"Co on, let’s see what you’ve got," Adrian muttered, gripping his dagger tightly.
Unfortunately for Adrian, that couldn’t be realised in ti.
Just as he was about to charge, sothing unexpected happened. Ropes shot out from nowhere, wrapping around the demon. The demon roared in anger and confusion, struggling against the ropes that held him in place.
"What the...?" Adrian mumbled when he saw George, Vesper, Alia and a bunch of strangers jumping out of their vehicles.
They moved with expert efficiency, their actions coordinated and precise as they dealt with the demonic human. Vesper jumped on his back, tightening the rope around his neck while George, now sporting a thick beard, began chanting softly.
Adrian watched in amazent as a glowing magic circle ford beneath the demon, further immobilising it. At the sa ti, Alia and the rest prepared their strongest attacks to let loose on the demon. Within monts, the demonic human was turned to dust.
Adrian smiled when their eyes t as the old group, looking worse for wares, walked towards them. However, they seem to be in a hurry.
"Co on, in the cars now!" George yelled.
They didn’t argue and did as they were told. Once everyone was inside, they made a mad dash through the place. It was then Adrian and the rest got their first look at the new world they had returned to.
The world around them had turned unrecognisable, vastly different from the one they were used to. Everywhere they looked, they saw devastation and destruction.
Buildings were reduced to rubble, and roads were cracked and broken with vehicles scattered about. It was as if they had walked into so zombie apocalypse movie set.
Sitting beside Adrian, Sophia couldn’t believe her eyes as she glanced out the window. "What the hell happened here?"
"It’s a long story," George replied, not taking his eyes off the road. "This place is like heaven, considering the rest of the planet."
"We can talk once we’re in the base," Alia cut them off, waving her bionic arm.
Adrian wanted to know more about what happened, especially with her arm. But he guessed he could wait to be ’safe’.
***
After half an hour, they finally reached their base. The place was a bleak sight, with makeshift hos made of scraps of tal and wood lining the roads, each looking more precarious than the last.
People moved through the streets with a weariness that spoke of hard lives and constant struggle. Children, their faces smudged with dirt, still played, only now their playti had been converted into training.
Adults worked tirelessly, so fixing broken structures, others trading goods in a small, crowded market. Weapons, food, dicines, there was everything one would need, even in a place like that.
They passed a group of guards ard with crude weapons, their eyes scanning them. But what surprised Adrian even more was the presence of Ghost Soldiers there.
Adrian was about to say sothing about it, but Vesper placed her hand on his shoulder, shaking her head.
"Not here," she said. "You’ll know everything soon, but till then, just be quiet."
A few monts later, their vehicles rolled to a stop near the centre of the settlent, where a larger building—once a town hall, now a makeshift command post—stood. A banner hung limply from the roof, bearing the symbol of the local faction that controlled the area.
"This is the DRA’s Hawaii branch?" John mumbled, rembering seeing the place a few days before entering the dungeon. "What happened here?"
"You’ll learn soon enough," Alia replied, heading inside.
Inside, they t people whom Adrian and anyone from the dungeon exploration group had not recognised. However, they all seed to know them.
"Welco back," a man wearing an eye patch and sitting in a wheelchair welcod them. "It seems you didn’t recognise , Adrian."
It then hit Adrian, "Rick...?"
"The one and only," the forr executive director from the DRA smiled wanly.
"What happened to you?"
"The world went to shit while you were gone," Rick replied. "and I was left like this to tell you the tale."
***
"IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!" John yelled, unable to believe they had been missing for over three years and not three days.
Even for Adrian, it wasn’t easy to believe. He was aware that ti in dungeons and ti on Earth flowed differently. But he couldn’t grasp how three days could turn into three years.
Adrian’s imdiate thoughts went towards his family, or what used to be his family. Vesper knew Adrian was worried about them even after all they had done.
Unfortunately, there was no good news. So far, none of them had been found in any of the governnt-controlled settlents. Which ant they were most certainly dead.
Adrian seed to need a mont after hearing that. But he pushed through. There were more important things to deal with rather than mourning his ex-family.
As for Sophia, her family was safe in a camp in London. They were the few lucky ones who made it out of France before it got wiped out.
"Most of the world is overrun with monsters or corrupted humans, as you saw before," Rick continued. "Thankfully, we only have to deal with the corrupt humans. As for the monsters, they are known to be concentrated around the towers constructed by the entities."
"Towers?" Sophia asked.
"The new pathway into other dinsions," Alia replied. "Be it Nexaria, Alfvania or Nether. Once you climb high enough, you can reach either of the realms."
"...I see," Adrian mumbled.
It wasn’t a good situation for Earthlings. Not only would they have to defend themselves against the Nether, but they would also have to go against advanced civilisations.
’No wonder the planet has been turned upside down. I’m surprised Earth is even habitable now.’
"It is thanks to the towers we can establish bases in far-off regions and not worry about resources," Vesper comnted. "As long as you climb the towers, one will find plenty of rewards waiting for them. The only problem is-"
"We’re not the only ones climbing the tower," Alia concluded as a bunch of elves entered the room. "Everyone is, including the entities."
Reviews
All reviews (0)