Chương 131: Chapter 115: Monster Wave(2)
Part 1
The monsters that seemingly appeared out of nowhere outside the empire were trying to breach the walls of Nuaria city. The city was located in the inner wall while the space between the inner and outer wall had nothing between them.
This was to better protect against sieges. If an enemy army were to succeed in breaching the outer wall then the inner wall will be there waiting for them. This would heavily affect their morale if they were unaware of the city's infrastructure.
Of course, this wasn't a normal siege since the ones doing the sieging are monsters with different abilities.
Arnold wouldn't be surprised if there was a monster strong enough to punch or blow a hole in both walls. Dragons were capable of that since they had their dragon breath that was their primary method of attacking.
The group moved in the dead of the night while keeping an eye out for any monsters that might jump out. Their movement speed was slow to avoid making too much noise. Though Nuaria city wasn't the largest city of the empire, it was still considerably big so it took a while for them to travel this far.
Although the walls would hold for a while to keep the big monsters out, Arnold was sure that some smaller monsters made it into the city way before the bigger ones emerged outside.
"—So that's why it's best if we leave the city and head for the capital. There's no way the city will survive the monsters heading its way. Knights and noble armies were called to watch the city's border wall. People are advised to head there. The other adventurers will take over the walls after they arrive there."
Arnold had just finished explaining the situation to them. He was the cause of all this so he knew everything there was to know about why and what was happening. Of course, he chose his words carefully to not give away a lot.
Claudia was the first to speak, "But why were those monsters appearing out of nowhere?"
"Who really knows? Like humans and elves, monsters also have potential to use magic. There might be one capable of teleportation. Ever heard of a Goblin Shaman before?"
"Oh, I have!" Nait put up his hand, "They can use 1st to 2nd rank spells!"
"That's right. Think of racial skills of monsters the same as fighting classes that we have. It wouldn't be a surprise that monsters with magic abilities would emerge in the masses."
"…That monster from earlier… It's something straight out of a horror story. I've never even seen something like that before. It radiated natural killing intent. Even a bear would roar at its prey but just being stared at by that monster made my entire body tremble with fear," said Gut who was walking with the group, "So it's definitely possible that a monster capable of teleportation magic could appear among them."
'They're believing the bullshit I'm spouting. Thank god they're country bumpkin.'
"What will the Guild do about this?" asked Gut.
Arnold looked down at Gut who was walking next to the carriage, "I have no idea what they plan on doing. May I ask a question of my own? What do you plan on doing if the monsters go as far as the capital's walls?"
The capital city, Toril was at the heart of the empire's walls so it was impossible for the monsters to reach it without killing a lot of people. Adventurers and knights weren't the only people capable of fighting, after all.
However, that didn't mean that the people could hold out.
Of course, this was only hypothetical since the main target was only one city. But Arnold didn't need to tell them that.
"Will you fight the monsters?"
Gut's face turned pale, "Not even if I was forced to. I would've died from one swing of that monster we met earlier. There are probably monsters far stronger than that one out there."
"I see." Arnold looked at everyone.
They were all gathered in one carriage except for Gut and the other three hunters. The carriage was actually now similar to a wagon since Arnold told them to remove the top of the carriage so that he could stay alert while travelling with them. It would've been annoying to look out of a window every time.
Claudia seemed the most composed even though this was probably her first close encounter with a monster. Teresa was shaking uncontrollably as if something was awakened after seeing that monster.
It had been a few hours since the encounter but all of them looked very shaken up.
'I can't sense a trace of aura or mana from any of them. As expected, they're all weak.' Arnold looked at all of them again, 'Hm?'
He suddenly noticed something was off about the boy sitting next to him. Seeing Arnold looking at him, Nait smiled.
'This kid doesn't even look scared at all. Is he just that optimistic that I'll be able to protect them all?'
There was a low chance of a monster appearing that could threaten him on its own. Although, a horde will definitely be difficult to fight off. Especially the larger monsters.
Vetis definitely summoned some high-level monsters that were probably above level 50. That's at least S-class tier.
The monster from earlier was level 40, the same double digit level that Arnold belonged to. One strike from his sword was enough to kill it since Arnold's stats were way above that of his level average.
