The Grand Weave

The fourth wave started off as usual. Despite our lingering concerns over the demon flipping the scenario script, the wave's signal flare was the same as the others. The world contracted, and the crimson moon regained its snake eye. It bathed the world in its bloody gaze as the beast horde crawled out of the woods.

But that wasn't enough for the rift. The monsters had new mutations on their bodies that increased the danger. Wolves had twin horns jutting from their heads, the boars gained massive horns like a rhino, while the cat-like beasts had their tails christened with red spikes. The serpents had bone-like spines along their bodies. On and on, it went, with each type of beast displaying some form of new deadly additions made to their form.

The waves were getting harder.

We expected to face new challenges. And so, much like the last time we fought the beast wave, the battle started with a rain of arrows aiming for the more explosive members of the horde. With quaking explosions rocking the battlefield, the fourth wave began—a staccato of fired salvo mixed with fireballs' fwooshing and lightning bolts crackling. Any monster caught in the explosions released cries and hisses of anger, adding to the growing din of the battlefield.

When the monsters hit the barricades and pits, they continued on in the same suicidal onslaught as the other waves. With no regard for their lives, they piled onto the s[ikes till they destroyed them. The pits took their victims by the dozens, whittling away at the frontline of the horde, but that just meant the monsters behind them used the struggling bodies as stepping stones to continue their frenzied charge.

The wave was just moments away from reaching the pathway to our melee fighters. Seeing there was no time to waste, I turned to my familiar sitting on my shoulder.

"Zharia, are you sure about this?" I asked.

In response, the vibrantly colored sparrow fluffed up her feathers and spread her wings. "Master, I am. Let me do this. I want to contribute to the fight! I'll make them BURN!"

I sighed and relented.

Zharia took flight and flew across the battlefield. She flew over the strip of land the beasts were rapidly funneling into and started unleashing jets of golden flames. She aimed not to do severe damage but to distract and confuse. With each pass, a new set of beasts would be blinded and screech in pain as she blasted their faces with hot fire. The beasts would then momentarily stop and lash out blindly and help bottleneck the wave, slowing the rush's momentum and providing what extra time she could to our ranged attackers.

Each swipe of a tail, or swing of a claw tied my muscles into knots with tension.

Initially, when I summoned my two familiars, I planned on them to do what they did last time and wait with me till they were needed. Zharia, in particular, wasn't supposed to be in combat till the flying blood beasts attacked or in case one of our team members needed some extra help.

Instead, the moment she materialized into the physical world, I could feel her anger and resentment bubbling inside her. Through our connection, her feelings were loud and clear. She did not take her perceived failure in the confrontation with Arz'odral well. Realistically, there wasn't much she could have done against the demon Considering that the enemy is most likely a borderline, if not a tier two enemy, we were lucky to have survived.

At the very least, she was contributing to the fight in a meaningful way, and it allowed her to work out her frustrations. Áine herself remained poised and ready to jump into action the moment someone needed to be healed. I didn't doubt that Zharia's feelings were bleeding through and affecting the little fairy.

"Whatever happens, Áine, I know you got this. We'll make sure everybody survives this wave." I cheered.

Áine looked me in the eye and nodded slowly before turning her gaze back to the battle.

With my duties of mental encouragement settled, I summoned a spear out of my inventory and remained vigilant. Though, I scowled at the weapon in my hand. After the freak bloodstorm caused by Arz'odral, I couldn't find my weapon. Despite the help Sam and the others provided, I was forced to accept that it was destroyed and had to borrow a spare from one of the town guards. It was a perfectly normal spear, if not a little too long for my preferences.

Still, I didn't like how awkward it was to wield in comparison to my old spear. And in a matter of life and death, I didn't want any complications when it came to surviving the fourth wave.

-----

"Cyrus, send Áine over to Levin and then have her circle around to Caldur's team," Petraeus ordered.

"Got it," I replied.

By now, it's been well over fifteen minutes since the wave began. With the help of our prepared defenses and our tactics in slowing the monsters down, we managed to avoid close-range combat for much longer than expected. And it was a good thing we did. The new mutations in the blood beasts added just enough difficulty for our melee fighters that injuries were accruing faster than usual.

Caldur's team was forced to be more reserved and fight with extra care using their mid-range skills. Of course, that drew on their mana and tired them out faster, forcing them to align their attacks to maximize the expenditure.

Dyllan continued being a stalwart tank, but Sam was unable to engage as often as she liked. It wasn't just the mutations that made the monsters more deadly; it was their toughness. Sam was still able to one-punch most monsters to goop with her tidal fist skill, but now they were able to weather the initial hit from her hammer. Levin offset the problem by being the finisher to most of Sam's monsters. After she stunned them, he would sneak in and deliver an acid-coated dagger to the brain. Or whatever amounted to their brain.

