Myth//OS - Chapter 72 (Patreon)

Wumph!

A heavy thorn slammed into the creature’s head, easily punching through its hard carapace. A dozen smaller thorns followed right after it, expanding the fatal wound. It dropped to the ground instantly. It had size on its side, but it would still die just the same without its head.

The ones behind it didn’t seem to care that their kind died and surged out over its corpse. Their legs clacked against its body as they forced their way out of the rift and into my kill box.

I tossed Thorn’s Defiance to the side, and a tendril of white caught it just before it could hit the ground. Four more tendrils stretched out and formed crossbows of Ivorshroud. White bolts launched out at a steady pace. They lacked the killing power of my heavy sniper, but they did a great job herding the monsters toward me one at a time.

One of the centipedes reached me and slammed down with its entire body into a brutal sweep. I caught it on the edge of my blade and Braced for impact. It hit me like a truck, causing the street below me to crack as all the force was transferred down into it. 

My blade detached into segmented parts and whipped around the torso of the creature. With a sharp pull, the segments squeezed together into a serrated noose and cut into the centipede’s carapace from all sides without penetrating. Ether thrummed down through my blades reinforcing the edge. This time, it ground through the carapace with a sharp squeal and cut the centipede in half.

The next was on me before I could pull away. Wind Steps flowed down through me, and I easily sidestepped the creature’s attack. Another flick of my blade saw the whip sword wrap around its torso and the tip snapped right through it.

The strength of the whip sword was in the force it could generate. Much like a whip, the very tip of it could break the sound barrier and exert some serious cleaving power in the right hands. It was just incredibly difficult to use given its unwieldy nature and chance of harming the wielder. At least, normally. I could completely bypass that issue by cheating and manipulating the white Ebonshroud.

Two more centipedes surged toward me, closing in on my space. The whip sword in my hand tightened, and the segmented parts snapped together into one solid blade once more. I needed space to use it, and I was otherwise better off using just a normal sword.

A crossbow bolt slammed into one of the centipede’s beady eyes, making it stagger back with a screech. I charged the second and cleaved through several of its legs. It reared up to attack me—

Wumph!

A shot slammed through its torso and continued through it to hit two more centipedes. The hail of thorns that followed didn’t do as much damage, though they did cause several cuts to open up across the horde of centipedes.

I jumped up onto the fallen centipede and used it like a springboard to launch myself up onto the half-blind centipede. I slammed into its head, causing the thing to stagger as its posture broke. A quick downward thrust destroyed whatever the monster used for a brain. Hot ichor poured out of the wound and flowed past my boots.

”Nice job!” A shout came out from just down the street. A woman with a high-class camera took dozens of pictures of me, and next to her a man with a heavy video camera recorded the fight. Reporters. 

[Nighteye’s nose twitches. Crazy how they seemingly have no survival instincts. Even a newborn kitten is better off.]

Just the way it went, my dear Miix. I flicked my sword and caught another centipede just before it could strike. Profit followed risk for reporters, and most people were willing to throw their lives away if it meant a chance at a few more nytes.

A few minutes later, a fireball whizzed just past my array of constantly firing crossbows and slammed deeper into the horde. An explosion wracked the masses, killing three and staggering the rest. “

I pulled out my blade and allowed the shockwave to catch me. I was thrown clear off the back of a centipede and slammed back into my original position with a roll. “…?”

“Sorry.” The mage moved closer and made a series of complicated hand motions. Runes sparked to life around his hands as he prepared some other kind of magic. “Reinforcements are on the way. We just need to hold out for a few more minutes.”

“Yep.” I flicked my whip sword and caught a centipede just before it could approach. The tip of my blade easily cleaved through the side of its head.

My goal shifted from just protecting the mouth of my death trap to protecting the mage. He was putting out some serious firepower between his various fire spells. When they’d get too close, I fired a shot from Thorn’s Defiance to easily clear out space.

