"Where are we heading?"
"We're going towards a safer area. There were reports about this place being terrorized."
"Terrorized? From a villain?"
"Uhh not quite I'd say. The district was more or like… how should I put this." He scratches the back of his head, "The area has been taken over by an unknown being. From the details I was given, it resembles more of a zombie. In other words a monster. And there's multiple of them as well."
Alan's eyes widened in disbelief. Monster? What is he talking about? There's no such thing as monsters.
"You'll see once we get there."
Alan turns his gaze around the surroundings.
'No… I'm starting to pick up on something strange.'
The atmosphere of the subway station's surroundings felt rather skeptical. The building had scratch marks on them while the floors looked like melted yogurt while cars were smashed in a violent way. Something that any villain won't do at least if they were in a rampage.
Even if a villain were to randomly start destruction in the vicinity, it mostly never happens everyday since the Hero Association always keeps track of the devastation of villains through surveillance cameras throughout the cities. It's well esta-blish that sometimes villains won't attack, but now there's desolation from a monster?
With the help of the heroes, most of them kept the crowd in control to keep them out of the dangerous situation, while some of the heroes were fighting the unidentified being.
"I'm sorry."
The Hero apologizes to Alan out of the blue
"Pardon?"
"Normal civilians like yourself can't handle the danger that relies out in public. We as heroes, it is our duty to not only protect you but as well to help save those that are at risk. However, many times we have failed to do our job, maybe because we just aren't strong enough.
"..."
"Hah, I apologize, I'm I being too personal? I just wanted to share this thought from my head. Sigh, I wonder if I'm even cut to be a hero. I'm Jason."
"...Alan."
Alan stays silent for a sec. What he said was true. People aren't cut to fight danger when fighting villains. We're powerless, making society loathe us with disgust and hatred. Of course there's some people that look out for us, expressing their gratitude with kindness and caring.
Soon the Hero's expression brightened up as he received a message on his phone.
"I just got word that most of them got cleared out. Only the biggest one remains."
Alan only nodded his head. He doesn't need the Hero's explanation to know the current situation.
In fact, he could already sense the presence of a powerful being nearby. The lifeform's energy was surrounded by several life forms as well too. The enhancement of Alan's perception Stat was channeling the amount of energy each one had. Sensations, feelings, health, Alan could sense it all.
'Although I have already adjusted to this. It's still amazing I can sense all this…'
Alan gaze then turns into a specific direction where a powerful strange energy is releasing.
'That thing must be the boss…it's, now I see why it resembles a zombie…'
The creature was soon seen from a distance. In an open space not so far from him, multiple heroes were surrounding a giant zombie with numerous mouths as well as faces sinked in its body. Sharp spikes were joined together on its decaying rotten decomposing body, as its long arms had sharp fingers that looked like it could destroy anything easily with one swing of them.
'It really does resemble a zombie… it's terrifying from what I anticipated. At this rate the heroes will have a hard time dealing with that thing…'
"Hurgh…."
Jason let out a gasp of fear, he stepped back and looked away.
He was no different than Alan whatsoever. Of course Alan fought with monsters for a while, however, that doesn't mean he overcame the fear that remains in him. The difference between fighting a villain is different. They're humans, however the difference is that they cause much destruction in society. Monsters, well, they are the opposite of a human. No human emotions, and no sympathy. Pure evil and destruction is what they are.
Alan tries to remain calm and observes the situation. His body was shaking a bit.
"Come on, push harder!"
"It's absorbing our attack in an instant! How are we supposed to defeat this thing?!"
"Keep attacking, there's no other choice!"
"Its durability is insane! How are we supposed to get close if its body has sharp thorns on it?! Especially with those mouths of his!"
"Nasty…"
"I wanna go home…."
Because they surely thought the cause of destruction was a villain, they were only brought here in haste, but now after taking a look at the circumstances, boy were they wrong. Their attacks don't look effective at all.
BOOM!!
When the devil of a monster slammed its fist downward, one of the heroes, who seemed to be the tank, was present as he was near it and blocked the attack with his arms for a brief second before kneeling down.
"Ngh!"
The Hero spitted out blood.
"D-d*mmit!!"
"We can't let this go on any longer!!"
"I can't stop him with my psychokinesis!! It's as if it has resistance to my abilities! I'm running out of power!!"
"Has the support of higher ranking guilds arrived yet?! We can't let this thing out go roam the city!!"
These Heroes look as if they were about to reach their limit. At this rate, if the monster lossens, the casualties would be unimaginable.
'They're having trouble defeating the boss. I know how it feels when you face someone strong–'
Alan then lifts his sleeves and summons his disfigured sword.
'No… I have to overcome this fear. I'll never be able to grow strong if I keep these fears inside my head. One thing is for certain. I want to become a hero.'
