Chương 105: Chapter 104- A Rough Plan

After Brewer processed the swift change in his fortune, he thanked Astra for her offer while asking for some time to consider it. The group left his room and returned to the pavilion where they stopped by to speak with the Baron to inform him of the results of the interview. Astra asked Mason to hold the post for a short while so they could leave to hold a conference in a nearby evacuated building as Winterbrook spoke with the Baron.

After a few moments of staring in the direction of the fracture yard Magnus turned back to the group and spoke up, " There is something that has been bothering me, I am sure you want to go over what we just heard Lady Emberholdt, can I have your leave to postpone the meeting for a short while?" Astra paused, giving the man an appraising look before nodding, " Aye, but no more than a quarter of an hour, if another eruption is coming we will still need to prepare."

He nodded, " Aye, and that makes my concerns even more urgent, I promise I will be quick." The man waved at a group across the road who joined him as they jogged off towards the Fracture Yard. Astra and Winterbrook took the time to coordinate reinforcements to Fracture Yard in preparation for another eruption, tasking units to reinforce the wall plugging the gatehouse passageway.

They also sent a few units down to remove as many of the bodies of the fallen troops as they could in the lull between waves, before future bombardments could mutilate them any further than they had already. Elias took the moment to help Tia rifle through Cooper's pack and restock before he left to canvas the survivors, as well as checking her over for injuries.

Thankfully none of the monsters had any ranged attacks besides chucking debris into the air, which was not much of a threat to the agile young wyvern, especially after Mira's dodge training. Thumbing the edge of the poleaxe that he had been given by Mira no more than a couple weeks ago Eli frowned as he found the edge chipped and pitted. Inspecting the damage he grimaced. Damn, [Veilrend] is tougher on weapons than I thought it would be.

He had only used the skill for no more than a ten or fifteen minutes total, but after remembering the fine pitting in the wooden weapons of the practice after only a few seconds of use he realized Astra had a point, they would need to get him a dedicated weapon. Ideally one that could stand up to his skill long term. I'll need to grab a replacement before we leave… probably a spare too.

After cleaning and maintaining their gear the best he was able in the short break they had, Eli stopped to check through his notifications. He had received a few skill levels but nothing major, albeit it was not especially surprising that he had only gained a single class level. He sighed to himself, I guess I was becoming a little spoiled. He had already been warned that his leveling would slow as he grew, and also that it would lessen when the experience was split amongst so many of the other soldiers.

The only reason he was able to get the one he did was due to the sheer amount of creatures slain over the course of the battle. Still a little disappointing. One of the messages did catch his eye however as he went through the kill notifications. [Wendigo - Lv 29] Weren't the soldiers calling them Antler Fiends, I swear I've heard this name before?

Magnus returned, the group that had left with him missing, and at a nod from Astra they left heading to one of the few rooms inside the base that wasn't being used for the wounded or to house displaced citizens. Sasha and Astrid stood guard outside while Astra, Eli, Tia, Winterbrook, Magnus, the Baron, and the rest of the guard squad gathered inside, for the most part taking a seat around the large conference table in the center of the room.

Astra stood arms crossed as she leaned against a wall, " So what are your opinions? I have my own suspicions but I would like to hear your thoughts." Baron Grunveldt cleared his throat and spoke first, " It is clear that Viscount Whitten is gathering both armed men and laborers, even without the activities of the cult I would suspect rebellion or at least an assault on a rival. Given that he has no pretext for an internecine war this is a very bold move."

He gave the room a pointed look, " The kind you only see in the final phases of a plan." Winterbrook grunted, " Aye, and I would wager that the caravans coming from Springdale were not carrying supplies but slaves." He sighed, " This whole thing stinks, the Watch has all but disappeared, and the town feels half empty." He gestured back to the gate they had used to enter the town, "A lot of the citizens are probably hiding, but finding whole sections of the street lamps unlit?

