Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 259: The moment when everything came to a stop

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The soul-chilling scream of a celestial howler monkey marked the end of the barrage of Makary's firearms. It also served to warn all the humans just outside the forest of the change.

Standing right beyond the line of the last trees, I had the best seat to observe how humans reacted to this scream.

"It's working," Makary muttered, watching how the chaotic mess just ahead came to a sudden spot, as all the humans cowered in fear of what this scream could mean. "You know, seeing how well you predicted their reaction…"

The middle-aged man shook his head before giving me a long, thoughtful glance.

"It's worrying, you know?"

The corners of my mouth curved up a bit in reaction to Makary's words.

After all, what else could I do but smile when I couldn't exactly understand what the hell was he talking about?

"Humans are crowd creatures. And with how panicked they all were…" I shook my head. "Giving them another push was all it took to achieve… that," I said, pointing out my hand at the unnatural peace just a fewteen meters ahead of our small group of three.

"I will always give credit where credit is due," Makary muttered, his eyes fully centered on the events up ahead. "But I still don't think it's a good idea for you to come out personally."

Makary crossed his arms on his chest and shook his head before finally turning around and taking a proper look at my face.

"I still believe it's too risky for you to be the emissary," he stated.

For a second, I was inclined to agree with him. Even though I have yet to find the time to properly measure the depth of changes that my recent rebirth brought forth in terms of my power and its limits.

Still, there was one thing I couldn't deny. The difference of power between an ascended, even a promoted one, and a supreme… Was something I wouldn't be able to bridge with just modern tech and great wits, assuming I had them.

"It really is risky, but for reasons different than you think," I admitted out loud, only to prick my ears and turn my head towards the forest's depths when I sensed a certain, qualitative change to the air around us.

"That's why I'm going there with the strongest possible bodyguard," I added as a small smile grew all over my face.

"Hmm?"

Rather than denouncing my words, Makary simply turned his head to follow my movements as I moved to the back of the group and fell down on one knee.

"It's great to see you, Madam," I spoke out loud, all for the sake of the locals that crowded the area. "And I'm sorry for putting forward such a daring request."

There was only one person in the forest who could serve as my ultimate bodyguard during my trip to the princess and hopefully a second meeting with her. And it was the one and only supreme of the forest… Or rather, my mother-in-law-to-be!

"Drop the ceremony," Madam wasted no time on pointless pleasantries. "This is not the time nor the place for them," she added before passing by me and approaching the very same tree behind which I hid up until now. "Even though I'm not exactly sure what you are planning, I believe now it's the perfect time to put your plan into motion, isn't it?"

Standing back up, I turned around and approached Madam's side before casting a long look at the situation outside of the forest. And just like Madam mentioned, the time was ripe.

The initial calm… or rather, the terror that made all of the panicked humans freeze on their spot was quickly thawing away. As more and more people realized the hail of bullets came to an end and as they started to connect it to the second coming of that terrifying cry…

For now, only a few individuals managed to overcome their shock and make use of this opportunity to run away. But any moment now, this realization was bound to spread throughout the crowd, leading to the second coming of the chaos.

"You are right," I muttered, more to myself than to Madam, Fay, Makary… or Chris who just ran up to our small group with a heavy backpack strapped to his shoulders and a standard issue repetitive rifle in his hands.

"I'm here!" Chris uttered before taking a second to stabilize his breath. "Sorry for being late," he added as he quickly fixed his equipment to its right place and assumed a more or less relaxed stance.

"I guess that's all for the wait," I muttered before taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, taking just a few more seconds to calm down and prepare myself for one hell of a show that was about to begin. Then, as I opened my eyes…

"Now that we are all here, I believe there's no more time for us to waste," I stated before giving Fay's hand a squeeze and taking my first step outside of the forest. "Let's go!"

The four of us walked out from behind the trees with hardly any of the humans just ahead noticing.

In their eyes, we were nothing more than just a few more survivors who somehow managed to make it outside, despite taking much longer than the others.

It wasn't before we approached the part where a lot more humans crowded the wetlands that they finally started to take notice of the few peculiarities that set us apart from everyone else.

First, in our group of four, there were two women! Secondly, not a single one of us wore any kind of protective equipment or bore arms that they would be familiar with. And with a complete lack of any form of crest or insignia implying our association with their own forces…

"Chris, could you…?" I asked while turning my head to give the feminine man a quick glance.

I wasn't exactly sure what I expected to see. Maybe fear? Determination? Devotion to the case?

Regardless of what I expected to see on Chris's face, all he allowed his expression to show was just how relaxed he was, despite stepping right into the midst of an entire army of people who were our for our blood.

'I guess his looks are not something that he should be judged with,' I thought, watching how the man detached a simple, crude even, loudspeaker from the strap of his backpack before fiddling around with it for a while.

"Here," Chris spoke softly, turning my way and passing over the speaker while making sure not to tangle the cable that connected the device to the weighty backpack strapped to the man's shoulders. "It's online already. All you need to do is press the trigger and speak out."

Taking the device into my hand, I turned my eyes towards the crowd just a few steps ahead.

By now, quite a few of them were already taking notice of our arrival and the uncommon if not outright weird clothing we wore. And as I saw the panic settling in their eyes yet again, I sighed and raised the loudspeaker to my mouth.

"Make way!"