After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

Faye’s team also encountered the same challenges. They had already drunk their fill and filled whatever container they had with water, and were rushing upstream when the monsters appeared.

They knew it would happen as soon as dusk arrived, so their weapons were already brandished out and their roofs were left by the river long ago.

Fortunately, the mob was smaller than they anticipated and they—a group of hundreds—could actually manage it to some degree.

Cree narrowed his eyes. ”This means there’s a territory nearby!” he yelled, and it lit up the hope in them, letting them go beyond their usual limits.

They filed along the edge of the river in pairs or in threes, so at the very least they only had to guard aside. There were also a few who decided to cover themselves with the mud just before nighttime. At least there was not as much heat, so it could be done without baking themselves.

They did this to supposedly shield their bodies from attacks and also in hopes that the mud could hide their smells, possibly making them less attractive than others.

Anyway, the teams fought against the monsters in front of them, all while traversing upstream when they could.

They fought valiantly, considering their own weaknesses and pain. Sadly, even when they outnumbered the monsters, some people were still eaten while some fell to the water and carried downstream, fates unknown.

However, most managed to deal with the monsters with teamwork and proper leadership.

”Team A, focus on the Madara Monster!” Foxii yelled, brandishing her shield to cover a teammate, but her attention was on the screams to her right.

With a movement of her free hand, she summoned some water from the river, creating a small whip to hit the monster in that direction.

This was another advantage of being near the water!

It was not strong enough to cause damage, but it was enough distraction for Team A to hit the monsters’ weaknesses, which were at the side of their necks.

On her other side, she stabbed her spear, attacking the monster’s eye. She awakened the shieldsman occupation instead of the spearman, but she could at least handle a lower-leveled monster.

Stab!

ROAARR!

It responded by lunging at her, but she managed to move her shield in time to block it. The force, though, pushed her a step back.

She gritted her teeth and held on, and it also allowed citizens to attack it together, eventually killing one.

Another monster attacked her though, and this one had a heavier defense. It swiped away several people on its way to her, lunging directly at her shield.

She almost fell into the river, but she managed to summon water to push her back, though that took up a lot of her mana.

”Team B! Attack!” she yelled, and those from her left lunged at the small group of monsters while Foxii used a good portion of her mana to put water up their noses, successfully distracting them.

On the other hand, the aborigines were leading the front of the line, fighting so they could still move forward even while they were fighting. The file moved, and this meant some of the slower ones could be left behind.

Some of them were the ones who covered themselves with clay. They gulped when they saw their teammates getting farther and farther, and they could only stand still, pretending to be a rock.

When the monster walked past, they thought it worked. However, the critters abruptly turned back and opened their mouths, taking half of the ’rocks’ into their stomachs.

Crunch!

A lot of the Row Villagers saw this—the lower torsos of former fellowmen flopping to the ground— and their hearts dropped as their stomachs flipped inside.

”Damnit!”

”Well, that didn’t work,” a couple of insensitive remarks sounded. No one was friends with everyone else, after all, and they couldn’t get depressed every time someone died.

After a point, dark humor was what kept them sane.

Anyway, pretending to be rocks didn’t work, as the hungry beasts could still smell them.

Thor’s eyes twitched. Thank goodness he didn’t try it for himself. He genuinely thought that theory could work.

Anyway, he focused on the battle at hand, with Crump using his ability to create a semi-permanent bowl to throw river water to the monsters, and then Thor would promptly use his electricity to cause some damage.

Sometimes it did cause good damage, while some just debilitated them a bit, but they were enough as distractions.

However, their energies were all low to begin with and they could not wait until the mobs were cleared, regardless of how small they were. Their priority was still to leave the area and find a safe place.

Foxii sighed, knowing this was their limit. She had hoped to clear the mob since it was so small, which would ensure the survival of a lot more people, but their bodies spirits, and HP were too low to do so.

”RUN FORWARD!” She yelled, just before using much of her remaining mana to cover a lot of the monsters up front.

Before dashing forward, Thor also sent small sparks of electricity to them, and the group used these few seconds of pause to widen the distance from the mobs.

They just rushed blindly ahead of them from then on. Those who were capable shielded their own backs, while at the same time no longer having the benefit of caring for the others behind them.

They would hear roars and growls behind them, and it would be followed by screams and the horrifying sounds of bodies bitten apart.

They didn’t know how long they struggled. All they knew was that they had to go beyond their limits every step they took. Each movement felt like they were carrying tons of metal, but they had no choice but to do so.

It was dark and some fell in the water, while some just lost the strength in their legs. No one had the strength to help others at this time, and they could only cry and apologize in their hearts.

The longer they moved, the more the energy—the hope—started to dissipate and more and more people fell under the claws and teeth of the monsters.

However, at some point, the darkness was broken as bright light shone at a distance.

Those up front immediately cried out. ”LIGHT!” they yelled, and the energy that had been lost recuperated to some degree, and they rushed forward once more.