Chapter 259
The sound of a loud command ripped through the night air, raw and laced with a fervent madness.
“Destroy it all! Lay waste to Orario! Advance to the Guild Headquarters and slaughter anything in our path!” Olivas’s voice, a gravelly roar, echoed across the amassed ranks of cultists, each word a hammer blow igniting their dormant bloodlust.
Upon hearing their commander’s decree, a feverish zeal swept through the assembled evilus. There was no hesitation.
No second thought.
Only an immediate, furious unleashing.
A deafening storm of spells, magic-infused weapons, and explosive devices erupted, raining down upon the unsuspecting western districts of Orario.
The night, previously cloaked in uneasy quiet, was ripped apart by a symphony of destruction. Flickers of explosion became rolling thunder, painting the streets in stark, fleeting brilliance. Buildings groaned, then collapsed as the inferno spread, setting Orario ablaze once more, a ravenous beast consuming all in its path.
Amidst the cacophony of ruination, a timid voice, barely audible above the din, cut through Olivas’s exhilaration.
“M-master Olivas, are you s-sure this is right?” A young, trembling underling, face pale with fear, clutched at his tattered robes.
“Lord Erebus and Mistress Valletta advised us not to act until the time was….”
The words died in his throat as Olivas’s gaze, bloodshot and intense, snapped towards him.
A wave of palpable scorn emanated from the commander.
“Shut it and follow orders!” Olivas retorted, his voice a low, dangerous growl.
He stepped closer, his shadow falling over the cowering cultist.
“I care not for their cowardice!” he roared, his eyes blazing with an almost unholy conviction. “Why delay what is inevitable? Why dither when destiny beckons?”
With passion burning like a conflagration in his heart, Olivas spun to address the horde, his arms flung wide as if to embrace the destruction they wrought.
“Orario stands at the gates of its demise, my brethren! It is up to us, and us alone, to push them through that threshold! We need not idle when our foe is weak, when they are vulnerable! We must finish them off tonight and bring an end to this cursed war! Unleash your evil! Unleash your power!” Olivas roared, his infectious passion spreading like wildfire through the ranks.
A unified, guttural bellow answered him, a chorus of unleashed fury. “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” came the roars of the evilus soldiers, their morale soaring to unprecedented heights, their eyes blazing with a singular, fanatical madness.
Olivas’s speech had reignited their dwindling bloodlust, fanning it into a towering inferno, a primal hunger as potent as the rage that had driven them on the very first night of the war.
Some of the evilus more unhinged members had, in truth, grown restless and dissatisfied with the slow, passive nature of the recent skirmishes.
The calculated caution of Erebus prior plans had grated against their deprived natures, forcing them to restrain their inherent destructiveness.
But they hadn’t dared voice their displeasure before.
Now, an upper-echelon evilus commander was not only offering them release but demanding it. How could they not be thrilled?
Like wild beasts finally loose from their confining cages, the evilus soldiers surged forward with a mad zeal.
They poured into the streets of Orario, a tide of death and destruction, flooding the struggling city with the cries of the dying, the metallic tang of spilled blood, and the piercing screams of despair.
…………………………………………………………..
“How can there be so many…?” Ryuu’s voice, a mere whisper, echoed faintly within the cavernous silence of the church.
She had instinctively pressed herself against one of the tall, stained-glass windows, glimpsing at the horror descending upon the city.
Through the intricate patterns of colored glass, she watched, transfixed and horrified, as a ridiculous number of evilus soldiers swarmed through the streets.
Like termites bursting through splintered woodwork, they spread relentlessly, an overwhelming tide.
Their sheer numerical advantage surpassed anything revealed on the first day of the war.
It was unfathomable.
Erebus, on the other hand, didn’t so much as blink at the sight.
If anything, a faint, unsettling amusement played at the corners of his lips.
“Oh my,” he murmured, his tone light, almost jovial.
“To think that child, Olivas, is at it again. I specifically remember warning him to rein it in, and now he does this right in front of my very eyes.” Erebus’s voice held a conflicting mix of disappointment and a peculiar, almost paternal pride.
Olivas was likely unaware that his master, concealed within the church and shrouded by Alfia’s powerful magic, was observing his every action from such close proximity.
The obscuring aura around the church made it impossible for ordinary adventurers to notice anything amiss.
Smiling with an unnerving, predatory grin, Erebus turned to Ryuu, his eyes glinting.
“While that child Olivas is being rash—probably navigating some rebellious phase, his foolish actions have, quite unexpectedly, given me a rather fun idea.”
He clapped his hands together lightly.
“Alfia, my dear, can you make sure no one interferes with those wayward children? Also, retrieve Zald for me. As for Mors, he should have returned from the dungeon by now; just tell him to go cause some chaos or something.” Erebus instructed, his expression still jolly, as if planning a delightful picnic rather than global catastrophe.
Alfia, her expression a mask of open disinterest, merely raised an elegant eyebrow.
“You wish for us to help make more ‘noise’?” Her voice was like ice, chilling the already oppressive silence within the church.
“I don’t recall joining the ranks of your fawning sycophants, Erebus.”
However, Erebus seemingly brushed her chilling pressure off like it was nothing more than a stray breeze.
“Oh, don’t be a spoilsport,” he chided, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“Tell you what, do this one little thing for me, and I will never request such silly favors from you again. Cross my heart.”
Seeing that Alfia remained stubbornly unyielding, her presence radiating an almost tangible protest, Erebus decided to sweeten the deal, upping the ante with what she wanted.
“I will even advance the main plan to execute absolute evil, just like you want,” Erebus added, a smug, knowing grin spreading across his face.