Between his AOE magic and my defensive capabilities, we didn’t give them a single step. The next several minutes passed by in a blur of boring combat. Mindless monsters just weren’t as fun to fight. They were instinctual, and lacked the brains to put up a challenge beyond their size and carapace.

The sirens grew closer and closer until one of the flying fortresses dropped into a low hover just above the street. A hatch on its backside slid open, and a heavy mech dropped out of it. The mecha crushed a centipede just in front of me, sending out a wave of the insect’s fluids.

The moment it touched the ground, two heavy chainguns held in either hand spun to life. Glowing blue arcanite rounds tore down the street, killing several centipedes instantly. Heavy shells poured out of the guns and slammed into the street with deep clattering sounds. The scent of gunpowder filled the air and merged with the heavy ozone from the storm above.

 Without even stopping its spray, the mecha took a crouch posture and a rocket pod on its shoulder sprung up and fired. The rocket vanished through the gate, likely doing even more damage to whatever was on the other side. It was a smart decision to throw it through the portal instead of allowing it to hit on this side. It greatly reduced the amount of collateral damage this place would have.

Throne had mastered the weapons of war, and every mecha was a serious threat. Even the upper ranks weren’t entirely safe from the pure amount of destruction they could dish out. It was why I never stuck around when I was an Anarch. I had faith in myself to maybe get away, but beating one of those things was out of the question unless I somehow managed to get close.

The mage next to me canceled his magic. The glowing runes fizzled out entirely, leaving just the two of us standing there. “Well… that’s that, then.”

I likewise withdrew my weapons. The Ivorshroud faded away, and my heavy sniper dissipated into a cloud of ambient ether. The Will Wire acting as a barbed wire fence slithered across the ground and slid up to wrap around my wrist. “Thanks.”

”I’m only glad I could help. What’s your name, Warden?” The man stuck out his hand.

”Moon. You?” I returned the handshake. He had a surprisingly strong grip for someone who looked like a scholar.

”Ah, I’m no Warden.” He lifted his hand and flashed a silver SIGIL at me. “Vincent Malory. I’m a mage with OuroSec.”

Right… Although Wardens had several advantages, such as being the only ones capable of going through rifts without external help, we weren’t the catch all of Bastion. There were just as many powerful people and hidden dragons amongst the masses not chosen by the OS. Even if every Warden in the city disappeared, I doubted Bastion would have any issues surviving the endless tide of rifts.

A hova with a heavy cannon strapped to its underbelly descended toward the street. It took pot shots at a few of the monsters, but the heavy mecha that took over the front line was doing a terrific job all by itself. The help really wasn’t needed.

The hova touched down, and VDS mercs poured out and onto the street. About half of them looked like medics, and they moved toward the ruins to look for the injured. The other half started to set up a defensive line. One of them, a Warden by the looks of things, waved her hand and barricades of rock pushed out of the ground for the mercs to take cover behind.

A flash of red caught my eye, and an Enforcer stepped out of the hova. He looked around the place, and his eyes caught on us. “Was it just the two of you?”

”I got here late. It was really just her.” The mage jerked his thumb in my direction. “I’d say about half these beasts were taken care of before I arrived.”

The Enforcer bowed to me. The flaps of his trenchcoat fluffed out around him. ”Throne thanks you for your services just the same. I’m Enforcer Crimson.”

“Moon.” I held up my SIGIL. The white array of runes and complicated lines churned to life just outside of my skin.

The Enforcer pulled a dataslate out of a satchel and scanned the SIGIL, then did the same for Vincent’s. “Your services will be remembered. Do you have time for an after action report—“

An explosion cut him off, and a bright light flashed down the street. One of the mecha’s missiles had exploded a bit prematurely, creating a crater in the middle of the street. 

“Ugh.” Crimson shook his head and glared at the mecha. “That idiot’s doing more damage than the monsters.”

