5 Hours Ago:

The massive warships groaned as they let down the anchors, settling down into the calm, lapping water of Port Canopy. It was a popular port, convenient for trade and tourism, and as such had grown into a sizable town. Glistening white stone made up the sprawling array of houses that lay in the center, but the construction went down a level near the edges. Stores and apartments of wood and cement became the norm as the city expanded outward.

The most notable part of the town, however, was undoubtedly the towering wall that curved around the edge of the town that faced inland. Built solely out of compacted dirt and mud, it easily stood at over fifty meters, and had no discernable seams anywhere along its surface; it was not the kind of construct that current human technology could boast. Instead, it was a construct of magic: Flux. More specifically, the Flux of Africa’s most competent Earth Elemental Mage.

A woman christened by the people as ‘Golem,’ she was one of the most venerated people on the continent. As a pillar of strength in Africa, her status was doubly revered due to her being an Elemental Mage. Elemental Mages were few and far between in the world, even after a hundred and some years of Flux. Those who could ‘Awaken’ were treated with the utmost respect, and deservedly so, as they would undoubtedly wield far more power than the average mage. They would almost always go on to become powerful players on the global stage, no matter their affiliation or background.

Hosanna Bogale Ketema was one such player, a woman renowned for her dignified and aloof composure. But today, she did not play the part of legend shrouded in mist, a divine embodiment of power that would not deign to mingle with the people. No, today, she played protector, commander. Soldier, fighting on the frontlines. Today, she was tattered and ordinary, scruffy and unkempt. For today, Africa had fallen.

In the three hours that had passed between the five IG warships spotting land and docking at the port, the entire continent had been ravaged. Monstrous mutants, massive insects the likes of which no one had ever seen, poured out of a cave in seemingly endless numbers. They ran through cities and towns, decimating all life they came into contact with.

Their destructive power was unmatched in the land. With some specializing in speed, defence, or pure strength, it was an impossible task for the mages of Africa to contain the troops that had spread across the continent.

Saber’s Edge was the first to fall, as their territory contained the cave that originated the monsters. The three cities under their name were overrun almost instantly, as the foot soldiers and upper echelon of the gang were unable to provide any resistance whatsoever.

The rampage was stemmed in part only when the strongest of Africa got involved. Only five mages in the continent stood at a level of power that rivalled the likes of the Divine Ax, the Assassin King, or the Five Continent Council. But even they and their organizations were constantly forced back, losing countless soldiers along the way.

Eventually, all five were pushed into the corner that was the town of Port Canopy. The status of the rest of the continent was unknown, as the internet and networking systems had been long destroyed. With the devastating power of the bugs, the worst could only be assumed. And so, the five gathered as many of the surviving people as they could and established the town as their last stand, the last bastion of humanity on the continent.

For an unknown reason, the bugs had stopped their advance on the town, but the wall had been put up regardless. Of course, those who had actually fought the creatures knew that they would have made short work of it if they had been determined to get in, but it still helped to calm down the common masses that had made it into the town.

The IG office of Africa had been constantly keeping the incoming warships updated on the dire state of Africa, so when Maximus and the others disembarked, they knew just how bad of a situation they were stepping into. And the three of them – Maximus, Alois, and Louis – knew that for once, their strength did not mean a guaranteed win, as it had for every fight they had ever been in the past decades.

Inside a small conference room – really a repurposed mayor's office – stood eight men and women around an oval desk. The air was grim, tense. No happiness or relaxation adorned the expressions of the people gathered. Though reinforcements had arrived – reinforcements that brought three of the world’s powerhouses – the five who had fought the insects knew that the situation was far from taking a turn for the better.

“As far as we can tell, there are five insects leading the rest: A beetle, a wasp, a centipede, a spider, and a butterfly," said Araya, the IG chief of Africa, as he began his debrief. "As for the rest, there is an untold number of insects, easily somewhere in the millions, all ranging in strength. However, according to the hasty calculations we've been able to do, their average strength is similar to a first-rate guild's elite. No human has been spotted on their side, but we must assume the worst case: all the missing mages from North America are somehow on their side, whether by choice or not. Then, we have the low-level office worker, but she should no longer pose a threat, as her strength is nowhere near the level required for her to be a player on this battlefield. Lastly, and most importantly, there must be some sort of mastermind, some human who has the capability to grow and lead these insects.”

There was a pause as the people in the room took in the information, fully processing the ramifications and danger that the situation presented.

“Realistically,” Maximus began, clearly choosing his words carefully. “What are our chances against these bugs? Of survival, I mean.”

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“For us? Depends on who we’re fighting,” Hosanna answered, her voice grave. “Against most of the bugs, we’d have a hard time even getting hurt by them, but against the five that Araya mentioned? I’d say it's fifty-fifty. Your survival against any of them would depend entirely on how you fight. Our strength only puts us on a level playing field against them, not at an advantage.” She sucked a breath, pausing for a moment. “But for the rest of humanity? I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

“What’s the plan then? Even if we manage to survive and beat the five, if the rest of humanity is overrun by the bugs, then what’s the point?” Maximus asked.

“Then we must simply stop the problem at its root, by finding and killing whoever this mastermind is,” answered the Guild Master of the highest-rated guild in Africa. He was an elderly man, the oldest of those gathered. And among the most dangerous.

