Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 23
Stez walked in with a grim expression.
“Stez, why are ya back? Did ya miss me already, heh?”
“Marticia Oasis three, they were attacked, and they didn’t make it out. A frenzy happened not only by us but near four other oases. Everyone else just managed, but Oasis three, they’re gone.”
Marty’s smile faded as she realized Stez was not messing around.
“Multiple frenzies…that doesn’t happen. This isn’t the pattern. They usually make a move on a single tower at a time but for them to try and take down multiple, this whole situation is just wrong.”
“No doubt. Abnormalities happening back to back. Something must have changed. For established patterns and routines to suddenly change after remaining the same for thousands of years, a new variable seems to have been introduced, but as of this moment none of the other oases know what it could be.”
Kazuki as well didn’t know what was going on. He was brand new to this whole place and did not know exactly how things went. He wondered what the next move would be.
“What happens now?”
Marty also wondered about the fallen oasis.
“What about Oasis Four? They crashed but there’s always a chance at survival. Last I checked we were pretty close to their location. We should search the wreckage and make sure.”
Stez shook his head.
“No, now is not the time to put others at risk. Besides, you already know the chance of survival from a crash on this world. For a God, they would be fine but we Demigods wouldn’t be able to survive if the core of the tower exploded. The whole area would be glassed.”
“We can’t just give up. Even if the chances are small, we gotta try.”
“I said no.”
…
“Fine, ya don’t wanna go, then I’ll take my glider. I can be there and back in a few hours. I’ll find out for myself
“NO! Listen to what I am saying, Marticica. This is not the time. Things are changing rapidly, I can’t afford to lose you. This is not a request. Do you understand?”
…
Marty glared at Stez but in the end, she relented.
“How many…How many will we just leave to the sands? Stez, when did you decide to stop trying?”
Stez calmed down after hearing Marty’s words. Scratching his horns, he asked.
“And how many of our own shall we sacrifice before you are satisfied? I have a duty to protect everybody on Oases Seven. How can I be so selfish as to put other towers, other oases above our own? I can’t do it…I won’t. Even if it’s considered cowardly and weak in your eyes, I will not stray from this. Our people come first.”
Stez turned and was at the door before.
“Please understand.”
Just as he said that and he was about to take his leave, something on his wrist began to flash. With a thought, a display popped up and Stez saw something that horrified him.
Suddenly his voice boomed and echoed throughout the tower in one go.
“EVERYONE TO THE CONTROL ROOM NOW!!”
The entire tower shook from this roar and everyone just hanging around shot to their feet and raced to the top of the tower regardless of what they were just doing. Stez and Marty rushed out as well and Kazuki followed behind.
With their speed at least in this tower, they could move incredibly fast for short periods of time. It took only a few seconds to get to the top of the tower but in between that tiny window, the tower, no, the entire island shook several times. Everyone already knew what it was but many were in denial. It made no sense, it shouldn’t be happening again, not this fast. Sure enough, though, the moment they entered the control room, all of these Demigods felt a sense of dread when they saw what was happening on all of the holographic displays.
Once again, down below, giant sandworms had emerged from beneath the dry sand and they had immediately begun to vomit and spit up the foul, hardening mucus from within their fat guts. These projectiles became harder than any material Kazuki had ever dealt with. Shooting upward with extreme speed, a few of these shots managed to hit the island and several of them pierced completely through. The entire island shook harder.
“POWER GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW!”
Stez did not beat around the bush and he demanded everyone hand over as much divine energy as possible. All at once, Divine energy rushed forth and entered his crystal key before he then transferred it into the core. The core pulsed with energy before the entire island began to speed up. A dim light around the base of the island glowed brighter and brighter as the island shot across the sky.
If one were to see this island moving through the air with its intense glow, one would think a star had truly fallen.
It only took a moment for Oasis Seven to get out of range of the frenzy but this was not a comfort. Stez pushed forward until they were a few thousand miles away. Only then did he ease off and allowed the island to return to its normal speed. The second he did this, several Demigods collapsed to their knees and one even passed out. Cold sweat spilled from them and their faces were pale.
Kazuki did not know that such a thing was even possible.
(For Demigods to sweat and even pass out. Just how far did they push themselves.)
Normally something like this wasn’t possible. But these Demigods were already very low on Divine energy. Using something that is both magic as well as your soul and receiving almost nothing to replenish it. To these Demigods, it was as if they were losing parts of their souls with no return.
After a minute or so, Stez kept checking the displays and saw no sign of pursuit.
“It seems we are safe for now.”
Sighs of relief spread across this room. Mack just caught his breath and stood up before asking what everyone wished to know.
“Stez, what in the 7 realms of hell is going on? First the frenzy way before its due, then a second one on the same night.”
Stez had no reason to hold anything back and told everyone the current situation. After they all found out that not only their oasis had been attacked but others had as well and not only that, but one of the oases had actually already been brought down, everyone there was shocked.
“This can’t be happening. For them to all change so suddenly. Why go after us even after they’ve taken an oasis down. Should they be feeding all over that place? It makes no sense to continue hunting us like sheep when they’ve already got a free meal.”
Many people glared at Mack when he called the victims sheep and a free meal.
“Mack, that is more than enough and isn’t helping. We need to come up with solutions, not degrade those that are innocent.”
Mack squinted his eyes, making his stubby nose seem even stubbier as he spoke coldly.
“The solution isn’t it already obvious. The problems only started when that weakling arrived.”
Marty got defensive and stood in front of Kazuki.
“What kind of dumb shit are you spouting now? How can Jentson be the cause of all of this? Something is clearly wrong but there’s absolutely no way it’s related to him!”
Mack raised a brow.
“Oh really. How many have actually ever escaped from a sandworm and lived? He must have pissed them off and those things are out for revenge. It’s that or there’s something about him that they find appetizing. I refuse to believe that after all this time the worms have suddenly decided to change their very way of life and attack us with such ferocity not once but twice in a single night. Even if it’s not him, what’d we lose if we got rid of him? I mean, really, what in the fuck would we lose? We should chuck him anyway just to see.”
“You dare make a move and I will crush your short ass, Mack.”
Mack did not back down and neither did Marty. Stez could not stand anymore f this bullshit and was about to settle things when he got a message through the tower. The mirror at the top received communication and Stez’s eyes went wide. Everyone noticed this and someone in the small crowd asked.
“What’s wrong, what did the message say?”
Stez looked over everyone with a look of disbelief before he said.
“Oasis one…It has also been confirmed, it crashed just now.”
Everyone was shocked. Many had been there for thousands if not tens of thousands of years yet in the span of part of a night, the population had decreased by 25%. Mark leaped forward before anyone noticed and grabbed Kazuki by the throat.
“I ain’t going down, not like this!”
Before anyone could make a move, Mack had thrown Kazuki as hard as possible and even used divine power to do it. Kazuki’s body smashed through the wall of the tower and went flying through the air and off the island in one go. Marty was in disbelief. If Kazuki really was at the 5th stage he would have died instantly by being thrown into such a wall. Not only that, if he was a regular being at the 7th stage this would have killed him but with his toughness, his body could be considered tougher than even some Demigods.
Kazuki could have fought back, he could have defended himself, but if he did he would have given himself away entirely. They would have all seen that he had lied and if he could fake the power he was at what else could he be hiding or so the thought goes. Still, he did not expect to get thrown out of a fucking tower.
He looked down at the ground below and wondered just how he was going to make it out of this one alive.
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