New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 981: Second Wave Incoming

Chapter 981: Second Wave Incoming

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With the spots appearing over the horizon, the group quickly understood that their time for relaxing wouldn't come. David and Killian were the next two to jump over the railing, starting their descent into the cauldron.

It was better to be caught on the flank of a hill than on the edge of a cliff; they surmised.

As the realization of danger set in, the rest of the group followed suit, quickly jumping or climbing over the railing, trying to get as far away from the cliff's edge as possible before the harpies were upon them.

Already, the people who used ranged attacks were starting to line up for shots as best they could, given they were on the move down a steep slope of grass and semi-mature trees.

The only one who was in range, though, was Aapo. His rifle, which he had brought from home, a gift from his mother, fired with a muffled bang as the muzzle flash slightly blinded the ones near him.

In the distance, the occasional screeching suddenly amplified, as one of the black dots started falling to the ground.

Hostilities were now officially begun.

A pulse of mana burst from Alex, who was at the front, as he realized Aapo's gun would be making an obscene amount of noise, and they wanted this hunt to be as quiet as possible.

He quickly threw up a barrier around the volcano's crater, making sure he had caught all the harpies that he could sense inside, as he kept running toward them.

Through his piercing eyesight, Aapo was able to shoot the harpy directly through an eye, blasting part of its head off, giving him the first blood. But the sight quickly sent a sickening feeling through his stomach.

He had never been much of a hunter and usually limited himself to gun ranges or shooting objects from a distance. Aside from inside New Eden, he had never shot something living.

And even then, the limited amount of damage he made stopped him from getting sights this gory. The sudden change in pace of this hit made his stomach churn, and he had to look away, lest he start throwing up on the spot.

And he wasn't the only one experiencing something this violent for the first time.

Although Killian was used to violent video games, in which he almost always maxed out the gore setting, this wasn't a game.

He could feel his pumping through his heart, the danger of their situation finally setting in, and making his heart rate skyrocket.

Winston was a bit better off, as he loved watching movies and playing games with lots of gore. His young age also made him less susceptible to feeling guilty for suddenly taking a life.

On the other hand, Liu Yan looked totally unperturbed about this development.

As soon as he was in range to attack, he channelled mana through the wand in his hand, and a thick lightning bolt shot out of the tip, hitting a harpy in the chest, and boring a hole through it.

The monster fell from the sky, still smoking as it did, and hit the ground not too far from Alex, who was still rushing forward with a dull thud.

Alex had to start zipping around suddenly, as the harpies in the back, which had been obscured by the front line, started chucking stones at him the size of bowling balls.

Taking a quick count of the enemies as he finally reached under them, Alex grinned.

'This is nothing compared to the rats. They might be a bit tougher to kill than them, but we've also gotten stronger, and have more allies with us,' he mused, as he kept whizzing from left to right, evading the falling boulders.

Alex didn't want to use his wings just yet, as he didn't fully trust a few of the people in their group, but he had to find a way to get them to the ground.

Otherwise, the harpies could just keep attacking them from the sky, and making diving runs at them. And diving runs were what they excelled at, as proven by their first few dives, which had clipped Winston and Cory, who were doing their best to protect the casters.

The Harpies didn't seem too intelligent, as they attacked the group one by one, instead of doing coordinated dives, and Alex thanked the heavens for that. But it didn't mean they weren't a threat.

With Jin-Sil, Violette, Kary, Aapo, and Liu Yan taking shots at them, with mixed degrees of success, now that the harpies were looking out for them, the horde was thinning. But it wasn't enough.

Alex could feel a second wave of harpies approaching the volcano's cauldron, and if he left the barrier up, he was scared they would fly around it and head into the city on the other side of the volcano.

He would need to let them in, and that would increase the pressure on them.

Alex needed to find a way to force them to the ground, and quick.

He had thought about shrinking the barrier until it crushed them into the ground, but that came with multiple caveats.

The first one, glaring as it be, was that they were also inside that barrier.

Alex wasn't adept enough in his barrier-making and controlling abilities to let everyone through confidently as it passed them. A single mistake, and he either locked someone inside with the harpies, or had to break the barrier altogether and release them.

The second caveat of that plan came inherently in the form that his barrier would also block any outside attack from them. He knew his allies were powerful, but how weak would he have to make the barrier for them to attack through it?

Would it even hold the harpies in place?

He needed to find a more viable solution to this before the second group crested those ridges. If not, they would have a whole ass situation to take care of, before they even ventured into the tunnels below.

Their cover would be blown, and the attempt at taking care of this secretly would fly out the metaphorical window.

'Should I just transform and take care of them all at once?'