"We have to go, move move move." A middle-aged man with red hair yelled at the group of humans running towards him, he was dressed in a black cloak that had seen better days, and a long sword hung on his waist.
They were running towards a large building, it was made of metal and it was several stories high, it was the only standing building in the place.
"Sir Lionel, the crawlers are too many, they can't outrun them." A man who stood beside him said.
Lionel looked at the man who spoke, then looked towards the people who were headed their way.
'This mission is the only thing that can save humanity, if it fails, then 50 years will be down the drain, and we will lose finally.'
He grabbed hold of his sword and the man beside him noticed it, he immediately spoke up.
"Sir we can't have you going to help them, this is the most crucial part of the mission, we need your strength for the perfect time." The man tried to sway him.
"No, you have Alex there and the rest, if those men don't get to us successfully, then it would all be for nothing, the reactor is in their hands, they have to get here," Lionel said, and then shot towards the incoming people.
The man beside him could not even react, but Lionel was already halfway there, his speed was inhuman.
The ground cracked under every step, he got to the incoming people and passed them without stopping, his target was behind them, the hoard of rank five crawlers that chased after them.
He planted his feet after the crawlers got into sight, and without wasting a second he drew his blade. He held up the sword waiting for the crawlers.
"I could have just taken the reactor from them and taken it back, but that way all of them would be left behind and they would die.
Even if it was just these last few people, he decided to save some lives, at least they would have some time to say goodbye to their families.
They were all going to die at this point, the only hope they had was the completion of the mission, it was a mission that would send some of them back on time to before the world core was cracked.
That way they could use the artifact that one of them had and save the future of the world.
"For the sake of this, I'll lay down my life." Lionel roared and leaped into the air.
The crawlers all attacked him as well, they looked like dogs with black skin and protrusions running down their spikes, they had the sizes of grizzly bears.
Lionel stabbed forward with his sword, it glowed red and a magnificent red light exploded from the sword, pushing the crawlers that had attacked him back.
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He spun the blade around and slashed, a red arc shot from the sword and cut down a crawler, reddish-black blood sprayed like a fountain.
He immediately pushed forward and stabbed at another crawler, his sword glowed red, it tore through the body of the crawler without resistance.
"I have to fight faster, faster," Lionel said to himself, he raised the blade above his head and gave out a loud war cry.
"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
His body shined brightly with a red light that reached to the sword. When he took his next step forward, his body disappeared, and a group of crawlers were split in half.
He appeared at the center of the crawlers and then did what he didn't again. The blood of the crawlers kept spraying, he ensured that no one went in the direction of the building, but the battle soon became overwhelming.
He slashed with all his might, but his fatigue was too much and he was running out of Mana to even fight, still, he kept going, using only his physical strength to cut them down.
After minutes of struggling, he couldn't keep it up and the crawlers overpowered him and began digging their teeth into his body.
"I did all I could Alex, the rest is left to you, save us," Lionel said before dying.
____ ____
The men that Lionel had saved finally reached the building and the gates were opened for them, they ran in like mouse after cheese.
There was no pause when they came in, they handed the reactor in their hands to a man who was inside, the man took it and ran deeper into the building.
The men that had succeeded could finally have some time with their families before it was all over.
The man with the reactor ran like a sprinter, he descended down a flight of stairs like it was nothing, and got to an underground tunnel that had flickering lights.
He ran through until he got to a large door with two men in leather armor and swords sitting outside.
"We got the reactor." The man yelled before he reached the door, the two men jumped up like frogs and pushed the door open, and the man ran into a large hall.
There were about twenty people, mostly middle-aged to old people there, and then threw was a portal-like device at the center.
When they saw the man run-in with the reactor, they knew the plan had worked, but to some there, this was not right, this was not who was to bring the reactor.
A man with black hair and eyes walked forward, his demeanor was like a sharp blade, Where is Lionel?" He asked in a commanding tone.
The man with the reactor bowed his head to the ground, "Sir Alex, We lost sir Lionel, he went to save the men that brought the reactor from a hoard of rank five crawlers."
"Is that so?" Alex replied, he stepped forward and collected the reactor then patted the guy on his head.
"Then let us not waste his sacrifice, let's activate the portal, and go back to save the world."
The plan had been simple, everyone here would go through the portal and they would go to the time when the world core had not been cracked, then using the unique system that Alex activated from the artifact, they would use it at world core and they would reconstruct the world.
Or so he thought, as he went to the portal and fixed the reactor, the portal actually activated as they had envisioned, but then.
*Slash* *Slash*
Alex heard the sound of blades, he turned around as fast as he could only to see nearly all the men that were there had been killed, only Lady Aurora, a beautiful woman with white stood with her sword, and facing her was a figure clad in complete black and his face shrouded in a fog, holding a blood stained katana.
"I have to thank you all for creating this portal for me, now I can go back and ensure that I do what needs to be done to end the world properly." The figure spoke in a glitchy deep voice.
"You will have to go through me first," Aurora said.
"Aurora I'll help." Alex wanted to come close, but Aurora used a force to push him back into the portal unexpectedly.
"I love you, Alex, I always have, right from the very start, if we meet again, then please love me back."
Alex disappeared through the portal with a shock on his face and for the first time in a while, tears from his eyes.