Chapter 123 – Defence

"Damn... it's like a fucking warzone down there"

Arriving back in the settlement still in the skies, the streets appear to be filled with bodies and it really is a horrid sight, war really is terrible... okay, I'm overplaying this a little, the streets aren't exactly filled and I'm pretty sure every single one is an enemy from the monastery. That's not a guarantee though, some are definitely enemies but quite the few look charred but can just about make out white clothing or armour. It's not really a horrid sight at all, who really cares about a hundred bodies or so?

It's surprising that all the buildings look untouched... say, this isn't Ariza's handiwork, right? I know she can use her fire in aggression and can't forget about the mind control stuff she has as well but she hates using it. If it's to protect our citizens though, I can see her doing it since she was never a complete pacifist. If this was Zeki's work, these buildings wouldn't be untouched and Petra would've preferred sword fighting.

I'm done with admiring the scene now and go towards the government district since it sounds like there are voices over there. I barely used any magicka destroying those last few ships and I'm pretty sure I even gained some EXP but there's no time for something like that right now when attackers could still be around.

Still approaching from the air, I see a large group of our soldiers all defending the newly constructed district roaming around. It's a little odd just how empty the settlement is right now but I'm thinking anyone who can't wield a sword has been brought somewhere safe. My killing spree was far away stopping all the reinforcements after all so now I feel like I missed out some stuff a little.

Anyways. I go to land next to two of the more experienced looking soldiers on the outskirts and accidently give one of them a huge shock, so much so he nearly drops his sword.

"Argh! What the fuck is that!?"

"It's one of the leader's jackass, Queen Ikarus. Just cause she's currently got wings, it can't be that hard to tell?"

"You make it sound like having wings is a normal thing all of a sudden, everyone knows the rumours but still"

Urgh, that calmer guard didn't even say that in a joking way, that stupid two queen thing is starting to sink in for everyone but I haven't got the time to moan at him for it. I get that people like us and all but it's really unnecessary.

"Where's Marcus and everyone else right now?"

"They're inside the town hall ma'am"

"Yeah, healer Ariza, Marcus and the gnome have been organizing the defence so we're currently on patrolling duty, those religious fucktards tried to land a few rowboats in the northern channel"

I've only just noticed these guards have blood on them as well, they clearly have been doing their jobs. It's good to know we have soldiers who can fight but being unnumbered ten or a hundred to one is still an impossible fight. I may sound like I'm exaggerating but if we take that entire fleet into account, then I might be downplaying it a little.

"Thanks, I'm leaving now... make sure you don't die fighting a pointless battle thinking you're heroes or something like that, there's nothing wrong with retreating then a pointless death"

It's not exactly like I'm worried for two soldiers but these two are pretty far separated from the rest, I was actually thinking they could be deserters or might've have betrayed us at first glance but that really doesn't seem the case.

"Yes ma'am! Ariza already gave us those orders, that's actually part of the plan for us to be so far away"

"There's no need to worry though, my four year old son fights better than these fanatics. Incompetent idiots really"

At least those two seem happy, I leave them to continue their patrol and quickly fly to the town hall...

__________

(Marcus) "Ah, Ikarus... are those wings? Forget that question, what's going on with your side of things? Petra said you'd take out any reinforcements, correct?"

(Garry) "Oh, Ikarus has returned? Things are starting to look up"

At the nearly built town hall I've yet to visit before, the place looks like a complete mess with dozens of people around, some injured on tables resting while other's just look to be using this place as refuge. Even Ariza's here currently giving a hand but she is starting to look a little tired. By the looks of it, the clinic we built must be full so she's probably having to rush back and forth to heal as many people as possible, things do look a right mess at the moment.

Despite the absolute chaotic scenes though, people don't actually look unhappy and almost seem to be confidant about the whole thing. Heck, even I had some strange looks when passing by and but they didn't seem nasty... maybe it's just my wings since I haven't fully retracted them, I'm going to be moving about as quick as possible and people already know all about this strange stuff that happens around here.

Anyways, that was downstairs in this place, I'm currently on the second floor where it seems both the dwarf and Marcus have taking over the defence on this side of things and a makeshift base of operations around a round table has been set up. The only other people in this room are guards who I'm guessing can't fight or are exhausted right now? You'd think they'd be in the barracks but I'm guessing the strategy is to keep everyone close together, I've just happened to miss the pure anarchy since I was out ship hunting on the seas again.

