The Systemic Lands
Chapter 138: Day 326 (3) – Viewpoints 12

Sam

The Black Horned Crows were on our break when the alarm was sounded. I looked at my four teammates. We were going to kill this bastard Ritualist and what he had done to our friends.

Still, that didn’t do anything for my nervousness. “Stand ready!” I heard General Gerald shout from up above on the wall. I readied my hand to unleash Acid Shot for when monsters broke through the door.

“Archers nock! Draw! Loose!” Arrows went flying from atop the wall into the approaching horde. I could only wait in anticipation.

“Nock! Draw! Loose!” Another volley of arrows sailed down from the wall into the approaching horde.

“Spears ready!” The Captain with the group of soldiers with us shouted. The Union teams were to anchor the flank next to the wall.

“Fire at will, near the wall! That large clump at the back!” I heard the General shout from the top of the wall.

“RADIANT BEAM!” I heard the shout from the top of the wall and then there was a blinding flash of light. A cheer went up from the waiting people behind the gate. We only had one attacks of those every four hours or so. I noted the gate was drooping slightly. It was being melted.

The gate burst apart. “Acid Shot! Acid Shot! Acid Shot!”

“Entangling Roots! Entangling Roots!”

Scores of werewolves died, but the corpses didn’t turn to dust and more monsters rushed behind them. They charged into the spears and impaled themselves like a scene out of a zombie movie. More hybrids rushed in behind them.

“Acid Shot!” The monster went down but there were more behind it. There was more shouting, but I didn’t pay attention. “Acid Shot! Acid Shot! Acid Shot! Acid Shot!” Monster after monster collapsed into a growing pool of acid, but more kept charging. The lines were buckling!

The bell began to ring. That was the sound to fall back. “With the soldiers! Acid Shot!” A weredeer went down. I suddenly felt a headache hit me. We retreated into the city as a second line of people formed up a spear line.

“Ahhh!” One of the soldiers suddenly screamed and collapsed. His companions dragged him back. More people began to suddenly collapse.

“Steady! Steady! Hold all of you!” The Captain shouted. Another soldier went down screaming as we continued to back up. They weren’t pulled back in time and a slime carried by a wolf landed on them, quickly silencing their screams.

“Stand together! Stand togeater!” The Captain shouted. I was swinging my sword as my team retreated along the wall with monsters pursuing us.

General Gerold

The beam of light swept out from the top of the wall. At least 20 monsters were killed, but that barely made a dent in the horde. I noticed weredeers and white deer standing a short distance from the wall, but not attacking. An archer collapsed to the ground. Mental attacks! Champion Michael had warned us about them.

“Target anything white! Slimes, deer, weredeer!” I shouted as another archer collapsed to the ground. More arrows were loosed.

We were doomed. The horde was large, and I had noted forces splitting off for the other gates. I felt a mental attack slam into me and barely remained standing. I picked up a bow and began firing as well.

“Keep firing!” I saw blood drip down onto my hand as I nocked an arrow, but it wasn’t the time to worry. I could get a regeneration for my nose bleed later. Another white deer was hit!

One of my men ran up. From the North gate, that wasn’t good. “General Gerold! Alert from the North gate, 200 monsters spotted and attacking. Holding, request reinforcements.”

“Run back towards the plaza and take a detachment of the militia,” I commanded and then loosed another arrow.

“Yes sir!” The messenger ran off. I nocked another arrow, found a target and loosed. Captain Chris came up to me.

“Gate is holding, but slimes are melting through. Got the militia sorted out for when the gates fall. Rounded up every archer.” I noted people with bows quickly firing down into the horde.

“Target the white deer and anything else that is white! Mental attacks!” I called out for the new archers.

“We are fucked right and proper, aren’t we?” Captain Chris asked.

“Just about.” Another messenger ran up, I recognized them from the South gate.

“General Gerold, attack at the South gate. Around 200 monsters, they are attacking. Holding but request reinforcements.”

“Take a detachment of the militia,” I said.

“Yes sir!” The messenger ran off.

“We need everyone we can here.”

“All our skill users and people with stats are here.” What we needed was four more people with Radiant Beam. If only Michael had gotten more people with that skill, we could have swept the field clean. Or Clarissa had allowed the points to upgrade their stats. Unfortunately, one team was lost trying to kill the plant bulb and Clarissa refused to call Michael back for anything less than a full-scale crisis or attack to authorize the funds.

She refused point blank to allow a single crystal go unless it had his permission attached to it. I could only sigh at the foolishness, but it was what it was.

So, we were stuck with the one person and it would take them 4 hours to regenerate the 100 energy needed for the attack.

“I am headed back down. See you at the victory party,” Captain Chris said.