“That would be a good plan, but there are too many unknowns. First of all, we don’t even know who or where this mastermind is, not to mention how strong he is,” countered Louis. “After all, we’ve never heard of an ability to make and control any insects, especially mutated and unspeakably powerful insects. It's definitely not the kind of ability an average mage would have, and it's not within the realm of the abilities of an Elemental Mage, to my knowledge.” Louis gave a questioning look to Hosanna, the senior most Elemental Mage present. She nodded in confirmation. “We have no idea what limit there is to the mage’s ability to produce these bugs, as well, or if the bugs alive right now will die if their master dies.”

“Well we must do something,” Maximus said, exasperated.

“Do what? Not every fight can be won by running in, ax swinging. Without a plan, this will be the end of humanity as we know it. We have one chance, there are no redos here. And we are the last pillars of humanity. Once we fall, as Hosanna said, there won’t be much hope for the rest of humanity,” said Araya.

“But it seems that there is no plan that can overcome this calamity. Certainly not one we can come up with in the time we have,” Hosanna said. “We don’t know why those bugs have stopped, but every second we have could be our last. And once those things decide to come in, there is nothing we can do to stop them.”

“Maybe we should ship the people out in the time we have. The five warships should be able to fit everyone here, right?” Louis said.

Alois scoffed. “What good would that do? Aside from cutting off our route of escape. Those powerless ants would still end up dying if we die; we’d only be delaying the inevitable.”

“That is a disgusting-” Hosanna began, about to admonish the man for his arrogance, when suddenly the world started to shake.

The eight gathered immediately cast their gazes in the direction of the wall, their sharpened senses warning them of dire danger. They could feel the presence of five, immense wells of Flux suddenly appear right outside the wall.

“We can’t send the people out into the ocean, but we can at least keep them in the warships during the fight. Araya, the people know you best, you direct them. The rest of you, come with me. We shall meet these beasts head-on.” Louis, ever the leader, immediately took control of the situation. His face was set grim, a steel resolve in his eyes.

With grave faces, the mages quickly jumped into action, the eight zipping through the panicking city. The walls had yet to fall, but the shaking was enough to send the nervous masses over the edge. Hysterics spread as the people despaired, even the sight of eight world-shaking mages not enough to give them hope.

Five minutes later, the wall finally gave in. Crumbling in on itself, it parted to reveal five monstrous bugs, and nothing else. No army stood behind them, and no humans were in sight. Just five, massive insects, whose combined aura was enough to press down on the seven gathered in front of them.

“I don’t think I’ve felt this kind of pressure since your father, Hosanna,” Louis said, a nervous smile on his face as he stared down the opposing side.

“Me neither,” Hosanna replied, fingers shifting as she tightened the grip she had on her gnarled, wooden staff. “Sucks that the old man had to kick the bucket before he could help us with this.” Legendary as her father had been, Hosanna held no respect for the man.

“I call the one that looks like a rhino,” Maximus piped up, referring to the beetle that sported a vicious horn at the end of its face. The glee of a challenging battle had taken over his face, the dire circumstances of the battle obviously forgotten.

As if waiting to be called out, the beetle instantly leapt forward, its powerful feet kicking against the sand as it charged towards the Divine Ax.

Maximus’ reputation was not underserved, however – the man had the strength to back it up. In the fraction of a second that it took the beetle to cross the dozen meters that separated the two, Maximus had already swung his ax, muscles bulging as immense power surged through his body.

The ax whistled as it cut through the air, before a deafening bang resounded through the city and the desert surrounding it. Sand blew up in all directions as horn and ax collided, neither giving ground to the other.

The fact that the beetle could hold its own in a contest of brute strength against Maximus was all the confirmation that Louis and Alois needed to know that Hosanna had not been exaggerating. Although Maximus was not the most dangerous of those present, none across humanity had the Divine Ax beat when it came to raw physical might. So the fact that the beetle could match him was frightening.

The other bugs were not idle, either. The wasp was second to move, buzzing forwards with its sword-like stinger aimed at the closest mage to it: an older Egyptian mage known only to the people as ‘Viper.’ With a body tall and lean, coupled with a strange martial art that involved bending and manipulating his body in snake-like movements, it was not a moniker given without reason.

True to his namesake, the Viper swayed the top half of his body without a trace of emotion on his face, perfectly dodging the sharp stinger. Then, without a moment of hesitation, the man latched onto the wasp, seemingly twisting his body around the beast as he climbed higher.

Once he had reached halfway up the bug's back, he palmed out two, vicious curved daggers from his sleeve and dug them into the back of the monster. Like the fangs of a viper, they bit into the flesh of the wasp, injecting their venom through the small holes on the tip.

For any human, that would have been the end of the fight – the Viper’s venom was renowned for its potency – but the wasp was no human. Immediately, its transparent wings buzzed with a sudden, new ferocity. The animal climbed in altitude so fast that the man stuck to its back had no time to let go before he was already over a hundred meters in the air. With no other choice, the man clung for his life to his daggers, the wind whipping at him and his clothes. Even with his hardened body, a fall of that height was not one he could walk off.

Down on the ground, the other three had also begun to fight. The spider faced Louis and another African mage, the centipede Hosanna and the last of the four African mages present, and the butterfly Alois.

With the pairs made, the battle which had upon its shoulders the present fate of humanity commenced.