War

Gone? How did it leave?

Gripping the hilt of her blade, Rosaline stared in the direction it had gone, her expression a mixture of disbelief and confusion. She almost convinced herself it was all a hallucination.

After a quick scan of her surroundings, she turned towards her magic-guided skateboard, no longer wanting to linger in this place for even a moment.

But in that instant, a minuscule movement from behind sent a jolt of alarm through her. She spun around, blade held horizontally, just as a bone blade slashed ferociously against her Alloy Combat Blade, unleashing a piercing metallic shriek and a cascade of sparks!

Just as she suspected, its departure was a feint! It had actually concealed itself in the shadows of the rooftop below, exploiting her anxious desire to escape to launch a deadly surprise attack!

"Bzzzzzt—Crack!" The effects of High-Frequency Oscillation and High-Voltage Current activated instantly. Rosaline surged forward, blade thrusting with fierce intent, attempting a counterattack.

However, the attacker had no intention of trading blows with the young woman. With a single touch, it retreated, creating a gap of several dozen meters. Using two pairs of thin, dragonfly-like wings, it hovered outside the rooftop.

Then, it lowered its head and examined the bone blades on its arms. The grayish-white bone material was clearly not as strong as the Alloy Combat Blade. After their brief clash, small chips had already appeared on its blades.

Yet, strangely, its face still bore that same mocking, malicious grin, as if it were completely unconcerned by the chips on its bone blades.

In the next second, under Rosaline's vigilant gaze, it transformed into a dark, fleeting silhouette almost too fast for the eye to follow, vanishing in an instant to merge with the shadows of the ruined buildings, leaving no trace.

"Twin-Blade Demon..."

As dusk settled, Ivette learned of this peculiar humanoid Aberration from her disciple's exploration report of Grayport City. Setting down her teacup, she unconsciously traced the smooth rim of the cup with her fingertip, a slight frown creasing her brow.

Rosaline had named the humanoid Aberration the "Twin-Blade Demon." Given its uniqueness, bestowing a specific designation was fitting.

She had long suspected that the "breeding" of Aberrations on this island would inevitably result in high-level Aberrations that even she would have to be wary of. Today, one had finally appeared—though this was also partly because she preferred staying in Ish City and rarely visited Grayport City next door or Luya City to the far north. If she patrolled the island more frequently, she might have had a chance to nip such threats in the bud.

What a troublesome fellow... she mused inwardly.

If it were merely powerful in a head-on confrontation, it wouldn't be so problematic. But this Twin-Blade Demon was clearly an assassin adept at stealth and surprise attacks, possessing such speed. For a fragile mage, it posed a significant threat. She could maintain her "Scarlet Armor" in a low-power state while sleeping as a defense against ambushes, but Rosaline couldn't.

Fortunately, on her way back, Rosaline had considered counter-reconnaissance measures and hadn't returned directly. Instead, she had used the city's underground sewers, which had been transformed into subterranean rivers with natural ecosystems. Otherwise, had her residence been exposed, a nighttime ambush wouldn't have been impossible.

"Teacher, I think that Aberration might have intelligence comparable to humans. It ambushed me, and it even smiled... It's completely different from any I've seen before," Rosaline said, her voice laced with worry. The memory of the humanoid smile she saw during the day made her feel certain she'd have nightmares tonight.

She wondered if her teacher would allow her to temporarily move into her room to sleep...

"Then let's classify it separately. A third tier, higher than 'evolved type.' Let's call it... 'elite type.' Its most prominent characteristic will be its high intelligence, and perhaps a talent for strategy."

Ivette pondered for a moment, her tone growing somewhat grave. "I'll go to Grayport City with you tomorrow. We'll see if we can deal with it and investigate the source of the Tide Worm anomaly."

The next morning, the midsummer on Ish Island was still bright and sunny, with clear skies.

However, with the Aberration anomaly in Grayport City on their minds, both Ivette and Rosaline wore serious expressions as they set out.

