Chapter 105: Going Home

On my way back to Kengir City, night had fallen, yet the dark and quiet I was accustomed to were not quite the same.

When I flew over plains or forests, a few fires emerged and were being extinguished all over the place. The sounds of monster shrieks and fighting beneath me were sporadic but were never out of earshot. It seemed that the monsters spawning from the mana were fighting each other even more than they fought humans.

I yawned.

In any case, I wasn't interested in any of that. I am tired, sleepy, and am currently fighting a losing battle to keep my eyes open.

Let all the adults worry about this nonsense.

'Just a few more minutes, Kiara...'

My only concern at the moment was getting home to get some well-deserved sleep.

***

It took a short while, but I eventually arrived to see a city without so much as a scratch on its walls. There were many more guards manning the walls than usual – not to mention the number of flying classers moving all over the place. The city looked like a kicked anthill, and there were always a few spots where they had to fight off monsters, but the overall situation seemed to be under control.

Seeing me approach, a squadron of flying guards approached me.

"Halt! Identify yourself and your purpose!" The man at the head of the guard ordered harshly.

As I stopped flying, the guards surrounded me with their weapons drawn. They seemed to be rather tense, and the tall mage behind me seemed to have an itchy finger on her staff.

Why the abyss were these chumps being so antagonistic? Last I checked, the threat they were facing was from monsters, not from bandits or some enemy army. Regardless of their reasons, I was dead tired and unwilling to try and accommodate them; I was going to get to my bed one way or another.

"I've nothing to say to a gaggle of morons itching for an unprovoked fight. Put down your weapons or be put down yourselves." I threatened with a deadpan voice.

The guard's brow twitched, and another stepped up to question me.

"Answer the question, girl. If you don't, we'll be compelled to take more forceful measu-"

Before the woman could finish her sentence, I swung my arm forward in a punching motion. The woman in question was out of reach, but force mana burst from my fist as my arm fully extended, smacking the woman and sending her flying out of control dozens of meters away.

The guards around me exploded into action, with spells, arrows, throwing knives, and all sorts of ranged attacks flying my way.

'Annoying.'

A burst of force mana erupted from my body, tossing aside both the attacks and the guards like ragdolls, as nearby squads of guards seemed to rush my way.

I casually made my way to the city, tossing guards left, right, and center without a care.

My stomach started growling again, even though I stuffed myself silly during the victory feast in Erdu.

'Should I wait for mom's dinner before going to bed? ...Nah, I am too sleepy. Some street food on the way home will have to do.' I said, descending into the street as the guards finally stopped attacking and began surrounding me.

People on the street made way as I stepped up to a frightened stall owner, who was looking rapidly between me and the squads of furious guards.

"Give me three fish skewers, old man." I said, placing two silver shekels on the stall.

I was probably overpaying a lot, but I just couldn't be bothered to haggle.

The man nodded rapidly and began pulling off the skewers from the grill, like I'd asked.

By this point, only the guards, myself, and the stall owner remained in the street, as everyone else hurried away or barricaded themselves in their homes.

By the time I had my fish skewers, some bigger fish decided to come over and relieve the grunts.

[Titan of Kengir Lv. 83 – Berserk Disaster Lv. 342]

"Go get her, Endiku!"

"Show her the true might of Kengir!" "Rip off her head from her shoulders!"

The guards began making all sorts of morbid chants as this 'Endiku' approached me with his battle-axe still holstered – not that he'd need it to take little young me out.

I glanced at him before I took a seat against a building and took out a skewer, completely ignoring them all as I began to eat. Interestingly, that whipped the guards I thrashed into a deeper frenzy, only for the man to silence it with a wave of his hand.

He stood there and waited for me to finish eating, so I simply enjoyed my food.

It wasn't long before I finished, after which I stood up and wiped my hands on my pants and my mouth with my sleeve.

"What can I do for you?" I asked.

"I've heard a commotion was going on, and I was hoping to finally get some excitement. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm to be disappointed once more." He said with a sigh.

"We've been expecting a monster horde from the west, though nothing of the sort had happened. Since you're here and you don't seem to be in terrible spirits, I assume your and the rebel boy's plan has got something to do with that?"

I shrugged.

"You assume right. Nearly 150,000 rank F through C monsters swarmed Erdu, with the occasional rank B and a fourth layer rank A included in the swarm. Anbu, Lord Heri, Theos of Syrakyooz, and I, along with ten thousand of the townsfolk, wiped out the monster horde with minimal casualties. That town doesn't need anymore help, since it can now defend itself from any monster horde just fine with thousands of new classers in its midst."

Endiku's expression had the hint of a mild surprise, before it went back to normal.

"I see... If you've spoken the truth, then this victory you've earned is a truly glorious deed, and one that the God-King himself would like to reward you for personally." He said, rubbing his bushy brown beard thoughtfully.

"But couldn't you have done that yourself, and easily at that? If a rank C and three rank B's could lead a town into such a victory, couldn't you have just saved their lives with a flick of your hand instead?"

For the first time, Endiku laughed at my words.

"Oh my, it seems you've misunderstood me, young hero." His chuckling settled down as he elaborated.

"Your meritorious deed was pushing those 'worthless mongrels' – as his majesty would put it – into making something of themselves, not saving their lives. No kind of incentive or threat could create the mettle to stand against overwhelming odds and to triumph anyway; the unyielding grit of which heroes are born is not something so easy to cultivate. And yet, you did just that."

This time, it was my turn to be surprised.

"I knew you lot didn't value the lives of the meek, but to so brazenly and openly admit it...?" Endiku shrugged.

"Of course we do, who is going to compel his majesty to do otherwise? A drop of blood from a single guard is worth more than a hundred thousand mundane people put together in the eyes of the god-king."

At his words, the guards began cheering.

"Likewise, a drop of blood from an up-and-coming star like you is worth more than all of the guard put together. Its for that reason that I haven't killed you for your assault of the guards."

Just as quickly as they'd began to cheer, the guards were quick to shut up, and some of them at the edges even began to beat a hasty retreat.

"It was your guards who started it. They drew their weapons on me unprovoked, after I risked my life to save their countrymen. They're lucky I haven't actually left any of them with permanent wounds." I shrugged.

Endiku nodded.

"And that was magnanimous of you. Even if you had butchered them all, you would still be within your rights. Weaklings have no right to threaten their betters without the strength to back it up, much less when they're breaking protocol and drawing weapons without due cause. Still, in any other country, you would not have been able to get away with what you did. You do know that you couldn't dream of fighting off someone like me if I tried to take revenge, right?" he asked curiously, his voice devoid of any malice.

I tossed my skewers in a nearby rubbish bin before I shrugged and pointed upwards. "I know, but they can."

The wind began to spin around us, as burning hot and freezing cold air met and spread out in a delicate dance, picking up leaves and dust throughout the street.

Two women descended from the sky to join us, one with an ugly scowl, and the other with cold fury.

Even the nearby streets were abandoned as people ran out of their homes, worried that not even their walls would shelter them from this coming disaster.

Unfortunately for them, no amount of running away was going to save them if these three clashed in the middle of the city.