The ground shook in protest at the impact as large chunks of debris flew into the air from the explosion on the street. It had occurred a few meters in front of the house, where a large crater of charred concrete continued to emanate a foul-smelling smoke.
Nox curled his arms around Roxanne protectively, shielding her from the flying debris. He hissed as a large chunk of cement slammed into his back, harmlessly falling onto the ground. Thankfully, he had invested in his stamina so the impact did not affect him like it would have with his original body.
"Wha-" she croaked, face still wet with tears, wiping at her eyes as she stared past Nox's shoulder.
"Later! We have to get out here first," Nox urged, grabbing the keys to the car. Jamming his feet into his shoes, he shoved another pair in Roxanne's arms. "Let's go!" Just moments before the explosion had hit, a screen popped up in front of him.
[Keen Intuition has been activated.]
They ran to the car, the driveway littered with bits and pieces of loose cement and roof tiles. It should be passable. Nox got into the driver's seat, putting the car in reverse.
Roxanne hopped into the seat next to him, urging him quickly, "Let's go, let's go." For now, she could focus on the more urgent matter.
Tires screeching, Nox pulled out of the driveway and tore down the quickly crumbling neighborhood. People were running out of their homes, some still packing into cars. Their horror stricken faces were blurred as he raced down the road.
"Nox, watch out!" Roxanne yelled. The car swiveled dangerously as he avoided a slab of a roof falling out of nowhere, scraping the side of the car. Behind, he could hear the resounding bang of a car making impact with wreckage.
Their parents' house was located on a quiet street, but once they turned at the intersection connected them with a busy city street. The wide roads were already filled with cars crashing into each other while chunks of wreckage rained from the sky. Miscellaneous pieces of debris and overturned cars blocked a large portion of the road.
Heart pounding, Nox glanced at Roxanne. His sister was staring in front of her with a sort of vacancy in her eyes, taking in the scene but not being fully present. "Rox, later, okay?" He took a hand off the wheel to shake her shoulder. "Not now." There was no time to think about other things right now.
She snapped out of her stupor. "Ah… yeah, you're right." Roxanne slapped her cheeks to wake herself up. "Don't worry about me. Just focus on not getting us crushed. You have terrible driving skills."
As he avoided the obstacles to the best of his ability, his eyes caught onto a vague figure floating above the burning city. Buildings were blazing around them, collapsing in on themselves, a complete picture of rubble and ruin.
Next to him, he could hear Roxanne suck in a sharp breath, "What is that?"
As they got closer, they could make out the figure's distinct features.
It was a woman, floating in the air with long gray hair flowing behind her. From this distance, he could barely make out her sunken green eyes. She was dressed in stylish clothes with a loose beige trench coat billowing around her. A glowing ball of crimson light was in her hand.
Nox watched as she threw it down casually, resulting in another flash of light as the explosion shook throughout the city.
Bwoom!
More buildings exploded in the fire.
"She's doing it on purpose?" Horrified, Roxanne stared at the woman's actions. The car was heating up, likely from the increasing fires nearby.
Nox kept an eye on the woman's actions through the windshield. As if she could sense his stare, she turned in their direction, a sly curve stretching across her lips as a fiery ball of light headed their direction.
"Get out of the car!"
The siblings jumped out just as the vehicle exploded. The force threw Nox onto the ground roughly. It was only because of his enhanced physique that the skin on his palms weren't scraped clean off.
People were screaming hysterically, the volley of explosions now aimed towards many of the fleeing civilians. A particularly blinding flash of light caused Nox's vision to white out for a few seconds.
"Run, hurry! Down the stairs!"
"Kyaa!"
"Leave her, what are you doing!"
Cold sweat ran down Nox's back even as the flames burned higher. Stairs- "Roxanne, head towards the subway station!" he yelled at her, ducking as a store sign flew in his direction. The underground subway shouldn't collapse easily. The entrance was a good few meters ahead of them, the sign long blown away in the chaos.
Roxanne had been able to put on her shoes during the bumpy ride. They ran, pushing past the panicking crowd forcefully. Most of the people were heading in the same direction. Nox used his strength to push people out of his way to avoid being trampled. Being tall was useful at times like these, his height and strength making it easier to pave a way through the condensing crowd.
"Over here!" A female voice pierced through the commotion, sharp with command. Next to her, two tall men were motioning with their hands in the air, trying to direct the people with little success. "There's shelter over here- don't push! Hey!"
Nox stumbled in his step, staring at them in disbelief. "Fay?!" The familiar red hair was tied up in a ponytail, her thin nose smudged with dust.
Her amber eyes widened as she caught sight of him. "Nox?" She slapped one of the guys next to her. "Chang Feng, look at who it is!"
