Grammo and Patty both heaved a sigh of relief as they saw the security come to their rescue. The Atlas security all had bulletproof armor on their torso, kevlar helmets, and hundreds of ammo on their clips. The most impressive part was that they moved at the same time without any explicit command from either one of them. Did they all have bluetooth earphones or something?
The expressions of those still stuck inside the arcade changed drastically as a sliver of hope flashed across their faces. Finally, they were being saved. A lot of them have given up hope that they would survive this place, but it looked like the Supreme Being they worshiped fulfilled their wishes and sent someone to save them.
As the Fiend finally got its bearings, it saw more human worms surrounding him. Where did they all come from? No matter, they would all become food anyway. It opened its jaws wide and showed the newcomers what kind of monster they were dealing with.
SKRAAAAAA
Like a bell that signaled the end of waiting for the soldiers as they started to unload every piece of ammo they had on the Fiend. A thousand bullets rained on the Fiend throughout all of its body in a matter of seconds. The floor was already filled with casings but the Atlas security didn't stop their barrage of 5.56mm caliber bullets. They didn't stop even if their guns started to glow a bright hot red from firing all those bullets.
And if that wasn't enough, some people temporarily let go of the trigger and took out grenades from their belt and tossed it towards the Fiend. About half of the guards threw an explosive on the Fiend and landed directly under it. It took a few seconds before a huge explosion blew up the Fiend and obscured the arcade in a dark smoke that smelled of gunpowder.
"Is it finally over?"
"The Fiend's dead?"
Everyone held their breath as they tried to peer through all the smoke that was obscuring their view. After all those bullets and those explosives, most of them expected that the Fiend was already dead; some even thought that using the explosives were overkill.
What would they see? Would they see a burnt corpse that was beyond recognition? This would be the best case scenario. Even if the skin and valuable Fiend materials were destroyed, at least they were finally rid of this beast.
But when the smoke finally cleared, all they could see was the charred ground where the grenades detonated. Was there nothing left after all that? Was the corpse turned to smithereens from all those explosions?
"Thank the Supremes! We're saved!"
Only Patty was still hesitant to call this a victory. After all, the Muscava Cyclo was still beside him buzzing in his mind. It was subtle and quiet, which meant that although Patty wasn't going to be harmed right away, he still shouldn't let down his guard.
Unfortunately for the guards, they didn't have a minion to remind them of that. One of them let go of his grip on his gun and took a short breath of relief. And just as he opened his mouth, the Fiend suddenly appeared behind him with its front legs high up in the air. The worst thing about it was that its muddy brown, wrinkly skin didn't have any burns or blemishes on it. It was as if the guns and explosions didn't do enough to penetrate through its skin.
With a casual flick of its legs, the Atlas security flew through the air and out the tent like he was a ragdoll.
It was at that point that everyone realized that even the penetrating power of automatic rifles and grenades weren't enough to save them from this nightmare. No matter how many bullets they rained on the Fiend, the lack of injuries and cuts from its skin meant that they would always fail at killing it. This was not something normal people can deal with.
"Oh, Supremes. We're dead!"
And just as everyone finally lost hope, a faint footstep reverberated through the arcade tent. It was faint, but it somehow echoed through everyone inside the tent who was in despair. Even though the situation was at its grimmest, the footsteps were casual and unconcerned. It gave them a sense of security and confidence.
"Now, how in the world did a bug like you get here?"
Unexpectedly, this voice was youthful. It didn't have the gravitas and experience that everyone expected. Even his words were arrogant beyond anything, saying that the Fiend everyone was afraid of as a 'bug'. There could only be two reasons why he would say that: one is that he was naive and ignorant about the dangers of Fiends, or two, he knew for a fact that compared to him, the Fiend was like a bug he could easily squish.
KRYAAAAAA
The Fiend suddenly screeched when it saw this newcomer. Even though the youth never showed himself, it immediately felt danger from him. It was as if the Fiend was transported back in the wild where there was a larger and more dangerous predator looking directly at it. How could that be? How could it feel fear from such a small creature?
The Fiend stood on all four of its legs, it opened its jaws wide and showed the mighty fangs it had, and its skin expanded like a balloon, smoothing out the wrinkles in its body. This was the Fiend's defense mechanism when it felt threatened; it made itself look bigger than it actually was.
SKKKYAAAA
It shouted to the top of its lungs for the chance that this new predator would think twice about trying to fight. It was a last ditch effort. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work.
Out of nowhere, a man in school uniform suddenly appeared above the Fiend's head, holding a katana on its sheath. Most people would think that he would use the katana to try and cut the Fiend, but he never did. The youth in the school uniform only held the handle of his katana and didn't even unsheathe it. Gravity pulled him down as he gently landed beside the monster's feet.
Then, he took a deep breath and relaxed. His expression looked like a man who finally did a very easy but very cumbersome chore that he didn't want to do.
"Hey young man, get out of there. The Fiend–"
The sentence wasn't even finished when a straight line from the top of the Fiend's head down to its crotch suddenly appeared. Blood spurted out from this line, and it didn't take long until the line started to separate and cut the Fiend cleanly in half. It was just as easy as that. The Fiend, who could withstand a barrage of high caliber bullets and explosions, was suddenly cut in half just like that.
One half of the Fiend fell forward and the other half fell back. Its brains and guts spilled out along with a flood of green blood. Although the sight was repulsing and stomach-churning, nobody was looking at the Fiend. Everybody was looking at the youth who killed the Fiend, seemingly without even taking out his katana.
The youth had spiky white hair and large blue eyes. He was wearing a CE (Chain Education) uniform, which was the same school where Patty and Grammo was from. However, his uniform was a little bit different in design, which was a bit more sophisticated in its design with more prominent colors and a customized emblem.
But the most eye-catching thing he had was the katana beside him. It was exuding a sort of danger and power that was kind of similar to the Fiend, but this was more intense with a completely different taste. Patty and Grammo knew what kind of weapon this was.
It was a Fiendish Armament.
It was the only man-made weapon in humanity's arsenal that can deal with monsters and Fiends. It was made from the materials scavenged from the corpses of more powerful Fiends, so their durability was nothing to scoff at. Not only that, just below the handle was a spherical indentation where a black crystal laid inside; this Fiendish Armament was also powered up with a high purity Kore that was at least in the high 50s.
The power held inside one of these things was beyond anything that a human could contain. Which could only mean that this youth was no ordinary person; he was a Dreamer. He was someone who was trained how to properly harness and improve his Teqx powers.
"Thank you for suppressing the Fiend before I got here. I stopped by for some snacks."
"Are you a student from Chain Education?" asked one of the Atlas security.
"Yes, but no. I'm a 2nd year student at Chain University, which is the college for Chain Education. I'm an officer for the Student Body Council dispatched to take care of this problem. You can ask those guys," he said as he pointed at Grammo and Patty without even looking at them.