[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 181: Pressing Matters

“Shocked at your cousin’s terrifying might?” Astrid teased, but her face turned serious the next moment. “Why don’t we head on in? There’s a lot I need to know.”

“I want to, but we can’t leave the grounds unguarded.” Freya grit her teeth.

“Unguarded?” Astrid tilted her head with a mischievous smile. “The top levels of Rebirth are already in my command.”

Looking over her shoulder, a mass of green scaled lizardmen were following the leader of a stalwart white kobold. He radiated might with every step. Some corrupted crawled out from the dark crevices of destroyed buildings, but with a glowing blue punch–their bodies were obliterated. Nothing but a bloody purple mist remained.

Behind them, were an army of topless slender men that cheered as they slay their foes. Each attack was filled with an intense savagery that left no opportunity unturned. There was no technique; only raw power.

They stopped in front of the Sinwen walls in the thousands as they all bowed in front of the little girl with golden hair.

“I am at your command, my queen.”

“Disciple, I am at your command.

The Great No-Eyed One, and Kreka both announced at the same time.

Now that Astrid managed to get a closer look at Kreka, she was confused. When she left him, he was naught but a fledgling kobold. Now he was capable of defeating troops that had lived, trained, and fought for many years. Just like her, his rate of improvement was staggering.

As she peered closer into his eyes, her right eye twitched. Black blob? Astrid thought in wonder. Had her kobold warrior managed to get his claws on a Skill blob? It would definitely explain the sharp increase in strength, but was that really enough? As she thought further, it was clear there was something else. Just by looking at his new appearance–it was obvious as to what that was. He had evolved.

Humans could learn magic, could gain access to a myriad of different Classes, and Skills. Whereas monsters and beasts were stuck with what they were born with. Of course, unless they evolved, that was. She had heard the stories of a little kobold transforming into a mighty dragon; was Kreka on the path to becoming an all powerful dragon?

She hoped so. How cool would it be to ride him through the boundless skies? Astrid could only imagine.

With a quick inspection of Kreka, she was surprised to see that his Level had even increased beyond hers. Monsters really are interesting. Astrid noted. However, what appeared next was peculiar.

Level ??? – Kreka, The Blooming Augur

Normally, she wouldn’t be able to see its class, but maybe because it was a monster that she was able to see it? Or maybe Kreka allowed her to see it? However, judging by the fact Kreka didn’t even flinch when she used her Skill on him, she doubted so.

Nodding in satisfaction at her new army, Astrid commanded her new army. “Clear out the corrupted. If you find anyone that hasn’t completely lost themselves to the corruption, bring them to me–don’t injure them.” Astrid made sure to add that last part. She knew exactly how blood thirsty her army was. Especially the psycho’s. “Once that is done, we will begin clearing out the lower floors.”

Her army nodded without hesitation and instantly bolted off in all directions. It seemed disorderly, but somehow without any orders given from Kreka, the kobolds moved in synchronisation. The normal kobolds had also undergone a rebirth. Not a single one of them was a base evolution.

Maybe Kreka’s class revolves around evolving other kobolds? Astris thought. Well, whatever his Class was, she would just need to ask him later.

Honestly, it felt like releasing an army of wolves into a sheep pen, but needs must, and all that.

“What, how?” Freya felt like her mind was spinning. She had a calculating mind, but never could she have imagined hundreds, if not thousands of monsters appearing to turn the tide of battle. Just what the hell was going on?

Just as Freya asked the question, Daniel, and the others arrived.

“Don’t go asking that question lass, you’ll just end up breaking a brain vessel,” Brett said.

“Idiot. You mean a blood vessel.” Rachelle shook her head in disappointment.

“Whatever, same thing.” Brett waved his arms, then whistled at the state of the Sinwen walls. “Just what the hell is going on in Rebirth? We leave for a month and it’s already crumbling.”

“Oh yeah, like it has anything to do with you,” Rachelle spat.

“Yeah well it might. How do you know I’m not the main character?” Brett joked while Rachelle stopped interacting with him.

“Sorry it took us a bit longer than expected to whip the military forces into shape. Even the high commanders have gone missing. Brett is right for once–just what the hell is happening here?” Daniel said as he crossed his arms. Everyone could tell the situation was as confusing as it was terrifying. Rebirth felt like a ghost-town.

Noticing the situation was mostly handled, Freya brought them into the halls of the manor. They sat at the wide table that was used for family gatherings. A heavy atmosphere weighed down on the air as Freya explained the situation.

“Lord Sinwen, along with the lady, and my brothers, along with the other various noble families received a notice from two of the high noble families–Kamron, and the Waters family. In it, was a missive detailing a severe warning within Apocrypha. Although I’m not sure what the details were exactly, it managed to rouse all the noble houses, and the military into immediate action,” Freya sighed. “And that’s how we are in this situation now.”

