The Dreads of 5th gen began to walk past the fissure placed on the wall. After holding alone hundreds of Dreads all by herself, Helen felt confident that she could stay fighting for some minutes more.
The first monsters to arrive seemed to get more confident as well, as their leaders were entering there. Those beasts were sure that their arrival would decide that battle.
The first to arrive was a Dread very similar to a panther. It was, indeed, from 5th gen. Its black fur seemed like petroleum; the brightness on its eyes and cracks around the body were more emphatic than the other dogs around.
That Dread had 2.5 meters tall. Its muscles seemed to be made of iron, let alone the claws and teeth. The extreme of its tail seemed sharp like a dagger, and a red liquid was dripping from it.
Helen, just as most of the Ascendants, was aware of how their evolution happened. They could acquire the characteristics of animals of the same specimen throughout the modifications on their bodies. Due to it, what was before just a normal cat was looking like a panter.
She was analyzing the thick lines of "Chaos" energy undulating around him. The woman could feel that the panther represented a threat far beyond those little Dreads of 7th generation.
'I can hold this Dread for sure. But, if I engage in battle with him, I won't be able to focus on the other small fries.' Helen wanted to look back and see if, at least, the parts of that zone that were the closest to the wall's fissure got already evacuated. If so, she could deal with that 5th gen Dread and still go after the other ones.
'If I do it, I will put their lives at stake. However, I can't do what I can't do! Even if I struggle to the max, I won't hold all of them at once. I don't know when the other Ascendants will arrive as well...'
She didn't have time to continue reasoning as her face went pale when two other Dreads appeared. Those were of 5th gen as well.
One of them was a huge Lion. The basic characteristics of Dreads were there, also as a strange fur that was all standing to its end as if he was a scared cat. However, the fur had an aspect more similar to metal. They seemed like spikes. He was three meters tall, and if the physic of the panter made Helen tremble in fear, the lion's was even more threatening.
Nonetheless, what scared her more was what she saw on top of the lion's back. It wasn't a common Dread, and its energy was clearly being suppressed. He was stronger than he seemed to be, but his control on "Chaos" was so refined that he could hide his presence.
"A human Dread..." She frowned hard, biting her lips while seeing an individual that before was a fellow human transformed into something as terrible as a Dread.
The most painful thing for any survivor was to find a creature like that. Their comrades from before were turning into the monsters of the present.
Human Dreads were more intelligent than the others and evolved faster.
The Dreads could evolve eating, fighting, and absorbing "Chaos" from the atmosphere. Because of it, the strength of those monsters was measured by how long they were alive. The first Dreads to be born, the 1st gen, were the strongest ones, because they could survive more battles, eat more, and gather more "Chaos". The ones born in that generation, 7th gen, were the weakest., but they were more numerous as well.
Human Dreads, though, had a different process to evolve. Those kinds of Dreads could be of 6th gen, but having the power of a 4th gen.
In the case of that one...
"3rd gen... It is too strong. No wonder such a horde of powerful Dreads is following him." Helen's hands were trembling inside the gauntlets as she kept looking at that scene in fear.
"I am sorry, everyone. I am so sorry..." She closed her eyes, keeping her tears. "But I will need to do something crazy!" She began to release all her "Willpower" at once. Those golden flames enveloped her body and her eyes lit up again.
She positioned herself in middle-air, raising her guard. With a warcry, her body dashed toward those Dreads at an unbelievable speed.
The impact of their clash was heard throughout all Refuge Sarah. Several shock waves destroyed the houses around, coming consecutively. After some minutes, the silence returned. One of the sides had lost the battle.
...
Dean opened his eyes abruptly when he felt a sharp pain in his calf. He didn't even realize that he had passed out. For him, only some seconds passed after he closed his eyes due to the exhaustion he got after that strange feeling dominated him.
The boy looked around. His eyes widened once he saw that a lot of people were running around for their lives. The houses and establishments got destroyed, their wreckage was spread to the ground.
In the distance, he could see strange animals moving around.
After the Crimson Apocalypse, Dean never had the chance to see a single animal in his life. Not even an ordinary dog or cat. All he knew came from books from the time when the world was normal. He had the basic knowledge about specimens, and from time to time he would discover a different one, but see it in person was a different matter.
However, it changed that day once he saw a bunch of them walking inside the refuge he lived in, destroying everything and hunting anything that dared to cross their way.
Although he had fifteen years old, the boy never saw someone dying in front of him. Not even by accidents. The criminal rate inside the refuge was too low, so he never heard about a murdering before or anything similar.
That's why he got so astonished when seeing a person being eaten some dozens of meters away from him. His jaw dropped immediately. He tried to get up, but he couldn't move his right leg.
He looked back and saw that a wooden beam fell on top of his calf. He wouldn't be able to run away, no matter how much effort he put into it. He just wasn't strong enough to lift that thing.
Every time he tried to move his right leg, a searing pain would be felt, making him moan.
He couldn't escape nor fight back. Dean's only choice was to wait there while watching that slaughter happening in front of him. One by one, he saw people he knew, people he never talked to, friends... all of them being hunt and mostly killed.
Places he went before to eat, to buy something, to have fun, or to pass some time with his family were collapsing here and there. The neighborhood that Dean got used to seeing as a reminder of the hope of humans was disappearing slowly.
Blood was being spat all over the ground. The remains of the Dread's banquet were on display.
Dean's heart got emptier each second that passed. At some point, he couldn't even breathe anymore. His mind shattered. There was no longer will inside that boy's heart. He felt like he was losing everything.
Anyone who looked at Dean's eyes would just see them nebulous and distant. No traces of emotion showed there. After several minutes of watching that terrifying show, he couldn't feel anything anymore. The psychological blow he got was strong enough to get his mind numb. He just wanted that it all ended.
From a street beside him, he saw a giant lion coming. Its imposing figure was walking slowly, seeing all his subordinates doing their job.
For some reason, his eyes glazed at Dean. They were sparkling as if he just found the most delicious meal of all that banquet.
Dean didn't try to run anymore, he just stayed there like a puppet.
The lion got near him, sniffing his body. Then, he opened his mouth widely.
Nonetheless, before he could close it, someone appeared out of nowhere and delivered a blow right on his forehead, making the Dread retreat some steps.
It was that guy with the power of teleportation, Lawrence.
"Look, boy, I will get us to a safe place, ok? Don't worry. I just got to--" While he was finishing the phrase, the lion roared. They weren't expecting the beast to react so fast after such a blow, nor the consequences that the roar would have.
From his wide-open mouth, a blast of black energy came, exploding a spot close to the Ascendant and launching him several meters away from Dean. He dropped his sword beside the boy after that powerful attack.
The lion was eager to get Dean. It was seeing the dense lines of "Chaos" that surrounded the boy. With this much of power, eat Dean would surely make him stronger. That Dread couldn't wait any longer, or else another Dread would come first and get ahead of him.
His glazed bloodshot eyes kept on staring at Dean as he rushed toward him with his mouth opened.
"NO!" The Ascendant, who was laid on the ground after that impact, shouted.
He saw various deaths that day, and he couldn't fulfill his job of saving people just right. Because of it, he couldn't afford any more lives being taken in front of him, particularly of a young boy.
He stretched his hands, gathering "Willpower". If he wanted to save Dean, he would need to be faster than the lion.
Around the area where the boy was lying down, a bright yellowish light began to appear.
The teleporting would last some seconds to happen.
The Dread was getting closer quickly.
Suddenly, that light got at its peak of brightness, then ceased abruptly. With it, part of the collapsed library and all the items fallen close to Dean got teleported. The boy was nowhere to be seen... and so was the Dread.