Chapter 71. Formation Of Preparation

Chapter 71: 71. Formation Of Preparation

Amber’s expression hardened the moment the alarm faded.

"Okay, training’s finished for now. Get ready to fight, Kael."

She turned toward the door without waiting for a reply.

"I need to find Lily and Lina. Grab your gear and meet us outside the main gate of the town. Move fast."

She was already gone before Kael could answer, deep-red hair vanishing into the corridor.

Kael did not follow her at once.

He turned the other way and headed for the main lobby of the guild, looking for Seraphine and Eira first.

He found them near the reception area.

Seraphine stood straight-backed, already changed into a practical battle dress that reached her knees and covered her chest and wrists with reinforced fabric.

The familiar dagger hung at her waist.

Her crimson eyes carried a clear, cold determination to kill.

Beside her Eira looked smaller and more tense.

Her hands trembled faintly at her sides, a detail easy to miss unless someone was paying close attention.

She wore a simple shield-style protective dress layered over a crop t-shirt and pants, clothing meant for safety rather than combat.

The guild had opened its armory for the emergency.

Rankers of every level moved through the lobby in a steady current, taking swords, shields, spears, and spare armor from the open racks before heading toward the main doors and the road that led to the outer gate.

Seraphine and Eira both noticed him at the same time.

Kael raised a hand and called out before he reached them.

"Eira, you should stay here. Sera and I will go fight."

Eira’s voice came out small and tight.

"But Dad, can’t I go with you? I’m scared being alone here."

Kael paused.

Leaving her behind suddenly felt like a poor choice.

Almost every capable ranker would be at the walls.

The inside of the town would be thinly guarded.

If anyone with bad intentions, someone like Ryn who had already shown interest in his daughter, decided to act while the fighting held everyone’s attention, Eira would be vulnerable.

He made the decision quickly and rested a hand on her head, giving her hair a light, steady pat.

"All right. Come with us. But stay close and don’t stray far from either of us."

Eira’s shoulders eased a little under the simple contact.

The worst of the visible tension left her face.

Seraphine’s crimson eyes flicked toward the open affection with a brief, unmistakable flash of jealousy.

Kael noticed it and reached out to pat her head as well.

"Don’t touch my hair," she said, voice sharp.

Though she made no move to push his hand away.

Near the open weapon racks two young women in brief bikinis were handing out gear.

One stayed quiet and kept her eyes down, trying to hurry the process along.

The other, decent-looking with black hair, stood with one hip cocked and spoke loud enough for half the lobby to hear.

"Whoever kills the most demons out there gets one whole night fun with me~"

She slid her hand straight into the front of her bikini bottoms.

Soft wet sounds followed.

"Nh~ah~"

When she pulled her fingers free they were glossy.

She licked them clean in full view of the watching rankers.

The crude display lifted more than just a few spirits.

Men who had looked grim a moment earlier straightened and moved faster toward the weapons thinking about how to do her when they will spend the night with her.

Kael’s gaze had lingered a second too long to the open sexual display.

Seraphine’s voice cut across the noise, cool and pointed.

"Don’t gawk. Take your gear...Dad."

Eira’s head turned sharply toward her sister.

The word Dad from Seraphine’s mouth was so rare that astonishment showed clearly on her face.

’What happened between them? Maybe Dad’s skills finally impressed her enough that she acknowledges him.’

Seraphine’s own thoughts ran wildly.

’Those guild whores are trying to pull every male’s attention but I won’t let that happen to my Dad.’

Her eyes stayed on the black-haired girl who was still posing and smiling toward Kael.

’She seems unaware of the fact that even in her thoughts she started calling him dad.’

The girl stepped closer while he reached for a mana-reinforced chainmail shirt and a plain steel spare sword.

As his fingers closed around the hilt the girl brushed her index finger lightly along the back of his hand, lingering just long enough to make the contact deliberate, her eyes fixed on the clean lines of his face.

Eira’s small hand closed tightly around Kael’s free one.

She watched the black-haired girl with clear unease.

’He is my dad. Why is she touching him like that?’

Kael took only the chainmail and the spare steel sword.

