The ground was blanketed with ash, remnants of the colossal bird monster that once posed a menacing threat. Now reduced to scattered ashes and carried away by the wind, the monster's existence is no more, relieving the area from its menace.
Erend looked around. He saw lots of corpses lying on the field in front of the school.
Erend also saw that most of the school buildings had also been damaged by the monsters that had suddenly appeared there.
"Shit." Erend cursed while gritting his teeth. 'I'm late.'
Then, Erend remembered the person he saw being chased by the plant monster earlier.
[Urgent Quest Completed! ]
[Rewards: 500 Exp. ]
[You leveled up! ]
Erend didn't care about the notification and immediately ran toward Arty. He deactivated his scale so Arty could recognize him.
Once they got to Arty's place, he crouched beside her.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Erend asked with obvious concern on his face.
Arty looked at Erend with a limp face and glazed eyes. But she still managed to smile when she saw Erend's face.
"I knew it was you," Arty said in her weak voice.
"Yeah, you've never seen me like that, have you? What do you think?"
After seeing that there were no major injuries on Arty's body, Erend felt calmer. If anything happened to Arty, Erend didn't know what to tell their mother.
"The training is very useful," said Arty. She tried to get up but then fell again. "But my body is very weak. I don't know why."
"It must be because you used too much Magic before you can properly control that power," Erend replied. "It's okay now. Looks like you just need to rest."
Ambulance and police sirens could be heard outside. Erend sighed again knowing help had arrived.
"I'd better go now. The ambulance will take you to the hospital. Mom and I will visit you there," Erend said.
Arty nodded weakly. Erend then walked away from Arty and activated [Dragon Wings]. A pair of wings appeared behind its back a moment later.
Arty who saw that widened her eyes and mouth. "That is so cool! Will I also have something like that if I can master Magic well?"
Erend shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't think so."
His Dragon Power was something that was extremely rare and impossible for others to possess. So Erend felt that there was no way Arty would have that power. She'll probably get another ability that's just as great, though.
"I'll go now." Erend flapped his wings and shot up into the air in a swift motion. Arty was still staring at him in awe as he merged with the clouds.
Not long after, a group of medical officers approached her and saw her condition with worried faces. It was natural when there were corpses of monsters and humans strewn around them. The medics immediately breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that her condition was fine.
"My friend," Arty pointed toward the classroom. "She's still inside."
The medic immediately shouted to order his friends to go to the classroom where Eve was.
Everything that had just happened in this school was over. But Arty knew that this was only the beginning of it all. Something worse will happen in this world.
~~~
Erend landed in a narrow alley behind his house. He immediately deactivated his Skill and returned to his normal human form.
When Erend went inside, he found his mother standing in front of the television. She looked very tense because she was looking at the news about the appearance of monsters all over the city. The news also reported about a monster appearing in a school; and another monster figure with black and red skin that kills the monsters.
His mother turned as soon as she saw Erend's arrival. "Where are you from?"
"I just saved Arty." Erend decided to just tell the truth because eventually, his mother would know everything.
His mother breathed a sigh of relief. Then walked towards Erend and hugged him while crying.
"What will happen from now on?" his mother asked. She started crying.
Erend rubbed his mother's back gently. "Don't worry, Mom. I will take care of you all. I won't let anything happen to you."
They were still hugging for a few moments before Billy finally came.
"Erend, we gotta go," said Billy.
Erend turned. From his face, Erend could tell that a dire situation had occurred. He can pretty much guess what it is.
"I gotta go. Mom," Erend said.
His mother nodded. "Be careful."
Erend immediately put on his army uniform and then came out with Billy. They get into Erend's car and start driving to the military base.
Billy had already gone to the military headquarters because as soon as he approached his house, Erend wasn't there. He could already guess where Erend went because there were lots of monsters that appeared so Billy decided to go to the military headquarters first.
He never knew that in fact all the soldiers at the military base were being deployed to deal with the problems that were created after the monsters appeared.
Billy tells everything to Erend. Erend sighed. "They know I'm late, right?"
"I don't think they'll think it matters now," said Billy. "You killed the monsters?"
"Yes," Erend said. "But it's not over, Bill. I'm sure there will be lots of other troubles going on."
"I know," Billy said. "We have to speed up our training."
"I agree," Erend said.
As soon as they arrived at the military headquarters, they were immediately ordered to prepare without any questions. What Billy said was right; they never even mentioned Erend's tardiness.
"Drake! Brook!" Adrien called out to them after they finished gearing up with full weapons and armor.
"You guys come with me," Adrien said. "We have an important job."
Erend and Billy looked at each other.
"What is it, Captain?" Billy asked.
"We will escort the VIP out of the hospital."
~~~
"What the fuck is going on here, Thomas?!" General Lennard looked furious. He stared at Thomas with bulging eyes and bulging veins on his forehead.
Thomas didn't answer right away because he was focused on thinking. They are now locking themselves in the VIP room of President Julius. Tables and chairs were piled in front of the door to prevent anyone, or anything, from entering.
Sometime in the early morning, there was suddenly a commotion in the hospital. The commotion was caused by some patients suddenly turning into strange creatures. The soldiers who were given the task of guarding them started to go crazy and kill each other.
What made matters worse was that Julius had lost consciousness again. They couldn't call a doctor because of the situation outside. They would even endanger themselves if they opened this barricade.
"I don't know, General," Thomas replied.
"Is this because of a terrorist attack?" General Lennard asked, more to himself.
"Maybe," said Thomas. "But it may also be due to something else."
General Lennard turned to him. "What do you mean?"
Thomas didn't answer right away. He glanced at Julius who was closed in his bed. "How could terrorists infiltrate the presidential palace and do something like that to him?"
When he thought about it again General Lennard also felt that it was quite strange and should not have happened. But the president is still lying in this hospital bed nonetheless so something must have happened to him.
"Then what caused it?" General Lennard asked.
"Maybe... Magic, sir," replied Thomas.
General Lennard looked directly at Thomas. "But we're not doing that anymore. You said Conrad had lost his magic power, right?"
"Conrad may have lost his Magic power. However, maybe we have opened another door while doing the Magic experiment," said Thomas.
General Lennard felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He stood stiff and looked at Thomas.
"Conrad said nothing would happen if we did it!" General Lennard said, furious.
"He probably had his own goals, sir. That's why he didn't tell us everything. I had a bad feeling about this from the start. Dealing with other energies from different worlds could be dangerous.
"But... I was also blinded by the prospect of what we could make out of it. So, I ignored it."
General Lennard clenched his jaw. It's too late to regret it now. If, indeed that is the cause of everything that is happening right now.
General Lennard's cell phone rang and he immediately picked it up.
'General, we have come to rescue you. Where are you now?' It was Adrien's voice asking.
General Lennard finally breathed a sigh of relief. he said. "We're on the tenth floor. We can't get out. Outside our room, there are a lot of people who have turned very aggressive because of something."
'We know, General,' Adrien said. 'Just hold on as best you can. We will try our best to save you.'
"Alright, soldiers. I need you to move quickly. The President has also lost consciousness again," General Lennard said.
After General Lennard cut the call and said to Thomas. "Let's get ready to leave here. The rescue team has arrived."
~~~
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