"What kind of headquarters is this? "
Grumbled Dyson as he tore apart another door, and once again found himself bewildered upon seeing a room filled with basic indoor game supplies like table tennis table, rackets, billiards table etc. And from their look they appeared to be in use rather than untouched packed material which means….
Dyson forcefully abandoned his train of thought while at same time, just as he expected another sharp sickle with needle-like tip swung towards him from his blind spot, originating from the shadows. He casually swiped his hand behind, and broke the fragile construct without breaking any sweat. These were no longer ambushes but just common attacks to him now.
Once again just like previous several times, a frightened yet threatening voice of a human emerged with the destruction of the Shadow construct,
"Turn back, Beast. Don't move any further, we are just barely holding ourselves… back. Our patience has limit and your repeated regression would not be always overlooked. Turn back with your pack, as forward lies the path of death only."
Dyson laughed as he made a casual swipe of his long claws to destroy the furniture in the room, there was no need to do so but his frustration for remaining empty handed till now was beginning to weigh upon his sanity however he pretended to be unaffected from outside.
Were they trying to wear them using these petty tricks? Utter foolishness Dyson thought as he shouted at the Shadow in the corner, well aware that Shadow Weaver at the other side could hear him very well.
"Hide. Hide. Hide as much as you can. We will see how longer you can hide in your hole."
This same set of conversation had already been repeated a few times by now. Every time one of the Shadow weavers tries to threaten or convince Dyson to turn back, while at the same time using several tricky manners to ambush him. Though his werewolf's body was quite resistant, repeatedly keeping himself on the lookout for sudden attacks was alone beginning to take a toll on his mental health, if not tiring his physical body.
In Dyson's mind, he thought that he now understands the situation very clearly. Before the attack began he was quite unsure of their actions. Umbra was not that sitting duck as everyone may have thought. They were clearly able to flee anytime and even Moongrave had no method to stop them. In such a case the only thing they could conquer would be this useless building, which would be nothing more than a symbolic win for them.
In Dyson's opinion, it was a 'some lose-some win' situation for both of them and the best course of action for Umbra. Sure they would lose reputation and headquarters to the Moongrave but at least they would be able to survive. Before the attack, he was eighty percent sure that they would withdraw immediately once they got news of the Moongrave's attack.
But here reality was proving itself to have separate plans. Umbra not only had not abandoned their headquarters but were also not fighting them wholeheartedly. Instead, they were just bent on hiding inside which made Dyson's human side a little apprehensive of bigger traps waiting for them.
But…now when Dyson was no longer human. This trap or awaited ambush only stoked to fuel more anger and rage inside his barely cool head instead of fear or apprehension. He was sure that any traps would prove to be useless in front of supreme strength. And cockroaches, no matter how much they prepare, can never outdo wolves, and here such wolves were even hunting in their pack.
Clearly, no matter why Umbra was not abandoning their base whether to protect something invaluable that is inside their base or whether it was to lure them into some sort of trap, at the end it would be game over for them.
"Howwwwwl… "
A distinct howl rang in the area, making Dyson's ears perk up as he quickly recognized it to be the victory howl of the Maddy. The young one was informing the pack of his first kill, the first spilled blood of their hunt which means that he had breached the inner building from his side and finally met and killed the first Shadow weaver.
Several Howls sounded in succession from several sides, making blood rush to the head of Dyson in excitement as he howled himself in response. Even though he wasn't there, he could smell the stench of blood in the air which boiled his blood. Barely keeping himself from rushing straight into the inner sanctum he instead turned to shadows, with a barely controlled grin on his wolf face.
"It's over. Fight if you can, for today we will be having a feast on your corpses tonight. Moongrave will enjoy its victory over your leader's flesh before the sunrise."
Shadows wriggled, appearing like they were struggling with something when finally they broke down completely as the dark corner of the room returned to normal. Dyson, no longer paying attention, was already jumping outside on his way to sprint following the sound of Howl. When suddenly a barely audible yet oddly calm voice of an old man, that was distinctly different from earlier trembling and fearful voices, sounded in the empty room.
