Bab 24: The Folinr (4)
The walls broke down and a hole was in sight. People anticipated something to come from the hole. And there it was, a creature with a beaten body and pale skin. It had short stature and its claws were dull due to the constant digging and pounding.
"Reeeeeee" It screamed. But it soon plopped on the ground. It used up too much of its energy just to break the wall.
It was anticlimactic. Everyone was scared of the sudden emergence of a foreign creature but seeing it faint after making such a dramatic entrance, it was only laughable.
Soon enough, a guard walked towards the creature and diffused the crowd. He was doing his job as security but due to the loud conversations between the citizens, he could not hear the constant knocking sounds.
Then, he heard another crash. And then another. And two more. He could no longer count how many crashing sounds he heard.
It was at that moment. He knew that the reality of the situation was bad. He needed to run away from there. He turned around only to see that there are now numerous holes in the wall, they were still crumbling.
However, instead of a feeble creature coming out of the holes, they only heard screeching from them.
"Reeeeeeeeeeee!"
"REeeeeEEeEE!"
"ReeEEEEee!"
"RUN AWAY!" The guard warned everyone as he heard the screeches. From what he heard, he could deduce that their numbers are too great for him to cover for everyone.
The ground rumbled, no, it was only shaking a little. There were too many footsteps done at the same time, and from the holes on the wall were creatures that came rushing out. The guard saw the creatures were crazed, they were berserk.
And so everyone that went near the wall were overrun by the Folinr.
At this time, Eve heard the screams. She was too far to hear the initial screams but the people who were running about reached the lodgings pretty soon. She stood up and looked around, she was trying to assess the situation from where she stood.
'It's useless.' She thought. She was too far away from the problem to make something out of the screams.
'Should I run?' A wise decision.
And so Eve ran towards the opposite direction, she followed the people who were screaming and did not try to become a hero. There were plenty more people that could do that better than she could. What's more, she's only a child.
In the common area. The guards were soon assembled and were about to head towards the breach. There were also people in military uniforms but unlike the cadets, they were proper soldiers. They stood in place and waited for their command.
"I knew these bastards would come here. Move out!" Johnny's voice could be heard in the entire area.
Johnny was not stupid. This is the reason why the main force he sent out were only trainees because the ones that had better experience were better to protect the people inside The Vault. He did not expect much from the cadet so he gave them the easier task of just killing the Folinr.
And so, once the soldiers he prepared moved out to meet the rushing Folinr, he relaxed and began to walk away. He thought that things were going to end soon.
However.
Crash~
Crash~
Crash~
He heard more crumbling rocks. This time, it came from all around The Vault. Due to that, screams ensued and chaos filled the walls of The Vault.
The little girl Eve was running. She was running to a place that had plenty of people but she soon realized.
'Oh shit. I didn't wake mother, father, and Jenny up.'
She just left her most important people in her life aside from Adam. She did not bother to check whether she was there but immediately fled. After remembering her family and Jenny, she was about to go back.
"Reeeeeee!"
But she couldn't do that. The voices of the Folinr filled the halls and going back was no doubt going to be suicidal. So Eve no longer thought of going back to save them.
'I am so sorry Mama, Papa, Jenny. But I have to live.'
She was very rational. And it was a very good decision to make considering the situation. But since she was still inside a 12-year-old's body, she could not help but tear up at the thought. Her memories may make her mature but it did not make her cruel.
In the space where the Folinr first appeared, there were quite a lot of them running around. However, rows and rows of soldiers armed with guns and abilities were approaching them.
"Ready!" A commanding officer screamed. All the soldiers brought up their guns.
"Aim!" He continued his orders. All the soldiers centered the Folinr within their iron scopes.
"Fire" He was practically screaming his heart out. But something else screamed with him.
Bang~ Bang~ Bang~
The roaring of the guns drowned out the screechings and gun muzzle flashes brightened the area. But after a few seconds, all the first row soldiers soon ran out of bullets in their first magazine.
"Second row!" The first row soldiers moved to the back and reloaded while to second-row soldiers took their places.
" Ready! Aim! Fire!"
The hail of bullets continued and this scene repeated until all the initial Folinr died from bullet wounds. It was a quick massacre as these creatures had weak bodies due to the lack of food and sunlight.
"Reeeee!"
And then the soldiers heard screeching from behind them. They were alarmed and looked back to see that there were more of the Folinr than the one The Director told them about. Now there are more holes in The Vault that it now resembled cheese and from those holes are more of the Folinr.
The soldiers were not panicked, however. They only had to shoot more of the creatures, it was not a big deal. And so they began firing their bullets towards the scattering Folinr. They were so focused on it that they did not realize -
"REeeeEEE!"
That the first group of Folinr they massacred had backup. Now, they were surrounded and their back was flanked by the creatures.
"Men! Use your Gifts!"
