Monsters of the Gate

I have spent my days researching, once again in the library. I looked once more for the Sable King, but found no trace of it. Eventually, I found enough evidence that supported Sir. Walters claims, I must deliberate with Uda on our next move. On my way home, I felt as if someone had been watching us.

…

A strange man visited us. He gave no name, but introduced his allegiance, the Deviants. To think the millennia-old terrorist organization would approach me. Oops, he referred to it as a secret organization. Regardless, he stated that they have taken in Sir. Walters, and are offering us a seat. I had no time, I took his deal.

I must resolve this so that we may meet again, Lunia.

 -Excerpt from the recovered journal of Absalon Ramorski.

♕♛♕♛♕♛♕

The walls circled the merchant city, becoming one with the cliff it was carved out of. The simple brick and mortar wall had stood for hundreds, if thousands of years, and not once had it been breached.

“So what's the plan?” Hiiro asks as the group reaches the gate.

“We need to find a… There.” Helia looks at a knight standing next to a large gate. The knight's armor reflects the setting sun's warm glow. The gate is made of thick wooden logs, nailed together in a lattice pattern.

“What can I do for you, miss?” The knight says as the six of them approach.

“We’re here to help out, see.” Helia hands the knight the paper the receptionist had given her.

“Hm? Oh, gotcha.” The knight looks up from the paper. “Go towards the gate, next to it is a door, you can get on the top from there.”

“Thank you.”

…

The six look over the outside of the city from on top of its walls. The sun's warm glow fills them with painful remembrance of the day, of which it signifies the end. It bathes a large road, a forest stretching as far as the eyes can see.

“Just get what you can.” A knight says. “Damn things have made the road useless, the only way into the city is by train now.”

Looking into the open space between the trees and the wall, several bizarre creatures can be seen: Small, humanoid creatures with mushrooms growing out of their head and green skin, deer that split at the midsection like an accordion, boars with swords where their tusk should be, and bears whose arms stretch multiple meters.

“W-wow.” Hiiro can't help but say. He had been taught about monsters, but had never truly seen one (Minus the dragon).

“Okay, here's the-”

““Hinotama,"” Hiiro calls out, a sense of lost time easing its way through his mind. A large ball of fire appeared in his hand.

“Wait!” Eris calls out, attempting to stop Hiiro.

“Hya!” Hiiro throws the fireball at a group of small creatures with mushrooms growing out of their head. The fireball blazes towards the monsters, easily the size of a medicine ball.

As the ball closes in on one of the creatures, it simply disappears.

“Wha!?!”

“Do you ever listen!?” Eris pulls him back.

“W-what happened?!” Hiiro cries out, confused.

“What happened? Don’t tell me you didn’t listen to the lessons?” Eris places her hand over her face. “Magic without a base does not affect monsters. They eat the mana in the air, making magic like what you just did, useless.”

The creature who had been targeted runs towards the wall and breathes, attempting to melt the stone. A moment later, it’s dispatched by a long spear wielded by a night.

“Okay… What I was saying is this.” Helia attempts to regain attention. “Two of us will maintain a cover fire from up here… The rest of us will descend and fight the monsters… Ms. Wróbel, what's your plan?”

“... I'll fight.” She says, looking at the monsters.

“Wait… If magic can’t be used, how will you make a cover fire?” Hiiro asks.

“Look at the floor.” Helia points to the floor, holes dot the stone work, some are filled in with concrete, while others dig deep enough to threaten to swallow a person. “By using magic to heighten the velocity of a rock. The monster can eat pure magic, but not physical objects.” Which is why you need physical mediums when using magic. Helia explains.

“Okay…”

“Alright, who's going to stay up here?” Helia asks.

After a quick deliberation, the consensus is reached that Manako and Eris would remain atop the wall. Neia, Hiiro, Helia, and Wróbel would engage in close-quarters combat.

“Ready? Let’s go!” Hiiro screams, jumping off the side of the wall. The three others following behind.

