Chapter 246: Day 532 – The East Bastion Is A Factory

Chapter 246: Day 532 – The East Bastion Is A Factory

The city came into sight in the distance. We had crossed over into a level 1 zone. Lots of white rabbits. I could easily kick one and it would die, turning to dust and dropping a crystal in the air. There had been no sign of the Ritualist or any kind of response.

There were no people outside the city either, which wasn’t a good sign in the middle of the day. I noted there were towers above the gate and an actual door that was open. There was no movement. I listened, and there was no sound.

I looked at Naran who shook his head. I decided against going over the wall. I went straight through the tunnel, checking for traps and ambushes. There was nothing. We entered the city, and it was completely deserted. We went into the towers and there was a communication stone.

I put both hands on the large stone, but there was no one on the other end. I let go and shook my head at Naran. We left the tower and made our way to the top of the wall. There was nothing in sight except an Airship Port in the center of the city. After that we made our way to the plaza. I noted that the buildings had been cleared and the street was straight.

We eventually reached the plaza and there was nothing. We each got restorations, supplies, and Naran got a new sword. No monsters, no people, no traps, and no Ritualist. “This is weird, I was expecting something, not this,” Naran said.

“I agree. Unless the Ritualist is moving to surround the city after we entered, it makes no sense. Let’s go up the Airship Port,” I said. We went up the elevator and it was identical to the one in Purgatory. Looking out from the platform, there was no sign. We sat up there and had a late breakfast or an early lunch.

“I don’t like this, first that fake Ajani, and now this. I don’t see the trap, unless the Ritualist ran away to hide in the wilderness?” I speculated.

“Maybe. Hard to say,” Naran replied.

“Well the arrival was two days ago. Clearly the Ritualist was here then, since there are no people left in the city. The city had people before, since it has city buildings, not just the Airship Port. So the people were wiped out,” I said.

“Don’t city buildings have to be owned by a person?” Naran asked.

“But they don’t disappear if that person dies, unlike regular buildings. Ownership just passes on and that can then be adjust by the Rod of Control,” I replied.

“So everyone was wiped out and was wiped out again. That assumes that the arrival is the same for all cities,” Naran said.

“Since there are already so many similarities and we have seen five cities with the same concept, I don’t think it is much of a stretch,” I replied and we were silent. That was when I heard a muffled sound. “Hear that?” I asked Naran who shook his head.

We went back down the Airship Port and began to check the nearby buildings. It was the Meeting Chamber that we walked into what could only be called a horror scene. There were tables with people chained down to them, missing their hands and feet.

There were bits of flesh scattered about. Several of the people were moaning in pain and delirious. There was a clear progression of people based on the age of their wounds. It took my brain about a minute to fully comprehend what was happening here.The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

“You alright?” Naran came over and asked me.

“Yeah, I am fine. Don’t want to talk about it right now. That was horrible. I didn’t think I could hate the Ritualist any more than I currently hate him, but by the Almighty System he finds a way,” I answered.

“You could have asked me,” Naran said.

“I condemned the people and the war with the Ritualist is mine, not yours. I should be the one to do the dirty work. If I am not willing to do it, then who is?” I shook my head. Also, Naran had his own issues, and I didn’t want to add to them. “Well, I think we learned about all we can here. Unless you can think of anything else?”

“We could wreck the pillars and buildings?” Naran suggested and I considered that.

“Not a bad idea. Let’s find the crafting buildings and wreck them. He can spend points to fix it all up. Should slow him down,” I replied and we got to work. We went around the plaza and found the crafting buildings. A well place Acid Shot would melt the tables. Naran would smash the pillars inside the buildings.

When I checked the main store outside, once the pillar inside of the buildings were destroyed, then they would need someone in them, so they didn’t reset until they were repaired at full cost. No half price from the store.

We found the City Shield building with no points remaining. That was concerning that the people had a shield here but didn’t make it. They probably didn’t realize they could trap the Ritualist inside the city and wipe out most of his army all at once, since the city shield disrupted tethers.

That meant the Ritualist probably knew about the effect as well and wouldn’t fall into a trap of entering Purgatory, where we could cut his control and then kill him. It would have been quite enjoyable to trap the man, just like he had used traps on me, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen.

I smashed up this building as well. With all the points the Ritualist had stolen from me, it was only right to make him pay through the nose to get these buildings back. Once we finished wrecking the buildings we set off to the West. Time to head back to Purgatory and let the Ritualist wonder who had wrecked his little fiefdom and butcher shop.

I didn’t hold out much hope for it setting him back too much, it would still be a setback. More than enough to consider it a poke in the eye and enraging him. I could just picture him shouting and raging, but no one to hear him except his monsters. He could listen to his own screams of rage. A more than fitting punishment, for just one percent of all the grief he had given me.

“Above,” Naran pointed out. There was a monster circling above. Well, the Ritualist had finally returned from wherever he was hiding or grinding a bit too late. Naran and I were refreshed and had wrecked his city. Now we just needed to get away.

I wasn’t that worried. In a fight, that would be tricky, but escaping, that was easy. Even if the Ritualist had consumption, I could fight and run with the best of them. Easily matching level 4 monsters. The Ritualist would struggle rushing full speed to catch me.

Even if a monster did catch up, I could run and gun using Acid Shot. My regeneration would help me out here, since he couldn’t send everything in a straight line at me. His monsters would have to take curved routes and would struggle to catch up.

Once we reached the stonelands, it would get even worse for the Ritualist to process all the uneven footing across whatever horde he had assembled. While I had little confidence in winning, I was confident he couldn’t pin me down. Naran, with his higher Body stat would easily be able to outpace the Ritualist and his forces.

The real question was if he had managed to make a level 4 hybrid. That could be a game changer if he had multiple of them. Well, what was done, was done. Time to go deal with the consequences.