As he ascended towards Violet's position, the echoes of the crowd's chants, "Harbinger! Harbinger!" still rang in his ears. It was a name they'd come to trust even more in the future, a symbol of hope amidst the chaos.
But there was no time to revel in their adoration. The source of the monstrosities had to be destroyed, or this nightmare would never end.
Violet stood at the edge of a tall, decrepit building, her expression was extremely serious as her eyes glowed with a soft, ethereal light as she spoke to Kayn,"I've located the source,"
"It's deep underground, beneath what used to be an old CADMUS laboratory. They've been using it as a breeding ground for these creatures, and it's heavily fortified."
Kayn nodded, his Six Eyes already scanning the area below where Violet had signified. An unusual energy signature was pulsing beneath the surface that matched the unusual energy of the monsters, meaning that was indeed the source.
"We'll need to move quickly," Kayn said, his mind already racing with strategies. "The longer we wait, the more of these abominations they'll unleash. Can you disrupt their defenses?"
Violet smiled, her confidence returning, "Leave it to me. I'll tear down their barriers and weaken their forces. You just focus on getting inside and destroying whatever they're using to create these things."
Kayn and Violet immediately set off towards the CADMUS lab. They moved with the precision of a well-oiled machine, their years of training and experience guiding them through the ruined streets of National City.
As they approached the lab's hidden entrance, Violet raised her hands, weaving intricate patterns in the air. A soft, violet light began to emanate from her fingertips, spreading out in waves that shimmered through the air.
The illusionary barriers and traps set by CADMUS flickered, then shattered, revealing a massive steel door embedded in the ground.
"There it is," Violet said, her voice strained from the effort. "I've disabled the outer defenses, but there's still a lot more inside."
Kayn stepped forward, his eyes narrowing as he studied the door. It was reinforced with layers of anti-magic alloys, designed to keep out anyone who might try to breach it. But he wasn't just anyone.
Kayn ran towards the door, swinging his fist ferociously as he unleashed his pure physical power onto the door.
~BOOM~
The steel groaned and buckled under the force, and with a final, deafening crack, it was torn from its hinges, revealing a dark, foreboding tunnel that led deep underground.
"Let's go," Kayn said, his voice echoing through the tunnel as he stepped inside.
Violet followed closely behind, her senses on high alert as they descended into the darkness. The tunnel was long and winding, the air thick with the stench of decay and machinery.
The deeper they went, the stronger the oppressive energy became, it was proof that they were reaching closer and closer to the source of these monstrous entities.
Finally, they reached a massive chamber, lit by a sickly green light that emanated from a large, cylindrical machine at its center. The machine pulsed with a dark, malevolent energy, surrounded by tubes and wires that fed into the walls of the chamber.
Around it, dozens of grotesque creatures were suspended in tanks, their bodies twitching and convulsing as if they were in constant agony.
"This is it," Violet whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the machine. "This is where they're creating the abominations."
Kayn's eyes narrowed as he took in the scene. The machine was clearly of CADMUS design, but it had been modified with dark magic artifacts, giving it the power to fuse flesh and metal into the twisted monstrosities they had been fighting.
"I'll handle the machine. You take care of any reinforcements they send." Kayn immediately ordered after assessing the situation.
Violet nodded, already preparing her spells as she moved towards the tunnel to defeat any incoming enemies, "Be careful, Kayn."
Kayn acknowledged her warning, but he wasn't worried. He had faced worse before, and he wasn't about to let some random monsters defeat him now.
With a deep breath, he approached the machine, his hands glowing with mana as he prepared to destroy it. But as he got closer, the dark energy around it surged, lashing out at him like a living thing.
He dodged the first strike and created a telekinetic barrier around his body, stopping any of the other strikes from hitting him as he moved closer.
Finally, he reached the base of the machine, immediately smashing the machine with his SuperHuman Strength over and over, but before he could deliver the final blow, a voice echoed through the chamber, cold and mocking.
"You think you can destroy my creation, Harbinger? You're a fool."
Kayn turned around. His senses had been on high alert, but this person had just appeared out of no-where, he presumed the person had an artifact to hide themselves.
Kayn was confronted by a towering figure clad in dark armor, its eyes glowing with a malevolent red light. The creature was larger than any of the others he had faced, its body a twisted amalgamation of metal and flesh.
"So, you're the one responsible for this," Kayn said, his voice low and dangerous.
The enemy didn't respond, instead just chuckling as it gazed at Kayn with ferocious eyes, making it fully clear it intended to attack.
The monster charged, its heavy footsteps shaking the chamber. Kayn dodged one of its powerful swings and kicked the monster in its chest before retaliating with a flurry of swift but powerful strikes.
He targeted its joints, aiming to disable its movements, but the creature also had extremely swift reaction time, managing to block Kayn's attacks.
"Dark Worlds," Kayn said in his mind, conjuring multiple Dark Orbs of Mana that orbited around him, before sending one of the orbs crashing into the monster, and sending it tumbling backwards.
Simultaneously, Kayn swiftly attacked once again, overpowering the enemy with his physical strength.
"GRAHH, WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!" The Monster roared angrily towards Kayn as it felt itself getting weaker and weaker, not knowing it was an effect of Kayn's previous magical attack.
"Αλυσίδες του Άρη," Kayn casted once again, mystical symbols appearing in his palms, with flaming chains appearing, flashing towards the enemy with sickening speed and immediately wrapping around it, burning its skin and restricting its movement.
"Conduct!" Lightning immediately charged on-top of the flaming chains, shocking the enemy and burning parts of its body to a crisp, leading it to let out a deafening roar of pain.
With a desperate lunge of anger, the creature threw itself at Kayn, intending to crush him under its weight.
"Singularity," Kayn casted, a terrifying black hole immediately appearing and crushing the entire room, it annihilated all the technology, the machines and everything else it could get its hand on.
The singularity also immediately began dragging the creature towards the center, pulling it off of its feet.
"Grand Cataclysm," Kayn finally casted, sending all of the Dark Worlds towards the creature, annihilating them with intense dark energy.
The creature let out one last, pitiful screech before it was complete annihilated, its body disintegrating into complete nothingness.
Kayn looked around, the entire core of the facility had been totally annihilated by the battle and more-so by the black hole. Kayn took a deep breath, igniting a fire and tossing it into the environment, intending to burn everything to ash.
With that, he turned and made his way back to the entrance where Violet was waiting. She looked up as he approached, her expression relieved.
"It's done," Kayn said, his voice calm but firm. "The machine is destroyed. The monsters should stop attacking."
Violet nodded, her shoulders relaxing as the tension left her body. "Good. Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."
Kayn agreed, and together they made their way back up the tunnel and out into the daylight.
~BOOM~
The base behind them was engulfed in flames, everything burning to ash in a magical explosion that would shortly stop. Kayn didn't want CADMUS retrieving anything at all from this base they used.
As Kayn walked out into the city, it was now much quieter. Instead of the screams of peril and despair, the civilians were now gathered together to help each-other and get medical treatment.
Many civilians also excitedly talked to each-other about meeting Kayn, or Harbinger, as he called himself when out on the field.
Kayn didn't head out, allowing the civilians to take care of themselves. He had saved the City, and did a good job at getting his name out there, and those were all that mattered.
"Come on," Kayn said, turning to Violet with a small smile. "Let's go home."
Violet returned his smile, and together they headed back to their home, knowing that they had won this battle, but the war was far from over.