"These are….Nexus…*Sniffle* You’re giving me these…*sniffle*" After handing over the older models to Sonas, the young man, of course, acted up again, causing me to turn around and walk away without saying another word, lest I beat him to death then and there.
’Are you sure it’s a good idea to give him something you made for Dad?’ noticing the interaction between me and Sonas, Brenden asked from across the platform as he helped more people down the stone slide.
’No, it’s a horrible fucking idea, but we don’t have much choice. You guys have never faced a NightWalker; I have, and I know how important it is to hinder the thing’s movements. If left unfettered, the damn monster will be too fast to catch, even for us with maxed-out stats at Beta.’
"GAOOOOOOOooooooo," still sounding as if it were off in the distance due to the long echo after each howl, my eyes flicked from the gate toward my brother and Back.
’Every other team has members from Vector and Air; they can literally lock down the space around the monster; however, all we have is fucking Sonas, who can blast sonic booms over and over; by the way, load your belt with Beta Water, this battle will take us being at Max power if we want to stand a chance.’ Pausing for a moment, I looked at Piniki and Sonas and carefully examined them.
Ignoring the waterworks display Sonas was putting on as he equipped the boots and full arm gauntlets, I couldn’t help but sigh when realizing he was still in the Alpha-Rank; so was Piniki, but at least she was ready to Rank up if given the opportunity.
The same couldn’t be said about captain justice fucker. It was evident that he had been spending all his time playing vigilante and not bothering to enter another instance; thus, he had stagnated, probably around level 8 or so.
I knew they were the biggest liabilities for the upcoming boss fight, especially Piniki, who, although having solid hand-to-hand combat skills, would be virtually useless this time around, as all she could do was heal minor injuries and keep our PC and Stamina topped off, things which would be irrelevant thanks to the Beta Particle Water.
---
Soon enough, with the combined effort of the team, minus me, who stood guard by the gate, over a thousand Players were escorted down the mountain by way of the rockslide and sent toward the military.
Many weren’t happy that they would have to travel over 10 miles to get to "freedom," but with impending doom in the form of a NightWalker coming in our direction, most of them were more scared than combative.
(Nexus, North gate cleared of players)
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
(South Clear, Enemy approaching.)
(We’re good here in the east, too, and are in formation.)
Hearing the squads calling in, I found myself glancing in their direction from where I stood, and although they were too far to see with my own eyes, I could see them on the drone feed; that was also how I knew that the West Gate was facing some issues.
A group of Players had taken it upon themselves to stay and fight, leaving the joint squad with a headache as they couldn’t get them to leave and eventually yielded.
"I still can’t believe not a single person was willing to stay back and help us fight," Ever mouthy, Sonas couldn’t help himself from complaining.
"You can’t blame them; their life has been hell for years, not to mention they fled from the NightWalker to begin with, so they KNOW what we are facing and are too scared to help," Piniki added as she kept her eyes locked on me.
(Major Nexus, we have the first numbers in; based on the drone footage, we have counted 18,329 Players.) The Commandant’s voice came over everyone’s comms, making me nod in understanding.
(Commandant, did they say anything about other players coming out? Or did the monsters kill them.)
"Hold up, killed by the monsters; you mean they appeared during the exodus out of the Tower?"
"Shut up, Sonas, let them talk." Rolling his eyes, Brenden bopped his buddy in the back of the head.
(Your thoughts are correct from the few we’ve interviewed so far; it’s just as you said, they were in some kind of holding room when a black monster appeared in the center of the room from a cloud of smoke and began killing indiscriminately.)
(I see; by the way, the radiation zone tapers off at the 8-mile mark. Your men are free to move in and collect more players, but keep in mind, all of them can be considered like us; they all have some form of superpower and enhanced bodies so that regular means won’t work, not to mention if you show hostility against them, I suspect they will fight back.)
(Many, if not all of them, will exhibit some form of PTSD.)
(Copy that, Major; we will handle things on our end.) With that, the Commandant cut off his connection to the comms, leaving radio silence to fill the air.
(CONTACT, WE HAVE CONTACT!) Not long after the final communication with the military, the team at the East Gate sounded off, forcing me to focus on the drone feed from that gate.
Sure enough, slowly floating through that gate was a large yet slim monster, approximately 18 feet tall, with pitch-black skin that rippled over tight muscles.
Its arms dangled well past its knees, and each of its ten bony fingers was tipped with razor-sharp dagger-length claws.
Although humanoid in shape, it would never be mistaken for a person, thanks to the finger-like spikes protruding from its shoulders. Its legs were double-jointed like that of an animal, with two sets of knees, hooven feet, and thick neck muscles connected to its head.
Two long curved horns extended out from the back of the skull, and its face, if you could even call it that, since it was more like a mask than an actual face, led to a protruding lower jaw filled with jagged teeth.
Two rows of three sapphire eyes lined either side of the head, and inky black tendrils of smoke trailed off every inch of the NightWalker’s body.
It truly was the thing of nightmares, and from the moment it stepped through the gate, a cold sensation washed over the lands, one felt even from where I stood miles away.