Chapter 4: The Human Faction

KRAAAAAAAA!!

Clenching his fist, and looking at the corner of the turn where the humanoid monsters will appear.

Rion took a deep breath, looking forward with a brave stance. He started preparing himself for the upcoming battle.

Rion thought of the most famous and basic type of fire spell you can see and use in any RPG game as the first thing to cast:

Fireball.

...

'Kurogane-san/Benefactor/Mister, please hang in there...' Lance, who is carrying the mother and daughter, ran outside the exit. The trio can't help but think inwardly.

"Ahhhhh!! Help!!!"

"Please save me!"

"No! Jerrik!"

Upon arriving outside, the trio can't help but stop and gasp, looking at the scene that's likely to be called 'hell on earth' with various grotesque monsters feasting on people like snacks.

The police who have just arrived a while ago can barely kill some of these strange and grotesque beasts, and these are just some of the most vulnerable and weak ones.

As for the giant creatures, the bullets can barely scratch their skin. These monsters have tough skin that's likely to be compared to thick iron armor.

The trio can't help but be nauseous at the grotesque sight and thick bloody odor mixed with gunpowder that's rampant in the area.

With all the gore, it is truly a sight not meant for any weak-stomach person to see.

"M-mom..." Looking at her scared daughter, Leona snapped out of her terror, as she asked her daughter to turn her face to Lance's chest.

"It's okay, just cover your ears and close your eyes... Mama will be here for you okay?"

"Mmm." Seeing her daughter slowly calm down, Leona's face turned stern, determination glinted in her eyes.

"We have to go." Turning her head to the still-shocked Lance, Leona tapped on his shoulder.

Lance nodded, his eyes glowed for a few seconds, and a map with a radius of ten meters appeared in his mind.

'There, we can go in that direction.' Looking in a certain direction, the trio proceeded with caution to not attract any attention.

...

"...mmh."

While on their way, the trio rested for a bit near an isolated and narrow area, letting Leona and Cindy rest a bit seeing they're safe for now.

Lance heard a low groan, attracted by it, he looked back.

"Your wound..." Lance can't help but feel a sense of emergency looking at Leona's pale face drenched in cold sweat, as he quickly approaches Leona.

"Mom..?"

"No... I'm fine. We have to proceed." Leona grunted through her clenched teeth.

Cindy looked at her mom's face and Lance looked at the mother's determined eyes.

Gulp.

'What a strong mom.' Lance felt his words stuck to his throat, while he inwardly remarked to the woman.

Feeling her determination, Lance was affected by it, causing him to sternly nod.

SHHHRRRRAAAA!!

Suddenly, a booming noise echoed, followed by a launch of an attack on Leona!

"Dodge!" Lance instantly pushed the mother and daughter with his body, while a creature crashed into a house.

Hugging the mother-daughter pair as they fell to the ground, Lance and Leona both groaned in pain.

Lance instantly stood up and supported Leona and Cindy.

Seeing that both are fine, Lance instantly used his topography skills.

'That creature didn't appear on the map until the last second!' he inwardly muttered.

Whenever Lance used his ability. He can pinpoint creatures nearby. The reason he instantly knows this is that he also played a lot of games and he is familiar with the mapping interface of MOBA games.

Conveniently enough, the map on his head is similar to the games he played, not to mention his accumulated skills for mapping and strategizing when playing for years.

'Ugh... what the hell...' Lance instantly felt physically and mentally exhausted as if someone took out his energy from the inside of his body.

"Lance!!" Seeing Lance almost stumble, Leona misunderstood and thought he was wounded, looking at the blood on his body.

Lance held up his hand to tell he is fine, trying to balance his body and focus his vision on the destroyed building where the creature crashed.

With strange growls coming from the building, a dark creature peeked its head from the building as it glared at the man who disturbed it from hunting its prey.

The dark creature then revealed itself.

A mutated looking-wolf with four uneven heads in one big body glared at its prey with saliva coming out from its frothing mouth.

The wolf looks very grotesque and almost unrecognizable if it weren't for the 'wolf' heads attached to its strange body.

Seeing the mutated-looking wolf with its glare and killing intent, Leona and Lance both shivered.

Bang!

SHRRRRRAAAA!!