"Yeah, those bastards are sleeping with the fishes... Where is Petra anyways? And who are those people helping out?"

The thing is, I also saw quite the few people giving a hand to the guards defending the place but don't look like I've seen them before. They almost look like mercenaries but all seem friendly enough.

Despite that, this entire area is in complete lockdown and the town hall isn't the only building being used to house the civilians, those mercs actually seem to be helping a lot right now. Considering the scope of this attack, I'd say we've done the best we could've but there's obviously going to be casualties regardless. Ariza may be able to heal but raising the dead is impossible... except for me but with huge limitations. I'm not wasting it on some random civilian activating the year cooldown timer.

(Marcus) "She's currently taking care of the southern part of island and she made sure to tell me to tell you not to bother joining her just yet, she wants you to focus helping Zeki and Penelope if possible after the town is safe. We've taken out the majority of our attackers so the town is as safe as it can be right now"

(Garry) "Those people are part of the Adventuring guild lass; it just so happened their ship docked yesterday and was trying to find them a place to set up shop before those priest bastards arrived. Heck, their leader isn't even here yet but they offered to help so who are we to turn it down? Ah, everyone in the mine is safe too, they've blocked themselves in and will stay in lockdown till orders are given"

At least that's less concern then, both Marcus and Garry the gnome seem pretty confident in what they say so we should be nearing the end of this attack. I know better than to be optimistic though, I'm going to assume the worst till this is over and take nothing for granted.

"Good... we'll have to pay the guild back someday then... I'm off to help Miss gender bender since I'm guessing she's alone?"

It's funny really, the Adventuring guild have moved in quicker than the Magi it seems, Penelope needs to get her head out of her arse and decide where the tower is going already.

(Marcus) "Yes Ikarus, the Magi guild still haven't arrived... there is one last thing Petra wanted to make clear though. She said take care of as many as you can but make sure you don't lose your way or go mad. "

Huh? Does Petra know about that bloodlust I sometimes get? Did I speak to her about it in a serious way or is this something else? Regardless, I'll try and keep it cool as possible but I can't help the enjoyment I got out of nuking those ships though.

"Gotcha... I'm gone then..."

__________

"Those religious motherfucking priests! How dare they think it's okay to come and raid this island!? That's it, I'm moving the guild in tomorrow, fuck those dickheads!!! You listening to me?! I know your souls are still lingering around!"

Well... maybe I shouldn't have visited Miss gender bender first then. Standing on a literal pile of corpses, the blood drenched pink 'woman' stands around with her arms crossed and with a sulky expression on her face. Seriously though, she singlehandedly must've taken out over a hundred soldiers just by her lonesome. It reminds me slightly of that princess we killed and how she looked after Petra was done with her.

"You all good Penelope? I can give a healent if needed, you look to be bleeding a little"

"Ah, Petra's lover Ikarus! I must look like a right sight but everything's fine over here! You'll be surprised how easy it is for people to explode when you give them a good shock so none of that blood is mine fortunately! Unfortunately, all the ships on this side seem to be empty now... I'm getting a little bored waiting around for nothing"

At least she's on our side I guess, damn Miss gender bender and her disregard for blood and guts. Everyone knows I'm down for a good massacre but I'd still rather not get covered head to toe like her. She really is an anomaly.

"Okay... it looks like no more are coming your way, at least from what I can see up here so you can probably find enemies elsewhere?"

Looking out at sea, this side seems to be pretty dead if you exclude the ship graveyard we now have in the way. Huh... most of those ships are intact thinking about it, this is going to be a right cleanup later on but not the time for that right now, I've still got two more coasts to check.

"Then that's what I'll do!"

While still witnessing Penelope from the air, she happily jumps off the pile of bodies and precedes to go on her way, I'm guessing back to the settlement but I need to focus on something else now.

'Onto Zeki next... should I pay Petra a quick visit beforehand? It's only a light detour'

[<Aesa advised against that unless -Ikarus- wants target -Petra- to be disappointed in her>]

'Fair enough, don't want her to be disappointed. I'm just worrying about her a little now, that's all...'

