Chapter 2 - The End of the First Act

„…and it seems that the hurricane will not stop for a while. Scientists are baffled about this never before seen event. Until changes arrive its advised to citizen in the affected areas to stay home if possible…"

„still watching the news. for the last week all they talked about are these hurricanes, doesn't that get boring at some point"

a slender man stepped in the room stepped into the room looking as if he just woken up with his long red brown hair being completely messy. after saying those words he headed towards the open door on the left with the goal of making him some breakfast.

„don't you care at all? it must be horrible to live where those storm are and apparently more have appeared all around the globe. the entire internet is filled with people talking about it"

the girl turned around on the sofa looking with her red and blue eyes right right at him in the kitchen as expecting some apology

„it's not like complaining helps anybody and for once no one can argue if you could do something a bout it as lat i checked i can't beat a hurricane in a fistfight"

he came back out of the kitchen with a bowl of some cut fruits taking a seat next to her

„common Lüziel don't be tho apathetic when the the end of the world is happening"

„end of the world? you're exaggerating again Rina, how long could this realistically keep on going. surely it will end soon and people forget about it in a few years."

said lüziel while at the same time trying to eat an apple but rina didn't really listen to him as something else had grabbed her attention while looking through the window. outside the sky was starting to get darker and clouds started to move faster. shortly after the catastrophe sirens started to play and with that rina turned around to lüziel and tried to overtone the sirens.

„you see that now you can't ignore it anymore. these hurricanes while keep going until they finally rid the earth of humans"

„instead of spinning some fantasy novels YOU could take this now a bit serious and not try to get sucked up by this."

but lüzel barely could finish his sentence as suddenly everything went silent and the sky now turned bright red. before both rina and lüziel an orange window popped up on it in a multitude of languages appeared a message:

Welcome gladiators to this times colosseum fights!

You are the chosen ones who will fight for power, glory and riches to the death.

You will now be spilt in groups depending on where you are at this moment. Find your group members and you can choose to either strengthen your party with a new member or kill them to earn their belonging.

And now hurry and ready ourself for the upcoming events this times scenario will be SURVIVAL

1:00:00

„What the hell is this! rina you also see this right?"

with concerned looks lüziel looked towards rina, the window following his gaze still blocking the view. rina on the other hand was in a weird state of swapping between excitement and panic walking back and forth with ever changing expressions

„first of all we should do what it says. we don't know whats going on but i have a bad feeling about this. one hour is barely enough to grab some food clothe and something to defend yourself"

lüziel then grabbed rina looking directly in her eyes

„i promised that day whatever happens to not leave you alone and i'm not gonna break my promise in such a situation to calm down and get a hold of yourself."

„b-btu it said fighting to the death and killing other people. this really is the end of the world."

with that lüziel hit rina on the cheek who responded appropriately by taking a step back and screamed

„auuh, what was that for, are you after my loot"

„if you can make jokes that means you're not that affected by this this after all so go and get whatever stuff you could need for ‚survival'. we already waisted enough time. by the way loot? what do you think this is an rpg."

after which both started to laugh for a bit and went to their rooms

„you think we need fire?"

„dunno but put it in anyways. have you seen our first aid kit?"

„porbs in the bath somewhere"

after a while a loud voice broke the unnatural silence that had become reality for the last hour

„i hope you are all prepared as the first scenario now ends and the second one starts. it may be the shortest of the 4 scenarios but it's no time to slack of. you will now all be transported to the rest of your group and everything that is on your body will be transported with you, so grab on to your starter kit be ready for the second scenario"

„i hope we didn't forget anything, not like we could change this now"

„don't ruin my mood right at the start of hour great adventure. what will it be, dragons and princesses, fend of hordes of zombies or maybe a survival island"

rina who now lost all the initial fear she had now jumped around with sparkling eyes listing every movie trope she could think of

„you always where.. ähm.. special i'll guess, but no matter how excited you are it still said ‚fighting till death' so you shouldn't take this so light heartedly. i can only protect you so much if you're running all over the place"

rina tried to give a response to this but all lüziel saw was her opening her mouth and than vanishing in green light.

„what is going on here, go away all of you"

„ühää, mami, mami, ühää"

„I'M RIGHT HERE, MAMI IS OVER HERE!"

…

on a big street suddenly appeared all kinds of different people divided into mainly families that tried to find each other, people panicking and those who brought with them one or multiple full bags. the cries of multiple children where hearable all over the place while other people tried to search for a save spot away of the crowd and again other where waiting for whats about to happen mostly watching the chaos some in delight while other showed more concern or helped the lost children. lüziel appeared in the middle of this scene while rina wasn't far away from him.

„this is pure madness. i expected this to some degree but this was even beyond my expectations. RINA GET OVER HERE!"

„you can be so rude you know that, commanding me like i'm your servant"

„well it did work but more importantly look out there. most people probably didn't even notice in this chaos but that definitely no animal i know of. ahrg stay over here don't run at the monster."

„ look, look this has snail eyes on 2 sides, it's like 2 snails fused together. why are they so still i want them see moving"

„i sure as hell don't and now get away there i don't want to sit in the mouth of…"

before he could end his sentence the voice from before the teleport was hearable again but this time coming from a small fury being having 2 hors growing out of the head curled downwards like a goat in a black business suit standing on what seemed to be a floating glass disc.

„what are you all going on about, we clearly gave you time to prepare so i want now some silence and everybody to listen to my explanation of this sub acts goal"

but even after this most people kept running around chaotically with only the prepared ones starting to look up where the voice came from

„IF YOU DON'T LISTEN TO ME NOW AND SHUT UP, THEN I WILL HAVE TO COME DOWN AND KILL EVERY SINGLE NOISI ONE!"

in an eerie voice seeming to come straight out of the head these words appeared in everyones mind making most people either hold their ears or look up. the children who where agin reconnected with their families where now calmed down by said families leaving the entire area mostly silent and after a short while most looked now upwards to the being on the platform.

„was this really so hard because if it was then you should off taken me on on my offer to kill you as the animals out there will not kill you as merciful as i would. but with everybody's attention now gathered i can start my explanations. this sub act will be survival, all you have to do is survive for a day and you can go on to the next event. we have removed all forms of weapons or food that weren't brought here by you so i hope you came prepared but if you really want to you can use the shop to buy you something you need for appropriate payment of cause. the real objective of this act is of cause not to run away for an entire day or this would be boring so you will gain tallon for defeating animals or other gladiators with special rewards at the end for those who earn achievements. i will now update everybody's mission book for all the needed information so that you can get used to using it even if its not that needed in these early events."

before everybody suddenly a purple window appeared with

new mission obtained!

do you want to check your mission list?

Yes No

New Mission: The First day

The First Day

Objective: Survival

Reward: 30 tallon for clear

5 tallon per killed Kecsnehc

10 tallon per killed gladiator

1 tallon per killed cahbes

Achievements: 0/5 cleared

Description: Survive until the next day by running and hiding from or fighting the new animals now living in the city. You can earn extra points by killing other living beings or search for achievements.

Time: 24:00:00

„so killing 3 other persons is as much worth as surviving you evil bastard. you want us to kill each other until only one is left or what?"

an older man stepped forward pointing with his walking stick at the being

„oh no that would be horrible. if you would reduce to only one than that would also destroy my chances to win my bet. only kill those who aren't fit to survive and if you could try to leave at least 100 alive that would be great. if thats cleared any other questions before we start and my name by the way is not bastard but Yhvlton"

with that yhvlton search around in the crowd for other people who seem like they want to say something ignoring the swear words and complaints the old man gave after hearing his answer

„you said something about a shop but i doubt that you meant the shops around here"

„GRRREAT QUESTION! i totally forgot to tell you but saying menu you can open this screen wit which you can go to whatever part of the system you want to go to or you could also name the sub menu you want to go to to get there directly. for the second act most menus are disabled but you still have access to the item shop and mission catalog."

