Mender moved through the sea of people that were flooding the demi-human district. Not only were more demi-humans gathering that were injured or scared, but thousands of humans had fled into the district as well. A few doctors had arrived and reported for duty, and thankfully, Zenaria, Grace, and Bunny had helped set up a triage area in the inn. The worst cases were brought through the streets as quickly as possible.

Normally, Mender would use his Consecration Field to heal all of the injured at once, but suddenly raising flames from the ground really was a bad idea. People were scared enough already that he didn't want to add to it.

Still, his soul felt ragged as he pushed himself to heal injury after injury. More than once, Jamie had him Siphon a bit of her soul to keep going as she had energy to spare. Amber, Luna, and Linda were protecting the district as best they could, while Vultures flew overhead, ripping apart their enemies.

I've never been more thankful for James and his ability to tame Forsaken than at this moment. If it wasn't for the vultures, thousands upon thousands would be dead.

It wasn't longer than half an hour before more doctors showed up with critical patients they had picked up along the way. The healing staff quickly came together and separated into roles and Mender was glad more cultivators were arriving.

Most of the people around the area were talking about a grand master that had saved them, and word was spreading quickly that reinforcements from the sect weren't coming.

Mender could only stare at the mountain, his frown growing as they didn't come. An attack on the city should have seen every cultivator deploying to help. He didn't understand why they weren't.

Frustrated and exhausted, Mender kept healing; moving from one patient to the next. It wasn't long before an elf joined Grace and Mender overheard the name 'Mave' being talked about.

Jamie seemed grateful that the elf was okay and Mender could only think James had something to do with her. After all, he had started gathering a following of ladies that he was fooling around with.

A small laugh escaped him as he watched the skunk hold the elf tight. James, you need to teach me your ways with women. I can't believe you wouldn't share your luck with me.

Shaking his head, Mender wiped the sweat from his brow, smearing blood across his face. Ignoring the rich, iron scent, he took a deep breath and pushed through. There were thousands to aid. Thousands to save.

***

James ripped his sword out of the chest of a Forsaken adult, destroying her soul as she tried to claw at him. A shard of stone crashed into his head a second later, breaking and spreading dust over his vision.

They won't stop. How many more are there?

Throwing out his hand, he latched onto the next Forsaken and snapped his fingers. The man's body exploded from Soul Strike and James stepped out of the dust. Flickering souls were all around him as he guarded a group a thousand strong.

All around them, Forsaken were gathering. Throughout the city, souls were blinking out, but not nearly as fast as they were before. The few outer edges of Forsaken were quickly killed by the vultures and it was only a sparse one hundred monsters left that were trying to reach James.

Why am I drawing all of them? Is it my soul?

He had many more questions to add to his list when he was done with the day. It had been an hour since the human district was attacked, and it was finally nearing its end. The mountain still hadn't stirred, but it didn't matter at that point.

Dashing forward, he slashed through another Forsaken, ripping it apart before three more jumped from the roofs, landing among the crowd. Growling, James singled them out with a burst of his soul that knocked all but the Forsaken to the ground. Siphoning all three of them, he dropped their empty bodies to the ground.

"Keep moving!" he ordered. "We are nearly to the bridge!"

It wasn't more than a minute later when he reached the bridge and found twenty Forsaken waiting for him. Snarling, he was about to latch onto them when his puppet raced over the bridge with Amber.

The nekorian was on all fours as she leapt and tackled a man to the ground, shredded his body in an instant. Normally she would use her Soul Cats, but she likely didn't want to terrify people even more.

His puppet latched onto the remaining Forsaken and started to pull. It only took a moment for James to realize the puppet was running low on energy and needed to replenish his reserves.

"Over the bridge!" James called out. "Follow the nekorian!"

Keeping to the back of the pack, James ushered them into Amber's embrace as she started leading them through the demi-human district. His puppet finished the Forsaken before rolling its shoulders and walking over.

"It's nearly over," James stated. "Begin your hunt and kill any that remain."

Nodding, the puppet took off as a blur through the streets. Its golden body illuminated the shadows as it moved through walls to reach its targets.

I forgot it could do that.

Impressed by his puppet, he started jogging back into the human district. There were still dozens of pockets of resistance. Cultivators were fighting off Forsaken as his vultures swooped down to help them.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

It wasn't long until he reached another group and tore through the monsters. Leaving it to the cultivators to guide the humans to safety, James kept moving. He knew that the people he saved were going to want to thank him and possibly talk with him at some point, but he had more pressing matters to attend.

Avoiding the center of the human district, he could see the cracks in the buildings and tiles from the explosion. A large section in the center had been destroyed as the Forsaken flooded the city.

Minutes passed as he moved from one group to another, aiding where he could as the last few Forsaken were handled. Pulling his sword out of the final threat, he watched the vultures fly out of the city, heading back to the forests now that their jobs were done. He wanted to talk to them and thank them, but it wasn't safe and they knew it.

Leading his last group of survivors to the demi-human district, he started to growl when the mountain burst into activity. Hundreds of cultivators of all strengths were coming into the city, riding down the elevator in large groups. Only the elders seemed absent.

Luna and Amber reached him as he crossed the bridge and Linda took over leading his group to safety.

"They finally come," Amber stated.

Luna snarled. "Bastards! How many died because of them?"

James grabbed her shoulder. "It doesn't matter. It's already over and we saved who we could. But we are all exhausted."

