The sky above the archipelago was tearing apart.
A spiral of black clouds, as huge as mountains, was forming above us, slowly rotating. At the center of that vortex, a blue light seeped through, where bolts of lightning seemed to be born, striking the ground at irregular intervals and lighting up the horizon like a thousand fleeting suns.
"What is that...?" Lena whispered, stepping back into the room with a trembling teacup in her hands.
"A Surge," I replied through gritted teeth, staring at the sky through the window. "A natural phenomenon... or rather, unnatural. Mana flows freely around us, but sometimes it stagnates with no escape. The pressure becomes unbearable, and it releases in various ways. It's not uncommon for anomalies to appear around the world, but this..."
This was surprising even for me.
In the old timeline, something similar had happened, but it was nothing compared to what I was seeing now.
A bolt of lightning split the air, so close the glass rattled in its frame. Then another, and another.
Erik frowned, leaning beside me. "How bad is it?"
"The storm itself is already bad news, but it's what comes after you should worry about. You'd better get your men ready."
"What do you mean—"
He didn't have time to finish. A colossal bolt, as wide as a tree trunk, struck straight toward the island dungeon.
At least that's one thing off my mind.
Just like in the old timeline.
But something went wrong.
The lightning didn't just strike and vanish. The discharge hung in the air, trembling, as if a wire of pure energy connected sky and earth. The mana around us began to boil, and I felt it crashing over me like a tide.
Being more sensitive to it, I took the full impact, turning pale, while Erik and Alfred's expressions grew grim.
"Alfred, order everyone to arm themselves, now!"
Alfred didn't need to be told twice and ran off immediately.
Around the island, strangled screams, screeches, and roars grew louder. The waters of the archipelago erupted into a swarm of creatures. Armored fish, sea serpents, amphibians with rough skin… monsters that usually hid in the depths, silent and still, were rising to the surface, their eyes glowing with madness.
The bells of the Merchants' base rang out, spreading the message through all Valren. Outside, the people's cries already drowned out the roar of the rain.
Even though the archipelago was surrounded by monster-infested waters, it had been relatively safe thanks to what remained of the kingdom of Agorath. Back then, the kingdom was advanced and, thanks to a rare stone they had found, they crafted artifacts and placed them on every island to repel monsters.
Of course, sometimes monsters managed to make it onto land, but those cases were rare. Now, with mana so dense, weaker creatures entered a state of frenzy, ignoring the artifacts' effects.
The streets began to fill with beasts: packs of Grade 0 and Grade 1 monsters swarmed the alleys, while larger ones, some Grade 2, emerged from the sea, and in the distance a deep, cavernous roar rumbled, too powerful to ignore.
A Grade 3.
"Lena, stay here!" I ordered, grabbing the halberd I had left behind.
"Don't even think about going out!" she yelled after me, but her voice was lost in the din as I was already rushing outside with the others.
****
The square in front of the base was chaos. The Merchants had come out armed, wielding swords, crossbows, spears, and even woodcutting axes. Some shouted orders, others moved in improvised formation. Erik was already geared up for battle, with Alfred at his side.
"Adel, you take care of the small ones!" Alfred shouted over the thunder. "We'll handle the Grade 3!"
"Like I have a choice!" I growled, charging at a pack of creatures crossing the nearby bridge.
They were dog-sized amphibians, with slimy skin and oversized jaws. My halberd swept them aside, cutting through flesh and bone. Black blood mixed with rain and ran into the cracks of the pavement.
But behind them came worse enemies. Grade 1 monsters, armored with scales, needing more than one strike to bring down. One charged at me, but I drove the halberd's shaft into its open mouth and twisted hard, sending shards of teeth flying.
A second one lunged from the side, a huge crustacean. The halberd bounced off its shell, and I had to retreat to avoid its crushing claws. A sharp knee strike to its blind spot made it stagger, but my next blow barely missed.
"Damn it!" I hissed, stabbing again and again until the weapon pierced its neck, shattering the shell.
Every strike drained my strength, but the Grade 2 monsters were the true nightmares. A beast like an armored octopus lunged at me, jaws aiming for my face. The halberd's blade sliced off one tentacle, but it wasn't enough. We rolled in the mud, with me trying to drive the blade into its head, but the monster grabbed me and hurled me away.
I landed in a spot crawling with more creatures. I quickly cast Water Wall to slow the octopus for a moment while I dealt with the Grade 0 beasts swarming in.
Swinging the halberd, I cut down everything nearby. The wall I had summoned held for only a couple of seconds against the monster, which then charged again, but out of nowhere, a ballista bolt pinned it to the ground.
Amazingly, it still squirmed, and I finished it off by tearing part of its body open.
All around me, the Merchants fought desperately. Shouts mixed with the roar of the sea and thunder. Now and then, a brighter flash lit the sky, followed by a distant explosion.
The Grade 3 was getting closer.
Amid the chaos, Erik and Alfred were already at the shore. The monster had emerged, an amphibious creature as big as a shack, looking like a crocodile inside a massive turtle shell.
"Aim for its legs!" Alfred shouted, directing the archers to fire volleys of arrows.
The damage was small, but enough to distract the beast from the two of them.
Erik, moving fast and precisely, tried to cut the tendons of its front legs, but every time he got close, he nearly got crushed by its massive jaws.
I couldn't help them; two more Grade 2 monsters were tearing into a group of Merchants, and I threw myself into the fray without thinking.
Grade 2 monsters were still hard for me to handle, but in the chaos, surprise attacks were my specialty.
Using Quick Step, I slipped behind them in an instant, and the halberd's arc took off one head. The second monster's tail slammed me into a stone wall, knocking the breath out of me, but my Scale Armor absorbed most of the impact.
Growling, I got back up, spitting blood, and charged again. This time, I aimed for its joints. The monster blocked my first blow, but several arrows and spear thrusts pierced its back.
The beast roared skyward in pain, and I drove the halberd's spike into its chest, twisting to widen the wound until it dropped dead.
The square was becoming a battlefield. Piles of dark corpses, monsters and people alike, grew higher, but for each one that fell, more crawled out of the sea. The bells kept ringing, though no one listened anymore.
It was a desperate fight for survival.
A lightning flash brighter than the rest turned everything white for an instant. The Grade 3 bellowed a furious roar, a sound that made windows shake.
"Adel!" Alfred shouted from the distance, dodging a blow from the massive beast. "Keep them away from the harbor, no matter what!"
"Easy for you to say!" I shot back, driving another Grade 1 into the ground with a precise thrust.
My weapon was drenched in blood, and my arms burned with fatigue. But I couldn't stop. A group of monsters was heading for the shore, and if they reached the Grade 3, they'd get in Erik and Alfred's way during their decisive duel.
I tried to intercept them, but one leapt at me, fangs inches from my face. I blocked with the halberd's shaft, pushing with all my strength. The creature was powerful, close to breaking my arm, but before it could do more, I slit its throat with Razor Claw.
Taking a deep breath, I raised the halberd again and threw myself back into the fight.
At the harbor, I saw Erik finally cripple one of the Grade 3's legs, while Alfred struck its face with a lightning bolt that made it stagger back howling. But the beast was far from falling.
Above us, the clouds kept spinning, and the Surge showed no sign of stopping. Lightning struck closer and closer, each blast making the mana in the air vibrate like a taut string about to snap.
Even I could feel the rune on my wrist pulsing steadily, a reminder this wouldn't end easily.