Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 808: Beast Tide Defence II

CH808 Beast Tide Defence II

***

The beasts reached the section that Sergeant Lopota and the Silver Wolf Guards had deliberately cleared.

For some reason, instead of charging straight through the wreckage, they instinctively followed the newly created opening, rushing along the cleared path towards Ashwell’s main settlement in the distance.

Beast-luring powder!

Before long, the beasts entering through the breached wall and those pouring through the opened gates merged into a single stream as the path narrowed into a bottleneck.

A few were trampled in the crush.

Yet even that failed to slow the relentless tide.

Just as the packed horde reached the end of the narrow funnel, a massive spell formation suddenly materialised overhead.

“Drop dead,” Alex muttered coldly.

“Death Beam!”

An even more colossal pillar of light erupted from the formation.

This time, however, the beam did not blast the beasts apart.

Instead, it passed harmlessly through the tightly packed horde before striking the outer defensive wall in the distance, with a few stray rays escaping through the breach.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then, under the bewildered gazes of even the defenders atop the walls, the beasts began collapsing one after another within the next five steps they took.

Death in five steps…

Without intending to, Alex had recreated a scene with the concept behind the mythical martial arts technique from his previous life.

The beam had been far more than ordinary light.

In reality, it behaved more like a specialised form of ionising radiation, one that exclusively targeted the beasts’ energy vessels, causing them to rupture from within.

Most of the affected beasts likely died from catastrophic organ failure, as the violent destruction of their energy vessels also tore apart the internal organs intertwined with those pathways.

The human defenders remained completely unharmed.

Each of them was protected by an individual barrier projected by the Fort Defence Grand Formation through the [Link] Rune inscribed upon their foreheads.

The [Death Beam] was a weapon of mass destruction that Alex had incorporated into the Grand Formation as its ultimate trump card.

Activating the runic formation consumed an enormous amount of mana.

The only reason he could unleash it was by overdrawing the mana capacitance stored within the Mana Cement coating the defensive walls, supplemented by the additional mana-gathering formations inscribed across the fortifications.

Depending on the extent of the overload, portions of the Mana Cement would temporarily—or even permanently—lose their mana capacitance afterwards.

Crack!

A sharp cracking sound echoed from the wall.

‘Just in time,’ Alex thought wryly.

Multiple cracks spread across the surface of the wall as the unique material structure responsible for the Mana Cement’s—or more accurately, the Manasilica’s—mana capacitance broke down.

‘This damage is probably permanent,’ Alex mused.

Fortunately, the wall’s structural integrity remained largely intact. The wall’s building blocks themselves had suffered little damage. Only the magical components, including the Fort Defence Grand Formation, had been rendered inoperative.

The [Link] Greater Rune on each defender’s forehead flickered repeatedly before finally fading away.

Even so, that did not stop the artillery crews.

“Fire!”

BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

Ballista bolts streaked across the battlefield, exploding upon impact.

The resulting showers of shrapnel tore through nearby beasts, injuring, maiming, or killing those unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast radius.

Before long, every remaining beast around the outer wall had been slain.

Only a handful of the more intelligent and cautious Green Sabretooth Tigers managed to escape unharmed.

Ashwell’s outer wall had survived the assault, yet there wasn’t the slightest hint of relief on Alex’s face.

This was likely only one of many clashes they would face during the two-week-long migration.

And yet, he had already been forced to reveal one of his greatest trump cards.

Although work had already begun on replacing the damaged Mana Cement coating, with every available pair of hands working around the clock, there was no guarantee the repairs would be completed before the next assault.

Fortunately, the runic formations themselves did not need to be redrawn.

They had been inscribed directly into the wall’s building blocks.

As long as the wall itself remained standing, restoring its mana conductivity by replacing the damaged Mana Cement would allow the Grand Formation to function once more.

For now, that meant replacing the damaged wall plaster was enough to bring the Grand Formation back to life, ready to protect the defenders again.

Aside from repairing the fortifications, every available worker was occupied clearing the battlefield of Berserk Beast carcasses.

Using prototype lorry-like wagons powered by Mana Motors, the carcasses were transported to a warehouse approximately three kilometres away.

The warehouse’s interior walls were densely covered with intricate runic inscriptions.

One after another, the horseless wagons rolled inside, unloading tonne after tonne of Berserk Beast meat.

Finally, near nightfall, after the last wagon had emptied its cargo, the domain officer overseeing the warehouse closed the massive doors.

He then pressed a square rune embedded within the runic formation inscribed on the outer wall beside the warehouse entrance.

The runic formations within the warehouse sprang to life, revealing their purpose.

Purification and Preservation.

The Grand Formation purified the carcasses of their Berserk contamination, rendering the meat safe for consumption. It then preserved the carcasses until the domain had the time and manpower to process them properly, ensuring they neither spoiled nor attracted additional Berserk Beasts.

To Alex’s pragmatic mind, the Berserk Beasts were as much a source of food and valuable materials as they were a threat to the domain.

As such, he had made extensive preparations to exploit both resources.

The same scene was unfolding not only in Ashwell but also in Castin and Fonterra.

In fact, one could argue that the situation in those two towns was even more favourable.

Outside Castin’s defensive walls stretched a vast frozen plain, created by the aftermath of a wartime spell cast by Zora through the immense mana gathered by the Fort Defence Grand Formation under her control and a bit of her excess Yin energy.

Meanwhile, in Fonterra, golden flames raged both within and beyond the capital’s outer defensive walls, engulfing countless Berserk Beasts.

Curiously, the golden flames did not burn the beasts’ flesh.

Instead, they targeted the Berserk energy contaminating their bodies.

The contamination was forcibly purified, causing many of the beasts to perish while leaving their meat completely free of Berserk taint.

To everyone’s surprise, however, a small number of beasts actually survived the purification, emerging completely cleansed of Berserk contamination.

Even Eleanore, who had cast the spell as a desperate measure, was left stunned.

Not only had she never imagined that channelling her magic through the Fort Defence Grand Formation would produce such overwhelming power, but she had also never expected any beasts to survive the purification process without specialised support.

This discovery was a tremendous breakthrough for her Berserk Contamination purification research.

Crack~

Back in Ashwell, while everyone worked tirelessly to repair the wall before the next wave of migrating beasts arrived, Alex suddenly heard a distinct crack echo within his mind.

Dark clouds began gathering overhead as an ominous pressure descended upon the surroundings.

Alex recognised the sensation immediately.

‘Heavenly Tribulation!’

Before he could even begin to wonder why a Heavenly Tribulation was descending upon his location, a powerful impulse surged through his Mindspace.

Hunger…

An overwhelming, insatiable hunger!

***