"What the hell is happening?" Leon muttered under his breath as he gazed at the horrific scene before him. The city was reduced to rubble, with buildings shattered, flames engulfing everything, and thick smoke choking the air. He could hear the cries of agony and the bursts of gunfire in the far distance, and the stench of blood and death assaulted his nostrils. A cold sweat drenched his forehead, and his heart hammered in his chest. He glanced at his three friends, who shared his shock and disbelief. They had just stepped out of their institute, and now they were trapped in a nightmare.
He saw monstrous creatures prowling the streets, each one more grotesque than the last. Some had wings, some had claws, and some had tentacles. They were hunting down the remaining humans, ripping them to shreds, and feasting on their flesh. Leon felt a wave of panic and dread wash over him, wondering if they had any chance of survival even with his friends' abilities.
Suddenly, one of the monster packs lunged at them. It was a silver gorilla, twice as big as a normal one, with four arms. Its fur was scorched and soaked with blood, and in some places, its bones were exposed. Its arms were massive, and its fingers ended in lethal claws. Its mouth was wide open, revealing rows of jagged teeth and a black abyss. Its face was twisted in a ferocious snarl, showing its hostility.
As it closed in, Leon felt his body paralyze. No matter how hard he tried to move, his muscles refused to obey. Fear gripped his body, and he felt himself sinking into the ground.
Meanwhile, his friends snapped into action as they recovered from the shock unlike him.
Neophem and James charged ahead, and their bodies were enveloped by a blue glow. The blue aura lasted for a few seconds, and when it faded, they were wearing full armor made of the same blue light. They also wielded a sword and a shield each, engraved with mysterious runes. Marcus, on the other hand, retreated a step. His violet eyes shone brightly, and a matching aura surrounded him.
Leon shook off his fear when he witnessed his friends' display of magic. He was about to retreat from the danger, when the monsters' heads burst open, spraying blood and flesh in the air. The sound of three gunshots echoed in his ears, a moment too late.
"It seems that we are safe for now but we need to get out of here before more of them show up," Marcus said, as he looked back to the source of the gunshots and then his eyes returned to normal and the aura faded away.
"We will carry you. It will be much faster that way," Neophem said as he swiftly picked up Leon and ran. James did the same with Marcus and followed him.
The two of them ran at a speed that surpassed normal humans, even with their extra weight. They reached the room that was a kilometer away in just ten seconds.
As they entered, they saw the sight of about twenty men resting. Some of them were unconscious from their wounds, while others were either resting or bandaging themselves. They all turned their heads when they heard the door open, ready to fight, but when they recognized the faces of their young masters, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
One of the men stood up to greet the group. He walked up to Marcus, who had regained his footing, and said, "Master Marcus, it's good to see you again. Are you all okay? Any injuries?"
"Good to see you too, Alex. Luckily, we're all fine," Marcus replied.
"Good, good. Where's Jairus? Is he still outside?" Alex asked, looking around for the missing member of the group.
"Yeah, he's still in the institute, fighting off some of the Zulu family's men," Marcus explained.
"They already made a move?" Alex asked in surprise, not expecting any other family to attack in this chaotic time.
"Yeah, I have no idea how they managed to get past the swarms of monsters outside and reach the institute. Speaking of monsters, your men look terrible. What happened to you?" Marcus asked, curious about what had happened to Alex's squad, which was considered one of the best squads as it consisted of elite warriors from both families
"Don't get me started, after the survival phase started, these monsters have been swarming in the thousands everywhere. And when we got the notification that our bloodline abilities were being weakened, we were ordered to go to you and your group to protect you in case of any trouble.
On our way, we ran into a group of powerful monsters. It looked like a boss and some elites.
Things got out of hand quickly as they attacked us head-on. And they were surprisingly strong, very strong.
We wouldn't even have been able to retreat if it weren't for Nate, who covered us with his shots. We were resting and getting ready to enter before you showed up. But now that you're here, we should head back to the Family residence."
"Sure, let's just wait for Jairus, he shouldn't take too long to catch up with us and you can give your men some more time to rest," Marcus agreed.
"You got it. By the way, who's that kid that came with you? Is he a friend? You know it's forbidden to bring strangers to the Family residence, especially in times like these," Alex asked, pointing at Leon who was chatting with Neophem and James.
"Don't worry about him, he's clean, the intelligence corps already checked him out, so it won't be a problem to bring him with us. Besides, there's something different about him, but I can't quite put my finger on it," Marcus assured.
"If you say so," Alex said, dropping the subject. "Then let's just wait for Jairus and then we can head back. And before I forget, there are many things about this system we'll talk about later. Right now, it's classified as top secret information, so I can't tell you anything until the Round Table Council meets, but try to kill as many monsters as you can, as it will help you out." After saying that, he sat down and closed his eyes to take a short nap.
But his rest was cut short as after a few minutes the door opened and Jairus walked in.
His whole body was splattered with blood. His hair was soaked with blood and he was holding several heads in his hands. Upon closer inspection, they were the heads of the people who had attacked them earlier.
The previous glow in his eyes had faded a lot, leaving only a faint glimmer that made him look more menacing.
He scanned the room and relaxed when he saw familiar faces. He headed over to Marcus and Alex.
He nodded at Marcus who was awake and then kicked Alex who was asleep sending him rolling over
" Get up, you are the leader and you think you can sleep in the middle of this chaos " he mocked
Alex looked at Jairus with bloodshot eyes as he got up and said
"You little damn piece of shit, do you want me to beat you like I used to? "
" I want to see you trying old man, do you think we are still in your training ground ? "
" Fucking ungrateful little brat, I made you a man and now you want to use your strength against me " murmured Alex as he didn't responds to Jairus' provocation.
" Don't act like I'm unfair to you, old man. You're the one who said I should hit you whenever I see you if I can. I'm just fulfilling your request. "
" Yeah, yeah just forget about it already and let's start moving towards the family residence, there will be a round table council soon " he said, shifting the joking atmosphere into a serious one.
Jairus's expression did not turn to surprise, but rather to seriousness, as if he had expected the matter
" This is expected, especially with everything that has happened. I just hope that things do not turn into a global massacre. The world's military forces are barely stopping the monsters. If we do not intervene quickly, the matter will turn into an unprecedented catastrophe, but I'm that those ancient bags of bones will only care about their lives as always " he said
" Don't worry, I don't think things will be that bad this time especially with a variable appearing as the system I guess you already tried a few of his abilities, so you know what I am speaking about " assured Alex.
A look of understanding appeared on Jairus' face after he heard Alex's words. He had seen for himself the capabilities of the system, so he didn't think he couldn't convince the old men of the importance of intervening especially with the help of Alex.
" Then let's head to the residence " Declared Marcus after seeing that their conversation ended.
With his order everyone in the room stood and held their weapons as they prepared themselves to go outside and fight the monsters.
Noticing the serious expression on everyone faces Jairus said
" Don't worry I already cleaned the nearby areas, we won't be bothered by monsters, at least until we go a little further away."
" Huh ?You did what ? " Said Alex with a confused look on his face as if he wasn't able to process the words he heard.