A massive pile of lies.

Isaac scoffed, dismissing the notification before him.

Would it really kill you to be honest with us for once? We could have prepared for this beforehand… Now, people just won't know what to do next. Dammit…

The Interface's previous lies had mostly affected small groups or lone survivors. But this? This affected them all. Every last person in the Contamination Zone had been counting down the hours, hoping that soon, the next part of this hell would end for them.

And now, at the last moment, the Overseer had decided to change the rules. Again.

Even though Isaac's blood boiled at the thought of fighting this Guardian, others probably wouldn't share his excitement. Worse, based on the notification, it was unlikely he could handle this alone or even with a small group. After all, it was taking five percent of Wretched's population to summon this monster.

That kind of power… It was hard to even imagine.

I'm first in the contribution ranking, and I doubt I've even come close to killing one percent of the entire Wretched population, Isaac mused as he still hovered high above the trembling ground. We might have a real problem on our hands…

Worst of all, he had used Crimson Flock not even an hour ago. There was no way he would have it available for the fight with the Guardian. Hindsight was really twenty-twenty.

Need to regroup with the others and go from there. Ain't gonna figure out anything on my own.

Isaac nodded to himself and flew toward the ground as the earthquake slowly subsided. Clouds of dust still covered most of the streets, but he ignored them and dived right in. The moment his tiny feet hit the ground, he shifted back into human form and grabbed his portable radio.

"Tyler, James, Elaine?" he called out into the device. "Can you hear me? Are you fine!?"

It took until the tremors stopped for somebody to answer him. "Loud and clear, lad," Tyler said. "And yeah, the three of us are fine. Bit banged up but fine. Can't say the same for the others in the group."

Isaac's grip tightened around the radio. "Where are you?"

"Midtown, closing in on Downtown, according to the locals. Bloody earthquake hit us mid-fight."

Isaac grimaced. "How bad is it?"

Some yelling echoed from the radio. It took a few seconds before Tyler came back.

"Hard to tell yet. Definitely a lot injured and most likely a couple of casualties. The mutants didn't waste their chance."

"And the message?" Isaac pressed. "You saw it, right?"

"Aye, I did. We all did," Tyler confirmed. "But listen, lad. I can't talk now. Gotta help the others, reorganize, and deal with the wounded. Find us. We will talk then."

"Right, sorry," Isaac muttered. Now was not the time for twenty-one questions. "Stay safe out there."

"You too."

With that, the radio went silent. He quickly clipped it back to his belt and transformed. It was time to find out just how badly this Overseer had screwed them over.

First stop: the core of the former Quarantine.

No time to waste.

Thanks to the somewhat close distance between the Zoo and the former Quarantine, it didn't take Isaac long to cross into Midtown. If it could even be called that anymore. Compared to his last visit here, almost no buildings had survived the recent earthquake. The entire area looked like a warzone ripped straight from the pages of his history books.

On the way, he passed several groups of survivors. He always slowed down near them, trying to find any faces he could recognize. Unfortunately, there were none. The Colonel's team must have entered from a different direction.

In hindsight, he probably should have asked about their route before leaving for the Zoo.

Either way, he would find them. As soon as he finished scouting the core, that was…

My god. What the hell is this? Isaac thought as he neared the park where he had destroyed the Corrupted Heart. Just what did you do, Interface?

While the park itself didn't really change—there was not much left for the earthquake to destroy—it definitely gained quite an addition. A very large and potentially dangerous addition.

A couple dozen feet above where the Corrupted Heart used to be, now floated a portal. Or was it a literal tear in reality? It was hard to tell without prior experience.

In any case, the thing was huge and constantly crackled with colorful energies. The inside of the portal—tear?—however, was as dark as night. If not for the bright dots within, he might have mistaken it for an empty void.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

But where's the Guardian?

Isaac tore his eyes from the alien structure below him and circled the entire area. Yet, aside from more Wretched and mutants, there was no sign of any other monster here.

So it obviously hasn't arrived yet. When then?

His gaze returned to the portal, and without any expectations, he activated Analyze on it. To his surprise, the Interface provided him with a single line of text. Not much, but more than he had before.

Dimensional Rift | Status: Charging | Time until opening: 1 hour, 16 minutes, 7 seconds

Isaac sighed. At least they had time to prepare. Maybe the Overseer wasn't as heartless as he thought.

Though the jury is still out on that, he mused. We still have to kill whatever comes out of that and defeat another five percent of Wretched. Yeah… not a problem.

He let out a loud caw, turned away from the rift, and headed for the ruins of Midtown. He still had his team to find. As he predicted, with the size of this portal, there was no way he could succeed here alone.

Not even his Symphony and Root of Blood could convince him otherwise.

There you are.

After circling around Midtown for over ten minutes, Isaac finally found a familiar face in one of the largest groups he had seen until now. As expected, they weren't moving.

