Walking around the outer ring of the circular courtyard, Damian noticed that it was desolate out compared to before. Not a soul could be seen near any of the guilds. It was eerie, but Damian shook the thought.

  "So, did you guys have a plan?"

  "Ho ho~ First, we're going to scout the joint. Frey will fly up and see if any windows are unlocked. If they are, we move on to phase two. I'll attach a tether to her, shoot up to the window, then pull each of you up!"

  "Ok, then what if Frey doesn't find an unlocked window?"

  "You go through the front and complain about a horrible pain in your missing arm. You'll make such a scene, claiming that they messed up your healing. Then we'll sneak in while you distract them."

  Far too many holes in this hairbrained plan... How am I supposed to join everyone if I'm getting treated? Were they planning to leave me behind?!

  Well, no plan survives first contact, we'll just figure things out as we go.

  As they approached the healing center, Alex hopped in front of everyone, her arms raised high, and yelled.

  "Operation Start!"

  A light flickered from the roof of the building they were next to, and like a bolt of lightning, flashed toward the healing center.

  Huh?

  A wave of heat and light overtook Damian's vision, burning his eyebrows like he got too close to a campfire. The next thing he knew. He was on his ass, and the sound of flickering flames could be heard.

  Damian's enhanced senses told him that everyone else was splayed out as well, groaning from being knocked over.

  When his vision finally cleared, the sight of a quarter-destroyed healing center was burning in front of his eyes. Fire roaring, ready to burn down the rest of the building. The cold dread that he was keeping at bay flared up and soaked his back.

  "Oh no..."

  Still on the ground, Damian panickedly checked on his friends. "Is everyone alright?"

  "Ugh, yeah..." Multiple groans responded.

  Turning back around, Damian's thoughts raced. A second follow-up attack! What was their goal?

  Taking in the full sight that lay before him, he could see that the back half of the healing center was gone.

  That was probably where the rites were performed... Wraiths! SHIT!

  In a panic, Damian yelled, "We need to evacuate everyone from the building! Don't bother with the fire. Save your mana and prepare to fight wraiths!"

  If Damian had turned around to look at his party, he would have seen faces filled with horror. Everyone was still connecting the dots.

  Mind frantically racing, he and his party were rushing toward the healing center. He could already see some staff dragging the injured from the building. Patients were shuffling through the doorway all at once. People from behind could be heard screaming at the top of their lungs in a panic.

  "Alex, break the windows. We need more exits. Clear the glass."

  Still trying to be cheeky in even the worst situations, Alex responded, "Got it, boss!"

  Swinging her sword overhead, she shattered windows one after another. Some adventurers dove through uncleared windows, only to be showered in glass shards. Higher-tier adventurers might not suffer deep cuts, but the healing staff might.

  Damian's head was throbbing in panic. He needed to do something to help calm his nerves. Something that could be under his control.

  Not waiting, Damian jumped in through one of the open windows to see the damage. The scene before him wasn't as bad as he feared. No fire had reached the patient hall; smoke rose from the back.

  "Huup!" Damian swiped the first unconscious patient he spotted over his right shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

  "Jump through the windows! Pick up the unconscious if you're able!"

  Hopping back out, Damian could see that Frey, Fergus, and Donna had grouped up in front, already treating patients who hadn't been fully healed.

  Rushing over, Damian laid the young man he had on the courtyard grass. The crunch of glass came from behind.

  "It's not that bad yet. I'll go in for a last check after everyone's out."

  "Ok, but where are all the guards? I thought that they said they were on high alert!" Frey pointed out with urgency.

  Looking around, Damian noticed that all the guards who were standing by earlier were gone.

  Scanning the surroundings, he noticed guards emerging from a building down the road. Then, the same sight he had seen just moments before streaked across his vision. A flash, like a bolt of lightning, arced from a rooftop and struck a small pile of crates sitting inconspicuously near the guards.