As Alan viewed all the circumstances, his glaze gleamed sharply.
'It's defense is still intact since it hasn't got a scratch. If I could at least maybe peirce it a little then the heroes could finish it off. Just a slight at least.'
He then takes several steps back slowly. Because of its dislocated skin and sharp spikes around its body, Alan needed to get a direct hit. This was a type of monster he hasn't faced before, so it'll be troublesome if Alan can't at least do some damage.
'Besides, I've at least wanted to help someone out when they're in danger. Isn't this what a hero does when someone is in danger?'
Judging from the energy emitting, it seems to be just a bit slightly stronger than the dungeon boss.
If he can land a powerful strike, then it might fall but there's no guarantee.
Clutching on the broken sword, the muscles on his arm began to swell, thick pulsing veins popped on his entire arm as well.
Alan then concentrated his physical strength on his right arm. His veins started to pop out of both arms and neck, making endless trials of them. Alan closes his eyes for a bit.
'Please work…'
Taking a step forward with his left leg, as if throwing either a spear or football, the arm was shot forward quickly making the speed of sound.
***
Jason Kohen POV:
Maaaan why did they have to assign me in the Hero Support Squad. I wanted to join the Hero Attack Squad, not the Support Squad!
I sighed, dejected as I took a seat in my office.
"Well there's no point in crying over spilled milk. A new day means more work to be done. Sigh… why did I even consider myself back then this was going to be an easy thing to do. Curse you past me!"
They can be jinxed for all I care, hell even worse for believing such a fantasy! If I were to go back into the past, I'd slap him 10,000 times or more!
'Should I just retire as a hero?'
"Well isn't that quite rare? Talking to yourself, Jason?"
"Great, give me a break already. Why was I assigned to work with you out of all people?"
"Is that how you respond to your best friend? Oh my~ looks like I teach some sense—"
"Kill me when you're at it. God already please."
They chuckled while smiling and took a seat a few feet away from me.
"You need to relax. I heard that the Hero Association will be making a new operation for those who are injured. That includes both heroes and civilizations. The person in charge of the assuage is someone from the Heroes Agency. Amelia Ava."
Oh, her? I'm starting to hear her name for quite some time.
"But isn't the government against the idea?" I said. "It'll cost a lot of money just to create a single operation as well as the fleelances and those that don't have health insurances."
"That's true, but because of Amelia's second power, her healing power to be assured, the investments would decrease a ton."
"Seriously?"
"Meh, at least that's what I got from the reports." He shrugged.
I shook my head helplessly.
"So, what are today's plans? I hope they don't assign us hard work again. Yesterday's work was a struggle all because of a villain that stole a bank. Oi Brandon you listening?"
My best friend, whose name is Bradon, only laughed as he scrolled through his phone. This d*mn friend of mine. Seriously I missed the old days when there wasn't any villaism or heroism.
'Well they do say even the good things have to come to an end.'
I took out a piece of paper from my desk and started writing my schedule for tomorrow. Supposedly there was a heroes meeting with Mr. Koen. Though because of the work I received on that day, I missed the meeting. If I remember correctly, he said something about creating an academy for teenagers who want to become heroes. Well, at least that was the information given to me.
Even if I were to go to the meeting, there's that one person who's very, who should I describe him. Annoying.
He isn't a bad person, but his attitude just makes me want to shut his mouth. Man, good thing I wasn't there, or else things would've been complicated. However I do wonder how the other heroes handled him during the meeting. Oh well it's not my problem.
Well, enough talk, I've got to finish work today.
***
Swoosh!!
It was fast.
Jason senses something fast. Something flew over his head, heading towards the monster.
"Holy sh*t!! What the hell!?"
BOOM!!
A shiny object flew straight towards the mostard, piercing through its chest easily as it created a loud shockwave.
It shrieked in pain while it tries to discover where it's stomach had gone. It covers its wounded stomach.
The tanker who was baffled by the scene, immediately commands the others to finish the monster.
"Alright! Now's your guys chance! Finish it!!!"
"Full force!! Full force everyone!!"
"Keep watch of the civilians!!"
Shrieekkk!!!
"Come on!! Use everything you got!!"
"That won't be necessary by all means."
Suddenly a bright spark of flame bursts through the battlefield.
"W-what the?! Is that!?"
"It's the guild master of the Alintas, Hestia Enya!"
The heroes cheered in celebration as one of the powerfulest guilds arrived at the scene. However, their cheers didn't last for long.
"What the hell are y'all doing? Get the healers quickly over here! You guys call yourselfs heroes when you can't even do your jobs correctly?! Pathetic." Her voice sounds cold showing no sign of emotion. She then snaps her fingers creating multiple small fireballs, launching itself towards the enemy.