“Kamron, Waters–could they be behind all of this?” Astrid pinched her chin in thought. By all the others’ faces, it was evident they were thinking the same thing.

The Kamron family. Earl Kamron was a high noble with immense talent, then for some reason he fell far behind all the others. There were rumours that he selected a less than ideal Class, but of course, they were just rumours. The more accurate discernment from the other nobles was that he just gave up. Not many could fight with their lives on the line for years on end.

Astrid realised that she was an outlier. Sprinting head on towards the action. But how else was she supposed to out Level everyone else? To her, it was obvious what she had to do.

Memories flashed back to within the auction. The bloodshot eyes, the seeping red tears, and the napkin that had turned brown from dried blood. At first, she didn’t have enough knowledge with the black blobs, but now it was obvious to her. Earl Kamron had merged with a class he had no right in having. And from the tears of red, it was evident it wasn’t a seamless transition. Most likely something had gone wrong during the process, or the class was too powerful for him to handle.

However, a lot of time had passed since then and judging by Freya’s words, he hadn’t lost his mind yet. She didn’t know if Earl Kamron had managed to tame the beast, or if he had some other methods to prolong the madness from overtaking his mind.

More questions needing answers. Astrid spat inwardly.

Then there was Waters. Astrid heard numerous rumours about her despicable personality. If there were any suspects as to who were involved, it was them by a landslide.

“It’s possible, but they are also missing. Not only that, but just after they left, corruption surged around Rebirth at a disastrous pace. Then the pirate king, Umair Byrd killed anyone that tried to flee. He and his goons surrounded Rebirth. It was chaos. A planned attack, absolutely, but I can’t say for certain who is responsible. If it was indeed the Waters and Kamron family, it would be far too brazen.” Freya said.

“Indeed, it sounds way above my pay grade.” Daniel tutted.

“We were getting paid?” Brett asked.

“I doubt they are brave enough to do that.” Losef shook his head, finally words left his self-muted mouth. “That leads them no path to return. Unless they plan on wiping out all the nobles during the city expedition.”

The atmosphere turned cold at the words. Or maybe it was because Astrid’s emotions flared. They all looked over to her as her hair raised into the air as if coursing with static electricity. She said, “They can try, but I managed to take a glance to where my father was during the… summoning. He wasn’t in any danger, however, that was as far as I could see.”

“What kind of skills do you have?” Freya couldn’t help but ask. “Just what happened to you during your time away?”

“Many!” Astrid nodded. “This and that, I’ll tell you all about it soon enough, but right now we have more pressing matters to attend to.”

Freya agreed, and took out a map from a ring on her finger. She placed it onto the table as everyone gathered around. It was a map detailing the entirety of the middle district. From the shopping area, to the residential grounds, to everything in between.

Astrid’s attention was diverted to the residential area. It was completely scored out with a red marker. “Is it lost?”

“Yes, the corrupted have consumed the residential area. It isn’t all bad though. Numerous strong warriors have managed to create a foothold within the shopping district and many survivors managed to migrate there. Currently we also have a detachment of Sinwen guards attempting to push the corrupted back, but I lost contact with them a couple days ago.” Freya rapped her knuckles against the hard wooden table in anxiousness.

“Deaths?” Lisa asked.

“Mmmm” Rob nodded, apparently also wanting to know.

“I can’t be accurate, but I estimate it’s close to twenty-percent.” Freya said with a grim expression.

Astrid inhaled a sharp breath as anger welled up within her. If it was a ploy by some noble, she would make it her personal mission to tear them apart one-by-one.

“And the lower district?” Daniel asked.

“Luckily, the lower district hasn’t been touched,” Freya said with a relieved sigh. “I, along with the Forscythe family, managed to lock the lifts just in time. But that was days ago. With the lifts to the middle district destroyed, there is no access. Now that we have you here though, we have enough rope to rappel all the way down to the middle.”

“What about the lifts in the service tunnels?” Astrid asked. She remembered using them back when she first awakened. It was her first mission, so it was easy to remember.

“Also destroyed.” Freya shook her head. “The corrupted were thorough on that point.”

“Alright, well that just leaves one thing to do then, doesn’t it?” Astrid stood up, slapping the wooden table.

“You can’t be thinking of facing them yourself?” Freya frowned. “I understand you’re strong, but surely you have a mana limit. There are thousands of corrupted people down below, each of them strong enough to form an army. Not to mention the evolved hidden amongst them.”

“Surely?” Brett mocked.

“Mana?” Astrid asked with a smile. “What’s that? I’m joking, but seriously, unless there’s a monster above Level three-hundred–I should be fine.”

“Three hundred? What are you, a monster?”

“Maybe.” Astrid grinned, the smile on her mask lit up as if to agree with her. While the hovering eyes floated behind her shoulders. The mana within the room swirled at her command.

Her plan was simple. Save those who could be saved, and pull out the eyes of the condemned. This was the world she was living in.