__________

"Burn you motherfucking bastards! Feel my ungodly flame! How dare you attack brother's, sister's and orangey's home!?! All of you scream and feel my vengeance!!"

"Run-..."

"Arg-..."

"Help-..."

Having just arrived on the eastern side, I can hear the maddening beckoning of a red phoenix and the screams of the people he must be tormenting. This slight forest looks to be a charcoaled mess right now but at least it's not completely up in flame. However, I'm pretty sure on the reason why Zeki hasn't turned this into a burnt-out hell, there's something more noticeable in the skies in front of me currently trying to stop the untouched red flame consuming the woods on this side of the island.

"Mute? Did Petra send you over here?"

<... >

Of course, the dragon Mute notices me, gives me a quick nod then returns to breathing water all over the fire? That's a pretty strange sight thinking about it, I thought dragons had to use speech to use their magic but I guess she's different then. Even the silent dragon has her uses, even if ones for helping Petra mentally and the other is for preserving this forest from Zeki, it's not like we have endless number of trees on these islands after all. We could just always pay for lumber but it seems pretty wasteful.

"Fair enough... you keep doing what you're doing, I'm going to try and calm Zeki if I can"

I leave the dragon to continue doing the fire fighter work she's apparently good at and try to find Zeki. It's not hard to find someone who can't help shutting up when fighting though and it appears he's just finished off this last wave that's approached him. That's if all the ash and desecrated corpses are anything to go by, I'll assume they're the bodies of enemies but with Zeki, friendly fire is always acceptable though.

"Scream, you pretentious homo hating fucks! Cry for your God since he ain't sav-... Ah orangey? You've finished up destroying the fleet already? Say... how much did you hear of that?"

Heh, he looks a little embarrassed right now, it's almost as if he said something he shouldn't have. No time to really tease him of his tsundere ways right now, we've all got a job to do.

"Too much Zeki... way too much. It doesn't matter right now though, you any idea where Ria might be?"

For some reason, I was kinda expecting the dryad to be in his arms while Zeki battles the hordes of paladins yet I've heard nothing about her. It also appears we've got a second despite it looking like Zeki's fight isn't over just yet, he has done a lot of killing already though.

"The cow ain't gonna be useful here in the slightest orangey so I sent her away, waste of space would only get herself killed nonstop so I told her to fuck off"

Oh, so he was probably worried for her safety and decided it would be best for the dryad to leave or hide, gotcha. It's really not difficult to understand what the ultimate tsundere of us all is implying even if he doesn't actually say the words. I'd actually like to see what he would do if the dryad had enough of him but that isn't going to happen, they really are perfect for each other.

"You need any help Zeki or are things good over here?"

Okay, me asking that seems to have pissed him off a little, it's a good thing I haven't landed just yet if he's going to be this way.

"What do you take me for!? I could kill most of these with a pencil... probably, I ain't getting nothing good over here. Go try sister, she's guarding the docks and was trying to play bait for some reason, pretty sure she got the majority of them too. It's a shame she's a right kill hog at times"

Well great, another party that I'm late for, I'm almost itching for a fight at this point. Despite this, let's hope Petra's been kicking ass and chewing gum... that's an obscure reference even I can't remember what that's from.

"Okay, I'm off then... just try and calm it a little. Oh, also make sure you spare any who surrender, please?"

I've got to try with him. Sure, I don't normally leave any survivors too but it's not like I enjoy committing war crimes or purposely intend too.

"Yeah yeah orangey, I've heard this all before, leave me now..."

__________

'Jeez... we're definitely going to pay back the monastery for this, mark my words'

Approaching the docks in the western side of the island still from the air, I can see firsthand more carnage that this attack has left the island in. The docks are unrecognizable right now, dozens of ships have been wrecked and the bodes this time are endless. Damn, my waifu really knows how to become a menace.

Comparing the sight to Zeki or Penelope's fight, it appears Petra's killed twice, maybe three times more and this area is a bloody mess. It's proper dark fantasy right now with all the chopped off body parts lying around...

'I've got to stop admiring her handiwork, where even is she?'

