Fifty minutes later.
"Hmm. This is more than a few people," Kenno said as he scratched the back of his head and looked into the distance.
Red Rage had been modest.
The place was crowded. In fact, crowded was an understatement. The noise from the hundreds, perhaps thousands of people behind the two great transparent veils that covered the Bryne Family Estate, gave the illusion that a whole region's worth of people had suddenly been fitted here.
The fields, the pathway between the tall trees that welcomed all who came to this remodelled place, and even the mansions in the distance...
All spaces were packed with people from different areas.
Hmmm.
Perhaps it wasn't an illusion after all. At least not in the same sense.
Kenno, Red Rage and Theurien passed seamlessly through the first barrier outside the walls of the Estate. Because the Unlimited had been forced to learn mana manipulation by Replicus, his face expressed a deep level of surprise as he made contact with the veil-like barrier.
"Damn..." he muttered.
This thing was complex. It was at least half as strong as Replicus' usual barriers, and that was a high compliment.
Seeing the look on Kenno's face, Theurien turned to the man and said with a dull smile, "It's something, isn't it? Those creatures haven't been able to break through it."
Kenno nodded as he looked up at the construct.
"Chieftain Screen, huh? It's definitely impressive..." he said.
Inwardly though, he felt very conflicted.
The Unlimited, just like his other peers, was let in on secrets about his boss that the others didn't know. For instance, he knew that the boss split himself into two some time after his encounter with him back in the Isise, when he still led his band of bandits.
Apparently, this happened on the same day he felt his soul get ripped apart, a portion of it flying far off only to return a little later – an experience he was yet to truly forgive the boss for, especially after he casually brushed it off.
What had he said again?
'Ah, about that. It could have been worse. If you saw what... rather who caused it, you'd be giving me offerings right now.'
Kenno hadn't been pleased about it. Who cared about the one responsible for it?
In any case, the boss split himself in order to develop different kinds of abilities faster, and to also make accomplishing certain missions on his agenda easier.
This had greatly baffled Kenno at first, and it still did, especially when he thought about what this other version of his boss was capable of. He could confirm though, that he was vastly weaker than the boss from what he'd been told by this vibrantly armoured figure.
Kenno, after helping these two – having been drawn by the commotion in the town, as it was close to where the boss directed him to go – had explained his purpose for being here. Of course, the one to make sense of it all, was Red Rage, who considered the traces of Null Life Essence in Kenno's armour as evidence that he spoke true.
Red Rage began filling in Kenno on what he was sent to learn, and so far, the Unlimited was finding the revelations rather chilling.
Naturally, the bulk of Red Rage's knowledge came from Alaris and Ruhrees, who had escaped from the stadium which housed the witnesses for the Premium Age Royale, and brought back the corpses of Daggs and Terese for Theurien.
Kenno was stunned.
He had been averse to coming on this mission because of laziness, admittedly, but also because he feared the punishment for unapproved traversals to the main continents.
Now though, he could care less.
The boss had been right to send him here.
Even if there were consequences – which Replicus assured Kenno there wouldn't – he was happy to learn more and share with the boss as quickly as possible.
...
The three reached the wall, and Kenno saw a menagerie of creatures – powerful creatures – standing guard on it.
"I understand you need lookouts but why are there so many beasts guarding here when there's this uh... Screen?" he asked.
"We don't have much information about these mysterious monsters, but since we began going out for rescues, we're noticed that they appear from towers that rise from the ground. Dark, heretic-looking towers. My theory is that these towers appear anywhere with a population above a certain amount," Theurien explained as they passed into the crowded space behind the wall.
"I see," Kenno nodded, understanding where the Bryne Family Head was going with this. "This place might be reaching this numerical requirement for a tower to appear."
Theurien silently nodded.
Red Rage added on.
"Fear not. It might be dire, but there are variations among these towers. For weaker settlements with lesser populations, the towers that emerge house numerous, weaker foes. Like the ones we were fighting. It's only for large cities that truly terrible threats come forth, and usually, only a single creature emerges from the tower then."
There was a bit of optimism here, but it would quickly be crushed once one realised that sooner or later, these singular, more powerful threats would prowl around Pelian until they arrived here.
Kenno sighed.
Within the second Chieftain Screen, the full scale of the camp finally showed. It was like a refugee site here, with hundreds of tents, fires, makeshift hospitals and obviously, the pool of negativity billowing from the many frightened souls.
Hundreds were wounded and being treated, but it seemed that the means that had been working until now were slowly getting depleted.
Unfortunately, Red Rage's charm only worked to cheer the people up when he was present, and as a core fighting force, he couldn't sit still.
Kenno felt a little sorry for these people. He never thought he would, given the nature he adopted ever since his life in the Severed Union began.
"How are you feeding all these people and healing those who are wounded?" he asked.
"Well, I had several restorative treasures in reserve, but they have limits and the number of people only continues to grow. As for the food, well... I didn't have stores for an entire region. We're going to have to deal with that soon."
Kenno glanced at Theurien who gave his reply with a dark, but eager face and sighed.
'No honour among thieves. When did I discard that mentality?' he thought. 'Maybe somewhere along the way, I started to learn how to be... content.'
Kenno thought of the boss, and then laughed at himself.
He then looked to Red Rage and Theurien.
"Well, I can take care of all the wounded. As for the food situation..." he said before wearing a thoughtful expression. "If you could gather for me all the iron, steel and wood you have, I can solve it in a heart beat."
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