On the Eastern Continent, things were changing quickly. The massive influx of mana from the dimensional portals on the Northern Continent had turned a large portion of the continent into an awakened area in only a few days, then stabilized. It was the worst-case scenario that he had been trying to prepare for, with the continent undergoing another severe upheaval and not nearly enough awakened transfers in the cities to keep everyone safe.
The change in power level wasn't Cixelcid's reason for concern, though. The unexpected number of monsters that came with it was. Port Nefheim had been under attack for six hours, and the Wave wasn't ending.
When the sun came up, Neffie had sent out scouts with the best stealth skills they could find to locate the source of the issue, and they were due to report in again anytime now.
[Portals to other worlds have been found at three different ley line junctions already, and we have reason to believe there are more all over the Continent. They can't be closed, and we can't pass through them.] The lead scout reported back.
Cixelcid had encountered this problem before, only a few days ago, when a similar portal had opened right in Port Nefheim and let out a group of Cultivators. The guards had blocked the portal with a large stone to keep others from coming afterward, though the new arrivals insisted that they were the only ones permitted to pass through that portal.
The Cultivators had lived up to their goal of taking on an extreme challenge to build their own power and were currently resting, having been on the front lines for most of the night. More and more Mythic Beasts were arriving as time passed, and Cixelcid wasn't sure if they had strong enough guards to maintain the lines.
"Cid, we have reinforcements," Lickity called happily as she ran over to him.
Behind her were Mary, the Elven Puppet Master from Munan, the forest city whose Queen Cain helped with a curse some time ago, and two hundred Mythic Awakened Elven soldiers.
"I brought everyone that I could when I realized what had happened. I'm sorry it isn't more, but when the cities fell, we evacuated everyone who wasn't awakened to the Serrah Woods on the Central Continent." She explained.
Somewhere along the line, she had upgraded her class to Puppet Overlord and gained a skill that granted her the Mythic Awakening. It must have been recently; only a few weeks ago, she had been leveling right here in the Port Nefheim tower.
"All help is appreciated. There is a buffet by the walls; grab some food and get a few hours of sleep. You look like you've been through a lot." Cid agreed. He was going to lead the way for them when a portal suddenly opened beside him, and Moana flew through, circling his head in a form of victory dance.
"I brought more helpers. Master Cain has a plan for the South, so we brought you every fighter, healer, and cook who volunteered." The Leviathan informed him.
There were hundreds of them, a steady stream coming through the portal from the Long Fang Valley.
"You get one copy of each Companion as well, and both copies of Nila will be here with Mythryll by boat in a few hours.
All of the new arrivals with Moana wore the black and white Tabards of the Darklight Host Outreach Workers, and Cid saw Cyrene guiding people to set up camps wherever they could without blocking roads or damaging crops.
"What brings you here, Cyrene? I know you hate fighting." Lickity asked Lamia, whose hair was full of excited Lamia children.
"My visions will work better from here. There are still a lot of awakened warriors in the valley, so don't worry about them, they are perfectly safe.
But we couldn't stand around while our friends were in trouble. I saw visions of the invasion this morning, Central Continent time, and spent the last few hours getting everyone we could find ready to come and fight.
I even brought some old friends from the Yellow Tusk Clan Orcs. You remember Morgan, right?"
Morgan, affectionately called Mork by her brother, was at the head of twenty Awakened Orcs, leading them straight to the walls to join the fight with only a short pause to wave at Cid and Lickity.
"Mary, how many Elven villagers are still trapped in the woods? Should we send troops to rescue everyone within a day of us?" Neffie asked, coming to hug the Elf.
"We should be the last of the Elves here on the Eastern Continent. Some might be on the far coast, which isn't an awakened area yet, but the entire Forest was evacuated and left to the monsters." Mary informed her with a rueful smile, returning the hug.
Cixelcid couldn't believe what he was hearing. An entire Continent had been lost to the new arrivals from the portals? He knew it was likely to upset the balance on the Continent, but he hadn't expected that.
"Thank you for your hard work. I wish we could have done more, but there hadn't been news from more than a day away in a while." Lickity told the Elf, adding herself to the hug.
"Everyone was so panicked that they barely remembered to inform their families that they were leaving. We left in five groups to lead the evacuations. Well, other than Mary here, since she is a group all by herself as a Puppet Master." One of the Elven soldiers explained, indicating a pair of Dwarf-sized, white-winged Youkai and an Elven man who were most likely Mary's Commander and Lieutenants.
"I was in the next village over when we finished the evacuations last night, so I called everyone to me, and we decided to come here next to see how you were holding up, but we were attacked by surprise, and the travel circle in town was damaged, so we had to walk," Mary added.
That explained why they looked so bedraggled today. A monster raid in the middle of the night is a nightmare to defend against. You can't even see them coming.
The companions had joined the battle already, and the sight of additional Dragons in the air was helping reduce the number of monsters willing to attack the Port City, giving the warriors a chance to catch their breath.
The Watchers already had some out, mostly clones of Su, Kone's Forest Dragon Companion, who were healing the front-line combatants. Still, the extra group from Laura was enough to tip the balance even before Vala and her demons tore into the group of Minotaur Warriors who were holding the center of the battlefield.
Moana and her Leviathan squad, flying above the city and blocking the light were the last straw, and the attackers fled the field. They would be back, and the scouts would need to be careful returning, but for now, they had time to regroup and eat.
"Now that we have breathing room, I welcome everyone to Port Nefheim. We recently expanded our housing in expectation of seeing refugees, but the Elves seem to have taken care of that problem.
So, there are plenty of places for everyone to stay if you don't want to sleep outdoors. There is plenty of hot food, and our guards are on their way to collect more from the battlefield.
So please, make yourselves at home." Neffie welcomed everyone who had just arrived in the city and then returned to the walls. She didn't trust the monsters not to come back, and her most vital support abilities had a limited range centered on herself.
The diversion didn't create much of a break in the fighting, though. Thirty minutes after they fled, the monsters were back, patrolling the forest's edge.
Mythic monsters were more intelligent than most, and they understood the concept of weak spots in defensive formations. They waited and watched all afternoon, launching random attacks to test the lines.
"Is just like the old days, isn't it, Cid? The training tower is good, but it makes you lose your edge because you know you won't die. This is a proper fight." Morgan, leader of the Orcish Contingent, laughed, pouring a bucket of water over her head to clean off the blood from her body.
She had restyled her hair into a bright purple Mohawk, making it easier for her troops to find her in a crowd. Despite his size and well-muscled build, the Orcish Commander still dwarfed Cixelcid, as well as most of the other Orcs.
"There is never a dull moment here, that's for sure. How long can your troops stay before you need to head back to the Central Continent?" Cid asked.
"I think we will stay in Port Nefheim for now. There are no real challenges left at home, but there are plenty of them here.
Orcs need the challenge; they get depressed and ill if they can't exert themselves properly. The towers were enough at first, but so many of us gained awakened abilities that we needed something more.
We could have gone to Cain in the south, but he had a lot of support there already. Here, we not only get to fight, but we also get to feel useful."
It was an unexpectedly long and deep speech from the big woman, but she was right; orcs needed the battle; they couldn't live without it.
It would be a significant change seeing them in the Eastern Continent, but almost everything about this place had changed lately.
Cixelcid was pulled from his reverie by the sight of sails on the horizon, both the black of the Wave Riders and the Teal and Gray of Queen Rose, which should have Nila and Mythryll aboard.
[We brought supplies in case you needed anything, and we have news from the Northern Continent. The giants have abandoned the search for Gnomes and left the North to the Dragons and elementals. They are returning to the Western Continent now.]
