“How are you alive?” His mother asked, voice quivering.

Levi trembled, his thoughts were like a tornado in his mind. Ever since he had arrived in this world, he had thought it was Kale who had initiated the occult ritual. But was it really his doing? Did Kale have the knowledge required to do so?

Levi bit his lip. Or was it his parents doing? His mind stung. More images appeared. It was a dark night, his mother stood in front of a terrified young boy with a knife in her hand. Her curling smile sent a shiver across his shoulders.

Knife in hand, she grabbed Kale’s hand–her own son–and sliced across his palm. Kale struggled and cried and thrashed, but the woman bound him on the spot.

“Son, don’t worry. It will all be over soon. He said so himself. This is for our future.”

His father, with cold eyes, yanked his hand and used it as a paint brush, painting the floor in a bloody pentagram. Levi pleaded for them to stop, but they didn’t care about the pain he was suffering. His wound opened further from being scuffed across the floor.

Once the image was formed, they chanted strange words. They were calling upon the Ruler above the Heavens. They wanted to make a wish–to become the strongest mage in existence. But for some reason, Kale received it instead.

Kale’s vision turned black. The memories ended. Levi snapped back to reality. Was that how Kale had met his end?

His mother, still channelling her binding spell, ran forward, embracing Levi in a tight hug. But Levi felt no love in that hug, only a cold reminder that she was just a monster in human flesh.

"We must hasten," urged one of the cloaked figures. "Swiftly now, they can serve as sacrifices to expedite the ritual. Today marks the birth of the apostle. Today, we shall witness the dawn of a new world."

Another of the robed figures rushed to the adult trio, his hood fell off his face. It was Kale’s father. He grabbed hold of Sera, and with a knife in hand, slashed her palm. Blood dripped down onto the floor, and, with a mind of its own, flowed directly towards the devilish monster.

"You vile wretches," Gregory seethed, spitting the words. "In my next existence, I vow to see every last one of you meet your end."

“That won’t be a possibility,” said his mother.

Kale’s father then slit Gregory’s palm. Blood merged into Seras, then flowed for the apostle.

“Ushering in a new world,” Sera said, her face paling. “It’s fucking crazy. How many will die? And for what? Your pathetic delusion of grandeur.”

“You don’t understand,” Kale’s mother said. “None of you do. But you will. When the apostle rises, you will.”

“Crazy bitch,” Gregory spat with venom in his voice.

“It’s okay, son,” His mother said, caressing his face. “The apostle won’t be granted the wish, but that’s okay. He doesn’t need it, anyway. His words will come true. We will usher in a new world of our own creation, where we are the arbiters. We will stand at the top. Not them. Not those at the Imperial City.”

Levi's mind spun at breakneck speed, flooded with a torrent of thoughts and strategies to escape the situation. Countless options flashed through his head, but only one stood out. And it sent a chill through him. Every ounce of his being screamed at him not to. But he did it anyway. He had to survive.

No longer restricted, he moved swiftly. With a trembling hand, he drew the dagger from his waist and plunged it into the woman's chest. Red blossomed like a terrible, beautiful flower against her dark robes. Her eyes widened in shock, and for a brief, agonising moment, time seemed to freeze. Then, with a surge of raw mana, she blasted Levi away. His body struck the floor, rolling several times before coming to a stop. Blood seeped from the corners of his mouth, mingling with the dust and grime.

“Son,” she said shakily, touching the wound and looking at him with glassy eyes. Her restricting spell had vanished.

Bang.

A flash of light followed the booming noise, and the woman’s head busted open like a watermelon exploding.

Sera got up like the wind, brandishing her blade. In a blink of an eye, she sliced through one of the crazed figures from shoulder to waist, cutting them in half.

Bram stomped the ground, blasting a hole from where he once stood. His momentum brought him forwards like a rampaging bull. His fist collided against one of the robed figures in a sickening crunch.

Gregory’s gun fired once more. Hitting the bullseye–a robed figure's head.

One of the robed men tried to move, but his gun fired once more, his aim striking true.

Kale’s father–Frod–roared. “What have you done?!” He bolted to Levi, each stomp of his foot causing the ground to quake. He was a large man, but by the second, his body grew taller, thicker. His robes split, revealing a muscled body akin to bundled steel wire.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Bram was quick to intercept. The two mighty men clashed like war drums. Mana in the air activated. Levi felt his body smash into the mine’s floor. Gritting his teeth, he tried standing to no avail. No matter how hard he struggled, or fought, it felt like a mountain had been placed on his shoulders.

Frod had activated a gravity Skill.

Grunting, Bram ignored the added weight, and punched the towering man square in the jaw. He flew back. It was obvious who was stronger.

But it didn’t last long. Frod bolted back like a freight train. Levi watched the flurry of blows, but not only was Bram stronger than his father, he was much more skilled. The strength based detective ducked and weaved and replied with counters as if he was the centre of a storm.

