Psychokinetic Eyeball Pulling

Chapter 199: Attack of the Shadow Monsters

It turned out that her suspicions rang true and a guttural scream signalled the bell.

Astrid was resting when the attack occurred. Well, it wasn’t much of an attack. One moment they were on the wall, then the next they had disappeared with a wail.

Scrambling up by hovering into the hair, she rushed toward the wall where Noah was located.

How? She was confused. With Noah on the wall, how the hell did the defenders receive an attack without being stopped.

However, when she arrived, it was clear as to why.

Noah rested up against the wall as blood seeped down from the corner of her mouth. The bad feeling from before was now like a stone resting in the pit of her stomach. The monster had managed to wound Noah?!

But on closer inspection, there was no external wound. Mental attack, maybe? There was only one way to find out. Stopping in front of Noah, Astrid asked a question.

“What was it, and how did it manage to hurt you?”

Noah groaned. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, she looked at Astrid with a weak gaze. “It didn’t. The wounds that I suffered from the Order are resurfacing. I’m afraid I won’t be able to fight for a while. This is my second in command, Havel.”

Moving her hand slightly, she introduced a tall tattooed man with long black hair that cascaded past his shoulders. He wore white bandages over his hands that were covered in blood stains.

He seems like a brawler, just like Tennyson, and Bellona. Astrid noted.

Noah continued, “He’ll be in charge for now, but he isn’t the most perceptive of warriors, with an even worse sense of direction.”

“She’s right there, you know,” Havel said with a dry expression.

“But don’t worry, we have more scouts on the wall now,” Noah groaned.

“What about a recovery mission?” Astrid asked, but when she looked at Noah’s expression, and her team, it was obvious there was no mission planned.

“Our orders are simple,” Havel continued, letting Noah rest, “stay on the wall, and hold the line. We can’t afford to send soldiers out on a rescue mission when it will most take their lives. Besides, we aren’t a military. Who is willing to risk their lives for someone they don’t know?”

Havel looked around, but most on the wall avoided his gaze. Even the man's so-called friend shook his head. His face blanched.

“Whatever is out there shouldn’t be able to attack again,” Noah groaned. “Get some more rest. I can see the mana exhaustion in your eyes.”

“How am I meant to sleep with an undetectable monster out there?” Astrid sighed, but she agreed with her.

Arriving back to her ‘camp’ that was nothing more than the grass that she lay on, she glanced at her friends that were now all wide awake. They were awaiting for answers, and Astrid didn’t delay in telling them.

“So you’re telling me there’s a monster out there that Noah, the pirate king of kings, can’t even detect?” Bellona asked as she lounged against a tree. Her fingers twitched.

“Yep.” Astrid nodded. “But they have it covered. Apparently.”

“Yeah, doesn’t fill me with much confidence,” Bellona replied.

“Me two,” Brett added.

“Me three,” Rachelle chirped.

“Mmm,” Rob, well, mumbled.

It was the common sentiment within the camp. People attempted to shut their eyes to get some rest, but the screaming of the stolen soldiers provided haunting images behind their eyelids.

But for Astrid, she slept just fine. She didn’t know why, nor did she care. She was just tired, and Astrid wanted some shut eye.

As the strongest within her group, it was her responsibility to be well rested for any event that occurred. And that, in turn, meant that she would be strong to gain even more levels. That was her thought process, and whether that helped her sleep, she didn’t know. All she knew was that the darkness overtook her.

After who knows how long, another scream woke her up from her slumber. Astrid felt a lot better, so she had obviously gotten quite a bit of rest.

The lights of the flares illuminated the entire area within the camp, and beyond the wall. People were running back and forward in a scramble. Many were ushered up to the wall, and it was the same for Astrid’s group.

“What’s going on?” Astrid asked, still groggy after recovering from her sleep.

“Another group of warriors were snatched from the wall,” Daniel said as he brandished his curved blade from its sheath.

“And Havel didn’t manage to stop it?” Astrid frowned.

“I’m not sure,” Daniel replied. “We’ll receive a status report once we get to the wall.”

It was a short sprint until they reached the wall. Intestines, blood, and viscera lay scattered on the edges of the wall. It was evidence of a brutal fight, but if there was one, Astrid would have surely heard it. There was only a scream, then it was cut off before it reached its apex.

Approaching the wall, Havel was shouting out orders while Noah was nowhere to be seen. Astrid guessed she was resting. Along with Daniel, she looked beyond the wall close to Havel. There was only the flickering of orange from flares, but nothing else. No sign of the warriors that had disappeared. Nothing.

