Arcane Apocalypse [LitRPG]

Colonel Lars Zeigler ran his hand through his dishevelled hair as he read over the storage ledgers. The last batch of Natural Treasures had just been delivered to those needy bunch of petulant children calling themselves the Union.

System-made elixirs and a sizable library of system- and magical lore were still in the army's possession. Still, it hurt to see his troopers' hard-earned Treasures be spent on satiating the Unionists' need for validation.

We need them. It would be easier if they willingly helped, but I can't alienate them when those blasted beastkin are on the move again and my most reliable fighters are fighting for our city in that damnable Raid.

Mere hours after the last members of the delving expedition had entered the Rift, the report had come that the beastkin's ugly plant-like monstrosities were on the move. They hadn't attacked anything or anyone yet, but they were walking through the streets, bounding over rooftops and expanding in a wave outwards from their section.

"Did our divinations turn up anything?" Zeigler finally asked, his gaze distant as he stared out the small window of his office. He took in the city outside, the dead streets where the only visible activity came from his own men going about their jobs.

So much had been lost already, too much. If he had any say about it, not another inch would be given up without fierce resistance, not another life spent needlessly. It was his responsibility now to see this city through this cataclysmic upheaval and ensure its survival, in one way or another.

"Mr Ferrik had spotted several parties of beastkin prowling a few hundred metres behind the line of monsters," his ever-so-faithful aide said. "No sign of any larger contingent making themselves open for negotiations, though."

Zeigler sighed wearily. That couldn't be good. If the elusive Werewolf ruling that Pack intended to get something out of him through negotiations, this would have been the time. He would have given in, willing to give up much for the safety of the city. He was on the back foot.

But they don't seem to want to negotiate. They likely don't want to get something from me, from us … not through negotiations anyway. They want to take it by force, and think we won't be able to resist without our strongest fighters.

"Even if a contingent appears, Sir," his aide spoke up again, sounding oddly hesitant. "I don't think it'd be wise to engage them yourself like last time. The risk-"

"I know," Zeigler said, his hands tightening into fists. "If I die now, the Werewolf King's raiders and monsters will roll over the fractured remains of our forces. I am at this point, the single greatest point of weakness in this entire city, and not only the beastkin will wish to cause chaos. We still have that mysterious patron from Starhaven lurking about somewhere. Don't worry, I am extremely aware of just how much danger both I and Graz are in."

"What are your orders, Sir?"

"We show them we aren't as defenceless as they think us," Zeigler said, the hint of a ferocious grin tugging at his lips. His blood was boiling, that same overwhelming sense of defiance in the face of imminent death that had driven him to survive two deployments in the Middle East surging once more.

He couldn't help with ridding the city of its Rift infestation beyond providing those who could with all the tools he could. What he could do was show that furry cunt hiding up on that hill, behind its army of monsters and minions, that it wasn't the apex predator in the city.

I am not going to allow our unfortunate heroes to stumble out of that dimensional hellhole only to find the city they'd been trying to save ruled over by a murdering gang lord.

"Tanks on all the bridges, along with three battalions on each and at least a team of seasoned 'militia' fighters," Zeigler said, eyes closing as he pictured the map of Graz before him. "We will hold them on this side of the Mur at the closest highway. I want firing positions dug up and a rain of fiery death greeting the monsters the moment they appear. Try not to kill any of the beastkin just yet, warning shots only, until they attack, that is. Civilians, they might have once been, the murderers of my men and twenty-six civilians are among them. Kill them if they make any threatening moves."

"Understood, Sir. I'll relay your orders at once!"

*****

Mia had at first mistaken the five beastkin scouts from Kruger's squad, bounding back towards the hastily constructed base as foes. She had come to associate the sound of quadrupeds running on padded feet with monsters or vicious animals after all.

Which was why she was thrown for a bit of a loop when a brown lynx leapt over the earthen walls and transformed mid-air into the no-nonsense Kruger. Behind him came another four beasts, a trio of wolves, a large cat of some kind and a … squirrel?

Squirrel Shifters were a thing. Apparently.

"Report," Konstantin barked before the last of them even touched the ground.

"There is a group of four or five Iron Wolves hunting nearby," Kruger said without missing a beat. "Seemed like runts of the pack, starved and near-rabid. No danger unless someone gets caught by surprise."

Konstantin glanced over at Brent, asking him what they should do with the new information by raising a bushy eyebrow.

"I want the five of you to run circles around our position," Brent said. "Go at a slow jog, and return only when you sense the monsters coming to attack us. We'll prioritise setting up a landing camp here before heading out. If they don't stumble upon us by then, we'll hunt them down."

Mia kept her ears peeled for any suspicious noise, though the constant chatter and the rumbling of the earth underneath her feet coming from the Earth mages as they went about constructing some tough cellars to store their provisions in, made that more difficult. Even her Spirit Sense was muddled in the thick miasma of the Rift's interior.

