Unchosen Champion
Chapter 376: Farmer’s Market

Platinum took her time tying her hair back, making sure to brush out any bumps with her fingers. She kept her eyes closed, refusing to acknowledge the myriad of enemies that clamored to eliminate humanity. Their writhing scales reflected with crimson brims while their claws churned the soil. Monstrous growls and wicked hissing were hardly audible over the deafening counter attacks that temporarily held them at bay.

Once almost every silvery strand on her head was secure, Platinum pushed the face-framing tendrils behind her ears and opened her eyes with a big sigh. She crossed her arms and took a moment to observe the battlefield from the edge of the final artificial embankment that protected this particular corner of their territory.

It was a valuable location, not for its proximity to any development in particular, but because if it was lost, the entire Delaware River valley would be overrun. The monsters would carve the entire southern portion of Neon Park’s territory from the rest, delivering a devastating blow to their overall security. The leaders dispatched the manpower necessary to prevent such a loss, maintaining the evacuation routes so that any further territorial retraction could be conducted at their own discretion rather than be forced by their enemies.

The defensive earthen mounds only had a handful of other spectators enjoying the current show, though to be fair to them, they seemed ready to actively participate with weapons held tight and eyes alert. They stayed low as they peeked over the tops of the dirt piles to watch the havoc being created on the battlefield. They feared that rising too high from the trenches might cause them to be struck down, but also didn’t want to miss a single blast.

Before the assimilation began, the area would have been all corn fields, white fences, and farmhouses. For a city dweller like Platinum, it had been an idyllic tableau for a perfect little farm community. It wasn’t exactly frontier living, with maybe a twenty minute drive to a number of city centers, but it was drastically different from the urban density that she was used to and never thought to leave. Still, she could imagine girls going on day trips to explore farmer’s markets, browsing the selection of fruit and vegetables with big floppy sun hats and oversized sunglasses, or visiting mom and pop bakeries for some fresh desserts that would look perfect in an excessive number of selfies.

Instead, the only people present wore mana-infused leather armor ornamented with makeshift shoulder pads, wired face masks, and custom scrap bucklers. They wielded swords, spears, and staves, with pendants and feathers hanging from the ends, and knives and pipes for backup. Instead of consuming cute treats with pleasant expressions while enjoying the weather, their faces were grim, stained with dirt, feeling mixtures of bloodthirst and awe at the spectacles on the battlefield. The atmosphere weighed on them, but because they were within Lighthouse territory, the corrosion was barely a tertiary concern.

Platinum joined them in their readiness, sweeping her fingers across her face to manifest a solidlight mask and donning her gleaming warsuit over the comfortable leather body armor. It would be her turn soon enough. She stood tall, exposed to the weather, unafraid of being struck down while their allies handled the mess.

With the start of the assimilation, most of the local structures managed to survive until they fell under the protection of one settlement or another. They were shielded by the taming effect of civilization shards relatively early in the process. Nevertheless, even the most well-maintained building looked like it had been left to fend for itself for a hundred years after just weeks in the untamed wilds. Fresh coats of paint were visibly peeling and wood had deteriorated, sagging or revealing water damage from the brief time spent outside of settlement territory after mana activated. There was an obvious reason the ramparts she stood upon were kept simple, utilizing unmanipulated natural resources. They were the only reliable materials left.

After the Eradication Protocol began, the degradation of human construction had become more pronounced. There were hardly any hints that human civilization had even existed outside of Lighthouse territory, and that was before the monsters were factored in. Only one out of every hundred structures was still standing and anyone could see that even those were not long for the world. Roads just crumbled into smoke, blown away in the swirls of mana that had grown so thick they were clearly visible to the naked eye. It was like a dust bowl had descended on their territory, but instead of failed crops blown by dry winds, it was the evidence of humanity that drifted away.

Platinum frowned at the conditions of her planet. The world had been bloodied, a fine gauze of crimson making it seem like Earth was being drained of its vitality. The green fields were desiccated and brown, with no chance of any future harvest. Golden dust hovered in the air, choking the remaining life from the region. Almost no wild animals had been seen since the start, every creature wise enough to instinctively seek shelter in the storm. Monsters made their presence known instead, roaring challenges and eagerly seeking human victims, but they were being met with thunder in this particular place.

