NOVEL FROG Chapter 213. Calm before the storm
Leo sliced and diced every single Voidling in his way. Nyx was by his side, enjoying her own share of slaughter as they pushed deeper into London. Meanwhile, Lily circled above them, her golden bow and arrows taking down any flying creature that dared to come close.
Then, there was the army of survivors behind them, led by Frank. They, too, fought with everything they had, killing Voidlings that came from the buildings around them or somehow slipped past the two powerhouses at the front.
They had been at it ever since arriving at London's outskirts—about half an hour ago, give or take—and most of the fighters already gained a level or more. Of course, Lily, Leo, and Nyx weren't included in that, but that wasn't a surprise. A bunch of level twenty to twenty-five Voidlings had no chance to push them over the edge.
"We're close!" Leo shouted so that Frank could hear him. "The entrance is just behind the corner."
"Thank fuck!" The fallen yelled back. "We are running almost dry here!"
"That's your own fault!" Lily screamed from above, her hand becoming a blur as she released arrow after arrow. "You asked us to leave some Voidlings for your people. This trip could have taken ten minutes if you just let us do our job or if we used the tunnels."
"Bah!" Frank scoffed, beheading another Cursed Reaper. "I'm just screwing with ya, lass. This's been good for us. Once we stop, everyone here will finally have their class advancements."
"Then you are lucky, we're here." Leo cut in just as they stepped on another street. The entrance to the subway tunnels waited ahead; now, they just had to clear the area.
He shared a nod with Nyx, and, in complete synchronization, they let loose their shadows on the battlefield. Dozens of heat-seeking tendrils exploded out of the ground, stabbing every single Voidling in the way to the metro entrance.
"Get inside! We will finish up here and be there in a minute," he ordered, leaving no place for arguments. "Just take care of the Rock Eaters in the walls. They are weak but annoying."
Frank nodded, already running forward. "You heard him! After me!"
As the survivors trickled by them, Leo and Nyx continued flinging their affinity around. Now that they had stopped holding back, Voidlings fell before they could even get within melee range. True, some Spitfires and Cursed Walkers tried to attack with their Essence blasts, but a thin wall of shadows always appeared just in time to block.
Finally, the last of Frank's squad disappeared into the metro. Leo took it as a sign, took a deep breath, and released a burst of his pure Essence into the air. He then opened his giant maw and roared.
The Voidlings that continued to spill onto the battlefield froze, their crimson eyes widening. They only stayed like that for a few seconds before, like one unit, they all turned around and sprinted away. Honestly, it was quite amusing to watch the monsters of the Void escaping like dogs with their tail between their legs.
"And there is that..." he muttered.
"You know, you could have done that from the beginning," Lily said once she landed next to him.
He shrugged. "Where is the fun in that? Besides, I didn't want to scare our little army."
"Right... because they definitely couldn't hear you."
"Ah, but they didn't see me." He grinned. "That's all that matters."
Lily stared at him as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. "You are an idiot," she said, shaking her head.
"Can you two please stop squabbling like children?" Nyx growled, slapping them both with her tail. "You're both idiots. Hear that? It's settled. Let's get going."
"Rude," both Lily and Leo muttered at the same time. They shared a look, shrugged, and followed after the feline.
"Hale!" Frank called out the moment they entered the subway station. "That roar was you, right? Scared the shite out of a few blokes."
Leo ignored his sister's smirk and nodded. "Yeah, it was the quickest way to stop Voidlings from following us. Sorry for not warning you."
The Fallen waved him off. "Who cares? Those bastards have to get used to stuff like that if they want to survive here. Now, where is this base of yours?"
"Follow me," Lily said, dropping onto the remnants of the subway tracks. "It's close."
Within a few minutes, they reached the end of the tunnel, or rather the cave-in that hid the entrance to the Wildborn's hideout. Leo frowned as he scanned the debris. Now that he thought of it, how the hell was he supposed to get inside. Nyx could barely fit into the small door, and now he had outgrown her.
When he had pointed that to his sister, Lily patted his arm and stepped forward. "Don't worry about that. I took care of it the last time I was here."
True to her words, once the illusion disappeared, the way inside looked more like a small garage door than anything else. Malcolm was quick to step out once the entrance opened.
"Now that's a pleasant surprise!" The man smiled. "I thought I would need to wait another day for you to come. I'm glad I was proved wrong."
"Things happened. We have no time to waste," Lily said, and after sharing a brief hug, she turned to face the gathered group. "This is Frank and his squad. Leo and Nyx have evolved, but you already know them."
Malcolm narrowed his eyes, his gaze washing over every new arrival. "Not bad, not bad at all. I'm starting to think we might have a chance. Come inside." He nodded to a man waiting by the entrance. "Benny will help everyone settle in while we talk."
With no complaints, they did just that and entered the hideout.
"... I see," Malcolm muttered. "So let me get this straight, we now have Payne, the Supercluster, and alien forest centaurs to deal with? And to make it better, Payne might be planning something?"
"It's not as bad as it sounds, lad," Frank was quick to say. "Tony is working on a good deal with the horse people. The only real issue is the rift in the Thames."
"Alright." The Abyss Walker sighed. "So what's the plan?" he asked, turning to Lily. "You have one, right? Please don't tell me we are playing it by ear and hoping for the best."
"Of course not." The only woman in the room rolled her eyes. "Who do you take me for?" At a pointed look from almost everyone present, she huffed. "It was a rhetoric question, you bunch of annoying shits."
"You were asking for it," Leo couldn't help but say.
Lily threw him a glare and cleared her throat. "Anyway, the plan. It's simple and brilliant if I say so. The first step is creating a new safe zone somewhere near the Supercluster. With all of us, it shouldn't take even an hour. Once it's up, we upgrade it so only whitelisted survivors can enter."
Malcolm nodded. "Sounds decent for now. What's next?"
"The hunt," Leo said, taking over the explanation. "Nyx and I will start hunting Payne's people again to get his attention. Meanwhile, you three and every other capable fighter here will work on slowly clearing out the areas around the Supercluster and expanding the new safe zone."
"You want him to come for us," the Abyss Walker stated, frowning.
"Pretty much." He didn't see a point in arguing that. "Maybe I can't find Payne, but who cares? Let him hide in the Supercluster or Buckingham Palace. His people don't have such protection. Sooner or later, he will have to stop whatever he is doing and come out."
"And what if he doesn't?" Malcolm challenged. "What if he calls everyone back and barricades himself inside the Safe Zone?"
"He won't," Frank spoke before anyone else could. "Stagnation in this world means death. If they hide, we will keep getting stronger and leave them in the dust after a day or two of hard work. A few of mine are even close to getting an affinity, so that disadvantage will also disappear soon. And, above everything, we have Leo and Nyx. Give those two a day of freedom, and the level gap between us will only grow."
Of that, Leo wasn't too sure. At this point, leveling up was almost impossible for him. The Supercluster was probably the only way for him to grow stronger now, and that place could become dangerous even to him. He didn't fancy going on a rampage there until Payne was six feet under.
Nonetheless, he didn't voice his thoughts and continued to listen to the conversation. He refused to entertain any more 'what-ifs.'
"I guess you have a point," Malcolm finally relented.
Lily snorted. "Of course he has. We all took part in making this plan, and I, for one, doubt we will have to wait long for Payne to show up. He is an arrogant bastard. He won't take the loss of his brainwashed minions lying down."
"On that, we can agree." The Abyss Walker chuckled. "So when do we begin?"
"As soon as my squad recovers."
"Lovely..."
