Chapter 8: Incursion

The ground shuddered as another explosion went off accompanied by a wail that sounded like amalgamated screams and whines. Ezra was scared. He had only caught a glimpse of a dark blob before Captain Merit sent him to the ground to help the evacuees from the city onto the beach.

No one knew what was going on, not even the evacuees. All they heard were screams and then the guards told them to run towards the coast. And if there was one thing that scared humanity the most was what they don’t know.

Ezra shivered as he saw mauled bodies being carried towards the coast on a stretcher. He and his colleagues attempted to block off the bystander’s view, but one would catch a glimpse of it and then panic would spread like a plague.

Crowds of people had begged and screamed for Ezra to tell them what was going on, but Ezra was just as clueless as they were. He was just a squire. Whatever the problem was, it was enough to make Paladins panic and start running towards the city.

He never saw Venerable Wulf of War’s eyes widen in shock when he heard that indescribable cacophony. If there was anyone that should break down, it was him and other people at the same level as him.

Indeed, the soldiers that served outside of the Camellia Army and the Imperial Army were breaking down around him. If it was not for Captain Merit’s calm demeanor and Lady Etma’s voice of assurance, Ezra would have too along with his fellow soldiers.

“Ezra, report.”

Ezra swivelled to a stark brown-haired man with a goatee and saluted. Despite looking fatherly, his black eyes were sharp and vigilant, a mark of a veteran.

“The panic is not waning, Captain. It seems the battle had only made the people more erratic.”

Captain Merit clicked his tongue.

“Is there something we can do?”

Captain Merit shook his head.

“Just remain calm. If we break down, fear would truly take over.”

“Yes, sir.”

Keep calm. That was easier said than done, especially with that deafening wail. What was making those sounds? It did not sound like something that should even exist in this world.

A deafening scream suddenly cried out from the back of the crowd. To Ezra, it was normal. With everyone panicking, screams were just one of the many noises within the crowd.

However, another scream rang out. There was a brief silence, interrupted by a man making a guttural scream as if he was being devoured.

“M-Merfolk!”

All hell broke loose. Crowds of confused people pushed against Ezra, threatening to trample him. Some soldiers attempted to push back to retain some sense of order, but it was in vain. They were pushed down and were crushed under the stampede.

Ezra could see blood and innards being thrown around in the back. Then, there was that foreboding bell.

Ezra froze in fear. Why are merfolk here in the middle of the day? Isn’t it too hot? Would they not shrivel up faster from dehydration?

However, the fact remained that the merfolk were attacking. Hordes of them. Dehydration? There were thousands of people on the coast, just bathe in their blood.

“Ezra. Ezra!”

Captain Merit grabbed Ezra’s shoulder. He could feel the metal barrel of the captain’s pistol scalding his shoulder.

“We’re on the clock! Don’t lag!”

Right. Ezra needed to protect. If he stayed here, everyone here would die. He drew his pistol and pushed through the crowd, keeping his pistol aimed at the sky. He channeled mana into a glass chamber onto the glass chamber in the handle of the pistol.

A man was about to push past him when stiletto-like claws pierced his head. As the body dropped, Ezra could hear a guttural chirp that almost sounded like laughing.

Ezra had never met the merfolk before they were Rotten, but from what his more experienced colleagues had told him, they looked just like them except they have gills, fins, and some scales on their arms, legs, and body.

However, the only similarity that a human shared with the thing in front of him was that it stood on two legs and that it had a human-like body. The Rotten merfolk’s fleshy skin looked like a frogs, its claws were as long as a stiletto, and its head… They looked like a fish’s with its lower jaw protruding further than the upper jaw lined with needle-like teeth.

The merfolk’s bulging white pupiless eyes landed on Ezra. It tilted its head like a bird before opening its mouth, revealing dozens of its tiny worm-like barbed tongues. Ezra aimed down the pistol into the merfolk’s mouth and pulled the trigger, expelling the mana out of the open end of the barrel. The mana immediately converted itself into a firebolt, blasting off the upper half of the merfolk’s head.

