Ouroboros

Chapter 5: Battle for the South District

Solaris threw his sword at where he was landing and warped to it. He checked his watch. “Five minutes.” He hesitated starting his timer. He knew five minutes wasn’t enough to clear this amount of monsters. After a moment, he started it anyway. He decided that it would be better. He slowly approached the chaos. Solaris drew his gun and with a silent signal he threw his sword at a harpy, impaling it. He warped to the harpy and blew its head off with his gun. He removed his blade and threw it again, repeatedly. He would throw his blade and to stake its target. If that didn’t kill it, he would use his gun or follow through with a slash when he warped to it. 

From above, Frea observed him. All she could see was the faint light of his warp spell activating, yet it was happening so frequently that it looked like a ribbon of light, dancing around the rubble and destruction. “Captain,” a guard was awed, “he’s doing it.” Frea acknowledged in silence. The man that they were about to execute moments prior was performing the impossible. He was saving the district. 

Solaris’ body began to steam. His five minutes had long since passed. He didn’t care. He now possessed the power to save those in front of him. He would no longer sit idly by as others were killed. He heard a faint child’s cry. He stopped in his tracks and quickly scanned the environment. He saw two silhouettes surrounded by orcs and goblins. As if his curse was responding to his needs, the mark on his hand glowed. He felt a surge of energy and ran towards them. He was moving faster than he ever had before. An orc was about to crush the two silhouettes, boys. Right before the orc could slam his club down, he was interrupted with steel meeting his brain. The boys’ widened their eyes as Solaris warped to his blade. They saw him, the Calamity Marked. He was just as they imagined he would be, covered in blood and oozing with bloodlust. Yet, his eye, they felt as though they were lied to. It didn’t spark fear in them. It gave them hope.

Solaris quickly began to dispatch the monsters near the boys. With each stroke of his blade, an orc was slain. With each shot of his gun, a harpy fell from the sky. With each warp, his fatigue grew. His movements grew sluggish. Attacks he could perceive, predict, react, and dodge started to reach him. Still, he did not falter. He thought this emotion was gone, this feeling of adrenaline. Solaris struggled to stay on his feet, but the monster army did not know. They feared him. One human had nearly cut them all down. Then their eyes met his, and it was as if his own soul stifled them. A haunting presence shot out from Solaris, no, at this moment, he was Ragnarok.

A passerby noticed the lone fighter. Inspired by the actions of Solaris, he picked up a wooden board and began attacking the monsters. More and more individuals began to rise up, following the man. One of them, a prisoner, whose convoy was attacked during the initial invasion, instead of fleeing at the sight of freedom, picked up his dead guard’s sword and fought back as well. He was more adept at fighting than the spur-of-the-moment militia. Wherever Solaris could not be, this prisoner was. Solaris was about to be stabbed in the back, but was saved by this prisoner. They exchanged a nod and returned to fighting.

Frea hastily assembled the cavalry and guards of surrounding districts. The South District was no longer lost. The calvary of Altea rushed past the surrounding barriers, mowing down the monsters. Just then a loud BOOM was heard. It was the behemoths that blew a hole in the wall. 

Behemoths are large, usually quadrupedal creatures. They had thick hides that shared a similar texture to a horse skin. They sported tusks and two horns that were used to skewer their prey. Lastly despite their size, they were highly agile due to their feline heritage. They possessed some degree of mana manipulation as well. They could charge a massive blast in between their horns, which when released, caused devastating damage. However, behemoths were noted to be highly solitary and territorial creatures. They were like tigers, just extremely more menacing. One behemoth was about 20 meters long, 10 meters wide, and when they stood on all four, 15 meters tall. One behemoth required an entire brigade. There were five in the south district.