“Havel–”

“Not now,” Havel interrupted with his hand up, he didn’t even turn his back as he addressed a few scouts. “It’s dangerous, but we need to know what the hell is out there. We are sitting ducks with no information. Report back with your findings.”

“Yes sir.” The scouts wasted no time as they leapt from the wall, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

However, only a few seconds went by when a collection of screams echoed from the distance. And then they were cut off.

“Fuck!” Havel stomped on the ground. “What the hell is it?”

Astrid and the others were wondering the same thing. To arrive so close and kill without any of the scouts being able to pick up even a whiff of their scent. It was eerie, and morale was sinking into the ground like quicksand.

“Daniel.” Brett had his eyes closed, his hand sifting through a strand of darkness. As if he was piercing another dimension with his touch. “There’s something watching from a distance. It’s at the limit of what I can sense, but–”

“But what?” Havel asked in urgency.

“They aren’t in our realm.” Brett frowned.

“Not in our realm?” Bellona grimaced. She also closed her eyes, as if trying to sense something. But her shoulders deflated the next moment

Astrid also tried. She attempted using Psych Domain, piercing through the matter. Her brows rose. There was something, like a collection of matter all bundled together. But if she didn’t focus, she lost it in the next second.

It was strange. The matter felt like it was… in another dimension from what she knew. In the end, it was too difficult to make out, and any smoke, or a gust of wind took over her detection capabilities.

“One’s approaching.” Brett’s eyes snapped open. He blinked to an area next to the wall. His dagger created a shroud of darkness, and then half of his blade vanished from sight. In the next second, blood fell, yet whatever Brett had struck was still invisible.

Thankfully Daniel reacted in the same second Brett did. As if they both had the same mind. In a display of masterful cooperation, his curved blade flicked through the air, and sliced into something fleshy.

With a thud, finally, the creature that had been haunting them during the night lay in two pieces on the wall’s floor. It was a mostly featureless beast. It had no eyes, nose, or ears, but it had a wide mouth filled with dagger-like teeth, and claws to match. They weren’t the colour of bone, but pitch black like a night with no stars, or moon.

“Shit, level three-hundred.” Brett clicked his tongue.

“Three-hundred?!” Astrid gawked. If she could kill them all, how many levels would that be?

“It makes sense.” Leena pinched her chin. “It seems like only Brett can detect them thanks to his unique shadow skills. They may be physically weak, but they make up for it with an unmatched camouflage.”

Astrid agreed, but if it was weak physically, then that meant if she could detect it for only a split second, she could blow it up in a wide area attack. And it seemed like she wasn’t the only one with the idea.

“Is there any more?” Havel looked at Brett. The assassin nodded.

“Mages, archers, focus on a wide assault in the distance!” Havel ordered. “Loose!”

Magical and physical attacks alike blotted the skies. The ice attacks lowered the temperature, and the fire magic reflected against everyone's flesh, turning it a red, rosy hue.

They scarred the land into an unrecognisable chaos. Everyone here was the strongest Rebirth had to offer behind the current vanguard, and their attacks weren’t for show. Craters were a common sight, and they were so deep that it would require climbing equipment to get out of the centre of them.

“They are gone,” Brett affirmed.

“I’m going to need you on the wall from now on,” Havel’s tense shoulders relaxed somewhat. “Sorry, but it doesn’t look like you’ll be getting much sleep.”

“Bummer,” Brett sighed. “You’ll have to pay me with a nice cold ale once we get back.”

“That’s easy. Consider an entire tankard of the finest ale on Rebirth.” Havel displayed a rare smile.

“Aye, that’ll do.” Brett leaned up against the wall as he focused. Every now and then his hand would disappear into the darkness.

“Coming back to camp?” Bellona asked Astrid, but she shook her head.

“I’m not really tired, and mostly recovered,” Astrid said. “Besides, I’m wanting to level up a little bit more.”

Her words seemed to motivate the others as they also decided to stay. However, Bellona was the first to rest her back against the wall, and shut her eyes. Soon, she fell asleep as if there weren't nightmarish demons hiding in a different fabric of reality.

Astrid thought that was the end of it. They had killed one, if not more with the wide barrage attack, and had Brett to detect if any got close. But it wasn’t.

A wretched scream from the camp notified everyone that somehow, the shadow monsters terrorised them once more.

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