Arnold was more than capable of fighting off the monsters. That's why he was calm.
So what about the kid?
'I want to use my hologram card to check his class but that's too risky. I should do it when everyone is asleep.'
It would be long before the monsters were actually able to breach the city. There were thick concrete walls separating the outside from the inside. The gates were sealed off with magic so it was impossible for them to break through easily.
Arnold patted the kid's head, "You were very brave back there, kid. I wouldn't have been able to do the same if I was your age at all."
"…I just wanted to do what was right…" Nait blushed and fidgeted.
"Regardless of your reasons I think you'll become a great knight one day."
"R-Really!? T-Then! Um… Can I become your squire, sir Nova? Every great knight needs a great master!"
"That's…" Arnold cleared his throat, "I can't allow that… yet. I always go on dangerous quests so taking you along will endanger your life."
"Eeeh?" Nait's enthusiastic expression quickly disappeared, "But I want to become strong like sir Nova…"
That was definitely possible if he trained hard. But Arnold would be many times stronger than he was right now by the time Nait reaches level 40 like he had.
Regardless of how weak the boy was now, Arnold was interested in his growth.
Will he become the next hero once Luke hangs up his cape?
"Can I see that dagger you used earlier?"
"My dagger? Okay." Nait lifted up his sweater, revealing his skinny stomach.
'Hmm… This kid should put on some muscle before worrying about getting stronger.'
"Where did you get that, Nait? You're still a child so you shouldn't use those things," Claudia looked at Nait with a glare, "What if you hurt yourself?"
"B-But I wanted to protect you, miss Clau—I mean, I wanted to fight as well!" Nait blushed before correcting his sentence.
"That's not an excuse! You should've run away instead of confronting that monster!"
"Miss Claudia," Arnold spoke to Claudia who was strongly against the boy carrying a weapon, "Take a look around you. Many of the streets are filled with corpses. The city was already under attack by monsters long before that horde got here. What if a monster tried to attack Nait while our backs were turned? He would have no way to defend himself."
"But… a child shouldn't worry about things like that. The child we took in was the same way. He would confront danger and risk his own life. I don't want Nait to be like that too and not experience his childhood."
Arnold could understand Claudia's worries.
Luke was a very flawed yet perfect person.
His flaw was that he will even risk his life to save the ones he loves. How many times had he confronted danger and almost lost his life?
He challenged the dragon lords, completed the trials of a relic tomb for the first time in human history and obtained a Star-Class Item, he fought off curses, survived being sucked into a dimensional rift and was sent to an unknown world…. The list goes on.
The above mentioned things had one thing in common: no normal human could do any of those things and survive.
Perhaps that was why Arnold respected Luke more than he did Promethius. That guy lived in the empire for years during his reign as Hero. He had unimaginable power.
But did he go through the same things Luke did to be the Hero? The gods didn't give Luke unimaginable power just like that. Well, Luke already had the power to begin with but he couldn't control it all, not without hardships.
Golden Aura and White Aura were the rarest and strongest variants of aura in this world. Not just anyone could control them completely. It took blood, sweat and tears: something that Luke gave to become worthy.
How could Claudia compare Luke to Nait? But maybe it didn't have to do with their powers individually but their traits as people. Both were brave and showed potential.
But there were limits to normal and those chosen by gods.
Arnold spoke while looking at Claudia, "Nait, do you want to become strong?"
"Of course!"
"It's a path of suffering. One can't be born strong. You have to earn your strength. And that means killing every foe you encounter, whether intentional or not."
"Yes!"
"There are days you will wish you'd die from the amount of injuries you have to endure due to your own actions. Strength brings envy and envy brings hate. Hate brings enemies to your doorstep."
He was thinking about Arnold von Berkley's life while saying that.
"To become strong means to kill. Because training isn't the only thing that will make a knight truly great."
"I'll fight them all! And become stronger!" Nait shouted with his fists clenched.
"…." Claudia frowned.
"That's his choice, miss Claudia." Arnold gave the dagger back to Nait.
The carriage suddenly halted. Arnold noticed that they had arrived at the wall.
