Defensive Gardening (10)

Glug, glug, glug, glug, glug, glug!

Two black chains were flying about while pouring containers of cooking oil and gasoline.

A third black chain was flinging unpinned grenades as far as possible into the crowd of oil-soaked smokesnares.

Booom!

Clumps of dirt and grey bodies turning into red sludge flew into the air before being absorbed by the rapidly growing sea of flames.

The fourth black chain utilized a flame thrower, recklessly igniting the fuel-soaked ground and smokesnares.

And when the fuel ran out, the canister was used to bat away the running smokesnares into the fire.

The fifth black chain, which had been doused in oil and lit, was used as a whip to drive even more smokesnares to their fiery deaths.

A group of six people were on a rooftop, trying to spread the flames while keeping it away from the building they were on.

Maggie, an old lady leaning heavily on her walker, was spreading out what looked like a knitted blanket of fire, burning anything that it touched before expanding to the next area.

Her daughter Amber was puffing heavily on a cigarette, her black-tipped fingers spread out while shooting whip-like streams of flames from each one. The whips would ignite the ground it struck, launching the ratlike smokesnares into the air or disintegrating them on impact.

Josue, a young man with tanned skin and curly hair, was stuffing flaming balls into bottles before lobbing them as far as he could and detonating them once they reached a proper distance.

"Fireball!"

Mathew repeatedly shot fireballs once he was able.

And, the cornerstone that allowed those four to use their fire abilities freely, Gassy was straining heavily while letting out consecutive farts.

His wind was circling the hill like a small twister, slowly picking up speed as it dragged the flames along in a circular pattern. It spread the fire across the land of the waystation, keeping anything from entering the peaceful center and pushing away everything.

Sparks flew, and the five people using fire and wind skills strained their bodies as they squeezed out all their energy to kill the things that had trapped them here once and for all.

At the center of it, all stood Alexei, the black chains coming from his wrist flying about like the wand of a maestro as he filled in the gaps of the people around him.

Everything, as far as the eye could see, was illuminated by flames.

It was a sincere effort to just destroy the smokesnares and the land with no intention of preserving anything but this building.

Although he would have preferred to fight a steady defensive battle, since the owner of the land wanted it to be blown to smithereens, Alexei would make sure everything was blown to pieces. Nothing bigger than a speck of dust would remain.

The sea of flames spread rapidly and burned away the white fog that had covered the area, slowly revealing the tattered cityscape that surrounded the waystation and the scorched ground as it spread.

The harsh afternoon sun beat down, and despite the wind attempting to push it away, the heat of flames overpowered it, dyeing everything a brilliant orange color while sucking the moisture out of the air.

The acrid smell of soot briefly entered Alexei's nose before a sharp wind blew it away while fanning the flames in every direction and even spreading it into the city.

With cold eyes, Alexei evaluated the destruction that was happening.

The previously lush green grass and plants that had covered everything were currently on fire. The dirt walls that Cyril had excitedly built had collapsed into the trenches after being baked by fire and rammed into by the panicked smokesnares trying to get away.

The bare ground had been soaked in fuel and lit on fire, turning the earth into an open oven with hot, hazy air. Even the area by the lake hadn't been spared, leaving a pile of black soot mixed with the sand with no smokesnares in sight.

They were running away.

The smokesnares screeched and scrambled to escape the flames that seemed to be everywhere, while the red sludge that had been sitting and staining the ground was slowly burned into ashes that released a noxious fume of gas that quickly dissipated in the wind.

Kkrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!

Pained shrieks rang out as the smokesnares ran amok, their previous orderly charge nowhere to be found.

No matter where they ran and what they tried to touch, it was all excessively hot, and they caught on fire as unknown things sprayed down or exploded on them from the sky.

Their limbs would burn if they stayed still too long on the overheated ground.

If they tried to rest in a group, a flaming whip or black chains would scatter them before herding them deeper into the flames.

There were only a few paths of escape.

One was to flee far, far away, back to where they came.

Those who weren't near the spreading fire fled in one direction as if following a trail home.

But for those trapped in the burning land, the only salvation was the hill, which contained the item that beckoned them.

The smokesnares slowly started to scramble up the hill. 

First, it was only one or two that made it, but as those ones called out, a final charge began as hundreds of them began rushing up the hill at once, trying to escape the hellscape that had been created.

"Fuck! They're coming!" Maggie cursed before dismissing her finger flame whips. Her hands were shaking from outpouring so much energy so quickly, but she couldn't stop.

She glanced at her mother, who had collapsed on the walker, before gritting her teeth, "I'll go down and take care of them. My ability works better for direct combat anyway."

"I'll help cover you from up here." Mathew chimed in, and he also stopped shooting fireballs with a gentle smile.

Alexei glanced at him coldly before speaking.

"Don't stop spreading the flames; I'll handle it."

Then he dropped down to stand in front of the doorway on the ground floor.

Phew.

After taking a deep breath, Alexei pulled all of his chains back, before stretching them out and creating a big loop that surrounded the hill like a fence.

Then, with another breath, he began stacking them on each other.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

His forehead finally began sweating as he felt the strain of lengthening the black chains and maintaining the stationary position of each one, but he gritted his teeth and forced them to stay locked in that position.

Then.

Bzzzz.

Bzzzzzzzz.

Bzzzzzzzzzzz.

Like the chains on a saw, the 5 black chains held up by his willpower alone began vibrating aggressively as they rotated at a high speed.

Then, the chains were placed in front of previously buried traps as they began to wait for the foolish prey.