We also passed more than a few disused storefronts, and on a main thoroughfare no less." Magnus nodded before speaking in his oddly soft voice, " Aye, and there is definitely something seriously wrong with the Fracture, I've never seen a breach before personally, but what we saw does not fit the description. It's dumping out monsters, but the descriptions I have read speak about the entire Fracture shattering, and the Abyssal denizens coming up in a nearly endless flood, not waves like this."

Elias thought for a moment before speaking up, " All the Fractures have a standard mix right? From what I remember hearing, they are different from place to place but you can count on them always being the same, for each Fracture even if the number of your opponents changes depending on where the System sends you?" Magnus gave him a strange look as he nodded, " Aye, your point?" Eli thumbed the pitted axe blade of his poleaxe, " I'm getting there, does anyone know the mix for this one?

Are they supposed to be Wolves, Rendlings, and the big creepy deer things, Wendigos I think?" Magnus spoke up again, " Aye, Antler Fiends and carrion beasts." Elias scratched the stubble on his chin before gesturing towards the Fracture Yard, " Ok." He leaned forward, resting an elbow on the table, " Correct me if I'm wrong, but let me walk you through my thoughts on this.

So with a total failure, the Fracture itself is gone and they all come pouring out, and normal operation it's almost like a cave system, albeit a strange one and plugged by the fracture." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He tapped the table idly as he continued, " The System separates them into manageable chunks and sends teams to different places to clear them out, but the stagnant, twisted mana in the Abyss always creates more."

He gave the table a solid thump, " Now, say we kill every single monster in one fell swoop, how many more are we talking about, and how quickly are they regenerating?" Magnus tugged on his long auburn beard, " Probably a couple hundred at least, and around an hour …" His eyes shot over to Eli's as he hummed contemplatively for a moment, " I see, just like the young man's 'wave' cycle?" Elias snapped his fingers and pointed at the man, " Yes!

I don't think we're looking at a break, I think we're looking at a blockage or some kind of ejection." He sat back in his chair, " What normally happens if they aren't cleared out often enough?" Magnus frowned, " The System will spend more and more energy to suppress the Fracture until it can't any longer, then it will let out a few at a time to let off the pressure. The process takes a long time to get to that point and you'll know far in advance as the Fracture glows brighter over a week or two, maybe a month."

Eli crossed his arms over his chest, " Unless you have some way of stopping the System from suppressing them and instead cranking that relief mechanism wide open." Magnus arched a brow at Eli, " Plausible, but unlikely." He sighed, " Albeit also a concern given what I found." Magnus grunted as he sat back in his chair, " I had similar suspicions so I gathered one of my more experienced scouting teams and set them up on the ramparts.

Their mage is especially adept at detecting mana flows, he had already informed me that the flows around the bottom of the rift were odd, almost as if something was pulling at the mana from beneath the Yard." Astra gave him a sharp look, " Can you follow it?" Magnus shook his head, " Not without entering the Fracture." Astra swung a hand in a swift chopping motion, " Then do not. Search the surrounding district, check every cellar, sewer, foundation, as well.

I will not risk the forces under my command being trapped inside an eruption." She directed the last at Captain Winterbrook, before turning back to look at Magnus, " Do you suspect foul play? We do not have proof this cult can do such a thing as altering the behavior of the fracture, but it stands to reason that they at least believe they can, given their chosen mark." Magnus nodded solemnly, " Aye, at least that is my fear."

Astra shrugged, " We can at least search for the source, anything we can learn would be of incalculable value at this point. Even so, it begs the question why? If a person could trigger such a thing, I fail to see why a person ever would."

"As a distraction." Astra looked over at the Baron in confusion, while the Captain frowned and nodded his agreement. Baron Grunveldt gave Astra a pained look before he sighed and continued, " You will have to forgive me my Lady, but if taken as a whole, with our current assumptions in play it is the only reasonable conclusion." She glanced over at Eli, looking slightly surprised when he winced and nodded in agreement, " It would take one cold and ruthless bastard to do it, but I can see it."" Our…

friend," Eli flickered his eyes skyward and back down to Astra, " warned us of a new breach not the opening of an old one, and a massive one at that. This situation is brutal for the men stationed here and the innocent people of the town, but this is still not what we were warned about."" Our source was very clear that the danger would threaten the whole nation and not just one town."

