RD 4 Ch 4

All over the world, people noticed the ground quaking. A research team in Antarctica, the people on the streets in Bangladesh, the city workers of Denmark, the fishermen in the Atlantic, the workers in Russia, the bazaar-goers in Angola, and those in the heart of Australia all looked around.

Everyone turned to the massive disruption around them, trying to identify the source.

The steady rumble built and built until a swirling red energy pierced into the sky. It shot up from the ground, tearing anything in its path asunder, banishing the clouds above, and spreading the red light as if crowding out the beautiful blue sky.

In Bangladesh, the busy street had suddenly stopped. Crowds stared at the red beam, only to then stare into the middle distance in front of them. Many of them began swiping into the air, waving their hands, while some of the younger people gently reached out and began to tap the air in front of them.

Only those closest to the red light didn't have time to bother with the system screen that appeared in front of them. 

Horrifying shrieks echoed into the air. Cow-sized locusts shot from the bottom of the red beam, swooping down on anyone they could reach. People tried to swat away the monsters, but they were simply powerless as the creatures ripped through the populace like wet tissue paper.

The busy street filled with panic as it turned into a river of blood.

In Antarctica, the research team fell on their backs as massive, looming juggernauts appeared from the red beam, trundling forward with clubs that weighed an entire ton each. 

Meanwhile, in Denmark, the beam appeared just outside the college campus. The students were out with their phones, beginning to take pictures as red armored forms with strange crimson tentacles wriggling underneath their helmets, walked out, chuckling as they stepped foot on Earth.

The students gawked, shouting at the demons, taking pictures, more concerned with being the first to post what they were seeing online than they were with staying alive.

The demons saw people flocking to them and only laughed with glee. Some of the human shells were bothering with the system windows, but so many weren't even paying attention.

The first demon stepped forward, grabbing a student and lifting them up by their face. Dark red tentacles shot out of the armor and pierced into the student as they dug beneath their skin, causing the student to scream in agony.

Only then did the crowd finally begin to wake up from their daze. Many turned and tried to flee. Just as many fell to their knees in hopeless prayer.

The Rapture had come.

***

The plane's engines roared as the wind screamed past us. Circe opened the plane door while we all stared at a red beam of light that shot up through the clouds not far away. 

"Ready?" I asked, turning to the ladies around me. They were all strapped up with parachutes.

The wind pulled their hair side to side and against their faces as it swirled through the cabin. Simone's outfit had changed, maintaining the same black and white theme. However, she now looked more like a paratrooper with a set of goggles over her eyes as she slapped a salute.

Gloria gave me a thumbs up while Nyx double-checked the straps on her pack before giving me a firm nod. 

"You don't have to worry too much," I shouted over the wind. "Worst case scenario, Circe here will make sure you don't go splat, right?" I glanced over at the Arch Sorceress who was not wearing a pack and standing by the door. 

"Of course," she said, her voice somehow cutting through the wind with ease.

Merlin was already beginning to wave her staff. She was not currently wearing a backpack, seeming to prefer to teleport, even if it took her a good chunk of time to activate it.

I hadn't used her ability to get us here either. Because while I knew this was going to happen in Copenhagen, I couldn’t exactly pinpoint the spot. It looked a lot different when I’d last seen it.

The plane was the best option for us to be ready and able to get there as quickly as possible. Being above it and ready to drop down was the easiest answer.

"See you all on the ground," I said, not hesitating and rushing out the door before giving the plane a good kick as I launched myself out.

Behind me, the plane wobbled slightly before rebalancing itself, but my focus was entirely ahead to the wave of demons that would be down there and needing some bodily reorganization. 

I plummeted through the sky, having chosen to also go without a pack. Instead, I pulled out the drop sword from my spatial ring, clutching it tightly with both hands. I turned myself into a missile and angled as quickly as I could towards the red beam of light.

This was my first time, technically, skydiving. However, I had fallen through the air on more than one occasion. The actual dynamics of falling were the same whether by choice or accident, so I knew the basics.

I kept my eyes open despite the wind cutting at me. Between my durability and my regeneration, keeping my eyes open wasn't too dangerous, and I wanted to be able to see where I was going.

My regeneration was working, but I could still feel a slight sting from the wind against my eyes. My focus was unbroken, continuing to shoot as close as I could to the red beam before activating a drop on the sword, pointing it down as my already precarious velocity downwards redoubled.

I hurtled down like a meteor, my skin warming a touch uncomfortably with how fast I was moving.

Copenhagen came into view as I hurtled down on the city. The buildings were packed tightly, yet they weren't as tall as many other cities I'd seen around the world. After the apocalypse, buildings looked quite different. But I knew I had the right place as I spotted the giant canal that cut through the center of it all. 

I went straight for the edge of the beam that announced the hell gate, only to slam into concrete, sending it scattering in every direction.

Large chunks of it took out trees and even a wall next to the park I had landed into. Yet, I had made an entrance that attracted considerable attention.

I stood up amidst the wreckage I had made upon landing, only to find myself surrounded by two very different groups. College students reeled back, gasping and shouting, while red, octopus-faced demons squirmed and writhed, narrowing their eyes on me in challenge.

I sheathed my drop sword, only to pull a large blood blade from my wrist. It extended all the way to the ground, its tip resting against the blades of grass. 

A small commotion erupted between the two groups as several of the demons had already grabbed college students and were trying to pull them away.

I flicked my blade forward, clearing the distance and quickly slicing off the arms of the demons. "Get back!" I called out to the college students, spinning on the two demons.

