2151 Shadows Attacked
The young master of the Thalassa family. He is neither from the main family line, nor was he the heir for his branch family line.
He is just one of the many offspring and he happened to be born to a relatively powerful man. He knew that he couldn't do shit in his family's fight for power, so he decided to take the easy way out. He picked a remote city, at the very edge of his family's influence and became its city lord.
This city doesn't have much significance for the Thalassa family.
They occupied it just because they could. The tax that comes from them, the resources they could gain from it, none of these factors are special compared to other cities. It is manifestation of mediocrity.
He picked that place and used his father's authority to make some sick changes.
The old staff was fired or transferred. New staff was assigned and all of them were women. He just enjoyed his life in debauchery and wanted to do that until the end of his life.
And for the first time, he started running around. The scout captain took him to the research center where the beasts are being analyzed.
An ape like creature is currently in a transparent energy cage, whimpering and groaning in pain and agony.
There are several rashes on its skin. Most of its fur was gone and several spots around those rashes were shrivelled. It is bleeding from its orifices.
"How long is the incubation period?"
The scout captain asked with a frown. Because she has see the ape when it was captured. It was definitely weak and odd, but it was nowhere near the current state. The difference is like night and day.
"Not very long. We used all kinds of medicines, but we only managed to slow it down a little bit. The rest of the beasts that were caught along with it are on the verge of death. Their organs are failing as we speak and it wouldn't take long before their brain or heart stops."
The captain's expression grew serious.
She looked at her deputy who stood far away.
The deputy ran forward and bowed. "Yes, Captain." She greed the captain.
"How is the activity in the woods? What is the status there? Is the pack still on the move?"
"Yes, Captain. At first, they were moving in a linear direction. They weren't turning or anything. They walked as if they didn't have a destination in mind. But the beasts in the forest along with the city guard squad that went in… they provoked them and now they are all over the place.
They are trying to consume everything and if by any chance some creature escaped, they all turned out like this.
We found several corpses, all of them are in the similar state. But from the traces, we realized that they killed a lot more beasts than the corpses we saw."
"Then what happened to the rest?"
"They were eaten. These beasts are showing an unnatural level of hunger. They are eating and eating constantly. And when they are about to be full, some weird glow is appearing on their bodies, their physical bodies are getting stronger even though their cultivation level is not increasing.
It is almost like their muscles are being reborn.
At the same time, the stronger they got, the worse it became to the remaining beasts.
I always thought that this forest housed way too many beasts numbering in thousands and I believed it would be a huge threat to us, but this one pack…
I think they will be done with the beasts by tomorrow. But I don't know if their hunger will be satiated by then."
The scout captain's eyes narrowed.
Now that is a real thing to worry. The young master didn't even understand the heads and tails of the situation. But he knew that this I something that he should be terrified about.
He looked at the scout captain and viceversa.
His eyes are wide open, as if the eyelids are refusing to shut down. His clothes are disheveled like usual, however this time there is no sign of carnal pleasures engraved on them. Instead it was from the hysteria and anxiety.
He is gulping down nervously and his whole body is soaked in sweat. He is dripping from head to toe.
And there is even a went spot at his privates, which is also not that unusual, however the captain felt that she would rather not know what caused it today.
"Y…y..you handle this. Im..immedia…"
"Immediately. Don't stress yourself from speaking too much."
She turned around and ignored the young master. She knew the situation of the city will change to worse if the beast pack turns to the city. She needs to find a way out of this.
"What is the strongest creature in the pack?" She asked the deputy.
"We don't know. The strongest we have spotted was a Divine Plane Transcendent creature at Middle stage by our estimates."
The captain took a deep breath. Because that is just one stage below her cultivation level and she is one of the strongest in this place.
"So, what do you think the probability of that being the strongest creature of the whole pack?" She asked. Just hoping that it is the highly probable. But one could hope. That doesn't mean it will come true.
"Very low. Tiny in my opinion. The density of the beasts in the pack is way too much. There are hundreds and they divided themselves into smaller portions. They didn't spread out far. But they are hunting in squads of sorts.
And if my guess is right, the creature we spotted might be the leader of one of those squads."
"The beasts that organized?"
"Not just organized ma'am. They are the most elite hunters that I have seen. And I am including the cultivators as well. All the beasts they targeted are mostly stronger than themselves. Their team work is off the charts and I have seen them take down bigger targets without so much as getting a scratch.
That was one of the reasons, the other beasts are becoming desperate. Even before this pack could become a direct threat to the city, it has already become an indirect threat. This might cause a beast tide."
"Alright, then let's move. Set up a defense against the city. Call for a meeting with all the forces in the city. From street gangs to that underworld guy that's running the black market. I want everyone there."
She then turned to the young master and said.
"Use the family distress call. We need the nearest family affiliated mercenary group to report immediately and they still need to send more reinforcements.
Be quick please."
With that, she left.
The young master came out of his daze and clumsily ran out. The city is thrown into Chaos as the sunset and the night arrived.
Back in the Olympian region.
Icarus is still looking at the screens trying to figure out from where would the attack come from. Meanwhile, he already informed Sam's friends and other managers about the possible threat.
The managers wanted to come and help, but Icarus refused. Even if the Hub is destroyed, Sam told him not to move the people from the other hubs here. Because, once the battle starts and they are noticed, the chain reaction will start. Other hubs will be targeted.
And he once again assured that there would be no need as long as the threats exceed the threshold he mentioned.
Sam's friends came to the Hub and stayed in. To Icarus' surprise, the trio even brought Snacks as they sat along with him.
"You are not nervous?" Icarus asked.
"You already said that their strength threshold should be less than what mentioned, then why should we be nervous?"
Philip replied.
And soon Icarus understood why they were so carefree, in fact they are even excited. Which is initially weird on so many levels.
At midnight.
Christos sighed in his office.
As if that sigh was the cue, at the same moment, a flock of shadows rose from that black patch in the woods. *THUD THUD* *THUD THUD*
The rhythmic sounds of the horses enveloped the woods and it is reverberating to the city. Many people who were doing various activities across the city were all surprised. It is not odd to listen to the sounds of the beasts.
But these hooves, they were different.
The rhythm to it was loud. Louder than any horse they have ever seen.
And there is a tone of death assigned to that rhythm.
Soon, someone spotted the black shadows that are moving towards the city. In fact, it is not hidden at all.
The signal was given by the vast vegetation that was dying as these shadows passed. No one could figure out the exact shape of the creatures that are coming.
But they could all sense the trepidation. Trepidation of death knocking on the doors of the Olympian city.
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