NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: The Forbidden
———Wiina———
<1: 54 pm (5: 54 am)>
The cold winds blow all day round. Even though it should be the time for the sun to rise, it remained under the horizon. What an odd place. It’s not like I’ve never heard of the day-night cycle working differently here, but seeing it in person feels wholly different. It’s more akin to stepping into a different world entirely. The eternal night in the place that is so alien to all.
I’ve been observing them for a few hours now and yet the sun never came, and therefore the dark sky remained, keeping me concealed without extra steps while I am observing these camps from afar.
Of course, I’m not someone who likes to interrupt others just to be a dick, so I am content with just watching back. They are not my sole interest anyway.
Still… What am I to make of this… place…
It’s not like it’s exactly hard to describe, but it’s still odd that such a thing appeared out of nowhere, with no one knowing if it’s correlated to the Mythical Eclipse or not… At least, not most people. Someone definitely does, and it’s not me.
A massive metropolis with a large tower in the middle, all made out of some sort of… organic, fleshy material… The color of this landmark is white with occasional blue specks from the orbs growing out of some parts of the ‘building’. It’s more akin to some sort of eldritch monster camouflaging as a giant city. I wouldn’t even be surprised if that’s what it is.
I have no idea what they are trying to accomplish. It seems like they are trying to observe the general area before scouting inside it, like peering into the mouth of a sleeping beast.
Many already coined the term Chaos Tower, but that’s really only because of the size and height of the center piece is so notable, but the area of the place itself reached out much farther.
Just what is this place for and why? I would love to know, but I also know that there is just no way you can enter this place with zero pushback. The damn place didn’t fancied itself akin to a final boss dungeon just to have people casually waltzed in, I’d imagined.
The winds are rather calm and the sounds of all kinds of aircrafts can be heard patrolling the area, probably looking to map the place out from a bird’s eye view. There aren't any aircraft near me and with the limited visibility my chance of getting caught is rather low, and even then I can just scurry away in a hurry.
It shouldn’t be too long until they started to mobilize, since they have been here for a few days and probably raring for any sorts of action.
Now what is the broadcast saying right now…
“<Soon we will send in the first unit to tackle the front gate. Over a thousand men strong, composed of people of many nations will step into the unknown.>” The reporter said.
I can’t help but feel bad, since these guys probably don’t even have anyone with access to magic, or anyone with info or intuition on the supernatural.
Anyway… I guess I’ll also start my own recording. They’ll probably be too occupied to notice me, especially with [Vanish]. Besides, they didn’t notice me yesterday either.
Oh! They’re starting to make their move. Let’s move closer to their location and film this from afar. This is one powerful phone, but everything has limitations. Can’t exactly film something of good quality from many miles back.
*Stomp* *Stomp*
“<W-What is that? It seems that something has appeared at the front gate!>” The reporter shouted, starting to lose his cool already.
A large… golem? I’d call it a golem. It shares the same kind of texture and color scheme as the eldritch metropolis. It has its main body which is round, and a large blue orb for an ‘eye’, the two arms that are more like a collection of wires are connected to massive hands with each having a blue orb growing on the back. The hands are definitely not human-like, I would say they look almost cartoonish, with big oval palms and fingers that are long and flexible. Meanwhile its legs and feet are rather stumpy.
Not the most intimidating of looks, but certainly still alien-like, and certainly nothing people have ever seen before in real life. Its size doesn’t help. I think it’s comparable to three soldiers stacked on top of each other.
…Now that I’ve gotten this far. Should I also intervene if their lives are in danger? So far nothing dangerous has happened, but it’s clear that such a peaceful period is soon to come to an end as the soldiers on the frontline are all pointing their guns at it.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
The shooting started and it’s not even up for debate. This golem simply shrugged off the bullets, not flinching, not dodging, just observing as the soldiers continued to fight.
*Gleam*
Suddenly a bright blue glow appeared briefly from its eye, as if signaling something. This is gonna get ugly… What should I do? I really do not want to get involved… I’m sorry, please try staying alive and don’t be reckless.
*Stomp* *Stomp*
Now it is starting to move toward the soldiers who are all looking terrified that their weaponry is having no effect. They are all running back, retreating from the front gate, letting others handle it.
*Boom*
The air support came and rained down bombardments on this one singular guardian, obscuring everything with smoke and snow.
…When it is all cleared up, it is still unscathed. Just how much manpower are you going to use until it actually starts fighting seriously?
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Now they’re peppering more bullets at it from much further away, and I know they still have a lot more destructive weapons left in reserve. Now just how much are they gonna use? Nothing is having any effect so far.
*BOOM*
More bombs were dropped on it with even greater intensity. Let’s see if it would be any different as the smokes clear… And it doesn’t even look like it has been scratched.
Now this might seem like obviously fruitless effort at this point, but considering that other monsters weren’t immune to modern weaponry, they probably think hitting it hard enough might still work. Can’t blame them for thinking that, but they simply aren’t hitting hard enough. I’m sure some powerful weapons will work, but they definitely didn’t bring those here, since anything like that would’ve also wiped them out as well just from the size of impact.
