The wave of Wilds in front of them were three- or four-thick. There must have been at least sixty, maybe seventy of them. There seemed to be more of them this time than the last.
A spread of arrows arched high in the fading sunset light.
“What do you think Joshu is doing right now?” George asked Tim, seeing the maddened Wilds in front of them charge in spite of the arrows.
“I think Joshu’s sitting in a tree.” Tim said in a sing-song chant. “S-H-O-O-TI-N-G!”
The beasts roared. They crashed headlong into the sharpened stakes, ran right into the bear traps. Some of them faltered only to get bowled over and trampled by the beasts behind them.
“Something’s wrong with these Wilds.” Remian observed to Mandy quietly. “I can’t imagine Carrie or Buff going berserk like that.”
“And Vigil?”
“Only if you took away a steaming hot barbecue skewer from in
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Kingdom of the Weak 21. Next Morning
Markus had his head in his hands. “Eighty dead.” That was the sum total of casualties when Kairos counted all the funerals requested by the five gangs. The Burning Steel gang, with the best equipment in town, suffered only eight losses. The Secret Waves and the Circling Ravens suffered much worse, each losing two dozen. Either of their losses were as much as the Cruel Rose’s and Blood Claw’s combined. “It could have been worse.” Max mentioned. “At least our trainees survived. They might have lost a few limbs, but they’re all alive.” “They’re saying it’s our fault.” Markus said grimly. “Since I was the coordinator.” “Hey, I remember you giving orders. The only ones who followed them were us, the Legion. Everybody else didn’t, and the Wilds broke through their stations, not ours.” Remian groaned and shifted on the bed. They were sitting at his bedside, in one of the rooms of the Open Frontier Inn. For lack of a better place to be, the Iron Legion had ended up staying the night at
Kingdom of the Weak 22. Under Blinding Light
Around sunset yesterday, while the defenders were preparing to fend off the Beast Wave, an elderly skinny man crept into the new headquarters of the Cruel Rose gang. “Mr. Simmons!” Cruel Rose greeted him as a guest. “You came at last!” “Yes, I have been waiting for this day for a long time!” Mr. Simmons smiled, a creepy, toothy grin. “I wanted to come earlier, but I had to wait until everyone was busy with the Beast Wave. I certainly don’t want Kage to barge in on me when I take Mandy’s first time! You have kept her for me, haven’t you?” “Um… about that…” Rose flinched. “You HAVE kept her for me, haven’t you?!” Simmons glared. “We had a deal! How could you offer her to someone else?! You…” “Watch your tongue, Simmons!” Rose snarled. “I offered her to no one!” “She gave herself away before you could get to her?” Simmons stared. “I can’t believe it.” “That’s… I don’t know either.” Rose hesitated. “What are you talking abo
Kingdom of the Weak 23. No, It's Me!
“Mindy…!” Mandy gasped. “No… this…” “It’s fine. I’ll take full responsibility for it.” Remian told her, stepping forward. He crouched down and put both arms around Mindy. He hugged her tightly. “Let go, Mindy. Let it go.” “Isabelle… Jamie… Siti… Juni… Loh… Karen…” Mindy didn’t let go of the knife. She shivered uncontrollably. “Gary… Tamera… everyone… everyone…!” “Let go.” Remian pulled at her hands, trying to wrest them from the knife. Then, Mindy froze. Her shaking stopped. She stared at her hands, at the knife. “I… I killed…” “Let go.” Remian tugged her away. Her hands were still stuck on the knife; the knife came away from the body; Simmons’ corpse tilted over and collapsed in a heap on the floor. “I killed him…!” Mindy whispered, her voice suddenly turning to horror. She dropped the knife. “I killed him!” “No! He’s still alive!” George was there suddenly. He grabbed the knife, and stabbed it into Simmons’ body viciously. “T
Kingdom of the Weak 24. Inflood
Joshu came back with his first successful Recruitment at breakfast the next day. “This is Xia.” He introduced a tanned, tall, round-faced huntress. “Hi.” Xia said one word. That was all. “She’s agreed to join up.” Joshu added on her behalf. Xia bobbed her head once. That was all. “Welcome aboard, Xia!” Mandy greeted her. “Please read the charter, and the registration form, and if everything checks out, you can sign here…” Xia signed the form immediately. She didn’t even glance at the charter or the form itself. “Uh… okay…” Mandy cleared her throat. “Come have breakfast before you start doing any jobs.” Xia straightaway took up a bowl of oat porridge and started gobbling as if she hadn’t eaten for days. Remian began to wonder if that was really the main reason why she signed on so urgently… “Can we count on her?” he asked Joshu. “I believe so. She doesn’t speak much, but she’s a serious girl.” Joshu said.
