Briella Lunarise POV - Apocalypse Day

I left the confines of the abandoned church, tossing a prayer down the aisle for posterity's sake. At this point, I was willing to hedge my bets on anything.

I had only taken a few careful steps onto the narrow road, when I heard a horrified scream from a nearby building. I hesitated for a second, before stupidly deciding to help.

I ran towards the noise, instead of away from it as I should, determining the source to be from beyond a ground floor window. I dove into it and shattered the glass, arriving to the scene of an older woman cowering behind a desk. The door was broken inward by a heavy humanoid monster with an exoskeleton of bones.

The atrocity's attention fell on me, and I decisively dove for the desk hiding the woman. She looked confused and afraid, so I grabbed her hand and gave commands, unwilling to let the woman panic and jeopardize both of our lives.

"Stand up. We're leaving. NOW!"

She was shaken, she didn't move to get up. But a hard yank from myself broke the stranger out of her stupor and she immediately followed.

I conjured a blue curtain to hide us from view, and the monster roared as it lost sight of us. I felt the strength leave my body as I created a dozen more illusory curtains, to make sure that we remained out of sight.

I managed to hobble over to the broken window of my entrance, the civilian in tow. Not that I wasn't a mere civilian myself.

I jumped the boundary, and quickly forced the other person to do the same. She winced in pain as I kept pulling at her arm, until we reached the church, and I closed the door behind myself.

A long silence followed. The older woman had collapsed to the floor, still unsure, still afraid. I also collapsed because I was dead tired, and I could not stop myself from fainting and falling asleep right then and there.

Overuse magic. Be put to sleep. I should… add that… to my notes.

~~~

I awoke. My hands immediately roamed for my phone as I shook away the lingering bits of sleep ringing throughout my body. Something was off with my balance, my desk was nowhere to be found, and I did not recognize the ceiling hanging above my head.

That was when the memories of my last waking hours came back to me, and I quickly shot up and out of bed, dropping a jacket that had been draped over myself like a blanket. My eyes roamed the surrounding area, recognizing the church that I had fled to, and an unfamiliar voice greeted me from behind.

"Hello... Nice to see that you're awake."

I whirled around, towards the source of the sound, and found an older lady staring back at me from a wooden bench much like the one I was sitting at. I scrutinized her, as she did me, until I finally recognized the face.

"You!"

The woman was startled by my sudden shout, but she quickly cleared her throat to regard me, and spoke. "Yes. You saved me back there… and then you collapsed?"

I nodded.

"...Well. I should introduce myself. I'm Darci. Thank you for saving me."

"Uh…" My head was still reeling, but I took a deep breath, and gave a confident smile. "You're welcome. I just did what anyone else would. I'm Briella, by the way."

~~~

After giving our own introductions, the both of us spoke about what to do next. I stressed that the main goal was survival, and the woman readily agreed. Her Class was one with some clairvoyance and far sight type Skills. She picked it because her son that wasn't even a teenager yet was gone on an errand when the apocalypse hit, and Darci thought she might be able to find him with that. Her abilities, unfortunately, were limited by range.

"Alright then. Let's go look for him!"

Darci stared up at me. "I'm… going to go, no matter what. But you've already saved me once. I couldn't ask more of you…"

"And yet I must help you on your quest, for that is what anyone would do!" I boldly declared, with both humility and pride.

Wait. Why am I trying to be all heroic here? I'm not the heroine, and I should stop trying to act like it!

Oblivious to my slip up, Darci was thanking me profusely, bowing repeatedly to the point that I thought she might start breaking her back.

I quickly reassured the woman, stating that it was close to my College anyway, and I might want to check on some things there, so it was no trouble to save her son too. Not that I had much clue as to what I'd even be checking on. Sure, our dorms were there, but much as I did have some decently expensive things there, they were all pretty much replaceable. And I had an entire city's worth of supplies to replace them with!

Maybe I could get the latest playstation? I hadn't yet been able to afford the new one, what with the predatory tuition fees of the US… Shit, why did I even move to study here again? Because Flaze and the rest were awesome? Yeah, totally worth it.

That said, my phone just spontaneously broke, and it seemed to be the case for all electronics andntechnology according to Darci's recounting. So getting a Playstation 5 wouldn't really amount to much… but I'd still grab it if I ever see one. At least to not leave that regret hanging.

~~~

We left the church, and made our way to the NeighMart near my college in order to find and rescue Jimboy. Jimboy was the name of Darci's son. I was hardly able to refrain from laughing.

Darci's been nice in our interactions so far, and she seemed genuinely worried for her child. But naming someone Jimboy was just making them a target for bullying. Is that not obvious? Did she want her son to get bullied?

Oh well. I did not press the issue, and instead moved forward. It did not take very long until Darci saw someone about to die with her Skills, and I couldn't just leave them be once I knew. Right?

It's what anyone would do.

So I rescued a family that was stuck in his car while a bunch of goblins tried to crack the vehicle open. My illusions confused the monster with ease, and I shot at them with some guns I had swiped. It wasn't hard to find weapons in the US. There was literally a gun shop on the way. Wild.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I managed to kill a few of the monsters that way, even with zero prior training, but then the weapon suddenly jerked, and my hand was slightly injured. It seemed like the weapon blew up from the inside. Thankfully, I had brought what I presumed to be a military-grade knife with me as well, I just found it along with the guns. Both Darci and I went around, killing the goblins under the guise of my illusions that have vastly improved as I had reached Level 8 already by then, and I invested quite a lot in my Intelligence and Magic stats. The couple inside the car also came out to help, albeit leaving the kids inside, a decision I approved of. It didn't take long for us then, to kill the dozen or so goblins that had been assaulting them.

"Thank you so much." The two parents said, bowing profusely. One was a man named Greiner, and the other a person that goes by Ex.

I quickly told them that it was nothing, and that anyone would have done the same. Somehow, the family of four ended up joining us on our way.