All in all, the fourth wave was a bumpier ordeal, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. Still, there was a minor problem that had us concerned. Throughout the entire wave, we saw the usual serpents, wolves, panthers, boars, etc. However, there was a distinct lack of another type of blood beast that we were used to fighting.

"Still no warning signal from Orsk?" I asked Petraeus.

The elf frowned deeply. His face was already scrunched up in concentration while he used his skills, but the question made it scrunch up even more. "No. Even he is concerned about the lack of flying blood beasts. At this point, he thinks none will show up this wave."

"But that makes no sense, right? We fought them on wave one, and we fought them again on wave two. The third wave was a special fight, but I see no reason why they shouldn't show up this time."

He didn't reply at first and continued a stone wall of silence. Eventually, he sighed deeply and lifted his staff from the ground. After channeling a visible amount of mana into the gem on top of the shaft, he slammed the staff back down with a loud thump. In front of the wall, a new wave of mud tentacles appeared and started wrapping themselves around monsters.

They fought their bindings but the tentacles slammed them to puddles or tossed them aside.

Finally, he glanced at me and answered. "It doesn't make sense, but we could be wrong. We'll find out during the next wave if they'll show up or not. As nice as not having to worry about getting attacked from all sides, a change in the scenario is always concerning. Personally? Our biggest concern is whether or not the missing monsters will stop us from completing the wave. Now, stay focused. If the missing beasts do show up, we'll need to be prepared to defend ourselves."

Eventually, the last couple of monsters were destroyed, and silence finally spread across the battlefield. Not a single bat, bird, or anything with wings showed up during the fight. Those of us on top of the wall remained unmolested, and we were able to put our full attention on the beasts ahead of us.

Another couple of minutes went by, but the system didn't ding us with a prompt informing us the wave was over. We didn't have to worry about any monsters playing dead due to the fact they turned into puddles of blood when slain, so the field was completely empty of monsters.

Meleena was the first to speak up.

"What's going on? Did we miss any of the stupid beasts?" she growled.

Silence.

Nobody had answers. Levin even went over to the pools and pitfalls and checked if any of the monsters were still alive. But he returned to the wall and shook his head at our questioning looks.

"Nothing," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

We all turned to Petraeus and waited to see if Orsk had anything to say. After a couple of seconds, the man nodded and refocused his eyes.

"Orsk wants people to pair up and check out the forest. We might be able to fi-" Petraeus started before he closed his mouth at the new notification.

A familiar blip appeared in the corner of my vision that signified a system notification. I looked around and noticed the others already had that far-away expression that people got into when accessing their system. After confirming I wasn't the only one to receive a notification, I focused on the blip, and a system message opened up.

Protect the Village of Holmfirth

Wave: 4/10 Survived

Villagers Survived: 98%

Time remaining till next wave: 5h: 59mins: 34sec

"So..." Levin started.

"This means we're done then?" Matias finished.

"But why was there a delay in the system notification? It never took that long to update before," Edithe interjected.

"This may sound weird, but I need to know. Does the system ever lag?" Sam asked.

"Lag? What do you mean?" Edithe asked.

Sam absently scratched her head and cringed at the lack of translation. "Err... I mean, does the system ever struggle to send notifications instantly? Like maybe it's handling an issue, and all of its processing power is focused on whatever that issue is, causing a slow or a delay of sorts in the system itself."

The rest of the team looked at her with derision and lightly amused looks. Petraeus slapped the back of his brothers' heads and scowled at the others.

"Ehem. No, Sam. The Grand Weave, or the system as we call it, does not lag. The weave is something that expands upon worlds and dimensions. It affects mortals and gods alike. It'd be the end of reality if the system ever lags," he explained.

His words carried an almost religious fervor.

There were several nodding heads in the crowd after Petraeus finished speaking. Sam gave an awkward, thin-lipped smile and slunk back. Personally, I found it hard to believe any system had no lag whatsoever. It'd have to be something to add to my 'ask Cal' list. However, I wasn't going to openly question something regarded with such reverence. At least, not at this time when tensions were still high and the setting poor for such a debate.

That list is getting annoyingly long. Hopefully he's up for the interrogation.

Before we began heading back to the village, the last person to ask a question was one I didn't expect. The crow beastkin of team Talon crossed his arms and regarded the forest.

"To the question unasked by everyone. We are to assume that the delayed notification and the lack of certain monsters are because of the demon, Arz'odral, the Viscount of Blood. Now that he is aware of his life as a simulation, we are to continue under the expectation that he is the one causing issues, yes?" he asked no one in particular.

His eyes remained fixed at the tree line of the dark forest, his eyes blazing with an inner flame, giving his gaze an unworldly glow.