The Baron spoke again, " For what it is worth Lady Emberholdt, the temperament of your family is well known amongst the peerage, and your response when coming upon a scene such as we found is not even a choice, but a near certainty. I am sure the thought of leaving the citizens of your duchy to the deprivations of a monster tide would be unthinkable to you, as it should be."

The Baron shifted uneasily, suddenly looking a little older than he had before as he looked upon Astra with a sad gaze, " You are still young my Lady, you have not spent much time among the peerage, and there are some truly old and monstrous creatures amongst their number. The Emperor and Empress keep them, as a chained monster can be a useful tool, as long as they do not slip their leash.""

I do not wish to speak ill of a peer above my station, but the Viscount is a cold and calculating man, and while he would have to be mad to try something like this, that only leads me to question what he would do if he has lost his mind?" He sighed, " Well, I could see him contemplating such an act. If he has no more use for the Empire, what point is there in seeing to the well being of its citizens? He would just view it as a waste of resources."

Astra recoiled, straightening upright from her position where she had been leaning against the wall, an expression of revulsion and horror crossing her face that slowly shifted into anger, " You are telling me, that there is a man out there, who would sacrifice an entire town as a distraction and he has not been stripped of his title?" The Baron scoffed before holding up a placating hand and sighing again, " Yes, my Lady.

The burden of proof to strip a noble is high, and if their family suspects an inquisition, they will simply offer up that member as a sacrifice to salvage their own positions. I do not doubt you have heard of such rumors before." He straightened as he continued, " You are a testament to your line and station Lady Emberholdt, but not all are. While I may wish for this to be the only time you are disappointed, I suspect it will not be the last."

Astra scowled, her mouth twisting in disgust, before she strode over to a chair next to Elias and sat, grumbling quietly in dissatisfaction. Tia padded over and plopped her head in Astra's lap, her scowl fading slightly as she stroked the wyvern's scales. After a moment of realizing she was not going to speak up, Elias decided to speak for her, " So what does this mean for us? What's next?" Winterbrook grunted, " Well if it's treason we can't count on the Watch coming back.

We can't leave the people defenseless, so some of our forces need to stay here, even if we are carrying the fight to the Viscount." Baron Grunveldt spoke up, " You can leave my men and I here." He waved in the general direction of the Fracture Yard, " I am past my prime, and my men simply do not have the experience of yours Captain, but we can load a ballista and watch a gate just fine.

If the worst comes to pass we can draft some of the more able bodied towns folk into service to man the ballista and have my retainers hold the gatehouse." Magnus chimed in, " This all assumes that we can stop the waves, and we will not need the extra forces here." He sighed, " Let it not be said the League is ever afraid to delve. The Yard should be clear by now, I'll gather a few teams and we'll take a look at the Fracture, see if we can find the source of the mana draw."

He glanced over Astra for a moment before looking over to Winterbrook, " That means it will be just the Emerald Grove Garrison and the young Lady's patrol assaulting the Viscount estate." Astra shook her head, "We can not leave an active breach under manned. We can wait an hour or two, rest and refit where able, and see if we can find the source of the waves. The Baron spoke up," My Lady, if this is a distraction every hour we stay is another in their favor."

Astra stood, her expression was no longer a fierce scowl, but the simmering anger could still be seen in tension in her stance, " Aye, but we will see our duty done all the same, I will not leave the people of Whittenburg to their fates if the worst may come." She paused, " Only time will tell if I made the right decision."

A little over a half hour later Astra, Elias, and WInterbrook were hunched over a map of the local area planning the movement to the Viscount's Estate, the looming deadline of the next wave pressing down upon them as a runner arrived gasping for breath, " My Lady." He gulped for breath, " Lady Emberholdt, come quick. They found something in the Pit."