I'm flying about trying to see, listen or feel any auras nearby but this place seems literally dead like everywhere else. Petra was supposed to be here yet she's not, I can actually feel my heartbeat racing now, I know I shouldn't worry but where the fuck is she?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the faint sound of an explosion can be heard just off to the side so I make haste trying to find the culprit as fast as my wings can allow. Quickly arriving at the scene in question is something I never thought I'd get to witness in this world, is that really how far technology has progressed?

"Heh... looks like you're having trouble"

"Die, you wretched heathen! Argh! I'll resume this in a second"

'What the actual fuck is that!?'

I see Petra on her knee's spitting out blood while in her black eye mode but that's not what I first notice. What struck my eye instantly is the humanoid looking machine that's white in colour, looks like something out of a superhero film and shouldn't belong in a fantasy world at all. Really isekai Gods? You had to include something robotic looking like this?

Anyways, I land next to Petra just on the outskirts of the settlement and her beaten face looks relieved to finally see me, so much so she barely looks able to even stay straight on her knees right now. I crouch down to give her some support only thinking of how much I want this robot bastard to die now...

"Petra, you good? You're not at deaths door or anything, right!?"

"Heh... thought I told you not to turn up"

Damn, I was honestly expecting some sort of tease like 'you worried about me or something' but she really looks exhausted right now. Not like the fight with the succubus thing, she actually looks beaten and it's breaking my heart a little. At least she's able to smile even if it looks a little forced.

"I did as you asked though! Those two didn't need me and the situation in the settlement seems to be stable... what the hell is that thing anyways?"

I point to the large machine looking thing that seems to have a person inside it. I'm purposely not referring it as a mecha since it's more like a thick suit of armour then an actual gigantic manned machine but I guess that could work. It really looks out of this world though.

"Heh... don't ask me Ikarus. Never knew the monastery uses forgotten dwarven technology, I'm a little stuck against this guy. It appears that armour negates nearly all damage and has already taken several hits of my strongest attacks. He packs quite the punch too"

"Here, take this then"

"Heh, thanks but I've still got some healent spare Ikarus, I'll sort the wounds out in a second"

Well shit... how in the fuck do the monastery have access to something this powerful? There's no more underestimating them now, they've crossed a line that only blood or completely destruction can repay. It doesn't help I desperately want a look at Petra's health right now but know it's impossible.

While we're having our quick moment, the guy in the white armoured robotic suit finally decides to acknowledge both of us. I'm pretty sure he was recharging or something got stuck that gave us this quick break but now it appears to have sorted itself out.

"At least that's fixed for now...so... it looks like both the sinners have come seeking redemption? Of course, me and this machine can achieve your wish to be purged anew, it will unfortunately be pain and misery but this is just one of the burdens you must bare to seek a chance at true happiness"

Sighhh... another deluded fanatic spewing shit, the only difference is that this guy actually sounds robotic. This will be a difficult fight but at least there's no small fry to get in the way, it looks like Petra purposely gone about taking care of everyone else first. She really does look out for me even if that probably wasn't the main reason.

"Heh, sorry but it looks like I'll have to sit this one out for now Ikarus... didn't expect that last explosion... Be warned, his ranged attacks hurt"

It's just then I notice a big piece of shrapnel sticking out behind her leg, was she purpsoly hiding that? Bloody hell, I really hope I can hurt this fucker badly now...

"It's fine, you've done enough already. Just stay here looking pretty for me, alright?"

"Heh, as you command then"

'Looks like I'm fighting this one alone then, status'

[Name: Francis | Species: Mecha | Level: 100]

[Health 7,721/20,000]

[Stamina 8,238/10,000]

[Magicka 13,619/20,000]

'Are you fucking for real!? The suit counts as a living person?

[<-Ikarus- must focus and listen to Aesa. Species -Mecha- be connected controllers' life force would have insane resistances if target -Petra- could only damage it this extent. Aesa speculates an ego might involved but not the time for such discussion>]

'Agreed... let's do this then'

I step forward ahead of Petra to my impending doom and I almost feel like this mecha guy has a slight grin despite that metal mask showing no emotion. 

"So... the orange sinner wants to repent first? Do not worry! I'll be sure to make it just as bad for the filthy dark one too"

'Keep calm Ikarus... you can tear out his spleen after the fight...'

To be continued...