A few hours ago before Viel flew inside one of the dark holes,
Diao Mei was tugging at Viel, her face full of worry. Viel, however, was somewhat busy staring at the wall. She was at a lost, there was currently an unknown enemy that has infiltrated their city, but Viel does not seem to mind as he just stared at the wall.
There was one thing that was bothering Diao Mei the most, it was Viel's eyes.
Viel's eyes were currently glowing a weird color, it was as if there were green worms wriggling inside of it.
[Congratulations on completely acclimatizing to this world, Viel. We will now commence with Phase 2 of the Messiah Project, the Tutorial phase]
[Commencing the Tutorial phase….]
[Success! Now proceeding with the Player's first mission: Clearing out my first dungeon!]
[Happy birthday, Viel. And welcome to the New World!]
Viel kept hearing Mr. Voice's notifications. But this was not the reason causing Viel to ignore his surroundings.
[Viel, HP: 100%, EP: 100%, Lv. ?, Job: Superhero Trainee!
Skills: Walk of the Lightning God, Hell's Gate, Dominion, Hammer of Karmic Judgment, Form of the Beast, Hellfang, Light of Eternal Imprisonment, Cage of the Lost Souls…. Chain of Sins, Star Obliterator, Quantum Teleportation…. Thunder God Armor, Eye of Judgment….
….Energy Absorption, ????, ????, ????...]
There were random words floating in front of him. He was currently reading them one by one carefully. Although Viel was not versed in reading the western language, he could still read the words in front of him with ease. There were a group of words that he instantly recognized, his skills.
It was all the skills he has used up until now. However, Viel no longer had any idea as to what the rest were as it only displayed the character "????".
There was another thing that caught Viel's attention, there was a word that was being pointed to by what seemed to be a floating finger on the lower left corner of his vision, "Current Mission".
And as if by instinct, Viel copied the floating finger. He reached out his own finger and pressed the "Current Mission" word. He felt something mildly soft as he did so.
Suddenly, a new batch of words appeared.
[Tutorial Quest: Clearing out my first dungeon]
[Description: There are mysterious enemies that have appeared in the doorstep of my home! I will destroy them with all my might and rescue the people of my world! Onwards to my path as the galactic hero!]
[Objectives: Enter the Dungeon and eliminate all hostile entities until none are left]
Visions appeared on Viel's mind.
He saw a brown-skinned man enter a dark hole that was similar to the ones that have appeared in the skies of Taizhou. He saw the man struggle as he fought his way through countless enemies, not even allowing himself to rest. He watched as the man shouted in victory as he valiantly stabbed the last adversary that was in front of-
Before the man can take the enemy's life, Viel felt a tingling sensation on his cheek as the visions and words that appeared in his mind quickly dissipated.
Infront of him was a blushing Diao Mei, she had her palms raised… and on her chest area, was Viel's finger.
Viel squinted his eyes. His vision completely focused, and then slowly…
He slowly pressed his fingers again, hoping to see a continuation of the vision.
"V..v…viel!!!", Diao Mei once again slapped Viel's cheek as she backed away while covering her… chest area. Her face painted in red, "W..w..why did you t-touch my breasts!?"
Diao Mei hollered, completely forgetting the dire situation they were in. She waited for a response from Viel, but nothing. Viel just kept on wiggling his finger in the air.
"P…pervert!", Diao Mei was furious. Even though Viel touched her chest area, it was as if Viel did not even care about here and continued to flail his fingers in the air like a crazy person.
"Why aren't you guys leaving for the underground shelter yet!?", Violet approached them, her expression dazed. She was previously helping Diao Mei's mother to organize the other students who attended Viel's birthday, guiding them to the underground shelter to hide, but when they reached the shelter, her two friends were nowhere to be found.
She quickly rushed back to the courtyard in concern, only to find a flushed Diao Mei and a retarded Viel.
"I..it's Viel, something is wrong with him!", Diao Mei angrily pointed at Viel, who was still busy waving his fingers in the air.
"There's always something wrong with him! Quick! Just drag him and let's go!", Violet shouted.
Diao Mei recovered from her irritation as she nodded her head. She grabbed Viel by his robes and proceeded to drag him with all of her might.
It took the effort of both Diao Mei and Violet to successfully pull Viel, and finally, after a few minutes, they have arrived in the underground shelter.
