54 Ferdinands Folly (1/2)

The people of Mactan island were panicking, but they had nowhere left to go. Some people went in advance to knock on the doors of Ferdinand's gates, only to be denied entry on his orders. Despite the constant urging of his men, he still refused them.

”Sir, with all due respect, these are human beings. Our people!” A higher ranking soldier protested.

”Do you see any rats, soldier?! Rat tide my ass! If those people end up being spies, will you take responsibility?! Even if there are, so what? Let those goons Cilapu and Carlos hold it back! That way they're easy pickings for us. Don't question my decision ever again!”

Miguel was sitting on one side contemplating the situation. ”It is a bit suspicious, but a rat tide? Can someone actually make that up? Even if it was made up, those people who came to our walls can't possibly be actors, right? Because their pleas seemed so genuine.”

”Not as genuine as the knife they're going to be stabbing your back with!” Ferdinand was absolutely against letting the people of Mactan island through. Anytime someone even tried to bring up the possibility of letting them through, even if it was Miguel, he would only get more furious.

Suddenly, a scantily clad woman came in, bringing a report from one of their sentries. The soldier that Ferdinand was talking to, left the room right away.

This woman was Ferdinand's personal assistant, and everybody knew what they did behind closed doors. There were even rumors that he intentionally got his wife killed by zombies just so he could keep his image of being a loyal husband to the end. This did end up working out for him in the short-run as seeing him ”get up and lead the people even after a huge loss” was a good slogan.

”Sir, we received reports of a Dragon flying over our base. We're not sure why, but mutant beasts suddenly appeared and have since then started attacking our Eastern walls.”

Unfortunately for them, the lingering aura from the <Agimat> was enough to give the mutant beasts a cardinal direction to head towards their base.

***

Mactan island.

”Cilapu, we can hold off for about another 30 minutes or so, if Lord Luna doesn't arrive so--”

Just as they were starting to worry, a Dragon's roar could be heard from above. Even the Rat tide was stunned for a moment, which caused them to stumble on each other, slowing them down a bit more.

As Angry Bakunawa landed, the people were deathly scared, especially when he opened his mouth. It was only until Luna stepped out with Sura and explained that they have a choice of joining him if they'd like.

Cilapu and Carlos arrived soon after they burned everything on their way here. Hoping that all the fire and the walls in between them and the rats would be enough to stop them for a bit longer.

”Lord Luna, I formally dissolve and hereby merge our <Nation> and fully submit to the <Sovereign Nation>! Even if I have to die, please save my people!” Cilapu wasn't ignorant. If he was taken in,

<System Confirmation: Lapu Nation dissolved>

<System transfer: Currency and Nation storage contents transferred to the Sovereign Nation>

<Transfer Complete>

”He actually dissolved it right away. A decisive man. I think we'll get along quite nicely.” Luna thought to himself before speaking. ”Everyone, welcome to the <Sovereign Nation>! You will all be briefed about what it is expected of you, but for now, enter the spatial gate!” Pointing towards Angry Bakunawa he ushered everyone to make haste.

Everyone was scared at first, but Cilapu ran towards the gate ”You either get in, or you get nibbled on by rats and die a slow and painful death!” as if they received the ”GO” signal everyone started moving.

Even if this thing ate them, it was still more honorable to get eaten by a Dragon than get munched on by rats. Much to their relief, the inside was just like another world. As if it was it's own island.

They hesitated again when they saw the Tarsiers in one corner. Cilapu looked at everyone and said. ”How many times in a day are you going to get scared? Pick a damn place and sit down! Anywhere except Lady Maxene's place.” he pointed to the little setup Maxene had, indicating that it was off-limits.

As soon as the rat tide overcame the final wall, they launched. Luna made sure they got a view of all of this by switching to the 360-degree view of their surroundings. It was a psychological move. You could save people, but most would tend to forget eventually. It was human nature. But when they saw the stunning visual of the rat tide from up above, and their homes burning to the ground, it was all burned into their memories.

Cilapu walked up to Luna. ”Lord Luna, are we heading back to the <Sovereign Nation>?”

”No. We're about to watch a good show. One that you'll probably enjoy. Angry Bakunawa, head East, back to that base we saw earlier.”

As they were flying, the bird-type mutant beasts that were close to or lower than Angry Bakunawa in levels steered clear of him.