„what would stop us to just shoot you right here and end this before it started"

suddenly a lot of motion came up in one region of the mass of people where every body distanced themself as much as possible from the person who said that while that person pointed with a gun at yhvlton

„i would strongly discourage you to do this as you seem to bee someone who could get through the first mission"

and with that the man shoot his gun but instead of any thing happening at first the bulled just stood still halfway on its path followed by it dropping to the ground. for the person who shoot the gun his head suddenly and cleanly popped of his shoulders and landed beside his body who promptly followed and dropped to the ground

„i told you not to do this. this is such a shame but it can't be helped those who break the rules have to be punished.

the entire crowd now again started to panic like they did when first coming here bu not for long as yhvlton followed his sentence up with another call for silence which people now terrified for their own lives followed without delay.

„this should now be everything you need to know so be strong, be fast but most importantly be lucky. the event starts now"

with the end of the sentence yhvlton vanished into thin air while the snail like creatures suddenly started to move ate in a first barrage 10 people who where standing too close to the before statue like creatures.

„we definitely can't even harm those things so let us make a run for it to the backstreets where they can't follow us."

„by monster snails, we didn't knew us very well but i have to leave now"

with rina waving her hand towards the snails both ran towards a close by backstreet barely wide enough to fit two people. while looking back lüziel saw some people horribly failing trying to fight fight the snails but most people also ran away into nearby houses or down the street somewhere else.

„so why didn't we also go into a house, wouldn't that be way safer than this?"

„call it women's intuition but i have the feeling that those snails are for the outside probably being, missions oh it really worked, the Kecsnehc while cahbes are inside buildings. they score way less so i would assume that they are smaller but probably live in masses making them possibly even worse than some slow snail"

while saying this a purple window appeared before lüziel showing the mission they just got

„i thought you where a guy so wheres that women's intuition coming from?"

lüziel didn't even get a chance to answer as suddenly damp screams filled the air wit people running outside the building they hid right into the snails waiting outside to catch their prey.

„this is horrible, we are supposed to survive 24 hours of this? thats totally impossible we either get eaten whole or gnawed to death"

rina now no longer being like an exited kid stopped and looked horrified at the scene unfolding before her. she could even look at it for a full minute until a kecsnehc rammed against the walls of the backstreets entrance trying to squees in but after a short while giving up and going away but not before rina could let out a frightened scream.

„so it finally dawned on you what kind of situation we are in. you really only have extremes. either you are overly exited or terrified to the bones. at least it seems like we will not see another visiter for now. those kecnsehc have moved away following the other people it seems."

lüziel slowly went to the exit of the backstreet looking cautiously for any left over kecsnehc but couldn't find any and relaxed a bit. afterwords he went back to rina who was a puddle of misery on the ground right now gripping firmly to her bag.

„it's not gonna kill you to become a bit more unreasonably again. i liked that way more than miss misery so look at the bright side of this, your end of the world actually came and you lived long enough to get through the beginning chaos to get a chance to see another day"

„but what can we do now, wait until they eat us or hope that someone else comes to kill us for points instead?"

suddenly there where a lot o clicking noises hearable from the walls followed by a cahbes falling out of a window in the second floor of the building the two where standing next to. the beetle itself looked similar to a hercules beetle but 4 times the size and with 3 instead of 2 horns all with sharp spikes on them pointing inwards.

„aahhh, monster beetle"

rina sprung up and away while pointing on the cahbes, but she didn't even need to point on it as lüziel was already staring at already

„WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? didn't think this would help much as actual weapon but if not now when would i use it."

lüziel pulled out a blunt sword out of his sheet that he bough a long time ago because he though it looked cool and the second he unshieved it a blue window popped up above it

Fake sword

rarity: 2 silver stars

durability: low

weapon class: sword

description: an exhibition sword that was never made for combat. it might not be sharp but it still can do some major dame to unprotected foes though it will not last long as the metal does not have high quality.

„a weapon description, well doesn't matter now i just hope that this can do something productive. unprotected foes eh, this doesn't look unprotected to me so should probably focus on the face but that will be hard with those giant horns in front of it. RINA YOU GOTTA FOCUS! NOW! make that beetle draw you attention so that i can attack it from the side"

„drawing attention thats the last thing i want to do with that thing. GO AWAY MONSTER BEETLE!"

the cahbes took a short look at lüziel now holding the sword at it, then turned around to rina moving her direction while at the same time moving its horns like a scissor trying to ‚bite' with the teeth on its horns into rinas leg who despite her shock moved quite elegant around the cahbes attacks.

„so it chooses a foe without weapon over one with i hope that will stay when i try to attack it"

lüziel for a short while watched rinas dance until finally staring to swing the sword trying not to hit the walls or ground while also hitting below the horns and the moment the sword impacted the face the cahbes furiously moved its horns against each other creating a high pitched sound, then turned around and tried to attack lüziel. thanks to its now smashed eyes the moment's became way less accurate making it ram horns first into the wall. lüziel, who now got the perfect opportunity to attack an immobile target, rammed his sword right through the cahbes head from one side to the other. for a short while the cahbes wriggled around in pain but finally stopped moving followed by a purple window popping up in front of lüziel and rina

achievement unlocked: first blood

congratulations you are within the first 10 people to kill another living being. you are one who does not lack the ability to act first in times of needs and your achievements have been noticed by the grintß. keep working hard in the future and you may get some help when you really need it.

reward: 101 tallon

bonus reward: as one of the first to beat a cahbes you get a free update

of your monsternomicon over species cahbes

achievement unlocked: first blood

you may not be the one who fought but your actions in this battle helped its conclusion. you will not obtain achievement rewards but your actions still where noticed. show that you also have the potential to do what it takes.

reward: 1 tallon

the two of them first seemed happy as this message confirmed that they had won but that happiness was not for long as now, from the previously made noise of the cahbes attracted, other cahbes where furiously trying to get out of the building.

„HOW MANY MORE ARE THERE! it took us this much to beat a singular one, we can't beat a fricking horde of them"

lüziel pulled out a flashlight out of his bag shining it through the window immediately regretting his decision as he saw at least 10 more but instead of an expected sudden assault from the cahbes who where close to the window now they instead suddenly stopped made some noises with their horns and ran away out of the flashlight beam. rina who now forgot all of her fear grabbed the flashlight out of lüziels hand swinging the beam around making the cahbes run wildly around trying to avoid the light.

„take that you monster bugs! fear my TECHNOLOGY MUHAHAHA. TECHNOLOGYBEAM, TECHNOLOGYBEAM, TECHNOLOGYBEAM"

while rina was doing her thing lüziel pulled out the achievement menu looking at his bonus reward then decided to say monsternomicon with which a greyed out menu appeared with the message monsternomicon is not available until the third act.

„so this reward is totally useless"

with that an orange box popped up before lüziel

automated message from yhvlton

it seems that you have found your way to the monsternomicon. as this is a reward you earned you i will grant you permission to view exactly the cahbes entry. all other entries will still be hidden if not unlocked as another reward.

the grey menu now turned white and among many question marks one line had written cahbes. it was not hard to figure out that all the question marks are other animals and that you would need to press on cahbes to get the information.

Race: Cahbes

Species: death bug

Rating: harmless

habitat: dark forests and green caves

dislikes: bright sources of light

eats: dead animals or plants

description: despite their looks and size cahbes are a docile race that use their horns mostly cut down larger chunks of food. they have a hard shell in the dark but under strong light a chemical reaction makes their shell bridle so they try to avoid standing for long times in light sources. normally living alone or in groups of no more than 3 they can become aggressive under overpopulation attacking other animals or living trees to gain the needed amount of food. if tamed they are extremely helpful in agriculture as they drive away a lot of pest of their food while also having extremely potent fertilizer as dung if they live healthy.

„so in other words they are so aggressive because there are like 7 times as much in a singular building as there should be in their entire territory. thats cruel on multiple levels. at least we know their weakness so we can easily fend them off if need be."

lüziel grabbed rina who was still playing catch with the cahbes taking the flashlight out of her hand.