Taking his hand, Amber started pulling him back toward the tavern and inn. Her legs morphed back into their human appearance and Luna walked on his other side, still grumbling.

As they reached the survivors, so too did some of the cultivators. The foundation stage cultivators tried to take over until the survivors noticed James and word quickly spread that he was back.

Soon the murmurs of 'Grand Master' filled the air and the cultivators started to grow angry. Luna was about to confront them when James stopped her.

"Leave them. They were likely held back, but can now help. Let them take the stress off us." Turning to the group, he raised his voice. "The cultivators will help as needed. Follow their orders and you'll be taken care of."

That seemed to placate the cultivators that were merging with crowd and soon pockets of survivors were led away, breaking up the tens of thousands that had escaped into the demi-district.

Using his soul, he gently parted the crowd as he moved through the district. Keeping Amber's hand in his grip and Luna by his side, he made a statement. He wanted people to know that the ladies that had helped most of them were with him.

Reaching the inn took nearly twenty minutes. Finding Mender on the street, only took a moment. When Jamie shook her brother's shoulder and pointed him out, the healer dropped to his knees, exhausted.

Hurrying over, James grabbed Mender's shoulders. "Take some of my energy. Just a little will be enough."

Nodding, Mender Siphoned a small amount of his golden soul, savoring the feeling of his reserves filling back up. That didn't stop the physical and mental strain, but he could at least continue.

Letting him go, James moved to Jamie. "How long can the healers continue?"

Shaking her head, she gestured to the inn. "We have too many critical patients. Many of them won't make it, but we are doing what we can."

Patting his sister on the shoulder, he asked her to do her best before hunting down Grace. It wasn't hard to find the skunk as she held a glass of water to an injured man's lips, helping him drink.

"You're back," she said just loud enough over the cries of pain.

"The threat is ended for now." Moving to her side, he knelt with her. "I'm glad you're safe."

Setting the glass down, she shook her head. "I was powerless. I couldn't do anything to help."

Knowing what she was getting at, he rested his hand on her shoulder. "We can fix that. We'll talk more when things settle down."

Giving him a weak smile, she grabbed her water and moved onto another person. Zenaria stepped up to him a second later, covered in blood that matted her black hair and tail.

"You look like hell," he joked.

A small laugh escaped her. "Yeah, well, you aren't as handsome as normal either. How are you, brother?"

Smiling at her naming for him, he said, "tired, angry, and have more work to do before I can settle down."

"It's going to be a long day. We have to get people into shelters before night comes."

Amber stepped up. "The cultivators are already spreading people out. Buildings are being filled as food and water are broken out. Provided by the cultivators."

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"I focused my senses on the cultivators," she said with a smirk. "You aren't the only one with Soul Senses."

Rolling his eyes, he turned back to Zenaria. "Help how you can. I'm taking Luna and Amber to the center of the explosion. We need answers."

Nodding, Zenaria left to help Grace with water duty. He caught sight of Bunny offering thin soup to a few and Mave helping her. The healers were dragging their feet in exhuastion as they moved from patient to patient.

"Let's go." Taking Amber's hand again, he led her out of the inn and collected Luna. They had a lot of ground to cover. He could feel his Soul Puppet in the distance and dismissed it to regain the energy they shared. A certain refreshment washed through his body.

"What do you think we'll learn?" Luna asked.

"I don't know." Stopping by Jamie, he grabbed her as well. "Last time we found enchantments and a surgery table."

"I need to study that still," Jamie stated. "I need to learn what these people were doing and who was doing it."

"I hope the next site has more answers." Keeping their pace steady, he parted the crowd. Leaving the district proved hard as they ran into cultivators that wanted to stop them. With a simple pulse of his soul, he forced them back, sharing a hint of his power.

"Should you be using your soul that much?" Amber asked.

"It doesn't matter," Luna pointed out, "he's been using it all over the city. People are already talking."

Moving through the streets, they were stopped nearly a dozen more times before the core cultivators reached them. One of them was a man he recognized very well.

"Tian," James said in greeting.

"James. What are you doing?"

Pointing to the center of the city, he said, "I'm going in there to find answers. Someone created the monsters, and I'm going to find out who."

The other three cultivators bristled at that, but Tian quickly settled them. "Leave us. I'll escort James and his group. He saved this city if you all remember."

Bowing their heads, the three cultivators hurried away, leaving Tian with him.

"Where do we start?" Tian asked.

Waving for the man to follow, James took them to the crater. "We have to go down. Be careful of loose stone and soil."

Luna took the lead, jumping down and sliding into the depths of the crater. It was sloped enough that they wouldn't struggle overly much to get out. Amber went next, and then Tian. Jamie stood with James before they both descended.

Reaching the bottom of the crater only took seconds before they were standing before a tiled tunnel that was clearly man made. All around them were fragments of bomb materials that Amber recognized.

"Why would they have these?" the nekorian questioned.

Tian kneeled with her. "They aren't cultivator bombs, but highly concentrated blast bombs."

Jamie picked up the shell of one of the bombs. "Enchanted by the looks of it. Only part of the rune remains."

Taking the shell, James looked it over. "We'll need to search the city for enchanters that could do this. Tian?"

"I'll handle it."

Nodding, James started walking into the tunnel. Enchanted lights were spaced along the hall, leading them to a destination that would hopefully have answers.

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