While that was happening, Sera and Gregory were battling the others. One of their hoods was removed by a near miss of Sera’s blade, revealing a familiar face. Jok, from the town.

Levi looked at everyone. They were all the townsfolk he was born and raised with. But how? How did everyone have powers? From what Levi understood, it was incredibly rare for someone to obtain a Birthright.

Here, in this little town of Beron, was enough power to wrestle with an army division.

It was then that woman with long, scattered black hair, summoned blazing mana. The temperature rose considerably. Levi started to sweat. A ball of intense flame emerged from her hands. Like it was a baseball, she threw it with considerable force at Sera.

Another bang resounded within the cave as Gregory blew the woman’s head off, but the fireball was fast approaching.

Levi sucked in a deep breath as he felt how strong that spell was.

Sera sheathed her curved sword, then in one swift motion, brandished her blade. A wave of air sliced the blaze in half, erasing the heat in an instant. The wave of air continued until it split the woman named Klare in half.

There were still 2 robed figures left.

Bram’s entire fist glowed with crimson light. He pulled it back, then fired it forward. It struck Frod’s chest directly, sending him shooting back as if he was shot out of a cannon. He slammed into the back wall of the cave, crashing through rock.

Levi felt the gravity release. Pulling himself off the floor, he gazed in horror as the apostle opened its eyes. Still unmoving, it sent a jolt through his entire body. The aura the beast had resembled primal chaos in all its wild nature.

Despite the fear weighing down heavier than any gravity skill could, Levi brought himself to the ritual circle as the sounds of fighting behind him intensified.

Raising the knife he still had in his hands, his eyes caught the apostle's own. Being so close, Levi could even smell the putrid stench of its breath.

Still your hand. Let me have a taste of your world.

The voice penetrated his thoughts. Levi grit his teeth, and plunged the dagger into the cave’s floor, raking it across the blood soaked ritualistic markings.

The purple void behind the apostle squirmed and then shattered. The entirety of the apostle's body was sucked inside, disappearing from the world.

Levi fell backwards, flopping against the rocky ground of the cave. His bones ached, the pressure exerted from that gravity skill had most likely bruised his internal organs.

As the sounds behind him came to a stop, Levi looked back. Gregory walked up to him.

“Please don’t kill me,” Levi said, tired,

“What a strange thing to say considering you saved our lives,” Gregory said with a smile.

He helped Levi up to his feet, only for his face to become smothered in Sera’s chest. Well, there were worse ways to die.

Gregory shined his light to a far corner in the mine. Bodies upon bodies lay in a pile. They were all residents from the town. All familiar faces. Levi grimaced, feeling the pain deep in his soul.

“I’m sorry, Levi,” She said, pain visible on her face. “Your parents…”

Levi’s chest tightened as he shook his head. “Those monsters are no parents of mine,” he said. But the weight in his heart seemed to fight against his words.

While Sera comforted him, Gregory and Bram were busy doing their detective work. They first checked all of the robed figures' bodies for anything worthy of note, then inspected the ritual circle on the ground. Gregory’s gaze lingered on the blood markings. His finger trailed across them. Bram gently placed his hand on Gregory’s shoulder.

Gregory turned his head to Sera. “It’s similar to the one 20 years ago, as far as I remember it, anyway. Although this one is different. It appears that each ritual summons a different apostle. We know of 3 apostles. But this one… it had the form of a hound. How do they know how to summon a different entity altogether?”

“Someone must be talking to them,” Levi said. They all looked at him. “My–mother kept mentioning a ‘he’. ‘He’ told us. That’s what she said.”

“So someone is telling them exactly how to perform these rituals,” Gregory frowned. He stroked his stubbled. “Don’t like the sound of that.”

Bram spoke up, “It must be someone that has a lot of experience with the Krag if they know how to summon an apostle.”

“Aye,” Gregory said, “That’s my guess as well. So that makes every cryptomancer a suspect.”

“Powerful ones, anyway,” Sera added. “And we can't shoot down the fact that it may be an Oracle. There’s a lot that they know. How to summon powerful monsters is hardly out of their purview. Or even Summoners, for that matter.”

“We’ll report back what we’ve found with the higher-ups once we’ve returned to the city,” Gregory said. “Speaking of, no doubt the world’s been turned upside down with the Krag opening suddenly.”

“Do you think it was the Devil worshippers doing?” Levi asked.

“No. Maybe? Honestly, I'm not too certain,” The Captain said, scratching the back of his head. “It has never happened before. Even when the apostle broke free 20 years ago. The Krag did become turbulent, like now, but it never opened during the day–”

The detective spun on his heels, facing the mine’s entrance. The next moment, the sounds of wretched screams and horrifying yells tugged at Levi’s shoulder.

The monsters of the Krag had found their scent.

Sera brandished her blade. Bram walked in front, cracking his knuckles.

“What do we do?” Levi asked, forcing himself to remain calm.

Somehow, painfully, he already knew the answer.

“What else is there left to do?” Gregory’s lips twitched. “We fight.”