Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 937: Defence Of The City

". . ."

Miki was silent while standing by the window.

She looked out at the horizon, at the skies above before back down towards the earth.

At Alice and the group leaving the building.

It wasn’t hard to spot them, not when they’re this obvious in a crowd.

Two dolls no taller than knee height, a well dressed gentleman and finally, a split haired girl with mismatched eyes.

During the Academy days, Alice had made a slight effort to conceal one of her eyes by swiping her bangs off to the side. Now she wasn’t hiding it anymore.

She didn’t care if people spotted her or took notice of her.

She simply did what she wanted.

"How nice..." Miki muttered.

It wasn’t hard to hear what Alice was talking outside the room.

She has this role due to her strength after all. Her senses are better than most.

It’s clear that her questions and answer had annoyed Alice, thus causing her to confide in her allies.

"Saving people because you can... Because it bothers you when you don’t... Ha..." Letting out a hollow laugh, Miki took a deep breath and sighed out.

Sitting down on her seat, she leaned back. Fatigue hitting her mind as she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

But their enemies don’t care.

They don’t care if they’re not in their best conditions. They simply attack as their instincts dictate.

"Dad..." She mumbled, clenching her fist before resigning herself.

*Knock knock

"Come in." Miki straightened herself up.

Gone were the doubts in her expression, her fears. In their place was the stern expression of a captain leading the defence of this city.

"Ma’am, here are the latest reports." Her assistant placed three documents on the table.

First was a finalised report on the casualties and damages of the Nightmare from last night.

A few soldiers were lost during the exploration, their minds couldn’t handle the toll anymore and they’ve been reduced to puppets. They were discovered promptly and... Dealt with according to protocol.

They couldn’t allow these puppets to roam the streets after all.

"Same as always. Next invasion, apologise to the families involved. Give them compensation and make sure they are safe." Miki flicked through the report.

If it was before, she might’ve shown more of a reaction.

Profiles on people she was familiar with.

A new recruit who made sure the snack table was always ready. To make sure the coffee was warm.

A greeting every morning when he sees people.

Yet he was now on the report of casualties.

Next was a veteran. Always putting himself in front of others. A man with a hearty laugh and an appetite that can shock anyone.

No more laughs, he was also gone.

Her fingers tightened around the report. She had to keep reading, to understand who died and what they did. That way, she can find a new replacement as soon as possible.

Grabbing a sheet from her desk, Miki began to note down a few shifts in deployment. New positions that have opened up were rapidly filled out.

The assistant was impressed as always. Despite how many people they have, Miki made sure she was familiar with everyone’s skillset and any talents they show potential in.

And when the time comes, she can quickly rearrange their men in the most effective way possible.

A task that can only be accomplished if she pays attention to as many people as possible.

"Have them carry out these orders. Bring them up to date. Fan, Welt and Vik might struggle a little. They haven’t had enough time to realise their potential yet. Morgan tutors Fan, Gerald tutors Welt and Collin for Vik." Miki ordered as the assistant nodded his head and picked up the adjustments to the report.

The second was a report on their weapons, defences, ammunition and equipment.

Not enough weapons, defences were slow in repairs. Ammunition production isn’t meeting the demand. Equipment for Hunters were lacking.

Miki held back a curse as she massaged her temples.

Weapons for the average soldier couldn’t be helped. Their blacksmiths were already trying their best. Defences that needed repairing... Speeding this up would require allocating materials from elsewhere.

Ammunition was the same situation. Increasing production here would only slow down their blacksmiths who are busy forging weapons.

As for the equipment...

This was the most annoying.

These were the artifacts that their strong fighters needed in order to fight effectively.

And unfortunately... their only suppliers are those that live above. They had a monopoly on the artifacts and equipment.

Miki has already opened the Nightingale family vault and distributed as much as she could. But compared to some of the other families here, their purchasing power was significantly lower.

"We sent a request for their assistance last time didn’t we? Have they answered that request yet?" Miki asked.

