The crimson ring was literally annihilating everything in its path, wrecking the ground as all buildings, plants, and trees got turned to dust.
Nathasia was finally brought out of her daze when the ground shook as if an earthquake was happening, making her fall over.
Since she was sitting on the back of an open truck, she could clearly see what was going on outside while the drizzling rain continued to increase its intensity.
She was shocked as she saw a crimson ring of destruction heading in her direction at a shocking speed.
But she didn't seem to care how dangerous and terrifying that circle was. It was more like she wanted that circle to reach her so that she doesn't have to feel this pain anymore.
The ground was shaking too wildly for Ripley and his soldiers to properly move and escape the incoming crimson circle.
So they could only helplessly watch as it headed towards them. Fortunately, contrary to their expectations, the crimson circle dissipated, leaving behind ash and debris in the air, making them unable to see what was ahead.
But Ripley didn't care about it. All he wanted was to get out of here and report everything in case no one saw what just happened.
"Everybody, get on, quick! Stop daydreaming, fools!"
Like startled rats, all the soldiers quickly got on while Bella sat beside Nathasia with an impassive expression, not even bothering to look at her.
Nathasia recognized that crimson circle and knew that it was the Crimson Devil and wondered why he stopped before that circle could annihilate them as well.
She badly wished that everyone who was here would die, including her and especially the lady who killed her parents.
She gave a death stare at that lady who was sitting beside her, but the lady seemed to ignore Nathasia's existence completely, as if she couldn't be bothered by her stare.
Still, after getting clarity of mind, Nathasia couldn't help but think about what happened to the Crimson Devil for him to show such terrifying prowess.
If she had been in her normal mental state, she would have been stupefied by what she saw.
Meanwhile, Ripley was trying his best to at least communicate to his headquarters. But suddenly, a shocking message came through his walkie talkie which everyone heard, including Nathasia…
"All units, RETREAT! I repeat, retreat to your respective safe houses. The Crimson Devil is on the loose again, and he is currently unstoppable. Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie units all got wiped out within just seconds. Initiating Protocol Zero. Over and out!"
"Command, what exactly happened? Over!" Ripley tried to communicate back but it was futile since he got no response.
"Protocol Zero? Are they going to initiate a total lockdown?" Bella asked.
"I think so. We are literally fucked. If the Crimson Devil is as powerful as before, we are doomed. Maybe we are all going to die," Ripley said with a pale expression.
Bella frowned and said confidently, "Nonsense. He is not a god. We could easily take care of him as long as we assembled all the best Ascended ones. It's only because the leaders are all pussies that we aren't able to kill the Crimson Devil once and for all."
"Hehe...hahaha…" A burst of dry and derisory laughter sounded beside Bella, who turned her head slowly to see that it was Nathasia laughing to herself.
"You pathetic people...he is going to kill all of you...there is no escape for the real devils…"
*SLAP!*
A slap resounded as Bella gave a heavy slap to Nathasia's face as she gave a snort, "Know your place, weakling."
Nathasia didn't let out a whimper even though her cheek was reddened but still had a mocking smile on her face.
Bella saw that smile and got irked and was about to slap her again when Ripley sternly said, "Bella, control yourself. You are a trained soldier, and you want to slap an incapcitated girl?"
Bella snorted as she held her hand and looked elsewhere.
"Right now, we don't have time to waste. We are already following HQ's orders by going to our safehouse number 3. It is a well-cordoned facility with many offensive and defensive capabilities. We should stay inside till we get further orders," Ripley said in a serious tone.
Bella was dissatisfied, but she didn't say anything anymore since there was nothing she could do on her own.
"Delta team, do you copy?"
Ripley suddenly heard someone trying to communicate through his walkie-talkie and replied back, "Yes, I do. What is the situation?"
"The situation couldn't be worse. We were able to pinpoint the Crimson Devil's place of stay but only came upon his wife. But some of the soldiers became fanatic and hysterical, and they burned the wife to death. She was pregnant as well. And then all hell broke loose as the Crimson Devil got enraged and killed everyone on the spot. Thankfully, I survived since I was scouting from far away. Ha…what I want to say is stay cooped inside your safe houses and pray to the gods that the Crimson Devil doesn't find you."
Nathasia suddenly cocked her head in shock, not expecting Damien to already have a wife, a pregnant one at that too.
But when thinking about how his pregnant wife was burned to death, she felt an ache in her throat, feeling heavily burdened by the fact that he could have saved his family if it were not for her.
Ripley winced as he felt that they themselves had made the situation worse. He couldn't understand why all these trained soldiers would lose their minds whenever the Crimson Devil was involved.
Sure, most of their families had died because of him, but still, this was not how things should have been done, he felt.
"Why would he even come after us? Didn't he already kill the ones who killed his wife?" Ripley asked with visible tension in his voice.
"You seriously think we can judge him by common sense? I already got the news that he is out on a massacre, cutting down every person in his way, especially men in uniforms. So you know how fucked we are. Besides, some of the men in your company were involved, I heard. So, better stay inside…
Ripley's hand limped as he felt hopeless hearing what happened. He felt that if the Crimson Devil was able to do something like he did during the Great Calamity, then even hiding in the most secure bunker would be futile.
He felt as if they had poked the hornet's nest when it had been relatively peaceful for the past year. Even if the world had many grudges and held resentment towards the Crimson Devil, he wondered whether it was worth it to offend the devil and risk the extinction of the human race just so that they could take revenge?
Nathasia's thoughts had completely gone dark as she only hoped that Damien would somehow bring an end to this shitty world or at least her and the ones who caused her parents to die.
But then she scoffed at herself, wondering why she was still relying on someone else's help to fulfill her wishes, and felt that it was high time she relied on her own abilities to do what she wanted to do.
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