The sound of gunfire suddenly resounded on their back.

The wolf howled in pain with black blood coming out of its left eye.

Both surprised by the gunfire, Leona and Lance looked behind them, only to see a policeman in his early 20s holding a pistol with both hands.

"What are you both standing for!? We need to run!" the policeman roared at the two, advancing to the front to cover them both.

Leona and Lance both nodded, as they advanced through the path, while the policeman rapidly fired, taking advantage of the mutated wolf who was still struggling in pain.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With great accuracy, the young policeman riddled the mutated wolf with holes in its eyes in each respective head, making the wolf cry in pain, louder than before.

With each bullet, dealing a great deal of damage to the weakest part of the body.

Sensing that its prey is about to get away and its life endangered. The mutated wolf gave a loud beastly howl to the sky as it fell lifelessly to the ground, dead.

Sigh...

'Good thing, I caught that wolf distracted...' The policeman thought.

With great relief, the young policeman and Leona both sighed.

But Lance felt a great discomfort rather than relief, especially hearing that death howl at the end.

'Wait... It's a wolf... and a wolf comes with its pack...'

At the sudden hit of realization, Lance's face turned deathly pale, his heart sank in despair.

Noticing the change on his face, Leona was about to ask when suddenly:

SHHRRAAA!

SHRRAAAA!

SHRRAAAA!

Hearing the approaching and the strange howls of beasts converging to their location, both the young policeman and Lance can't help but mutter:

""We're fucked.""

Without wasting any time, they all ran as fast as they could; the policeman carried Leona on his back and Lance carried Cindy in his arms.

Through the guidance of Lance and the help of the policeman, they were able to use the buildings as obstacles to delay the approaching pack of grotesque wolves.

Even though Lance felt really tired, looking like he would pass out any second, he still used his active skills although the range was reduced to half a meter.

While the policeman used some furniture and objects as a way to block the path to buy them time and used his last remaining bullets to ward off the closest beasts approaching them from different directions.

But alas, even luck and fate have finally run out for the team.

…

Cornered into a wall, the young policeman is at the front with his baton ready to take action with a determined gaze.

Leona and Cindy, who is at the very back of the wall, hugged each other. Cindy closed her eyes while she silently cried on her mother's chest.

"Don't worry, Cindy. It's just a dream, okay?... Just a bad dream..." Leona soothed her daughter while tightly hugging Cindy, despair painted on Leona's face, ready to accept their fate.

Lance on the other hand, silently prayed his last will in his heart to the isekai gods:

'What a shitty life, I haven't even received my Limited Edition of EROGE XX Deluxe!! I spent all my money on that!!'

'Ahh! Isekai gods hear my prayer, and please reincarnate me into a hentai protagonist if this is my last day!'

Looking at the stern face of the nerdy student at his back, completely oblivious to the student's weeb thoughts.

The young policeman was surprised and praised the student for his 'bravery' even when cornered in a desperate situation.

"You're making a good face there, man. You got the courage for a student of your age."

"Ah. Y-yeah." Lance, who was interrupted in his 'prayer', responded unconsciously.

"Daniel Garcia. You?" The young policeman named Daniel introduced himself, offering his hand for a handshake.

"Oh. Lance... Lance Cebastian." Lance replied awkwardly, accepting the young policeman's handshake.

Seeing Lance accept his handshake, Daniel nodded and returned to his position as he readied his baton.

"Seeing you have great courage, if ever we survive these monstrosities I'll treat you to a coffee next time we meet."

"I–" Lance smiled wryly, about to respond when Daniel interrupted him with a stern face looking ahead of them.

"They're here."

"..." Lance used his skill <X-Ray Vision>...

As if responding to the policeman's words and his use of his skill, sounds of crashing and a strange wolf howls and growls resounded.

Soon, the figures of various looking-wolf-like creatures surrounded them.

Looking at the amount of these horrid creatures, Lance can't help but gulp in fright.

He is even surprised that he has not pissed himself yet all this time.

"Come on!" Daniel suddenly howled as if to intimidate the monsters in front of them, and to instill courage in the people behind him.

While Lance can't help but laugh dryly inside:

'He sounds like a spartan... He looks like one too with his gesture... Are you sure he's not from the middle ages?'