„we shouldn't waste this ‚weapon' if it's this effective. who knows how long the batteries will last. i sure don't know when the last time was where we put in new ones and we have to survive an entire day and we at least now know a way to beat one on these animals so that should be our backup if needs be"

rina looking disappointed turned towards lüziel asking

„and what now? with that flashlight we can't just stay here or those will come out again"

she pointed at the window then quickly taking her hand back as if the cahbes would jump out and grab it

„it' easy we're searching other people. they have to be somewhere and we are better of if not limited to just the two of us."

„great idea and what if they want our stuff. you may have that sword but we already saw someone with a gun and if history taught us one thing then that gun beats sword. those beetles may be scary but at least the goy away if we shine on them."

„…wow, that was actually intelligent of you. i thought you where a bit of a dunce"

„we lived under the same roof since i was 8 for now 10 years and you only NOW figure out that i'm smart"

„it's not like you tried to prove me wrong all those years. anyways we should start going. we can just watch them from a far and judge after a while"

lüziel hastily picked up his bag putting the sword back in trying the avoid the unavoidable argument following

„ehy, don't just run away i'm not done with you"

with that they started moving down the street rina constantly trying to get lüziel apologize while lüziel just ignored her looking around to search for others human or animal. after round halve an hour they heard a scream of multiple people coming from a bit further ahed and without even needing to talk they tried to get quickly there while at the same time being carful not to get ambushed from whatever caused the commotion. then they reached the origin of the scream what they saw was not the expected attack of animals on humans but instead

„monsters, human monsters! how could they attack other people in such situation. it's already bad enough that we have to fend of wild animals stronger than anything we would see in the wild but they they have now formed clicks to hunt down other people"

„we have to do something lüziel, we can't just wait here and see them die that would make us no less murderer than those guys"

„i know but what are we supposed to do. we don't have any weapons or fighting experience and are outnumbered. there is nothing we can do no matter how horrible this is."

rina, who didn't want to give up, first thought a bit then looked around and without saying anything tried to run towards them. lüziel luckely could catch her before she got close.

„even if you have an idea it's not possible for me to just let you go. tell me what it is and then we decide together. if i had to choose between them and you there would be no choice for me, so i'm not just gonna let you run into your death."

„we just need to grab their attention and run into a house. they don't know how to beat the bugs so we just let the bugs do their thing."

„and what if you walk into a house without any, what if they don't follow you in or also have something to make light"

„while you where reading i tried it. i used my mobiles light and the bugs did not react. if it's not as bright as a flashlight they will not react"

lüziel buried is face in his hands, let out a short damp scream, then looked back up

„OK LET'S DO THIS THING! first search for a house with bugs. just shiny a light into it and if nothing happens go to the next, then wait until i give you signal. i will shoo around the cahbes gathering them near the exit but so that you can't immediately see them. the moment you bring them in just run straight through but have a flashlight prepared just in case AND IF ANYTHING MOVES NEAR YOU shine on it. their reaction was absolutely extreme so i doubt they attack you while shined on. i will then try to block the exit. also we will not be able to leave until they are extremely wounded OR DEAD and i know that thats something you can't take that easy so ready yourself for that"

rina nodded and then run to the first house and despite her usually chaotic nature picked picked instantly the perfect house a supermarket. the doors seemed to be broken or purposefully left open and inside all shelves where knocked presumably by the cahbes but strangely no food was anywhere to be seen. rina made some weird hand sines that really didn't meant anything but it was enough for lüziel, who kept an eye on the attackers, to understand and come over.

„look they are everywhere, there are so many"

„normally that wouldn't be a good thing you, but its perfect for us"

lüziel went in flashlight in hand. everywhere he eared the clicking and scratching of the cahbes but non dared to go near the light sources. when lüziel reach about the middle he started pointing his light selective at the cahbes to shoo them near the exit wall. he himself right behind them while also leaving some roaming around to prepare a pincer attack. he then whistled to let rina know how went straight towards the group and in her infinite wisdom all she could think of to get their attention was to insult them.

„ehy you dumbfucks your mother was probably a whore but even she would wish to never birthed you seeing what you do here. where you to stupid to get friends that you now need to now let it out on other when no one is stopping you anymore"

„what did you say you bitch. guys i think we have a better target now, some wanna be hero. get over here so that we can show you what we think of your opinion.

while he was saying that rina was making some rude sing language and jump around like a clown all to try to get as much attention as possible

„no don't feel like it but you can try catch, IF YOU CAN"

„ok you don't know your place, let me show you where you belong"

with rina in front and the group of 4 behind here she ran straight at the supermarket and in making sure they followed here

„and now what miss hero because your cornered yourself and we will not let you die until you beg for forgiveness"

„no i don't think so, bläähhh"

tung out rina pulled out her flashlight and simultaneously with lüziel they shined at the cahbes each at different ones who promptly reacted, some moving in front of the exit while other cam close the group and after spotting them they started to move on their own attacking the group who tried to fend them of with baseball bats after realizing that they where surrounded. they where able to avoid for a bit but could do much as they where outranged from the long horns, outnumbered and even if they did hit it barely made any difference for the cahbes who relentlessly attacked.

„ah ah, get away you monster"

„aaah my legs, it hurts"

„die you dumb fuckaaahh"

rina who was not good at handling these type of things even after mentally preparing herself was shaking in her entire body bare being able to stand

„look away you idiot. you don't need to watch it if you can't take it"

„I DO! I'M THE REASON WHY 4 PEOPLE ARE DYING RIGHT NOW. if i have to be a murderer than at least i'm not someone who just looks over it like its nothing"

lüziel looked at her who despite being visibly distressed from what she saw showed no intention to look away then he himself also looked back at the horrible scene before them

„you're right we shouldn't take this lightly or we are no different than those guys"

it was not needed to check if those guys still lived as 4 purple windows popped up before the two one after another

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

10 tallon have been awarded

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

10 tallon have been awarded

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

10 tallon have been awarded

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

10 tallon have been awarded

there was of cause no need to check as it was obvious what the update was. the now barely standing rina and the normally so composed but now shacking lüziel walked shoulder on should out of the supermarket leaving the the horror scene of blood and ripped up close with not even single bit of the humans they belonged to being left over. outside was one person waiting who just stood there soulless looking straight at the horror that happened inside. he probably was of the ones who got hunted and he probably wanted to help probably out of a guilty conscious or something like that but in the end all he could do was stare at how 4 people got ripped apart and eaten alive.

„i always thought you where light heartedly but look at him. i can for certain say that no matter what you would never loose it that hard. ehy, you, wake up! it's over!"

lüziel shook the person then after that did nothing slapped him a few times until he responded by barfing on the ground lüziel luckily reacting fast enough to get out of the way.

„it's ok, they won't come out, you're safe now. just wait until you are ready to talk"

with a weak but determined voice rina tried to cheer him up. all the while lüziel looked around for the other victims who where waiting in a far so he helped their supporter to go to rest of the group. arriving there they immediately panicked seeing their friend in such a broken state running up to him and taking him from lüziel

„what happened? tell us, why are you so down?"

„you shouldn't overburden him. what he saw was something no normal human would ever see in their life. he fist needs some rest and something to eat, if he even can eat after this"

lüziel flicked with his hand waving them a bit away from him to give him a bit of breathing room

„so you can tell us. what could happen that someone end up like this from just seeing it?"

„DEATH! he saw how 4 living breathing people fought for their life while being devoured. and i can tell you that it was nothing like the snails at the beginning where it was 1 bite and you're gone"

„dear good that is horrible, but how are you still ok if those criminals died?"

„we know the trick. it's a matter of knowledge in the current world if you survive or die and we simple knew more. we prepared a trap they fell for it and then could do anything against it"

behind lüziel rina was waving around with her flashlight showing what he meant

„but instead of waiting in the perfect pace to get spotted by everyone and everything we should go somewhere more safe. let's go to the park it'S at least better then standing on the street."

the entire group decided that it was the best for now and went over to the nearby park. the victims looked after their friend, who now had at least some color back in him, and helped him get over there. during that walk lüziel shortly checked the remaining time and saw the countdown at 22:27:58, around one and a halve hours that was all it took to kill countless of people and ruin their entire world. inside the park they search for somewhere to sit and decided on the playground with a variety of sitting opportunities but more importantly enough to fit them all. most took just the benches that where placed on the outside for the parents while some went on the swings with rina of cause going an a rocking horse and lüziel who didn't wanted to be far away sat on the one next to her.

