Three days passed without so much as a hitch, and I won't lie, we were actually doing—great. We managed to recover a small portion of the city within a short period of time with our relatively small army, which is all we have left. What made it possible was what the mayor already had in stock and, well, me. He had strategies in place on which key location was crucial to recapture first. What they were missing was a way to fight back. Those worms and the infected are hardcore survivalists that don't die by physical weapons unless you kill all of the worms inside. And there's the risk of getting bitten or inhaling their hallucinogen. There must be a weakness to get rid of these worms safely.
What they managed to discover was that using fire in particular was rather effective against them, but normal fire just won't cut it. High-intensity heat was needed to really burn them up well. They need to be doused with very high alcohol content for the worms to be burned completely; otherwise, they'll just heal themselves. Those tenacious bastards might not be able to fight on their own, but boy, do they have high tenacity for survival. No wonder my father uses them for this invasion.
Alright, what are my options? I only have one last fire coating with me, but I doubt Byakko is able to burn them all to a crisp with just one coating. I need to figure out a way to get fire that is intense enough to burn these worms to a crisp so they don't reproduce further. I requested alchemical ingredients, but the mayor shook his head, telling me that most of the ingredients are at the alchemical stores, which are where the enemy are currently residing. I can scout nearby for any useful stuff that might help, but I was not in a good shape to be moving about now.
I visited Rose often to check on her condition, but she was barely making much progress in getting better. She had her suspicions that the dagger must have drained her strength or something when it pierced her. Now she's barely able to move around and is mostly bed-bound. I sure hope she starts getting better soon since she can't heal her way out of this.
My options were rather limited, so I had no choice but to explore the nearby buildings for anything useful. A couple of scouts followed as I moved slowly, searching for ingredients or any items that might tip the favour in our direction. But alas, my exploration was disappointing as there were barely any alchemical ingredients that could help. How I wished that the Elementalist was here now; his new legendary weapon will have a blast burning all of these worms.
Sigh, alright, fine. What other options do I have? I took out all the items from my pouches along with Rose's pouches and laid them in front of me. Lots of potions, a lighter, pocket watches, and such. Nothing I can think of that can help us to make an intense flame. Would my basic coating with lighter be good enough without the use of thunder rock with red dragon's fang? It's my last resort for sure, but I'm not about to give up on new ideas just yet. Stein might not be here, but the main genius is right here.
I sighed and got up to grab some water for myself and Rose. Water here can be drank from the tap, and thankfully it hasn't been sabotaged by our enemies yet. As I was filling my glass, something made me glance to my left twice as I noticed what I was looking at. Hold up… what is this doing here? I thought the blueprints were just released recently; how can they manufacture this so quickly for the masses?
I walked over and turned the dial. With about three attempts, blue flames ignited the burner, and an idea popped into my head. I rushed to where the mayor was and asked him how many gas cylinders and stoves had been brought into the city. He informed me that some houses had already been using them, and they had supplies of cylinders kept in the main warehouse as stock. He knew all about it since he was the one who approved and bid with other cities to obtain the earliest stocks. No wonder these stoves are here this early; I wondered how much did he actually bid for this. I'm sure he'll go nuts if I told him that I was the one who gave Stein the idea of this invention.
I told him to come along with me, which attracted a couple of other soldiers who were curious. I asked for permission before dismantling the stove, to which all of them gasped loudly. The mayor immediately emphasised that the stove was extremely precious to them as it took a great deal to obtain them from the surface, but I assured them that I could get replacements for them easily with the help of Stein, influence, and well, money.
After a long persuasion, he reluctantly agreed. Can't believe these elves would rather die than allow their stoves to be tarnished, yet my family had been using this for months by now. I proceeded to dismantle the hose, threw away the top burner, and tore apart the ignition switch. It was a messy process, and dangerous I would say, but I eventually got it to work. A homemade blowtorch with a blue flame, ready to scorch those worms to death. While still being short-ranged, this will certainly be more effective and hotter than a flaming torch for sure. Too bad I can't make a flamethrower since natural gas just doesn't have that capability. Maybe I'll adjust the pressure regulator to see what I can do further with it.
Everyone around me was amazed that I managed to turn it portable so easily since the concept of how the stove worked in the first place was foreign to them. With that said, seeing the fruits of my success, the mayor immediately instructed the scouts and soldiers to collect as many gas cylinders and stove parts as they could, which was how we were able to regain parts of the city this quickly. I'm fairly certain my father will be caught off guard at how quickly I found a method to retaliate, and I'm certain he'll be taking action soon.
Today was the fourth day, and my strength had returned, albeit not quite fully, but good enough for me to fight. Good thing I didn't take my blood regeneration potion; otherwise, I would still be ill right now. I was fairly surprised at how effective the makeshift blowtorch actually worked against the worms. Despite being short-ranged, which is actually a detriment to us, the worms really hated heat for some reason and barely attacked. They would rather run than approach us, and our scouts had lots of fun taking revenge on those worms. And it would appear that the hallucinogen gas doesn't get released when they are seared alive.
Within those three days, there was completely no sight of my father anywhere, even though I was fully expecting him to retaliate now that we found a way to kill the worms for good. Where had he gone? No way is he just sitting back and allowing us to retake the city. Otherwise, why is he even here in the first place? I'm sure he'll be striking back soon, and I'll be ready for it. You will not get this city, not on my watch.
