As always, Giliath demands your power stones!
*
Something definitely agitated these monsters. On top of being fearful, some were even angry. They were likely being driven away from their homes. Some crossed paths with Father's orbal pistol, while Father allowed some to flee in terror. They weren't heading deeper into the forest. No, they were running in the exact opposite direction. In the far, far distance was the Transcendental Railway. There are a lot of plateaus surrounding the plains, so I don't think we had to worry about the monsters running onto the train tracks. They'd eventually find dead ends.
So we paid those monsters no attention. I saw Giliath fire shots off to those that only crossed through our direct line of sight. No matter what monster it was, I'd see big damage numbers, totaling 100k or higher. Truly insane, and seeing that reminded me of a certain blue-haired girl that you could bonk one of the games with. She uses a greatsword, just like Father. It's a shame Father didn't bring his sword. At least, I don't think he has it. If he does, he's definitely concealing it well underneath that overcoat of his.
Looking around, I took note of the Schwarz Drache Barrier again in the far distance. Monsters would eventually end up on the single road that led to it, or find themselves in dead ends like I stated. It's a straight path either way that leads to their death. Monsters would either start fighting each other, or worse, fight soldiers of the Empire. Thanks to my Vermillion Eyes currently being active, enough time had passed to where the ongoing Monster Wave started reaching the Barrier. Soldiers positioned near and atop its heavy gate began to rally together. One by one, they began to lock and load their orbal rifles.
In the middle of the grouped soldiers, one in particular stood out. He wasn't on the ground but atop the gate altogether. A couple high-ranking soldiers stood beside him. He had thick black hair, a mustache, and mutton chops to go with the look. He was wearing a dark grey suit with gold accents along the sides. His appearance screamed noble.
This man was Gerhart Rogner. The Lord of the Rogner House, one of the four, or perhaps five, Great Houses. His gaze remained ever so serious seeing the incoming Monster Wave. It wasn't just the twenty-five monsters that Father helped slay. Just in these few moments alone, the number of fleeting monsters increased several fold. They were in the hundreds now, and it was pretty breathtaking to see so many monsters in a swarm like this. Normally in the games, you'd come across five to ten monsters if you had a full party. There are Chain Battles, allowing you to link multiple battles together to further increase your overall experience obtained.
Then it changed up with Daybreak. I knew about its new combat mechanics too. It adjusted overworld spawns to allow more use of its new combat mode, allowing one to freely attack in the field. You could see many monsters appear during this. But even that paled in comparison. There were hundreds of monsters fleeing on the crooked paths that eventually led right into the Schwarz Drache Barrier.
Yet the man atop the gate remained serious, observing the rapidly approaching monsters. As he took the helm, he heard a couple of soldiers rapidly approach the top of the gate from further within. And while this happened, my eyes rested on them, keeping silent. I began to see their mouths move, and I could take a guess as to what the soldiers were saying to Marquis Rogner.
"Status report, soldier.", Marquis Rogner ushered, demanding the latest report from his assigned soldiers. Even though he was of the Great Houses, he still was a leader to this army. It was called a Provincial Army, which was under direct command of the lord of each Great House. These Provincial Armies would be the very same ones to eventually start a civil uprising during the Cold Steel games, triggering a full-blown civil war between the nobles and the Erebonian royalty. Rean and his group would get sucked into it, trying to play the hero as a third-party mediator between the two.
"A monster swarm is quickly approaching the barrier, My Lord.", The nearest soldier said, giving his report. A look of anger appeared on Marquis Rogner's head.
"I can see that, you imbecile. Has our perimeter been secured?"
"Y-Yes, My Lord! We've several soldiers who have taken up their post and are ready to attack on your signal. None of them have entered the gate. It's just, something is weird...", The soldier said, continuing his report.
"Something weird? Out with it already. We don't have all day.", Marquis Rogner responded, keeping his response short. The soldier quickly nodded his head.
"We've reports from our scouts. They've returned from the forest nearby. There are these weird blue flowers popping out of nowhere. Moreover, we spotted a couple individuals fighting the monsters at the southwest front. It might be best for you to observe it directly, My Lord."
"Weird blue flowers, you say? And who are these individuals fighting the monsters? It's pretty desolate out here. I don't think there'd be someone taking a picnic stroll in the middle of nowhere.", Marquis Rogner responded, wondering who exactly it was that was helping them fight the monsters off. The distance was too far to hear Father's orbal pistol ignite with orbal energy. Marquis Rogner wondered if they were Bracers.
As suggested by one of his soldiers, Marquis Rogner knew that he should have a look at the ongoing scene. He approached the edge of the gate, and overlooked many shadowy figures scurrying about. Hundreds of them. With some binoculars in hand, he saw various amounts of mystical blue grass near the forest's edge. Going further down, he definitely saw two figures. One of them was taking shot after shot after shot, killing smaller monsters in one fell swoop.
His eyes landed on the tall figure. Marquis Rogner immediately recognized the man.
"General Osborne...What in blazes is he doing in this mess? And that child next to him...?", Marquis Rogner uttered, only to feel a cold chill run down his spine. "...What!?", Marquis Rogner exclaimed out of shock.
Marquis Rogner saw the violet-haired boy staring right at him with crimson red eyes. They were very vermillion. Despite it being through the binoculars, it was clear he saw the child next to Giliath looking directly at himself. At the same time, Marquis Rogner saw the boy trying not to get in Giliath's way. Deciding on the spot, Marquis Rogner immediately shook that feeling away, and retreated his eyes. He then tossed the binoculars back at the nearby soldier.
"Keep the gate secure. You have my permission to open fire at will. Our duty is to keep this gate from getting destroyed. The people of Roer depend on it. Not a single monster shall invade the gate. And you do not need to worry about the southwest front. Do I make myself clear, soldier?", Marquis Rogner said, giving a command to his soldiers nearby.
"Yes, Lord Rogner!", The soldier replied, saluting him.
Yet the soldiers atop the gate couldn't even make it halfway down into the gate itself before they were all suddenly caught off guard by a loud, deafening roar. It not only echoed throughout all the forest, but it reached the soldiers directly. It made a lot of their blood run cold. Marquis Rogner was the only one who remained unchanged, but his expression was serious.
"AWOOOO!", An insanely loud roar echoed, causing all of the soldiers to look in the direction of the forest. Stomp. Stomp. STOMP!
Before I realized it, blue flowers began to manifest where Father and I were. The ground began to quake. Not because of the shifting ground beneath us. No it was caused by this loud stomping. Thump!
A gigantic fiery red wolf which constantly released flames from its mouth soon came into view, which was the source of the stomping all of us heard.
This monster...
No doubt about it. I immediately recognized it. These types of monsters were all in class of their own, making them unique from your typical monster. They didn't spawn from Septium Veins. They actually bled into Zemuria from planes further beyond!
This monster was a Cryptid!