„so now you can tell us what happened, what did you do, how did you beat those guys just with the two of you? wait! i'm sorry we should first introduce ourselves. i am dorotea, age 25 and fitness instructor. and we are just a group of people who try our best to get through this horrible experience somehow"

now someone else of the group spoke. a more taler wider muscular woman who previously went immediately to look after the traumatized party member. lüziel figured that she was the leader of the group seeing how everyone centered around her

„of cause, even after the end of the world we still should have the decency to introduce ourselves. i'm lüziel and she is rina. we may also just wan't to survive this but we do intend to get the most out of this. something like this does not happen every day. it's like a manga and we have nothing to lose so maybe we can get stronger from this"

at the same time lüziel said that he tried to hold down rines horse for her to sit a bit more still and be serious in this situation. she wasn't happy about it but understood and stopped waving back and forth.

„i can at least respect the determination you two have even if i don't think it's good to interact much with all of this. so now that the introductions are over back to my question what did you two do and how did you do it"

the group now started to intensely stare at lüziel and rina awaiting their answer

„do you know about the weakness of the cahbes"

„cahbes? whatever that is i have no idea of any weakness"

dorotea responded with a slightly confused voice but then decided that whatever that was she knew nothing about it

„i'm talking about those bugs. since ever i made it my objective to at least call things by their right name and looking at the points you get you would have to assume that cahbes are the bugs. more importantly their weakness is light, strong light"

„light? but thinking about it no matter how vicious they where no one has seen them follow you outside into the sunlight so i guess it makes sense and you used that to beat those criminals."

„yup with a flashlight it's quite easy to move them around. we just used that trick to surround them and let the cahbes do the fighting. what he saw was just that. it's just that it was a brutal execution you would wish no one."

lüziel pointed at the increasingly better looking victim

„that's a relive. i was afraid that you are maybe sone insane people who brutally murdered 4 other people without getting a single scratch. with that being said you still laid out a trap to actively hunt and kill them that is not something everybody could easily do, so don't think of me as rude but i can't simply accept people who do that. i am grateful that you saved us but i will not just overlook that.

„it's understandable. there are simply different types of people, we think that there is a limit to how much someone is allowed to do while keeping his right to live while you think that live stands above all. by the way i see 5 people but not that many bags. do you not have anything?"

after lüziel said that rina started to look intensely looking at the group counting on one hand the nags she saw and the other the people and ended on 2 to 5 seeing only 2 things that could count as bags. the group responded to lüziels question one after another after dorotea who though a bit about it said something

„i myself did know what to think of that mystery message so i just packed some essential just in case"

she pointed at her backpack she was wearing

„didn't take it serious who would believe such a crazy message"

a small man said that and looked at rina and lüziels big bags as if they where some crazy people

„me to. i just thought i had some weird hallucination or something like that."

„i'm always prepared"

a teenage boy proudly showed his big bag, that at least was filled with something

„mine was taken by those guys from before. those scumbags at first threatened me with my bag or my life than hunted me later anyways"

„as you can see we don't have much on us and we already searched for whats left but nothings there anymore so we would appreciate if you could give us something to drink or food"

dorotea opened her hands towards them as expecting them to put something in

„we don't have it easy right now so for now we will keep our things but we also do not intend to run away. for now lets just stick together"

„look look, there is a bug crawling on the outside"

rina tapped lüziels shoulder trying to get his attention while he then together with everybody else looked where rina looked seeing a cahbes crawling confused around in front of a house trying to not go into the sun but now tat the sun was higher up was also not able to go back into the house it probably came out of. most reacted with shock but lüziel tried to jump up, forgetting that he was on a rocking horse fell over. but this fo'pa could not stop lüziel who sprang up and ran towards the cahbes pulling out his flashlight pointing at it. after a bit back and forth it decided to crawl over the bright line between the house entrance and the canopy it was hiding under.

„OF CAUSE! it's not that they don't wan't to come out but that they can't. the cahbes hate light so what do you think will happen at night when the sun isn't shining anymore."

he turned around agitated towards the group

„what do you mean ‚what will happen'?"

the confused dorotea looked to her member who all also looked confused not knowing what he was talking about

„the only reason why the cahbes are inside houses is because the sun is up lighting the streets but we have to survive for 24 hours so the sun will not always shiny, meaning at night the streets will be flooded. the the the, mission, kecsnehc are one thing they may be strong but also slow you can easily run away from them and there are not so many so its easy dodging them but how long can you avoid hundreds of meter long bugs trying to eat you. the real survival is not what right now is happening, this is just to show us our enemies and prepare ourself but the real survival will be happening during the 10 hours of darkness in the night."

lüziel ran in circles wildly moving his arms while explaining the group the tru horror of this act. it took a while for the others to sink in what he just said but the moment they realized it they started to panic. dorotea as the leader tried to calm them down but it was pointless as this group was composed of weak and timid people who wouldn't dare pick a fight with anything. for once rina now looked like she had to think really hard wiping bag and forth like in trance not being affected by the chaos around her. she then decided to pick out her flashlight and shined it directly at the panicking group followed by her screaming

„FIRE! monster bugs are still bugs and they wouldn't dare try to fight fire especially if they hate light"

the group stopped moving not really because of what she said and more because of the fire looking around for fire anywhere then looked at her as if she was on fire. lüziel decided to pick her up and hug her while announcing

„that's brilliant. we might not have much electronic light but we can always make a fire and we have an entire day to prepare us. all we need to do i gather lots of wood and light it. these cahbes are normally supposedly harmless so i doubt they will walk near open fire like any other animal would."

„making a fire, you mean like a campfire?"

dorotea disrupted their moment stepping forward

„not really think a bit more like an arsonist i'm talking about a big circle of fire. one small campfire isn't going to help us but if we are surrounded by fire nothing will come near us."

„you know how dangerous that is. how long can we control something that big not even thinking about the heat from all sides being bad for for the body"

„just make it bigger!"

rina tried to solve the problem but her idea was just ignored

„we need something like a parking lot, a large stone ground to prevent the spread but it also need protection from the kecsnehc i don't want to experiment with two unknown species so it needs a fence or something like that around, just enough that they don't randomly come near us and try something."

„a fenced in place with stone floor so basically the police. they have build a fence around their parking lot after a few accidents and it should be big enough"

an older man from the group behind stepped forward wearing an old outdated police suit

„i haven't seen that suit since i was a child on our police visit in school!"

rina was excited about the old police suit she hasn't seen for nearly a decade now remembering the nice police officer from their school visit

„looking at you i assume you where in the police at some point but why do you still have that old suit. shouldn't civilians not be allowed to have something like that?"

„they told me that they where going to change them anyways so i could keep it as memory as long as i din't use it. it's just pure coincident that today i felt lick looking if i still fit it this before all this happened but it help some people seeing a police suit so it did its job"

„well whatever the reason, the police would probably be best next up is gathering wood and bringing it there and it needs to be enough to last the entire night"

„wait, wait, wait, you're pretending like we would be ok with that plan but why should we trust some killers like you without question"

dorotea shook hear head and tried to oppose lüziel's plan but was promptly disrupted by the old policemen

„shut your yap women. these children protected us and openly sharing wis us a plan that they could do better on their own. you where helpful at the beginning but have no plan what to do next and just let us run randomly around. those two have a reasonable plan what to do next."

