Eric's team ran through the broken city streets of Meridian City with racing pulses.
"Aaron, can you use Combustion!?" Denzel asked, seeing the seagulls shoot toward camp, "If you can, go ahead and protect your people! We're right behind you!"
"While I'm thankful for your sentiment, I can't use Combustion because I've been leading the teams." Aaron sighed, shaking his head, "The best I can do is protect those who can—that's you."
Since Evalyn's soldiers were busy overseeing the training of the Lainwright soldiers, they hadn't learned the technique. That was the official excuse.
In truth, she didn't teach them so that the weak Lainwright soldiers could have an advantage in the battle. It was their chance to show that they were [stronger] than the Immortals where it mattered. After all, she rigged the battle to let the soldiers win!
Aaron turned with an arrow in hand, pointing toward the sky.
WHooooooOOooSshH!
Eric's team's shed their overconfidence when the red-haired soldier released the arrow.
While the arrow only pierced a dozen birds, the avians were no longer in a dense grouping. So after cutting through the two above them, the bolt traveled half a mile in a curvy path to kill the remaining ten. It was a shocking reminder of what it meant to be an [elite].
"Hurry up, soldiers!" The bald Hispanic man yelled, "Aaron's helping us; let's prove he can rely upon us!"
Five miles and thousands of broken-down cars and obstacles stood between them and the base. However, it only took them fifteen minutes as they navigated to a strip mall to run on the rooftops.
When they got to camp, the place was an absolute war zone. Kaze had shot a large soul gift to the camp a minute before, but the seagull flocks were already overwhelming.
"FIRE!" Sandra shouted assertively.
WHoooOOoshHHhhooOOoshhHhhshoooOoooOosSH!
SQUAAAAWK! Squaaawk! HUOH!-Huoh!-Huoh-Huoh-HUOH! Squaaawk, squaaawk, SQUAAAWK! HUOH!-Huoh!-Huoh-Huoh-HUOH!
Two hundred seagulls got cut to shreds by a thousand civilians and soldiers shooting arrows. However, another two hundred replaced them.
"Parents, let your kids fire arrows!" Sandra yelled, "This is how life is now! Let them learn when we're at full strength!"
There were hundreds of children below twelve, and the parents wanted to shelter them from combat. However, the direness of the situation led them to acquiesce.
While many children were terrified, over a hundred immediately created arrows, and their parents gave them a nod.
WHooooooOOooSshH! WHOooOooSH!
Squaaawk, squaaawk, SQUAAAWK! HUOH!-Huoh!-Huoh-Huoh-HUOH!
Dozens more fell, increasing morale. Unfortunately, the main force had yet to reach the area.
As if by magic, every seagull in the city was flying straight toward them!
The shipping yard would have piled up with corpses if it weren't for the mountain of frozen fish that the seagulls drilled at with their beaks. It was a convenient miracle everyone appreciated more by the second.
Still, the number of death squawkers multiplied until they couldn't see the sun.
The situation felt hopeless, and most believed their time had finally come. Many panicked, and even more crouched into balls, shielding their children.
"COMBUSTION!" Jackson yelled with vigor, waving his hand as he ran into the area.
BOOM!
HUOH!-Huoh!-Huoh-Huoh-HUOH! Squaaawk, squaaawk, SQUAAAWK!
Lainwright soldiers and Immortal civilians opened their eyes and saw a wall of fire and screeching seagulls in the air.
While the blonde-haired teen wasn't talented in cultivation, the high density of the birds made his small explosion a genocidal attack.
"Combustion!" Eric roared, waving his hand.
BOOOOM!
"Combustion!" Denzel yelled, doing a karate chop by reflex.
BOOM!
"Combustion!" Layla said quietly, gracefully moving.
BOOOOOM!
"Combustion!" Moe yelled with her eyes closed, waving around erratically.
Boom!
While the soldiers were comically undisciplined and varied, the results were immediate and devastating.
The Lainwright civilians and soldiers lit up with beaming smiles when they saw the cavalry arrive. In a moment, the situation went from hopeless to doable.
"Look alive!" Sandra grinned, "These brave men and women will be out of Qi after another attack. So let's give them some space!"
She created a large arrow that everyone could see. "Attack!"
WHooooooOOooSshH!
A wavy arrow cut through a dozen birds and then shot up in the air, impaling another half dozen in a single attack.
The Lainwright soldiers released a blood-curdling battle cry and readied their arrows.
WHoooOOoshHHhhooOOoshhHhhshoooOoooOosSH!
Dozens of bolts of raw Qi cut through the birds, dropping them like flies.
Once the lifeless bodies hit the ground, a vicious battle broke out between the birds and humans.
"SLASH ATTACK!" A fourteen-year-old yelled, swinging his hand against his mother's wishes.
"GUIDED ARROW!" An elderly man yelled with vigor, shooting out a bolt of Qi. His body was stronger than a college student's, and his eyesight was sharp, allowing him to take down the birds.
"Watch out!" A woman yelled to her children, "DUCK!"
Three seagulls descended on the kids. Right before the birds reached their position—
-
"Ka-boom."
-
Flames erupted above the kids when a small, contained explosion hit the center of the birds, perfectly killing the three with pinpoint accuracy.
The mother was shocked, looking around and seeing no soldiers with the technique. By instinct, she looked up, and her eyes widened, seeing a teen with radiant pink hair kicking her legs on the crane above them.
Qi warped around her, wrapping her in a concealment spell. However, the novice concealment technique made two walls in the front and back, exposing the bottom.
As a result, Kiera was capable of being seen from below. However, it was a location that no one looked at because it was almost directly above them!
Feeling the woman's gaze, the teen swung down and put her index to her lips. Then she took the same finger and pointed it down in a gun motion.
Ka-boom!
A small explosion erupted above a group of civilians getting attacked, saving their children from harm.
The woman was perplexed about why a teenager was on the crane helping them. However, she had never felt so much gratitude, so she nodded and looked away, following the mysterious teen's wishes.
A thousand seagulls fell in a matter of ten minutes. However, the number seemed endless, pushing everyone to their limits.
Eric's team was out of Qi and had to fall back, and most soldiers and civilians had to.
Fortunately, some of the original Combustion learners arrived when the tides turned back in the seagull's favor.
"Combustion!" Alex yelled, waving her hand.
BOOOOOOOM!
The brunette had been adamant about learning and getting stronger since Kaze saved her from the ocean, using her life to the fullest.
Once she arrived, the people in the camp knew they'd win the war against the seagulls.
═─┈─═─┈─═
On the city's outskirts, two cultivators in white togas flew above the clouds.
"What is this, Amy?" A grey-haired man with a long wide beard asked in shock, overlooking the raging battlefield, "First an exodus of birds, and now dozens of cultivators using Combustion?"
"I don't know…." His black-haired female companion said hesitantly, "But it's related to the Blackfoot incident, Calvin. The incident took place fifty miles from here."
"Interesting…." Calvin said pensively, stroking his beard.
"Should we engage when they exhaust their Qi?" She asked frankly, watching carefully, "If Rayton Blackfoot, Crux, Mary, Mitus, or any of the other Silver Medallions were here, these birds would be dead. This situation may be our chance to capture a few."
"Hmmm…." Calvin hummed, considering the option carefully.
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