  "Oh no..."

  His blood ran cold.

  A shockwave rocked his core. A plume of fire bloomed, painting his vision in bright lights. And the roar of the explosion deafened his ears.

  Meanwhile, the guards scrambling toward the hospital were sent flying from the blast and skidded across the road. They screamed in pain as their backs caught fire.

  But that wasn't the end—

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  The explosion in front of them wasn't alone. Lights danced along the rooftops all across the city. The blooming plums of fire could be seen reaching for the sky. As Damian spun around, he could see the same sight in all directions. The echoes of explosions were coming from all directions.

  Even the Adventurers Guild was up in flames.

  This is bad. This is really, really, really bad. –Was an understatement.

  The color drained from everyone's faces as the realization settled in.

  But it still wasn't over—

  "AWOOOOOOOO!!!" A beastial roar descended on them from above.

  Everyone's heads snapped to the source of the howl. A dark figure loomed on top of the healing center. Mist rolled off its ever-changing form, like a flame in the wind.

  The beast was twice the size of a man, even on all fours. A giant wolf looked down with a hungry gaze.

  A Wraith

  "SCRAAAAHHH!!!" "GROAWWWR!!!" "RAAAUUUHHH!!!"

  Bestial roars echoed from the back of the healing center. Shaking them to their cores. These war cries weren't only coming from the nearby; they resonated from all across the city.

  Large, mist-like birds rose into the skyline across the city. All who witnessed this froze in shock. What they were witnessing was like the end of the world.

  Madness!!! It's all madness!!!

  Who would even consider weaponizing Wraiths of all things!? It was one of the few things strictly banned by the Valkyrie!

  The last genius who dared commit that taboo had the entire leadership of his kingdom wiped off the face of the planet with heavenly sky fire! No sane person would ever consider it an option.

  The massive wolf lept off the roof, aiming to land on the frozen healing staff below. Before Damian could even react, he felt a pat on his shoulder and saw Alex dashing past with her sword raised high.

  She brought it down on the stonework and channeled her mana. At the point of impact, a massive spike of earth shot out with alarming speed, aiming to impale the wolf. The hit landed squarely in the center of the beast, knocking it away into the healing hall.

  Instead of crashing into the stonework, the beast phased through and jumped out. Its form was whole again, but slightly smaller.

  Think! What do we do? Where is it safe? The whole city looks like an inferno. We're at the heart of the city, way too far to reach the outer walls. The nobles' district? They are probably one of the main targets of this!

  Searching for safety, Damian's eyes finally landed on the Earthen Spire.

  Inhaling deeply, Damian prepared to shout. "Retreat to the Earthen Spire!!! All those who can fight! Hold the line for the healers and injured!"

  Did people follow his orders? Of course not. Panic was already spreading quickly from the moment the wraiths let out their battle cries. People were pouring away from the healing center like scared rats. But Damian's words were like an outstretched hand that put an idea into their minds: 'The Spire Is Safe.'

  Most people were now fleeing toward the Spire. The very thing that sparked fear for them earlier that day.

  Dashing forward, Damian shouted toward the rest of his party, "Provide support while retreating slowly! Conserve your mana! Make it count!"

  If we were going to survive this, we can't afford to spend all our resources now.

  Alex slammed her sword into the ground, shooting another spike toward the overgrown wolf. Little puffs of smoke appeared near its feet, letting it dash mid-air. This time, her spike only clipped its hind legs.

  The beast was not slowing down as it ran to pounce on an unsuspecting adventurer who had just stumbled out of the infirmary's front door.

  *--------*

  The adventurer was screaming in a high-pitched wail as his head entered the wolf's mouth, but as soon as his lower jaw entered the maw, the screaming stopped.

  The wolf closed its mouth on the man's waist. After a moment of silence, the adventurer's lower half tumbled forward, splaying blood and entrails everywhere.