All the way until the end of the leaderboards, Platinum retained her position near the pinnacle of humanity. Naturally, with her particular set of skills, she had been sent into the untamed interior of the continent, scouring the southern regions for stragglers in hopes of dragging them to the safety of shard territory. She had only just returned from her own forays across the wilderness, which, if nothing else, motivated her to finally join the fight.

Her previous task had been unrewarding, with only a scant few souls revealing themselves to her sweeps. Instead of grabbing the last few groups of people that might have been caught outside of settlement territory, she mostly discovered swarms of monsters, intensifying the cataclysm that unfolded across the world. Legions of creatures climbed over themselves, rapidly expanding their numbers as they formed hordes of enemies that aggressively sought to end human existence.

Compared to the Primal Constructs, she concluded that the forces of mana were loud and messy, uncivilized, aggressive, and eager to destroy. Platinum had avoided most fights, recognizing the urgency of her rescue mission, but her focus failed to make up for the situation. By the time she returned from the region between Neon Park and Neptune’s Bridge, word was already spreading that even the outposts formed by mana pylons were succumbing to the hostility of mana.

The territory that they had worked hard to claim and fortify shrank at an unreasonable pace and those who had planned to hold their posts were instead reinforcing the nearest shards or betting it all on withstanding the surge for as long as necessary. Humanity had been forced onto their backfoot by two devastating blows when the Eradication Protocol activated.

But the humans that had reclaimed the momentum of the assimilation from the Primal Constructs, turning the situation around so that they could conquer their own planet right back, weren’t about to simply fold when confronted by new challengers. They had extensively planned for the scenario they now faced, so they dug in, taking on the problems one step at a time.

Outposts were folding, one after the other, but most of the shards held. Fall back plans were enacted, and with the Tempest Fleet holding the Mississippi Sea, the loss of so many interior pylons was less devastating than it could have been, but just barely. Meanwhile, in order to avoid being completely routed, they had settled into battlefields all around their main territory, holding on so that evacuations were still possible.

This particular battlefield was one of almost two dozen that Neon and the other leaders of the north east alliance had devised to specifically protect Neon Park while maintaining lanes for the other nearby cities to stay connected. They were forced to strategically cede ground from the start, having expanded across an enormous section of the continent, but that had been expected. With enemies spawning without respect for their borders, it made sense to withdraw from certain places to avoid being exposed from multiple angles.

However, as far as she knew, the time frame had been drastically altered by the belligerence of mana itself. If possible, they would have avoided this particular allocation for a significantly longer period, saving it for after they had exchanged blows with the forces that threatened their existence for years upon years.

The settlements had devolved into rebel military bases in anticipation of total war, adding barriers and strategically reinforcing defensive locations that could establish choke points for enemies or safe passage for allies. There was no such thing as a civilian anymore, at least within her stomping grounds. The residents were all geared up, trained, leveled, supplied, and reinforced by Ghost Reef and the Lighthouse.

Even Platinum had moved her old raggedy couch out of Neon’s Brooklyn brownstone and into her apartment in the underground beneath the main tropical settlement, knowing that if she wanted it to survive, that was the best location. It was the only place that maintained some semblance of normal life, but even that had been strained by the preparations for armageddon.

It was impossible to relax, even with downtime, knowing what was going on. She had returned to the front before she was expected, eager to join the fight after spending so much time surveying the Blue Ridge Parkway and helping outposts from Memphis to Louisiana evacuate to the Tempest Fleet ships. They had recommended she take a few days off after withstanding the corruption for so long, but she was in firm control and after seeing so much devastation, was eager to join the defense from the moment she returned. Anything less would have been disgraceful.

Normally, soldiers would be relieved to have her support, but this time she was lined up behind one of the more unique sets of defenders involved in Neon Park. They didn’t even realize she was there.

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Standing tall, on top of the highest point on their side of the dry basin, she squinted through her mask, into the combination of golden dust and reddish haze, wondering if there had been more new variants reaching their territory. If it had been anyone else, she would have expected a briefing about the particularly nasty boss-types that had appeared in the previous shift, but when the battlefield was under the purview of the Aeromancer of Ghost Reef, not much survived long enough to prove its mettle.

Charlie Seraphin hovered high above the ground, miles of empty field in front of her, with her heavy cloak whipping in the wind that she sent forward to counter the sands. The air crackled, but if there were storm clouds up above, they were hidden by the haze. Every inch of dirt beyond her was occupied by raging monsters as they charged forward, eager to consume. Miles and miles of scaled creatures pressed into the human territory, yearning to tear it away.

