The Calling of Wrath - Chapter 19 - Release

                                                                         Cassandra
                                                         Year 819 | Month 1 | Day 12

Another day, another tri-coin.

I suddenly pause in the middle of a clearing at the thought.

Now that I think about it, I don’t have any money on me, do I?

And revealing my identity is probably a bad idea while invaders are all over the world.

So how am I going to get back to the capital?

I lean back to look at the still-blue moon while scratching my head at the problem.

The first thing that comes to mind is to become an adventurer, but that isn’t usually a very well paying…

My thoughts trail off as I realize the possible benefits towards adventurers right now.

Adventurers are usually just hired mercenaries who specialize in fighting monsters and other creatures that are a lot stronger than the average human. They have to be skilled in combat to an extreme level in order to make up for their lack of physical strength and often fight in large groups of two or three dozen, with the exception of the knights who decide to become adventurers instead of ruling over a fief.

But with the invaders here, they might just be getting a large boost in jobs…

A loud boom echoes throughout the entire area, startling me into jumping up slightly before a wave of red light flashes through the night, covering everything in sight.

“What the-” I cut off again as the red light vanishes. “Huh?”

Several seconds pass in silence, and right as I’m about to begin moving forwards again, a Global Announcement note appears in front of my vision.

My mouth parts slightly, only to close again as another one of those mirror things from before – something the old man apparently calls portals – appears on the other side of the clearing from me. Except this one is slightly different in that it’s a pure red portal, and I can’t actually see the other side of it.

A few seconds pass with the only noise being the breeze – which fortunately is no longer anywhere near as strong as it was yesterday – passing through the foliage, and the strange buzzing sound coming from the portal.

Is this one of those monster release points the announcement was talking…

My thoughts trail off as a large… thing… steps out of the portal.

The creature has an insect-like body spanning about two meters in length, with two antennae, twelve legs, two very large, black eyes, and a deep black chitin making up its exterior.

When I look into its eyes, the usual identify appears, making a shiver go down my spine.

Uh…

I slowly begin to back away as quietly as possible. Meanwhile, several more very similar, yet slightly smaller creatures appear from the same portal behind the first.

After identifying one of the newcomers, I let out an inaudible sigh of relief to see that they’re only Tier 1, unlike their leader.

Suddenly, the queen’s head abruptly turns to look at me, causing me to freeze in place.

It didn’t seem to notice me when it first appeared, only turning to look at me when I started moving.

Which means my only chance of survival…

A loud commotion echoes from nearly a kilometer away from us, drawing the creatures’ attention towards it before they all break off into a sprint towards the sound.

I stare off at their vanishing figures in the forest before eventually letting out a sigh of relief.

It looks like they either use movement or sound to sense things.

Putting those creatures aside for the moment, does this mean the center of the Dark Forest has a bunch of higher Tier monsters in it now? Because that’s… not good.

Are Tier 2 monsters able to shatter the barrier at the entrance of my cave? Or sense me through the barrier?

I spin around at the sound of a stick being broken, only to find a tiny little bunny having just landed on one several meters away from me with its glowing red eyes staring directly at me.

Just a bunny…

Wait…

Glowing red eyes?

I identify the creature, only to almost instinctively jump away right before it leaps at me and crashes into the ground where I was just standing.

Another new monster? Also, looks like it’s a rabbit and not a bunny.

This one’s just Tier 1 at least, so I should be able to take care of it.

Although the deep footprints it left in the ground from that leap don’t look all that reassuring.

I sprint forward with my claws raised to attack, only to end up hitting air as the rabbit leaps away again. It then leaps straight back at me and kicks me in the side, sending me rolling for a few meters.

“I just got kicked…” I grunt after coughing out a little bit of blood before quickly climbing back to my feet and finding the rabbit already mid-leap in my direction again, “…by a damned rabbit.”

Right as it’s about to hit me, I turn my body to dodge and quickly stab my claws into its unprotected back, digging them a few inches deep before using its flesh as a handle to grab it and slamming it down onto the ground as it lets out a strangle cry of pain.

The rabbit tries to turn its head around to bite at my hand, but I just step on it with my foot, pushing its face into the ground as I dig my claws even deeper into its body before eventually finding its heart and ripping it out.

For such a cute little fella, it sure is… berserk.

I glance at the tiny little words at the top left corner of my vision stating ‘+20 EXP’ before walking away from its corpse.

Why do I feel like every time my life is about to take a turn for the better, everything just gets worse instead?

But at least it should be easier to find fifteen monsters together at one place than before…

And-

I turn my head to look towards one of the several commotions I can hear breaking out in the distance.

-it looks like the new monsters aren’t taking all that kindly to the old ones.

Which might just leave my map as useless.

I grimace at the thought of all of the work I put into it before shaking my head and quietly continuing my way to my cave.

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Table of Contents

For those of you who can't read the image:

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Global Announcement

Twelve days have passed since the Initialization of the origin plane Midgard.

The System will now begin to release the frozen monsters from their slumbers.

These monsters were sealed by the System ages ago to keep the various planes safe.  However, the seal is no longer strong enough to hold all of them on its own.

The monsters’ release points will be spread throughout the plane in areas that already have monsters to keep them from causing too much damage immediately.

Good luck, locals of Midgard.

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Name: N/A

Species: Vethrokin Queen

Level: ??

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Name: N/A

Species: Scarlet Rabbit

Level: 10

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