Galveston is in absolute shambles. Trees, shrubs, and lamp-posts were uprooted. Trash was strewn apart on the asphalt streets. Brick homes were demolished by demogres as they search inside the buildings for any living humans. One of them was grabbing a woman by her torso, ready to squeeze her like a plum.

“Grkk!”

One of my mana blades was embedded deep within the demogres neck as it gurgled blood, releasing the woman from its clutches. Chen Ling rushed at the demogre and cut its head off in a single motion.

“Lady! Why are you still in Galveston?! I thought the government evacuated the civilians months ago!” Sam shouted as he ran up to the teary-eyed woman.

“T-They did evacuations for most of us, but there were people, like me, who decided to stay…” She looked away, embarrassed. I could only shake my head in disappointment. I mean, there are those who would rather stay in their homes than evacuate to a shelter whenever there are natural disasters like hurricanes or floods. It's not uncommon at all, but this situation is way larger than a simple natural disaster.

“Are you saying that there are more civilians still inside Galveston?” I asked the woman. She nodded her head as she wiped her eyes with a sleeve.

“W-We didn’t think a Dungeon Outbreak of this magnitude would occur… I’m sorry…”

“…What’s done is done. Do you know any bunkers or safe places around here?” Sam asked as he inspected the woman for any injuries.

“In case of emergencies, there are numerous bunkers across the city. One of them is not too far from here. Just a couple miles west of here. I was also given an emergency message on my phone that there are superhumans in the city trying their hardest in fighting against the-”

Her voice trailed as Chen Ling returned from scouting the area, his face grim.

“As expected, this place is overrun with monsters. Every street, noon and cranky is infested. We have to move now or else we’ll be pinched,” he summarized.

Sam lifted the woman up. “Can you walk?”

“Y-Yes, I can,” she mumbled.

“Good. We’ll head to this bunker and have you stay there until this all blows over. On the way, we may come across more civilians, so we’ll try our best to round them up. Laila, Chen Ling, ready to move out?”

“Yes.”

“Yep.”

“Alright, let's go.”

In order to effectively protect the woman, Chen Ling will assume the rear while I guard the front, with Sam and the woman stashed between us. After making sure the coast was clear, we all made a run for this bunker as the woman directed us. Right as we turned the corner of a street clouded with rubble, a screech similar to a siren echoed. From above, green airborne monsters with webbed wings, sharp talons, and a head as long as a metal pole swooped down with snapping jaws.

“Eeek!”

The woman held her arms up defensively against the oncoming flock. Before they could get any closer, I willed two mana blades to cut through the monsters with ease. They all started to drop down like flies, their shrieks slowly dying out until they were just heaps of spazzing carcasses. Without another word or acknowledgment, we kept on trekking through, killing whatever monsters would block our way. Chen Ling would kill the monsters on foot while I dealt with the ones who can fly. Through this system, we were able to effectively save our overall energy without growing tired.

Although there weren’t plenty, there really were people who still hung back despite the evacuation notices. Even though most houses had their windows barred, we would see some eyes peeking through the blinders. There even was a troll creature slamming its fists against the door of an old woman's home. I killed the monster with just a single thrust through its skull and advised the old lady to follow us, in which she expressed no complaints. Our search and rescue would continue until we finally arrived at our destination.

“Do you see that heavily fortified building near the hospital? That’s the bunker!”

Sure enough, there was a big building that could be mistaken for an army base. There were tents and vehicles such as tanks and jeeps parked out front shooting away at anything airborne. Barbed wire fences were constructed all around the compound with superhumans inside and outside dealing with the monsters. The scene that played out in front of me was a warzone unlike any other. Everyone was desperately fighting for their lives all while protecting the civilians that are probably huddled together inside.

Stolen story; please report.

“Ah? Hey, look over there! There’s a group outside the premises! Go and retrieve them!” A female barked out loud as she exited from a tent bigger than the rest. A platoon of superhumans rushed over to our location while subjugating monsters in their path.

“Follow me! We’ll lead you to safet-“ one of the superhumans' voice cut off when he laid his eyes on Sam.

“I-I-I-Is that Sam? THE SAM? Sam from The Six Hunter- HMPH!” One of his colleagues had a hand pressed against the excited man’s lips, berating him.

“Not the time for that you fucking idiot! LOOK AROUND YOU! Sorry about that, sir.”

Sam accepted the apology with a grunt. The rescuers quickly composed themselves and led us to their little camp.

“SHUT THE GATE,” the female from before commanded. Right as we walked through the metal door up front, two superhumans stationed nearby closed it as it made a creaking noise.

“We’re saved! Thank you for rescuing us, brave superhumans.” The people we collected along the way gave us their thanks and shook our hands as they were escorted inside the building. To our left, a very tall woman was heading straight our way with blatant animosity being shown. She had long fiery hair tied into a ponytail with emerald green eyes and freckles over her nose. On her breast was a single emblem stitched on her with blue lettering.