Along the way, Ivette also provided information regarding "Mount Ish" and "Luya City."

"Those are the two largest Aberration nests on Ish Island," Ivette stated.

"Nests?" Rosaline mulled over the word.

"I haven't been inside, and I don't know much," Ivette said, shaking her head as she drove. "But if Aberrations can truly breed and multiply, then the source should be in those two locations."

Many years ago, after escaping from the Abyss Base in the crater lake, Ivette had undertaken a journey around the island. Besides collecting uncorrupted books containing important knowledge, her main purpose was to survey the island's situation, ascertain the presence of human survivors, and gather ecological details about the various flora, fauna, and Aberrations.

She discovered that the intensity and density of Aberration distribution within Mount Ish and Luya City on the island's northernmost edge were far higher than in Ish City and Grayport City to the south, as well as the various town ruins along the way. Thus, she concluded that these two major gathering points were the most dangerous places on the island. If nothing else, the sheer threat of overwhelming numbers alone was enough to inspire awe.

The current events in Grayport City made her vaguely sense that the Aberration ecosystem on Ish Island was undergoing some subtle changes. However, the reasons for these changes and their future direction remained unknown.

Compared to Rosaline's previous exploration, Grayport City today was much quieter. Few Aberrations were encountered along the way. Instead, many wild animals had seized the opportunity to come out and breathe, leaping and darting through the forest-like streets.

A short while later, after driving the hovercar near the port area, Ivette followed the route Rosaline indicated, gradually moving deeper into Grayport City. Then, she heard the sounds of commotion coming from the city center.

They continued forward and indeed saw a vast army of Tide Worm Aberrations passing through the intersection ahead. Each was over a meter long, and there were several hundred to a thousand of them.

What was particularly bizarre was that, despite the hovercar being about five meters above them and seemingly within their aggro range, these Tide Worms acted as if they hadn't seen them. They allowed the two to observe them from the vehicle and continued their relentless advance toward their destination.

"Teacher, what should we do?" Rosaline was a bit bewildered. She had been ready to use her less-than-perfect remote spells to provide cover for their retreat, but the Aberrations' complete indifference was truly baffling.

"Let's see what their objective is," Ivette said, then maintained a distance of about a hundred meters, following them from the side.

"Won't we be attacked suddenly?" Rosaline asked nervously.

"I will handle it," Ivette replied calmly.

Hearing her teacher's composed tone, Rosaline immediately felt reassured.

In truth, after acquiring the Alloy Combat Blade and undergoing three years of rigorous training, she had developed considerable individual combat prowess. Even when sparring one-on-one with her teacher, she could often hold her own. However, dealing with swarms of weaker enemies remained her eternal weakness. Seeing a horde of monsters immediately made her feel apprehensive—after all, no matter how high the attack power of the Alloy Combat Blade was, it still required individual strikes. Facing too many monsters, how could she possibly defeat them all? She'd be overwhelmed in minutes.

It was figures of speech like her teacher who could clear out an endless wave of monsters with a snap of her fingers, unleashing equally overwhelming magical barrages, that represented the most elegant and true mage she aspired to be.

After flying over several city blocks, the hovercar landed on top of a skyscraper that remained only as a skeletal frame, entwined and enveloped by massive tree roots.

Stepping out of the car, they saw a bizarre scene of war unfurled below them, stretching across the landscape.

On the streets, a massive horde of Tide Worm Aberrations formed a constantly writhing red tide, advancing towards the city center.

And at the intersection in the city center, a mixed force of several hundred Aberrations, composed of various bizarrely shaped creatures, let out earth-shattering roars as they fiercely resisted the onslaught of the Tide Worm army—rotting worms spewed acidic fluids, multi-limbed behemoths swung their fists, and multi-headed birds of prey dived and tore like dark clouds...

Gazing at the chaotic, bloody, and horrifyingly inhuman spectacle, Ivette's eyes narrowed.

Undoubtedly, this was a war between Aberrations.