EU: Chapter 036 | Raiding the Human Gate

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Skating through the forest on a trail of wood that turned to sawdust in its wave was a Pinaka clone with authority. It was tired now, having been moving its body at full strength all along.

“Hah!” It gasped upon reaching Pinaka. Seeing the staff in the latter’s hands, it asked, “What did I miss?”

“You missed me becoming a magician!” Pinaka held the staff dear to him and twirled once. He casually held the staff like it weights nothing.

After all, in an elongated compartment running the length of the shaft was Sky Boulder powder. The amount was calculated and added until the staff weighed less than a kilogram overall. That made carrying it extremely easy.

“One day, I’ll swap Pronto’s digestive and perspiration system with mine.” Pinaka uttered, “This way, maintenance would be easier.”

As a Human, Pronto needed a different diet than Pinaka. If the diet was lacking, Pronto would suffer, which implied he wouldn’t be able to exercise all his powers as usual. However, with an Elf’s digestive system, he only had to be fed fruits.

Pinaka could casually produce them with a swing of his hand. And the excretion was merely sweat. It could be dropped from the tip of the staff as droplets of sweat.

It was easier to clean than human shit.

“This is the Sun Stone I got from the messenger’s bike.” The clone gave its bag to Pinaka and then slumped to the side to rest, “The Warden won’t be alerted for the time being.”

Sun Stones were a rare resource. The Elven Prison had actually employed a good number of them due to the importance it held. It alone accounted for most of the Human Race’s organic needs, from food and Healing Potions to wood and clothes.

Each prison, like the grain prison Pinaka lived at, held a Sun Stone. The Sun Stone existed in the prisons to ensure the soldiers could do their duties when their Level 2 Officer had to leave their station for some reason.

Apart from that, each Gate had three Sun Stones. Two Sun Stones were used on the bridge trailing across the Lava Moat, while the third Sun Stone was used on the messenger bike.

“Make a good job of hiding it,” Pinaka said as he watched his clones fill up the pit and compress the soil to the limit. Then, they covered it with ash and rolled a large, cylindrical trunk until the section resembled the rest of the ash road.

The Sky Boulder was still within the metal carriage. Pinaka didn’t have any other use for it, for now. And hence, he hid it. He intended to return for it in the future, but for now, it had to stay hidden.

And under the ash road was the best option. Even if it gets discovered by the Ogres, Pinaka wouldn’t complain. He only needed enough to wield the Pronto Staff without having to endure the latter’s weight.

The sheer power Pronto could produce allowed Pinaka to construct an aircraft to fly. Of course, something like that wasn’t easy. He would have to experiment and engage in a lot of trials and errors before succeeding.

“What’s our plan now?” One of the clones asked.

“The Human Gate doesn’t have its officer.” Pinaka grinned, “So, we attack and replace them.”

Pinaka created two clones with whom he shared his authority. The first clone disguised itself as Pronto while the second as one of the soldiers subordinate to Pronto.

“Now, create an opportunity.”

…

The Human Gate!

It stood on the path leading to the Human Race’s territory. The soldiers here could usually afford to be the most lax. Their only task was to conduct logistic checks on the carts heading toward the Human Kingdom.

If any Race wanted to attack the Human Kingdom, they had other routes to traverse. They didn’t have to bother coming all the way to the Human Gate and risk encountering the Elven Prison’s Warden, who was regarded as one of the most dangerous Level 3 existences on Gangnea.

Yawn!

A soldier seated on the fort attached to the gate couldn’t help but feel sleepy. He was getting bored, “I want to take a nap.”

“Don’t incite sloth among the soldiers.” A friend of his slapped the soldier on the back of the head lightly.

“Oh, screw off, will you?”

Similar arguments happened all over the Human Gate, as some took it easy while others intended to remain serious and maintain the dignity of the soldiers.

Mornings were their busiest when the Elven Prison dispatched cargo to the Human Kingdom. By noon, there was no work to be done anymore. And every moment after lunch was spent fighting against laziness.

“Help!” There was a soft shout.

Three soldiers sprang up in a hurry and turned in the direction of the sound, noticing two Humans coming their way, sporting varying degrees of injuries.

“Help!”

“How come there are injured people here?” The soldiers on the wall frowned.

One of them suddenly jerked in shock and leaned over the edge, gasping in shock upon identifying one of the approaching dup, “That’s Prince Pronto!”

“Quick! Rescue him!” At his shout, a team activated the bridge, making it possible to walk on it. They quickly rushed to the duo and carried them to the fort.

“What happened?” One of them questioned the injured soldier who had carried the unconscious Prince Pronto, “How is Prince Pronto in such a state?”

“The Dwarf made faulty repairs on our carriage.” The soldier grunted in anger, “It suddenly exploded when we were driving this way.”

“Where are the rest?” The soldier asked, “Based on the letter we received, there were…”

“We’re all that are alive.” The soldier holding Prince Pronto grumbled in anger, “That damn Dwarf screwed us over!”

The duo were brought to a station within the ward to be treated. The soldiers moved in perfect sync once they had to take action. A small team patched up the duo’s wounds, a messenger was sent to relay the news to the Warden, and finally, the remainder stood on guard.

There was definitely a reason the Dwarf, who usually remained obedient, had taken such a drastic action. The soldiers stood on guard, conducted maintenance on weapons and the fort, and became ready for war.