Maybe that was why she failed to notice a trio of thicker clumps of miasma — undoubtedly monsters — until they were well within her range. It didn't help that she was focused on ground level, on the forest around her, seeing as wolves weren't known for flying or digging tunnels.

"ATTACK!" She shouted, feeling a rise of panic as dozens of people stilled and turned towards her with questioning looks. "From underground!"

"Underground?" One of the Earth mages working with Mark on some burrows asked, sounding doubtful. "I can't feel a single thin- OH shit!"

"Where?" Brent asked, appearing beside Mia just a moment after Camie.

"Three monsters," Mia said, her eyes locked on the ground beneath her feet, trying to track the twisting paths the burrowing enemies were following. "I don't know, they aren't following straight paths. But they are coming up and fast."

"Harden the earth under our feet, everyone, get inside or climb somewhere higher up!" Brent shouted, and people tried to follow his orders. It was utter chaos, teams stumbling and crashing into each other in their rush. "Mark? Can you stop them from surfacing under our feet?"

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"I can try," the dwarf said, kneeling on the ground with his hands submerged in the mud. Thick tendrils of mana extended from his fingers, digging deep and questing for the monsters. Mia tried to help him track them, but when that failed — the monsters were too fast — he instead collected his mana under himself. "I'll try to transmute a layer into stone. Anyone who doesn't have their heads stuck up their asses, I'D APPRECHIATE SOME FUCKING HELP!"

Brent shouted out a few names, somehow blessedly remembering the exact names of the Earth mages. Not five seconds later, Mark had five other helpers.

"Stay close, but leave some space between teams," Brent ordered. "Three monsters will come bursting out of the ground, you will want to move out of the way. Prepare spells you know work against the tougher Iron Wolves, and try to not shoot each other. No friendly fire. If you can't shoot only the enemies, don't shoot at all."

Mia focused on the three presences, using Multitasking and her improved mental stats to split her focus four ways. Three tracked the monsters, while the final part assembled Arcane Blast's spell circle and roused her dormant mana.

The piercing Bolt could have worked, but Blast was her highest damaging spell. Which made it her first choice when facing unknown enemies, even if it was maybe just a bit more likely to cause some collateral damage.

Its range is small enough. I should be able to aim an explosion just half a metre in diameter well enough to not hit any friendlies.

"Closing in," one of the Earth mages said. "Impact incoming in a few seconds."

Mark growled and Mia felt his mana form into spikes beneath the layer of transmuted rock just as one of the monsters reached it.

"Get out of there!" Mia shouted and pointed at the zone of impact, her spell a thought away from casting.

The earth buckled upwards, and the squad standing nearby hurriedly got away from the unstable ground. A woman stumbled, but a burst of air pushed her away just before the rocky barrier the Earth mages had made gave way.

Like a mole, a large creature emerged from the dirt, clawing its way free from the earth's embrace. It was about as large as a large dog, and its metallic, mangy fur was covered in mud, only a twitching nose and two pairs of beady black eyes helping Mia decide which end of it was which.

Her spell went off, the bolt of pulsating energy shot forward and crashed into one of the monster's shoulders. The explosion tore a bloody chunk out of it, drawing a pained squeal from the creature that got silenced a moment later as it got showered in a dozen different magical attacks.

That's got to be overkill. Mia mused, already turning her attention back to tracking the other two monsters. The first mole-thing was impossible to see, lightning rang out, blinding everyone, fire burned around it, and intense golden light blasted into it.

"Hold your fire!" Brent shouted, holding up a hand. Of course, someone still shot a ball of fire at the monster's last known location, exploding with a thunderous boom and sending a blast of scalding hot air washing over those standing nearby. "We need that thing dead, not obliterated. Conserve some energy, we have two more coming."

The next two didn't wait for them to collect themselves, only the thick layer of stone the Earth mages had constructed giving one distracted team enough time to scramble away from where the next one emerged.

Mia herself was too busy rolling across the floor, having launched herself away when one of the nasty creatures wheeled around to charge right at her position. Jumping to her feet, Mia spun around with a spell alight on her fingertips … only to find the mole-thing dead.

It hadn't even managed to get more than its head above ground when Carmilla sent a lance of Blood magic through its skull. With a grateful smile to her girlfriend, Mia spun and aimed her half-finished spell at the other monster. It was on death's door, too, missing a limb and being pierced by dozens of magical projectiles, but it was still miraculously moving.

Well, not for long if Mia had anything to say about that. Waiting for a second to get a better line of fire, she let loose her spell the moment she caught sight of its ugly head between two warriors trying to bash its head in with maces.

They are too close. Mia hesitated, and that was just long enough for someone else with fewer reservations to deal the finishing blow. An arrow of vibrant Light magic hissed past and slammed into the creature, burrowing deep into its chest and leaving behind smouldering flesh.

