"Foul goblin! Say your part and be gone from our lands!" A loud shout echoed out as a figure jumped up onto the walls and stood imposingly.Lady Zera stared down at the goblin lord from more the 30 feet high walls, seeming not to care that she left herself exposed to targeted attacks. The walls were basically paper before a Mountain-level combatant such as herself, however, these same walls were the only barrier to keep out the swarming but far weaker goblin army.
Viru, the Bad Lands goblin lord stared back at Zera, his mood turning more sour by the second.
He raised his chin and looked up to ask in his booming voice, "Milady, are you the chosen representative of this settlement…?"
"What does it matter to you, invader! Either speak your part or get the h.e.l.l out of here! Don"t think we"re afraid of you!" Zera shot back quickly, acid in her tone.
"Very well, milady. It is simple. The ones who sent us request us, the Bad Lands goblin tribe, to retrieve an item that was stolen from them. May we inquire if you have heard of the Bell of the North Heaven?" Choosing not to retort in anger, Viru choked back some profanities and instead politely delivered the message he was tasked to. However, little did he know that these words would make the lady explode.
"Bell of the North Heaven?!? Stolen!?? Hah, hah…! Hahaha!" Lady Zera began laughing sarcastically.
She was about to reply when she heard sounds of commotion from behind her. Glancing back, she saw Elder Mash"noth das.h.i.+ng over, weaving her way through the group of warriors around.
Zera quickly leaned down to hear the grim news of a sneak attack. The Divine Beast hurriedly spoke a few short words, causing Lady Zera"s face to distort in sheer anger, before the cat shot off in haste, turning into a beam of light.
"Treacherous goblin sc.u.m! Not only you invade our lands, you want to distract us while you ambush us with evil creatures?!? If you want our thousand year inherited artefact that badly…" Lady Zera practically screamed as her expression grew cold. Her eyes flickered murderously and she hefted her spear, infusing Earth Pulse into it before she leaped up into the air and let out a great shout.
"Come and get it!!!"
A spinning, s.h.i.+ning green lance of destruction pierced downwards at the goblin lord below.
* * * * *
In the homestead, a teenage boy sprinted through streets and headed towards the cries of anguish. He began to circulate his Earth Pulse and Divine Light powers, making a mental count of the enemies he had to face as he prepared for his first actual battle in this world.
"1, 2, 3, 4… 9. A total of 9 that have escaped Elder Mash"noth"s team of Divine fighters…"
"9 that I"ll have to hold off until the Saint-level fighters could arrive". Lars" eyes were serious as his figure turned into a blur.
* * * * *
"Mommy… Mommy, I"m scared…" Wei whispered to her mother with a choked up voice.
"Shush, my baby… Don"t worry… We"re safe here…! The Divine Light is with us and will save us… Shush…"
They could hear screams, tears and sobbing outside as panicked residents fled out of their homes and into the streets while others tried to hide from the chasing crawlers.
The thud of feet falling was accompanied by terrifying shrieks – inhuman, bone-chilling shrieks that struck terror in every hearer. Every now and then, a great boom or explosion was heard from far away, causing the ground to shake.
The moment the chaos started, Wei"s mother had picked her up and brought her to hide inside a wooden box – one covered with various runes that glowed softly. Mrs Ling had held Wei close, a.s.suring her that they would be safe as they hid inside.
"My daughter, no matter what, we have to stay inside. This box has been blessed by the Divine Lord, we"ll be safe here… We have to wait for the Divine Beast to rescue us! You have to be brave, Ling Wei Young! If we"re brave, the Divine Lord will watch over us and protect us!"
Wei had nodded at her mother"s comforting words and promised to be good, promised not to cry no matter what.
They were now crouched inside that very same box and holding the lid closed from the inside, mother and daughter both shaking in fear. Mrs Ling stroked Wei"s face, trying to calm her daughter down and calm herself down at the same time.
"I"ll be a good girl… I mustn"t make any noise… I"ll be a good girl… I mustn"t make any noise…" Wei repeated to herself as she breathed as softly as she could.
Just like that, the minutes pa.s.sed and the noises from outside began to fade away, the cries and voices slowly growing dull and distant. Slowly grew clouded and m.u.f.fled, like the sound of echoes in a cellar. Gradually fading away.