More chaos descended in The Vault.
Adam, at this moment in time, was already sneaking into the subway station by himself. He hid his presence and used magic that mitigated his footstep's sound.
"Muffle." He whispered and used magic.
As this was a phenomenon that did not follow logic but forcefully hindered sound itself, the amount of mana usage was not efficient. Adam did not care though, because it did not cost him a lot of mana in the first place.
Once he arrived at the entrance, he put down his bag and opened it. Inside, there was food and water in case the mission would take days, but most importantly there was a pistol.
It was a silenced pistol, perfect for assassinations and for infiltration which he was an expert at.
'This will hardly do anything, the Folinr can find my location once I fired my first shot.' He thought.
It was true. The Folinr had very great hearing to compensate for their lack of sight. And the reason why Adam was being very careful regarding sound was that he also had the 'Ears of the Folinr' as a sub-ability due to his Gift.
'But at least it would minimize the number of them noticing at one time.'
Adam soon finished his preparations. He had his pistol ready with spare magazines on his belt. He also brought with him some consumable weapons such as throwing daggers and grenades. After checking everything, he closed his bag that still had food and water and hid it somewhere safe in a nearby place.
He went inside the subway station and began walking cautiously. His ears morphed and became pointy and soon enough he could hear footsteps. These footsteps were dull, mostly because it is bare feet against dirt.
'There seems to be so few of them.' Adam thought.
He was confused due to the lacking numbers. His grandfather, Johnny, was very sure about the numbers. There was supposed to be a lot more if the population of the Folinr were growing, but that did not present itself to Adam.
'Have they already found a spot to stay in?'
Adam cautiously walked into one of the tunnels and listened closely to the footsteps. He was being very careful not to make the slightest sound with his hand, his feet were also light despite using magic that inhibits sound.
After moving for a while, he found out that there were hardly any of the Folinr left here. And he also found that they were moving deeper into the dugout tunnels.
'They surely found something. It could be The Vault but I highly doubt it.'
Adam had that thought while following the moving creatures.
'What the actual fuck?'
He cursed in his head. That was because he saw something that towered over the Folinr. It still had pale skin and pointy ears but it had a tall height of 2 meters. It was a Folinr but it mutated, and it looks like this certain creature is ordering all the others.
Adam readied his blade and gun. He had set his assassination target and it wouldn't be too hard to take down this abomination. However, the creature was surrounded by more Folinr that looked a lot healthier than the rest.
'These guys are his most trusted aides. However, they would not see me assassinating their leader.'
Adam swiftly moved. He positioned himself as close as possible and waited for the best timing. He was not hidden from sight, but since the Folinr had very poor eyesight, they could not find him just staying still.
He waited for more of the Folinr to rush forward. He waited even more. It was only until half of the aides went forward to follow the rest did he decide to strike.
"Hup!"
Adam jumped towards the abomination of a creature. He pulled all of the strength in his body as he kicked his foot off the ground. And with all of that force, his right hand holding a dagger sprung forward aiming straight towards the creature's neck.
Slice~
His dagger sunk into its throat and it tried to scream as loud as it could but what came out of its mouth was only air and it was heard just like a squeak. It held his throat and its eyes bulged. It looked at its attacker, Adam, and tried to retaliate even with a knife piercing his throat.
However, Adam held its body to stop his motion. He pulled out his pistol and then -
Snip~ Snip~
Fired twice towards its head. It fell on its back while Adam was on top of it. It was dead, or about to die if it survived those shots. But Adam was not taking any chances and fired his gun once more on its brain.
It was surely dead.
The surrounding Folinr were alarmed at Adam's sudden appearance and the fall of their leader. They looked towards their leader and found him with injuries and this caused them to rage and lash out at Adam.
And the attacks they sent out surprised Adam to the point that he used magic.
A few minutes ago in another place, within the crowd inside The Vault, Eve was quivering. She was scared due to the non-stop screeching from all sides. She could see some Folinr that rushed towards the crowd but were annihilated by the crowd's abilities.
Everyone in the room had Gifts. In fact, everyone in the world had Gifts.
This fact that the Folinr did not have the numerical advantage over them assured the inhabitants but nobody moved to clear out areas crawling with Folinr. So soon enough, the creatures reached the garden.
'No!' Eve did not like the fact that these vile creatures were going to defile the garden.
But Eve did not rush towards the garden. She did not want to die after all. It would be stupid of her if she did that. After a few minutes, screams were heard from within the battlefield. And flames rose from within the crowd of soldiers.
"What?" Everyone that witnessed the event opened their eyes wide.
They saw that someone used their ability to harm their protectors. This caused discord within the crowd and they all stopped to stay wary against ability attacks.
Sizzle~
And then it happened again.
This time, everyone saw who used their ability. No, it was not someone, it was something, it was a Folinr that looked healthier. It displayed the power of Gifts.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone