Barren.
That was the word to describe what was left of the state of Alaska.
It was either that....
Or warzone.
It looked like several nukes had went off and completely ruined what was once a beautiful, green, lustrous part of the northern continent.
An asteroid size crater was left in the center from the clash of, what could be described as, two monsters.
Though the word "relief" was often used a lot in conjunction with the others.
It was a relief that the Weepingbell family were so quick in responding along with the Awakener's Bureau to evacuate the northern state.
There were no casualties.....
It was a relief that the Black Hawk Guild was there to stop the dungeon break from spreading further and keep the monsters from escaping into Canada and further beyond....
And it was a relief that the one hunter....
The one and only hunter that was able to hold off the godlike boss monster....
Was there to face the beast and ultimately defeat it after what felt like a year long struggle....
The battle ended after 5 hours.
Which was marked as humanity's first victory against the calamities that were to come....
And the last.
________________________
The dungeon break in Alaska was just the start however.
Like dominos set in a line....
Dungeon break after dungeon break fell upon the unsuspecting countries of earth.
The people of the US were lucky.
Thanks to the quick response from the first responders, the Weepingbell family, the dungeon break in Alaska only lasted for a moment and didn't have time to spread.
Thus, the Weepingbell family's name spread throughout the continent.
All thanks to their star, Olivia Weepingbell....
Who, like the rumored genius she is, used the newly awakened S Ranked rookie, Puck Gier, as a spear head to spread the Weepingbell's influence all over the globe.
Olivia became the model of the Weepingbell family.
You couldn't hear the Weepingbell family name with having Olivia come up at the same time.
Her sphere of influence was massive and, even though she was the only Weepingbell in the family's long history to not be an awakened, her genius in all other aspects of life shined brighter than ever.
Decisiveness, leadership, communication skills, ethics, approachability, beauty, finance management, analysis, creativity....
She didn't lack in any of these categories.
And that's exactly how Puck somehow got roped into being Olivia's quote on quote "childhood friend" and ticket to fame....
Though you had to admit, Olivia Weepingbell had the uncanny ability to turn any situation into a profit.
That's one of the many reasons why Puck also agreed to being in a partnership with the Weepingbell family.
A sponsor, if you will....
Plus, of course, Olivia and Puck weren't the only one who benefited from the Dungeon break in Alaska.
Rebecca Washington and her Black Hawk guild became famous for having a huge part in taking down "The Colossus", which was the nickname for the boss monster that appeared from the dungeon break.
She and her guild members were busy taking care of the "small fry" that appeared after the boss.
Each of which were on the same level as a A-S Ranked boss from a dungeon.
This feat alone allowed the Black Hawk Guild to move up to places in the world wide dungeon ranking and caused a huge influx of support and guild applications to come flowing in.
But the main fact remained that the sole person responsible for taking down "The Colossus"....
Was one Puck Gier.
Which earned him the moniker, "The One Manned Guild".
Along with the nickname, "The Screaming Wolf".
Mostly due to the fact that after he defeated"The Colossus", he stood atop it's corpse and let out a ungodly scream like roar.
(Imagine Hollow Ichigo's scream from Bleach.)
But, of course....
The world's awe and excitement didn't last long.
For not even three days after the dungeon break in Alaska....
One appeared again in Moscow.
Then another in Germany.
All over the world, countries began to experience an influx in dungeon breaks and increase in dungeon difficulty.
Those that lacked in power from the beginning, smaller countries like Korea for example, because to experience numerous casualties and great loss of land as the undefeated dungeon breaks spread quickly....
And if it wasn't from the support and sacrifices from the top guilds, humanity would have easily faced a cataclysmic event.
Though those with connections were able to ask for support from the Weepingbell family, and in extension, the one known for being able to stop dungeon breaks before they could even start....
But this was only the beginning.
The world quickly gathered and unanimously agreed that their awakeners weren't nearly up to par.
That they grew complacent.
SS and SSS Ranked gates, albeit still rare, began to appear more and more frequently, and the only one to have ever stopped one single handedly, without any casualties....
Was a Gacha Type user.
Which brought up a whole series of question and debate about Puck's actual rank being a lie and a retest.
And that he should come forward and publicly show his status.
Thankfully the Awakener's Bureau's president had his back and so did the Weepingbell family....
But the further humanity was pushed towards the edge with frequent dungeon breaks....
