Thirty Four – Finding a drop of hope amidst the storm

It has been long enough.

I think it is better to try to get up.

I am getting hungry.

I am getting impatient.

I can stand.

My legs still hurt a lot.

I can walk slow.

I have gotten used to the darkness of this place.

I can some things even in the dark.

I think there is a door here.

I go to the other room.

There is nobody here.

Food had been left on a table.

There is also a ladder in the corner leading up to a trapdoor.

Subtle beams of light are coming through the cracks in the trapdoor.

It is still daytime.

In my mind, it is still the day of the battle.

I do not think I was unconscious for very long.

I could be wrong.

I eat what Kasamba left for me.

I need to regain my strength.

I am sure more battles lie ahead.

I must be prepared.

The very same gear I wore in the battle is also on the table.

My trusty combat knife is here.

I put on the armor.

Let me see what it is like outside.

I carefully open the trapdoor.

It is the kitchen of a house.

There is no one here.

Now I can hear the sound of the rain outside.

I climb out.

The windows are boarded up haphazardly.

An attempt to block things out or perhaps just hold the structure together.

But I think they would blow apart at the first explosion.

Whoever was doing this must have changed their mind halfway through and just fled in the end.

Outside, everything is very quiet, and the streets are completely empty.

I think I am in the northern part of the city, based on what I can see around.

If there are people that managed to flee and leave everything behind as quickly as possible, I imagine it was the people living on this side of town.

I think it is safe to go out now.

There does not seem to be anyone around.

Where would I go?

Wandering aimlessly does not seem like a good plan.

It is funny that I do not have a plan now, considering I had already prepared for the worst possible outcome. I tried so hard to map out an escape route, but when I could not find one, I simply accepted the end.

What now?

I could wait to see if Kasamba comes back here.

I find that unlikely, though.

Since we are at war, staying in one place is dangerous.

That is why I do not think I should stay here.

Come to think of it, I am going to check out the site of the other mission. I will take a look at the hangar where the prototypes were kept.

If They have been destroyed, great.

I will figure something else out later.

But if They are still there, I will take it upon myself to destroy them.

I hope they are not there, though.

Because if they are, it means everyone failed the mission.

I means Canny got defeated.

I am going to stay positive.

There is not a living soul on the streets.

Just pieces of rubble and debris scattered about.

From here, I can see the section of the wall I destroyed.

It was a significant portion.

Those gargoyles are impressive.

What once seemed like an impenetrable defense now has a massive breach in its structure.

Good.

That wall should not have ever been encircling the city in the first place.

The rest of it will be destroyed, too.

Soon.

The Council raised these walls.

Perhaps for defense.

Now they seem to imprison everyone inside.

A cruel twist of fate.

That is what happens when you try to isolate yourself from the world and start making so many enemies. You have to defend yourself on all sides, only to end up trapped in your own isolation.

Alone.

They started this war.

The fall of this wall must symbolize its end.

The end of all conflicts.

If it were up to me, I would spend every last drop of my magic running around the city to bring it down.

Maybe another time.

My legs are still hurting right now.

The good news is that the mission appears to have been a success.

The prototype hangar is in ruins.

It looks like the fighting was hard.

I still have to stay hidden.

There are troops and people here clearing away the rubble.

I think They are trying to salvage whatever they can.

It seems there is nothing left to help Olvad.

All his weapons have been destroyed.

All his allies defeated.

He is now isolated in this city.

I manage to get into the hangar.

There are signs of multiple explosions.

The other group did an excellent job.

But where are they now?

I doubt there are any clues.

Should I have just stayed asleep and waited for further orders?

I do not think I could sleep now, not even if I used the technique for it.

I should keep looking for them around the city, even though I think it is a wasted effort.

Maybe I should just leave this city.

But Olvad needs to be defeated.

I can not leave until that happens.

He wants me.

As long as I stay alive he will keep searching for me.

I need to be here now.

Ah!

A gargoyle!

It does not seem to be doing anything.

I was too distracted and did not hear it approaching.

They are very silent.

It is not doing anything.

It is not attacking me.

I touch the gargoyle, and it does not react.

It is just a statue, about fifty centimeters tall, shaped like a human body with wings that keep it afloat.

Looking at it this closely for the first time, it is truly funny that such harmless things can be massive weapons of destruction.

But they do not do anything.

They only respond if someone uses magic.

Otherwise, they just float around the city like ornaments in the sky.

Why is that one hovering so low?

Did it lose its ability to fly?

It is still floating, close to the ground.

It must have been hit by someone during the battle.

Now it is malfunctioning.

I wonder if I can use it somehow.

I have to hand it to Olvad. The engineering behind these little things is truly incredibly complex. Not that I was any good at artificing to begin with, but this is an incredibly meticulous work. Its magical circuits are practically endless. I have never seen designs like this before.

I use my knife to destroy the gargoyle.

Even though it can not fly, I do not know if it can still fire its laser. Having one less gargoyle flying around makes things safer for everyone.

Maybe I should find a way to shut down all the gargoyles at once. Locating and destroying them all, one by one does not seem like an easy task.

There must be a switch somewhere that Olvad could use to shut them down remotely. But he does not strike me as the type of person who would do that.

He is too smart for that.

Even after the war ends, I think we will have to destroy the remaining gargoyles one by one before using magic again.

Maybe I should do it now.

Try to find and destroy as many of them as possible.

During my battle at the wall, at least ten laser beams from the gargoyles were fired at me.

Are there really only ten gargoyles in the entire Capital?

I am not sure about their range either.

Maybe there were ten near the other side of the city.

There might be more out there.

So, perhaps the best option really is to go to Olvad. To try and find out a way out of him to destroy all these monsters at once.

I think this really is my best option for now: going after Olvad.

I have already looked for other ways out.

It does not seem to be any other.

The time has come to face the last enemy still standing.

Olvad, I am coming for you.