Counterattack

[Author note: Both of the last chapters are named 'Waking up...', but the content is different. I have added '2' in the title of the last chapter. If you didn't read it, then read it first. Thank you.]

However, his concerns were unfounded. None of them spared a glance at him as he walked along with the flow. In his view, the trees were becoming clear. The umbrella-shaped cecropia.

'The sloth tree, isn't it?' He saw the boundary of the city, a smile appeared on his face, but it was short-lived.

The sleepwalking human tide split as soon as they came out of the city. They formed groups of two or three, moving in different directions.

'Should I have to wait? 'Aiden wasn't sure what to do about it. But when he saw that they were still going to the edge, he joined one of the bands. To his surprise, they all reached the tree and stood there as nothing had happened.

'Are they here to watch over the border? 'Aiden wasn't sure why each of them was like a mannequin. He wanted to look around the other tree, but his body was stiff.

'There's something above me.' Aiden could feel the presence, but he didn't dare look. 'It was coming down the tree.' Aiden felt that his heart had stopped, and he dared not breathe at all.

And it brushed past his body. Aiden didn't know what it was, but he was sure that it moved to the person next to him. Aiden didn't want to do that, but he opened his eyes.

A beast of no more than 1 meter was sitting on the shoulder of the man beside him. There was a hole in the man's neck, and blood came out of it. The red-eyed beast licked the blood very slowly.

At that time, the red eyes turned to Aiden, and his heart stopped. The beast, however, vanished in a flash.

Aiden didn't spare any thought and ran away. Even if the concentration of mana wasn't strong, it still ...

*Bam*

Aiden fell to his back with a bleeding nose. At the same time, a shrill cry destroyed the silence.

*Crrrreeee*

The shrill cry was just like a siren. It was resonating through the air. What was frightening for Aiden was that there was something else to answer the cry, with another cry. And soon the whole city resonated with hundreds of monotonous cries.

'Shit.' Aiden cursed his heart as he ran away. 'The barrier is similar to that. There was supposed to be a place where the mana concentration was weaker.'

Aiden wasn't sure if his guess was correct or not, but without the location system, Aiden had a hard time finding it. Still, he ran across the perimeter to find a weak mana concentration zone.

'This was the feeling.' Remembering that, Aiden couldn't help but shudder. 'There are so many eyes looking at me. It was the same when I entered the city.'

But the difference was that it wasn't just his imagination. Now he knew that there were hundreds of beasts living on the trees, along the edge of the city.

'3-toed Vampire sloth' Aiden confirmed the name and ESS added it to the database.

[Name: 3-toed Vampire sloth

Grade: C*

Element: ??

Feature: Fast(??), Three sharp claws, Mana Control, Hypnosis (??).

Weakness: Unknown

Comment: Weak. Shy. Avoid human contact.]

'Evade human contact, huh? That might be true.' As he ran along the perimeter, he could feel the presence of the beasts in the tree, but none of them attacked him.

Rather than the beast, it was the white-eyed humans that made Aiden more worried. 'They have to be under the control of the beast. Still, as long as they don't attack me, I don't have a problem.'

Aiden had seen in his memory that they were ganging up a Grade A beast without fear of their lives. Even though their strength was weak, Aiden had no intention of fighting the hordes of them.

However, no matter how much he ran, he couldn't feel the difference in the mana. There was no pressure on his body, so he assumed that the mana concentration was not high there. But he was proved wrong last time.

With the fluctuation of Mana and the chaos ore radiation, ESS was unable to determine the concentration of mana. No, it wasn't just that, the ESS was unable to use many of its functions. Aiden was on his own, then.

Aiden didn't think the beast would just let him do what he wanted, it would certainly intervene. But it happened earlier than he had expected. Aiden ran for a long time and was unable to find away. At the same time, however, a change began to take place.

Aiden could not stop and watch the change. However, he could see that the eyes of the people were changing. Soon, the white eyes turned crimson. To make the matter worse, they weren't just behind him.

The crimson-eyed humans were pouncing at him from all directions. And they weren't just a few of them. Almost 50 or 60 of them were attacking at the same time.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to kill me?" Aiden cried out, yet they didn't flinch for a moment before attacking him with the daggers, swords or clubs.

[Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used:1/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 6]

[Skill [Wind Skin] activated. Mana used:2/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 4]

'Shit attacking them is going to be such a waste of time.' Aiden moved through the crowd using swift motion. Most of their attacks have been missed. Some of them made contact with his [Wind Skin], but they didn't do any harm.

