FA Chapter 32 Under A Second

A few minutes earlier...

Audible clicks were picked up by Bosingwa's ears, with his focus entirely pinned upon the man making them. The man was resting his head upon a broken concrete piece with his ears twitching in a manner that suggested that he was picking up on the echoes.

It was something that would have entirely occupied his attention if it had been any other time. Yet now, he was barely managing to concentrate upon what the man was doing.

Bosingwa's face was pale and he was just moments away from bursting at the seams mentally. What kept him going was the spirit that many more people had to be saved. He couldn't show weakness. Through the corner of his eyes, a smidgen of red caught his eyes as his concentration upon the man slipped. But he hurriedly channelled back his focus.

He had seen so much blood, so much gore that at this point, he had become traumatised. The past few minutes, hundreds had been rescued, courtesy of the fact that they were only Forgers doing the operation, yet, many more blood stains, pieces of bone and flesh, severed limbs and scorched bodies had entered his gaze, searing themselves within his mind.

"Are you okay?" Whispered Ice. Her eyes contained a sliver of concern for him but he couldn't see the same terror within them as his. She and Larssen both, were monsters. They hadn't been fazed by all that they had seen, the carnage particularly.

Innocents had died. Weak people had died! All because a Forger had whimsically decided to choose this city as the battleground.

Bosingwa knew himself to not be a particularly righteous man and yet, even he had felt shaken at this destruction and death. He would never ever do this to innocents and the weak. Maybe a few evil guys, but not the general populace.

Even now he could still vividly recall the image of a small severed limb he had seen a while back, one that must have been of a child about 3 or 4.

"You and Larssen... Are abnormal."

"This is normal for me. The Forgers who ran at the first sign of trouble are the ones you should direct such a scary gaze towards. At least we stayed behind to help."

"Would you have stayed if it hadn't been for your interest in me?"

At that question from Bosingwa, Ice didn't answer, instead opting to gaze ahead for a few minutes before answering with...

"Bosingwa, I suggest that you get rid of that naivety within. This is the world of Forgers. If it benefits them, they wouldn't even hesitate to sacrifice their own family members... Of course I would never do something like that, but many would."

"There is a person trapped a few meters within. They are straight ahead from where I am standing."

The man's voice, the one who had been crouching beside the large concrete piece, using echolocation, spoke, interrupting whatever thought that might have popped within Bosingwa's mind at Ice's candid words. It was sound advice, but he still couldn't accept it at this time.

There was no way he could justify killing this many people or your family members for a single goal.

"I must say man, your modifications to the ears, mouth and brain are impressive. You must have had them done by a crystal stage, right?" There was a hungering look plastered across Larssen's face while asking that question.

"We need to save the person first. They are in danger of asphyxiation. I didn't sense any gaps capable of facilitating air exchange."

Bosingwa moved, appearing by the large concrete slab in just under a second, with another person, a woman, flickering to appear opposite him, upon which they both exerted strength to push away the large piece, which crashed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

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Then it happened!

Bosingwa blinked as a blinding blue light lit up the sky for a fraction of a second, almost blinding him, after which, an explosive sound reached his ears like thunder, causing them to bleed.

MUSANAAA!

A tremor also shook the soil sweeping everyone off their feet, sending them crashing to the ground.

"What was that?"

"A thunder strike?!"

"Was that Zeus? Has he joined in?"

That question alone caused everyone to pale.

"Nah. I think it was someone else." Everyone let out the breath they had been holding upon that reassurance from Larssen, coupled with synchronising with their neural links. The internet connection had been restored, though Bosingwa and everyone else was of the unified theory that hackers related to Musana had done the job.

"Hurry up! We need to save the man!"

Bosingwa hurriedly stood up, pushing the image of the dark clouds up above, into the depths of his mind. He and the others were working on a deadline.

With immense effort, they managed to clear all the debris, finally rescuing the man. Bosingwa released a sigh of relief upon being notified that the man was still breathing.

"Let's go back to the camp. We have finished sweeping this area."

No one disagreed as they were all of the same thought, to seek shelter with the three crystal stage Forgers at the camp.

"FOR ONE SECOND! DEFEND! RUN! SURVIVE!"

They had just started on the road back, having just covered a few meters with their jogging speed, only for that roar to strain their eardrums.

Bosingwa felt a palpitation in his heart. A dangerous feeling, one a person only felt at the edge of death enveloped him even as a chill raced down his spine, bringing goosebumps along with it. He could feel the breath of death upon his neck!

Blue light manifested along their skin, turning into something like a hazmat suit, while a message played itself within their minds, faster than light itself, at the speed of thought.

"Come to me! Now! Or you won't survive even with those protective measures!"

The man they had just saved wasn't enclosed with such a defense as it could only be administered through contact with the creator.

He wasn't going to survive. At the speeds they were going to be moving, the man's body was going to disintegrate!

Bosingwa was caught in a dilemma... But before he could even voice anything, something blue raced over from the horizon, appearing just in front of the team.

Everyone's mind managed to interprete the light from the figure as elder Lwazi, yet their bodies couldn't react as he was moving at speeds beyond their reaction.

Before the image could even vanish before their eyes, Bosingwa felt it. The heat upon his back and light so bright that his eyelids started dropping down, only for everything to clear out within the second, leaving behind, nothing!

When Bosingwa finally managed to complete the blink, everything that had been in front and to the sides of his vision had vanished!

Except for the piece of land they were situated upon, everything, from the buildings to the land they had been standing on, to the ruined debris to the blood, to the dead bodies... Everything had vanished!

Bosingwa turned towards the others only to catch sight of their gaping expressions.

Something collapsed, dragging his attention towards the back, where they had been running from, only to catch sight of a figure, having collapsed on his back, with blood forming a puddle around him.

Bosingwa and the others sprang towards him, making sure to stay away from the edge of this lone island.

The person lying upon the ground was Elder Lwazi, the man who had been one of the guardians of the temporary disaster camp.

Bosingwa looked back to see whether the camp was still standing only to be shocked. It had been just a single short Kilometer away! Yet nothing was there! Had they all died?!

Even as the others tended to elder Lwazi, he stood up and looked around, even enhancing his gaze, only catching sight of various crystal stage Forgers, in states that made those who didn't understand them, doubt as to whether they were human.

Some had missing limbs, while most had charred bodies. But, except they, who had been protected by elder Lwazi, there was no one else, below the crystal stage alive!

"Jjaja!!!"

A shout pierced through the silence that was the atmosphere, attracting the group's attention. A teenage girl had appeared in their midst... No, she had been present all along, except that they had missed her presence due to the shocking scenery around them.

And that shout managed to drag Bosingwa from inspecting the surroundings, towards elder Lwazi.

"He won't die." Larssen gave the verdict after examining the man.

"This power...who could have caused this?!" Someone exclaimed. The neural links weren't responding at all, as if they had gone dead.

"Was a nuclear bomb dropped here?" A man asked, his voice trembling with unconcealed terror.

"Don't be stupid, my dear man. Would we still be standing and talking with all the radiation that would have been floating about?"

"Aren't the stars brighter today? Or could I be seeing things?"

Bosingwa looked upwards, like the others and gasped. The sky was so beautiful. The stars were twinkling radiantly.

"The repercussions of whatever happened here aren't going to be small. Hundreds of thousands are probably dead. Even many Forgers failed to survive. Its even up in the air whether Musana is still alive or dead." Ice spoke words that hammered into everyone.