Emperor's Reckoning

"Everyone!! This is both chance and curse! A man for himself!" said one of the adventurers as he raised his fist.

"With the Frost Party being absent, I might yield a better result, than yesterday," said another.

"Or you might die."

"Huh? Sir Doma!" the adventurer immediately wiped off the scowl on his face the moment he realized who it was.

"Sir Doma, with you here, the death would be lesser than yesterday," said another adventurer.

"Keep your eyes peeled open, I will watch from the walls, remember, there is no guild when The Swarm happened, the city still needs to be protected, don't disgrace yourself over some petty problems. Your blade might know honor, but their teeth only chew."

"Y-yes!!" The adventurer straightened their spine.

Doma nodded firmly before he jumped and landed right on the parapet. The fellow archers immediately greeted him with a nod.

"Sir Doma, good to see you again."

"Likewise, how is the situation."

"Yes sir, we saw black lines at the horizon about five minutes ago, and are getting bigger each second, they are rushing toward the city as we speak."

"How about the sum of the swarm? Are they bigger than yesterday?" asked Doma before stepping to the edges.

"About that... you can see for yourself."

Doma squinted his eyes and saw the clouds of dust created at the farsight. He discerned the claws and the various beasts that could leave a huge scar on their city walls. "Amazing, they have multiplied, but where is the leader."

"It seems like the boss beast is not joining the fray, I wonder which one is it this time," further added Doma before he closed his eyes. "Thank you for your service, keep an eye on the lookout."

Meanwhile down below, right at the gate where the adventurers amassed themselves.

"You guys! Did you see Sein's group?" asked Nafail.

"No," said one of the adventurers.

"Oh wait, I saw them, I heard that they are going to Farvan City," said another.

"What?!" the group of adventurers exclaimed. "Are they crazy?!"

"Yeah, I saw them too."

"Saw them? I saw them off!"

"What..." Nafail lost the tension in his shoulder. "What the... what are they thinking?!"

"Yeah, you can still faintly see they are going straight there!"

"Get out of my way," said Nafail after he raised his brows. "Oi! Sein!!! What are you doing!!"

Doma furrowed his brows. "Huh? What did he say?"

"He said Sein, sir, the recent buzz in the city, I believe you have met him before? He was last seen enjoying himself inside an old tavern with his party, alongside Nafail of course," said one archer.

"Sein?"

"Yes sir, we saw them making a trip toward Farvan not too long ago, in fact, it wasn't too long after that, that we saw The Swarm began."

"Fuck!" Doma cursed.

"What did you say?! Sein is going for Farvan?!" said Aeron before he immediately pushed the others away and exited his guild. He clenched the grimoire in his hands as tight as his jaws.

"He did what?!" Mona jumped out. "That fool, what is he thinking?!" she rushed out from the Flame Guild and made her way toward the fray.

However, the two of them immediately met Liern who already heard the news and was standing at bay at the front of the gate. He had his arms crossed under his cloak. His eyes glanced over the swarm that now can be seen from their spots.

"What's the matter?" asked Avi at the parapet.

"Ah, Avi, pretty rare of you to come here," jested one of the archers before they received an unusual sharp glance from her. ( Kh?! ). He immediately fell into trepidation. His lungs emptied before he felt the cold of the wind after a moment. ( W-What was that?! ).

Doma turned his head and shook his head, "Sein and the party is going to Farvan City, even after they warned him about The Swarm."

"What?!" Avi raised her voice before she looked over at the path that led to both Farvan and The Swarm. "They... what are they doing?!"

Doma nodded before he retrieved his bow. "I hope our words can travel that far. However, with those bustling noises that the beasts made, I doubt we could."

Meanwhile, the Frost Party was accompanying its leader on the bed.

Arf had his jaw still dangling over on the bed. The man couldn't even grit his teeth to hold the pain that he felt. He breathed like a bull with veins bulging on his forehead. The fury could be seen inside his eyes but he couldn't and shouldn't move with his condition.

The humiliation that he suffered was far greater pain than the dislocated jaw that he experienced. He was at the top of the line, he was the leading party. He was the captain of the strongest party inside Ahkam. However, he was downed on the second day of The Swarm.