Regardless of his thoughts, Lance also prepared himself, holding a rusty pipe in his hands, while he cursed himself and the gods for dying a virgin in this lifetime.

Strength is one of the weakest points of Lance, he was actually struggling when he carried the mother and daughter pair.

The only thing that kept him going is the mother– I mean his desire to live and save the pair.

Ehem, going back to the topic.

Nonetheless, having a defensive weapon is better than none. Lance concluded.

Looking at the provocation of their prey, the wolves can't help but howl in contempt at their prey's stupidity.

The leader of the pack, a huge wolf spanning 3.5 meters in size, donned in black-gray fur on its body, with a single head and numerous oversized teeth and black sharp claws, opened its eyes as it looked at the prey's provocations.

With its deathly aura, the leader released a loud howl, enough for the prey to cover their ears.

"Ah fuck!" Daniel cursed in pain, covering his ears from the high-frequency cry of the leader.

Taking advantage of the situation, the pack instantly launches their claws and teeth to ravage their prey into pieces.

But before the first wolf can even scratch Daniel's neck...

WIIIIENG!!

A piercing sword of light sliced that wolf into bloody pieces, followed by a chant of a maiden:

"Rain of Fire."

Soon, multiple red magic circles encompassed the whole area as big balls of flames started showering the wolves.

Most of the wolves were able to dodge the flames with their agile body and stealth ability, while some unfortunate ones were directly burnt into ashes, before even howling in pain.

As if knowing the result, the person who casted the spell just smirked, as she clenched her fist and muttered:

"Explode."

Hearing her command, the fireballs that are near the mutated wolves, suddenly shrunk in size and then rapidly expanded.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

As if hit by multiple mini-nukes, most of the wolves were caught unprepared and were simultaneously swallowed by the sudden explosion.

Seeing the majority of his pack die from the attack, the leader was instantly furious!

With its fast speed and agile body it dodged the fireballs before they even exploded, its six eyes glowed in red, searching for something.

!

The leader immediately found the maiden who attacked its pack, without any lag, it instantaneously sped through any obstacles, madly approaching the maiden.

But before it was able to even take half a step closer to its target…

SHIIING!

A blade of light was brandished from afar, decapitating one of the leader's hind legs.

Caught off-guard, the leader lost its balance for a moment.

SCHRAAAAAAA!!!

The leader cried in pain, it instantly retreated to look for the aggressor of its wounds. But half a second later...

"Fireshot."

BOOOOM!!

A bullet made of flames suddenly pierced into its neck, as it exploded within the leader's head, completely blowing off its brain into bloody bits and pieces.

…

'This must be a dream, right...? Daniel, Lance, and Leona simultaneously exclaimed inwardly, as they looked at the scene of hundreds of monstrous wolves being burnt to death like charcoal in front of their very eyes.

"This is bullshit..." Daniel unconsciously exclaimed under his breath, glancing at the remains of the once terrifying leader of those monstrous wolves.

"No, apparently this is reality." Lance instantly replied with a look of absolute surprise and extreme excitement on his face, looking as if he found his long-lost dream.

"Thank god... We survived... F-for my daughter..." Tears fell from Leona's face, as pure relief could be felt in her voice.

She instantly fell unconscious along with Cindy who was sleeping on her chest, her daughter's face drenched in her own tears.

"Ms. Leona/Miss!" Lance and Daniel instantly went to Leona.

But before Lance was able to take even a step…

"Uhh... I can't feel my body." (Lance)

He fell down, unable to move his own body.

"That's because you over-exhausted your body and stamina… It's even a surprise you managed to move until now, adrenaline sure is a double-edged sword." A feminine voice resounded in the sky.

A slender figure unexpectedly descended near the group accompanied by a floating broom.

"Beautiful..." Both Lance and Daniel can't help but mutter, looking at the approaching figure.

Dressed in a loose black robe with green designs on some parts of the robe, paired with a witch's hat.

Those violet eyes and hair, coupled with her tall figure. The robe emphasized the right curves on her body.

Daniel and Lance felt their throats dry, especially looking at those 'killer mountains', that revealing cleavage accompanied with her sisterly and gentle smile on her beautiful face, exuding charms no man can resist.

