Chapter 306: Chapter Three Hundred and Four: The Piper (Part One)
In Olli City, the residential area was in an uproar, with the screams of ratmen echoing everywhere.
In a heavily locked basement, the sounds from outside drifted in faintly, where a woman lay dormant on a bed, motionless.
Footsteps approached, and the lock on the basement door clicked sharply.
The woman on the bed began to stir slightly.
The door swung open, and several pairs of red eyes belonging to slave rats emerged from the darkness outside. They rushed in, holding torches, and immediately spotted the sleeping woman. The slave rats grinned wide.
The dormant woman’s eyelids trembled, wanting to wake up, but some sort of magical force pressed down on her eyelids, preventing her from doing so.
“Human filth, die!”
The raggedly dressed slave rats excitedly lunged at the dormant woman. They loved to ambush enemies who couldn’t resist.
Suddenly, a slim figure appeared in front of the woman’s bed, blocking the way between the slave rats and her. The long knives aimed at her were deflected by an invisible force, veering off course.
A black-haired girl covered her forehead and glanced at the slave rats, saying, “Good thing I arrived in time.”
As she spoke, a spear-axe engraved with red runes appeared in her hand, and she thrust and slashed at the slave rats. Initially, they surged toward her, but then scattered in terror. The last survivor, while making a run for the door, was pierced through the chest by the spear-axe’s tip, and the axe blade licked its wounds.
Ji Ma pulled out the “spear-axe,” and a scream erupted behind her. She turned her head.
A woman with chestnut hair, holding daggers in both hands, was cowering against the wall in fear.
“Awake, are we? Don’t be afraid, I’m here to save you,” Ji Ma said. “Do you remember if you ever dreamed of a dream where an angel brought you a bottle of red tea? Drink it, and you’ll naturally fall asleep, carefree until the plague ends.”
The chestnut-haired woman nodded.
“I am that angel,” Ji Ma said with a smile, her head adorned with horns. “Good little baby, here’s a gold coin for you.”
After tossing a gold coin, she stepped over the corpse of the slave rat and closed the basement door behind her.
The chestnut-haired woman fell into slumber because Ji Ma had given her medicine to drink, making her a “dream-jumping” anchor point.
As Ji Ma exited the building, she encountered several slave rats and a clan rat, quickly killing them with her superior weaponry. The streets were illuminated by flames, and everywhere were the bodies of humans, while the ratfolk scrambled for valuable items.
It seemed the situation was dire.
Ji Ma thought as she took to the skies, becoming invisible and soaring into the night.
She also opened her personal system to check on the most important status.
“Mana: 63%.”
What a worry. “Dream Jumping” and the previous battles had drained too much mana, leaving her only 43% away from the 20% mana needed for the soul injury explosion.
Could this mess be tidied up with 43% mana?
Ji Ma spread her meat wings, soaring and circling high above, taking in the scene of Olli City below.
The dock was engulfed in flames, with ships crackling in the blaze. Balls of fire rose from the vessels, and everywhere around the military camp were ratmen. A burly ratman warlord brandished a stick with the head of an imperial general tied to it, flaunting it among a crowd of clan rats. They marched swaggeringly towards the city center’s administrative hall.
On the streets, humans were fleeing while ratmen pursued them. The ratfolk pulled humans from their homes and bound them like pigs; anyone who resisted was stabbed to death.
At the administrative hall, a ratman stood on the surrounding walls, crazily shouting as he used a weapon similar to a Gatling gun to mow down fleeing humans and his fellow ratfolk.
Looking past the walls, the administrative hall was already filled with rats, and on the rooftop, the green flag of the ratmen fluttered.
Ji Ma flew closer and gazed through a window, observing the rats arguing and brawling around a round table, vying for credit.
The ratfolk were already turning against one another, indicating that this city was seen as already theirs.
Ji Ma sighed, flapping her wings to rise higher, thinking.
The empire had fallen too quickly; I thought they could hold out longer. What a miscalculation.
Though she thought of her misjudgment, Ji Ma felt little regret; she had never considered what would happen if the ratfolk took the poorly defended Olli City in one fell swoop. Because that was beyond her capability, and she herself didn’t care much about whether others lived or died.
“Kill some ratmen for the sake of appearances, then I’ll make my getaway when my mana reaches 25%.” Ji Ma tightened her grip on the spear-axe. “I’ll also give myself a few wounds so that Zhenna won’t blame me.”
Just then, beneath the black smoke and flames, a wall of shields emerged on the street, pushing back the ratmen while slaughtering them. Clan rats and slave rats scattered in all directions. A figure holding a massive sword chased after the ratfolk, hacking at their backs.
Panic swept through the ratmen as they cried out, “The Piper is here! The Piper has come to behead us!”
This ragtag group led by the swordsman was a unit of over fifty, nearly half of whom were injured, yet they marched steadily toward the city center’s administrative hall. They shouted out, calling for “the people of Sigma! Let’s kill every last ratman!”
“Citizens of the empire, come together!”
Armed residents or militia members climbed over street barricades, following the imperial flag. Humans who had been fleeing halted, picked up weapons, and joined this small army, which quickly swelled to over a hundred.
Ji Ma narrowed her golden eyes into slits.
To her, these people compared to the vast swarm of rats were like a single drop of rain against a tsunami.
But her gaze focused on the valiant Skari Sword Saint Henry leading the charge.
Perhaps this guy could save her some mana. Whether or not they could wipe out the ratmen didn’t matter; conserving mana was all that counted.
Ji Ma set aside her desire to flee, slowly descending from the sky, and casually drew out the “bloody songstress,” preparing to make her move…
As Skari Sword Saint Henry spotted the administrative building not far away, a tattered flag still stood, and the rooftop was crowded with chattering ratfolk.
This time, he hadn’t taken a wrong turn.
Henry felt a pang of fear in his heart; he even hoped he had strayed off course.
He turned around and saw countless soldiers filling the street behind him, the ratfolk only daring to stealthily sling stones from the rooftops, pelting them with rocks while the imperial soldiers raised their shields in defense, some even drawing bows to retaliate.
The crowd gave him a sense of safety, and from time to time, more people joined the band of soldiers.
“Report! Officer Henry,” a soldier saluted him. “Everyone has regrouped; there are over two hundred of us, and more steadfast imperial citizens are joining us. What is your next command?”
How would I know?
Skari Sword Saint Henry felt a bit flustered. He had consumed mysterious potions, dedicated himself to honing his swordsmanship, but he had never learned or been taught how to lead troops into battle. He could do nothing but march in step with the soldiers!
His comrades looked at him expectantly, and the lives of over two hundred people rested on his shoulders.
What should he do now?
Seeing Henry remain silent for a long time, someone asked, “Should we fight through the city gates and retreat?”
Henry raised his head and saw the bright flag at the administrative hall, pointing and saying, “That way.”
“That way?” someone objected. “The ratmen have magic and a sorcery machine that spits out green arrows; they’ve slaughtered many soldiers.”
Henry hesitated; perhaps it was best to avoid the city gate.
But his officer snapped, “He is an imperial hero! Are you all so timid? Let’s go kill them together; we’ll drive those ratmen away!”
Grinding his teeth, Henry led the charge toward the administrative hall.