„ha, how could you i saved you all"

„i don't think it's a bad idea and we really have no other ideas what we would need to do. we have no fighting power and couldn't fight of a single one of those things. i don't think those two are bad kids so lets do it"

now a middle aged women stepped forward following her the kid with the bag

„i too think this is the best we can do"

„ok if you all wan't to go with those murderer that wan't to set you all on fire fine by me but without me."

with that dorotea left leaving them behind

„she really is to stuck up her ass. i may not believe in magic mumbo jumbo and all that crap but even i know that right now you can't judge people by our normal standards. so whats next kids"

„why did we suddenly devolve to kids we're adults too! what we need to do is gather wood and a lot of it as much as we can get before night. the shops don't have anymore food or utilities but the shelves are still made out of wood and furniture too is made out of wood. the problem is that we can't just go in and take it. we should make 2 groups of 3. 2 carrying and one to shoo the cahbes away. i probably will be one of the leader of one team and the other will be…"

„Me me me, take me"

rina was jumping up and down excited but instead lüziel pointed at the old police man

„your probably no longer the fittest but you do seem like someone who can take care of other people so take rina with you and keep an eye on her. she may be wild but will do her job properly and now that she has adjusted to all of this she should be fine without me"

„so you too are you like brother and sister or what?"

was asked by the one they met first

„thats a weird thing to to ask right now but no, but we do know us pretty much since birth so when something would to happen to her, wait no, no, nows not the time for morbid jokes. anyways i i will take you two and thats the teams we go with. any complaints"

the group answered with a collective no and went towards the police station. on their way they already started to collect some wood without much problem following the plan of lüziel and rine lighting the way while the other 2 destroyed furniture to grabbable chunks. when they couldn't carry more they walk straight towards the police station on their way seeing other people moving around all over the place mostly in groups of 5-8 but decided to not bother with them. at the police station they loaded of the wood and then started to go around the city clearing out hoses for wood for 4 hours until they decided to rest for a bit.

„oho look what we have here, some weaklings trying to barricade themself. want me to show you how effective those scraps are!"

it's been only a few minutes until another group came across their base immediately trying to fight them in this unholy land instead of caring to protect the lives of other during these trying times

„this scenario really shows how rotten people have become. no matter where you go everywhere are scumbags thinking they are the greatest that can do whatever they want if no one regulates them anymore"

„what are you blabbering gramps, you probably can't even shit anymore without help. all that counts now is strength and the weak like are just going to get crushed. if it's some monster or us doesn't matter, in the end your still dying but this way we at least get something out of it. so make this easy for us and all of you just line up and die for us"

the policemen tried to say something but got interrupted by rina who couldn't stand people like this and had stolen lüziels sword now holding at the group in front of them

„and who are you to judge who will die! wanna try me!"

„give me that you have absolutely no idea how to use that anyways. i at least have some kendo experience"

lüziel grabbed is sword back from rina now to pointing it at the group

„wow wow chill, chill dud. we're not after the ones who look decent so you can just go and we leave you be."

the leader of the group was holding one hand openly up while waving with the other past his group

„ha as if we could believe that. guys like you just don't want to take risks. you are the people that will go extinct in this just praying on the weak until you become the weakest and get preyed upon. how about this you guys leave and forget about us and we all can be happy."

„don't complain later you are the one who wanted this. go get em'"

the group broke open the fence and then entered one after another steadily approaching keeping lüziel in their line of sight. lüziel tried to get as much attention as possible while whispering to rina

„get some of the oil a lighter and wood. it's a shame we have to wast oil but we can't easily fight them. make an oil circle where i'm not and tell the others. lets let em walk on a ring of fire and see how much they like that and when i tell it to you give me a burning piece of wood."

he sent of rina and then walked towards the group holding his sword directly at them trying to not give them an opening. he knew that the sword would do much but they didn't and all he needed was them to be afraid to get hurt

„so who is the first one. you know i do have the achievement for first kill and already have 4 people de by my name so whats another 3 scumbags"

he took of 1 hand of the sword pulling his finger over his neck then grabbed the sword again and jumped with a fumikomi forward making sure to make an extra loud stomp startling the intruders who now where completely focused on him. out of the corner of his eyes he could see his group start moving knowing that it was his job to make the intruders move around to get them move towards their trap but not seeing it before it was ready.

„what do you think you are, some wannabe hero trying to safe some weak people. you know i hate people like you the most who don' know whats for their own best trying to save people who never could repay you if they even wanted to in the first place"

the leader was trying to get close but every time he moved closed lüziel just made another fumikomi in place shoo him right back where he came from. the other two tried to get him from the side but with one small swing, not big enough to make lüziel unable to swing if needed, towards them they didn't dare to go near him.

„look at what brilliant strong people you are. can't even beat a single foe 3 to 1, maybe i don't need to be as careful. from here i could just cut you open and be done with 1, you really think this distance is enough to outrange a sword?"

he then made a big fumikomi towards one of the lackeys who jumped back as far as he could barely getting out of range, then immediately moving a big step backwards. lüziel who could already think what would happen but especial with the smile on the lackeys face turned around stopping the other 2 where they stood. while attacking he did saw how rina waved at him knowing that it was finished. he decided to simply run over thinking that that would made them most likely follow him without thinking

„you know what this is tiresome so how about i.. make a run for it"

„you bastard where're you running know, not so brave after all"

all 4 ran towards the other lüziel screaming fire which made rina take the broom she was holding and setting it on fire with a lighter. lüziel who always excelled at running did get a bit a of a distant from the screaming mob behind him enough to take the brome turn around wave at the group making them stop

„so what now you think thats going to stop us better than a sword! we had enough of your foolery"

„oh i don't think this is stopping anybody but that will"

and with that he swung the broom towards the ground where the typical rainbow effect of oil was visible setting it on fire spreading quickly and to his surprise it was not only the outline of a circle but the entire thing. the woman picked up the canister with the left over oil spilling it on the intruders setting their clothe on fire shortly after followed by their screams

„aaaah, hot hot hot, how did you, YOU..!"

„it hurts, my skin is melting!"

„not your skin but your plastic woven clothe that melt on your skin, get out and we won't follow you"

lüziel pointed at them with the burning broom while rina who was now holding his sword swung some rather bad swings at them but enough to male them run away trying to extinguish their clothe. it took 2 or 3 minutes but to the surprise of the group 3 windows popped up in front of lüziel, rina, the young boy and the women a window rina a lüzil already had sawn before

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

10 tallon have been awarded

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

10 tallon have been awarded

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

10 tallon have been awarded

„what is this?"

„the fuck?"

the boy and women where marginally confused by this event followed by rina first standing stif there than shaking in her voice

„but we didn't do it, we didn't kill them, it wasn't us!"

„calm down, they definitely weren't going to just die from some burns, the only way this can be explained is that they ran into an animal and killed that way still counting as our kills"

„kills? what kills are you talking about"

the woman was looking towards the two of them being surprise when the boy behind her answered

„it's right here here it's saying that we killed them"

he was pointing at his own window showing the achievement screen

A fight between new gladiators

you have been one of the winning assets in the fight against another gladiator and have gained the attention of gritß through your action. not all are appreciating the killing of other gladiators so be careful about your next steps as they will decide your future.

killed gladiator: edward

reward: 10 tallon

„but why didn't we all get this, what makes you different?"

„we weren't helping with this. all we did was stand there and wait, it's not like there where anything to do for us"

„i know there is a policeman her so please just overlook this, but i think they deserved it. if not us they surely would of attacked someone else and they probably already killed other people. i will not mourn over some insane people."

while those 4 where having their argument over the rightfulness of the situation where lüziel occupied to calm down rina who was completely beside her being told to be tho one who was at fault with the death of those people.

„no it can't be all we did was defend us, we never meant to kill those 3. we could never, it was just us or them. all we wanted was for them to not come back…"

„rina look me in the eye, just because this says we did doesn't mean we did it. this is a screwed up system trying to kill us. it just wants to force us to be part of it against out will. they just got careless while running away, thats nothing we could of influenced"

„but still a life is a life. we where the reason why they where careless. without us they wouldn'T have done that"

with a loud clapping noise the other 4 where looking at the two of them rina now with a red cheek lüziel being obviously the one who hit her

„what the hell? why are yo hitting her if she is depressed, she even has tears n her eyes now. maybe you truly are not as bad as dortea said"

they where coming over to look after rina giving lüziel some frowning eyes who just could shake his head

„she sometimes just needs that to snap back to reality"

„how could anyone NEED to get hit"

„lady i know her for my entire life if anyone knows whats best for her than me"

„you meany this hurts so much. you always hit me like it where normal how about i hit you back for once!"

rina pushed the others away and then walked to lüziel drumming on his chest with her fists strong enough to push him continuously back. he tried to block her punches in vain and let out some squealing noises.

