Chef in the Apocalypse

Chapter 99: Beast Tide (2)

High atop the towering walls of Bastion, Jayce stood as a sentinel, his eyes fixed on the approaching Beast Tide. His silhouette was cast in stark relief against the crimson moon, his features shrouded in determination. The wind howled around him, as if echoing the tumultuous battle that was about to erupt.

He turned to Zane who was standing close by, “Do you see any monsters that stand out?”

Zane’s gaze sharpened as he honed in on the larger monsters among the Beast Tide, each one a grotesque embodiment of terror. “I can see the Praying Mantis we fought off last time.” he responded in a small voice.

Jayce’s expression hardened, thinking back to the encounter a few days prior where he had witnessed the execution of a few teenagers. His chest throbbed, despite the wound he received having been fully healed, a mental reminder of how ruthless these monsters were.

However Zane was not done, “I can see a few more which look like boss monsters, but I can’t be sure.”

“Can you describe them?”

“There’s a large arachnid, something feline and… A turtle? Or tortoise?” He seemed a little confused, unable to differentiate the two.

“Is that all?” Zane had rattled off four boss monsters, however his quest clearly stated that he needed to kill at least five for the Event Quest to be cleared.

Zane nodded, “That’s all I can see for now.” he said succinctly.

Jayce frowned, his heart was heavy with the weight of responsibility, for not only did the lives of those within Bastion depend on him, but the fate of countless others hung in the balance. He remembered the quest, the urgency of stopping the Beast Tide before it could wreak havoc on a global scale. The objectives were daunting, the rewards uncertain, but he had never been one to shy away from a challenge.

While his mind was deep in thought, he felt a disturbance on the edge of the plains, as if space had been tampered with. It was a similar feeling to the one he had felt when Cataclysm had first descended upon Earth, bringing with it the Apocalypse.

He stood up slowly, feeling all of the hairs on his body rise in response. “D-Do you feel that?” he asked Zane, hoping that what he felt was not real.

“Feel what?” Zane looked over to where Jayce was looking with confusion evident on his face. Due to his class, he had the best senses out of their party.

Jayce shuddered involuntarily, before looking away from that direction. “Let’s hope that it’s nothing.” He responded gravely. Although he put great stock in Zane’s detection abilities, there was something about what had happened that made him think it was not so simple.

Before he could look into it any longer, there was some movement on the front line of the Beast Army, grabbing his attention. A small unit of wolves began to move forward, their forms large, yet agile. They made their way towards the City gates, deftly moving over any obstacles in their way.

It was then that a monotonous voice rang in his mind, along with a pop-up notification.

[Event Quest will begin in 05:00 minutes]

’Shit, so the siege will start at night?’ Jayce quickly turned to Zane, “Light the signal!”

He was sure that Dion would have also received the quest update and should be on his way, however the quickest way of notifying the others was to light the pyre on top of the gates. Just to be sure, Jayce opened up the faction menu and began to type an urgent notification to his members.

“Beast Tide is imminent. Meet on the Southwestern side of the City wall. You have 4 minutes to arrive.”

With a deep breath, Jayce raised his head high. His resolve was unwavering, his spirit unyielding. He was the leader of his faction, a protector of Bastion, and in this hour of darkness, he would shine as brightly as the crimson moon above.

Jayce watched as the wolves began to run into some of the traps that Colin and Kane had been working on the past few days. There were spike pits and false floors, causing a good chunk of the wolves who had scouted ahead to be incapacitated.

He frowned deeply, not at all happy that the traps were working. His heart turned cold, knowing that whoever was maneuvering the Beast Tide had a good level of intelligence. By using the wolves to scout out ahead, they would reduce the impact of the traps and even scout some out ahead without losing many numbers.

Thankfully, they had many traps, some of which required outside influence to be set in motion. Still, it gave him an unsettling feeling knowing that he was facing a commander on the other side of what was meant to be mindless monsters.

[Event Quest will begin in 02:12 minutes]

Jayce watched on as the timer began to dwindle. He began to hear the shuffling of footsteps as Bastion’s army made their way to the City wall, climbing up the hastily built stairs and reaching the ramparts shortly after.

Colin was especially loud, as he carried his large frame to wear Jayce and Zane were standing. Jackie, Lianna, Macie and Heath were also not far behind him, reaching the top of the stairs swiftly.

“What’s the situation?” Colin asked, squinting to try and see out in the dark. Unfortunately, while the moon was almost full, it was painted crimson meaning whatever light it was giving off seemed a few shades darker than usual.

Zane was the first to respond, “They’ve sent out a scouting party of a few wolves to take out some of our traps.”

“Shit. Do you know how hard I worked on those?” Colin complained, feeling his back threatening to cramp after so many days of hard labor.

[Event Quest will begin in 00:59 minutes]

Jayce ignored the words behind him, looking around to ensure that his faction had assembled like he asked. Seeing that majority of them were present, he raised his fist in the air, causing everyone to be silent.

“The Beast Tide will descend in under a minute. Ranged classes, line up along the ramparts and find a place where you can shoot. Melee classes, I need you to stay within the ranged ranks and keep an eye on any monsters that try to climb the wall, you will be the first line of defense.”

The group followed Jayce’s orders without question, filing into place quickly and efficiently. It was then that Dion appeared from the Eastern side of the city gates, his face looking a little pale.

“Jayce, I’m giving you 200 ranged units, we don’t have enough room for all of them on our side.” He said, not waiting for a response before running back to his post.

The 200 people filed in, looking a little confused as to where to go. “Hell’s Kitchen, help your new comrades find a place to set up. Remind them that they are not to shoot until I give the signal.” Jayce shouted, getting everyone’s attention.

They would need to work as a cohesive unit if they wanted to have any chances of getting through the night, let alone the whole ordeal.

[Event Quest will begin in 00:10 minutes]

[Event Quest will begin in 00:05 minutes]

[Event Quest has begun. Good Luck]

As the timer hit zero, a hellish shriek was heard from the other side of the plains. The sound traveled quickly, bouncing off of the walls and mountains that surrounded Bastion. However this was not the worst part.

Following the shriek, a cacophony of roars and growls were heard in succession, an audible attack meant to eat away at their morale. Jayce looked around, seeing everyone’s faces turn solemn.

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