"Ara~ Thank you for the compliment. But be careful that you do not fall for a witch's charms, boys." (Witch)

Sensing their gaze, the witch can't help but smile beautifully as she lets out a warning.

But rather than hearing the content of her message, Lance and Daniel can't help but gulp seeing that charming smile and her alluring voice that not even superstar models can compare.

'Is this what seeing a goddess feels like..?' Daniel unconsciously remarked within himself, shaking his head to regain his focus.

Recovering his stoic face, Daniel asked in a sincere tone:

"May I know who you are...ma'am?"

"Francia... Francia Hanelin, just a witch from the Witch Society." the witch named Francia replied in a bemused tone, as she introduced herself.

"Woah... A real witch..." Lance spoke under his breath, but a trace of excitement can be heard in his tone.

"Hahaha, don't be fooled by her appearance. She's over 100 years old, you know?" A handsome middle-aged man donned in shining prince armor and a sword at his waist, suddenly joined the conversation, walking towards the group.

The man looks to be in his mid-40s, with his short brown hair and facial hair, coupled with his brown eyes and a piercing on his right ear.

He seems to be the cool instructor type, with his heroic and daddy-like presence, and also that big smile showing all his teeth.

"..." Veins popped out on Francia's head while her gentle smile almost broke.

"Fuck off, Rick!" Francia glared at the heroic-looking man.

"Hahahahaha~" But the man just laughed it off, while Francia just rolled her eyes and snorted.

Seeing all eyes are on him, the heroic-looking man gave a big smile, introducing himself with a cheerful vibe:

"Hahaha, name's Alterick Hanson, just a rogue hero from the 'Heroes' Hall'... You guys were lucky we found you in the nick of time."

"My name's Daniel Garcia... Yeah... We almost became dog food. Thank you for saving us." Daniel replied awkwardly.

He was about to question what is happening, especially knowing it was pretty obvious they have the power to kill those gruesome monsters they had trouble dealing with.

"Hahaha, You're welcome... I know you have a lot of questions, but now is not the time for that." Alterick's voice gestured to Leona, Daniel, and Lance, while Francia just shrugged; she first approached Leona.

Seeing the mother-daughter pair, Francia raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement can be heard in her voice:

"Well, this is definitely fascinating... Both mother and daughter are actually blessed with magic. Quite rare..." Francia analyzed the mother and daughter through the monocle imbued with glowing strange symbols that suddenly appeared on her hand.

"Oh... are they prodigies?" Alterick found it quite surprising.

"Yes, they are… they have an innate talent for magic." Francia smiled, but soon her face changed into worry, remembering something.

"This is not the time to think about it… " Alterick reminded Francia.

"You're right… they first need healing." Francia nodded, pulling out a small vial filled with red liquid from a leather pouch, and poured the liquid directly into the mother and daughter.

"Hey, what are you–" Daniel was about to interrupt but another magic bullshit happened in front of his eyes, causing him to feel speechless at the scene.

The red liquid, as if it were alive, went inside every wound on Leona's and Cindy's bodies.

The next second, every wound on their body slowly vanished as if it was a dream, the only thing that didn't fully heal was Leona's missing foot.

'The potion can heal but can't regenerate. A healing potion!!' Lance inwardly thought as gamer excitement can be seen in his eyes.

Seeing both the mother and daughter heal, Francia nodded satisfyingly while a sigh of relief could be heard from Lance and Daniel.

"Hahaha, before we talk let's get you fixed up first, shall we?" Alterick gave a big smile, as he went to assist the remaining two injured.

...

After Francia healed Lance and Daniel from their wounds, Alterick gave them a blue pill.

"???" (Daniel)

"Sorry dude, I know I want to have a toned body like yours, but... I don't take drugs." Daniel looked curiously at the pill he was given while Lance reluctantly refused as if he was being tempted by a suspicious drug dealer.

"..." Alterick didn't know whether to laugh or cry hearing the student's reason and seeing his facial expression, while Francia was trying her best not to laugh.

"It's a stamina pill, just like its name it can help you recover your stamina, it is a widely used pill for most people... well at least in our society." Francia explained while she wiped her tears from holding back her laughter.

""Oh…"" Both were surprised by the effect of the pill and soon they both took it after inspecting it a bit.

