One of those green creatures jumps at them, running with its arms wide open, little claws on the end of their hands. "Fuck off." In a cold and dry tone and lightning-fast reflexes, Cain applies a low kick on the creature, bursting its side and sending its small body flying.
Surprised, Tyler and Spencer look at their friend, who tries to clean off his shoe by rubbing it against the ground. "Since when are you so fast?" There is no way someone normal, maybe Elliot or Spencer would be able to react so fast in a counterattack.
People scream and despair, running in aimless panic as goblins start to attack them. The fit and strong are able to drive away the goblins, a few unlucky ones being ganged by the little freaks, while the weak get preyed upon, swarmed by them the same.
More and more goblins get out of the ground, a swarm would surround them at any minute now. "We have to get out of here!" Turning away, Tyler runs with Spencer and Cain following behind him.
Trying to pay no mind to what is happening behind him, they have way bigger numbers. There is nothing they can do but run, run away as fast as they can. As they continue to run, a deafening roar comes from the sky.
Like lightning exploding right next to them, looking at the sky, a mighty reptile flies, with two
Great wings. A wyvern. Even from afar, the fire blasts being cast from its mouth and onto the city are easily visible— great fireballs swallowing whole sections of buildings and blowing them away.
The question of what had bombarded buildings is being answered now: It was this thing. An honest-to-God wyvern. Cold sweat fell from his forehead, his body heating up and stamina growing thin. They are sprinting at full speed, they won't be able to maintain that pace for long.
The only silver lining is the dragon going away from where they are running to. Goblins, a wyvern… 'Did that fucking gacha predict this?' The blonde didn't pay enough attention to the notifications on his cellphone, but he remembered their content.
A warning about the incoming Apocalypse. The calm before the storm. If he has a point— He got Leviathan, yet he can't control water, Spencer got Susanoo, but he isn't throwing lightning around… "Cain! This is important, so don't question me! What did you get in the gacha?"
He talks out loud, for his message to go clear. They are running for their lives, looking back, much like him, Spencer is already starting to sweat and tire, but Cain looks good, not an ounce of tiredness in his face or body language.
"What— Know what, fuck it. I got Black Hound Barghest." With a bit of hesitation, Cain answers. The hesitation in his voice was of surprise, rather than lack of air or stamina. Despite the speed they are running, he still seems calm, and fresh.
"What does this have to do with any of this?" Screams Spencer, being the most tired of the trio due to the backpack he is carrying.
"You will understand soon! Hey Cain, are you stronger, faster, do you smell things better? Hear them better?" If Barghest is a type of dog, then those things are given for what it does.
"What stupid shit are you sa— Actually, yeah, I… My sense of smell and hearing things are better." If he got superpowers based on a dog, then it explains his strange increase in reflexes and strength, why are he and Spencer still "normal"?
"I think I figured something out about this Pandemonium!" There must be something he is missing. "Let's stop by that alley! We need to rest and think." Spencer grunts, but doesn't argue against the decision.
Reaching the alley, his metalhead friends drop to the ground, almost exhausted, as expected, Cain looks normal, almost bored. Time to figure things out. "Cain. What rarity is this Barghest you got?"
Cain gives a stare, before sighing. "Three Stars. What does it have to do with anything?" 3 Stars. He got a seven-star, and Spencer a six-star. They didn't get any physical enhancement, but Cain did.
Tyler has a working theory. "Well, you guys will call me crazy, but I think that "gacha" has something to do with the hell going on." Spencer looks at him, like one looks at a madman, while Cain just arches his left eyebrow.
"It is insane, I know, but… what do we have to explain? A WYVERN is flying in the sky. Goblins sprouting out of the ground. The gacha, or whatever it was, sent a bunch of notifications talking about Armageddon."
Picking his cellphone, he opens it, to show a good deal of spam messages about the danger, the storm, Apocalypse, Ragnarök… all from the same sender, the gacha. "I don't know how or why, but it ties back to the gacha. Cain got a three-star: Barghest. Now he has super strength, stamina, reflexes, and keen senses."
It doesn't make sense, no one should become that strong or better out of nowhere. "If this is true, then the gacha was trying to warn us and give us something. Cain, do you know something about this "Barghest" thing? What powers does it have?"
If it has something supernatural, the better. If not, having a Superman on your side never hurts. "As far as I know, it is a type of hellhound, it heralds death." This could be good or bad news… 'Well, better know what it does rather than going in blind.'
Spencer clears his throat, calling for their attention. "If it is true, then why do you and I don't get any supernatural or physical power?" A fair point, thank God he already thought of that.
"The rarity. You and I got high-star characters. I don't know how it works, but if it is like any gacha, low stars generally have something to edge them, justify using them over high rarity."
If it is not like a P2W game, then what they get over high stars is the fact: "They start stronger, those with lower stars get their power early. This is my theory." How much of it is true, if it even has any sliver of truth, is debatable
"So, your power is based on a hellhound. Do you get stronger if you want to kill someone? Or something like that?" Out of the blue, the metalhead brings in the topic of supernatural power, rather than the palpable one.
Cain holds his chin, thinking about the topic. "I think so? I thought of killing that little freak, so I kicked it. Guess so? Anyway, if I want to test it, there will be no shortage of things to kill." The "black hound" says, pointing towards something on the other end of the alley.
This sparks the attention of the jock and metalhead, who looks towards where he is pointing: A group of thirteen goblins, coming from the other end. There are plenty of subjects to use as tests for his power.
"Barghest is a hound that heralds death… so to get it going, I just have to kill, right?" A wave of sudden fear fills the alley, making Tyler and Spencer's hearts almost jump out of their chest, in an instant, their friend has changed.
His sclera was blood-red, and long and sharp claws grew on his hands, as a disgusting and hateful aura covered the new-found sharp talons of his fingers. Like a rabid dog, Cain advances upon the goblin swarm, without care or regard for anything else.
They don't need a pick inside his head to understand what is going there: "Kill them all". Swiping his claws with recklessness, the goblins don't see what hits them, being ripped apart like paper, those who are not touched by the claws directly, fall sickly on their knees, as the disgusting aura spreads like a disease through them, darkening the blood in their veins.
Tyler looks away, Spencer covers his mouth but does not take his eyes off Cain. In a few moments, the goblins swarm, falling like flies in a few seconds, as if they were not there. "Hm. I think I got the hang of it?"
Despite the massacre he wrought upon the goblins, their friend wasn't impressed by what he did, almost as if he had done it his entire life. If a 3-star is capable of that, what is the power of those beyond them? Had they known, they could've stood behind to protect all those people…
"HOOOOOWL!" Suddenly, Cain falls to his knees. "Hey, are you okay?" Without wasting time, Tyler runs towards his friend, but out of nowhere, a strange vibration echoes inside his head, directly inside his brain. Like a radio's static but familiar… "Shit! What is that?"
His stomach turns away, knotting itself, as bile rushes through his throat. Fear, trepidation, anxiety, and death wash all at once inside his heart as the sound grows louder and louder, almost making him feel like his head would explode.
The sound was almost like a Dog's howl.