Ezra quickly channeled mana into the pistol grip, unsheating his saber in a wide slash to behead a charging merfolk. He aimed his pistol at another merfolk and blasted its head off.

A merfolk attempted to bite down on Ezra’s shoulder. Before Ezra could dodge, its head was blasted off by a firebolt.

“Stay vigilant, Ezra!”

Captain Merit dashed towards the merfolk horde. He dodged past a slash, shot the merfolk in the back of its head with his left pistol. A claw came from behind. The captain bent backwards, the right pistol shot through the chin. Using the body, he threw it against a charging merfolk, spinning around to kill another before aiming his pistol through the pinned merfolk and shooting twice through the body.

It was truly a showcase of skill, but Ezra had no time to admire it. He was dealing with his own horde, slicing through the merfolk’s weak necks with ease while shooting a firebolt through their mouths. He did not have Captain Merit’s intuition or experience, but he did have something that made up for it: his element of affinity, the Star.

Just as the North Star guides travellers towards their desired destination, Ezra would always be guided to where he needed to be, whether it be an actual destination or the most efficient way to kill an entire horde.

Ezra’s eyes sparkled as he sidestepped a merfolk coming at him from behind, allowing it to stab the merfolk in front of him. Ezra pinned it down with his foot as he slashed down another before finishing the merfolk off.

The rest of the soldiers were faring well. Despite the initial chaos, seeing the Camellia army and the Imperial army facing the horde head-on without casualties, the other soldiers’ morale increased and joined in.

It only further increased when the Knights joined in as well after ensuring the safety of the civilians.

Ezra watched as a horde of merfolk was cleanly sliced like a swathe of fabric, their blood splattering across the sands. One young man slowly walked forward, shaking off the blood from his uchigatana. The merfolk surrounded him, but the man remained calm with his eyes closed. In the blink of an eye, the merfolk had disappeared into a bloody mist.

Sir Blade. What he cut shall be cut.

On the other side, a brown-haired woman wearing a nun’s veil stabbed through a merfolk with relative ease with her stiletto swords. She threw both of them, piercing two more in the head. Another merfolk stabbed into her stomach, but she smiled as a stiletto flew back into her hand, allowing her to stab the merfolk before it could chomp her head off. Pushing the claws out of her body, her wounds began to close itself with her blood flowing back into her.

Lady Etma. Everything will go back to what they were.

Ezra found himself more reinvigorated. His slashes were cleaner, his reactions were faster, and his wounds were closing. In the distance, the voice of a man with greying hair carried vigor and strength. A barrage of firebolts assaulted the oncoming horde of merfolk.

Sir Irwin. All shall be rejuvenated by his presence.

Ezra found himself with less merfolk to kill. That was for a good reason: a tanned woman with burning red hair ripped and tore thriugh the horde like a wild animal on the loose. Her scimitars sliced through the horde with no resistance and her movements were erratic and unpredictable. The merfolk somewhat shied away and even retreated as she continued her hunt.

Lady Artemisia. All she see is prey and prey are to be hunted.

They were the Dark Knights of Camellia, the strongest knights in the entirety of the Empire.

The merfolk horde was being pushed back by the overwhelming power of the Knights. In this rate, everything should be over in a few minutes.

That was when Ezra spotted a long gargantuan shadow deep in the water. What is that?

The water’s surface broke as a wide open jaw charged for Ezra. Captain Merit pulled Ezra back just as the jaw snapped shut. The soldiers of the beach watched as a scarlet scaled pillar began to slither out of the water and into the air.

A scarlet red serpentine being with two long whiskers and a mane of veined bristled seaweed blocked out the Sun with its massive size. Its back was lined with razor-sharp fins and its jaw opened unnaturally, splitting into four jaws: a top, a bottom, a left, and a right. However, that was not what was unnatural. It was the fact that it was levitating. There were no wings and seemingly no mana. It just willed itself to fly.

Ezra felt the ground before him shook. No, it was not the ground, but himself that was shaking. A piercing chill began to seep into Ezra’s bones. Even the Captain was speechless from the sight.

He had only heard of legends of such creatures. Before them was a true dragon, a Loong.