The other students were currently sitting on the ground, their expressions filled with worry. Unlike them, their family and friends were still out in the open somewhere in the city. They hoped that the guards were not too late in evacuating the people outside towards safety.
"M…mei! Where in god's name have you been!? You made mother worry!", Diao Mei's mother quickly hugged her as soon as she saw her entering the shelter. She has been so busy making sure that the other children were safe that she did not realize that Diao Mei did not follow them inside.
"W-what's wrong with him?", Diao Mei's mother curiously placed her attention towards Viel.
"D-don't mind that pervert, mother! What is the current situation!?", Diao Mei folded her arms as she gave Viel a pouting glance.
"Your grandfather went outside with the woman from Golden Pavilion, they are making sure that everyone has gotten to safety. If only your mother wasn't injured, I would have gone with them…I feel so useless…", Diao Mei's mother's shoulders dropped down as she sighed.
"Mothe-", Diao Mei was about to comfort her mother when a loud explosion resounded throughout the shelter. The dust that was collected throughout the years on the ceiling fell down, like ashes that were signaling their doom.
The whole room shook as the sound of cannons continued to howl. The other students could only cover their ears, waiting for this tragedy to end.
The expressions of the people in the shelter grew grim. They were not aware of what was happening outside. Diao Mei's mother once again continued to count the students, but it seems that one was missing.
"Hmm.. where's that boy with the scar on his face?", Diao Mei's mother tilted her head as she vaguely remembers the boy that seemed close to Viel. She tried searching for him through the scared kids, but it was to no avail, Xiao Pei was nowhere to be found.
She had nothing to do, so she decided to count the number of students again, maybe she just missed him. But before she could start her search again, the guards barged in inside of the shelter, along with Xing Cai.
And behind them were weary civilians.
"F-father!"
"Whooo.. I was so scared, mommy"
"B-brother!? W..what happened to your arm!?"
The students that were sitting on the ground listless suddenly perked up when they saw the new arrivals.
Some of them were wounded, the worse ones having their limbs cut off. The ones that were able were helping to settle down their wounded companions.
"Mother!", Violet hurriedly approached a black-haired western woman that was tending a person's wound. The woman, however, was so busy that she did not realize someone was calling for her. This did not discourage Violet, instead, she helped her mother in tending the person's wound. Her mother finally noticed her as she nodded.
"What is the situation outside, Miss Xing Cai?", Diao Mei's mother approached Xing Cai, handing her a piece of towel.
Xing Cai could only shake her head as she received the towel. Proceeding to wipe the blood and sweat on her face, "It's not good, Miss Diao Chan. Even though your father acted as fast as possible, it was still not enough to stop the onslaught of the winged beasts. These people… are all we could save."
Xing Cai looked at the pitiful crowd. It was not even a third of the city's population, "I still plan on bringing some guards with me, there might be people still hiding in their houses. I have also sent some of my people outside of the city to request help from the Golden Pavilion. I just hope they are not too la-"
"M-my family!? H-Have you seen them!?", before Xing Cai can finish her words, she felt someone grabbing her hand.
It was Wei Song.
"M-my mother and sister are home… my father should be on duty… D-did you see any of them!?"
Wei Song's desperate tone trembled throughout the underground shelter. Most of the people that just arrived could not help but look away while biting their lips. The situation outside was truly, in a word, devastating. They were lucky that the guards could reach them before they were massacred by the winged beasts.
Xing Cai could not come up with a comforting answer. She could only pat Wei Song on the shoulder and tell him that she will go out and search for them.
"T-then, please let me come with you, please! I can lead you to my house!", Wei Song was truly desperate as tears were starting to fall from his face.
"I am afraid not, you will only get in the way", Xing Cai shook her head.
"Then let me be the one to come with you!", Diao Chan stood full of resolution, unsheathing the daggers that was on her waist.
Xing Cai glanced at her for awhile, before once again shaking her head. "I am afraid you will also get in the way with your broken meridians. It would be best for you to stay here, Miss Diao Chan. Your efforts will be best appreciated here"
"But-"
"Miss Xing Cai is right, mother. Please stay here!", Diao Mei tugged on her mother's arm. Adamant on not allowing her to go out.