"Ah! So let it be. If this is what you cannibalistic monsters want then…"
Dyson felt his fur standing upon his body in fear as he looked up. Though the roof was blocking his vision, he didn't need to see to know that something big was about to happen. And it surely was related to the trap of these hiding cockroaches. His beastial side screamed at him to run, run away from danger only the human side remained frozen in place as it realized that there was nowhere to run.
And it was at this exact moment the sky that was studded with starry night, suddenly trembled and broke, creating a large hole over the city. From that hole darkness - that was darker than darkest night, spilled out along with its atmosphere of despair and fear that enveloped the whole city in one sweep. Whoever was witnessing this scene, could swear on his life that the very first thing they thought was only that - it is the end of the world.
***********************
On the other end of the city, Adele and party stood frozen like headless chickens as the sky fell and darkness enveloped the city above them. Each individual was trembling in fear and had an expression of despair on their faces, with no exception.
It was like the very being of the apocalypse was looking down with its indifference towards the city, where humans felt themselves akin to minuscule entities who couldn't even hope to catch its gaze let alone resist its might.
But even in this situation, even when all seems hopeless.
The human spirit that had proven itself again and again, even in this despairing situation once again stood up through some unique human individuals who could carry its will in their spirit. After all, humans were not the species who peacefully surrendered to the situations, no matter how hopeless in the end it proved to be.
The leader of the Nightwatcher trembled in fear but at the same time, struggled against his own fear that was coming from the very depths of his soul. He braved through it with immense strength of his will and managed to bite his tongue, hoping for pain to wake himself up from this nightmare. But to his distress, he could feel blood spilling down his lips but he could feel no taste or pain from his tongue. Fear in his body was so overwhelming that it was overcoming the basic senses of his body.
But he didn't stop struggling and taking this chance to push through, he opened his mouth a little to utter a single word with a Frozen tongue…
"LUX DEI!!"
With its utterance, the fabric of space shook like something inconceivable had touched the boundary of something that was not governed by the laws of this physical reality. Just as this word sounded, the bodies of every Nightwatcher present around the leader began to glow by themselves with their characteristic white light, which soon helped warm up their bodies and souls, and further formed a bright invisible shield to protect against the further encroachment of the darkness.
Leader who was first to get his bearings back, turned around and looked towards the particular direction with a mix of uncontrolled anger and…fear in his emotions. In his eyes, the Umbra Collective headquarters was completely drenched in this evil darkness, so much so that their place was no longer visible to the naked eye in the distance but was covered by a thick opaque black curtain.
"Umbra… What the hell have they done? Have all of them gone insane? Making the Dream realm descend to earth, do they want to end the Earth itself?"
One by one all night watchers felt their bodies coming back to their control, as they profusely kneeled and thanked their God. It was a ritual of their faith, testament of their devotion done by their organization to thank the god for saving their lives after a life-death situation. It was a habit of all Night watchers. Though the frustrated Leader of the Nightwatchers was only one who was not concerned with committing such blasphemy by himself at this moment, after all who could question his grace.
Nightwatcher team leader instead turned around and the first thing that came into his sight further aggregated his mental state. For a second he even subconsciously raised his hand to conjure a light to purify this evil act happening in front of him. But he hurriedly stopped himself as he found that the kid was not doing this willingly, but was instead suffering even more than anyone he had ever seen. He was the victim not the…assailant.
Few meters away from him, Adele was now bent in an arch shape levitating a few centimeters above the ground while his body continuously convulsed in pain. His whole body was drenched in cold sweat as lines of black darkness were taking over him slowly and in the process wrecking his body apart. It looked like he was in the middle of electrocution but instead of electricity, it was arcs of black darkness that were coursing through his body, frying it in the process.
"Pain.. Pain.. Pain.. " Adele convulsed as the only sensation ringing in his head right now was the pure pain. It was like he was being tortured in hell, with his soul undergoing the gradual taking over by the dream realm itself. It felt to him like his soul was being overwritten by it to make it a permanent part of it, just like one of the native creatures that inhabit the dream realm.
Adele was in so much pain that he didn't even have the ability to ask anyone for help. Infact, his body had already become numb with his capillaries and blood vessels starting from his feet and gradually moving to his head, were becoming black like red blood flowing inside them was also turning into black ink like darkness. He was being transformed forcefully into Dream realm.