A new skill? Just like last time. Who was this shadow that was able to give me skills? One thing was certain. The shadow was a god. I knew that from the quest notification that appeared in front of me.

“The jig is up, I see.” the shadow let out a long sigh. “Don’t bother asking about my identity, it’s not yet time for you to learn that.”

“Hm... I won’t. After all, you’ve been helping me this whole time. As much as I suspect you, I shouldn’t squander this opportunity.” I confidently smiled at the shadow. “However, I need to know. You’re not a Minor God, are you? You don’t give off the same energy as one.”

There was a long period of silence.

“No.”

This short, rigid response was enough to shake me to my core for some reason. I began pondering on how many ranks of gods there were and what the shadow’s rank was.

“You may not be able to do it now but [True Sight] will allow you to see my true form one day.” the shadow reassured me. “Until then, don’t lose sight of what you truly desire. Or it will be your gravest mistake.”

THUD

I woke up with a pain on my leg. When I opened my eyes I saw Lop glaring at me by my legs. That asshole must have kicked me. Kimberly and Opal were nowhere to be seen and Zeph was still sleeping. Lop must have had a good reason to wake me up like that.

“Oi Sam. How many gods are on your side?” he whispered, trying not to wake up Zeph.

“What? Just Zeph. Why?” I replied while raising an eyebrow.

“Hm, no reason. Just don’t get too close to Zeph, she deserves another wind god instead of a human. Don’t forget that our alliance is until we’re no longer any use to each other.” he remarked as he walked away.

NEW ACHIEVEMENT!

[Unholy Rebel]

You have said a massive lie to a god. Keep it up.

Lying to those ranked above you will reward you with temporary benefits.

An unnatural aura is forming inside you.

Another super specific achievement. How many does that make it now? And that last sentance was somewhat worrisome but there wasn't enough information to actually matter yet.

ACHIEVEMENTS

- Unholy Rebel

- Humanity’s Negotiator

- Resisting the Power from Above

Three in a span of a week or so, it wasn’t much but we were also focused more on achieving our goals. What was great about these achievements was the fact that they were all related to gods in one way or another. Last night’s dream was stuck on the back of my mind and I was hopeful that the shadow was affected by the system the same way we were. That way I could discover more about what was going on. A bright red window appeared in front of me and the rest of the group came running inside. Zeph also woke up from the racket and noticed the giant screen in her face.

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EMERGENCY QUEST!

[Invasion of Another World]

Portals are breaking out all over the city.

Defeat the monster’s leader on the other side of the portal

Time Limit: 12 hours

Reward: None

Failure: Destruction of the city

We quickly organized ourselves and prepared to go to the nearest portal. Although it didn’t give us any clear reward, keeping the city from total destruction was plenty enough. We were hoping that at least another group was there because we could see chaos erupt all around us. Giant green and blue vortexes appeared on rooftops, streets, even inside some buildings and all sort of monsters rushed out.

The strange thing about the monsters wasn’t their variety, it was that some seemed rather intelligent, like they had a human’s rationality. There were some that carried weapons and travelled in groups, and others could be seen directing other monsters in certain directions. We were disturbed by this. The scariest thing we had fought against at this point was a single mad Minor God, we couldn’t imagine fighting against more than one at a time.

Explosions went off near some of the portals. Fights were erupting everywhere and death quickly dominated the scenery. Our plan changed because of this and we instead went to help the closest group of survivors. On our way we faced the usual Hounds and also new monsters. [True Sight] turned out to be very useful in identifying these creatures. Their names and skills were revealed the moment I used my skill.The main downside to this, though, was how tiring it was to constantly use.

We reached the survivors but most of them had already been killed. They were fighting against three Iron Jawed Tigers. The Tigers looked like a gray version of a normal tiger, with its most defining feature being its large iron jaw and huge size. We quickly surrounded the survivors and Zeph healed them just enough to fight. After roughly devising a way to deal with the beasts, we entered into a shoddy formation. Zeph and Lop out front, Opal and Agni behind them and the rest of us in a circle behind them, with the most injured in the middle.