♕♛♕♛♕♛♕

The katana, damaged though it is, slices cleanly through the bear's stretched arms.

“Grahhh!” the bear screams in pain.

“Kiru!” Hiiro shouts, closing the gap and slicing the bear in two.

“Hah- Haah-” Hiiro breathes heavily. Some time had passed since the beginning of their job. The sky, which had been a warm orange, had turned to a light pink, signaling the end of the sun's shift.

Looking around him, several monster corpses are strewn about. Around 2-3 dozen is his best guess.

Hiiro looks to his left. There, a woman in black is standing atop a pile of monsters, each headless. The pile itself matches the height of the walls of Lycynal. The woman barely looks fazed, simply watching the battle beneath her.

Periodically, stone arrows would fly past Hiiro’s head and hit a monster dead in the face. At one point, when Hiiro had begun diving into a dense pack of monsters, an arrow had landed just in front of his feet, as if saying, “Don’t you dare.”

“Gya!” A small mushroom-headed creature runs towards Hiiro. His sword slices easily through its head, separating the mushroom. Are these guys really the goblins in this world?

Hiiro turns his head to the other side. There, he finds the glasses-wearing, class president character, Helia, facing off with some deer.

Helia dodges a deer ramming towards her (Rather than running, its accordion-like midsection extends towards her), and locks eyes with the deer. The next second, the deer's hind legs are where she had been. Hiiro quickly turns his head towards where the deer had been, and there Helia is standing, a knife in the skull of the accordion deer (Name pending).

My ability is focused on attack, which makes it useful against monsters. Her ability is more agility-focused, which must be more practical… Wait…

Hiiro, confused, looks around for a moment. From Helia to Wróbel, then back again. No matter how hard he searches, the blond-haired, scary-eyed girl is nowhere to be seen.

“Alright, let's fall back!” Helia calls out.

They all regroup atop the wall, Eris making footholds along the wall, which then collapse.

“Hey, where's Neia?” Hiiro asks, reaching the top.

“Right here.” Their voice calls out from behind.

“Where were you?”

“Over there.” Neia points to a patch of grass that would have been blocked by trees from Hiiro’s view.

“Oh…”
“Hm, I saw them,” Helia says. “We’ve done some damage. Especially Hiiro. We need to hurry back.” The group nods at Helia.

On their way down, with the backdrop of thanks and praise from the knights, the group speaks with the Knight next to the gate. He writes something on the paper and hands it back.

“Great job.”

The group returns towards the guild, leaving the wall behind them.

♕♛♕♛♕♛♕

An hour after Neia and the rest had left.

“Gah, that woman was Hot~” The knight says, looking down the street in the direction the group had walked. “That black suit really made her-”

“Hey.” A voice calls out from next to him.

“Hm? Gh!” A scaly red hand wraps around his neck.

“I’m not going to fail this time…” The ruff, anthropomorphic lizard, said with anger piercing every word.

“Hk..!”

“Piss off.” The man squeezes tightly on the knight's neck. The knight's whole body erupts into flame.

“Gaaaah!” His scream echoes down the street. The fire, melting his armor, causes it to drip into a pile at his feet.

“Tch.” The man drops the corpse into the liquid metal. He reaches into his pocket and grabs a small key. Moving to the box the knight had been standing next to, the key is inserted into a small hole and turned. The boxes cover unlatches, and the man lifts them away, revealing a lever.

“Stop!” A knight calls out from atop the wall, forcing a spear towards the man.

The spear lights on fire, melting long before it reaches him.

“Shut up! This party’s just getting started!” The man says as more knights flood in his direction.

“FFTTTT.” The man whistles. Reaching to the lever and pulling it down.

Clank, gorororro

The gate rises, slowly allowing monsters to flood through.

“C-captain!” A knight calls out. “It- It’s a HORDE!”

A wave of monsters floods towards the city.

“Let's! Get! This! Started!”