Outside the car, the world revealed itself as chaos incarnate.
At the crater’s edge, Riven and Rae were locked in a brutal dance with the towering masked man. Explosions lit the air with deafening shockwaves, each impact cracking the street and rattling buildings. Rae’s unstable aura clashed against the man’s detonations. Beside her, Riven’s constructs strained to hold ground.
But they weren’t the only ones fighting.
The masked man had not come alone. Continuously, more robed figures had descended. Spells flared, blades whistled, and every strike carved casualties into the heart of the city.
Runewoven’s team fought desperately and valiantly. They didn’t quite know what was going on, but it didn’t take much brainpower to summarize that the masked guys casting explosions inside the part of the city that was full of citizens had to stop.
The few Awakened Association guards tasked with protecting the entrance to the dungeon were already bloodied. They sported high levels, but the number of enemies was overwhelming. They were being overrun.
At the same time, civilians screamed in the distance, fleeing into alleyways as fire overcame storefronts and buildings collapsed. Still, even through all the chaos, the invaders pressed forward, increasing their numbers while lunging at their enemies.
Kaiden barely had time to register the hellscape before a shadow fell over him. One of the masked assailants was already upon him, blade raised high, the edge glimmering with dark enchantment. Instinct took over.
His arm rose, and the Blood Monarch’s Gauntlet glowed a brilliant crimson as he willed it into being.
*SHRRK!*
A shield of hardened blood burst out, intercepting the descending blade. Sparks showered as steel screeched against living crimson, the force rattling his bones.
Kaiden gritted his teeth, muscles straining under the weight of the attack.
The assassin sneered behind his mask, pressing harder, only for a violet flash to split the air.
*ZRRRK-SHHHKT!*
The intruder’s torso split clean in half. His body collapsed in a ruined heap as Luna slid in beside Kaiden, her [Stormblade] crackling with arcs of violet lightning. Her purple eyes shone with fury, sparks dancing off her armor as she raised the weapon high again.
"Scumbag..." she spat, voice full of hatred. "Getting out of the car was the right call. It was about to get overrun; at least we can fight for our lives now."
"Let’s all start streaming!" Nyx declared. "The government can use the footage to analyze the situation and send proper help."
"We’re in extreme danger right now, we must not make a single mistake!" Aria spoke up next, voice full of determination despite the horrible scenery she was witnessing.
"Yeah, let’s stay together. They don’t seem to be interested in capturing us alive," Bastet nodded in agreement before her palms began glowing with solar energies.
Kaiden’s shield pulsed once, then warped in his hand. Crimson blood softened, reshaped, and elongated into a massive, jagged greatsword. The weapon dripped with living essence, with veins of red light crawling across its blade like a heart still beating.
"We wanted to test our new powers against monsters today," he said while planting his feet firmly against the quaking ground. His voice carried a sharp edge, a promise of violence. "But life seems to have had other plans in store for us. Let’s go all out from the start, my beloved Valkyries and Solar Empress."
The air around him thickened. His mana thrummed with far greater ferocity than before, proof of the bottlenecks shattered in the undead dungeon. Every stance, every Sin that had once felt heavy and restrained, now coursed through him like a natural extension of his will. They were upgraded, granting his stance abilities and evolutions.
Kaiden exhaled slowly and then declared, low and cold:
"Sin: Wrath."
His eyes burned with a crimson, ominous edge. A violent aura radiated from his frame, raw animosity transmuted into power. His greatsword flared red, vibrating like a beast straining at its leash.
The girls instinctively tightened their formation. Luna’s Stormblade hissed with lightning, Nyx’s hands were already calling upon space itself, while Aria’s staff shimmered with pale lunar light, and Bastet’s palms glowed like miniature suns. Yet Kaiden walked to the very front, each step of his sounding like a drumbeat against the earth, unshaken by the swarm of enemies rushing their way.
He raised his blade at their enemies, ready to kill as many humans as was necessary to protect his lovers.
But then...
*DING!*
It wasn’t broadcast through the system. It wasn’t a notification or a whisper inside their minds. It was real, echoing in the air itself.
The sound rang sharp and clear, louder than any bell, yet not deafening. It resonated through air, bone, and soul alike. Every fighter, be they members of Runewoven, the masked intruders, association guards, Rae and Riven clashing with their explosive foe, all staggered for a heartbeat as the sound pulsed through the city.
And it wasn’t just them.
From the deepest slums to the highest corporate towers, across dungeons, guild halls, and warzones—the sound reached every corner of Earth. A single note that none could ignore.
Then came the voice.
A woman’s voice. Smooth, resonant. Both beautiful and horrifying, as though a goddess had accidentally dipped her tongue in honey and venom alike.
"Mortals of Earth. It has been exactly ten years since the shattering of your world. Ten years since mana graced your meager existence, flooding your fragile sphere."
The words were perfectly understood in every tongue, in every ear. No barrier of language or culture remained. The people of Earth gasped in sync, staring wide-eyed at each other.
"You’ve been granted ten years of reprieve. Ten years of coddling."
The woman’s voice grew colder, reverberating with a finality that could not be denied.
"Today, I herald the decade-long grace period’s conclusion."
The skies darkened. Clouds twisted unnaturally overhead, drawn into spiraling maelstroms.
"Survive and thrive... if you can."
The voice fell silent, but its presence lingered in every trembling chest.
And in that silence, true chaos descended on Planet Earth.
Kaiden and the girls were first-hand witnesses, for right before their eyes, the dungeon gate began thrumming violently.