“…” I smirked and shook my head to hide the flash of emotion. My Warden persona didn’t wear a mask, so my expressions were on full display.

Crimson cleared his throat. “Where was I? Ah, yes, the after-action report.”

I pulled out my Glass and checked the time. “Rift raid. Soon.”

”Ah, then you can go. It’s merely a formality. We’ll rip footage from the cameras around here and message you if something comes up.” Crimson waved a dismissive hand. “I’ll get someone to drop the reward by your place. You haven’t moved since registering as a Warden, yes?”

”Still there.” I glanced toward the mecha tearing through the centipedes. The tide had slowed down, and there were dozens of corpses scattered around the exit of the rift. Rifts like this could stay open for hours or days, though, so the battle was far from over. 

I took a step away— “Oh! One more thing, miss Moon.”

”…?” I turned back to face the Enforcer. He had a video of my fight against the centipede pulled up on his dataslate. The flashes of light flickered in the soft drizzle of rain.

His eyes were clinical, and glowed with the light of chrome as he looked me over. “Your… ability—the one that makes that white ooze—I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Can you change the color freely?”

”...” I likewise eyed him, though kept the guarded expression off my face. “Purely white.”

”Interesting, interesting.” He made a note on his dataslate. “Alright, I think that was it… I might personally come by to bring your reward, if that’s alright?”

”No problem.” Why was he suddenly so interested in me? I suppressed a frown and stuffed my hands in my pockets. 

Enforcer Crimson nodded his head a few times and turned away from me to the other man. “What about you, mage?”

”Eh, I guess I have nothing more important…“

I walked away and tuned them out. The rift I had rented was just a few blocks from here, so I worked my way toward it. Or, at least, tried to. I got half a block away before the reporter chased after me like a rift beast attracted to blood.

“Warden Moon! Warden Moon!” The lady jumped in front of me, blocking the way forward. “Mind if I ask a few questions? The people really are curious about the next rising star of Bastion!”

“…” Reporters… There was a similar job back in Serhymn. It wasn’t as prevalent, but they were just as big of a pain in the ass.

She took my silence as agreement and waved over her companion with the video camera. They casually fell in step alongside me. The cameraman skillfully walked backwards, keeping up our pace and somehow not running into things. 

Should I ditch them—wait… this might be a good PR stunt. Lucia would probably be happy if I gave Cernobog some more positive publicity. I could answer a few questions as long as they weren’t too prying.

“Okay! Smart viewers have noticed you’re exceptionally skilled with multiple kinds of weapons. I saw as much when watching you fight off the breach!” Excitement practically filled her voice. It looked forced, though. “Were you trained? Or did you learn on the fly?”

”Both.” Over centuries. I was officially trained in swords, spears, and shields back in Serhymn. The rest I picked up after imitating the various weapon masters scattered around my homeland.

My thoughts drifted back to familiar faces… They were good friends and companions. Or, at least, most of them. They didn’t deserve what happened. How things ended. I shook my head and purged the memories of cheerful times from my head. I was better off without the baggage they brought.

The reporter pushed on to the next question. “Why did you choose to be a hero? And, of course, stay and fight the breach! Most Wardens these days would flee from the scene.”

“I was there.” It was as simple as that. There was no deeper reasoning other than the rift made me spill my coffee. That seemed kind of petty in hindsight, though, so I kept quiet about it.

“What do you do when you’re not saving the beautiful citizens of our great city?” The reporter asked.

”Watch. Glitch Scouts.” A small smile sprang to my lips. Unfortunately, before I could get deeper into my greatest hobby, we reached my destination. I stopped at the door and waved goodbye.

”Ah—thank you for your time, Warden Moon!” The reporter didn’t try to keep me any longer and let me go.

Was she really even a reporter? I thought they were supposed to be more pushy… or maybe she was a little intimidated by watching me brutalize those monsters earlier? It didn’t really matter. I pushed the thought from my head and moved toward the rift.