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Ten black-colored Dungeon Gates had opened surrounding the city of New York, and from them, an endless army of thousands of Undead and Shadow Beasts started pouring out. Their ranks ranged from C to S.
For some miracle, none of the Dungeon Gates opened inside the city. The Hunters had no idea how this had happened but had no time to think about it anyway. Every hunter available in the city was quickly forced to defend it, rushing outside in large, organized groups.
The five strongest Hunter Guilds of the city organized into enormous armies, each one of a minimum of a thousand Hunters. Led by the five available S-Rank Hunters in the city, they clashed against the endless army while the people inside the city walls could only watch through the cameras.
The battle had only started some minutes ago, but there were already many casualties—the bodies of hunters littering the ground—while those that had yet to die were giving their all to clash against the rest of the monsters.
The Hunter's Association Chairman led the army of humans in this intense battle for the survival of one of the largest cities in the country that had managed to not only survive the Apocalypse but thrive through it.
A tall black man transformed into Nicholas. His entire body grew up to ten meters in height, his bulky muscles gaining a metallic sheen as he overflowed with all his Mana Energy, erupting from his body.
"RAAAH!"
With a furious roar, he leaped into action, clashing into the middle of the army of Undead and Shadow Beasts, his gigantic fists pulverizing anything that came into contact with them.
Zombies, Skeletons, Death Knights, and Undead Wyverns all died the same, their bodies pulverized to smithereens as Nicholas' mighty fists crushed them all.
Accompanying him were four more S-Rank hunters.
A blonde man with angelic wings behind him, holding a spear and a shield, and wearing white armor. His bright blue eyes shone as his spear pierced his foes a hundred times with each swing, explosions of light spreading everywhere and his magic wings allowing him to move at lightning speed across the battlefield. John Allgood, Guild Master of the Justice Guild.
A beautiful woman with short brown hair and many tattoos covering her almost red-brown skin. with clear features that gave away that she was a Native American descendant, wearing light armor made of dragon bones and holding onto a huge axe, crushing through it all with her almighty strength. Her muscles easily surpass those of everyone here except Nicholas. Aiyana, Guild Master of the Guardian Guild.
A pale-skinned, black-haired man whose eyes were completely silver-colored. He wore only the lightest of rogue clothes; his movements were precise as he melded within the shadows, appearing and disappearing with his abilities and engulfing his foes with a barrage of knife attacks or explosions of shadow magic. Jackes Heisen, Guild Master of the Rogue Guild.
And lastly, a young man, not older than nineteen years of age, wearing magician clothes and a big magician hat. His youthful and slightly adorable face showed clear joy as he used his magic to bombard everything. Fire, ice, wind, lightning—everything engulfed the skeletons and zombies, turning them into nothing but ashes with a simple thought. He was a master of magic. Francisco Armstrong, the young Guild Master of the Wizard Guild.
All of these S-Rank hunters were the pride of New York and also represented the different groups of people that made up the population of New York. Each of their guilds was like a pillar to maintain both peace and order in the big city, and now they were giving their all to protect their very home from an invasion that came out of nowhere.
"These damn bastards never stop coming!" Nicholas complained, gasping for air as he looked at the system window in front of him. "Shit, this damn thing!"
[Warning! A Surprise Raid is under effect!]
[The {Populated Area}: [New York City] has been chosen by the Tower Gods to undergo a special trial of endurance and strength!]
[Survive the ten waves of Undead and Shadow Type enemies to receive amazing rewards! Or perish by protecting your city. The choice is yours to make.]
[Based on how many Monsters you defeat, you will gain a special Raid score; the more score you have, the more rewards you can exchange for in the Special Raid Shop once the Raid is done!]
[Current Waves: 2/10]
[Current Bosses: 1/10]
For some people, this might seem like a great opportunity to Level Up and gain incredible Loot. Perhaps to the mighty Rankers of the Tower that has reached past Floor 30. But for people from Earth, who were so behind compared to the other Players from different Worlds connected to the Tower, this was a nightmare.
The only S Rank hunters here were these five, and everyone else could simply not fight so many foes at once. Even the strongest B Rank and A Rank hunters were progressively growing tired; even with healers and potions, Nicholas had already calculated that they wouldn't be able to resist past the fourth wave.
"Is Yanisse not here yet?!" Aiyana roared; her giant bone axe clashed and sliced apart a Giant Zombie Chimera into two perfect halves before making it explode with black flames coming from the axe's cursed powers.
"We've already called for her and backup from the nation!" Said Nicholas. "But they'll take some time to get here! And Yanisse is unavailable; after completing that S-Rank Gate, she went to climb the tower and hasn't returned ever since then!"
"She went to climb the tower when our country's safety is much more important than that?!" John complained in utter disbelief as he unleashed a rain of spears of light towards his foes, bombarding everything.
"We've somehow managed to defeat that S-Rank boss; it was rather weak for an S-Rank, but I don't think we can continue with this for much longer! The backup better brings at least twenty more S Ranks, or we're fucking done for!" Jackes said, his knives moving at lightning speed as his entire body divided itself into hundreds of clones.
"But what about that woman, Bing Xue, or whatever her name was?" Francisco asked. "Wasn't she world-class too?"
"S-She's in the Tower too, and well, unlike Yanisse, we have no authority over her decisions. We can't force her to help us." Sighed Nicholas.
"WHAT?! But she lives in this damned city, right?!" Aiyana was losing her mind, her strong, bulky arms bulging with strength, as she took a step forward and gave a mighty lioness roar. Ancient Beast Spirits emerged from within her many tattoos, giving her a temporary boost in power. Her roar intimidated the Undead and Shadow Beasts, pushing them back.
"I know, but-"
"Humans, your time has come."