***
Rose was starting to feel better after a couple of days, but she was still not combat-ready. I had started following our scouts and soldiers to see their progress in reclaiming the city, and the smell of seared infected flesh filled the air. Today marks the seventh day since we started the reclamation of the city with no sight of my father. It would seem that the worms are in disarray without their leader, which means victory is at hand. I wished.
What the fuck happened to him? Running away after stabbing me in the guts?! I don't recall hearing you being a coward from all the praises that I've been hearing ever since I was born. There's just no way those hunters were able to put him down since I'm fairly certain they're not as powerful as adventurers. Unless… Rose was wrong about him being my father? But his speed… it definitely matches that of a hero who fought in the Demon War.
Hmm… I must be missing a piece of a puzzle here. Think Zen, what reason would he leave when he was the one who initiated the war? It's close to a week now and yet… wait a minute, where are our reinforcements? I thought the Underwater Dragon King had called for support? Why hadn't any of them arrived yet? Is this due to them having no idea where the secret entrance was? Doubtful, the Underwater Dragon King should have guided them into the city. Is my father keeping them at bay? But how? We're literally under the ocean now and it's just not possible for my father to fight against the Underwater Dragon King in his turf.
As though on cue, a loud explosion erupted from somewhere within the city followed by some metal screeching across the ground. Is he finally back? And it would seem that he entered through one of the main entrances. How did he even survive the depths of the midnight zone?
"Fall back, retreat, and rendezvous back at our base. I'll try to hold him off. If you don't hear from me, do what you need to do," I told the scouts, and they immediately fired a red flare into the sky, signalling all our people to retreat immediately.
I stayed back to ensure that our scouts got a head start without anything chasing after them. I need to minimise our casualties further when we aren't getting any reinforcements. That flare that we fired would have been a dead giveaway of our location, and knowing his speed, he'll have no trouble in chasing after them instantly.
And true enough, something was approaching towards my direction at high speed using the building's rooftops. I quickly summoned both of my blades with a snap and waited, taking a deep breath as I readied myself to meet him. Our gaze met, and we instantly clashed with our weapons, which resulted in a shockwave from the impact of our blades. At least I managed to stop him in his tracks from pursuing any further. We broke our clash and landed on the roof of the opposite building with an empty street between us.
"Wow… can't believe you actually survived that ordeal. Even HE assured me that you'd die from that. Seems like we had severely underestimated the White Angel," he whistled at the beginning.
"Don't you underestimate her. There's a reason why I married her in the first place. Likewise, you shouldn't be underestimating me too," I smirked at him.
He seemed confused by my remark but soon realised that he was stabbed on his thigh by my dagger. You would think he'd be screaming in pain but all he did was place his arms akimbo and sighed loudly.
"Zen—I am your father," he spoke, but I immediately interrupted him with a "Fuck off!".
"What kind of father would stab their own child during their first meet-up? Who the fuck are you anyway? You're not my father," I frowned at him, to which he smiled and tossed back my dagger to me. His wound was dripping with red blood but began healing itself slowly after a short while.
What—in the world is he? Some kind of hybrid between a demon and a human or something? Not to mention, he looks to be around my age when he's supposed to be way older than me. Who the hell is this person in front of me supposed to be?
"So many questions yet I'm not compelled to answer any of them. Ready yourself, boy, I'm coming for you," he flicked his wrist and out came his weapon of choice after he threw aside his current weapon.
"What a disgrace, that blade is a direct copy of me. It's blasphemous with the creation of such an inferior item!" spoke Kirin telepathically.
"Still the same as always, I see, Kirin. It's been a while, buddy. How about you come back to my side? I'm sure you missed me," he smiled warmly as he extended his hand.
Don't you fucking dare, Kirin. If you so much as jump towards him, I'll make Tengu-kaze my permanent weapon from now on. That… thing is not my father.
"His demeanour and likeliness are rather uncanny. But there is something different about him. Do you think I'll swap my host so easily when this imposter is willing to use an inferior version of me? Jack perished as a hero in the war, and every step of this imposter sullies his fame and memories. This shall not stand," growled Kirin.
"Is that how you think of me, Kirin? I'm disappointed, even after everything we've been through together. Might I remind you that it was me who found you back when you were lost in that cave?" he sighed.
Kirin went silent without a peep instantly. Did he hit the mark or something? In the first place, how is he able to listen in on our telepathic conversation? It shouldn't be possible for him to hear what we're talking about. What's going on, Kirin? This must be some sort of trick, right? Just some mind game that he's trying to predict what we're talking about?
"Zen, he's… that's him. There's just no way an imposter would know about that. He's your father," uttered Kirin.
Say something that actually makes sense. If he's really my father, where and what the fuck had he been doing? I'm fairly certain that he was supposed to be buried somewhere, right? No way everyone would just willingly agree that the hero of the Demon War is dead when he's actually not. And he looks around my age, say something that's possible! He fucking stabbed me, ME! His one and only SON!
"I don't know what's going on, but only Jack knows about that secret of ours. The fact that he can listen in on our conversation is due to the fact that he's the original host who is attuned to my frequency. There's no other proper explanation that I can think of," he stuttered.
"Are you two just gonna keep talking or are we gonna fight because I'm getting bored over here," he yawned.
Well, fuck. Seems like he's really my dad after all. And he's… annoying.