The nocturnal breeze was chilly, the road was dominated by an invisible pressure as dozens of armed bandits were marching together.They made no effort in hiding themselves, and not even the darkness of the night was enough to hide their presence.Their footsteps and clanking of their armors was loud and echoed across the nearby streets.They were all heading toward a pagoda-like red building at the center of Crystal City.The trip there didn’t take long and though there were many curious eyes spectating from the side, none let out as much as a squeak.Very soon, Zenzo’s men, all holding glistening daggers and wearing black cloaks, were a distance away from the pagoda.Roger and Sena charged from the other side and only stopped when the Blood Ghouls Bandits appeared, all armed and ready.“So it came down to this? Ohohohohohoho!”A resounding and domineering voice rang from the top of the building. It was Paul Franxi, The Warlord, hiding in his den and seemingly enjoying this show.Zek
Zeke’s stats were increased thanks to Surge of Pain, which reached its max stacking effect.Left with no choice, he used ‘The Reaper’, which slightly changed his appearance. The long scythe appeared in his hands and the energy of death and decay was unleashed.Paul frowned and tightened his grasp on the black club, but that wasn’t all. Tiny red cubes dancing around his body, seemingly alive and sentient.Like a literal Reaper, Zeke kicked the ground and shot toward the enemy, the scythe clashing with the club, resulting in a loud shock wave.“Ugh!”Much to his surprise, Paul was overpowered and his weapon was flung to the side. The scythe moved rapidly and slashed his chest then his dominant, almost making him lose hold of his weapon.Zeke was outrageously fast as he circled around the large man and swept the scythe vertically, wounding the target’s back as a large bloody scar appeared.The red cubes flew at him and tried to immobilise him again, but the energy of death made them disa
7 days later, the Sunken Metropolis.“Yup, we’ve been abandoned.”Maxwell Lepard had finally snapped and kicked the bin in frustration. They had been laying low and hiding for weeks, yet their boss, the Black Templar, had not contacted them. Even if there were no missions, it was still an unusual occurrence.By now, even the most loyal of them, Xiao, started to have doubts and question their superior’s motives. Technically, they were part of the Ivory Oak Order, but they answered only to the Black Templar. Furthermore, they had no contacts with the other separate groups within the organisation.Put simply, they were alone and lacking any direction.“We’ll wait a bit more.” Said Veronica in an attempt to reassure her annoyed and angry friend.“Wait? It’s easy for you to say when you’re going to school and having fun.” Maxwell glanced at the quiet Azmer and added, “Must be nice to be in Erys and enjoy life. The rest of us are staying in this shitty place. Our funds are about to run ou
“Ahh!”Zeke yelled and sat up, breathing rapidly and regaining his senses. His body was aching a bit and filled with exhaustion, but what bothered him was the complete darkness dominating his right peripheral vision.“Zeke! Lie down.”Celestia’s voice came from the side as she softly pushed him back on the cold ground and checked his pulse.While touching the bandage wrapped around his missing right eye, Zeke looked at the ceiling with a half-delirious expression.“W-what happened?”“I still don’t know. We survived, at least.”Celestia looked around the place they were at. Remnants of destroyed technology and broken machines were scattered all around the room.They seemed to be in a house, a half-obliterated one that had no living soul besides them.Zeke checked the logs of the System in an attempt to try and make sense of what happened.[All System Protocols have been lifted.][Divine Essence absorbed by Death Rune: 0.2%][Strength +100][Aether +150][Agility +100][+50 PE][You’ve
“Don’t move!” Shouted the man as he slowly got closer.Celestia covered her exposed breasts with her hands while edging behind Zeke, who raised his arms.“W-Who are you peopl-”Before he could finish his question, Zeke’s body blurred before appearing behind the man. Zeke pushed the back of the man’s knee, making him fall then swiftly snatching the shotgun from his hand.“A-ah!”The man tried to fight back but Zeke blocked his futile retaliation and subdued him with ease.“Wh-..wwh… please don’t kill me! Hiih!”Tearful and shaking from fear, the man raised his hands and pleaded for his life.“P-ppplease! I have a son!”Zeke didn’t attack the man and simply took a step back. He motioned for Celestia to wear her still-wet clothes.‘He’s talking in English, but the accent is slightly different. I should’ve studied Earth’s history and its nations. Whatever…’“Since you were the one who came at us with a shotgun, you should’ve expected to be killed in return, no?”“I…I thought you were www
In the blink of an eye, three weeks passed. Zeke and Celestia kept travelling across the lands while remaining clear of the large red clouds looming above cities and moving randomly about.The Dead Ends have appeared on Earth, but, unlike the homeworld of the Proto-Demons, the planet wasn’t entirely finished yet. There were a decent amount of places unaffected by them, or so the duo assumed.What was strange was the total lack of any humans, even in ‘safe’ regions. The only living soul they met was the man in the hazmat suit.Other than that, there was nothing but empty buildings, empty vehicles, and empty roads.The stiff air, perpetually cloudy and grey sky, and the lack of Aether made Zeke and Celestia move with caution and at a slow pace.They always remained in the vicinity of each other and didn’t delve into seemingly dangerous places without one another.Fortunately, there was no lack of food or living resources scattered everywhere. Moreover, their relationship had become a bi
Doctor Rouge was quite hospitable and in a particularly good mood as he kept scrutinising the two newcomers for the better part of two minutes.When the awkward silence had lasted for long enough, he clapped his hands and spoke,“Alright! I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions, but can I go first? I want some clarifications about a couple of things.”Zeke and Celestia were quiet and their unresponsive attitude looked like agreement to the dishevelled Chief Scientist.“How did you get here? To Earth, I mean. As far as I know, magic-users are banned from entering our planet. Wait wait! Let me guess… Did you use somesort of teleportation device? It has to be!”Yet again, the only answer he got was a gloomy silence, which didn’t deter him in the very least. The man was bursting with energy and excitement as he kept looking back and forth between the youth and the girl.“I get that secrecy is the best option in a foreign land, but, as you might have seen, Earth has clearly seen better days
When the Dead Ends were less than 500 meters away, the Nuclear Reactor sprung into motion. One by one, they let out periodic and controlled bursts of Aether and radiation.The red cloud seemed unaffected by the first two, but on the third, its spinning came to an abrupt halt and it started twisting and distorting as if trying to get away from the blasts.“See how it’s diverging its path? I know it would work.”Dr. Rouge jumped up and down in excitement, his face containing an expression of pure bliss.“Basically, the reactors act as an amplifier for the Aether you poured into it. It’s not their primary function, but my theory was on point!”“That’s it?” Zeke didn’t seem that impressed by this whole process.“Well, it’s a teeny-tiny bit more complicated. The Aether bursts that are systematically emitting are like invisible waves that share the exact frequency. Only like that will the Aether itself be able to withstand the distortion within the Dead Ends and actually dominate it. No off