Athena in Tower Defense Game! [LitRPG]

Chapter 126: The Rat Plague

The horse didn't stop, galloping straight into the church. Yuris remained mounted, her usual composed demeanor shattered by panic. Yet, the battle before her eyes was far from over.

Athena, without even glancing at Yuris, quickened her movements. Unfortunately, despite its lack of strength, the monster before her was unnervingly agile, dodging with unnatural ease. Killing it would take far more effort than she had hoped.

The creature, upon seeing Yuris return, grinned as if it had anticipated this. At that moment, Athena felt a dangerous presence rising from beneath the ground. Without hesitation, she pulled back, abandoning the black axe that had nearly struck the monster.

In an instant, the ground where she had stood collapsed. The creature managed a mocking smile before it, too, was swallowed by the sudden sinkhole.

Athena was about to give chase, but Yuris dismounted swiftly, grabbing her arm. Yuris, usually calm and steady, had returned alone without bringing reinforcements, which could only mean something dire had happened in the capital.

The urgency of the situation left no room for delay. Athena remounted, extending a hand to Yuris. "We’ll talk as we ride," she said, her voice steady as if the fierce battle moments ago had never occurred.

Without hesitation, Yuris grasped her hand and agilely leaped onto the horse. With a sharp crack of the whip, the steed shot off like an arrow, galloping towards the capital.

The sound of hooves echoed across the deserted road, kicking up a cloud of dust. Yuris, clinging to the horse's back, quickly reported the situation to Athena.

"A rat plague has erupted in the capital. Rats, five or six times the normal size, are pouring out of the sewers."

"They're attacking people and livestock indiscriminately. Our forces and the city guard are deployed, but we can’t contain it."

A rat plague? How could something like this erupt so suddenly, especially in such a densely populated city? It had to be connected to the creature’s allies, who had just rescued it.

Despite being gravely injured, the creature had refused to activate a teleportation array, allowing Athena to sense the faintest ripple of its power.

As they reached the city gates, the gravity of the situation became clear. Even the guards stationed there had been reassigned to maintain order within the city.

Inside the walls, the scene was hellish. Giant rats continuously emerged from the sewers, attacking and biting anyone in sight.

Panic-stricken citizens fled in all directions, their screams and cries of agony filling the air, punctuated by the sickening sound of gnawing.

The rats showed no fear of humans. They even attempted to attack Athena’s horse when they saw her. However, her steed, well-trained for such dangers, easily evaded them as it charged towards the city center.

The city center housed wealthy merchants, minor nobles, and intellectuals, all of whom were under priority protection.

Athena finally spotted the agents of the Eagle Claw Agency, clad in their signature black coats, hunting the oversized rats. But their efforts were futile; the rats were too numerous and too large to be easily killed. Even if their numbers were increased tenfold, it wouldn’t be enough.

Athena might have been able to take on a few monsters, even several at once, but against a swarm this vast, she was powerless.

These rats couldn’t have been bred overnight. Even if they had been confined to the sewers, feeding them would have been a massive undertaking. The empire regularly inspected the sewers, yet no one had noticed any changes. This clearly pointed to an internal issue.

Athena also couldn’t believe that the capital had no means or weapons to deal with such a situation, yet nothing had been deployed.

[ Mission Selection! ]

Levels 5–10

The sudden outbreak of rats has disrupted the empire’s peace, causing widespread chaos and disorder.

Assist the Monsters
Defeat the Monsters

[Choose Your Path!]

[You Have Chosen to Defeat the Monsters!]

Athena hadn’t expected this at all. It was her first time encountering a mission of this type. Her previous tasks had been aligned with the light, but this one was clearly neutral.

As the Director of the Eagle Claw Agency, siding against the empire would put her in an extremely unfavorable position.

Had she not infiltrated the empire using a World Stone disguise, she might have chosen to assist the monsters. Assisting only required minimal help, qualifying as a low-level, Level 5 task.

But as she accepted the mission, the situation flipped entirely.

[Defeat the Rat Monsters, Level 10!]

The mission had escalated to the highest difficulty level!

After leaving Yuris behind, Athena spurred her horse towards the royal palace.

Ilinaya and her group were also involved in the operation. However, to Athena’s fury, they had been assigned to the surface, tasked with delaying the Eagle Claw Agency and the city guard.

Meanwhile, another group was underground, controlling the rats. She had clearly been used as cannon fodder.

"Mew," a dirty white Persian cat emerged from the sewers, far from its usual graceful appearance. It didn’t even bother to groom itself, as the surrounding rats, initially intent on attacking, suddenly lost sight of it as it vanished.

The cat had been busy all day, exploring the palace for suspicious areas and items it could carry away. It had uncovered several hidden passages, but most of the valuable items were either out of reach or heavily protected.

If it touched anything, waves of energy would ripple through the air, revealing its presence.

In one hidden passage, the cat had overheard a conversation. Startled, it accidentally triggered a mechanism and fled in panic, only to tumble down a pit and into the sewers, eventually reaching the city center.

Now, Mikmik was desperate to find Athena. During its fall, it had discovered a massive rat nest, the Rat King at its core. Even more shocking, a gravely injured, winged monster was there—and so was the emperor!