I wasn't entirely sure why I uttered those words, but I shrugged off the unusual sensation and concentrated on the portal ahead. Giving a final nod between us, we firmly grasped Arturous' fur as the bear led us through the portal's barrier.

The rift portal pulled at my skin, and I felt myself being stretched in every direction. It was the same feeling as when I entered the last rift. It didn't take long for the portal to work its magic. Within a dozen seconds, I felt my feet land on stone.

Raising my head, I opened my eyes and searched around. It was lit decently, and when I took in my surroundings, I could understand why. The rift scenario was to take place in what looked like an island city.

The city far surpassed the village on the island, but I recognized the mountains in the background, albeit with some details off. This was the village, or rather, the city that became the village.

I stood up and continued taking in my surroundings when I heard tapping coming from behind me. I whipped my head around only to find Teddy knocking on air. Where he rapped his knuckles, the air would shimmer and harden into what looked like glass.

When I neared, I saw Igas and Celanae standing guard with Arturous at the front. Waving a hand, I approached the invisible barrier. "So we are separated then. Where's Isaac and Eodyne?"

Teddy lowered his hand and jerked to the tree line. "Scouting. We haven't received a system notification. You?" I shook my head, and he nodded solemnly. "That means we either have to find the starting trigger or we have to wait. The rift could be waiting for everyone to enter before it starts the scenario."

I frowned and took another look around. The night sky was lit with a parade of stars, and Fanalis shone brightly. A quick check of the system clock told me it was nearly midnight.

"Assuming the barrier completely separates the city from the rest of the island, does that mean your guys' event will be held out there?"

He nodded once. "Yeah, so it would seem. Celanae?" he called out. We waited until she came to the edge of the barrier and stood beside Teddy. "We have any info about Ysana's fall? Elder Aimon mentioned a war with another god."

Celanae's face scrunched up. "Not much. The history is surprisingly vague. After studying some books back in Helio, I discovered that this city, Moldrula, was never part of Solunaria. In fact, it predates the kingdom. Whatever happened after Ysana's fall, Moldrula didn't rebuild the city into the village till around eighty-seven years ago, during King Aldurand's time."

"Wait a minute," I said. "If the village is only eighty-seven years old, what about the temple and the dungeon? And what about the rift that spawns every twenty years? How does that work? Shouldn't the island have been experiencing a dungeon break if that was the case?"

She nodded. "Fair questions. Apparently, the surviving families still lived on the island, but the village was much smaller back then. As for the temple, it was built around the dungeon and was farmed regularly by groups of ascenders and adventurers throughout the centuries. That's where things get weird and suspicious. Records state that the dungeon was regularly farmed by a group of knights sporting green armour. Their most notable feature? Winged helmets with the feathers painted green. Remind you of anything?"

"The goddess from before? It shouldn't be too surprising, then. Perhaps she was a close friend of Ysana before she fell," Teddy remarked.

"Maybe," Celanae said. She shook her head and pointed to the city behind me. "Either way, all I know is the cult of the Melzauthuum launched an invasion on the city. This started a war that lasted shorter than a month, which resulted in Melzauthuum's death. But, Ysana and her soulbond Zolnja were too injured in battle and succumbed to their wounds after Ysana made the dungeon and the rift."

"So, most likely, all the tier ones and below will be fighting inside the city while you guys get hard mode and have to deal with the lack of shelter. Damn."

Teddy smiled and put a hand on the barrier, causing it to give off a faint glow as it prevented his hand from crossing. "Don't worry. We trained for this. And we have each other. Just make sure that you survive this, Cyrus. And remember the protocol. If the rift lasts longer than a few days, one of us will be here at a set time."

I nodded and smiled. We went over the plan more than a dozen times. Teddy and Celanae especially helped with theory crafting and coming up with contingency plans.

The only problem was that the rift had now evolved. There was no telling what changes that might bring. Still, it wasn't like we knew what to expect in the first place. Whatever happened, it'll happen, and we'll all come out on top.