Furge entered the room and closed the door. "The Swarm has started."

Arf furrowed his brows.

"I thought so," Abes sighed. "You should not clench your jaw and worsen your condition captain."

Arf sent a glare toward Abes. He couldn't even speak a word without making him look like a fool.

"What can they do without us?" said Helena. "We probably gonna see half of them tomorrow."

"Sadly, the healers are all occupied due to The Swarm, so you need to hold it out for a while," said Abes as he disregard Helena's comment.

"That may be true, but I hear something interesting while I was on the street," said Furge with a smirk. "The smirking jerk is actually going to the Farvan City right at this moment!"

"So?" Helena raised her brows.

"Guess where The Swarm is coming this time?" Furge crossed his arms.

"Oh?! Hahahaha, serve them right!" Helena laughed.

"HE, He, HEHE."

The party turned to their leader who had a bright grin on one side. The eerie chuckles reverberated in the room.

...

"Look! They are coming! It's too late!" shouted Aeron as he gritted his teeth. "Fuck! Such a resplendent glow! Is it only for a moment?!"

"This will be one of the biggest lessons in adventuring," Liern shook his head.

"Tch!" Mona clicked her tongue.

Avi furrowed her brows before Doma released a mana-fueled arrow. It was zipping through the sky and immediately took down one beast from afar.

"There!" said Doma. "They should see this! Explode!"

The arrow exploded into a large smoke and immediately engulfed the entire swarm and some more.

"Nice," Avi smiled before her pupils shrunk. She saw Lyon's group go into the thick smoke and disappeared one by one.

"W-What? What are they doing?!" Doma shouted in rage. "Fucking stupid!"

"Akh?!" Nafail gaped his mouth open as he saw the party that gave him a golden opportunity plunged into their death foolishly.

"Oi! Snap out of it!" said one other adventurer. "They're coming!"

Thick legs with paws and sharp claws tear through the thick fog with grins and glint in its eyes. The beast had gills before giving out a sharp roar. It was one, then two, then three, then tens of them tear through the smoke that Doma gave.

Various beasts were coming toward the city with hunger occupying their fangs.

"Tch! Arm yourself!" shouted Doma. "Goddamnit, what a stupid way to die."

Suddenly a roar that made their skins crawl traveled and brought their spine a cold jolt. Everyone immediately lose their grip and their lungs were exhausted.

Avi's jaws slacked open before she gulped. Her eyelids froze at the ceiling of her eyes as her lips jittered before a word came out from her instinct. "B-Behemoth...."

"Behemoth! It's the boss beast!!" shouted Doma to wake everyone up from their terror.

"Behemoth?!" Aeron immediately had his grimoire floating in the air. "This one is going to be bloody!"

"The others are coming too! Eyes peeled!" shouted Mona as she drew her blade.

*Boom!

A daunting boom was heard as the entire ground they were standing shook. A blast of shockwave immediately scattered the smoke that was fainting. All hairs fluttered against the recurring gust of wind before Avi found something was zipping the air toward her.

"Gah! Look out!" Doma jumped and pushed her away.

The thing went through before crashing against a building inside the city. The loud crash immediately made the adventurers lose their initial warcry. Morale was stumped however, Liern noticed that the swarm of beasts also halted their movements.

"Are you alright?" said Doma.

"I-I'm fine," said Avi.

"But you're drenched in blood!" said Doma.

"W-What?!" Avi panicked before she touched her face. True enough she saw her fingers dyed red. "It's not mine."

"S-Sir Doma, you have to see this..."

"Huh?" Doma turned and looked at the fellow archer. He immediately noticed the blood sprayed on the floor, trailing unevenly toward the crashed building.

"Kh?! That's!"

Avi immediately regained her posture. "What is it?" She rushed out to the opposite end before her goosebumps rose. Something familiar was laying on top of the crumbled building.

"That's... a behemoth's head."

Avi raised her brows before she quickly turned around and what welcomed her glance drew out her breath. The Swarm was over, with a single arrow being shot, yet, she knew it wasn't Doma who made the crater half the size of the city now present in the lush meadow.