"How did the awakening stone activate? Is there a special condition to activate it?" Samuel asked curiously, showing interest in the stone rather than the people who were surrounding it.
"The awakening stone self activates when a certain number of unawakened people surround it or if an unawakened person makes direct contact with it. To activate it manually, you would need to place a magic circle underneath it for activation of energy resonance," Ray explained, looking at the crowd of scared unawakened people with visible sadness in his eyes.
"Batch two, please step in," the announcer stated, as the first batch was directed out of the circle.
"And why are there so many policemen?" Samuel asked as the new batch got inside the circle.
RAAAARGHHHHH
A bright light covered the whole area as an ear-deafening scream filled the room.
"When accidents like that happen..." Ray answered backing away a little from the circle with his eyes on the creature that had transformed in front of him.
The dimming light cast an eerie shadow over the monstrous figure, revealing a grotesque, worm-like creature that towered ominously above. Its slimy, segmented body writhed with a sickening squelch, while skeletal arms, long and bony, jutted unnaturally from its sides.
In one of its ghastly hands, it clutched the half-devoured remains of a small child, the lifeless head lolling at an unnatural angle. Crimson blood, vibrant and fresh, dripped from the creature's gaping, jagged maw, pooling beneath it in sticky puddles. The creature didn't have eyes; instead, it had small horns that looked like an antenna while moving around like it was tracking something, while a rancid stench of decay and iron filled the air, making it almost impossible to breathe.
"My son!" A woman cried from the crowd as some people tried to hold her down. "No! Please let me go! He isn't dead yet! Priests! Someone help him!"
"Red alert: we got a transformation-type meta out of control, requesting permission to shoot!" An officer asked, aiming his energy rifle at the creature.
"Don't fire! Secure the citizens and use stun rounds on it!" Another officer answered.
The children who were inside the circle started screaming for help as they were driven to a corner by the creature it continued to feast on the kid's corpse.
The cops were hesitant to shoot because the creature was also a kid but if they used energy nets and the kid untransformed in the middle of it, they would lose another potential awakener, so they had to resort to stun rounds.
"Stun rounds won't work on it since it has an electric-resistant skin; they need to kill him..." Ray murmured making sure that his voice could only reach Samuel.
"But then either he has to die or the others within the circle, can't we rescue them somehow?" Samuel whispered back.
"... No," Moriarty answered with regret. That poor child... He doesn't even know that he ate another human... He must be in a trance, consumed by his instincts, oblivious to the horror he caused... When transformation-type metahumans awaken, they have a chance to fall prey to their bestial instincts; being blind, in this case, doesn't help with the current situation. And since situations like these are only handled by the police, the others who are present in this ceremony won't dare to take a step as that would go against the rules set by the government.
But... There was bound to be someone who would oppose those rules present within the crowd.
SWOOSH
Growl~
Thud!
All of a sudden, an arrow made its way towards the creature, hitting it in one of its arms. It was unclear where it was shot from at first, but soon enough, the creature fell asleep, hitting the ground with a heavy impact.
"Seriously... None of you aliens can do one job right. I came here on high hopes, but now I am disappointed," a loud voice filled the room as several figures appeared one by one.
The one who spoke was a man who looked like he was over thirty years old, he had straight black hair, small amounts of beard on his chin, black eyes and a robust build. He wore a normal office suit and carried a blue longbow that was slightly bigger than him.
"I-Is that a member of the League of Hunters?" A person spoke up from the crowd as numerous people started to whisper amongst themselves about the present situation.
The League of Hunters were a faction of humans who hunted down any metahumans, aliens, demons or creatures that they deemed as a threat to humanity. Their members trained their vessels to perfection from a young age, similar to Buddhists, but they also learned a variety of fighting styles and assassination techniques, which made them fall into the category of superhumans.
The League of Hunters were hostile to the government and the Emperor, up until now that is. Seeing that the core members of the five major families and Thomas Allen, the head of the Allens, were following him must mean that something was going on between them or that he was a traitor.
"Sorry, I will be borrowing this," all of a sudden, Thomas appeared on stage beside the announcer, who was stunned from shock, and took away her microphone from her hands. "Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down. We have an announcement to make."
"First of all... I am truly sorry for your loss, Miss. I am sorry that I couldn't save him in time but now that I am here, I will personally stand guard to make sure that something like this won't happen again."
Thomas knew that an apology like that wouldn't bring back the child who had died, but instead of blaming the officers who hadn't reacted in time, he blamed himself for her loss. This was not only to ease the tension of the officers but also to calm the woman who had just lost a son.
"But since he awakened as a B rank and died in an accident during the ceremony, your family will receive compensation for that as stated in rule 516 of the state rules. That is the least we could do for you..."
The woman wept while kneeling on the floor as some people tried to comfort her.
"Sigh... Why do these Allens have to be so... human all the time?" The member of the League of Hunters murmured under his breath.
"Now then, for the main announcement... Nolan, would you like to deliver the message?" Thomas asked, looking in a certain direction.
"Nolan? Does he mean Nolan Voidwalker? He is here?" Someone spoke up from within the crowd.
As soon as the people started to look around, a figure manifested in the middle of the stage right behind Thomas. The figure appeared to be a young man in his twenties with short jet-black hair, purple eyes and a robust build. He wore a black three-piece suit made of cashmere, which seemed to be made by the same tailor as Thomas as they looked oddly familiar.
"You still can't guess my position correctly," Nolan shook his head.
This was Nolan Voidwalker, the current strongest on Earth and one of the only people of common birth who have met the Emperor and had the honour of being blessed with a surname by him.
"I tried, and at least I sensed your presence," Thomas replied, handing over the microphone to him.
"I didn't expect anything less from you," Nolan replied, before moving towards the crowd and holding the microphone correctly. "The Emperor has awakened from his slumber."
What the fuck? Ray and Moriarty thought in unison.