HP: The Arcane Thief
chapter-182

It didn't take long for other people to also realize that they had been left here to die, which made the situation several degrees more chaotic. Many people began screaming and crying while many started attacking the barrier in hope of getting out.

Looking at the people lining in front of the barrier, Axel cursed under his breath. He was having a bad feeling about this.

It's true that the crisis can be averted if the final barrier could really stop the beasts from rampaging further. There's a high chance that it would stop the creatures long enough before proper help arrives.

But, there is a problem with that plan: This is a pre-planned strike. Meaning, the Kraken has already planned for this attack even before the bombing incident a few days ago.

Axel looked at the hundreds of people lining up in front of the barrier. "Shit."

Axel began running towards the barrier. "Akiko, follow me."

Akiko suddenly had a feeling of deja vu. A chill ran down her spine as she realized that the way Axel rushed forward was similar to the time Voldemort had surprised him with his full powered spell. Akiko didn't waste any time. Casting a jutsu to enhance her speed, she followed him at full speed. "What next?!" She asked urgently.

"Charge in a Raigen Field. Repulsive. Wide area," said Axel without looking back.

Raigin Field is a jutsu that creates an attractive or repulsive forcefield around the caster. Axel wanted her to make preparations for casting it in a wide area with a repulsive charge. Akiko had no time to comprehend the reason for Axel's urgence. But, there was no need to.

Both of them charged up the jutsu just as they reached the front of the barrier after going through the crowd of the panicked people.

"Cast it over the barrier, as wide as you can," Axel instructed as he did the same. Lightning had gathered in their hands by now, attracting the attention of several people in their vicinity. Everyone thought that the two of them were going to attack the barrier.

But, the jutsus Axel and Akiko created was not for that purpose. Upon casting, their forefields overlapped, and a strong opposing force was created over a wide area.

*Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Everyone who was trying to go through the barrier were suddenly struck by a huge force that pushed them several meters away.

"What the—"

Everyone was understandably bewildered by the sudden series of events. As they tried to go towards the barrier again, they felt a strong resistance that pushed them back.

"Hey! What did you guys do?!"

"Stop it! Are you trying to get us killed?!"

"Why did you do it?!"

The crowd's fury was now redirected towards Axel and Akiko, who were culprits who had blocked them.

"Get ready to reverse the direction," said Axel, making more hand seals.

Akiko did as he asked. "Why are we—?"

"Reverse it!"

*BOOOOOMMMM*

Before she could complete her question, an explosion happened just as Axel made her reverse the force of the field. The energy of the explosion, which was about to reach them, got reduced considerably due to the electric field, preventing them from serious harm.

"...."

Looking at the damage, the people felt a chill down their backs.

The place where they were standing just a few minutes ago now had a huge crater, and the front of the Biopark was already blown away, exposing them to the city where the Atlantian defense forces were gathering.

It was clear that they would have become part of the fireworks if not for Axel.

Needless to say, no one dared to criticize Axel after that. Not that Axel cared even a little bit.

Right now, he had a bigger problem.

A huge black silhouette was approaching them at high speed.

It was a black dragon. Bigger than the size of 3 normal dragons combined, having blue markings over its body.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Behind the dragon, the sky had turned black due to the number of flying magical creatures.`

"Fuck… Just how many creatures were hiding here?" Axel had noticed that only a minority of the creatures were turned and yet, their number were enough to overwhelm the whole city.

Among the creatures who had been converted, a majority were flying type creatures. And those who couldn't fly were species which could move extremely fast on land.

That's why the monster hoard had already reached them.

With the barrier gone, forces which were gathering outside returned to the barrier quickly rushed in to make another line of defense inside the Biopark.

On the other hand, most of the trapped tourists fled right away, taking out their flying vehicles and flying away. But some idiots decided to stay and record.

The monster hoard was already upon them, so the military forces set up their equipment. Aircrafts and Neptunites which had reached the area flew towards the hoard.

"Captain, permission to engage."

"I have visual."

"Turrets set."

"Cannons ready."

A man sitting on a sharp and sleep vehicle zoomed into the biopark at this moment. He was riding a Maverik, the fastest and most powerful vehicle of the neptunite series. "Fire!" He ordered.

At once, hundreds of shots were fired at the incoming hoard, blowing them into smoke.

"Heck yeah!"

"Destroy them!"

For a moment, the situation did not seem so bad anymore, which prompted many people who were fleeing to stop in their tracks and start cheering. But then, a loud roar sounded which shook the sky.

!!!!

When the smoke cleared, the dragons emerged again appearing more pissed that harmed.

"W-What…?"

"How did it not work?!"

"Fool! Have you not studied?! Those are dragons! Their skin is resistant to both physical and magical attacks!" yelled the captain riding the Neptunite. Dragons are scary creatures, to begin with, but they were under the buff of the Organisation right now, something which can grant a huge multiplier to their natural abilities.

