149 Chapter 149: Red Aler (1/2)
The first sign that something was wrong was a slight tremor that rocked the underground complex. It was so miniscule that hardly anyone noticed, what with the vibrations generated from electronic equipment and the mighty buzzing of advanced enchantments that served as protection over the vault-cavern housing the Holy Spring.
Then the walls began to crack.
”?!”
All security personnel were mobilized and brought to high alert. Weapons were drawn. Spells were cast. Non-combat staff began to evacuate to underground shelters built within the complex.
It was those shelters that were first compromised.
The tunnels that had served as escape routes for refugees had been burrowed through, and huge creatures emerged, crawling into the shelters and overrunning the non-combat staff who had evacuated there. The combat personnel had no clue what had happened until several of the victims came screaming toward them and pointing toward the shelters.
And then all hell broke loose.
”Fall back! I said, fall back!”
”To the lobby! We'll create a barricade there!”
”Where is my fire support?!”
”Sector 2A! We're being overrun here! We need reinforcements! Immediately! ARGH!”
”Man down! Man down! Where is the healer?! UGH!”
”HELP!”
”Save me!”
”Please…please…please don't eat me…AAAAAAAH!”
The security staff were experienced and elite mages who graduated from the top academies of Jing Tian City. They gave as good as they got, and wreaked a horrifying toll on the monstrous invaders. Dozens, if not hundreds of monsters were slain in the first hour.
But the monsters' numbers seemed limitless. Over a thousand of them were crawling out of the woodwork, and they were high-ranked. Rank D and rank C monsters were creeping out, unleashing lightning or ravaging fleeing mages with massive claws and teeth. Worse, they were stronger than usual, their aura tinged red.
It was almost as if they were doped…enhanced with steroids.
Slowly but surely, the weight of numbers shifted the advantage toward the monsters and the defenders began to fall. Their morale, already suffering a devastating blow when over a hundred non-combat staff died in the first few minutes, massacred by the rank E Lycanthropes and rank D Dire Wolves that had burrowed through the tunnel, took another hit when scores of elite mages fell to the horde of rank C Thunder Wolves that followed. The combined might of an Elemental class pack was more than enough to electrify the remaining survivors who endured the onslaught from countless Dire Wolves and Lycanthropes from the first wave.
It took five hours for the two hundred staff in the underground complex to fall.
Worse, they were not the only ones. All over Jing Tian City, monsters were emerging from the sewers. Rank E Cyclops Rats burst through manholes and scurried about, lunging at screaming civilians and massacring them. In their wake, Lycanthropes and Dire Wolves followed from larger underground tunnels and complexes, emerging in carparks or shopping malls and tearing a swathe of blood and bone through the fleeing masses.
The entire city became a scene of carnage, eve as mages began to mobilize and fight back. Scattered and caught by surprise, they were unable to form a coherent fighting force, and isolated pockets of resistance were slowly being wiped out one by one, the usually more powerful mages being overwhelmed by sheer numbers and slain after grinding battles of attrition.
While the city fell, I was still blissfully unaware, training in the underground Holy Spring with my Constellation spirits and new swords.
*
”It's finally been a week, huh? Time is finally up.”
Stretching myself, I dismissed all of my Constellation spirits and sheathed my swords. Creaking my neck to the side and rotating my arms to make sure they were still working, I approached the door of the vault.
”Okay, I'm done…I think.”
I was half-expecting someone to let me out, but nothing happened. No one opened the door to check on me and tell me that time was up. I scowled, wondering if I should just return to training until someone came in and interrupted me.
Come to think of it, they never told me the exact time when my training session would expire. Perhaps midnight tonight? If that was the case, then I could spend some more time training. It would be a waste not to maximize my chance with the Holy Spring.
Just when I thought that, the vault door slid open and blockhead staggered in. blood was streaming down his forehead, and he looked half-dead. His entire left side was drenched in blood, and his left arm was dangling uselessly at the side.
”Sir! Are you all right?”
”Get back!” he ordered. Stumbling into the cavern, he spun around and slapped his remaining hand on the panel. The door ground close, but not before I heard inhuman howls and terrified screams from outside.
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”What the hell?!”
”The complex is under attack by monsters.” Blockhead wasted no time and began explaining. ”They got in through the underground tunnels normally used as escape routes for the shelters, and began invading en masse. We fought back, but there's too many of them.”
His expression turned grim as his eyes wandered over to the Holy Spring behind us.
”We can't let them get hold of the Holy Spring. If they break through those doors…”