Until it was silent.
The mother-daughter duo stayed alert, but after half a minute longer of silence, Mrs Ling breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Wei, I think it"s—"
The words stuck in her throat as she heard a rustling, then the sound of footsteps.
Footsteps that were coming closer.
Footsteps that didn"t sound like leather boots falling on the wooden ground, but more like soft flesh landing on the ground. Not like a pair of legs walking, but like a set of four limbs being used to crawl across the floor.
Unbidden, tears started to stream down Wei"s eyes while Mrs Ling"s chest grew tight. She grasped her daughter close to her and pressed her face against Wei"s soft black hair, holding back her own sobs as the footsteps approached.
"Thu-thud, thu-thud, thu-thud…"
They s.h.i.+vered and listened in despair to the sound of the four appendages. .h.i.tting the ground again and again until the sounds seemed to come from right outside the box – no, from *on top* of the box!
And then stopped. And turned into the raspy sound of a creature"s breathing from right outside the lid of the box.
"Please, no! Please, please, please, please! No!!!!!" A silent scream filled Mrs Ling"s mind as she held down the lid with all her strength.
A lid that began to be pulled open by an unimaginably great force.
"No!!""Mommy!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!*
"Thunk!"
*CRASHHH!!!!*
The ground shook and the lid fell back down with a solid thunk as the sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh was heard, followed by a crash of something being thrown through wooden walls.
"???" Mrs Ling was shocked, confused and in a daze, unable to respond to the sudden changes. She didn"t even notice her fingertips that were bleeding from trying to hold down the lid of the box and held Wei close to her chest, unconsciously smearing blood all over Wei"s face, hair and clothes.
Trembling in fear, the both of them froze once more when they heard another sound just beside the box. But when she realised it was a human voice, one of a teenage boy, she slumped back against the wall of the box, all her remaining strength leaving her body.
* * * * *
"Hmm… Not even hurt huh… Looks like crawlers are immune to Legendary or Mountain-level physical attacks… Interesting… I"ll have to test out Divine Light next, and if that doesn"t work, I"ll just deconstruct the inner energy formations…"
Lars a.n.a.lysed the sensation he felt when he landed a flying kick on the crawler that had been opening the box. Despite the blow being powered up to the Mountain-level with Earth Pulse and being launched at blazing speed, he felt like he had punched water. There was little feedback, feeling like his whole blow was dispersed.
"I wonder what is so interesting about this box… Oh, it"s covered in Divine Light – and it seems that there"s someone inside?" Lars walked closer and examined the box before opening the lid to free the people inside.
"Are you alright…?" Lars opened the box to find a mother and daughter holding each other closely, black hair unruly and faces pale as ghosts – so pale they nearly looked like crawlers. However, he could sense they were alive and humans, just like him, and he quickly helped them out of the box – before the crawler returned.
Lars held little Wei, easily picking up the 6 year old girl and placing her on the ground. Despite her wobbly feet, she bravely stood up, showing her strong will. As he then helped the woman out of the box, she gasped and tried to thank him, but he shushed her, urging her to rest and catch her breath.
"Let"s get you to safety. There"s a group of warriors led by Saint Ren just two streets away. I"ve already checked the area, there are no crawlers left. Head over now while I take care of the remaining crawler."
Mrs Ling hurried thanked Lars, bowing thrice before she held Wei"s hand and scurried to leave, but the girl pulled her hand away.
"Ling Wei Young! What are y-you doing! Don"t be disobedient! Follow mother now!" Mrs Ling scolded Wei worriedly, but stopped as she saw Wei bow deeply to Lars at the waist.
"Mr… Thank you so much for saving me and mommy…" She ran over to hug Lars at his waist, bringing a gentle smile to his face.
"You"re welcome, little lady. Now go with your mommy. It"s dangerous here." He patted her on the head and shooed her off, watching as she ran back to Mrs Ling"s side.
Smiling despite still having a worried frown, Mrs Ling chided Wei before picking her up and kissing her. Then she bowed and smiled to Lars before leaving to look for Saint Ren"s group.
"Please, come back safely…!"Little Wei waved back at him once more, before they both disappeared around the corner.
"Now for unfinished business…" Lars turned towards the darkness – where a certain crawler still lurked.