Spearbound Ch. 67

He had come across plenty of roving bands of goblins and gnawers, but there wasn’t a specific point of origin. They appeared randomly scattered.

He heard a rustle beside him, but he ignored it.

Kade had long deactivated [Suppression], his presence helping to keep most of the weak monsters from bothering him. For the ones that seem to be more brainless than the others, [Goblin Slayer] came into play.

The mostly useless [Title] finally did something after the Class F Rift Zone.

Kade ignored the nearby goblins cowering around him. “System, show me the closest Class F Rift Zone.”

An arrow pointed to the right.

149 Miles

Kade hadn’t processed his confusion when the interface changed. The arrow now pointed behind him.

150 Miles

It kept changing, and the only constant was the quickly increasing distance. Kade dismissed the interface with a frown.

“System, what’s going on with the Class F rift zones?” Kade sent Hellion to the last known location without waiting for an answer, since he didn’t really expect one.

“The progress made by humans has rendered Class F Rift Zones unnecessary. All monsters within are to be released on Earth in 3 days.”

Kade froze, expecting to hear something about some super team clearing the rift zones, or several near the city, for whatever reason. It reminded him that the System made and enforced the rules, and it could change without notice, without warning, just like now.

“Eliza, Finn, the System told me all monsters in Class F Rift Zones will be released on Earth within three days. Forget about hunting them down and prioritize rescuing as many people as possible in the wildlands. There are level twenty monsters from the rift zone that will rip through most of those people.”

He changed his orders to Hellion, switching from looking for rift zones to searching for wanderers. There were millions currently within Chicago’s boundary, but he knew well that was just a fraction of how many were still out in the wild, trying to reach Chicago or some other safe zone.

Eliza: Finn is tearing his hair out. He’s reforming the groups to be larger and more complementary, but there aren’t enough people higher than level twenty to guarantee safety for all. I’ll go solo soon.

He had been intending to ask her to do exactly that—

Thousands of humans in a makeshift settlement. Besieged by goblins. Hundreds of bloody deaths painting the ground red.

Kade sucked in a deep breath and disappeared, much to the relief of the goblins that could finally move.

Trees blurred by as he sprinted to where Hellion found the settlement, which was, unfortunately, hundreds of miles away. It would take him nearly an hour to cover that distance.

Kade directed Hellion to create a perimeter around the humans and prevent anything from passing. Anything more complex, and it might cause friendly fire on Hellion’s part.

***

Kade’s chest heaved as he sucked in big gulps of air. He had overextended himself and had almost depleted his stamina. Not that he wasn’t aware that it would happen, but more like he had no choice.

Hellion kept him updated on the situation. The ember falcon hadn’t been able to prevent all deaths after he acted, but it was better than the massacre that would have taken place.

It was all Kade could ask for when the humans Hellion tried to protect were extremely combative. They likely thought Hellion was another monster out to take their lives, though all his actions were to the contrary.

Crisis led to illogical thoughts.

He stepped onto a field on fire. There were faint signs of ruined buildings and the weed-like trees, but all evidence of their existence was being erased by the second.

Kade ran his fingers through the flames and sent an approving praise through the bond. Hellion had held back and did his best to temper his power during the attacks.

He rushed through the fire and emerged inside the perimeter created by Hellion to see people panicking like headless chickens.

Most of them seemed to break down mentally, and the minority were trying to strike Hellion with rocks and spells.

Kade found it hard to fault them when he saw the body parts strewn across the ground. It was a gruesome sight that he had seen through Hellion’s eyes, but it still hit him hard from seeing the carnage himself.

“Another one! Kill it!”

Kade experienced a sudden barrage of attacks, most of them spells of some sort. He summoned his [Soulrend] and whipped it in front of him, deflecting most of the spells and negating the rest.

“I’m not a monster!” Kade yelled over their panic. “And neither is my companion up there. If you haven’t noticed, the bird is the reason you all live.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Some still didn’t trust his words, understandable considering they were bleeding out copiously. The rest lit up with joy at getting rescued.

“Are you a healer? Please, we have too many that can’t hold on any longer.”

“Help us killed these damn monsters! I can’t stand knowing they’ll get away with this!”

