'That being said... I guess you're the last one...' He glared at the Advanced Cyber Wolf.
Rex unleashed a bloodlust unlike any other he'd done before. He was pissed off.
When the bullet tore through his flesh, even for a moment, the pain almost drove him insane. It was agonizing.
He had never anticipated how much it would hurt, even if it had been planned out. Rex sought to return the pain two-fold.
But before he could-
Fwoosh!
After a sudden turn and leap, the Advanced Cyber Wolf sprinted away. Due to its perception of Rex as a greater threat, the creature fled.
Rex sighed when he saw this. Rather than chasing it, he turned back to the barrier.
'I knew this would happen.. I should've waited for it to get closer.'
'There's chaos throughout the city right now, and I don't want to waste energy and get caught up in unnecessary trouble while giving it chase.'
The advanced Cyber Wolves could reach speeds of 120 KM/H, and leaving Lucia in the middle of a battlefield while he chased it would have meant her death.
A notification was received shortly after Rex reached the barrier.
[Quest: Wolf Slayer Failed.]
[Failure to kill the Cyber Wolves Boss.]
[However, Quest has been partially completed.]
[Cyber Wolves Killed: 4/4]
[Partial Reward Received.]
[+80 XP]
[XP: 110/200]
A look of irritation could be seen on his face despite the notifications.
[Cancel.]
[Energy: 85 -> 85%]
In an instant, the manifested barrier vanished without consuming any energy. He felt shivers run down his spine as he walked over to her and picked Lucia up.
He could finally feel it now that he had grown stronger from his recent battle. The bloodlust of the monsters searching for prey roamed around the air.
He quickly jotted down two words as a result.
[Conceal.]
[Energy: 85 -> 80%]
Rex and Lucia's presence instantly dwindled. Immediately, they faded into darkness as a dark aura encircled them.
[Detect.]
[Energy: 80 -> 77%]
There was a burst of energy coming from Rex, which spread into the surroundings. Immediately, his eyes narrowed.
There were numerous highlighted red figures in all shapes and sizes across the vicinity. It was hard to distinguish the shapes due to blurriness.
Some of the shapes resembled were portals, some were humans hiding inside of buildings yet to collapse, and the rest were clearly monsters. A single use of [Detect] revealed so much.
The highlight on their figures faded rapidly, giving Rex less than a second to memorize their locations. In spite of this, he knew exactly what path to avoid and what path to take thanks to [Detect.]
With Lucia on his back, he hurried off into the darkness.
-
-
-
There were corpses everywhere, buildings destroyed, and the air smelled of blood. The city looked nothing like it did the day before.
There weren't any monsters or portals on the path he had chosen, [Detect.] hadn't let him down.
While Lucia was on his back, Rex stuffed as many cans and food packages into his backpack which was wrapped around his front. He was inside of a small store on the verge of collapsing.
Due to the store's imminent collapse, Rex was only able to pack water, drinks, some sweets, canned foods, and instant noodles.
Having gathered all he needed, he left. A short time later, it all collapsed behind him.
[Detect.]
[Energy: 74 -> 71%]
Seeing all the monster's highlighted figures around him, Rex decided on the safest route to take. As long as he kept silent, the monsters weren't able to notice him walking past them. [Conceal] made this possible.
The bothered expression still lingered over his face despite having acquired everything he needed.
His mind was still occupied by the Cyber Wolf.
It was not because he couldn't finish it off, but because the monster had collected information about him.
'Cyber Wolves aren't like regular monsters. Rather than destroying or seeking food, their aim is to gather information.'
'They're man-made monsters from a futuristic world for recon.'
"Having withdrawn from our fight, it'll relay information about me to its higher ups as a top threat."
Cyrion. It was the name of the world they came from. There was much more advanced technology there than on Earth. The residents were also far more powerful.
'They were one of the many powerful worlds which will seek out the resources on Earth when the Labyrinths appear.'
'Dealing with them will be a pain... Even more if I'm in their sights. In Volume 1, my protagonist went through a lot because of those fuckers.'
Rex let out a sigh.
'Speaking about protagonist, I wonder if I'll ever meet him... Or any of my side characters? The story was written from their perspective after all...'
The idea that Rex's protagonist could exist actually conflicted him.
'To meet a character I'd created in real life...'
Rex shook his head.
While walking, he glanced over his shoulder occasionally to see Lucia's sleeping face.
'Just a little longer... I'll use the Pen to wake you up as soon as I find a safe place.'
Rex knew it would be easier said than done. There was no telling how much energy waking her up would consume. Having insufficient energy could backfire, leading to their deaths.
However, he could not avoid taking the risk. All the special equipment had been left in the hospital, so he had no other way to feed Lucia.
Furthermore, she would not survive the apocalypse in a coma. Her being in this state would eventually lead to their deaths.
Rex gulped at the situation and hung his head.
'It's one gamble after another...'
He was on the verge of exhausting the four words he had activated before this, including his [Sight.] If he didn't find a safe place before then, he'd just waste more energy reactivating them.
As Rex raised his head, he halted in his tracks. In disbelief, he widened his eyes.
There was a single campfire near him, and a figure was warming up beside it just a few steps away.
A beauty who had long flowing luminous light blue hair. With long, pointed ears, she wore a red armoured dress with a steel chessplate and leggings.
'An elf...?'
Rex realized he could not have been further from the truth as she turned her head to face him, her bright crimson eyes fixating on him.
'Those eyes... She's a vampire...'
'And a powerful one at that... She escaped my detection.'