Before the S-Rank Hunters could even continue their talk in between an intense and endless battle, from one of the portals, a second Boss appeared. And then a second, a third, and a fourth. All of them were much stronger than the first S-Rank boss, who was a "Miasmic Slug Queen," slow and big, an easy target for magicians.
However, these four were much different; they weren't even that big, only about three meters in height alone, but all four of them wore black armor, holding different, cursed weapons. And they were all riding skeleton horses, also covered in armor.
"W-What? Four S-Rank Bosses at once?!" Nicholas muttered in utter disbelief. "We need a minimum of four Expert S-Rank hunters to take down one…!"
And the system window, like an accursed harbinger of death, loomed over their heads.
[The {Special Raid Boss}: {Four Knights Of The Apocalypse (S+ Rank)} have been Summoned!]
[The {Special Raid Boss}: {Knight Of Death} brings back the Undead that has been slain within a 100-meter vicinity of himself!]
[The {Special Raid Boss}: {Knight Of Pestilence} spreads a deadly disease and poison that weakens all foes within a 100-meter vicinity of himself, lowering stats and draining HP!]
[The {Special Raid Boss}: {Knight Of War} roars with almighty warmongering fury; every ally that hears his roars gains a boost to all their stats!]
[The {Special Raid Boss}: {Knight of Conquest} will constantly summon new Knight-type Undead to battle for him. He will not stop until he conquers everything!]
All four knights activated their special abilities, bringing despair and destruction everywhere. The Undead, many of whom had just been defeated, suddenly regenerated completely, beginning to massacre the already exhausted Hunters.
A deadly disease and poison aura spread everywhere; those that touched it instantly began bleeding from their eyes, ears, and noses, vomiting blood and feeling their health rapidly decreasing while their stats lowered, making them feel completely weak and easy targets for the already raised Undead.
The rest of the monsters suddenly became much more aggressive; with enhanced stats, they became faster, smarter, and stronger. Blood and guts splattered everywhere as the knights laughed while seeing the humans suffer and despair.
And lastly, hundreds of more knights appeared, being summoned endlessly at almost a rate of one per second; they were all A-Rank Monsters, strong enough to easily cut through most humans with their swords.
"No… Dammit!" Nicholas screamed, thinking about his daughters, who were sheltering inside the city. "We have to kill them quickly! I'll take down the conquest guy; you all take one of them!"
"Wait, Nicholas! Don't lose your temper!" Said John. "We can't separate- Wait!"
Nicholas was confident in his own strength. As long as he landed a strong blow on those small-looking knights, he was sure he could kill them in one shot!
"RAAAAH!"
With a mighty roar, his giant fists landed toward the Knight of Conquest, and explosions of magic erupted as his Mana Break allowed him to ignore and destroy the knight's barrier. For a second, Nicholas thought he could win!
"Your magic has no use against my fists!"
As his fists rushed down, however, the Knight quickly unsheathed his great sword, overflowing with red flames. In a split second, one hundred slashing attacks covered Nicholas's bulky arms, covering them with horrendous wounds that barely managed not to cut his bones, blood splattering everywhere.
"AAARGH!"
"Foolish human, you dare go against me, Conquest?!"
Conquest quickly leaped forward with his horse, his sword piercing and stabbing Nicholas while covering him with deadly red flames that sapped away his soul essence.
"Uuaaaggh!Noo!"
Nicholas screamed in agony, trying his best to resist, but he had become the plaything of the Boss already; his ankles were cut so he couldn't move, and his soul was being slowly eaten by his cursed sword!
"What a delicious soul! Our Master shall be greatly pleased once I present him with this gift!"
"No… Why?!"
Nicholas cried in frustration as he tried to fight, but chains of darkness wrapped around his body. He suddenly saw the other Knights approaching, conjuring magic to keep him in place!
"NICHOLAS!"
The four other S-Ranks rushed to help, only for the Knights to intercept their every attack with incredible technique and might. John's wings were cut off, and his spear was destroyed. Aiyana's armor was crushed, and her arms were cut off. Jackes' legs were shredded to pieces, and his chest was stabbed by a poisonous sword. And Francisco was beheaded before he could do anything.
"No…! Don't… come! NO!"
The Undead kept moving forward, every second closing towards the city walls.
The only thing every Hunter fighting could feel was utter despair.
Humanity, without a doubt, had lost this battle.
Nicholas kept praying, but no Tower God answered his plea.
He was unaware that it was the Gods themselves that set this up to begin with.
"Die, human champion! You fought well for such a pathetic ant!"
Conquest's sword moved towards Nicholas's neck, about to behead him in a second.
SLAAASH!
Yet.
YET!
"Huh?"
Nicholas's eyes widened in shock as a sword made of light pierced Conquest's head, slowly splitting the knight's entire body into two halves and making him collapse over the ground.
Above the skies, a beautiful maiden made of eternal light emerged, her presence so powerful and almighty that it made the entire Undead army halt.
Her radiance was as bright as the sun, if not even brighter.
"A-A Goddess…?"
Yet Nicholas slowly recognized that appearance.
"B-Bing… BING XUE!"
In between tears, he realized that someone had answered his prayers.
"Fear not, my dear family. For I have come. And I shall not let any of these gods take away the world I live in and the world where my father has been buried. This world is yours as much as it is mine." She spoke with an almost divine voice. "Let us protect it together; let us fight together. Rise; this battle is not over. Fight; you have not lost yet. Win; victory is within your hands."
With a few inspiring words, waves of Time Essence covered the battlefield.
All people's wounds were instantly recovered, and those who died gruesomely were miraculously revived as their own time was reversed back to when they were alive.
Every person who died...
They all came back!
And this was being filmed and shown on international television!
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