Instead, about a third of the party was resting while the rest rushed around—digging through debris, tending to the injured, or shouting at each other. Most likely, some survivors had been buried alive when the nearby buildings collapsed.

For now, though, he ignored them and flew down to where he could see Tyler, the Colonel, Linda, and two other people talking. As a warning, he cawed a couple times.

That instantly got their attention, and while some went for their weapons, Tyler stepped in, letting him land in peace. With that, he transformed and nodded toward the gathered party.

"What's the situation?" he asked, turning to his teammate. "Where are James and Elaine?"

Yet, before Tyler could say anything, Williams stepped in first. "Thank you for joining us, Mr. Walker. I take it the Zoo is dealt with?"

Isaac nodded. "Gone forever."

The Colonel sighed. "At least some good news today… The situation here is mostly under control. Unfortunately, we have exactly eleven casualties and almost four times as many injured. We have already contacted the other groups asking for assistance, but they aren't doing much better than us at this point."

Shit.

"You will need to move soon," Isaac stated. "I scouted the core. The Guardian will arrive in about an hour, and going by the size of that rift, it won't b—"

"A rift?" Tyler cut him off. "Slow down, lad. We ain't moving anywhere without a plan. Start from the beginning."

Isaac exhaled. "Right, sorry. Got ahead of myself… The rift, it's…"

He proceeded to give the entire group a quick rundown of what he had found in the park. For the most part, they all took it well, and once he finished, the Colonel instantly addressed one of the men standing nearby.

"Hale! Take the others and make rounds. Ensure the injured are stable, then gather everyone level six and above. Anyone lower stays here and waits for reinforcements. We move out in ten."

"Yes, sir." The man saluted. He then nodded to the only woman Isaac didn't know here, and together they left.

"Sounds like you have a plan, Joe," Tyler stated, eyeing the Colonel.

"More like the foundation of one," Williams admitted. "The Guardian will arrive in a territory we know. If we clear it of hostiles first, we will have the advantage. I would have liked to have more firepower with me, but hopefully, the other groups will come through on that front. Other than that, too many unknowns for anything more concrete."

Tyler shrugged. "Better than nothing."

"That it is," Williams agreed, already pulling out his radio. "Now, if you excuse me, I must warn the others and ask for their full support."

"Good luck with that, mate," Tyler said, throwing an arm over Isaac's shoulders. "Come on, lad. I will show you where James and Elaine are waiting."

Isaac nodded and let himself be led away. "Anything else I should know?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Nay. You heard Joe. Situation's rough with so many casualties, but nothing we can do about that now." The older man shook his head. "Bloody Interface. I knew another earthquake would come sooner or later, but like always, it had to choose the worst possible time."

"Not the worst. Could have happened mid-fight with the Guardian."

Tyler clicked his tongue. "Right you are… Though, I hope you didn't just jinx us."

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Two earthquakes back-to-back? No wa—" He stopped at the sharp look the older man shot him. "Right… I didn't say anything."

"Good. The Interface hates us enough already. No need to give it ideas."

After that, they stayed silent until they rounded the bend of another collapsed building. More injured people lay here, but Isaac's attention locked onto two familiar figures.

James and Elaine.

While the latter was just standing there looking bored, the former lay sprawled on the ground, propped against a piece of debris. For a moment, Isaac thought the man might be hurt, but neither of his other teammates seemed concerned.

Still, he decided to ask. "Is he alright?"

"What, James?" Tyler waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing to worry about. You should ask him yourself, though."

Isaac nodded and remained silent until they reached the duo. There, he exchanged a small smile with Elaine and nudged the half-asleep man with his foot.

James' eyes snapped open and widened even further when he saw who was standing before him.

"Boss, you're back!" he exclaimed, sitting up. "Hell of a party, eh?"

Isaac chuckled. "Not sure if 'party' is the right word, but sure, let's go with that. What happened to you?"

James grimaced. "Ah, so you have noticed… It's nothing bad, though. I just hit level ten after the fighting ended."

Oh… He narrowed his eyes, scanning the older man for injuries. There were almost none. "You look good for someone who just began the awakening of their Legacy? Where are all the cuts?"

"He never got any," Tyler said. "Just froze up, turned into a block of steel for a moment, and passed out for a few minutes. Nothing like what you went through."

That's good news.

If the Legacy Awakening process varied from person to person—or was dependent on Origin—it was much better than getting sliced by a thousand invisible knives. Personally, he didn't recommend that experience.

"It still hurts like a bitch," James added, only to get kicked in the leg by Elaine. "Ouch, princess. No hurting the patient. I just say it how I see it."

"Of course you do." She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, enough of that." Isaac stepped in. "I just need to know—are you good to fight?"

James pushed himself to his feet and grinned. "As good as new. My blade is yours, boss."

The corner of Isaac's lips tugged upward.

"Good. Because that Guardian is our next target."

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