Soon as I stepped through the portal, I had expected the world to still be the bright and cheerful Earth, and that we weren't too late in subjugating the monsters early on. I should've lowered my expectations even more. From above, the skies have turned crimson and gloomy from all the burning buildings and forests. The ground quaked as if thousands of footmen were marching across a bloodied battlefield. Many monsters were flying through the skies in droves, some even picking off screaming humans and smaller monsters from the ground like a hawk scooping up mice. The whole Earth is in chaos.
"Laila!" Isaac called out. When I turned my head at this frantic voice, I noticed was in the middle of fighting against a gigantic marble statue. It stood at a staggering fifteen meters in length and had a stone sword half its size. Right now, it was swinging the blade around in a frenzy trying to cleave the others in half. Sam and Leo were far away being protected by Joel, Sophie, and Camila while Chen Ling, Isaac, and Iris were dealing with the statue.
A thunderstorm was already brewing high above the statue's head, and in an instant, a flash of white light struck half of its face off, spewing charred rock everywhere. The statue staggered while clutching its blackened face. While it was distracted, Chen Ling leaped on top of the statue and embedded his weapon with [Aura Blade]. Just before the statue could lift its arm up and pluck Chen Ling off like lint on a sweater, the man drew his blade across the tall figure's neck and sliced its head off in a swift motion. Chen Ling hopped off the statue's shoulder just as it started to sway back and forth, and toppled onto the sandy beach, shaking the ground.
Isaac walked over to the still statue. With a wave of his arm, another bolt of lightning fell from the skies, pounding the already dead statue. Isaac would continue slinging spells at it until it was hardly recognizable. Moments later, there wasn't a single trace of the statue left, leaving behind a giant pit of silica glass.
"Phew! That took a lot out of me!" Isaac sighed. He drooped his body back and sat down on the sand, taking deep breaths. "Why the hell is there a damn statue the size of a five-story building right near a waterfront town!"
"Sorry about that. I probably should've warned you that it would be right in front of us," Joel shouted. He waved at everyone to regroup and assess the current situation. Once everyone was huddled together, Joel proceeded to speak.
"So, right now we are in the United States, specifically Galveston, Texas. The entrance we entered through for The Labyrinth is located in New York City, so it's pretty much thousands of miles away. Hopefully, Mr. Reed came prepared and already had superhumans stationed nearby. Enough about that, let's address the elephant in the room. Ahem!" After clearing his throat in an exaggerated manner, Joel then faced us all.
"The Earth has gone to shit. There are monsters probably everywhere around the world. Also, that red light shining above is extremely ominous. You all received a message when we got back, right?"
I didn't know what the hell Joel was talking about as I didn't see any message. So, I decided to open my Status and check there, for starters.
Name: Laila
Rank:2nd
Strength:61 Agility:87
Durability:46 Mana:71
Masteries: Marksmanship Lvl 5 Swordsmanship Lvl 6 Mana Weapon Construction Lvl 7 Heat Resistance Lvl 4 Night Vision Lvl 4 Poison Resistance Lvl 3 Aura Blade Lvl 3 Frost Resistance Lvl 4 Dragon Tamer Lvl 1
…Hm? Hold on, something seems different. What used to be undecided for my rank was now replaced with the number two. It was mentioned earlier that the superhumans on Earth are ranked based on their Stats and masteries. That would mean I'm ranked second out of all the superhumans. While it is a pretty high number, I'm still slightly peeved that I'm not number one. I wonder what my brother's rank is…
I looked over my shoulder to see Isaac giving me the widest smirk I'd ever seen in my life. He was snickering like an idiot as he brazenly winked at me. That only infuriated me more. I can more or less guess why he's giving me that stupid grin. I won't give him the satisfaction of indulging him and just ignore him. Solgac had the same idea as the dragon stuck out her tongue at Isaac and whipped her head away. What a good girl…
Speaking of Solgac… the most interesting of all is the [Dragon Tamer] mastery. Obviously, this must've arrived when I gave Solgac her name. Is there a benefit to having this mastery though? As far as I know, there's no way to gain more information on masteries other than trial and error, meaning that it's up to you to figure it out. This whole system clearly needs an overhaul. Back on topic though, why Dragon Tamer and not just Tamer? This signifies that this is only one tamer mastery out of many. There could very well be a Monster Tamer mastery or Animal Mastery, etc. I'll need to research this later.
As I scanned my Stat sheet, I finally found the message Joel was referring to.
[Conversion of Earth and Athiens has resumed.]
"Conversion of Earth and Athiens has resumed? Oh, hold on." A horde of demogres that came from the waterfront town up ahead was heading our way, swinging their clubs and roaring in ecstasy at the fresh prey that so happened to be grouped together.
"Can't have them interrupting us," I mumbled. With just a single thought, a mana blade was constructed. After a flick of the wrist toward the demogres, the blade sped toward the horde like a speeding bullet and instantly razed through the monsters like butter. It didn't even take five seconds until all of them were cut to ribbons. The Six Hunters (and Iris) all gazed at my handiwork in complete terror.