But as soon as he escaped the enclosure, he was attacked by more people. There was no room for him to catch his breath.

'They are like mindless peacocks.' Aiden sighed in his heart. It scared him a lot more, that he was like them once. Although he didn't know how to escape, he knew it had something to do with the mana core inside him.

'I don't want to be controlled again, even with the mana core.' But his situation wasn't hopeful at all. The more he fled, the more he was attacked.

'Should I be hiding in the city for now? 'Even if Aiden wanted to escape from the city, he couldn't do it.

[The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]]

Aiden ran right into the city with the help of [Light Foot]. But the situation wasn't good either.

Whether they were old men, children or women, all their eyes were crimson burning. As soon as one found him, hundreds of them came from all directions to him.

'Do I have to fight with them?' Aiden shook that thought of his head, 'As soon as I fight one, multiples will attack at the same time. The only way is to kill them in one shot, but…'

Aiden had no intention of killing anybody who had nothing to do with him. But he couldn't find any other way when he looked behind him.

Just a second before his [Light Foot] came to end…

[The host has activated innate skill [Zone]]

[5.4981]

[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]

[5.4732]

[The host had manually deactivated [Zone.]]

Aiden was hiding in the shadow on the second floor of a run-down building while covering his mouth. He had a hard time breathing, but still dared not remove his hand, fearing that his loud breathing would expose his location.

He took a few minutes to calm himself down and study the situation carefully.

'Almost thousand of grade C* beasts along the perimeter. Even if they don't attack, it will be hard for me to leave unnoticed.'

'At least a few thousand crimson-eyed men who will do anything without caring for their lives. But they're not strong.'

'And last but not least, it's the mastermind. A grade B or worse, an A graded beast. But the elemental affinity will be the problem. It could be 3 * or more. Without it, it will be impossible to control so many people and the barrier…'

Even if he wanted to run away, there was no way he could break the barrier.

'I have only one way to get out of the city, that's to...' Aiden turned to look out the window. Even from a distance, the crown of the giant tree could still be seen in the middle of the city.

'I know where you're hiding. And you're not strong enough in close combat.' Even if he'd known weakness that wasn't enough, 'but you know what I can do, too.'

Aiden was once controlled by him, and not just by him. From the fragmented memory he knew, not only did he know his secrets, but also how he used his power in the best possible way. Aiden did not dare to underestimate it.

'If you know what I can do, I will do what you don't know I can do.' Aiden sighed in the heart before taking out his last two energy bars hidden inside his suit.

His inside was burning from constant torture and vomiting, yet he bit down his teeth and swallowed it all. There was no feeling of fulfilment, only the pain of the food going down.

After eating the food, Aiden waited half an hour before moving again. The crimson-eyed people had dispersed a lot, but they were still moving all over the city.

'They're still looking for me, huh? 'Aiden had no difficulty in understanding the intention of the beast, but he smiled. 'But you weren't moving from the place. Why?'

Aiden took the blade and took the stairs down from the second floor. Hiding behind the shadow, he checked out the situation. 'ESS, can you find a place in my memory?'

[Unable to pinpoint the location.]

'Take me as close to that place as possible.' With his thought, green footprints appeared again in his eyes.

About half an hour later, Aiden was hiding at least 70 meters away from the giant tree. This place between him and the tree was littered with crimson eyed humans. Aiden was even able to see Lyla and others.

'Are you sure 9 slashes is going to be enough? 'Aiden couldn't dare to believe the words, so he confirmed it again from the system.

[If the host can use the skill in a perfect sequence, the chances of success are 93.78%.]

Aiden sighed in his heart before he took out two small hearts. They were cold, and the stench was strong, it made him vomit, but he didn't have any other way.

This time, he could feel the change within his body. As soon as the stuff entered his stomach, hot molten lava exploded. The heat continued to spread through his veins, and soon it reached his heart.

The pain had turned into pleasure, which had spread from his heart. But it's been short-lived. Soon the overeating irritation began to spread. His body started to bloat again.

The pain forced him back to his four. He groaned as he looked at the tree, and he vanished.

[Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 312]

[Accumulated Mana: 315/7]

[Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 300]

[Accumulated Mana: 303/7]

[Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 288]

[Accumulated Mana: 290/7]

[Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 275]

[Accumulated Mana: 279/7]

When he was just one inch away from the tree, there were two more sets of notifications in front of him.

[Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 276]

[Accumulated Mana: 280/7]

[The host has activated innate skill [Zone]]

[5.4719]