Ultimate Gamer System: Factory Must Grow!

BOOM!

The world around Callane exploded…

Or so, it appeared to do so when a sudden, powerful gust of wind smashed into the ground just a few steps behind her, throwing enough rocks and dirt into the air to fully cover the girl in the mess.

Thankfully, for how close of an attack as it was… in the end, it fell just a little bit short to do anyone any harm, leaving them shocked… but relatively unharmed.

"What the…"

Falling down and curling up on the ground, Callane waited for the onslaught to run its course…

Only to realize that the moment the attack came, it was already all over.

'Huh?'

Shaking her head, Callane shook the dirt away from her eyes, pushing herself up to take a quick scope of the state of her group.

Thankfully, just like it was the case for her, the mercenaries were more startled than injured, now all frozen in fear, stuck between the terror of whatever it was that unleashed this weapon and whatever it was that was coming from beyond the walls.

Yet, after the short second or two of shock, everyone just… dashed.

The further away from where the attack landed, the better. The faster, the swifter, the more hurried, the better!

Not even having the room to shout an order, Callane had no other choice but to follow the rest of the group, dashing through the narrow path within the woods as if her life depended on it.

And when the next attack came, this decision to run only proved to be absolutely correct!

BOOM!

A geyser of splintered wood, dirt, and stones rose up just a few feet behind them, making it seem as if whoever was trying to attack them had a hard time keeping up with the speed at which they ran.

'But… This doesn't make any damn sense!'

Callane struggled to get a grip over herself.

'How can a weapon capable of wreaking such havoc struggle with aiming somewhat accurately?'

This thought further transformed when, after a few more moments of rushing ahead with all their might to outrun the danger, another explosion shook the ground… pretty much exactly the same distance behind them as the one before!

'They are not trying to chase us with their aim!'

Callane's entire body nearly froze, almost causing her to stumble and drop down on her face, only to end up squashed by the next attack now that she could no longer run.

But rather than coming from behind her…

The next thunder struck the ground quite some distance to the front instead!

'Way ahead of the ones at the front,' Callane noted, unable to process what was going on but diligently making sure to commit every tiniest detail to her memory.

After all, how she couldn't make any sense of it now had no bearing on whether or not her observations would prove vital in the future, once she learned more and got the chance to figure something out!

But from all that she saw thus far…

'If they are not trying to attack us, then… what are those attacks for?'

This time, Callane properly froze.

And as this thought developed for a second in her head…

"Stand!"

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A single shout escaped from Callane's lips, carrying enough authoritative power to root everyone's feet into the ground.

A shout that was only a fraction as loud as the explosions from before.

But with said explosions now ceasing, it was just loud enough for Callane's group to hear their young lady.

"We are not under attack!"

Knowing that the attention she bought wouldn't last for long, Callane wasted no time making the best potential use out of it.

"They are herding us! And look… No, listen!"

Once again, everyone's attention hung in the balance.

Casting a sweeping glance, Callane could see that if she didn't explain herself the very next moment, the patience of her mercenaries would run dry, causing them to scatter and run.

'And given how we are clearly in the middle of someone's land, land that they are both willing and able to protect…'

Callane gulped her saliva down.

"Listen!" She screamed out again, this time actually pointing her hands at her ears.

Still, not a single face in the small crowd appeared to catch the meaning Callane had in mind.

"There are no more explosions!"

Right then, it happened.

The danger that loomed just beyond the scope of Callane's perception had finally reached near enough to actually breach its own stealth, instantly sending the girl down to her knees when her mana sense overloaded with hundreds, no, thousands of new signatures.

Each of those signatures was strong enough to rival the apex monsters still roaming the civilized part of the world.

BANG!

BANG!

BABANG!

BABABABABBBBBBB!

As if to prove Callane's words wrong, the dreadful sound of the attacks came once again, this time massed beyond any imagination, incomparable to what her group witnessed before.

It felt as if the world itself split open, only for the demon lord hidden at its core to unleash its roar.

And yet…

And yet, even as seconds passed, none of the explosions appeared anywhere near.

Heck, even the shaking of the ground was rather faint, making it clear the attacks were landing quite the distance away!

'How are they?!'

Near the limits beyond which she would lose her composure and just start to panic, Callane looked around, worried the sounds would be enough to scare her men off…

But no.

Be it due to their discipline, courage, or maybe just being rooted in fear, no one moved from where they were.

And after but a few moments, the thousands of presences just… vanished from Callane's perception pretty much at the same time as the thunderous noises from somewhere far deeper into the walled-off area came to an end.

Finally, Callane could afford to take a breath, feeling an immense wave of relief washing over her.

'Whatever it was… we got through it!' she thought, collapsing down to the ground now that she could no longer keep herself standing.

She would gather her strength and stand up again soon, ready to investigate where all those attacks came from… just, she still needed a few moments to regather her resolve.

Yet, the world would offer Callane no such opportunity, as the oppressive sense coming from the outside had restarted, now much more concentrated, at the cost of the great majority of the sources it was coming from.

And just like before, a storm began above the center of this unknown place, as thunders started to crack faster and faster, all the way to the point where the girl could no longer discern one sound from the other.

And quite noticeably, rather than spreading all over the place like before, the attacks now grew much more concentrated than before too.