Alfia paused, her sharp mind attempting to discern the hidden meaning behind his smug grin. Erebus notoriously laced his words and actions with deeper, often sinister, implications.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Oh, are you perhaps worried about leaving me alone, perchance?” Erebus teased, his voice dripping with mock concern.
“If so, don’t be. If anything were to happen, I am sure my boy Vito would come running to my rescue. Between him and my horde of loyal followers running around out there, I think we can handle one little elf, don’t you agree?”
“Hmmf, I don’t have time for your mind games,” Alfia scoffed, her disdain evident.
“Very well. I will do as you say. Hopefully, you keep your end of the bargain, Erebus.” With a dramatic flutter of her long, ashen hair, Alfia turned on her heel and glided out of the church, her form dissolving into the shadows the moment she crossed the threshold.
Immediately after her departure, the oppressive pressure and the suffocating silence that had filled the church seemed to dissipate instantly, causing Ryuu to gasp, jolting out of her stupor. “The people…!” she muttered, stumbling to her feet, her mind racing.
“I-I have to go save them!” The desperate cries of the innocent echoed from outside, a siren song of suffering.
Without waiting a moment longer, she bolted towards the door, completely forgetting Erebus in her frantic haste.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Erebus’s voice, sinister and laced with an icy amusement, came from directly behind her, causing Ryuu to freeze mid-stride.
“If you so much as take a single step out there, I will call Alfia back,” Erebus threatened, closing the distance between them with unnerving speed.
His breath, cold and strangely sweet, tickled her long, pointed ears.
“You have already experienced her strength, little elf. So you can imagine how many more she could slaughter if she went on a rampage out there.”
Ryuu felt as though she was bound by invisible iron chains, pinned to the spot.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage.
She knew Erebus never joked when it came to these things.
And for once, her inaction, her forced helplessness, was for the good of Orario.
To move would be to condemn even more to death.
“Good girl,” Erebus whispered, his hand gently caressing her hair, a shiver of revulsion running down her spine.
“We are going to stay right here.” He paused, his voice dropping to a silken, chilling tone that sent another tremor of ice through her.
“And watch as everything you know burns to the ground.”
……………………………………………………………
“The evilus are attacking again!” The scream of a civilian, raw with terror, ripped through the air of a western refugee camp.
“Aaaaaaaaah! Somebody, help us!”
Various screams, cries, and panicked shouts filled the smoke-choked air.
Whatever few makeshift structures made up the nearby camps were swiftly flattened by the relentless onslaught, their flimsy walls offering no resistance to the explosive magic.
Bystanders, their faces contorted in terror, ran in every direction, a desperate scattering to escape the encroaching flames and the advancing tide of monstrous figures.
It didn’t take long for the evilus madness to begin spreading, first engulfing the western suburbs, then pushing relentlessly towards the outer edges of the northwestern district.
Their planned route was clear: they intended to sweep through the outer edges of District Seven under the shadow of the city walls, then advance eastward, directly towards the Guild Headquarters.
Everything in their path, they torched, leaving a gruesome trail of destruction and despair as they moved.
“They are attacking us now? But… why?!” cried Asfi, her voice laced with disbelief and a growing panic as she tore towards the northwestern factory district.
She needed to quickly gather aid from the nearest camp and explain the terrifying, unexpected situation.
Asfi was seriously shaken.
Finn had assured her only hours ago that the enemy was content with minor raids and skirmishes. He had promised that no large-scale attacks would occur for at least a few more days.
Did this situation mean Finn was wrong?
“No,” Asfi quickly denied the thought, shaking her head vehemently.
That was unlikely.
“Some of the evilus must have gone rogue,” she speculated, desperately clinging to the belief that this was an anomaly.
The enemy’s haphazard, almost chaotic movement showed no indication of serving some greater, hidden agenda.
They were disorganized, extremely chaotic, wildly different from the methodical, terrifying precision the evilus had displayed when Erebus himself had led them on the first day of the war.
“Asfi!” a familiar voice called out from her side, snapping her from her frantic thoughts.
Asfi skidded to a halt, turning to see Falgar, her loyal war tiger and deputy, running towards her. Behind him followed the rest of the Hermes Familia, their expressions grim but resolute. “Falgar! You’re here too?! And you brought everyone else!” Asfi exclaimed, a flicker of hope amidst her despair.
“We are here to help, Captain,” Falgar replied, his voice firm, his gaze sweeping over the unfolding chaos.
“I don’t know if it’s good fortune or not that we were all nearby, but we will need all the aid we can muster. There aren’t enough adventurers stationed in this area to repel this force without immediate reinforcements.”
“That’s why I was heading to the factory district,” Asfi explained quickly, a deep frown etched onto her face.
“Riveria-san and the Bahamut Familia should be stationed there. We really need their help.” She clenched her fists.
“It’s not just the enemy that outnumbers us, Falgar, but the civilians as well. Despite the many warnings and even force applied, many stubbornly remained, refusing to evacuate to the inner city. They preferred to form these flimsy camps at the outer edges. Now we have to deal with this entire mess, and save them too!”
“So, what do we do, Captain?” Falgar asked, his eyes fixed on her, awaiting her command.
Asfi paused for a few agonizing seconds, contemplating their limited options, the screams of the innocent echoing in her ears.
“Ugh, since we are all gathered, we should send the weakest members to various nearby camps to request reinforcements, while the rest of us hold the evilus back until they return.”
To her, it seemed like the plan with the highest likelihood of success.
Little did she know, the factory district, their intended destination for aid, was about to face an even greater, bone-chilling disaster…
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