Chapter 77: Chapter 75: A Great Night

Chapter 75: A Great Night

Looking at the leaders of the entire refugee caravan, Aurora turned her gaze towards Captain Sadiya.

Receiving the look, Captain Sadiya stepped forward and spoke.

“I have already discussed with the militiamen who will accompany us to help us protect the caravan.”

Such a report attracted the attention of everyone in the room, as it would depend them upon for some tasks.

“There are fifty-four militiamen in all. Four Rank B, thirty-two Rank C, and eighteen Rank-D. He is the leader,” added Captain Sadiya pointing to an African man in his thirties who just nodded respectfully, then the captain introduced. “Chayambaso will be in charge of protecting the refugees in case of emergency.”

Aurora nodded in greeting.

It was hard to predict the situation with such a large caravan on such a long journey, so having a backup for emergency situations was most useful.

In addition, they would also help in maintaining order and tranquility among the refugees who would realize that there were greater skill users protecting.

“Do you know what the priority is in your mission?” Aurora asked with a serious tone, observing the captain.

Chayambaso was a grown man, who looked rather plain and upon receiving her question, he put on an odd expression that the next moment he controlled and changed it.

“We have to protect ourselves and the refugees... Never take risks and always keep calm!” He stated seriously and tense.

They were not soldiers, veteran adventurers, or church members.

Some might be experienced and their numbers were high. However, they were only novices in Aurora’s eyes or not strong enough to face the dangers of the magical forest.

She would not send them to the front lines to watch them die and all she wished was that they would not risk themselves and protect themselves or the refugees.

Always keeping calm so as not to create panic and unnecessary casualties.

“Good. When we reach Zerzura City, we will give you the promised benefits.” Aurora said and then redirected her gaze to Vazquez to speak.

The militiamen were not working for free and were getting paid just like the adventurers or mercenaries Vazquez recruited, along with an extra chance to join the Zerzura army.

“In my case, I wasn’t so lucky. Several skill users wanted to join, but some were unreliable or their track record was a mess. I preferred not to risk it and only recruited fourteen adventurers and mercenaries. I divided them into three groups and one of my members took charge of them.” Vazquez reported with a half-hearted smile.

Aurora gave her satisfied nod.

Some mercenaries and adventurers had a lousy track record that did not give confidence to recruit them.

The militiamen were similar and, while it was difficult to find out their past, unlike the mercenaries or adventurers, they had families in the caravan.

“Does anyone have anything else to report?” Aurora asked and seeing that no one spoke, stated. “The meeting ends now. Remember, we will leave at 6 am, but I need you and your party to be in top condition for the journey and I require you to rest. Hero Richard will be in charge of tonight’s watch.”

Reminding them about the priority of rest was not only directed for the veterans present but also for Clémentine and her group that Aurora had invited to this meeting.

This was going to be a long trip and rest was a priority... Perhaps a luxury they could not afford later.

Seeing that everyone nodded, Aurora returned to her bedroom to sleep.

******

In the middle of the night, Aurora opened her eyes and looked at the time on her holographic clock.

[02:42 a.m.].

“System?” muttered Aurora as she stood up.

—I’ve checked Liam’s surveillance drones. They’re all in their rooms resting.

Her system responded in its typical text in her mind that Aurora didn’t need to read because of her mental connection.

Aurora glanced out the window where the refugee camp was resting.

A few adventurers were standing watch under the command of Richard or the Moonwell guild.

Glancing at the refugee tents, Aurora didn’t hesitate.

Using ‘quick change’ a battle armor replaced her sleeping clothes.

This battle armor was very different from her ‘combat suit’, it was now battle armor in a literal sense.

Black pants, metallic boots, armor, and silver metallic shoulder pads that seemed to repel the light, allowing to hide.

On either side of her waist were two scabbards with a short sword in each.

She did not store this combat armor in her space ring, but instead, in the storage space of her system, however, it differed completely from her style.

Even when it came to using her sword, she was better at using one instead of two. Still, this change was the one she needed.

Then she pulled out a white mask with black tints, moving over it and put it on.

As soon as the mask reached her face and self-adjusted, her black hair turned bright blonde while her entire aura changed along with it.

Leaving an illusion object on the bed as she always did to fool if someone came in, Aurora took a deep breath and in the next instant activated her armor’s movement ability and found herself a hundred meters in the sky as her boots produced platforms under her feet.

Aurora, instead of hesitating, looked toward General Kavuri’s military camp and moved, dropping into the church that was in the way.

Despite the speed of her fall, Aurora produced no sound as she touched the church roof and also caused no destruction from the force of impact.

“You know, I feel bad when you don’t tell me about your nights out.”