Charlie’s leather equipment matched the standard issue granted to every member of the Lighthouse, but her storm staff was something special. It glowed with power in a way that was close to a solidlight, though it flickered and flared with sparks as she channeled her mana into the sky and the mana flowed back, crackling with energy. The electricity was more dynamic than Platinum’s solidlight manifestations, fading into blues, purples, and reds, or being highlighted with yellow or orange fire as the feedback built and discharged.

The world flashed as a bolt crashed into a group of scaled enemies, the abrupt explosion sending their scorched ashes flying with a cloud of molten dirt and an enormous shower of sparks that rained across a section of the battlefield. The floating sand that accompanied the armies reflected light in strange ways, causing the whole battlefield to strobe with the strike as its illumination was magnified throughout. The flash revealed the absolute walls of yellow and brown scaled enemies still pushing forward, practically tearing into each other just to draw an inch closer.

Exactly half a second later, lightning struck again, this time in a different location. A four-legged, stumpy-winged dragon rushed forward like a centaur, surrounded by smaller lizards exposing jaws filled with tiny needle-like teeth. For a brief moment, its alien bones burned with the brightness of a few hundred million volts before it lost its form completely, evaporating into mana that filtered into the mixed haze.

Another half second added yet another lightning strike four hundred yards away, igniting another group that thought they would be the ones to chop the head off the human holding them all back. Giant gouts of smoke and sparks erupted from the swarm, sending limbs and mana scattering in waves as the monsters flowed forward like the rising tide.

Platinum could have timed a beat to the bolts crashing from the heavens, but the thunder that followed was too deafeningly loud. The inconsistent drumrolls as rather than a singular bolt, a cascade of smaller strikes stymied whole sections of monsters, and the sizzling and crackling caused by fingers of electricity bouncing among individuals further complicated the scene. At the same time, the dinging sound as the prodigal daughter and lone partner to the sorceress activated her own abilities was more frequent and less consistent, establishing a chaotic soundscape between just the two individuals that did the work of entire armies.

As Platinum watched, a massive wall of light smashed into the ground, a bit closer to the Aeromancer as she raised both her arms in praise of the shrouded sky. Mana seemed to be flowing into her just as much as out, reconfiguring the relationship they used to have with system granted skills, evolving it into something more.

The attack was too large to be called a lightning bolt anymore. The pillar of energy was like an act of god, seeking to wipe out a city of unbelievers. Platinum flinched as a hundred thousand reptilian monsters were annihilated in a single blast, their skeletal silhouettes existing for a fraction of a second longer than their temporary lives. She couldn’t help her reaction, the raw power impressive even compared to what she or Neon could achieve.

The rumble swept across the countryside, incomparable to regular thunder. The soundwave was actually visible within the haze of mana, flowing faster than fluid dynamics should have allowed until it disappeared in the distant fog. The visualization of sound sent the remaining vegetation swaying back and forth, warning the monsters who were too far to witness the power that only doom awaited them should they continue. Platinum shook her head in awe, remembering a time when it seemed like only Coop was capable of such devastating power.

Camila Alvarez was the only companion to the Aeromancer during this shift on the battlefield. She personally weaved back and forth across the empty fields wherever individual monsters advanced beyond the domain of lightning or had a lucky spawn that manifested them on the flanks. She was momentum itself, dragging a wave of kinetic energy behind her fists to prevent any monster from drawing anywhere near Charlie. The massive blast hadn’t added even a moment of hesitation to her steps.

Platinum kept shaking her head as the Aeromancer continued with the barrage, leaning into only one of three elements she could wield with seemingly equal proficiency. Platinum thought that in retrospect, she had paid too much attention to Coop when she should have been watching the unassuming powerhouse that was Charlie. She may have been hidden in the shadow of the Unchosen Champion and shielded by the other residents of Ghost Reef, but she had been building something special.

As Platinum spectated, gleaming in her solidlight ornamented leather armor, the other warriors from Neon Park continued to congregate in the trenches, returning from their breaks. Somehow, despite everything, they were basically the same rabble as before, just way stronger. She watched as companions shoved each other, made bets, and laughed at inappropriate jokes before facing death yet again.

The Ghost Reef Standard Issue armor they all wore was uniquely customized by each group, reestablishing their identities and representing their cultures, clubs, and callsigns. Some had created sleeveless versions while others produced a formal aesthetic or added accessories that transformed the overall image of their suits the same way she did. She imagined the crafters had a lot of fun with all the custom requests that came in from Neon Park.