Kingdom of the Weak 25. Downfall and Rise
It began with fire. Cruel Rose was enjoying herself at the time. Her closest enemies were destroyed. The north side was hers, at last. Madam Sara, the leader of the Ravens was bound to a pillar in the middle of the dining hall, gagged with both legs broken. Wrapped around her broken legs was the dead body of the Ravens’ Slayer, Donny. Unable to fight, unable to flee, unable even to curse, taunted by Rose and her lieutenants on every side, all Madam Sara could do was glare at them through reddened eyes. But all of a sudden, shouts interrupted the revelry. “Fire! We’re on fire!!” Who dared disturb the festivities?! The boss and her top lackeys were in the middle of celebrating the destruction of the Circling Ravens and the complete domination of the north side! A man burst in. “Boss! We’re on fire!” “Did someone mess around with the book again?!” Rose demanded crossly, irked at being disturbed in her moment of gloat-worthy triumph. “Where is it?
Kingdom of the Weak 26. Boys’ Ambitions
Remian called him aside the next morning. “George, I was rather impressed with the way you stepped up for Mindy back then. Tell me, what do you plan to do in the long-term?” “You mean, what I want to be when I grow up?” George shook his head. “Nothing much. I just want to have my own farm and have enough food for everybody.” Remian nodded. “So why wait? You don’t have to wait until you grow up for that. Let’s do it.” “Really?” George blinked. “When?” He expected Remian to talk about five years or ten years ahead, but what he said was, “Today.” “Seriously?” “Right now.” Remian marked out a huge (or at least, it seemed huge to George) plot of land with fire. “From here to here, plant food crops. On this side, you can raise Glass Dandelions. Further out, we need Purple Heartbeat Trees and Blue Ring Mushrooms. Also, we should dig a large pond to raise Rainbow Jellyfish.” “You want to farm the ingredients for Tier 1 and Tier
Kingdom of the Weak 27. Girls’ Ambitions
Carrie arrived with no less than twenty wolfcats; eight Tier 3 adults, five Tier 2 half-grown wolfcats, and seven Tier 1 cubs. To be clear, these wolfcats were not joining the Guild; they were willing to dig and guard in exchange for cooked food, but they were not willing to join forces with humans or help defend the town when the Beast Wave came. They were there to watch Carrie or something. Remian wasn’t too clear on that, and Carrie didn’t elaborate, but basically they would be willing to work for her, but not for him. Also, they wanted a territory where they could live in peace. “Fine! We’ll take whatever we can get.” Remian looked about. “Maybe we can build them some kennels or something on George’s Farm.” [Or we can hunt the nearby Chief Blood Rabbit and take his burrow.] Carrie added. “Or that.” Remian agreed. “That sounds like a better idea. I’m actually quite impressed that so many of them are willing to follow you. I thought Wilds hated humans in ge
Kingdom of the Weak 28. Armament
In the hottest place of Frontier Town, iron melted like wax. Sparks and flames spontaneously burst into being and lived out brief existences in momentary glory. The roars of man and machine competed to overwhelm any hapless passerby’s ears. There at the heart of the heat, was a man. Truly, there was no other way to describe him. He was a man’s man. Burnished muscles, a towering figure, a six pack middle and shoulders that could bear a cow… women saw him pass by on the streets and murmured with admiration “Now THERE’S a man!” Do you not believe it? Just ask The Man himself! Surely such a manly man would not lie. Even if he did, your eyes would certainly tell you the truth… Anyone could see, very obviously, how manly this man was, compared to, for example, that runt of a boy who just walked in with the pretty, long-legged with hair like red honey. She was holding his hand as if they were on a date. A date? What a mockery! To enter the domain of
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