We waited around for another five minutes. Isaac and Eodyne had returned and reported nothing out of the ordinary. The island was much larger than the island in the real world. We could only assume that the fight between the gods somehow altered the terrain.

It was about thirty seconds after midnight when the system blip appeared in the corner of my vision. When I looked to see if everyone had received one, I received a tight smile from Teddy, who confirmed that the notification was for everyone.

Survive the Invasion

The dark god Melzauthuum has declared war against the Goddess Ysana. The goddess has enacted a barrier around her city, but it is too late. The cult of Melzauthuum has snuck into the city, and their cult now sets siege to Moldrula.

You have no hope of defeating the cult's more powerful forces. Instead, you must survive. For the next fifteen days, Ysana's barrier will hold. Find shelter and outlast the invasion.

But beware, challenger. The cult has summoned forth many of their god's twisted children. Among them is a being that will devour all life that it sees. Do not be foolish. Run, fight, survive.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Or may the Grand Weave guide your soul.

I closed my system notifications and stood up. The time for relaxation was over, so I summoned my spear and Zharia. I would have summoned Magnus, but I wanted a flying scout to help me find a suitable building to hide in.

From what the system mentioned, shit was about to go down.

Suddenly, a giant, angry beam of energy shot into the sky. The origin looked like it emerged from the center of the city. As the beam continued upwards, it looked like it was aiming for the moon.

As it reached the moon, somehow, the pink of Fanalis darkened and began to turn red. Eventually, it settled into a deep purple. Following the emergence of Felnarua, eight more beams rose from sixteen pillars around the island. Unlike the central beam, several red portals expanded in the air instead of continuing into the night sky.

After over a dozen seconds, the first of the cult's monsters started to break through. It was like a flood of eldritch sea life.

I turned to face Teddy, and I saw they had their weapons out. "Don't you dare die on me. I don't want to face Brelten if you did."

"You as well, Cyrus! Now go before the monsters overrun the streets," Teddy called out.

I watched as they started moving away from the barrier. I was worried for them, but I had to trust they knew what they were doing. After all, they weren't the noobs in this situation.

I took off at a sprint, running down the street as I had Zharia fly above the buildings. Together, using our connection, she guided me down several blocks. At one point, I saw another group of adventurers, but they took one look at me and ran in the other direction.

It was tempting to go after them and see if they wanted to join up, but the glare their warrior gave me made me feel that would be a terrible decision. For now, I would have to go at it alone.

"Master, gross monsters are coming to your left. Go right between the blue buildings." Zharia chirped in alarm.

I put the group out of my mind and bolted down the street. It took me a moment to find the blue building, but it was easy to spot when Zharia sent a burst of flames down the alley she wanted me to take.

I hurriedly made my way through the tight passage between the buildings, turning my body sideways to fit through. I wasn't sure why Zharia wanted me to take this passage, but I trusted her. Briefly, I closed my eyes and let her thoughts take over mine. I filtered through the memory of what she saw.

The city really was under siege from a horde of eldritch spawn. The twisted creatures of the deep clawed, rolled, and flopped their way down the streets. In the distance, I heard a scream, and it took me a second to realize I was physically hearing it and not just imagining it.

I opened my eyes and continued my squeeze through the buildings. Once I made it clear, I waited for Zharia to find the source of the screaming before I decided to move.

Watching the shadows for any movement, I had to step back as Zharia flew at me like a golden fireball. "Whoa! Zharia, what's wrong?"

"Giant beast! Bigger than the buildings! This way, Master, nooow!"

I didn't question her and followed the golden missile as she frantically led me down the street, away from where she had come from. Behind me, I could hear more screams and what sounded like a wrecking ball demolishing the terrain.

As I ran, turning corners as fast as I could, I had to call Zharia back because she was starting to get too far ahead. Thankfully, she calmed down now that I was actively running away from the danger and slowed so I could keep pace.