“When will the backup arrive to help us rebuild?”

Kade’s eyes flickered with irritation. He sympathized with the wounded and he didn’t have great solutions for them, but the audacity to ask for help in rebuilding their makeshift settlement boiled his blood.

He did the mature thing and pretended he didn’t hear it.

“All healers are occupied in the city. The outbreak of monsters is happening everywhere.” Kade called Hellion to descend. “The best chance for the wounded to survive is to stop the bleeding until you all get to the city.”

“No! This is our home. We won’t leave!”

Kade’s instinct was to kill the woman who said something so stupid. He stared at her arm-less form with a clear warning. “I’m not here to debate. Stay and die, or head to the city for safety.”

He nodded to Hellion, who spewed targeted flames to cauterize the open would of his missing limb. He ignored the pained screech and addressed the crowd. “Form a line! Hellion will cauterize all your wounds to stop anyone from bleeding to death. You can regrow any missing limbs after you level up.”

“Really?” a teen asked, his voice cracking in the middle of the word. The boy’s right arm was gone, ripped off near the shoulder.

Kade gave him an appraising look, impressed by his composure. “I had my forearm cut off before.” He waved his left arm. “See? You can’t even tell.”

His reassurance calmed the heavily wounded, and they quickly got in line before Hellion.

Kade waited patiently until everyone in line had their turn. Hundreds were whimpering in pain as they clutched their newly cauterized wounds. He directed Hellion to search for other wanderers while he stayed behind.

“Should we leave for the city now?” The teen with the missing arm asked.

“No,” Kade shook his head. Most of his focus was on Hellion, shifting through the images he received. “A group this large would be easy pickings for the goblins. I’ll lead you to Chicago myself after I get more survivors together.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Kade paused, liking the kid even more that already did. “What’s your name?”

“Um, Danny?”

“Danny,” Kade nodded. “I like your initiative. Just keep your people from annoying me and you’ll have done more than your fair share.”

“They’re not my people,” Danny scowled. “But I’ll try.”

Kade was sure there was a story behind that, but he didn’t care. He watched Danny go right to the woman that asked for help in rebuilding the settlement.

He raised his brow at the loud argument that followed. Danny seemed to win.

Kade turned his attention back to the bond and finally saw something that interested him. Another settlement that was under siege, but faring much better than expected. However, they would still fall without more help.

He called Hellion back to protect the people here before rushing out to provide that help.

***

Kade was on the way to the umpteenth group Hellion had found when he came across a couple.

His [Soulrend] pierced all five goblin mages, conveniently lined up side by side, before they could kill the injured couple on the ground.

Kade called the [Soulrend] back to him and said, “Head that way for twenty-ish miles. You’ll meet a large group of survivors. I’ll be leading them all back to Chicago soon.”

The couple agreed with stammering words and scrambled to their feet before heading in the direction he pointed. Not long after, he received unwelcome news.

Finn: The monster waves we’re facing are too strong for the defenders left behind.

Kade froze before cursing loudly. There were tens of thousands more to save within the travelable radius of the city, likely more since Hellion hadn’t searched the other areas.

“I’ll head back now.”

He had no choice but to abandon the rescue efforts to keep the safe zone secure.

Kade directed Hellion to keep the rescue survivors alive. Unsurprisingly, his companion was reluctant to keep doing such a thankless job, but didn’t a promise of a reward convinced him from rejecting the request.

He wasn’t sure what the reward would be, but he was sure the shop would have something.

“Finn, it’ll take me an hour to reach the city. Ask the System for my location. There’s a large group of survivors that need an escort back to the city.”

Kade tried not to think of the fate of the people he was leaving behind, but keeping the safe zone intact was paramount. Even the slightest danger had to be met with overwhelming force.

Finn: I noted your location, but it’ll take some time to send the escort. The defenders can hold for an hour, but the monster waves are getting stronger each time. It feels like it’s building to something unpleasant.

Kade recalled the corrupted troll he had to battle in the Class F rift zone. It was a pain in the ass to kill, but he didn’t think they would cause much issue.

… Unless there were a lot of them.

He stored his [Soulrend], and the surroundings blurred as he ran to Chicago.