At this point they are just wasting ammo and bombs on nothing. Or did they think the golem’s inaction is the proof that something is working? Are they seriously not gonna retreat for real until some of them are actually injured, or even die?
I should film this from multiple angles too. Lemme just float up and get closer with [Vanish] to make sure I am not gonna get spotted…
I can hear some shouts in other languages as I get closer, but that’s none of my concern, just wanna keep looking and filming as they are still trying to scratch this thing with no success.
*Shine*
Now the golem’s eye glows much more brightly. I can also feel some sort of pressure emanating from it. This is definitely not a good sign. It is now no longer entertaining the intruders.
*BLAST*
A massive beam of blue light burst out of it and traveled in the straight line in front of it, completely consuming the unfortunate line of soldiers in deadly bright light.
…
The shock felt by the soldiers, commanders, and reporters are all clear. It was a massive trail of ashes that went for miles, piercing through everything that was in its line of sight. The bodies were barely recognizable and some looked like they'd been completely lost.
*Crackle* *Sizz* *Boom*
It also sent out a powerful surge of electricity up into the sky via withs fingers, shooting down multiple planes that then fell down to the ground and exploded. Many did thankfully jump off with their parachutes just in time, but not everyone.
Is the… Oh. It has already been turned off, at least the one we’re watching. Well. I guess it’s up to me to capture the rest…
*Swing* *SPLATTER*
It quickly closed the distance and swung its giant fist at the soldier closest to it. The attack was so swift few even registered it before the body was blown away like being hit by a bomb at point-blank range.
This thing was just toying with the soldiers and pilots up until now. Once it became clear they wouldn't back off, it quickly changed course and went for blood.
And logically speaking, this is probably just a mere guard. Something akin to a faceless mook patrolling around a small urban village, with plain armor and spear that is barely adequate for the job. It is probably not even close to the strongest thing this location has to offer. They are failing at the very first step.
May whatever gods that exist out there be easy on the souls of these poor fellows.
———Karra———
<3: 32 pm>
“It… ended?” I muttered out in confusion. I was trying to reconnect and refresh the broadcast for a few minutes and now it’s just… gone?
{huh?}
{Already?}
{what even happened?}
“What the hell? Why? What was that light?” Jeff said, both curious and terrified just like I am. That’s the last we saw of anything. What seems like a very bright blue light. I think I can see some people’s horrified face before the footage was abruptly cut off.
“Looks like… we’re not getting much out of it, after all.” Jass is having a hard time getting his words out. He must’ve been spooked out as well.
“So much for continuing… Hold on, won’t this part of the stream get cut?” I just realized something as I was speaking. “Well ain’t that a damn shame!”
“You think so?” Jeff asked, oblivious as to why.
“Of course! It looks like it’s something they really wanna keep hidden. We showed the broadcast and they’re definitely not letting that slide!” I explained it to him. It’s like when people get punished for re-broadcasting something that’s paywalled, except this feels like it’s gonna be much worse if someone doesn’t comply. “Guess this part is never gonna be in the VOD, unfortunately…”
{Damn}
{Shucks…}
{I mean can we still discuss it anyway?}
{Just edited out the footage?}
“Who knows if editing it out will be enough…” I said, not feeling good about my chances, only having the mercy of reuploaders, and even then who knows how hard this is gonna get cracked down. Could be just anything resembling the footage for all I know.
“I think… even with very little footage… there’s gonna be tons of conspiracy…” Jass muttered. He’s definitely not wrong, and discussions might get ugly or even prohibited. “Hmhmm…”
“Something wrong?” Jeff asked after seeing him muttering incoherently.
“...I’m fine. I guess I just want to go back home and get some good sleep... I did take quite a blow.” He said. Right, he got tossed around and that probably is still hurting him.
“Then you should go home and rest up. Same with you, Jeff.” I said while glaring at this dude’s right arm. It has healed up a bit, but definitely not something pretty to look at.
“What? Already?” Jeff protested.
“Just go. I need to end my stream soon anyway, trying to not get suspended again.” I said, still feeling bitter about that.
“I’ll be off then… Lemme just end my… recording too.” Jass casually said before walking off. I didn’t even notice him having any camera on him. I guess that’s what the black pin on his shirt is. “Goodbye. Good luck with… the ban.”
“Hey!” You can’t just say that and run off!
“Heh. He got you there.” Jeff playfully said. “Anyway, see you later. It was fun.”
And there the two boys go…
{Kind of a nice trio you got}
{The party is disbanded. For now}
{so you gonna end stream soon?}
I definitely should end it now. I could also use some time to rest as well. Casting spells is deceptively tiring.
{btw how do you even get more magic? You throw around a lot}
{any magic tips?}
{so how do you actually learn to use magic?}
…Actually. I guess I could stay around for a bit longer. Maybe flex my knowledge a bit.