Sensing they are recovering their energy, Francia nodded her head, as she asked Alterick:

"Rick, was the group assigned in this country able to wipe out these unknown creatures?"

Hearing this, Alterick shook his head.

"Not yet, the scope of the invasion is too wide for all, not to mention we lack the manpower to defend every country."

"Every realm has also been invaded according to my faction... It also took us some time to go here in the mortal world."

"Earth is being invaded all around... we were caught off guard by the amount these creatures spawned. Not to mention it's our first time dealing with these kinds of creatures." Alterick explained, a solemn look appearing on his face.

"W-wait, you mean, these grotesque monsters are all over Earth?" Daniel asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice, but it could be seen even Lance was shocked deep down.

Even as a junkie on video games, Lance knew how severe the situation is, knowing that all around Earth is being invaded by these monsters.

"Yes." Alterick gave a simple answer.

"These things spawn out of nowhere, if it weren't for the warning of the Fate Priestess, well…" Alterick thought bitterly, at the worst possibility if they were caught completely off-guard…

"Those holes in the skies..." Francia muttered with a solemn look on her face, as the three looked in her direction.

"Indeed, those morbid creatures spawn endlessly from those hell holes."

"We underestimated the number of these creatures' spawns… Good thing, the Hero King and your Queen immediately sent reinforcements here, or else the loss would be much worse." Alterick sighed as he stroked the sword sheathed on his waist.

"Not enough… there's too many casualties, we already lost a lot of people. We really underestimated the warning... or rather nobody expected they were this many." Francia gritted her teeth.

The invasion of these unknown monsters came out of nowhere, despite the sudden warning from the Fate Priestess, a lot of the factions lost a lot of their people, and some who weren't informed or didn't listen were annihilated completely by those monsters.

"Hahaha, well. There's no use crying over spilled milk. What's done is done... Regardless, the headquarters of the 'Heroes' Hall' is stabilizing."

"Not to mention, 'The Vatican' won't keep quiet about this, so we should be getting more reinforcements any time now." Alterick commented as he went back to his youthful spirit.

"Yes. I also heard a report from my side, that the witches are almost done dealing with these things, while some of my friends helped the other countries on Earth." Francia nodded, a calm look regained on her face.

"Oh, witches have friends? That's new." Alterick gave a fake surprised look at Francia.

"... Oyy! Just because most witches are busy with their own magic formulation and research, doesn't mean we don't socialize!"

"Unlike you hedonist freaks who like to do whatever they want, we witches have planned goals!" Veins popped out on Francia's head as she argued.

"Hahahahaha~" Alterick just cracked up.

Seeing the two engaged in their discussion and humor, Lance and Daniel were about to ask what they were talking about, when Lance suddenly remembered Rion:

"Ms. Francia and Sir Alterick, please help my friend!" Lance suddenly bowed his head in urgency, panic could be heard in his voice.

"Friend?" Francia asked, a bit surprised by the instant change in the student's disposition.

"Yes, he was the one who saved me and Ms. Leona along with her daughter. He stayed behind to hold off a bunch of humanoid freaks by himself!" Lance replied with a stern face, begging them to save his friend.

"Wait... Wait... How can he hold off those monsters that you saw?" Alterick stopped laughing, hearing the desperate tone of the student.

"Apparently, he can manipulate fire."

Both Francia and Alterick were both a bit taken aback by his answer.

'Male bestowed with magic! A warlock!'

Francia was about to ask in excitement but was interrupted first by the hero.

"Alright. We'll save him." Alterick immediately agreed while Francia stopped herself from asking a question.

"But, it's dangerous to leave them here. I'll go escort them, and you go save their friend." Francia immediately regained her composure and suggested.

"Hahaha~ no need, I contacted the nearest rescue group I came with. They should be here any minute now... Show that to the rescue group, they should know what to do." Alterick grinned, tossing a patterned sigil to Daniel.

Daniel took the sigil and nodded.

"Let's go." Francia sat on her floating broomstick, as Lance sat on the back.

"Do take care, everyone. I'll inform Ms. Leona if ever she wakes up." (Daniel)

Lance, Francia, and Alterick affirmed as they instantly went ahead to where Rion is.

...