  There was no crunch to the attack, no grinding bones and tearing flesh. As the young adventurer entered the maw, he ceased to be. Like the belly of the wolf held an endless void that no one could escape from.

  Shit!

  All who witnessed the death screamed in terror. Their bodies shook at the idea of an attack so thorough in its destruction that it left nothing behind.

  The people at the front entrance of the infirmary were now pushing back to get inside, but those inside were still scrambling to get out and away from the danger from within. Bodies pressed together in panicked shoving, crushing those in the center. Nowhere was safe.

  "It can be killed!!! Support the retreat!" Damian frustratingly cried.

  More people were now fleeing the infirmary through the windows, heading for the Spire. It was hard to tell which tier the wolf belonged to. It had killed someone easily. But it was one while they were many.

  Overjoyed by its snack, the wolf turned its attention to the rest of the adventurers who were trying to escape the building. It must have foolishly thought that corned prey were easy targets, but instead, a flock of skills and spells shot out, peppering the monster.

  Its body was holding, but rapidly shrinking—the onslaught of spells held it at bay.

  Noticing an opening, Damian followed up from behind the beast. Charging mana into his sword, he thrust it up the wrong side of the digestive system. Hopefully, this end wouldn't claim his blade to the void.

  Wisps of wind started to spread over the wraith, eating away at its ethereal form. The blades from his skill were more numerous and larger than before. Slowly, yet surely, the monstrosity continued to shrink in form until it reached a critical point and dissolved into flaking mist.

  Damian took a step back to reassess the situation now that the immediate threat was gone. The flashing lights from spells and skills were flickering from the windows of the healing hall.

  More wraiths must have crawled up from the rites chamber. Another wraith, in the form of a spiked hog, could be seen phasing through the side of the building.

  Looking over toward the guards, Damian could see that they, too, were in the midst of fighting a wraith in the form of a woman riding a horse.

  One of the female guards was in the lead, holding an enlarged transparent shield, but the horseman ignored her in favor of those caught out.

  With little time to decide, Damian pointed toward the guards and ran. His party followed.

  I can't risk entering the hospital while people are panicking, firing off skills every which way. That'd be tempting fate. Staying by the hospital would have been a futile fight anyway. Who knows how many bodies were in the rites chamber before it went up?

  Damian was thinking that by grouping with the guards, they could form a force that might not scatter at the sight of danger. Possibly use their authority to organize the adventurers who fled to the Spire. Maybe even get some answers.

  As Damian and his party grew closer to the guards, he noted the buildings along the perimeter of the Spire courtyard. Most were shops that had already closed for the day, and the others were guild buildings.

  The Adventurers Guild had a group forming outside the burning building. The Apothecary Guild, as well as the Craftsmen Guild, were similarly in tatters. Fewer people were seen fleeing the former, while numerous dwarves & humans were scurrying away from the latter.

  Most notably, the Merchants Guild Hall and the Mage Tower Hall still looked pristine.

  I swear I saw those buildings get engulfed in flames. Could they have magic shields covering them? Maybe high-level adventurers saved them from turning to ash? A thought to consider later.

  At every free opportunity, Damian was looking for potential safety. If the Earthen Spire turned out to be unsafe, they'd need a plan B and C.

  Getting closer to the guards, Damian could see that they were having a difficult time. The wraith on horseback held a long polearm and was repeatedly attacking outside of their range. None of them looked to hold ranged attacks.

  Extraordinarily fast gallops marked its attack pattern, followed by a trail of black flame wherever it dashed. No one has stepped into it to find out what it did. However, the horseback rider was starting to box them in.

  Damian could feel it in his bones; this wraith was stronger than the wolf.

  Spinning his finger in a circle, Damian signaled everyone to regroup. As it was, Alex and Damian were running along the cobblestone road, and the rest of the party were in the courtyard grass, safer from any possible attacks.

  Being separated would be more of a hindrance than a help when fighting a speedy foe.