They even wanted to surround Arbor with farms but Kiersty knew that would upset Arbor just being surrounded by plants all the time Although the farmers were disappointed they knew that this small girl had some strange connection with the tree and deferred to her
For now at least
Nathan walked up to Kiersty looking nervous Mom wants to talk to you
Kiersty paled
Chapter 102
Alana raised her hand looking at the sky They were making better time than they had anticipated mostly due to their clearing the roads on the way down to Franksburg If they went through and did a little more thorough job they would basically have a personal highway that went straight between their two cities
Opening her menu Alana looked at the map of the area given to her by the Ghosthound The area that constituted their Zone was a rectangle slightly taller than it was wide It ended up being 189 miles wide 223 mile tall If you were to plot their locations on an X and Y axis Donnyton would be about 150 83 being in the Southeastern quarter
Franksburg was Southeast of Donnyton quite near the absolute Southeastern corner of the Zone Although it wasn’t an issue now Franksburg would be an incredible asset as an ally They were sequestered in the corner and had a lot of space and a burgeoning population Once they found their feet able to survive through the monster hordes they could begin to establish themselves and prepare for the Tribulation to come for them
Still Alana had a feeling they would be fine They had struggled for a month without classes and their initial growth especially that Lucifer’s would likely be explosive quickly reaching the point that he could single handedly contend with a tribulation
Well ’ Alana amended her thought Perhaps not single handedly But with the support of the Freedom Fighters behind him he would be able to slay it hopefully with only a small loss of life ’
Lucifer was not after all the Ghosthound
Alana checked their spot on the map once more It seemed as though they could make it by nightfall
After several seconds of internal debate she moved through the trotting crowd eventually tracking down a brooding woman wearing two pistols and another woman hooded and masked even though the day was hot
Hello Raina
The masked woman inclined her head I suppose if you’ve come you want The speed of the convoy to increase
Yes Alana said simply She did not mind using Raina like this and ever since the acid had melted the skin on her face and incited a fanatical mob to sacrifice their lives to kill monsters Raina had been very sparing in the use of her powers Now she spent most of her time simply drawing creating pretty accurate renditions of the world under the influence of the system
Setting her drawing pad aside Raina stood But then she began to hum It was a small tune relatively short and simple but Alana instantly felt rejuvenated after hearing it Then when the tune began to repeat for a third time Alana hummed along with Raina
When they started for a 4th time some nearby people began humming along with the tune as well almost instinctively By the 6th the tune spread further and almost everyone was humming along picking up their pace
By the 10th Raina stopped humming and nodded respectfully to Alana and then picked up her pad once more simply continuing to draw as the convoy hummed around her rushing forward
The 4th squad of Donnyton has fallen Who dare step forward to fill the gap
It was a heavy sentence full pregnant meaning It would be everyone knew the last challenge made before the Ghosthound fought against the full war party It was also a battle that seemed hopeless to win
The 3rd Squad dares The 9 men and 2 women that made up the 3rd squad walked forward heads held high
The previous challenges had gone rather predictably This especially became obvious as the Ghosthound began to not alternate between his 4 modes but do 2 of them at once Then 3 For the 4th squad he used all 4 blasting with magic moving like a ghost crushing their defenses and ignoring all damage that came his way
It was monstrous
Donny and Dozer arrived already dressed fully in their armor their weapons gripped tightly at their sides Paolo was stretching lightly to the side while Daniel and Kayle were engaged in a heated discussion their eyes on the the Ghosthound
Decklan just stood still a nervous Tera beside him his eyes burning Yes this was how it had to be The Ghosthound must be at least this strong Otherwise how else could this all be possible How else could this town be held together by the force of will of only one individual
Slaying the Ghosthound needed to be difficult or what was the point
Alec Donny said speaking to the leader of the 3rd squad Alec turned and tilted his head to the side
Make him take the numerals seriously
Alec grinned and then turned to the Ghosthound The Ghosthound stood pole spinning slowly in his hands his eyes a mild green like mint
Are you ready His voice was still calm as it had been the entire trials thus far as he had completely brutalized all of Donnyton’s squads But there was more of an edge now an eagerness
An eagerness to finally experience the tension of a tough battle
Alec nodded and the squad raised their weapons vigilant Which was for the best because when the Ghosthound moved he came to kill It wasn’t that the Ghosthound was impossibly fast it was just that he always seemed to be a hair faster than your eyes told you he would be
But this was Squad III and when they knew what was coming they could prepare for it
Their main tank threw himself forward to meet the rush of the Ghosthound smashing his shield forward Swaying the Ghosthound dodged the blow and was faced with sharp stabs from two other squadmates at this level a small chance was enough for the squad to get into position They weren’t the best Donnyton had to offer but they surely knew their business
The Ghosthound feinted right avoiding the stab that bought the feint and aimed to intercept him The other stab was avoided simply by brushing the blow slightly to the side so that it scraped along his ribs rather than pierced into them
Rushing forward the tank attempted to push the Ghosthound back but was stopped dead by a thrust by the Ghosthound Grunting he attempted to regain his footing but the Ghosthound had enough time to use his characteristic Phantom Thrust aiming for the shoulder of one of the two individuals who had stabbed at him
They had already been familiarized with the fearsome power of the thrust so by the time the attack came the woman was throwing herself backwards out of the way With an impossible amount of force the blow swerved and caught her in the chest knocking the wind out of her
The Ghosthound turned aiming to pounce towards the second attacker but a blast of fire ripped towards him Spinning his pole most of the force was dispersed a cloud of ash and smoke spreading slowly Alec’s pupils dilated instantly
BACK He bellowed and the squad quickly retreated gathering at the other end of the arena Their healer hurriedly used Healing Palm on the woman and most of the group gulped down stamina potions to replace what they had lost Most of the squad hadn’t actually engaged him but they knew that if they gave him half a chance the Ghosthound would rip through their mage and healers leaving them helpless before his superior regeneration
With a calm face the Ghosthound was revealed as the smoke parted looking completely unruffled Then he smiled
A Wall of Thorns sprang into being ripping upwards splitting the group in half Alec blinked then swore under his breath Eyes narrowing he then gave the order
Everyone on this side with me keep him locked down for them to burn through the thorns Hold nothing back
They marched forward rushing towards the waiting Ghosthound His smile widened as he came forward to meet them With grace and power the pole swept back and forth crushing resistance Alec was the only one who could totally block it and threw himself in the way time and time again using his axe to hack away at the pole cutting chips of wood from it slowly whittling it down