Before they were tagged into the fight, a particularly large enemy appeared, roaring as it eclipsed the horizon and galloped across the battlefield, emerging from the crimson haze like a creature of nightmare. The fanged monster arrived to challenge the human that was annihilating its subordinates, but as it rushed forward, it stomped the life out of its own smaller comrades, leaving giant dragon-prints in the dirt, filled with dissipating mana. Its wings flapped to help it maintain its velocity, but it was much too heavy to leave the ground. A long tail trailed behind as it set its eyes on its target: the Aeromancer who hovered unprotected in the sky, glowing like a beacon for all to see.

Camila signaled to Charlie and they both synchronized their movements in a demonstration of coordination unmatched almost anywhere else. When a lightning bolt nearly smashed the ground in front of Camila, she intercepted it with her enclosed fist, bracers searing with power, and sent the energy forward, adding her own perfect counter multiplication to the concentrated electrical discharge of the precise blast. The bright-bluish energy beam smashed through waves of lesser enemies before colliding with the wyvern-like boss.

The massive monster was fried the same way as all the others, unable to resist the combined energy of the two human powerhouses. Chain lightning split off and bounced through its smaller companions, spreading throughout the horde of dragons, defeating or stunning countless individuals. Even the fallout was overwhelming.

Platinum could barely comprehend the devastating success. Her only disappointment was that, unfortunately, it had not been an Icon of Mana to receive one of humanity’s ultimate combination attacks.

The higher ups believed that the draconic Icon known as Inevitable Conclusion, or the Shadow of Power, was somewhere in North America. Platinum found the other fiery demons all along the Gulf Coast, but the stone, blood, and fire Icon was already confirmed to be in India, surrounded by too many minions to be approached without significant numbers. The concentrations of the vaguely reptilian forces led them to suspect that they had their own Icon in North Dakota, Montana, or the interior plains of Canada, especially with the early pressure that the major outposts in Winnipeg and Calgary experienced before they fell.

Platinum had yet to see an Icon, but she recognized the power rank of Charlie’s victim as something slightly above a Siege Boss, not quite a Region Boss. The power scaling of the forces of mana was a lot less compartmentalized compared to the Primal Constructs, but she still applied her prior experience to categorize them to the best of her ability.

After the bouncing lightning settled down, the army of defenders started to spill into the battlefield while Charlie and Camila eased off their dominant position, recognizing that it was the perfect time to transition fighters. Platinum waited until they were on their way out before claiming her place on the battlefield, the pinnacle elites acknowledging each other with respect as they traded positions.

Platinum made an impressive entrance, slamming into the ground deep within the enemy lines after launching herself high in the air. She was like a shooting star when she crashed into the earth. Her solidlight blade and gleaming armor streaked through the sandy haze, carving a tunnel that made her seem like the end of a spike that had been driven into the surface with so much force it was glowing with white heat.

For a moment she was alone, surrounded by countless golden-scaled monsters, with motionless grains of golden sand hovering in the air, painted red by the crimson haze that painted the atmosphere. But it was only a moment.

Thousands of solidlight threads rained all around her, each only as thick as any of the weightless grains of sand that were scattered in the air. Every solidlight pierced straight through an enemy before shooting deep into the dirt, pinning them with a tether of glinting energy. The monsters had a moment to struggle, lurching as the precise attacks surgically crippled their movements. They made an effort to eliminate the prey that had served itself on a silver platter, and found it impossible to reach.

Then, each thread shattered, sending miniscule shards of soldlight shrapnel scattering all throughout the battlefield, shooting in all directions like someone put firecrackers inside of thousands of disco balls. The chaos annihilated almost as many monsters as Charlie’s insane lightning blast.

Platinum grinned at the result, her visor hiding the thrill in her eyes as she whirled around to watch the interplay of reflections from her solidlight shards temporarily overwhelm the frozen storm of sand, painting the crimson battlefield in silver lights. The shrapnel avoided any self-inflicted wounds, making her the focal point of the clearing, surrounded by glittering specks. She heard the cheers of her comrades as she took a combat stance facing the other enemies that continued to rush forward. She held her empty hand forward, pointing at her next target before a thicker solidlight slammed into the ground, straight through its head, while she raised her sword and aimed the tip at her next targets. She would personally grant humanity one more day.