"Alright, Joel. You can keep talking. If any monsters were to come close, I'll cut them down."
Whoosh!
"Um…Yes! As I was saying…" He swallowed down his terror just to save face with the group. A leader must stay calm and collected at times like this. "The message stated that the conversion of Earth and Athiens has resumed, meaning that this event is similar to when it first began eight months ago. Remember that light that shined on the planet? This seems awfully similar to that, except it's red this time."
Slash!
"…And? What are you getting at, old man?" Darion sarcastically asked.
"Once that red light ends, it is safe to assume that the conversion of Earth and Athiens will end. Which means that the portals that are still forming as we speak will end too."
Thud!
"Are you suggesting that we try to hold on as best we can until that light show is over? A battle of endurance?" Chen Ling said, scratching his head. Joel slowly nodded.
"…Yes. While we may be superhumans- stronger than the average human, we still have limits, and so do regular humans. We have a duty to fulfill, and that is to reduce the number of monsters the best we can, starting with Galveston. I'm sure other superhumans around the world are frantically doing their best to save themselves, and their cities. We should do the same."
Joel suddenly arose from his sitting position and grabbed his axe out of the Inventory. While Joel was talking this whole time, I'd already killed about a dozen monsters, and more keep on coming.
"U-Um, Joel." Sophie stopped the man before he could move any further. "What about Leo and Sam? We can't fight properly if we have to worry about them…"
"…You don't have to worry about me at all," a deep voice groaned. We all snapped our heads at this new voice, only to see a burly man slowly rising.
"Sam! You're awake!" Joel cheerfully roared.
"…I've only been knocked out for a few hours, but it feels like I've been out of it for years. What happened?" Sam asked, looking around the place.
"You got your ass beat by a Cardinal and archbishop and they left you to die. Joel found you and patched you up. Now, we are on Earth and monsters are everywhere in the world." Darion quickly summarized. Sam looked around once again and did a double take when he noticed that there really were monsters all around us. Quietly, Sam stood to his full height and grabbed a sword out of the Inventory.
"…Well, why are we just standing around here then?" Sam said.
"…Sam," Joel hesitated. "Are you really going out to fight with one arm?"
"Is there a problem? If I have functional limbs I can still fight, right?"
"B-But-"
Sam shuffled over to Joel and whispered into his ear so quietly that even I cannot hear them. Joel's face did gymnastics throughout the whole conversation, until Sam finally backed away, gazing at Joel with a straight face.
"…We'll split into three groups to cover more ground around the city. We'll kill as many monsters as possible."
"Joel, what are you-" Sophie interrupted, but Joel kept on speaking.
"…The first group will consist of me, Camila, Leo, and Darion. We will take Leo to a safe place and regroup with the others later. The second group will be Iris, Isaac, and Sophie. I want you to subjugate the monsters on the left side of the city. Finally, the last group will be Laila, Sam, and Chen Ling. You'll take on the right side and subjugate as many monsters as possible. This decision is final, and I don't want to hear any complaints, got it?" Joel ordered, glaring daggers at everyone. Everyone stayed silent, not daring to refuse Joel.
"…Alright then. Glad we all understand our roles. Now then…" Joel squatted down and wrapped Leo around his shoulders, securing him. "I don't know how long we'll be fighting for, but just know this. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you could always run away and join up with the others. Camila, Darion, follow me."
With boots crunching on the sandy beach, Joel then went on towards the city with Camila and Darion in tow.
"…Well, isn't he a reliable one, eh sister?" Isaac muttered near my ear. "We should probably get going. Alright team Isaac, let's go kill some monsters!"
Without even waiting for a reply, Isaac bolted straight toward the city. Just before Sophie could run after him, I stopped her by grabbing the young woman's shoulder.
"As you may have already known, my brother can be reckless. Please keep an eye on him."
"Yea… sure. I can do that," Sophie nodded.
"Kyuu!" Solgac let out a chirping noise as she hopped off my shoulders and into the arms of Sophie.
"Oh! Are you trying to say goodbye?" Sophie chuckled, stroking the dragon's backside. Solgac purred like a kitten as it nudged her head under Sophie's chin. The longer I watched, the more I could feel my lips curling into a smile involuntarily.
"Whoops! I've got to go! I can't have Isaac and Iris running off by themselves. Here you go, Laila." Solgac leaped right back on my shoulders as Sophie waved at us goodbye to catch up with her group. I turned around to face Sam and Chen Ling who has been waiting on the sidelines.
"Alright guys, you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Chen Ling smiled.
"Mhm," Sam replied with a grunt. He then strode over to us and stuck his arm out.
"Since we'll be fighting together, we should introduce ourselves. I was knocked out so I'm unfamiliar with you folk. I'm Sam Butcher, considered the strongest Dungeon Conqueror in America."
I gently shook his hand while introducing myself. "Nice to meet you, Sam. I'm Laila Hall."
After disengaging, Sam did the same with Chen Ling who happily followed along.
"Okay. Sam, Chen Ling, let's get started," I said to the men. They both nodded simultaneously. With me in the lead, we would then start the trek in defeating the monsters in the city. There was no going back now.