From a nearby rack he also picked up a short utility knife and pressed the hilt into Eira’s palm.

"Keep this with you. Just in case."

Eira nodded and held the knife close.

Before leaving, Kael heard the girl’s voice.

"I’ll be waiting for you, my dear ranker~"

The three of them joined the flow of rankers leaving the guild and walked toward the outer gate.

The road was crowded.

Groups of fighters moved ahead and behind them, most wearing heavy shields and thick armor plates that clanked with every step.

The walk to the outskirts took a full thirty minutes.

Kael studied the gear around him while they moved.

Even with armor like that I doubt it will help much against a real mana-infused attack. Most of these shields are only E-rank. A few reach D-rank.

The swords are common grade at best.

Equipment in this world climbs through six clear ranks: common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, and mythical. Some just categorized them into F to Ex ranks.

They reached the main gate from the inside.

The walls rose high and thick, built from dark stone that had been reinforced over years.

Rankers already lined the battlements, long arrows locked into fixed mounts set deep into the cement of the wall’s base.

Above the entire town a translucent blue dome shimmered against the evening sky, a wide mana barrier powered by high-ranking beast cores embedded in the gate towers.

The barrier hummed with a steady, low power that made the air itself feel denser.

When the flow of rankers passed through the open gate the scene outside opened fully.

Hundreds of fighters moved across the open ground in haste.

Voices carried clear orders from one end of the field to the other.

Shields locked into place with heavy sounds of metal and wood.

Formations shifted, tightened, and settled.

At the center of the activity Amber and Lily directed the overall command with quiet authority.

Amber’s deep-red gown-style dress clung to her lean frame as she pointed and issued instructions to the groups.

The scar under her right eye caught the fading light each time she turned her head.

Lily stood a short distance away in a clean white gown that moved lightly with the wind, light-brown hair neat against her shoulders, black eyes calm as she adjusted the positions of the support lines and the small number of priests who had arrived with the Valkyrie Order.

Near the front Lina and Mira handled the brawler type of rankers.

Both women wore short dresses that left their thighs and the upper curves of their breasts clearly visible under the open sky.

Mira’s dress was a deep blue that hugged her mature figure; Lina’s was a bright yellow that made her white hair stand out sharply against the darker colors of the fighters around her.

Mira carried a small axe at her waist.

Lina showed no weapon at all, the blade most likely stored in a dimensional pouch at her side or she probably doesn’t use any.

The sight of the mother and daughter standing side by side, with two pairs of huge breasts in the middle of the preparations, sent a brief and unwanted heat through Kael’s body.

His cock stirred once before he forced the reaction down thinking he ain’t got time to think with his lower body now.

Amber moved among the higher-ranked fighters with deliberate purpose, assigning them into a clear five-point pentagonal formation that could rotate under pressure.

In the exact center the mages stood ready, staffs and crystals already glowing with gathered mana.

Directly in front of them the main line of brawlers held position with heavy shields locked edge to edge.

Along both flanks the archers and priests formed tight ranks, arrows nocked and healing light prepared.

A secondary layer of sword-wielding brawlers filled every gap between the major points, weapons drawn and waiting for the first contact.

The whole structure was designed so that each point could reinforce the next the moment the demon line struck.

Beyond the open ground five enormous beasts stood chained to thick iron posts driven deep into the earth.

Their bodies were covered in dark, plated hide that looked almost metallic under the fading light.

Long curved horns rose from their skulls.

When Kael stepped outside the gate the creatures threw their heads back and released a series of deep, rolling howls that shook the air and carried across the entire field, a raw sound that made several of the lower-ranked fighters flinch.

Kael’s gaze swept the crowded field and found familiar faces near one of the secondary lines.

Brianna and Tina stood with Ryn and Dean.

The moment Brianna noticed him she broke away from the group and came toward him at a quick pace, green hair shifting with the movement of her steps. 𝙛𝓇ⅇ

Eira’s small hand tightened harder around his fingers showing her worry and tensed state of body.

Kael watched the final adjustments and felt the weight of the upcoming fight.

’So the fight is finally about to begin.’