The captain already knew the severity of the situation. That's why he had ordered for the lockdown despite the chance of the tourists returning alive from the sea tour getting trapped inside.

This attack was thoroughly planned. The Biopark is located at the centre of the city. They enhanced the creatures, planted bombs to break the barriers, and took out all took control of the authority figure, ordering him to keep things silent.

No one really understood the severity of the situation until the creatures escaped. By the time the royal central realized how bad the situation was, the creatures had already almost reached the gates.

Even the formation of the creatures was careful arranged. They put the dragons in the forefront, which would block all attacks and take the minor resistance. And one they enter the city and start dispersing...

"Damn it!" The captain cursed.

"Axel, what do we do now?" Asked Akiko. She already knew that the two of them were going to have to step up. But she had no idea how. At this point, to her, it seemed they have to focus on minimizing the danger as much as possible.

Axel started upon hearing Akiko's words.

'What DO I do?'

Abandon the mission?

In order to stop all the creatures, water affinity is important. An insane amount too. He would directly be exposed as having similar abilities as those with the Royal bloodline.

But if he held back, the monsters would flood into the city in no time. Those magic resistant dragons are tanks that would easily take on any amount of fire power and disperse all the hastily gathered forces outside.

Even a relic wielder won't necessarily be of much help against this number.

Once the frontline dragons disperse the forces, the rest of the creatures would spread throughout the city. After that, the only way to stop them would be to individually chase and subdue each and every one of them throughout the city Even the elite force which would have arrived by then would be completely useless.

By the time the monsters are cleared,the damaged caused might be even more than the bombing. And all this is after they already eliminated the XXXXX creatures of the sea that were going to arrive by the train.

Axel clenched his fists. This won't do. There is no way he would lose to a bunch of animals. What's the reason? He does not have the power or abilities to handle this situation? SInce when has he started to depend so much on power or skill?

Back when he didn't even have the system thus having no magic power, or back when he was a cripple, thus having no system skills, he was still able to accomplish his objectives without fail.

Right now, he is neither a weak little boy, nor a cripple. With the huge number of cards at his disposal he has to be able to find a way.

Axel checked his storage. Martina had put in a lot of weapons and enchanted gadgets in it. But Axel knew that there was nothing that could directly stop the massive hoard of monsters.

This situation cannot be solved with force. He has to be creative, understand the exact situation, identify the cards at his disposal, and use them in a way that most effectively stops this situation.

Axel took out the Neptunite that they had borrowed. "Hop on."

"What's the plan?" Asked Akiko and sat behind him.

"Still working on it."

Going into the air, Axel just hovered the bike at a high point.

[Arcane Eyes]

First thing he did was to get a good look at the situation. The number of creatures, their species, their capabilities, etc.

With all the information in his head, Axel closed his eyes.

[Occlumency: Extreme concentration]

Axel entered a mode of extreme focus as he quickly began to go through all options, simulating his actions to find the right away to deal with the mob.

Axel opened his eyes. "Akiko, you still have threads, right?"

Akiko nodded her head. Being a ninja, Akiko always keeps a bunch of threads on her.

They were light, extremely durable, and even had varieties that could conduct electricity. Akiko, of course, had the kind that conducts electricity. She doesn't use threads too often since they are really difficult to use and there is a high chance of messing up.

From within her storage space, Akiko produced a few bundles of threads that glistened under the setting sun. These were special threads the ninjas made through centuries old secret methods.

Akiko wanted to warn Axel about the difficulty of using them, but thought better off it after recalling his insane dexterity, and the fact that this was Axel. "What are you going to do with so much?" She instead asked.

"Sigh… just something really troublesome. You focus on what I need you to do. I think using Dark affinity is alright here, right?" Kurai Sensei also had dark affinity and she was a goddamn hero here.

"Of course."

"You must have already thought of this, but do this:" Axel told Akiko her part.

Hearing what Axel need her to do, Akiko shook her head. "I did think of it, but it will only stall them, and that too even for land creatures."

"Yep, that's exactly what I need you to do." Axel grinned. "Leave the rest to me." With that, Axel faced forward and flew the Neptunite full-throttle straight towards the flying monster hoard.

Akiko knew that it was a reckless plan, and one young man claiming to handle the huge hoard of flying monsters was insane, but sitting behind Axel, Akiko felt that his back was extremely reliable.

"Wakatta. I'm ready."

Axel had an ironic smile on his lips. 'I was as sure as you are about my success.'

When they reached the flying hoard of monsters, Axel pulled up the Neptunite and jumped, leaving the controls to Akiko.

Axel fell on top of the biggest Dragon, which was covered with spikes, while Akiko skillfully maneuvered the Neptunite to fly towards the ground hoard.

Lying on the huge back of the dragon, Axel spat. 'Knew she was bullshitting back she claimed she couldn't fly it.'

....

A.N.: Back when they going to rent two Neptunites to tour the city, Akiko had insisted on sharing one due to the excuse of not being able to fly one.