A soft voice came from behind her back and from the darkness of the night, Alice in a sheer black dress approached, walking softly.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” replied Aurora to her friend, who knew her well, and looking at the clothes her friend was wearing, she commented. “This is a stealth mission, and no one has to recognize us.”

They couldn’t be recognized was why Aurora prepared a total change in both her clothing style, weapons, and hair.

Her white mask completely hid her identity, changing every detail of her and even making the tracking abilities not work.

From her sword or combat aura to her magical energy, she altered everything to make tracking impossible.

However, not only was Alice not wearing a mask she had given her, but she was also wearing a dress.

“Comfort is a priority,” Alice replied with a small smile and muttered. “Besides, it’s no problem if no one sees me.”

With those words, she descended into her shadow, and then it quickly slid close to Aurora to rise in front of her.

Alice’s black eyes fixed on Aurora, and with a charming smile, she asked. “So... sabotage or destruction?”

The smile she was giving was for anyone quite attractive, like a seductive demon seeking to bring chaos to the world.

Aurora tore her eyes away from her friend and thought about the question.

Her group was not to draw attention to themselves and right now they didn’t have to either, but they had to put General Kavuri’s forces in a state where they would have to retreat or allow the forces of the ‘Lord of Mombasa’ to eliminate them.

Sabotage to take over General Kavuri’s important weapons was an option.

Sabotaging tanks, armored vehicles, ammunition areas, and other important areas would be very useful, still, there was a serious problem, as they would start to doubt who did it.

In the end, they might alert that someone in their group moved, and then they might think that Zerzura City was making a move, which could alert General Kavuri’s forces and the ‘Somali Terror’ ruining the ‘Assault’ mission or complicating it.

And even if she revealed herself in this guise and attacked directly... It wouldn’t be the best option, and even less so if she thought about her past.

“Do you have a plan for ‘destruction’?” Aurora asked.

The sabotage method was the one she was about to choose.

Sneak in, destroy the tanks and ruin everything important, then give notice to the ‘Lord of Mombasa’s’ forces to move in.

That might make the ‘Assault’ mission more complicated. However, she didn’t want the ‘Somali Terror’ forces to continue at large.

Instead, destruction was more direct and problematic, being quite possible that they would be seen even if they sought to hide with all their might.

“Well...” Alice muttered as from her back the shadow began to spread across her body like some strange liquid. Glancing at Aurora, she stated with a sly smile. “We don’t have to be ‘us’ to cause that destruction, do we?”

Looking at that black liquid that was covering her hands and was transforming her into a huge black clawed hand, Aurora realized what her friend was about to do and nodded.

If she was about to intervene and didn’t want future trouble, going along with her friend’s plan would be a bit excessive, however, it would be fine.

******

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A militiaman who was recruited into General Kavuri’s forces looked down from the tower of the military camp onto the empty street.

As a ‘rookie’, the superiors forced him to stand guard while they slept, drank, or partied.

He could hear the laughter from one of the buildings where the superiors were having fun with some women they caught.

As a member of General Kavuri’s forces, they had complete and total freedom even when the General was not commanding as he was now.

Only the second in command was present, and he was just as free as General Kavuri.

Stealing, killing, raping... Everything was allowed as long as they did their job well and obeyed orders.

Except if it was a rookie, it left them with all the heavy lifting.

“Tch. Someday it will change.” The militiaman muttered.

War was a sea of opportunity.

As he had such thoughts, he sensed the tower tremble slightly.

“What’s wrong?” his sleeping companion asked.

The answer came from the end of the alley where the darkness was thickest.

Trembling slowly, a black figure approached.

Five meters tall with thick arms and legs, its head had a humanoid shape and its entire body was large and black.

So black that if it weren’t for the dim moon illuminating the night, the duo would have seen nothing.

The creature’s body changed as black claws formed instead of hands.

Then, before they could react, that creature charged, making the earth tremble with its weight.

“MONSTER!” they shouted in unison, sounding the alarm.

Where they were was an old area of warehouses and administrative buildings of a company, so there were only the watchtower and fences as defense.

The militiamen, with the alarm sounding, raised their weapons, but the creature was already ten meters away and charged towards the entrance, destroying the tower and sending both of them flying to the ground.

“Enemy attack!” The militiamen began to wake up, and the rookie stood up and, after grabbing his gun, pulled his trigger, firing at the creature.

Others joined in the shooting. However, the monster, without taking cover with its hand, hit the militiamen, knocking them unconscious.

The bullets penetrated their skin, and nothing happened.

No blood or howl of pain.