„ah, that hurts. i get it i get it your angry just stop hitting me"

„meany, meany, meany!"

„it's like you flipped a switch. how can someone change their mood this easily this extreme?"

„i toaahld you i know her betaah than anybody else"

lüziel was finally able to grab rina stopping her assault before continuing

„rina easily snaps in both directions. is she isn't prepared for horrible things she is incapable of taking anything but at the same time if you are able to provoke strong emotions in her in another direction she easily go over in that direction. she is possible the worst person to watch horror movies with. you don't even get time to be scared when the person next to you get a total freak out every time something happens.

„but hitting someone goes to far"

„sometimes a good smack is better than a million words. so in around 30 minutes we go out for our second round of collecting so res t up and see you then."

lüziel started running away followed by rine who had broken his grip starting to attack him again

„they are truly a strange duo. from how they are acting right now you wouldn't think they are as close as they say they are"

„you seem to not understand that fighting between friends is a good thing. that way you can get over certain things that can't be said and would break a friendship if unresolved"

the policemen put his hand on the woman's shoulder than returned to chaos they left behind. the oil was now completely burned up but the broom was still burning. he tried to put out the fire by stomping on hit getting help by the other man, then they took the things they at left standing around and brought them back to their pile of things. it took around 40 minutes for lüziel and rina to return now looking exhausted so they decided to wait another 10 minutes for the two of them then had another go at it to gather more wood until the sun was near the horizon.

„this is enough, we still need to set up the campfires and ready ourselves for the night."

„i wouldn't have made it much longer anyways. i truly envy young peoples endurance"

the policeman may said that but but he wasn't the only one exhausted with the boy and rina being the only ones still looking energetic. they all agreed that it was time to go back so they returned and first of all had a short break with rina and the boy already starting to pile up the wood around them in a big circle.

„i really would love to know where you're pulling al that energy from. i have never seen you actually tired and though it was just modern day comfort life but even now there is no stopping you."

lüziel was half watching them go on with their tasks while also searching through his bag for things they might need. a lighter for the wood, a flashlight for the emergency scare, some emergency bandages and then he took out a bottle of water drinking something for the first time since all of this started. he quickly put the bottle away not wanting others to see it as he still wasn't sure if he should share something this important with people he probably won't see again after this.

„it's starting to get dark we should start doing out part as well. we can't just let those two do everything."

the policemen stood up followed by the other 3 with the boy in return sitting down now finally exhausted while rina still went at it as if she just started. with the 5 of them they now very quickly started to make the circle while also carrying halve the wood inside to fuel the fire later on. with the scream of the women they all looked where she pointed at showing the first cahbes waiting near the exit of the police station deciding if it could go out or not prompting the group to move inside their campfire circle readying themself to light them with lüziel and rina taking out their flashlights being ready to scare of the inevitable rush of cahbes when it finally got dark enough

„this is so nerve wracking just sitting here waiting for the monsters to come out and hop that we did the right thing to defend against them."

the woman was taking a close look at the cahbes waiting for it to make a move. it still took another halve hour but then they finally started to cautiously move out realizing that it's now dark enough and pouring out as swarm of 20-30. the remaining time to survive was 12 hours and 30 minutes with with at least 10 hours of that being the night time. it all went to if their plan worked or not and with that they lit the fire. the cahbes first started moving their way with initially being pushed back by the flash lights but when the fire started to burn becoming afraid to approach and make some frustrated noises with their horns. for a while the cahbes circled the fire at a safe distance searching for a way in to get the 6 sitting inside but decided that they can't get in and move elsewhere to search food.

„look at the streets the have become a black brown moving mass. without this we would have died in mere seconds. seeing what they did to those other guys this morning i don't even want to know how many people fighting for their life unsuccessfully."

the man was pointing at the street and shivering a bit thinking about what happened

„this is not over jet. the night is long and we don't know how long this fire will last"

the policemen was looking concerned at their wood reserve

„we probably will have to cut the circle in halve later on. now that the initial rush is over its very predictable where they are coming from…"

lüziel was disrupted by the first screams of the night. somewhere nearby was someone right now probably near death fighting for his last breath.

„i would rather cut of my head than have to go through whatever those things are going to do to you when they catch you. this is one of the most horrible scenes i have ever seen"

they collectively agreed to her statement while rina was standing there shaking hearing the screams of people near by and far away echoing through the streets

„it's ok just listen to the fire, the cracking of the wood and look at all those fantastic monster bugs"

with lüziels words rina got back to her usual self counting the pieces of wood they had to calm herself down.

„i will not be of any help anymore and are tires so just wake me up if something happens. i bare can stand straight after all that work we did"

the policemen took a bigger piece of wood and laid down on the ground his head resting on the wood.

„we don't have much of it we we are all on the edge the entire time so let's make shifts of 2 people you three can also rest for now we'll take the first shift."

„i was was hoping for this. my feet are dying. i never walked this much in my entire life on one day."

the woman followed by the man both also took a pice of wood and laid down with the boy just sitting down still watching the cahbes march of death.

„i guess i don't have to stand the entire time. but those screams did die out quickly, it couldn't be that everybody is already dead. there are probably more people could figure it out and get some safe shelter"

after 1 hour the next shift started this time the boy and man while rina and lüziel laid down to rest their eyes a bit. another hour passed without trouble and the swarm of cahbes now thinning down after they spread all over the city. there where some more screams coming from somewhere probably a shelter that had broken down and got overrun. the next shift was the policemen and the woman while rina was back up walking in circles not being able to calm down again after those screams. after the third hour the fires started to diminish so the group decided to refill it with more wood but only enough to make it stay burning. after that lüziels and rinas shift started this time not completely eventless

„there look they are trying to squeeze through that hole those guys made earlier. go away this is our place, go to where you came from"

rina was waving with her light t the cahbes who was somewhat suck in the fence but clearly disliked the light

„keep a watch on my back. if it's stuck that just means its an easy target and before it makes an even bigger hole this is the best way"

lüziel grabbed his sword quickly jumping through the fire, cautiously approaching the cahbes from the side who tried to go after him but couldn't turn much, then stabbed right through it's head. it luckily died quickly enough for it to not alarm others nearby and the familiar window popped up together with a new blue one

an update was made to your achievements

do you want to see the update

1 tallon has been awarded

an update was made to a weapon

durability update

do you want to check it

first he jumped back into the circle then click the ‚do you want to check it' button

Fake sword

rarity: 2 silver stars

durability: low (damaged)

weapon class: sword

description: an exhibition sword that was never made for combat. it might not be sharp but it still can do some major dame to unprotected foes though it will not last long as the metal does not have high quality.

„damaged? i'll guess it tells us how much longer weapons will last but damaged from just 3 hits. what are these things made out of to damage metal that much when i hit a weak spot"

„what was that, i heard something"

the question of the woman was simply replied by lüziel pointing at the dead cahbes

„did you do that, but when i look at you who should hav done it and you are holding that sword. you truly are feel a lot safe when someone is there who can actually fend of not only people but monster too"

she made a relieved look and then sat down as she was now to jittery to lie back down

„so you two are like inseparable, how come. you said you're not siblings but you also don't look to me like being in love with each other."

„thats just what an entire life living together does to you and than there is also that her parents died directly in front of her so my family just took her and we were raised together afterwards"

„they died in front of her is that why she is so strongly reacting to the death of others no matter how they are."

the woman looked concerned at rina but lüziel just shook his head

„she always was this chaotic in her mood. i don't think she is actually afraid of death or things in that direction it's more like she hasn't decided"

lüziel pulled, without even looking, rina back who played to close to the fire slowly falling over

„hasn't decided whats there to decide. death and brutality is as raw as it goes"

„i don't think it's that easy. for rina it's a matter not knowing what she is supposed to feel. are you supposed to mourn the dead are you supposed to be happy about it. what's the difference between someone you like and someone you hate if not only for your personal preferences. can you truly say someone was evil without knowing his reasons to act. is a mother truly bad if she steals for her starving child and had to kill someone to get it, are we the ones who are qualified to judge this."