“Sam, explain yourself! What happened during your excursion in The Labyrinth! I thought The Six Hunters were capable enough to prevent Dungeon Outbreaks!” The woman hissed as she glared directly into Sam’s eyes.

Hm? Does she think that this is all The Six Hunters fault? That’s kind of presumptuous, don’t you think?

Sam didn’t flinch from the woman’s intimidating demeanor and replied in a quiet voice. “…Fiey. You of all people should know this isn’t our fault.”

Fiey glanced at Sam’s missing arm and eyeball with a flash of worry visible in her eyes, but it was only briefly.

“Tch. Follow me,” Fiey grumbled. She ran a hand through her blazing hair and trudged toward the big tent, us following along closely. Opening the flap inside, I took a quick scan around the area. There were tables and computers everywhere with people frantically bustling around. Everyone was in their respective stations with their hands tied, not even looking up from their work. One had headphones strapped on their ears while speaking directly into a microphone while a group was huddled over a table, passing papers amongst themselves. Fiey lead us toward the corner of the room, pulling out four chairs so the rest of us could sit.

“I’ll introduce myself first. I’m Fiey and I’m the leading officer for bunker five.” She waited impatiently as she tapped her foot on the ground, arms folded, waiting for our introductions.

“…I’m Laila Hall, and this is Chen Ling. You already know Sam so…”

“Let me cut to the chase,” Fiey brushed off. “I won’t ask what happened specifically in The Labyrinth since that’s probably classified information. What I will ask though is if you are aware of what’s happening around the world.”

“We have some idea. Monsters from Athiens are rampaging across Earth and we humans are basically unprepared for this scenario,” I answered, not even bothering to hide the irritation in my voice. Fiey didn’t seem to care though as she continued.

“Right. We received intel that this isn’t only happening in America, but all over. Every country is doing its absolute best in fighting against this new threat, but things aren’t looking so good. There are just too many of them appearing from those portals, and they don’t seem to be slowing down. At this rate, the casualties will be astronomical. It’s probably in the billions already.”

She let out a heavy sigh. I can tell the stress is getting to her even though a day hasn’t passed yet. Her fingers have been fidgeting non-stop and her eyes would sometimes dart around as if she’s expecting a monster to bust through the tent any moment now. She reminded me of an addict going through withdrawals.

“We’re trying the best we can to at least diminish the number of monsters in Galveston, but progress has been slow. Protecting the civilians while fighting has its limits.”

Hm... It is not like they can call for backup since other states and cities will have their hands tied. They cannot receive or send any troops or else they’ll risk losing their city to the monsters. Everyone is fighting a war on different fronts. Thinking about it now, how many superhumans are there in the world? I’m sure there aren’t that many of us, to begin with, so we are at a severe disadvantage. It’s like swimming against the fierce currents of the ocean.

“All we can do is minimize as much damage as possible, but that proves to be difficult on its own. Just now we lost contact with bunker number three located on the left side of the city. I fear they’ve lost the base against the monsters…” Fiey clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Truly a predicament we have fallen into, right, Laila, Sam?” Chen Ling mumbled.

Fiey eyed both Chen Ling and I curiously. “…Sam, who are these people anyways? I’ve brought them along since you seem acquainted with them, and they look… able enough to fight.”

“…They are superhumans undoubtedly stronger than I am after witnessing their skills in combat,” he answered. That only seemed to have confused her.

“Really? I thought you were the undisputed top superhuman in America?”

Chen Ling cleared his throat and said, “Um, actually, I’m from China.”

Fiey narrowed her eyes at Chen Ling, probably wondering why he was in America in the first place.

“…And you?” She looked over at me. Should I reveal my ranking to them, or do I stay quiet? From what I saw earlier, Sam is regarded as a celebrity. If I reveal that I’m stronger than Sam, who’s ranked tenth in the world, I’m sure to get celebrity status. That isn't pleasing to my ears at all since I hate garnering too much attention. Being crowded by people and watched for my every move is way too annoying to deal with. Alas, I can't get picky in times like this.

“Well, my ranking used to be undecided before I got here, but now… it magically popped up.”

“Hah? What bullshit are you spouting? Are you going to tell me or not?” Fiey spat out, her temper rising.

“I’m ranked second.”

At my answer, everyone’s eyes blinked at a snail’s pace. Even the workers who were too engrossed with their work were now staring at me, mouths agape. The room was deathly silent other than the distant sounds of machine guns and the occasional yelling of scurrying superhumans. Solgac whipped her head around bewildered at the sudden drop in noise all around.

Hmm… Maybe I should have lied about my ranking.