~~~

The same scenario repeated itself, and I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. People in grave mortal peril were not rare, rather the only reason they wouldn't be was if they were fucking dead. And of course, we had to help them, no matter how risky I felt the endeavor to be. As such, our impromptu caravan grew in size as we made our way steadily towards our destination.

This development did mean that we had more combat potential to tap into. With me controlling the battlefield through my illusions, and with Darci steering us away from the more dangerous areas, we managed to minimize injuries and even render the casualties null with those among us who had taken healer-type Classes.

Come nightfall, we secured a building to rest in. Perhaps some would want to develop it into a defensible base. I thought it a good idea. But as for myself and Darci, I had promised her to go looking for her son, and so we separated from the group temporarily to make better headway towards our destination.

We were joined by four people. Arnold, someone skilled with earth magic. Jalley, a witch that uses curses and hexes. Derumint, a teenager with a very emo aesthetic. He's also a healer. And lastly was Saxah, a typical ranger that got a free bow from her Class.

Our Levels ranged around 12, the highest being… myself actually, at 15.

The six of us advanced, much like we had been doing during daytime. Darci scouted ahead from right beside us, I made sure we were undetected or at least unaccosted, and the rest had grim determination on their faces, ready for a fight to break out at any moment.

Which did happen, when a Level 27 bat attacked us from above. The soundwaves from the creature's screech reached us, and we reeled back from the offense, but it wasn't quite so severe as what it could have been because we were aware of it beforehand. Our whole group had some problems earlier in the day, with ambushes from above, which is how we learned to always scout for the skies too.

Derumint immediately buffed all of us, and I too started casting. Different birds and small dragons suddenly appeared, attacking the monster that had chosen to see us as prey. They were uncanny creatures that sometimes just glitched and flickered. The bat struggled in vain against my illusory creations, the sound-based attacks much more manageable as they were more focused on the non-existent prey, although I did notice the structure of my spells being eroded with every subsequent attack.

Regardless, I was able to provide a sufficient distraction, and the bat was unable to evade the barrage of arrows from Saxah. She started with a shot that required some charge time, making it all the more powerful, piercing straight through one of the monster's wings. It immediately started to lose altitude, screeching the whole way, and grating on our ears as the sound attacks became unfocused, hammering towards any and all directions. Saxah pelted the thing with more arrows, until the creature could remain airborne no longer.

It wasn't hard to pin the creature in place once it was on the ground. Getting close still rattled on our ears, but the rest of us had plugged our ears one way or another while Saxah bombarded the flying enemy. A quick group heal from Derumint fixed us all right up, and he was also able to debuff the bat as it had gotten closer.

Under the weight of all our attacks, and unable to escape into the air, the monster promptly died.

[You Have Defeated a Level 27 Handler]

"We should move." Still tired from the battle we had just struggled through, Darci wasted no time getting us back on track, even though I could see that her own legs were unsteady. "That monster made a lot of noise. Other ones are already congregating here."

That was certainly a good reason to get a move on. I rallied everyone and soon we were crouched over on the sidewalks again, choosing the best path forward, and sneaking past the monsters that we just cannot dodge.

Soon, we arrived at the local NeighMart, and Darci worriedly stepped forth, forgetting all fear and caution. I quickly ran to catch up to the woman and pulled her behind a wall, the illusion of a rat left skittering to distract a golem.

"There are monsters, you're our scout. Don't be the one rushing ahead!" I scolded the woman ten years my senior.

"But…! Jimboy…" I hate that I almost laughed from hearing that name again. Darci's protests quickly died as she realized that I was right.

The rest of our group congregated on my position, and I started giving out orders.

"Darci. Go look for an unoccupied room we can hide out in." I looked around. "We're out in the open here."

Darci did as asked, and the rest of us stood guard. She found what we were looking for, so we quickly went to dispatch of the golem. It was no difficult task, despite the monster being in the high 30s. It wasn't very smart, so my illusions easily confused it. It was exceptionally slow, so Derumint's status effects allowed us to walk circles around the creature with ease. Arnold's Earth powers were easily the MVP.

Every hit of his fists gouged out large chunks of our enemy's body. Every cast of magic made the enchanted stone crumble. It was of course less effective than against normal rocks that aren't used by a golem, but still more than substantial to trivialize a specially tough foe to crack.