The burly man turned to look in their direction, nodding a greeting as he helped a small child regain their footing. People continued to rush down, scrambling past each other to make it to shelter.
"Out of my way!"
"Huerk- stop shoving me!"
Looking around the commotion, Nox pulled Roxanne towards his acquaintances as their surroundings grew more frantic- it was a type of desperation you could only see when people were trying to survive, even at the cost of others. He watched as a teenager shouldered his way through, uncaring of the people he pushed down and ignoring the alarmed cries of other people.
"Nox, you know them?" Roxanne's expression was calm again.
Nox did a double take. His sister's expression was unnaturally calm, even for her. He decided to address that problem later. "They were in my first trial," he explained, taking in Fay and Chang Feng's clothes.
They were dressed in sharp black suits, with a white armband pinned onto their left sleeve. The difference in appearance from their first meeting was a bit disconcerting. They were rather secretive of their identities in the first trial. Although, if they could stay calm right now then they clearly had an inkling as to what was going on.
Fay greeted him when he approached. "Yo, didn't expect to see you here." She shoved an impatient man backwards while she spoke, giving time to let a family of three hurry down to the subway station. "We're a bit far from our first meeting place."
Nox nodded in agreement. "It's been a while," he gave a pointed glance at her armband. "I guess you managed to finish your report?"
Fay laughed, giving him a half apologetic smile. "Orders are orders, I'm afraid. I almost hope the end of the world will mean the end of paperwork."
Crrrek.
Clang.
A notable screech cut their conversation short. Almost all of the people nearby had been evacuated into the subway station. Chang Feng exchanged a few words with his colleague before coming to join them. "Nox," he greeted.
"How's your arm?" Nox asked, noting the absence of an arm cast.
Chang Feng moved his arm up and down in demonstration. "Someone in our unit awakened a healing ability. I got lucky."
Fay extended a hand to Roxanne, formally introducing herself. "I'm Fay Hynes, team leader of an independent group in charge of investigating the strange occurrences lately." She glanced around at the wreckage, an awkward smile hanging on her lips. "Well, it looks like that part of my job might not be necessary soon."
Roxanne shook her hand. "Roxanne. I'm Nox's sister."
Nox stood by the entrance with Chang Feng, tilting his head to look at the tall man. "Independent group?"
Chang Feng explained, "We have been collecting information relating to the trials for about three months now. We have a system worked out, but with this," he pointed in front of him, presumably where his screen was. "It'll make things easier to categorize."
[Keen Intuition has been activated.]
Before anyone could react, Nox dashed forward to ward off the attack, forming a red shield around the group as the explosion made a direct impact.
The shield shook with force, shattering apart like glass shards. It quickly gathered itself as Nox willed it to reform. The blast had been too strong- his ability couldn't handle the impact. He could feel it pout in its mind, licking its wounds. Even after absorbing the blood from Lilith's Roses, it still wasn't strong enough.
"Hurry down!" he yelled, pushing Roxanne forward.
She ran down the stairs, before stopping in her tracks and looking back at him. "What about you?"
Throwing some skill points to his stats, Nox created another smaller shield, condensing his ability.
Fay looked up at the floating woman, eyebrows creasing in a serious line. "I can too-"
Exasperated, Nox looked to Chang Feng for help. The quiet man hesitated, before nodding in agreement.
Nox watched with a sense of deja-vu as the brown haired man scooped up the two and raced down the stairs. He wondered if Chang Feng had high base stats in strength.
"Wh- Chang Feng, you bastard!"
It was a tactical retreat. Roxanne's tawny eyes stayed pinned on him even as she was carried out of sight, frustration visible on her expression.
Not far behind, Nox ran after them, keeping his shield close to his body. Just as he was halfway down the stairs, he was thrown back up by an invisible force, tumbling back onto the street. His ability reshaped itself, protecting him from most of the impact.
***
At the bottom of the stairs, Roxanne grew anxious when her brother didn't appear through the green light barrier right after her. A stable hand rested on her shoulder as Fay looked up grimly.
A shudder forced its way down Roxanne's spine as an unknown feeling of despair welled up inside her. She tried to force her way back up, but the barrier stopped anyone from leaving the subway station. Helpless, she pressed a hand against the static green light, wishing she could see beyond it. Anything to confirm-
"Are you Roxanne?" A calm, soothing voice came up from behind her.
She turned around, eyes widening in surprise and recognition.
***
[Time has run out.]
The people still running in the streets heard this message, freezing in their tracks. [The safety zones have closed. The trials shall now commence.] With a flash, the street was empty once more, save for the burning wreckage and a cold faced woman watching the disappearances from above.
There was no trace of human life left on the surface of the city.