After sprinting for more than a minute straight, she stopped beside a grey house. She waited for me to approach before zipping under the broken fence. As I squeezed my way through, I saw where she was leading me.

Behind the building, neatly covered by a large tree, were the wooden doors to a cellar. I paused before the entrance and turned to face my familiar. "This is great, Zharia. But why here? How did you even find this?"

She landed on my shoulder and sent a quick burst of flames at the tree. For a second, I thought she had done it by accident, but as I watched the fire impact the bark, a long line of enchanted glyphs appeared.

They faded from view as fast as they materialized, and I stopped to inspect the tree. Nothing happened as I tapped my spear against the bark. Curious, I sent a mana thread down my arm and pushed my palm against the tree. This time, the glyphs appeared, and I removed my hand.

"Did you sense the enchantments? Since when could you do that?"

She made a mental chirp, and I could feel her preen. "We are connected, Master. You improved your senses, and so did I. And I have been studying the runes on the items you loot."

I gave her a quick pat on the head, stroking her feathers. She lit up like a nightlight, and I had to quickly cover her with both hands. It wasn't that she was more visible amongst all the city lights, but I didn't want to risk anything seeing us.

I turned my attention back to the cellar doors, now suspicious. "Are there enchantments on this, too?"

"Don't sense mana."

I frowned and tapped it with the butt of my spear. I even had Zharia shoot another flame at the doors, but it only singed the wood. With a deeper frown, I had Zharia hop off my shoulder and prepare to blast anything that might come through the doors.

Carefully and slowly, I used my foot to secure the handle and jerked it back. The left door flew open, and I quickly raised my spear. As I crouched, ready to run at a moment's notice, all I met was silence. More screams and sounds of destruction surrounded me, so I did one last survey of my surroundings before grabbing Zharia. With silent steps, I stepped down the cellar stairs and into the gloom.

After closing the cellar door, I summoned a metal bar from my inventory and placed it between the handles.

No backing out now. If something attacks you, Cyrus, you can't run away.

My eyes adjusted to the dark, and I could see before me, but I stopped when I reached the bottom of the steps. Despite being able to see in the dark, I couldn't see beyond the doorway at the bottom. It was as if a wall of living shadows decided to obscure my view. It didn't ripple or waver, just as a hole in existence. I would have been disturbed if I hadn't spent the past month grinding the dungeon where this gloom was typical.

With a mental nod to Zharia, I raised my spear and pushed it through the wall. Nothing happened, and I took another step. When my fingers reached the barrier of darkness, I felt a brief chill over my skin, but that was all.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the rest of my body through, and my eyes widened. I nearly dropped my spear, but I kept my grip tight as I lowered the head of my weapon. Zharia made her way through the barrier and nearly sent forth a flamethrower. Luckily, she stopped as I sent a shout through our soul-link, and she held back her flames. Without a monster to burn or a danger to flambé, she landed on my shoulder and joined me in my staring.

My frown from before had turned into me grinding my teeth. And when they spoke, I wanted to scream at the sky.

"Please, sir. Don't hurt us. They are just kids, please."

Clenching my fists, I moved my spear to the side and glared at the man begging for his life. Behind him, clutching onto the hems of their mother's skirt, were two elven children no older than four and seven.

The pure terror in their eyes made me look away as the little girl looked ready to faint. Their mother had tears, and she held her arm over her kids, prepared to give her life to protect her children.

With a growl, I turned around and exited the room. As I passed the barrier, I slammed my foot on the closest step and sat down. Ignoring the yelp from the other room, I laid my spear across my lap and stared at the barrier. The hole in reality, did little to distract my thoughts, and Zharia chirped softly as she leaned into my neck.

I reached up and stroked her feathers as I dug my nails into the wood beneath my hand.

Of course, the fucking rift had to include people. Not again. Fucking, not again.