The monster was also exceptionally slow, and so was trivial to maneuver around

[You Have Defeated a Level 31 Tank]

We made a beeline for the janitor's closet that Darci found undisturbed, closing the door behind us once we were all inside.

From there, Darci worked and strained her clairvoyance, scouring a large area of the store in detail for the better part of an hour. She grew more and more desperate with every passing moment, but there was little we could do to help. The rest of us just kept on standing guard, with Saxah listening closest to the door. Her base senses were the best among us, discounting Darci's clairvoyance.

Eventually Darci came out of her search, and she immediately stumbled. I crouched low to support her, fanning her face as she was breathing and sweating tiredly. I tried to ascertain what the woman's findings might have been based on her facial expressions, and what I concluded were not pleasant. Eventually Darci was lucid enough to give us a proper account of the news herself.

"There's no one left alive here. No one. I checked everywhere… But I did find… a trace. Just a cap. A bloody one. And sunglasses. They both had those Chinese cartoons printed on them… I'm sure it was… It was Jimboy's… Oh it was the last birthday present I gave him!"

The woman started crying. I rubbed herr back and overall just gave my presence and comfort. There was little to say, really. She needed to mourn, and a shoulder to cry on.

Eventually, Darci straightened herself, and we were able to keep moving again. I looked around the store, my eyes darting towards every shadow and the smallest hint of movement.

"Alright. Darci. Where did you say you found those remains again?"

She blinked at me. "Umm. Second floor. By the Tater Fries… Why do you ask?"

"Because we're going to get them."

Darcu blinked again. Harder this time. "Jimboy's not there. It's… it's just some stuff. It's not worth it."

"Hmm…" I hummed. "If I had a son. Which I don't, I'm just guessing. But I think I'd want to get whatever was left if he died… Right?" There's also the smallest chance that he might not be, that Darci saw wrong, or made the incorrect assumptions… but I'll not needlessly raise her hopes when I know they'll just crash back down.

Darci hesitated. "It's too dangerous. I can't… I can't ask that of you."

I smiled at her. "But we can do what we want. And I wanna get those remains and give you some closure, at least. But what say everyone else?"

"Yes." Jalley answered decisively. "It'd be so droll to leave a mission unfinished. I hate that, you know? Not being able to finish."

Arnold frowned. I could see he was considering, but he eventually acquiesced. "We're here already. It shouldn't be any more dangerous than what we've already done."

"Death comes for us all. So let it come. And it shall succumb to my powers." Derumint's answer made me smile. I should see later if he's into performing. I could recruit him. We'll be the apocalypse troupe!

"...Sure." Saxah's answer was brief and to the point.

"Y-you kids…" Darci snifed. "Thank you. Thank you!"

"Shh. Not too loud." I appreciated her gratitude, but we were in hostile territory. No need to shout our presence.

"Right. Sorry." Darci apologized, forcing a smile. She was still sad of course. And our help would only be to get something to remember her son by. We're not about to resurrect someone from the dead.

Although, is that possible, actually? Considering what has happened, with magic and a System and the miracles now within reach…?

I abandoned the train of thought. Maybe it wasn't quite so impossible as it would have been just yesterday. But such a feat was still so laughably beyond us, that it wasn't even worth consideration.

We made our way towards where Darci found what remained of her son. It was a mall, so evading all confrontation was pretty much impossible, but we still managed to reach our destination on the second floor relatively quickly. There was some sort of insect monster in the area, and we had to defeat it to move forward. A Level 32 rogue with a tank-like beetle body and two long scythe arms at the front.

Jalley led the charge, and I confused the monster, meanwhile everyone else provided range support, save for Darci who kept an eye on our surroundings. The monster ran around and tried to kill us, but Jalley kept herself at the frontlines, valiantly taking damage, and then using the wounds she got as a conduit to deliver her curses. Derumint was on the standby to heal if she ever reached a critical state, but remaining injured was conducive to enhancing the power of the witch's curses.

The insect quickly lost health and power under our unrelenting barrage, and Arnold collapsed the floor under it once it had lost most of its legs and mobility.

Derumint quickly healed a mangled Jalley, topping up anyone else who was also injured in the process. It was quite impossible to remain totally safe against such a high level monster. Not without some heavy matchup advantages.

Arnold and Saxah then pelted the creature from above once it was stuck on the ground floor. No reason to waste the Levels and Experience.

[You Have Defeated a Level 40 Rogue]

Once the threat was dead and done away with, I found that Darci had already gone to where the remains of her dead son were.

I walked over to the woman, and wordlessly offered a shoulder to cry on. The tears streaming from her eyes told me all I needed to know.

Coming here wasn't a mistake.

Braving the dangers was not stupid.

To get some closure. To let out the grief. The spectrum of emotions, both good and bad, deserves a proper release, a time for exploration.

It is never a worthless endeavor, to fight for the heart and soul of a person.

And I'll continue to do so, just as I always have. No matter that all the theaters of the world have collapsed, no matter that I may never see the shows I have dreamed of seeing in person.

Even the apocalypse will not smother mine conviction.