“We need heavy weapons! The rocket launchers! Use the rocket launchers!” shouted the second in command, who commanded the regiment as he wielded his sword to cut the creature.

The sword pierced through the creature’s ‘flesh’... No, it only pierced through the black mass that made up the creature’s body and then regenerated, leaving the A-Rank commander’s sword stuck in it.

“This monster is a rank...”

Before the second-in-command could finish his words, the monster grabbed the commander with its large hand and sent him flying into a building, destroying a part of the wall.

“The armored vehicles!” Other soldiers shouted, but the monster started charging towards those vehicles at the same time.

The ‘ta-ta-ta’ of the machine guns echoed. Even so, the monster only smashed the cannon of one tank and then, with its powerful fists, destroyed the top of another tank.

*BOOM*

As other militiamen were running to the warehouse in search of the rocket launchers, the complete building exploded and the shock-wave sent them backwards, not understanding what had caused the explosion.

“Hold on! We just need one shot! Just one shot!” shouted one militiaman as he used a tank’s machine gun to fire continuously.

The few skill users attacked, delaying the monster as the tank’s cannon moved to aim at it.

“Fire!” shouted the machine gunner militiaman and the next moment, he sensed a gentle breeze and his cheek felt warm.

When he touched his cheek, he could feel the sting of a cut and could see his blood, but his eyes widened as the tank’s barrel fell to the ground with a clean cut.

Looking at the monster destroying everything in its path while normal weapons could not harm it, he trembled with fear.

“We are lost...” the militiaman muttered as the military camp was being destroyed by a gigantic and terrifying monster.

******

Clémentine equipped with her combat suit left her room with a serious look.

“What’s going on?” Clémentine asked as she ran into Leslie and Érica.

She had heard explosions and had woken up worried that they were under attack.

Leslie and Érica shook their heads, not knowing the reason, then when they ran into Nicole and Shao Ya, they too had no information.

Going down to the living room, they met the adventurers, church members, and army soldiers who had also woken up quickly.

“Do you know what’s wrong?” Cardinal Brousseau asked the hero Richard.

“No. I have sent my men to report, but it must be a skirmish between the two forces.” Richard replied unsurely.

Clementine frowned and was about to ask Andrés about the communication system when Liam came downstairs, using his earpiece as if he was listening to something.

“Aurora and Alice just headed out to investigate...” Liam stated with an unperturbed expression.

“Can you see anything with your drones?” asked Vazquez curiously.

Liam always deployed drones to survey the area and scout the area, however, this time he shook his head and explained. “My scouting area is not that far away, and my drones that can scout remotely are in maintenance for the trip.”

No one doubted his words and only lamented the lack of information.

Within five minutes, all received a message from Aurora, saying that it was nothing to worry about, but that it was a monster that engaged in combat with General Kavuri’s forces, mentioning that they could return to rest.

The adventurers and other soldiers returned to rest upon having confirmation from the leader, leaving their group and Akira’s group together with the other leaders, who preferred to wait.

After fifteen minutes, Aurora and Alice entered.

“What happened?” Akira asked with a frown.

“A monster attacked the camp of General Kavuri’s forces. I don’t know what happened, but when I arrived the camp was ruined, however, there was no dead. Traces of destruction show it headed east.” Aurora reported with a serious expression.

“A monster that destroyed the camp?” muttered Akira with a frown and asked. “Was it an S-Rank?”

For a monster of such a capability to attack a camp and demolish it... It was common sense for it to be S-Rank.

And more so when that camp contained not only tanks but also B-Rank and perhaps A-Rank individuals.

“Maybe...” Aurora replied uncertainly and, shaking her head, she stated. “Anyway, General Kavuri’s forces were not strong and relied on their heavy weapons. It is quite possible that because of their lack of discipline, the creature would have caught them by surprise.”

Captain Sadiya nodded at that analysis.

Lack of security and organization could have caused them to be finished off by an A-Rank creature.

“General Kavuri’s forces are retreating. Perhaps by tomorrow the forces of the ‘Lord of Mombasa’ will control all of Nakuru City,” Aurora commented with a smile she couldn’t control, and then, patting Alice, she added. “They can go to sleep. We’re a little hungry and we’ll get something to eat.”

Alice gave a smile as she ate chips, and they both headed for the kitchen.

“This is sudden,” Leslie muttered, unable to take it in.

Only yesterday, General Kavuri’s forces were controlling the area, and now they were retreating.

It was certainly sudden, though...

“This is good. Tomorrow we can leave without thinking about what General Kavuri’s forces would be doing in the city,” Cardinal Brousseau said in a simple tone.

Everyone nodded in unison as it relieved them.

This was much better than letting General Kavuri’s forces roam free.

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