"That... No, they have not answered."

Hearing this, a vein bulged on Miki’s neck.

Of course they didn’t answer. Why would they?

Sure they were low on equipment, but the city was still standing was it not? They were fighting against their enemies but they’re holding out thus far.

The situation was dire but they can still live in luxury. That’s all that matters to them.

Unfortunately, Miki couldn’t do anything about it.

What can they even do? Rebel? Take them down? Impossible.

The moment they try, the people above would sooner destroy everything than help. Many would flee while destroying the vaults containing all the weaponry.

Not to mention...

Those above have their own guards. Guards focused on keeping them safe rather than keeping the city safe.

No amount of convincing will be able to convert the selfish b*stards living above.

Miki exhaled slowly through her nose, swallowing her irritation.

"Send another request. Urgently. Even if it’s just an extra artifact, anything would do. Give them... 3 hours to respond. If they don’t, arrange a meeting for me. I’ll have to talk to them personally."

"Understood. But..."

"Don’t worry, I’m not going to argue with them. I know their temper well enough. They just want to see me grovelling for some equipment and transfer some authority over to them." Miki shook her head.

"But Captain-"

"Enough. You know as well as I do that sending others wouldn’t work. What they want is to humiliate me. Don’t let it get to you. Our priority is not maintaining pride but keeping the city safe. So what if I have to grovel." Miki dismissed with a wave of her hand.

If her father was still around, things wouldn’t have gotten to this stage. But...

Shaking her head, Miki cleared her mind and looked at the third and last report.

"Just arrived from outer watch. The scale is... twice as big as before."

Hearing this, Miki felt her heart freeze but calmed herself.

She skimmed the report.

A comparison of the energy between the previous invasions and the current one that will happen soon. A rapid increase over the course of a few hours.

Not only that, but the affected area has also increased. They won’t be sustaining attacks from just one area but all around.

’We’ll have to thin out our defences a little... No, that’s being too greedy. We have to allocate the men based on the concentration of enemies. The east wall might fall...’ Miki creased her brows.

"How long till arrival?" Miki looked up and asked.

"They’re not sure yet. The growth shows no sign of stopping so we can’t predict when the invasion will happen. But the current estimation is roughly half a day."

Miki’s pupil trembled.

With this kind of growth... what kind of army are they planning to amass in half a day’s time?

Gritting her teeth, Miki continued to read the report before placing it back down on the table.

She closed her eyes, simulating the kind of defence they’ll need to do in order to keep as many people safe as possible.

"Assign someone to look for Bai Suyin. Ask her nicely if she can make some progress on reinforcing our defences and walls for now. Tell her we have roughly 10 hours as a conservative guess. We need anti siege weapons rather than individual weapons and ammunition.

"Inform the blacksmiths to put a priority on whatever parts or materials that Bai Suyin will need. If a request comes in, drop all projects." Miki ordered.

"And the materials?"

"Give her whatever she wants. If she needs personnel to help her speed up the work, let me know as soon as possible."

Hearing this, the assistant blinked his eyes in surprise.

If they were to do that...

"I’ll handle the fallout so don’t worry about it. Also have Regi reinforce the western wall. Most of the enemies are gathering in the west so the wall needs to be extra sturdy."

Opening his mouth a few times, the assistant couldn’t say anything and simply let out a sigh before nodding.

"Understood. I’ll let everyone know of the order immediately. What about evacuation?"

"Level 5 red alert. And... Tch, let the ones above know as well. Make sure they’re aware that using their airships would only put them in danger." Miki clicked her tongue.

"Even with half a day to do? I don’t think they’ll be convinced."

"If they want to die then so be it. Can’t stop them when they’ll just use their guards to fight me." Miki shook her head.

She couldn’t waste her energy dealing with the ones above when she has to focus on the defence of the city.

There were also a few variables at play this time...

Alice.

Miki can only hope that her fears won’t come to pass.