"Are anyone of you infected with parasites!?"
◇◇
Multiple nobles came to the border wall when they received the letters the knights of the wall sent to them.
Arnold could see an entire squadron of troops standing in line in front of the gate. They seemed ready for anything that might jump out from behind those walls.
It was extremely risky to keep the gate unoccupied so there were knights on top keeping watch. They were ordered to turn those away who were infected with parasites.
Yes, they valued the lives of the uninfected more than they did the infected. The latter could die for all they cared. This was a National Level 4 Threat since it could threaten an entire city.
"So that's what happened, huh." Arnold was speaking with a knight who he called out to so that he could hear what was going on.
The knight told him that shortly after he(Arnold) left the gate, a bunch of survivors reached the gate and demanded to enter the capital.
There weren't any strict rules enforced so the knights happily led the people in.
However, that was a mistake. Just moments after letting them come though, one of them showed symptoms of being infected with the parasites.
The person was killed immediately on the spot. The parasite was then killed and burned on the spot.
"Has an adventurer party passed through the gate yet?" Arnold asked as he looked around.
"No, only normal civilians, sir Nova."
"Hm…"
'Galadriel's party should still be somewhere in the city right now. Shit, this is troublesome. I can't involve outsiders in this too. I have to get them out of there before the horde overrun the city.'
It was already morning so he probably didn't have a lot of time before they were killed by monsters. The horde was the least of their worries. There were definitely some monsters that managed to get into the city before Arnold brought the group back and sealed the gate.
He probably sounded like a hypocrite by saying he wanted to get them out of there even though he never thought twice about leaving the other citizens to die. Although Vetis ordered the monsters not to attack, that was only if the monsters themselves weren't attacked first. Some would retaliate only in self-defense while others would attack regardless.
The best scenario right now was how people were escaping the city. He wouldn't have to worry about a lot of people dying.
All in all, it was a good idea to follow Vetis' advice to not summon all the monsters at once. That would've caused more damage that it should've but had less of an impact.
"Before I leave, i have a question. Has the Guild issued a subjugation quest for the monster horde yet?"
"They are currently in the process of completing the quest from what I heard from one of the other knights. The reward for the most monster cores collected is going to be a million gold coins. This alone attracted every adventurer in the empire."
"Wait, cores?"
Cores were something only found inside dungeon monsters. Due to the value they hold, people usually sell them at auctions or to magic stores. They were powerhouses like batteries from the modern world. Dungeon bosses typically have these cores inside their bodies. It was like a second heart.
The problem with what the knight said was that ordinary monsters(monsters that aren't born in dungeons) don't have cores inside their bodies.
Which means…
'They already concluded that the horde is made up of mostly dungeon monsters. This situation seems to have turned in my favor even without my intervention.'
It was exactly for this reason that Vetis planted fake cores inside all those monsters. Arnold was originally going to make a huge scene where he pulls out a core he found in one of the monsters he slayed and show it to the people. He would then convince him that the monsters came from dungeons.
Although the monsters came from the south, their destination lay in the western part of the empire. Because of this their marching speed would be slowed down severely since they had to cross many terrains and mountains. They will have to travel around the entire empire just to get to the west side.
This would give Arnold enough time to go to the Guild and convince everyone that the monsters came from the Fairy Province.
But that was unnecessary since they already figured it out by themselves.
Why else would there be a subjugation quest issued directly from the Adventurer Guild HQ?
"Are you taking these people to the shelter where the other Nuarians are gathered?" the knight pointed to Claudia and the others.
Arnold shook his head, "They had a long journey so it's better for them to go to an inn instead of a shelter where it could be overcrowded."
"Uhm, during times like these lodging establishments would charge triple their normal rate. This is why it's best to choose shelters where everything is free even if the experience won't be pleasant. I think that's way too expensive just to stay the next few days until everything is over."
"We'll be fine." He had his adventurer license to get a discount. If he wanted to use it then he would have to stay with them for the night. Arnold had other plans which didn't involve babysitting Luke's family. He will leave tomorrow morning.
His first stop would be going to the Guild and joining the subjugation. He could put that money to good use for their party.