“I will bring the booze,” I replied and loosed another arrow. I still didn’t spot the Ritualist. If I had thought he would have shown his face, I would have held the Radiant Beam in reserve. Well, the next use would be for just that if I could spot him.

Lady Shi

“There is an attack at the North gate. The General ordered a detachment of the militia to respond.” The soldier was clearly scared. Everyone was scared.

I had lived through quite a lot, but a horde of monsters was certainly a new experience. Louis turned towards me. “Lady Shi, take command of your group and head to the North gate.”

“Got it,” I said. “Let’s go people!” There was shouting and we quickly set off along the outer edge of the city. The messenger was with me.

“What is the situation?” I asked.

“Around 200 monsters attacking in force.” That was a large number. I had faced worse. I wasn’t about to meekly accept my fate after all that I had survived. Fitting that I was going to the North gate. If only people could live in peace.

“Run on ahead, we will be right behind you.”

“Ah, yes.” The boy ran off. So young. All the deaths were so sad. If only we didn’t have to fight. Some people blamed Michael, others Ken. I just wanted everyone to get along. But that was impossible. And now I had to fight for my life.

I had heard the rumor about the Ritualist using people to make monsters. I knew that Michael was not one lick better. Evil lurked in the hearts of all people and the lust for power. That was why I stayed completely out of any of the power struggles.

People needed their hair cut. I wondered who cut the Ritualist’s hair? We reached the North gate after an hour of very fast walking, everyone was exhausted as water was handed out.

I was in charge of my 100 people, so I needed to get them sorted. A Captain came over. I recognized the rank based on the uniforms. Elise had done an amazing job she was quite talented. “Lady Shi, we need your people at the gate, the slimes have almost melted through.”

“They need a minute to catch their breath.”

“A minute, no more. Also brace for mental attacks.”

“Brace how?”

“Just be ready if people nearby you collapse.” That wasn’t good, not good at all.

“Alright, we need to stop the monsters at the gate. Everyone let’s line up! Stick with the people you trained with and don’t panic!” I shouted. Everyone nodded and quickly began to move.

Clarissa

I was standing at the store with my guards along with Vice General Smith. Everyone who could breathe had been pressed into the militia and sent to the East gate. I was at the plaza along with sixty guards to coordinate if needed, as an emergency reserve force, and to guard the store pillars.

I had my five guards with me, bringing the count up to 67 people total. The crystal reserves had been brought out to the store pillars, so we only had a single point to protect and guard. If the treasury got stolen again, I knew I wouldn’t be alive for long. I knew Michael enough to know he would make an example of the next person to let the treasury get stolen.

I noted guards on the nearby rooftops keeping an eye out on the streets. The walls were too far to make anything out with the obfuscation effect that covered the Systemic Lands.

It was also troublesome to set up a chain of relays. We had tried, but it was still a work in progress. Too many people needed, when they would be better spent fighting.

“Flying monsters from the Northeast!” One of the guards on the rooftop shouted. I looked in that direction. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴøᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Line up, be ready to fight”, Vice General Smith called out.

“If they are flying, we need bows,” I said.

“Yes, bows. We need to get bows. Where?” He was clearly panicking. Now wasn’t the time to panic.

“Chest, lift,” I ordered my guards. Defending the treasury counted as a useful expense for the treasury. They lifted up a chest. I quickly cashed in the 50,000 points and purchased 6,000 arrows, and 40 bows for 50,000 points. Arrows were 5 points. Bows were 500 points.

It was a sight to watch all of that appear in the air above the pillar. I kept my hands on the pillar so they wouldn’t fall to the ground. There would be a slight time delay once I took my hands off the pillar, but no need to cause a mess.

“Grab a bow and be ready to shoot. Don’t hit other people!” I called out. The guards quickly grabbed bows and arrows.

Once most of them had been taken. I picked up a bow and arrow along with two of my five guards. Wood, leather grip, and a string. It was flexible enough and I didn’t know anything about bows, so went with the standard model the guard had decided on.

I spotted the monsters. They landed on top of a building and just waited there. An arrow was loosed but fell short and clattered on the plaza stones.

“Advance and shoot them down!” Smith called out. I stayed where I was and the soldiers advanced. Smaller ants began to burst out of the ground.

“Summoners! Melee to the front to block them. Archers, take down the summoner monsters!” I called out. I was a secretary not a military commander dammit!

That was when a woman ran up to me. Not now. I had placed the pregnant women in Michael’s home, since they were in no condition fight, and it was secure building with reinforced doors. If this messenger had come out, that meant one or more had gone into labor and there were complications. A restoration was needed, and I controlled the only free crystals currently in Purgatory.

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