"What say you?"
Cain stared at Hunter deeply...
"What do you expect?" Hunter said.
Cain let out a chuckle, "I guess that's a yes then."
"We will need to work together if we want to survive this. I don't know what to expect, but I am sure if we face it as a team, our chances of survival are higher." David said in a serious voice.
"What do you have in mind, Mr. David?" Blaze asked.
By now, everyone had recovered from the injuries they had sustained during the earlier conflict. This included Blaze. Although he had exhausted himself, he didn't suffer severe injuries. There were also many ways to recover lost stamina, so recovering wasn't an issue.
David explained, "Well, we have a few minutes before whatever hell is approaching descends upon us. Let's divide ourselves into 3 groups."
Seeing that he had their attention, he continued, "The first group will be the defenders, which will consist of Dan, Steve, and me. The next would be the melee attackers, Evangeline, Cain, Hunter, and Blaze. The last group will be the ranged attackers, Vincent and Susan. Any questions?"
"Yes."
Surprisingly, the first to speak up was Evangeline. Since she rarely most of the time, they subconsciously ignored her. Most of them couldn't even remember what her voice sounded like. The fact she decided to speak up at such a delicate time made all of them raise all their brows
"Yes? What questions do you have, Evangeline?" David asked sincerely...
"It's not so much of a question as it is a statement. I will be fighting, but not with the rest of you..." Evangeline stated coldly.
Her chilling and hoarse, but at the same time beautiful voice made everyone shocked, but even more shocking were the words she said.
"You don't want to fight with us? What does that mean?" David asked a bit confused.
"You are all weak... Weak. You all will be more of a burden than anything else." She said without even blinking her long silver lashes.
There was a brief moment of silence, but before anyone else could say anything, Cain spoke,
"Do you want to do this at a time like this?" Cain said coldly.
"You can do whatever you want. I don't care. Just don't expect me to help you when you are in danger."
"I see..." With this conversation, Cain had a better understanding of Evangeline's character.
'She's a freaking narcissist!'
He realized that it wasn't that she was quiet or mysterious, she was just extremely proud and aloof. Just a single conversation and Cain had already grabbed that much about her.
"I've watched you all for some time, and all I can say is this. While you have decent skills, it is still insufficient if you want to fight on the same level as me. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go prepare..." With that said, she excused herself from the group at lightning speed...
Silence...
"Wow... I most definitely didn't expect that." Vincent said with his mouth agape.
"Truly unexpected indeed..." Steve said, stroking his imaginary chin hair.
"So freaking arrogant." The filter-less Manny blurted out.
"Sigh... We can't force you, but if you feel yourself getting pressured, remember you can always come back here." David said. He didn't want to force her, but he couldn't help but worry.
Cain placed a hand on his shoulder, "Leave her. Nothing will happen as long as I'm around."
Although Cain thought she was a bit proud, he couldn't help but think there was more to her than meets the eye.
'Maybe all of this is just a fake exterior. I'll have to gather more info on her.' Cain considered this as a possibility as well but concluded that he didn't have all the cards down right.
"Steve" Cain called out quietly.
"Yes, boss?"
"What do you know about her?" Cain said, pointing his thumb at Evangeline who was now standing a few meters away from them, doing a few odd-looking stretches and poses...
"It's gonna cost you a lot, boss. That's some quality info you want there, so it's only natural it costs you a lot..." Steve had on the most merchant-like grin a human could muster whilst saying this.
Cain rolled his eyes, "Well talk after this is over."
"That's if we survive..." Steve said casually.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I don't think this situation is particularly optimistic."
"Why do you think so? Didn't we just survive a near-impossible situation just now?" Cain was referring to the missile they had just successfully blocked.
"You might not know this, but that missile was just a KH-22. It might be powerful enough to destroy a few buildings, but that's all. With the powers we have now, I was still able to believe we could survive against it."
"As for what approaches us now, I'm not too confident. These feral mutant savages are beasts made to kill. Before the apocalypse, many of them possessed the ability to kill us humans, but for some reason, they don't. Now that they do want to kill us, especially with numbers so large, I don't know if we can survive this."
"We might try, but I suggest we say grace before we are torn into pieces..." Steve said all this with a carefree smile on his face, almost as if he wasn't concerned about his life or death.
Cain could understand Steve's thoughts. He too wasn't confident of their survival.
"Haha... If there's no challenge, how will it ever be any fun?" Cain muttered to himself.