Boom!! Boom!!
She clicks her tongue. "Seems that wasn't enough to kill this bastard."
The smoke quickly dispersed, in which the monster was still intact. All of a sudden, a horrifying scream lets out from the monster's long awful mouth.
SHRIEEEKKK!!!!!
Right away everyone covered their ears except the guild master and a couple of other heroes present.
Hestia was unfazed by the scream.The scream was so loud and so bloodcurdling. So inhuman it filled the air as everybody in the area could have surely heard it even for miles.
Instantly, a cold black misty started to release from the creature around itself. A cold chilling aura then bursts from its body until it fades away in the air.
"Was it calling for backup?" Without a doubt, Hestia believes that it could possibly be calling for backup. However with something that no human has ever encountered before, she couldn't exactly be positive that her theory might have been correct.
"Healers!! We need healers quickly!!!"
Hestia inspects near the vicinity. Around her surroundings, she's seeing people's ears bleeding. They cried in pain while others tried to confront those who simply tried to hold it until they couldn't bear it any longer.
"Seems like this thing used a skill before they were dissolved into thin air." Hestia then sees something shiny in the core of the monster from a distance. She squinted her eyes and started walking towards the gleamy small light.
Once she reaches close towards the creature, she puts her arm out into the missing stomach and pulls out a glowing stone.
"This… is quite fascinating indeed. Such energy it's releasing from a single rock."
"What should we do, guild master? This area has already been contaminated with those who are in pain." Behind Hestia came a feminine voice as she appeared at Hestia's side. "The medics won't be arriving for a while since they're going to bring Amelia Ava over here as well."
Hestia paused for a moment before she spoke solemnly. "Do what you can't to escort the others to safety. I'm going to investigate this species of gemstone I got myself."
"Yes ma'am." With a salute, she left in a flash.
As Hestia's eyes were still locked onto the gemstone, with a soft sigh she opened her thoughts. "Seems like we've got someone's tracks from this spectacular turn of event."
She clinched the stone into her hands and left the scene where the dismember monster resigned. However what it seemed on the other hand was a scarps of a broken sword.
***
"Sigh, home sweet home."
I let out a sigh as I stretched my arms. I hope onto my bed. What a relief. Good thing I'm finished with that! I didn't think one hit was going to defeat it. But man, that thing was creepy as hell. It gave me goosebumps
Although there's still one more thing to do, let's leave it for now. I've still got to go to a couple of meetings when I'm finished.
I groaned as I put my arm covering my face on the bed.
"I don't feel like going."
Whining wasn't going to cut it.
As I was soon about to pack my things for a meeting, my cell phone rang. Lying on the bed, I picked it up from the nightstand and answered it.
"Hello, this is Alan speaking."
– "Finally! You picked up, why were you ignoring my calls?"
This voice, the guild master? I usually don't come in contact with him at the Hero Association. But I wonder what it's about….
"Ah, I'm sorry guild master. I had my phone turned off, but what's going on?"
– "I just received a message from one of the higher guild's about an outburst near the subway station 53."
I flinched a bit, was I discovered? No, it can't be. I stood up.
"Did they assign us to stop the villains by sending more high rank heroes sir? Besides, why couldn't they give this task to someone else other than us."
The guild master's voice suddenly turns solemn.
– "About that… I'm afraid to say that the suspect isn't a villain. Rather, this thing does not possess human structure."
My body soon gave in to the chills.
"...Pardon? I'm not quite following sir."
The guild master took a deep breath before repeating himself.
"That thing was not human."
I stayed silent.
– "From the reports we got from the heroes who were in battle. Their description may not be much, but it could still provide some decent evidence. Judging from their reactions, some of them were rather less appealing I'd say."
"...What happened to the monster?"
– "One of the guilds present at the scene took the monster into the Hero Association. In fact. The guild master of Enlightenment suggested that the corpse should be given to the scientist for an experiment."
"What's this got to do with me though?"
Another short pause took over.
– "Today's paperwork is much more than last time. I was hoping to get the job done if you were here. But after taking a better look at your description when you used to work with Mr. Heartfold. I'm d*mn surprise. You've actually never been given breaks in years."
"....."
– "I'm not going to pursue you working with us. Despite you being employed, it means a lot. I really mean." He says. "You, out of all the workers, are one of the people I respect the most. I won't take you time any longer now. Go out and have some fun, when you feel that you could work, call me back. Enjoy your break Alan Walker."
Just like that, the call ended. Flabbergasted, Alan just stood still. Something just doesn't feel right…
"Although, isn't this a good chance to keep leveling up? Now that I'm not working for a while, shouldn't I already be using this time to get stronger?
Without a doubt, this is a perfect good time to kill.