Tentacles began to squirm out of the stumps in their arms to reform hands. Both of them tried to block my hits, but the first demons through the breach weren't that strong.

The breach wasn't some sudden, gaping crack. It was simply a tiny crack that demons could push through. Over the coming months, it would widen and stronger demons would be able to cross through. But that was a saving grace for humanity, which needed to grow stronger quickly.

The students screamed and the demons roared.

I felt hundreds of inspects pelt me from every side. And for once, I didn't push them away. I let all of the humans and the demons see my power.

Many of the demons gurgled in freight and tried to scurry away.

"Not so fast," I roared and slammed into the mass of demons that was still pouring out of the hell gate. My sword cut through them one after the other in a horrendously bloody and satisfying mess.

Several of the stronger demons stepped up and tried to stall me as they shouted orders in demonic.

I understood some of the words they spoke, spend enough time fighting someone and you learn a few things.

They were trying to pool their power, calling for those who had higher ranked skills. Any considered more useless were being ordered to rush into the human pool and deal damage while others dealt with me.

A demon shouted, trying to encourage his demon followers as his mace met my blood blade. "We will be able to level so quickly as we feast on these humans that when you return in a few days you'll be able to kill this man before us."

As our weapons met, I had to give the demon credit for a passingly good resistance. His strength was far higher than the other demons I had just destroyed, a S ranked defensive skill was keeping him from being blown away.

But I had not come to this fight alone. 

An arrow pierced through his skull as a pink beam ripped through the demons trying to rush after the fleeing students. Gloria slammed into the ground, a burning parachute trailing behind her as she dropped closer to the students and with a snap of her fingers made a wall of purple fire to protect them. 

I grinned at my ladies, wanting to stop fighting to watch them work.

Circe landed next, making sure all attention went to her immediately. A massive spiral of wind descended around the hell gate to keep the demons from escaping. This was particularly important as flying little squids started squirting through the air, escaping, only for them to freeze by the dozen, falling and shattering on the ground. 

"All of you," I had a moment to glance at the students. My eyes began searching through the group, but then I reminded myself to focus. The chances of me finding the person my eyes were searching for was slim to none.

"If you have abilities, use them now. Participating in this battle in any way will help you level and deal with what is coming." I instructed.

Some of the students scattered. But others paused, seeming to decide I had enough qualifications to at least consider what I was saying.

"What are you?" one of the students asked with an accent. 

"Use your inspect skill and find out for yourself," I retorted, glowering at the young man.

His brows pinched down, and he got that look that suggested he was reading something in front of him. "Is this real?" He asked.

"It can be if you want it to be," I replied, speaking to him but glancing over his head at everyone else.

I felt a lot of responsibility at that moment to say something that would change the course of humanity’s survival. "Each and every one of you that wants to make a difference in the world, well, good news. The world's about to go through a drastic change, and only those who embrace it and reach forward to gain the power that has been offered to you will be able to shape it. This hell gate," I gestured at the giant beam behind me, "isn't going away. It's going to spew out demons for years. Instances are going to pop, and monsters are going to roam the earth. If you don't level up, if you don't grow stronger, well then, think of this as a dream. It’s a dream you'll never wake up from. So pick something up, pick your class, and participate. For the world you knew is already dead and the new one requires your struggle to be born." I pointed back at the demons that my crew were holding at bay.

The man who had spoken to me first frowned and took a hesitant step back, looking around him for some other option than the monsters in front of him.

However, a woman came up from behind him, ferocity in her eyes as she threw a book over Gloria's firewall, hitting a demon in the head. A second later, he was a splatter on the floor as one of Circe's blades of wind destroyed him. 

"I leveled up!" she shouted, jumping up in the air with a giant smile on her face. Her reaction caused a tidal wave.

Students began emptying their bags and throwing objects over the wall. Some were scrambling through what I now realized was a small green space amid a college campus, digging up rocks and chunks of sod to throw. Others had started their new life with ranged abilities and were beginning to use them, lobbing them over Gloria's wall of fire, or straight through it. 

As this revelation was occurring, Simone walked through the fire, a small shimmer of a barrier around her. As she came out the other side, she held her hands clasped before her and smiled at the students. She was back in her sexy nun illusion and had every eye in the place fixed on her.

I had to laugh at how even amidst a crisis, Simone was Simone.

The students’ eyes tracked her, the men drooling slightly, as they all waited for what she was about to say.

"Those of you present should give thanks to Bran," she nodded to me. "I wanted you all to know there's an organization known as the Mul Branova. We are the followers of Bran, and each and every one of his followers currently could take on a small country's army. We'll be setting up a station here to help all of you transition into your new situation and join us if you’d like. If you haven’t picked your class, joining us will unlock an incredibly powerful one for you."

I stared at Simone, making sure she felt my full feelings on that matter.

She gave me a smile that was so sweet, I thought I was about to get cavities. 

"Simone…” I cautioned.

"Nothing for you to worry about. I handle the Mul Branova, right?" She cocked an eyebrow.

I sighed, already knowing I’d lose this argument if I started it.

"If we wanted to open a new chapter of the Mul Branova. Doesn't this seem like the perfect place?” She asked, and three faces that I vaguely recognized cut through the crowd wearing simple C-ranked gear and panting slightly.

It was clear she’d already planned for this.

Gloria was clearly helping put on the show. With a gesture of her hand, she parted the firewall and let a few demons rush out to them.

Of course, the strongest one amongst the demons was only level 21.

The three Mul Branova stood fast, even letting the demons slam all the way into them before they began cutting the demons down one by one.

Simone flashed me another smile, and I heaved a sigh as students rushed towards Simone hoping to sign up.