His life could be in danger, but he couldn't care less.
He was excited...
He was eager to see how far he could go, how hard he could fight before he fell. Even if he died...
Logic kept telling him that this was the stupid thing to do. If he tried, he could figure out a way to escape without having to put his life in danger, but he pushed those thoughts to the side.
Now wasn't the time to think logically...
Now was the time to let go of all inhibitions, and engage in a bloody dance to the death...
***
"So here's how it's going to go..." David explained the plan to the others...
"... I and Dan will stop the initial charge, while the rest of you attack afterward. Steve will be responsible for protection during crucial moments. Susan and Vincent, you guys will provide cover fire for the rest of us. This can only work if there is 100% trust between everyone here. We have to abandon any bad blood we had previously, and work together!" David said, his eyes focused on Blaze, Hunter, and Cain.
"Fine... But I still don't like this arrogant bastard!" Blaze said grumpily. He was still angry over his loss to Hunter.
"Sure..." Hunter said.
"Alright..."
They all got into position whilst waiting for the inevitable...
'Teddy should be somewhere safe by now.'
Cain had instructed Teddy not to get involved with the fight, as he didn't want to cause any last-minute confusion for everyone. He reasoned it would be better if it didn't get involved in the fight at all...
A few minutes later, the could noise of the stampede drowned out every other sound like waves crashing against a cliff during a mighty thunderstorm. Their footsteps sent vibrations through the earth. Dirt and broken trees were sent flying everywhere they ran past.
The cries of thousands of beasts resounded through the air as they all came barreling down from the line of trees.
The sea of creatures that came crashing forward left bewildered expressions on their faces, including Cain's.
'What the hell? This a whole lot more than few!'
Cain was shocked to see the sheer amount of creatures pouring out of the forest. Mutant bugs the size of rodents, mutated rodents the size of dogs and cats, and mutated wolves and wild cats the size of cattle and horses.
All these beasts had one thing in common. Although they possessed some characteristics of their old forms, they had a few extra features that made them appear extremely malevolent and grotesque.
Many of them had all sorts of disgusting outgrowths and tumors growing out of their bodies, they looked muscular, stronger, and many times stronger than before. Some had tall limbs, others had long claws, and some even had body parts that defied all knowledge of genetics known to mankind.
A handful of them was surrounded by the aura of elements. Some had waves of flames rolling off their bodies, some had electricity crackling off their bodies, and others moved enveloped with the aura of the wind. Some of them traveled underground, whilst others shone with the deadly luster of sharp, cold metal.
These creatures didn't just come from one direction, they came from all sides. In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded...
"And may the grace..."
"Crimson Guard: Blood lines!"
David yelled as he slammed his palms unto the ground. The crimson dome appeared right before the wave of mutant beasts slammed against them. The dome was big enough to cover Evangeline who was a little bit away from them, but it was clear that to do this, David had to suffer a little...
"Blegh!" David threw up a mouthful of blood but quickly wiped his mouth. Although he had suffered, he successfully stopped the charge of the monsters.
"Fight!" David yelled as he deactivated the skill. A deep red radiance covered his entire body. A giant mutated rat size of a sheep with bright yellow tumors the size of fists on its back rushed towards him. Its eyes glowed a deep shade of red, and its yellow fangs dripped with corrosive spit.
He brandished his axe and with a single swing, the giant mutant rat was split into two clean pieces. Yellow acidic blood exploded from its decapitated corpse and splashed onto David, releasing sizzling sounds, but he was unharmed...
Seeing this, the rest of them charged at the waves of monsters with relentless vigor...
Cain watched as they all rained down attack after attack on the crowd of mutant monsters. A midnight black mutant bird dived down towards him from the sky. The bird was as quick as lightning and struck with the precision of a trained archer.
There was a flash of golden light...
The bird instantly fell from the sky in two halves.
Hot blood rained down, drenching his face and hair, but he didn't even bother cleaning it up.
{+2000 EXP}
A smile crept up his face...
Cain realized that within the past three days, he had smiled more than he ever had his entire life. He could tell that for the first time in his life, he found something that made him truly happy.
He enjoyed bathing in the blood of fallen...
He enjoyed the heat of battle...
He loved it...
He wanted it to last forever...
His breathing sped up, his hearts beat like drums, and his pupils dilated. He used his tongue to lick his bloodstained lips...
"So tasty..."
That night, an offspring of chaos and carnage was finally born into the world...