One of the Iron Jawed Tigers rushed and used a skill of its own. Its claws began glowing a shade of green as it sped up. Lop and Zeph began using their skills in response but they were too late. By the time their skills activated, the Tiger was already centimeters away from them.

BOOM... WOOSH BOOM

[Fireballs] flew past the gods’ heads and hit the Tiger, causing it to step back and begin evading the barrage. Another Tiger began its assault but its feet were frozen and stuck to the floor. Although it tried resisting the expanding ice, it eventually became completely frozen. I began using [Energy Sap] on the frozen Tiger while the first one was occupied with the gods. As we saw that the Tigers weren’t very strong, our morale and confidence rose and our attack power increased.

“Wait a minute.” spoke one of the survivors. “One of them is mi-”

Before they could utter another word, their head had disappeared and their body fell like a chopped tree. The fallen body caused a wet thud and the people in the circle became speechless. The silence didn’t last long as a survivor screamed when they saw the body and the bloody Iron Jawed Tiger next to it, chewing on its new snack.

People began panicking and breaking the formation. The few that were able to keep their calm began charging up their skills. This wasn’t very useful as the Tiger quickly killed the scattered survivors before it could be hit, returning to its initial spot away from us. The frozen Tiger, on the other hand, finally died and the Tiger the gods were attacked was tired from all the dodging.

“Everyone focus on the wounded one first! Only worry about the other one if it comes too close!” I shouted as I activated [Spirit Focus], becoming more aware of my surroundings. “I’ll stay alert so it doesn’t ambush us again!”

Some of the survivors focused on healing Zeph and Lop, who were getting tired and breathing heavily. The rest used skills to attack the Tigers. As the wounded Tiger died we heard chewing noises coming from where the frozen Tiger’s corpse was. The third Tiger was eating the corpse, its body glowing and swelling with each bite. We stared in horror as we saw the Tiger’s body change and become more menacing.

“Run... Run away...” Kimberly muttered, her legs trembling.

”We can’t, we’ll die for sure if we give up now.” I tried to calm her down.

Our position was reversed compared to the start of this hell, where it was Kimberly who was reassuring me. I forced my [True Sight] to its limit, causing blood to flow from my eyes, in an attempt to find a weakness we could take advantage of. The more I used the skill, the blurrier my vision became. One of the survivors placed their hand on my shoulder and spoke calmly.

“It’s okay. Don’t force yourself too much. We’ll distract it so you can escape.” the survivor said.

The survivor was a middle aged man, his hair seemed to be receding and by looking at his eyes, you could tell he had suffered greatly already. I tried to come up with an excuse, something that might give him hope that we could all survive.

“Don’t worry. My wife just died. I have nothing more to live for and the least I can do is kill the fucker that took her life.”

That’s when it hit me. Despite what he was saying, he was still trying to find a reason to live, making us his new reason. I was afraid that anything I said could break the man further so I stayed silent. He knew that he wouldn’t live after today but he didn’t run away.

“Mister, what’s your name?” I finally asked, blood and tears flowing from my eyes.

“Mario Rogers. Now quit thinking and run, you fool.” Mario chuckled as he pushed me lightly.

I signaled to my group and a blanket of despair covered them. They also didn’t want to accept this but were too weak to do anything. Kimberly was the first to move, dragging Agni by his wrist as he cried nonstop. Lop and Opal followed close behind. Zeph was petrified though. I ran to her and slapped her cheek. Her eyes were empty and her lips were shaking. I held her hand tightly and began running.

The Tiger finished eating and saw us running, already far away. It stretched and began preparing to chase after us. The survivors put themselves between us and the Tiger.

“Not today. They’re our future after all. At least make this fun little kitty.” Mario snickered as he prepared his greatest skill.