„you put it like everybody is good in some way but there are people who are just straight up bad, hurting people for no gain only for the sake of harm.

„it just simply isn't something you can just give simple answers too and rinas decision was that no matter what people dying is bad no matter what. i hope she gets sooner to the point where she can discern between those she should care for and those she shouldn't because if this continues seeing 2 or 3 people die is not just an exception but the norm and it will break her over long if she care for everybody"

„you really don't have it easy do you playing this big brother role. i could never do that i'm just not cut out to deal with other peoples feelings"

she took a deep breath and then laid back down

„tell me when it's our turn again. i think i do could take a bit more rest"

with that it was again silent outside of the cahbes crawling and the burning of the wood. it was now 4 hours since the night stated and their wood reserves seemed to hold up quite well for now but nobody knew if they would hold the entire night. they again stocked up a bit and then changed shifts. the next hour was a bit more exciting with some cahbes finding their resting place trying to get through to them but not finding a way to get through the fire so in the end they left again but not before giving the group a nerve wrecking time. after 7 hours nearing the end of the night it happened. rina and lüziel where quickly waking up the rest as a kecsnehc came across the corner from behind the police station

„how did that thing get here? we walked all around this station and there shouldn't be a way to get in without breaking through and we heard nothing so it can't have just rammed through the fence"

„what are you panicking at it's not like it would just ignore the fire right?"

„who knows we already had to trim down a bit to not run out and these things are basically like amoeba going from how they just absorbed people. i wanted this location exactly to not worry about this."

lüziel may was panicking but as of now the kecsnehc just stood there watching them for a few minutes, the real problem came as cahbes came seeing the kecnehc and attacking it without delay. the kecsnehc responded by opening its body to take in one cahbes but all that did was to make the rest furious attacking even more viciously. the group could do nothing than watch this spectacle in front of them hoping to not get involved. the battle took a while with the cahbes struggling to hurt the soft body of the kecsnehc with their horns while the kecsnehc couldn't deal with this many attacker at once. it may just been the commotion of the situation or the screams of anger and pin both from the cahbes and kecsnehc but this battle attracted more of both. the battle joining 10 more cahbes for a total of 26 to the 2 kecsnehc. despite being a terrific battle right in front of the group this wouldn't been a problem if not for it to cause a cahbe being pushed through the fire that they normally tried to avoid so much. this enraged cahbe stood now there squealing in pain from the fire only lasting long enough for a short while until it attacked.

„everybody it can't turn quickly so stay behind if you don't want your legs chopped off. where is my bag shouldn't it be right here"

„there it's under this thing."

the woman showed at the bottom of the cahbes with which it dragged lüziel's bag around. it was noticeably irritated by it but the handle was tangled around it's foot making it impossible to shake it off.

„the fire, it's going out where it came through!"

„shit, shit, shit everything is going down hill. just take some wood and fill the gap."

but it was too late the spot where the cahbe came through and spread out the wood so far that the fire stopped was now noticed by other cahbes who wanted to take this opportunity to get easier prey. rina who was trying to get near the first cahbes was now behind it grabbing lüziels bag but couldn't get it of the leg. this was of cause not unnoticed by the cahbes who tried to turn around to rina who could keep up with it's sluggish movement quite easily.

„i can't get it off!"

„what are you doing! if your already this far than just try to get my sword its the only weapon we have besides these"

lüziel and the rest where holding a piece of burning wood waving it at the cahbes who where trying to enter through the hole in their defense. it at first looked like this was enough but soon more of the fire extinguished around the hole showing that the cahbes where mostly hold back by the bigger fires around the hole now advancing towards them slowly but steadily.

„here i got it!"

rina who was still occupying the attention of the one cahbes was waving with the sword

„you can kill it right? it's weakened quite a bit so it shouldn't be that hard"

„but…"

„KILL IT NOW!"

with that rina took the sword now stopping to circle the cahbes and when it turned halfway around she thrusted it through it's head killing it with the known window popping up.if not for this situation she probably would of struggled with this but right now adrenalin was flowing through her preventing fear or shock to affect her anymore. it's was something she only experienced once before in her life when her parents where killed. she now wielded the sword with way more accuracy and determination and instead of giving it to lüziel who was standing there expecting her to give it to him went straight to the other cahbes with pure focus in her eyes. lüziel understood immediate.

„try to make them thin up. as long as they are grouped up it's impossible to attack them"

„attack them since when are we attacking"

„since now. less questions more action this is hardly the time for this"

while the man stood there dumfounded the policeman understood seeing rina with the sword and waved around with his fire

„over here you overgrown bugs. look at this old man you can easily get"

lüziel used this to quickly run to his bag taking his flashlight, then going to rinas bag taking hers giving it to the boy

„you understand what to do with this right. just shine it at ‚Em they are extremely sensitive to this"

„got it"

he took the light and waved it at the cahbes making them respond by by trying to turn around just do get blocked by the fire and other cahbes besides them. lüziel instead of simply waving around used it a bit more tactical trying to single out one directing it to rona who was standing near them trying to get in but couldn't in this mass. now than an opportunity had opened for her she quickly side stepped to close for lüziels comfort around the horns with the cahbes trying to hit her by swinging it's horns into her. compared to the other one this one was still energetic so as rina tried to stab it she missed her first strike thanks t it moving to much for her to aim properly.

„if you can't hit it in one strike do it like how we did it the first time!"

lüziel who now stood just 2 meters in front of the cahbes took a pice of wood and threw it directly at it drawing all it's attention. this was enough for rina to now get a good strike still not killing it but damaging it strongly. this enraged the cahbes even more but now that it had lost partially his eyesight it's movements became more random

„the feet. just attack the feet until it's a sitting duck. with how it freaks out right now i doubt you could hit it's head"

rina listened and swung at 2 of it's 3 feet on the one side making it's front drop down from the weight of it's horns

„behind you look out!"

the woman was screaming at them giving lüziel enough time to react and jump at rina pulling both down to the ground right before another cahbes tried to attack them. both now laid halve below it but being this up close gave rina the perfect opportunity to strike. this position didn't gave her much room to do a strong strike but it was enough to partially pierce the head. this made it's wave around it's head in pain making it harder for the two of them to stand back up. while lüziel and rina where fighting those two and the rest where defending barely against the other 45 who approached them the first kecsnehc fell to the ground with holes all over it's body. around it where now only 13 cahbes left going after the second one. back to the group they where trying their best against the cahbes attacking them but couldn't outrange them making them ever slowly move backwards.

„if this continuous than it's not long until we are next in line"

„more incoming, it looks like they have given up on the other thing"

3 of the cahbes attacking the kecsnehc now also changed their target as of the fire now was only a halve circle left. but it seems like it wasn't even need as the man tripped falling right on his head being completely knocked out

„we have to help him or he is dead meat"

„how do you expect us to also carry someone when we can't even properly protect ourself as it is right now lady"

the woman first tried to help him but was immediately pushed back by the now 5 cahbes attacking him. rina and lüziel where able to roll out under the cahbes trapping them as it now started to move very slowly with the injuries it had gained with the other one next to them still squealing and trying to move. they barely got up as now 2 more where attacking them.

„if they are really this tough then why not let them fight each other. let's use these two as shields"

„it's like the wall right?"

„wall? right that's what you mean but i'll doubt they will be stuck in this"

while those two where now slowly managing themselves the other 4 where now completely overwhelmed. the man who tripped now already being nothing more than food luckily not feeling his gruesome death from the knock out while the other 3 standing at the edge of their formerly protection now being their prison. the flashlight helped a lot but couldn't be everywhere at once making it impossible to fend them of completely.