As it stands now Misteltein didn't have a building of their own like most high rank parties do. The Guild provides exclusive receptionists for adventurers who wish to make adventuring a full-time job. You could also hire adventurers or employees directly from guilds with permission.
It would be like owning an office building.
The receptionist would receive quests and inform the party about the details of every quest.
It was almost like having their own guild building like he and his guildmates had.
He would have to cut a deal with the Guild Master of the HQ.
Arnold excused himself and headed towards Claudia and the others who were waiting for him.
"What did he say? Are the guilds going to get rid of the monsters?" Gut was the first one to speak.
"Yeah, in fact a quest was made specifically for the horde. From what he told me that horde is most likely a monster wave."
There was no telling if Vetis was planning on sending a second horde after the first one was dealt with so Arnold wasn't sure what he had to do. Vetis also didn't have a transmitter like the one in Arnold's office so getting into contact with him is impossible. He was moving solo, after all.
"I'll take all of you to an inn where you can stay the night. You can choose where to go to from there."
Part 2
Arnold and the group came to a rich entertainment district. It was the only establishment that wasn't already full so they had no choice but to stop here.
There was a red light district right next to the inn. Arnold could smell the cheap perfume and the prostitutes calling out to potential customers.
'They can make business even in this chaos instead of escaping the empire.'
As far as the people were concerned, they had no clue that Nuaria city was the monsters' only destination. They definitely thought that the monsters would try and destroy the other cities.
'Freya is also missing which makes this much easier. She would've been able to end everything in one night. That damn monster of a woman would've ruined everything.'
Arnold took out his hologram card after he came into his single bed room. He told the others to choose whatever room they wanted. Of course, the women were given the option to sleep in one room while the men had another room. They could share a bigger room as well if they preferred to.
But Claudia, Teresa and Norn chose the latter option. This was probably because they felt much safer if men were around them. Neither of them were fighters like the men.
In any case, they were currently dining downstairs. Arnold excluded himself from their dinner since he had to make a call.
· Level 45
Arnold sighed.
"Why is it so hard to level up. Were the goblins, orcs and that monster not enough to push me to 50?"
Leveling up will become much harder once he reached mid-peak. He was grinding towards that specific level with that in mind.
He checked his experience points which was something new to him. It didn't show up when he wore his helmet since all that appeared was his status and skills.
· 40629/67000 Experience Points
He needed a lot more before he could level up.
He put the hologram card far away and took out something else.
It was a small translucent box.
"Her eye is halfway open." Arnold knocked on the glass with his finger. The cherubim's eye only slightly closed and opened again in response.
"Feathers?" he noticed little white things growing out of its body, "It's growing faster than I expected. I think there's 44 days left. Unless she needs more time."
Arnold was patient so he didn't try and hasten the process by buying holy water. There were other ways of buying it without having to go to a temple like the black market but he would rather avoid associating himself with criminal scum.
Arnold gently put the box away into his magic bag.
He suddenly heard a knock.
-"Are you awake? It's me, Teresa. May I come in?"
'What does she want?'
He told them already that he wasn't in the mood to be getting jolly with everyone since he had a mission to focus on. He was supposed to be "planning" for his next attack on the monster horde. Of course, that was just a front he put up.
-"I brought you some food. I know you said you weren't hungry but it's best to keep your energy levels up, right? You'll need it since you have to fight again tomorrow."
Arnold put his face in his hands and sighed softly.
He decided to just get up and head towards the door. It was rude to ignore someone knocking on your door.
"?"
He looked at her in confusion when he saw that there was no food in her hands at all. Instead, she was standing outside the room wearing thin clothes, which was very small shorts and a small sweater.
Her breasts were on the verge of exploding out of that sweater.
Any man would've been driven by lust to rip her clothes off which was obviously meant to tempt him.
He wasn't going to make up something like "I have only one woman in my life!" or "I prefer big chests". The former wasn't something that needed to be upheld since Victoria was only a maid. Thus, she couldn't marry without retiring as a maid. Knowing Victoria, she won't retire since she loved the job too much.
"What can I do for you, Lady Teresa?"
