“The mana potions are running out! We can’t keep up!!”
With each passing second, the flood was only growing stronger, and the mercenaries struggled to even keep using their abilities due to the immense consumption of mana. The storage was completely emptied of all the potions and the situation wasn’t anywhere near stable.
“Close the gates and build the walls around them!” One mercenary yelled at the top of his lungs as he found himself in water that reached his waist. Its temperature was enough to freeze his legs to death.
“No! The water level will quickly increase!”
“Dammit! Why is this happening now?! What the hell are those bastards doing on the second floor?!”
“Cold! Cold!!”
The chaos Isla witnessed in those several seconds was so comically dark that she didn’t even know how to react. The mercenaries seemed completely hopeless as they fought the water current as if their lives depended on it.
‘Where is that water coming from? This temperature should’ve made it freeze in a few minutes at most.’ Isla mused as she stepped to the side, avoiding the cold water.
“Don’t panic, folks!!”
At that moment, she heard a loud voice penetrating through the area. Looking back, she saw a rather small man approaching the site. However, his presence was perhaps the most eye-catching out of everyone there. She didn’t even need to ask to know who was the one in charge there.
“Keep holding the flood as much as possible; help is coming soon. You there, get me my staff!”
In a matter of seconds, the man quickly took the lead and started ordering his workers on what to do. Everyone listened to his orders without any questioning. Meanwhile, Isla watched the scene curiously.
‘I assume that’s the chief Arthur told me about.’ She squinted her eyes. She didn’t expect someone like him would have this strong of a presence, but it also made sense why he was the chief in charge on the first floor. Not everyone can handle the pressure that comes with working in such an environment with immensely risky situations happening every single day.
At that moment, Isla decided to make her move. Seeing that the chief was alone, she approached him quietly.
“Hey there, are you the chief in charge of the settlement?”
“Hm?” The man turned around when he heard the voice, and he was stunned for a second when he saw the jaw-dropping beauty standing in front of him. His heart skipped a beat, but he quickly shook that thought to the best of his ability.
“Who are you, lady?”
“… I’m one of the Gifted Players with the permission to enter the Divine Tower.”
“Oh? Wait! You’re a gifted one?” The man blurted out with a shocked expression. “My deepest apologies, ma’am! I didn’t know you were going to visit today!” He bowed with respect.
“It’s fine, I’m not here for that. What is happening here exactly?”
“It’s… There is a monthly flood that happens to the first floor due to the nature of the second floor. When the gates that lead to the second floor open, all that water descends to our area. But, it happened way earlier than we expected and we couldn’t prepare ourselves.”
“… A flood from the second floor?” Isla frowned. Her eyes instinctively looked up, only to see a white sky above her head and nothing else. ‘What kind of place is the second floor? This is odd.’
“And how long will this flood continue for?” She asked.
“I don’t know… I haven’t seen a flood this strong in years… It could be a few hours or a few days…”
‘A few days?’ Isla frowned. ‘Wait…’ At that moment, Isla realized something, and her heart sunk in. Immediately, she looked at the chief and asked.
“Can I ask you about the other Gifted One who arrived before me at the tower?”
“… Hm? You mean Sir Arthur?”
“Yeah, that one. Do you know where he is now?”
“So you do know him. Well, I haven’t met him in a while. But, my secretary told me that he had come to talk to me earlier in the day. But, I wasn’t there and so he apparently left… She told me that he headed up north.”
“North…” Isla’s eyes widened slightly as she looked ahead of her. The north was exactly where the flood was coming from.
The girl felt her heart race as she realized that her hunch was right on the spot. A dark feeling filled her mind and she could barely keep her composure.
‘Arthur… Could it be?’ She frowned. ‘No, I need to just find him.’
Isla shook her head and tried to focus on her current task. If Arthur headed north, then she simply had to find him there. He still didn’t die, which was a good indication. But, to do that… She to first find a path through this flood.
“…” Slowly, the image cleared in Isla’s head. She knew what she had to do.
“Chief… I’m going to help.” The girl said as she started rolling her sleeves.
“What? Ma’am, please don’t exhaust yourself! We will handle this! It’s our problem!”
“I need to leave the settlement soon. I can’t wait for you till you deal with this flood.” She said.
“…” Looking into her eyes, the chief flinched as he felt a shudder run down his spine. That look was more than enough to make him go completely silent. The sheer presence of the person standing in front of him was crushing, to say the least.
Then, without saying anything else, Isla stepped forward, leaving the gates and approaching the front line of defense.
The mercenaries were running around her, desperately trying to do anything to stop the flood while the ice walls continuously cracked, leaking water inside.
“Huh?”
“What?”
That was when Isla appeared, passing through the gaps in the ice to face the flood head-on. The other people around were alarmed by it.
“Lady? What the hell are you doing?”
“Get back in here!”
“Who are you?!”
Ignoring the screaming noises, Isla focused on her mana. Channeling it through her body, she felt the energy condensate in the palm of her hand. An idea formed in her head about what she wanted to do exactly.
‘This will be hard…’ She frowned. ‘I need to use all my mana to pull it off.’
Isla’s abilities were extremely powerful and versatile. But, at the same time, the mana consumption was very high, especially if she was dealing with something extremely taxing. Still, she didn’t hesitate as she activated her strongest ability… Gravity Manipulation.
Her hands were slowly coated with a purple halo as she slowly lifted them up. She kept her breathing rhythm stable while focusing on building up the momentum.
“Their approach is very wrong from the start. To stop this flood, they shouldn’t try to block it.” She muttered as she moved her hands in a gentle, beautiful manner. The mercenaries behind her watched the scene with total awe, forgetting about the flood completely. A strong charm has been cast on their eyes.
“Instead… You have to diverge it.” Saying that, Isla moved her arms wide, separating them from one another.
*Swish*
Immediately, something changed.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!