Chapter 175: Retribution

Chapter 175: Retribution

The ground was shaking again, a constant reminder that something was going on below their feet. A few of the children, those few that had managed to survive the Nature Cores enslavement, were wailing; their hands held tightly to the glowing necklaces that dangled from their necks, clinging to the very thing that had once been enough to save them. For all of their youth, they remembered that well.

They all remembered that.

Kala pulled her gaze away from the crying children, letting it rove over the crowd again. It was both bigger than she once had thought possible and smaller than she would have hoped. The weakest among them clustered themselves around the Guardian Statue, tucked away where they wouldnt be underfoot. Meanwhile, the ones strong enough to help - and, fortunately, the [Little Guardians Totem] that each of them wore made that number higher than it might have otherwise been - were still working to bolster the Guildhalls defenses. Slabs of stone and solid wood, each large and unwieldy enough that moving them required the concerted effort of many individuals, had turned the entrance into a veritable fortress of chokepoints and defensible locations.

The front hall, once nearly empty save for the gigantic columns that lined it from end to end, was now akin to a haphazard maze. Gone was the stark beauty of before, destroyed in favor of greater safety. Anything that walked on legs would be forced to take the long way through, following the pathway provided.

Of course, anything that didnt walk on legs wouldnt even notice; the vaulted ceiling meant that they could simply fly over, making their efforts useless against them. Regardless, it was something worth doing. Some protection was better than none, and each of the windows had already been boarded up to combat fliers as much as possible, with only thin slits in between the boards to allow lookouts to see.

Weve got a few more of those things out there! one of those lookouts shouted, a young man who looked as if he was desperately trying to be brave. His voice shook terribly, breaking his fragile guise. Kala ignored that, pretending that she hadnt noticed.

He was brave, even if he wasnt fearless. It would be wrong to make him think otherwise. She walked over to take a look, patting his shoulder and giving him a nod. Peering outwards and above, Kala could see the fliers that had gathered in the air.

She inwardly sighed, checking over her arrows. They looked as strong as ever, even the weakest among them glowing transcendently, their tips enchanted with enough Earth Core mana to pierce all but the strongest of armor. The strongest among them could do more than that, fashioned almost entirely from metal and filled to the brim with powerful mana.

Yet, against the enemy above her, they were useless.

What could she do? Waste her arrows shooting at the group of tiny targets, when even a successful shot at that angle would mean the arrow would land far enough away that it was unrecoverable?

Her eyes moved towards the other threat in the area, one that could prove far more disastrous than the gathering monsters. It rested in the ruins of a nearby building down the street. One of the giant darkwoods many roots. At any moment, it could pick itself up move again, with only dumb luck deciding whether it left peacefully or accidentally crushed them all.

Kala briefly entertained herself with the thoughts of it crushing the monsters instead, but knew that possibility was no more likely than anything else. Less likely, probably. The Guildhall was a much bigger target; it would be easy for the root to clip it in passing - individual monsters, not so much. She fought back another sigh.

Thanks for letting me know, Lucas, she said, hiding her frustration behind a mask of confidence. Keep a lookout and tell me if they start to do anything different.

The boys chest puffed up at the sound of his name, excited to know that a Seeker recognized him. She had just happened to hear it in passing, but Kala would let him have that little bit of happiness. There was no need to take it from him.

Yes maam! he responded, eagerly turning back around to keep watch.

The ground shook again in a series of tremors. It sounded closer than before, near enough that Kala thought she could hear the distinct cracking of stone. A few moments later, a building fell somewhere in the distance.

Wreathed in darkness, I slowly leaned forward.

I carefully let go of the shadow-gem within my mouth, forcefully pulling myself back to reality.

[Clinging Grasp] and [Constriction] held me tight to the corpse-hand below me, letting my head swing down and my jaws open wide.

My dread grew, its sheer weight hitting me like a falling Coreless, crushing my ribs and tightening against my flesh.

The Core didnt fit.

I was too small.

Another tremor started to shake the ground, a new wave of [FEAR] coming with it.

For the first time in a while, I heard Tiamats gloating thought-hisses pressing against my mind. With the growing [FEAR] provided by my connection to the Coreless of the many-nest through their [Little Guardians Totem]s, I could hardly even hear it.

It was just too loud, my mind-nest assaulted by thought-hiss after thought-hiss.

Still, I did hear one thing for certain, packaged into visions of my recent control over Tiamats brood.

[RETRIBUTION].

Almost immediately after, one of the [Little Guardians Totem]s lost its bearer. And then another. And then another, each screaming in [ANGUISH] and [PAIN].

My jaws opened wider, trying to wrap themselves around the Lesser Core before it was too late.

And yet, just like before, I was still too small.

It didnt fit.

I looked down towards the black-water, now my only hope.