"No need to be so formal with me, sir Nova. I'm no Lady." She came inside even though he never invited her to come in.
She sat down on his bed and crossed her legs. Her eyes scanned the room before looking back at him.
"Do you want to have sex?"
Arnold almost fell when he heard her straightforward question.
"…Why would you ask something like that?" he recovered quickly and asked a question of his own.
"I heard that you came from a village deep in the mountains and you lived in the forests before you went to Lockinge city to become an adventurer. It must've been lonely not having anyone to talk to… or sleep with."
Elora must've told Teresa that while she was recovering. It was a fake story so he had to make sure he doesn't accidentally say the wrong things that don't add up with what he told Elora.
"The mountains past the Culb Mountain ranges."
"Is there even anything beyond those mountains? All the maps we have end right on the edge of those mountains."
"There's an entirely different world out there. I'm not sure if the rest of the world is like Diacree or even if there are other humans. But that's the point of being an adventurer, right? Exploring the world as we do quests."
He could see a smile appear on her face.
"Yes, you are absolutely correct. If there is a world outside the world that we know of then it's only fitting for adventurers to seek the unknown."
Arnold already knew what was out there so he didn't really need to go exploring. Believe it or not but there were places in this world where the concept of mana and aura didn't exist. It was even rare in some places. Monsters were real there, though.
There were kingdoms that were just like earth's middle ages out there. Normal kingdoms with normal kings and armies.
One could even call them normal habitants of this world. The continent of Diacree itself was large so there was never any need for people to explore further.
Just like Teresa said, the map of the world was basically only as far as the Culb Mountains and Diacree continent. There was no reason to disturb the sanctuary that normal humans had enjoyed for thousands of years.
Arnold seemed to have delved too far from the topic at hand.
"…Thank you for your invitation but I'll have to decline."
"Why? There's a woman wearing exposing clothes in front of you yet you're not going to do anything even though you're allowed to? Are you gay? Do you prefer feminine boys?"
'What the fuck? No! Are you asking me that because I'm in a party with one!?'
Arnold approached the bed. Teresa's shoulders jolted a little but she managed to keep her poise intact.
"Giving your body to me just to make me stay any longer with all of you won't work."
"W-What? T-That's not what this is about!"
Teresa stood up and shouted.
"You're scared. I know you are," her pupils shook, "Who wouldn't be scared? That monster I killed would've devoured all of you before the other monsters could even make it there. It was an A-rank monster so it was fairly easy to kill but I'm not confident in killing multiple S-ranks without my companion. That's why I can't stay."
Arnold could easily take care of any monster—S or SS-class—if he used his demon lord power but he was cautious in using that power so much. As mentioned many times before, it was way too risky. He would rather risk Sword Intent than demon energy.
"…I-Is it possible some of those monsters could be demon races?" Teresa's head was down but he could see her fists trembling.
"Yes, I've seen a few of them among the monsters that chased us to the city."
Teresa's breath was caught in her throat. She hugged herself as her body shuddered uncontrollably.
He knew why she was acting like this.
He couldn't guarantee that there weren't Imps since he told Vetis to summon all the monsters he could get. Vetis being a demon obviously meant that he had ties to other demons.
Arnold didn't comfort Teresa. He merely began speaking, "If you ever need my help in the future then I suggest dropping by the Guild to request from me."
"…?" Teresa looked up with a tear-strained face.
"It's free of charge, of course. Oh, and if you can't find me at the Adventurer Guild then drop by at my guildhouse. I don't have one yet but I'll have one in the near future."
"G-Guildhouse?" Teresa's blank eyes suddenly sparkled for some reason.
"It's like a headquarters for me and Lucri where all the quests go to. They'll be very expensive since Misteltein is an A-rank party but like I said it's free of charge for you and your family."
"…Okay…" Teresa nodded her head, "I'll request for sir Nova there."
Teresa headed towards the door, her complexion seemingly recovered. She turned her head towards Arnold.
Her could see her lips move in the candlelight but no words came out. It seemed like she was struggling to say something.
Noticing this, Arnold spoke instead, "I'll be gone before all of you wake up so tell everyone farewell."
"Okay." She smiled, "…Goodbye…"
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