The more the public demanded for Puck to reveal his secrets.
Which is also one of the reasons why he's in his current situation....
_______________________
"They'd flip if they knew I did all that while most of my abilities were restricted.... Thank God for Virgil's sword though, even with my stats, that monster was a beast." Puck thought to himself as he hummed in thought.
He was currently kicking his legs childishly as he waited in front of the Awakener's Bureau's main building.
Who or what was he waiting for?
Well for the person who invited him, obviously!
But seriously, he was invited by none other than....
"I'm sorry, were you waiting long?"
A smooth and even tone suddenly broke Puck's inner monologue.
It sounded motherly, yet also dignified, as if it belonged to a queen or person of royalty.
"Damn....do all female awakened sound like they belong on a throne?" He thought to himself as a fairly dark skinned woman walked up to him.
She was covered head to toe in jewelry, including several enchanted rings on each finger and several necklaces hung around her neck.
She was young, no older than her early 30s, and absolutely gorgeous.
A gold tiara with a purple amethyst sat atop her dark black hair that feel in waves over her shoulders.
Her eyes were a deep shade of navy blue, almost purple, in color and glinted with intelligence and a deep curiosity.
Like she was trying her best to stare through Puck's very being.
She wore a expensive looking and grandiose leopard print dress with black feathered boa draped over her shoulders to match.
Dark red lipstick and black high heels completed her look.
All in all....
Puck had to admit, she looked more like a super model than the most richest woman in the world.
The woman suddenly suddenly stuck her hand out for Puck to take. "Hello~! My name's Zuri Akintola, but most just call me Mistress Night Lily. Or you can simply call me Lily if you'd like~" Shed say silkily giving Puck a small wink.
Now, Puck isn't dense, nor is he an idiot.
He knew when he was being flirted with, of course, how could he not?
That doesn't mean it didn't feel any less strange.
And it did.
Terribly so.
"Yes....so.... Mrs. Lily.... What can I do for you? It must be something pretty important, especially for someone like you to call in something as expensive as a favor from the Weepingbell family." Puck said evenly, even though he was trying his damnedest to not stair at Zuri's ample....assets.
Luckily for him however, the experience he gained from the past few days were enough to squash his usual childish behavior and demeanor.
Meaning, Puck no longer wore his emotions on his sleeve.
I mean....
How could he?
He'd be seen as a psycho if everyone could see that he had already long since gone over the deep end.
But, much to Puck's relief, Zuri took his response as him asking her to get straight to the point.
"The rumors about you were right.... You're a lot more intimidating and clever than you appear." She says with a small giggle, causing Puck's jaw to drop since he didn't know whether to take it as compliment or not, but she continues nonetheless. "But the main reason why I invited you here today is to ask...."
"If you could lend a hand in saving all of humanity." A gruff voice suddenly spoke up from behind them, catching the off guard and interrupting Zuri mid sentence.
They both turned to their head towards the source of the voice, only to come face to face with a man in white hospital garbs.
His hair was a startling white color, although he looked to be in his mid to late 20s.
Although bandages covered half his head, shielding his right eye from view, the glare from his left eye was plain as day.
His ocean blue eyes seemed to glow with a fierce golden energy as he glared daggers at Puck's form.
His left arm was hanging limply in a sling, but other than that, he was a rather handsome looking man at a even 6' in height.
Before either Puck or Zuri could say a word at his sudden appearance, the barefoot man suddenly appeared in front of Puck before promptly grabbing him by his throat and lifting him off the ground.
"Now why don't you tell us....how the hell a guy like you could be of any use to us?!" The man snapped, only to met with a uninterested and bored look from Puck.
Zuri simply let out a small amused huff. "Well now....isn't this a surprise~! What brings you here, leader of the former number one ranked guild in the world, Gregory Oswald~?"
Yes, the man in hospital clothes was none other than Gregory Oswald, current guildaster of the 2nd Ranked Guild in the world, The Black Lions and the current #1 dps class in the world....
Well....
Other than Puck of course.
The Black Lions were ranked #1 until they were suddenly overtaken by their rivals, The Black Hawk Guild.
And the reason why was currently sitting limply in Gregory's grip.
Gregory only gave her fierce glare in response, completely missing the fact that Puck's eyes began to glow an ominous, yet familiar, crimson.
To Be Continued~
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End Chapter 28~