The smokesnares, not understanding the difference between this chain and the previous ones that had been picking them off, continued to run forward.

Click-

A tiny click that couldn't be heard among the screeching smokesnares and the crackle of the fire.

The smokesnares that had pressed down on the switch continued to run past, headed directly toward the vibrating chain fence.

But in its wake-

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!

A landmine exploded.

Then as if setting off a chain reaction.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!

Land mines arranged in a circular pattern went off, blasting smokesnares into the air.

Those that somehow slipped past the mines ran into the vibrating chainsaw fence, which split them into numerous pieces before sawing the liquid into pieces in a continuous motion. 

No matter if they jumped or lowered themselves low to the ground, the rotating chains were there to grind them down.

Crystals were absorbed as quickly as they came out, and the chains continued vibrating and rotating, brutally grinding the smokesnares that charged into a red paste and then grinding the roach-like creatures that crawled out of the sludge.

As Alexei kept up the vibrating chain fence, not letting a single one pass, a pale figure dressed in all white emerged, holding a red gasoline can.

Leisurely, the figure began walking around and pouring gasoline over the entire hill, completely disregarding the smokesnares that were trying to charge forward and even whistling a happy tune in between groans of pain.

Alexei: ಠ_ಠ

Mathew: ಠ_ಠ

Everyone else: ಠ_ಠ

After watering the ground with gasoline, the figure wrapped themselves in a fire blanket, put on a gas mask, and deposited themselves next to Alexei before throwing a match on the doused ground.

Whooosh.

The blooming red plants with a sweet scent and green grass immediately ignited, flames rushing down the previously pristine hill and burning everything as the wind blew the flames away from the house.

The hill was now on fire, and smokesnares continued screeching in agony.

It was a peaceful time where one person was utilizing all their energy to dispatch the remaining smokesnares, and the other was alternating between groaning in pain on the ground, eating smores roasted on the flames that were destroying his property, and using a fire extinguisher when the fire got too close.

As no more smokesnares were visible, Alexei slowly stopped rotating and vibrating the chain, instead withdrawing it as the intensity of flames increased.

Seeing Cyril sit up with his eyes closed as he tapped the wooden step, Alexei asked.

"How are you feeling?"

Pale blue eyes with a red tint amplified by the flames stared at him before closing as the owner lay back down with a groan.

"Alexei."

"What?"

"Seriously, just kill me now. If it's still worth anything, give my inheritance to Amari once I die and cremate my body and flush the ashes down the toilet."

"Still?" The full question wasn't spoken yet, but it was still understood.

"Still."

"Your task?"

"Just end me now, please."

***************

Cyril grumbled while clutching his aching body as he rolled around on the ground before flopping on Alexei much to his disgust.

If you asked him if he felt refreshed, he would absolutely say yes.

The disgusting, painful sensation that had been crawling over his skin began disappearing once the flames began burning everything down.

Well, it was sad to see his landscaping project turn to ashes, but he had to admit that it was pretty fun watching everything burn down and even participating while wishing he could do this to H.E.L.P. Apocalypse Co.

It was a lot of fun, and his mental health felt utterly refreshed. So much so that he briefly forgot about the task as he roasted marshmallows while harassing Alexei.

But if you ask him if he felt better…

The answer would be an absolute NO!

Firstly, the task was not completed, Not in the slightest.

And secondly, it still felt as if something was digging into him from the inside out, and the sanctuary spark was still dull and not responding.

Since the pain was clearly not happening to him, it had to be the waystation was being hurt or injured somewhere.

He had expected the large-scale fire damage to make him feel worse or eliminate his previous symptoms, but for the most part, it was still there and hadn't increased due to the fire.

That immediately took away his assumption that any damage to the waystation land would affect him.

Resting his aching head on his knees, Cyril used his ability to sense what was on the waystation land.

Before, it had been completely muddled due to the rat creature swarming everywhere, but now it was clear.

There were the people packed in this building, a stretch of emptiness, and then nothing until the lake.

Moving past that, there was still nothing.

It felt completely clear, like nobody was around.

He felt like he was being gaslighted.

Something was clearly there and hurting the sanctuary spark, he just wasn't able to sense it.

"Alexei, this can't be all the rats, right? Which direction did they run away?"

"Northeast, why?"

Instead of answering, Cyril oriented himself toward the northeast and began focusing, not on top of the ground but below it.

Even though Fen had said he had dug around, it clearly hadn't dug deep enough.

And if this whole area was his, he should be able to sense if something was there, right?

That was the faith Cyril was using as his basis.

He began trying to see if he could sense anything in that area. There was nothing on top and beneath…

To him, it just felt like dirt.

Dirt.

Dirt.

And more dirt.

The deeper he went, the more effort it took to sense things.

His head began heating up, and he could feel hot liquid pouring out of his nose.

"Cyri enough."

Familiar, cold hands tilted his head back while stuffing something in his nose, but he refused to open his eyes or break his concentration.

There was something there.

There had to be.

He continued to check the ground, going as deep as he could until, finally, he felt it.

Movement.

And then…

An open space.

"Found it, you damn bastards."

With a face covered in blood, Cyril smiled brightly while slamming his fist on the ground.

Even with his lack of energy, the universal truth was that it was always easier to break something than to build it.

Accessing his landscaping skill, Cyril focused on the ground of the northeast area, imagining a hole being dug so deep it exposed the place he had found.

Whimsical gardening right? I'll show you the most whimsical hole in the world.

A low voice sounded out as Cyril slammed his fist into the ground once more.

"Earthquake."

The ground of the waystation began rumbling.