„we have to jump over the fire it's our only option!"

„you think i can! i'm not that athletic."

„we just pull you through."

the woman jumped through the fire followed by the boy who immediately turned back around to shine away the cahbes

„just do it, we will pull you quickly through."

„you really don't have it easy in my age"

the policeman made a big step through the flames reaching his hands out and being grabbed by the boy and woman but when they pulled instead of the policemen getting pulled through he instead screamed

„aaaah my leg"

the cahbes had caught up to them being fast enough to grab his into his leg deeply cutting into it with their horns

„sorry but i don't risk my life this much for someone i barely know"

the woman let go and now completely outmuscled the boy had no chance but to let go letting the cahbes pull the policeman back through and with horrible screams of him killed him. if not for her focus letting her overhear these screams rina would of been in a dangerous situation at that moment as she abused the short moment where the cahbes pierce into the corps of one of it's own leafing it defenseless. as she tried to pull out the sword a small pling noise was hearable followed by the sword breaking in two with halve being stuck in the cahbes she just attacked.

„shit now we're completely defenseless. that thing now might as well be more of a detriment than help. we have no other choice but to run now"

„i can still hurt something with this"

„and get hurt yourself in the process. throw it away and make a run for it while those are still attacking not us"

he was pointing at the other 9 cahbes fighting the kecsnehc slowly winning.

„where are the others"

lüziel was looking inside the circle until rina was pointing outside. both ran towards them avoiding the cahbes that previously attack the others jumping through the fire

„where are the others?"

„gone, that is what's left"

she was pointing at where the cahbes gathered around the blood on the ground"

„i knew i heard something rather unpleasant."

before rina could turn around lüziel walked before her blocking the view to prevent her from immediately breaking down

„we gotta go"

„but where?"

„for now anywhere but here is better just look at that. this is no longer a safe place"

they may decided #to leaf but doing it was another thing. the commotion now had gathered a third wave trying to enter through the only exits they had.

„i looks like we have to put up a show before we are allowed to leave"

„you don't say you want us to doge those, that's insane"

„it's not like they are fast so it really isn't that hard"

the boy gave her an disdainful look then followed lüziel and rina who where climbing up the fence

„you brat, mad that i left that old geezer to die. i'm not made for this kind of stuff"

lüziel who was first on the other side was waiting, shining away the cahbes trying to approach them with rina and the boy following quickly. the woman was trying her best to get over huffing and puffing getting barely over it below her 2 cahbes trying to get her cutting into the fence.

„hurry up we don't have time to wait forever on you"

„you brat… just because you're… a bit more athletic.."

„you two go, if you have time to talk you have time to walk"

lüziel waved them over rina already being ahead. the boy immediately started to run with the woman first just walking then when she heard the clicking behind her forgot her exhaustion and too started running. shortly after she agin stopped running being completely finished.

„wait i can't anymore. just a small break"

but only the boy heard her being the closest turning around and sticked out his tong

„i'm not going to risk my life for some stranger who would even save me"

„you… brat… i… knew… it…"

it took not long for the cahbes to catch up with her who now was completely helpless against them and not even having enough strength to scream anymore. after a few more minutes they reached the park they went to in the morning

„why here?"

rina was looking confused at lüziel

„we do need a break at some point and this is the only place i can think of that has some solid border around it. but i'll doubt it will last long. they easily cut through steel wire so who knows how long this will take."

„where are the others? what happened to that nice policeman and the guy we saved and where is that sluggish woman?"

rina now realizing that their group had shrunk down to 3 franticly searched around for the others not being able to see a single person.

„she was right behind me the entire time"

the boy tried to sound concerned but

„you left her to die right? extreme scenarios really show you what kind of people other really are. save your own life above anything else"

„they are dead , but no it can't be we planed this so good and they where so friendly to us. how can they be dead…"

rina collapsed to the ground murmuring to herself before she than collapsed on the ground

„great now she completely broke. it was inevitable but i hopped she could hold out a bit longer"

„what now?"

„we wait. it's been 19 hours and if i had to guess only 2 more until the sun rises. we probably need to change location at some time. they are more spread out right now but gather quickly if they find something if our last encounter had anything to say"

„move where! everywhere are just more of them"

„i don't know. we have to figure that out later. for now i'm going to rest or i will break down"

they wen't to the middle of the park far away from the streets to attract as few cahbes as possible and with that they could hold out another halve hour until 2 through pure coincident found their way in

„how annoying it worked so well i though we maybe can't last even longer but that's our queue. come with me or don't in the end i don't really care"

lüziel picked up rina and walked as fast as he could with someone on his bag towards the exit followed by the boy.

„it's probably nest to go into a house. now that they move out of them we can safe go in and protect the entries with the flashlights"

it was easily said an normally it would be a problem to find a house in a city but thanks to recent events a lot of houses had gotten major damage with windows basically just being glorified holes and some wall pretending to be cheese with the amount of hols they had.

„and all of this just from some rampaging bugs, our bugs couldn't even do this if they where forced to"

„over here this one is still intact"

it was just your regular house or rather in this landscape your irregular house being surprisingly intact. inside was utter chaos as to be expected but no cahbes to be seen at least. first of all they looked around searching for potential problems but it seemed to be the perfect fit. in here they where able to wait another hour with some minor incidents of visitors that where easily dealt with but near morning one slipped in as both where not cautious from their tiredness.

„one is here! it's inside and behind it are even more"

„don't just wait do something"

they both flailed with their flashlights trying to for one prevent more from entering while also trying to control the one inside. with no where to go and being surrounded by light the cahbes inside ran at lüziel trying to attack him despite the light even if noticeably affected by the light

„this is why to begin with i didn't even had the idea about waiting inside. when an animal gets cornered by a predator the only option left is to attack and here we barely have mobility"

lüziel was with one hand balancing the still passed out rina on his back while shining at the cahbes and trying to dodge it. he was not even able to think about a plane to get rid of it as the boy came screaming in followed by 3 more cahbes who broken the wall making a big entrance for them.

„this gets worse with the second. there is no way out through the entrance leafing only climbing through a window. at least these ones will be trapped inside not being able to follow us"

he ran towards the living room which had a bigger window holding the light behind him to slow down the cahbes then opening the window and throwing rina out then jumping out himself. the boy was trying to follow them but was stopped by the cahbes already in the living room blocking the entrance.

„just use another window you don't need such a big one"

but lüziels advice came to late as the boy was now completely surrounded. trying to jump over them he got stuck with his food falling down and ending the same fate the other 4 had

„HOW! this was a good safe spot not meant to be a prison!"

but he didn't have time to waste and took up rina, running away back to the open streets where he at least could see when something was approaching him.

„it's only maximum an hour left of the night. best i just walk around and endure it than betting on a ´another ‚safe' spot"

with that he just walked straight down the street and whenever he saw something he changed to another street. it was a grueling 45 minutes taking all his strings to not collapse until finally the sacred mourning came. lüzel never knew how much one could love to see the sun once again checking the remaining time to see 2:23:37.

„i can't get as comfortable just jet it's still over 2 hours left full of opportunities for accidents. she seems to sleep well not waking up despite all the ruckus but she probably was just so exhausted that when she finally stopped being awake just took a big nap"

lüziel was back at the park laying rina down on a bench looking at her peacefully sleeping. he too wished to just lay down and sleep but knew that he simply couldn't as this is some insane killer game where no one said that there couldn't happen something special a the end. for the entire rest of the time he just sat there being in a state of trance neither awake nor asleep with the one thing finally pulling him out of his sleep being a loud obnoxious sound ringing through the city. followed by an orange window popping up in front of him

congratulations gladiator

you have succeeded in the first part of the second act

you are one of the few selected that have survived this experience being truly on top of your species evolution. in a few minutes you will be transported to a gathering spot to gain your rewards and ready for the second part.

it was finally over but there was no ounce of relive in him reading that there would be more of this. he grabbed rina tight to not have her sleeping lay around somewhere random after the teleport then a green light let both be transported first thing seeing being Yhvlton standing on his floating platform.