In the treatment room, Prince Pronto’s eyes shot open and made eye contact with the second Pinaka clone disguised as a soldier.

There were five Humans in the room, two within arm’s reach, two within a jump’s reach, and the last was close to the door. If they were quick, they could take them all out without issues. However, there was no need to take a risk. After all, simpler solutions existed.

“Argh!” Prince Pronto let out a slow, painful screech. His body then began to spasm.

“Quick, hold him still!” At the nurse’s shout, all the humans hurried towards Prince Pronto and held his spasming body steady. Now, they were all touching the body, which was enough.

“Heup!” Prince Pronto unleashed a kick. The hands holding the leg in place behaved like butter as the leg passed through and reached the Human’s chest. Using his back as an anchor, he spun while elongating his legs to the limit.

In one clean, circular swing, a thick, buttery line formed on the bodies of all the humans. In pieces, they collapsed to the floor, unable to even react. There was no bleeding as the cut section looked like a rubbery mess, but without wounds. There was a layer of epidermis on the cut section.

“A…” One of the doctors was severed at the hip, having enough life to let out a scream. But having been waiting for backup, the other clone plunged its hand into the doctor’s head, ending his life.

“That was swift.” Prince Pronto said and changed his appearance to one of the doctors. The second clone too assumed another doctor’s appearance.

They piled up the corpses in a corner and began to spawn Pinka clones, one every second. Though the Spell of Pinaka could be launched in a second, the Creation Factor was only enough to make the body in a second.

The room was large enough to hold twenty clones, all equipped with short bows and arrows.

“Count to 800, and then start shooting.” The two clones with authority spoke in unison and rushed out.

“How’s Prince Pronto?” A nearby soldier asked upon seeing the two doctors.

“He’ll live.” The clone responded. Upon reaching the corner, the duo split up. One walked towards the Human Gate while the other walked in the direction of the bridge.

They intended to attack from both exits to ensure the Humans couldn’t run away.

“Why are you here?” A soldier suddenly shouted, “You’re not supposed to leave the medical ward when a patient’s there.”

“I came out for a stroll.” The Pinaka clone said.

“Stroll?” The soldier’s expression morphed, and without hesitation, pulled out a sword, “That’s unlike our protocol! Spak! Who…”

“I messed up,” Pinaka winced. Extending out from his shoulder was a piece of bone in the shape of a spear. It had stabbed into the soldier’s forehead. Well, that was the intention. But being on guard, the soldier tilted his head fast enough to evade the attack.

“Monster!” He shouted and lunged with the sword, only to stab into a clone that had appeared suddenly.

“Ouch,” The clone winced as a few more of its kind appeared and surrounded the soldier, who had gone pale in response. One of them had gagged the soldier while the other stabbed him with a wooded blade.

“They are exceptionally trained.” The Pinaka clone didn’t have time and broke into a sprint, spawning clones every second.

“Intruder!”

“Elves!”

There were shouts as the soldiers rushed out one after another. The corridors suddenly caught fire, instantly turning the soldiers scarier.

Oil grooves traversed the walls. And upon being set on fire, the entire fort had flames brimming through it.

The clones fought the Humans, raining arrows. But fire blasted at them from every direction, burning them at speeds faster than they were being made.

“Tch!” Eyeing the Human Gate from nearby was Pinaka, clicking his tongue upon seeing he had recovered a unit in Control Factor, ‘One of the clones I shared my authority with is already dead.’

“They indeed aren’t an easy opponent.” Next to Pinaka was a ballista, drawn to its limit.

[Spell: Pinaka Arrow]

He loaded it on the ballista and launched it towards the fort. As it travelled, it caught fire, beginning to burn profusely. However, after Pinaka had transferred most of his stats to it, enough wood was being generated from it to avoid being burnt completely.

Thud!

A burning log managed to cross the lava moat and rolled onto the fort. Using the authority, the Pinaka clone jumped out and created another clone to transfer its authority before it went up in flames.

The new Pinaka Clone immediately began to create a swarm of clones to lay siege to the fort. However, since the fort was set on fire, the Elves didn’t have as much of an advantage anymore, especially since they didn’t have any authority to rely upon.

“It’ll fail, at this rate.” Pinaka sprinted towards the bridge, Pronto Staff in hand as he made contact with the Sun Stone controlling the bridge’s heat, “Activate it for me.”

The Sun Stone began absorbing all the heat in the bridge as Pinaka covered his legs with wood shoes and sprinted.

There was still some lingering heat in the bridge, which was unbearable. Thankfully, his shoes protected his feet from burning. It had still caught on fire though, and he was actively discarding layers of it while generating new shoes, buying a tenth of a second when necessary by using the Pronto Staff as a cane to balance upon.

The Sun Stone on the Pronto Cane absorbed the excess heat while Pronto hovered in the air. For the instant he balanced himself by holding the cane with his hand and lifting his body to the air, a new pair of shoes covered his legs. He then resumed his sprint promptly.

“Heup!” He skid towards the fort and thrust the Pronto Cane into the sea of fire, “Pronto, my dear,”

“Absorb it all.”

Authors Notes: Gangnea Daily Article 36: The Human Race on Gangnea heavily lacks in the field of chemistry, except for the parts that make things go up in flames. Phosphorous and sulphur were discovered and used in the Human Kingdom even before glass and metals.

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