this profession was evident.
"Keep attacking the monsters below. Use everything we have. I don't want any more surprises."
"Yes, sir."
The man then started walking along the walls; explosions, gunshots, grunts, and any kind of sound could be heard from there. The people were still fighting harshly against the creatures, but this time most of the soldiers went below as the thaids were now in a manageable number.
"Any news from within the city?" the General asked.
Yes, sir, it looks like the number of civilian victims is around ten thousand people," one of his followers replied. He was sweating from head to toe as he knew the man in front of him wouldn't take this answer positively.
The General did grind its teeth. "What are the police saying?"
"Well, it looks like most of the people were able to go inside the shelters on time, except for shelter 767. A lot of kids and old people were left out because a huge number of monsters attacked them during the process," the soldier said.
"How was the situation there?" the General asked.
"It looks like at least four thousand people of the total who died tried to enter that shelter. The police intervention was futile, but they did their best." The General knew that there wasn't anything that the police could do due to their low numbers.
The problem was that despite everything they did to prevent the attack, reduce the number of monsters, and set up defenses, the army's attempts were futile. They couldn't even understand where the parasite found more than twenty Yegyavìts and used them to attack the eastern gate simultaneously; these creatures usually roamed alone. Never before had a group of these monsters attacked at the same time.
"Has the situation been cleared?"
"Yes, according to the chief of police, Luca Grimes, the mercenaries arrived at the location and killed all the monsters."
"Good. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, sir." The general started trembling as the bad news didn't end there. How could the situation have turned out so bad? "The Blirdoth was last seen at the Red Palace."
The General's ears perked up, but he was rageful. The only ones who remained at the Red Palace were promising kids who didn't have enough experience to fight on the front lines. They were basically sitting ducks with little to no experience.
When he asked for the citizens' intervention, the kids, especially the ones from the Red Palace, were put in relatively safe places behind the army lines; he made it so that the nation's future wasn't destroyed but allowed them to contribute to the cause. However, it was different for the ones who were left behind. Then he recalled something important: a kid he was keeping an eye on; the only awakener inside the nation, Erik Romano, was there. He hoped he was safe inside a shelter.
"Did something happen?" the General asked with a solemn tone.
"It looks like some students went out of the shelters."
"What?!" the General shouted. "What were the students doing outside?"
"We don't know exactly; someone reported that there was a malfunction in a shelter's ventilation system, and the Blirdoth's poisonous miasma entered the building," the soldier said.
The General was having problems holding his anger at that point. <Faulty shelters? Has all the money spent on those buildings been useless?> Becker thought.
"What is the shelter in question, and what about the students?" the General asked.
"As for the shelter, it was the Yellow Palace's. As for the students, more than half died."
"WHAT?!" the General shouted. Everyone turned to look at him, trembling.
"I'M SORRY, SIR!" The soldier said as the mana levels visibly increased around the General.
Then the follower to which the General was talking to added, "However, we got a report that the Fierce Lioness successfully killed the creature."
"Ugh… That damn wench…" He was grateful for her intervention, but his hatred for the mercenaries resurfaced at that moment.
Among the people from Etrium whom the General hated, the first spot was taken by Amanda, indeed. She was an insensitive prick who only cared for money and power. She did not care for anyone besides her mercenary company's well-being—not about her men and women, but about the guild itself; the General doubted she even cared for her daughter.
"At least it is good news…" The General said. "I want you to check where a kid is," he then added.
"Who?" the soldier said.
"Erik Romano, from the Red Palace. I want a report in half an hour. Oh… and keep me informed of what happens below the walls. Dismissed."
The soldier saluted, and the General then went away with heavy steps. Becker went off the wall, opened the door leading to the aisle from which he came, and disappeared into the underground tunnel's darkness.
***
[LATER THAT DAY.]
As the battle ended, Aaron was still hiding inside the building where he fought the beetle-like creatures with his father; he was currently inside a wardrobe in a fetal position.
He couldn't leave the place for multiple reasons: he feared for his life, didn't want to leave his father's body, and believed that seeing the monsters, the police would have come to save him. He knew staying there was dangerous, but luckily nothing happened to the building, and it didn't collapse.
He was crying and shaking all over; this was the worst experience he had had in his life. The fear of death still lingered in his mind. It was different from when he was outside the city, as there were less monsters in a controlled environment with many powerful people killing the most dangerous thaids. But here, now, there were no such things.
He thought about many things during his time alone inside the wardrobe, but what he did think about the most was one person, Luca Grimes, Allan's father.
"It was all his fault, his fault… Uh? What is that sound?"
The boy stood up, his eyes bloodshot due to crying, and he kept hearing something. Then he went outside the wardrobe. He could hear the noise increase; it looked like a person was speaking.
The young man then went to a window with careful steps; he hoped that no beast could hear him, but he was not so sure that there weren't any thaids nearby, and the last thing he needed was another battle to take place.
When he was at the window, he finally saw multiple police cars giving orders to the citizens.
"For all the people who could not reach the shelters, do not get outside your hiding places; I repeat, DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR HIDING PLACES."
"What the hell?! Are they stupid? Who in a right state of mind would leave his hiding place?" Aaron then went back inside the wardrobe he hid in and waited until someone went to save him.
A couple of hours passed, and a group of policemen, followed by some mercenaries, approached the smashed building entrance. If their reasoning was correct, some beasts were attracted to someone hiding inside the building. There was no logical explanation for why the building's door would have been destroyed otherwise.
The group entered with cautious steps, and then, one by one, they went up the stairs. However, the place was a mess; there were thaid bodies everywhere, meaning that whoever did this was powerful enough to stand his ground. If they were alive, though, that was another matter. On the second floor, the situation was a mess; basically, the third floor collapsed onto the second, leaving debris and dead bodies everywhere.
"What the hell happened here?" an officer said out loud.
"I don't know," another replied, "but keep your eyes open."
Once they arrived on the third floor, they saw the hole created by Aaron's and his father's powers but quickly noticed a huge puddle of blood that cascaded from the stairs. It looked like someone had really been here.
The police officers drew their weapons from their holsters, and the mercenaries did the same. Going with the group of policemen were two mercenaries.
Weapons in hand, they carefully inspected all the floors, and when they arrived at the fifth one, they saw two smashed apartment doors. They immediately went inside one of the apartments. Once they carefully inspected it, and after having shouted to see if people or creatures were inside the rooms, they found Aaron's father's body with a gaping hole in his chest.
"Poor man…" one of the mercenaries muttered.
"Maybe he is the one who killed all these monsters…" a police officer said.
"Let's go to the other apartment; if the man is in the wardrobe, it means that someone did put him in there."
For this reason, the group then went toward the other apartment. They didn't know what to expect; maybe the man was killed by someone and not by a beast; they couldn't tell the difference, and for this reason, they took careful steps inside the apartment.
"Is anybody there?!"
"Uh?" Aaron heard the voice shouting inside the apartment, so he stood up and went outside the wardrobe.
He could do nothing but shout, "HELP ME! HELP ME!"
Soon, the officers and the mercenaries in tow went to the room in which Aaron shouted, and then they saw him.
"PLEASE! HELP ME!"
"Call a healer! Fast!" a police officer said. Immediately, his colleague did as instructed and requested assistance.
The officers helped Aaron stand, saying, "It's ok, kid, you are safe now."
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