"Are there... more of those coming?"
The question ca from Dr. Kian, who had been silent up until now. Though he too was carrying almost a blank face at the mont, he wasn’t as good as faking a calm expression as the other three people present in that apartnt. His body still gave away the tension he was feeling.
Rune let out a small sigh before he answered honestly. "Not right away, but we might see more of them in near future."
There was silence in the room before Dr. Kian put forward another question, this one aid at Grace. "Was this creature similar to the monsters that attacked the Earth in your previous life?"
Grace shared a quick look with Davian, the two having a silent conversation through their eyes. Though neither of them spoke even a single word, she got the answer she was searching through him.
"I don’t think either of us saw this particular monster in our previous tiline. But those monsters were pretty much similar to this one, maybe not... this powerful?" Even she wasn’t sure if the difference she felt was real or just her imagination.
"What kind of monster was it? Do you have any idea?" Davian asked, focusing his attention on that one person who might be able to answer most of their questions - Rune.
Rune didn’t answer imdiately, instead, he first settled down on the nearest couch and poured himself a glass of water from the jug sitting on the coffee table in front of him.
Realizing the conversation might stretch long, the others also headed to take their seats. Grace did the sa but not before covering the windows with curtains, knowing that it was completely useless in case of another attack, it might even beco a hindrance. Still, she did it because she didn’t want to look at the window for the ti being.
Once they all were seated, Rune finally decided to answer Davian’s question. "It was a shadow beast, and it ca from beyond the Veil."
"The Veil?" Grace repeated. Her brain was trying to recall if she ever heard about any shadow beast in the previous tiline, but nothing ca to her mind no matter how hard she tried to recall.
"The Veil is what separates the Earth from the world of those monsters," Rune replied, his gaze fixed on Grace. "It’s a ward - an ancient magical barrier put here by my ancestors to keep your world safe from these monsters. That veil is what have kept your world safe from them all these millenias, other than the efforts of my Realm of course."
Grace listened silently, processing everything as all this was so new to her. Despite the extra five years she had lived, there were still things... or secrets... like these that she was completely unaware of.
"If the Veil is that strong, how co this monster entered our world?" Davian asked, noticing the big plot hole in Rune’s story.
"It’s because the Veil has beco weak after all these continuous natural disasters. I felt this monster’s presence the mont it entered this world, it’s a unique ability of a monster hunter like . When I tracked its initial source, I found out that a crack in the Veil had appeared through which this monster entered the Earth."
The more he revealed, the more others realized just how serious the situation was. These monsters didn’t appear until two years into the apocalypse in the previous tiline, but they just saw one just monts ago. If the monsters had already found a way to enter the Earth, the end was undoubtedly there.
As the thought passed through Grace’s head, a sudden realization dawned over her. "Can you tell exactly at what ti this monster entered our world?" She asked Rune. The wheels were turning in her head as she started connecting the dots.
Rune spared a quick look at the watch wrapped around his wrist before answering, "About fifteen minutes ago. Why?"
The n had their questioning gazes fixed on Grace, watching as her eyes grew wide with a sense of confirmation. Her gaze shifted among the three of them as she replied, "That’s the exact ti the system finished the countdown. The end of the world."
The room was filled with a heavy silence for next few monts as the n processed her words. It was Dr. Kian who broke that silence first. "So unlike the previous tiline where the end of the world began with a zombie breakout, the end of the world this ti is related to the appearance of the first monster."
His words weren’t in the form of questions, that’s because they all knew the answers. The end of the world in this tiline was indeed related to the appearance of the monster.
"Does it an we can expect a hoard of such monsters attacking the cities and villages anyti soon?" Davian asked the question out loud, and while it wasn’t really directed at anyone, Rune decided to answer.
"Not really. I have sealed the crack for the ti being. It might not be as strong as the original, but it might hold on for a while."
Before anyone could have felt any relief from his words, he continued, "However, there’s no telling if only one such crack has appeared in the Veil. I might need to do a thorough checking to find out the answer. But even if by chance there’s no other crack in the Veil, the future will still be uncertain because it’s just a matter of ti before the Veil will give away under these disasters."
The room was once again silent, all four of them lost in their own thoughts. It was Dr. Kian who presented the next question - "Is there a way to keep the Veil standing against these disasters?"
The sigh that Rune let out was already a clear answer. "I alone can do just as much as fixing such small cracks. Holding up such an ancient and strong veil needs power... imnse power."
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