Life and rage left the monster's beady eyes, and then it fell over with a heavy thump.

"Anything else coming?" Brent asked, looking at Mia. "We made quite a ruckus."

Mia closed her eyes and, with a repulsed frown, leaned into her Spirit Sense, letting it take in the roiling clouds of miasma swirling around her. She looked for any other strangely moving dense clumps of the stuff, but if there were any, they were masking themselves too well for her to notice.

That wouldn't have been possible outside the Rift, but in here? She couldn't discount the idea that some monster would stay still and keep its internal energy level with the ambient miasma to keep itself hidden from senses like hers.

"I don't think so," Mia said, frowning still. "I think someone with a skill like Earth Sense or something similar should keep watch. I barely noticed those last ones in time."

"Does anyone here have a Skill like Earth Sense?" Brent shouted, spinning around in place until a hesitant arm went up. "Yes? Kevin, was it?"

One of the Earth Mages who've been helping Mark stepped forward with an abashed look on his face. He'd been the one to instantly try to refute Mia's claim of monsters attacking from under the earth.

"I do," the man said, glancing apologetically at Mia. "Seismic Sense, though it seems it's not as accurate or trustworthy as I'd thought. The young lady there sensed the wretches earlier than I. My apologies for doubting you."

Mia smiled back half-heartedly while inwardly she was cursing the idiot. It was only prudent to take appropriate action when someone was screaming at you that monsters were coming, even if you had doubts about whether that was actually going to happen.

These people don't trust my senses yet. Mia thought sourly, trying to keep her emotions off her face. At least now I have proved myself. They should listen the next time. Hopefully.

Or they would die, but that would be on them. Darwin would send their obstinate asses to the afterlife. It wasn't her place to beat some sense into them either way; they had Brent for that.

"I want you to monitor the ground under our feet constantly, and tell me explicitly when you are not doing so," Brent said, then raised his voice. "And I want everyone to react appropriately whenever one of the scouts or spotters, like Mia and Kevin here, tells you of a monster attacking. Mia had not once warned against something that wasn't coming to kill us over these last few weeks. When she screams, you act like Godzilla is going to come crawling out of the earth, understood?"

A chorus of 'yes'-es and 'yes, sir'-s answered, and Brent nodded in satisfaction while Mia tried to keep her tight-lipped smile in place as dozens of examining, doubtful gazes bore into her face.

"Kill-shot gets it all, right?" A distracted voice cut through the chatter. Looking over, Mia saw Tristan kneeling over the last mole-thing to die, the one that was also coincidentally the largest. "I killed this thing, so I get to keep its corpse? Or at least get first-pick at least?"

Brent scowled, and Mia could already see some people readying to launch into a war over the loot.

"Looting monster corpses is secondary to clearing out this Rift," Brent said, a dark look worn on his face. "We don't know how large this place is, and we only have less than 48 hours to find and kill its Guardian. I'd prefer to only come back to loot these corpses once we have accomplished our primary goal."

"And I'd prefer getting paid," Tristan cut back, elbow deep in the monster as he fished around for its core. "I have nothing to do now, might as well use it for something worthwhile. These things go for a pretty penny."

Grinning, he stood up, a bloodied gem held in his fingers. Mana flared around his hand, a golden light burning away the blood sticking to his skin much like Mia had learned to do.

"We can circle back around to butcher the monsters for cores and materials after we are done with the Guardian," Brent said, likely feeling the shared sentiment of 'loot good, me need loot' in the crowd. "But that'll only be possible if we are done with some time left before the Rift Ranks Up."

Before anyone could come up with something else to complain about or ask about loot distribution, Kruger once again came leaping back over the half-finished protective walls.

The Shifter only took a moment to glance around, taking in the three dead monsters before focusing on Brent.

"The fighting has attracted the pack," Kruger said matter-of-factly. "They'll be here in half a minute at the earliest. It also can't be-"

An eerie howl rang out through the forest, shaking the canopy and sending its chiming song into an ear-piercing rattle as thousands of silvery leaves clattered together.

Other howls soon followed, and even clutching her ears couldn't save Mia from the disturbing sound. She felt like someone had put a bucket over her head and started beating on it with a ladle.

"I'm counting twenty-three monsters responding to the initial call," Kruger said, appearing nonplussed.

"I'm not feeling any yet," Mia added in a whisper, trying to close off her hearing and focus on the Spirit Sense instead.

"EVERYONE! Gather in teams and spread out, they will come from every direction, I want weapons and spells aimed from every angle!" Brent shouted, then started to give personal orders, directing squads into specific directions to put some order to the chaos. "Healers and supporters stay here in the centre with Kevin. Sebastian, it'll be your team's job to keep them safe. The rest of you, PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"