Diao Chan could only look at her daughter with regret. If only she did not get injured, maybe the could have saved more people. But alas, thoughts are just thoughts.
Xing Cai called some of the guards to prepare to leave, however, as soon as they were about to leave, she noticed something.
"Wait, where's Viel?"
"Hm? What do you mean? He is right the- Where's the boy!?", Diao Chan was perplexed. She was so sure that Viel was here when she counted the students earlier.
"Ughh…", Xing Cai held her nose bridge in frustration. It seems that her sworn baby brother will truly be a handful from now on. "Men, let's go!"
Xing Cai signaled to the guards. As they one by one exited the underground shelter.
"M-miss Xing Cai, thank you and please be careful!", Diao Mei bowed… And then, the rest of the people in the sheltered followed suit.
Xing Cai could only nod before exiting the underground shelter.
--------
The scenery outside was truly devastating. Xing Cai vaguely remembered the vision she had when she stared into Viel's eyes during the mock battle. She exhaled heavily, as this was not the time to be lost in thought.
The corpses of the people scattered, most of them dismembered in multiple pieces. Obviously hacked by the winged creatures long and sharp claws.
They have been searching for hours, and yet they could no longer find anyone that was still alive. The only things that greeted them were the shriek of the beasts that wish to attack them. Xing Cai was enough to deal with the beasts with ease, but their numbers truly make it hard for her. They were like hawks, loitering around them, waiting an opportunity to attack her group all at once. If only the guards could fly, then this would have been an easy situation. But alas, it was a pipe dream.
"L-look over there! I think someone is alive!"
One of the guards were pointing at the distance. There seemed to be a person standing near the center marketplace.
The group quickly rushed towards the idling individual. It was a woman carrying a small little girl.
"Are you alright? You are safe now, ma'am. We will take you to the shel- what the hell is that!?"
Before one of the guards can finish his sentence, he jumped back in surprise as he saw the mountain that was erected in the center.
It was a pile of dead winged beasts, all of them missing their heads.
"These… are dead beasts!?", one of the guards approached the pile of corpses, "D-did you see who did this!?"
The woman nodded, "I…it was… a little child?", the woman hesitated.
Would the guards actually believe them that a little child did all of this?
And she was right, as the guard wore a stupefied expression on his face as he could not believe the woman's words.
"W-what, do you expect us to beli-", before the guard can finish his words, he was interrupted by the woman in golden robes that was with them, "M-miss Xing Cai?".
"Did this little child have golden hair?"
"Y-yes?"
"Did you see where he went, miss?", Xing Cai continued with her questions.
With this question, the tired woman could only point her fingers up.
Xing Cai was confused at the woman's action at first, but then, it dawned on her. She quickly looked up towards the dark sky that was filled with black holes.
"V—VIIEEEEEL!!!"
A pissed off Xing Cai flew towards the sky. Leaving the woman and her daughter, the guards, utterly confused.
------
Xing Cai successfully passed through one of the black holes.
And the view in front of here could only leave her speechless.
Houses, establishments, and infrastructures that were seemed to be made purely from a shiny material appeared before her. The infrastructures were as high as the mountains, some might even be higher. They were also emitting lights, which left her utterly confused as she could not feel even a hint of qi from it.
She also noticed the people that were running around in panic. Fires scattered throughout the vicinity. Truly, this was not something she has seen before.
And then, she heard a shriek that was very familiar with her as she looked above her. It was a winged beast. She was about to fly up, before an odd sounding noise reverberated in the sky.
There, she saw something following the winged beast. It looked like a steel box, floating in the sky at an unbelievable speed. She saw the steel box as it summoned a spear of light that pierced through the escaping winged beasts.
The beast fell through the sky as its body was torn in half. She was about to curiously approach the flying steel box, before it was overwhelmed by the winged beasts. The flying steel box was forced to drop on the ground, exploding on impact.
Xing Cai's breathing became irregular as her gaze completely roamed her surroundings. She looked left and right, utterly confused. Everything was new to her.
As she was in complete stupor, she did not notice the black clothed people surrounding her, they were brandishing a black steel rod towards her. One of the individuals shouted, a hint of anxiousness can clearly be heard from her voice.
"You! Where did you come from!? Speak or we will be forced to shoot you down!"
"…Eh?"