PARALLEL STORY NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER 20: SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED
Destruction spread everywhere, and two individuals looked at the scene.
It was a battle of immense proportions in an ancient city already in ruins.
*BOOM*
A huge stone titan advanced through the middle of the buildings, destroying everything in its path, and then struck a small figure.
The blow was so powerful that it broke all the barriers of that figure and sent it flying, creating a huge crater in the ground, then the figure rose up.
It was a pure demon, but one that was now affected by ‘Chaos’ at its highest level.
Its mouth had opened and its teeth had become fangs of all kinds, while its horns were black in color, releasing corruption in its wake.
On its back, two black deformed arms had grown and now such a demon was fighting calamities.
Formerly, he had been a SS rank, but now he had risen in rank when Ketzula, the God of Abominations, Desire and the Ambitious, had favored him after that individual prayed.
The demons had been pressured to the point that they had to pray to gods to borrow power at the price of being corrupted in the process.
Agatha clicked her tongue at the sight of such a creature and now thought of the peace the Terranovian spoke of.
“Brace yourself, my dear.” Anton warned earnestly.
Unlike her, who was relaxed, he was paying close attention to the battle.
An SSS rank was being fought... A calamity capable of destroying cities.
However, now this ruined city was sealed with space magic from adventurer guild leader Logan Harris and even though they were SS rank, they were not alone.
“Let there be light!” An ancient and ancient voice was heard as high in the sky a pure white sun appeared.
Such a magnificent sun projected a huge pillar to burn the demon, but that vile creature waved its hand and created a powerful barrier of darkness that blurred the surroundings.
*BOOM*
When the pillar of light and the barrier collided, the result was a powerful explosion that collapsed all the few buildings.
*BOOM*
However, when it was all over, a figure fell from the sky, trying to hit the demon that had blinked away.
That man was the new SSS rank of humanity, someone who had remained hidden for a long time.
Victor Pellegrini gave a smile when he saw that the demon had escaped, but the next moment it hit the ground and advanced at a high speed.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM!*
His single punch shattered part of the buildings, managing to create an open ground of hundreds of meters by force, but the demon tried to dodge until he had to receive the last punch.
One of its arms was shattered and Agatha reacted immediately by sending her husband to the destination of the demon’s landing, using space magic.
Her husband put on a serious expression, while his muscles tensed and he started to get slightly bigger.
The demon in the air tried to avoid its destination by throwing powerful black spears that corrupted everything in its path, but whirlwinds deflected that spear.
It came not from her, but from the Director of the Hero Academy who was present.
*BOOM!*
Then, Anton’s punch connected with the demon, managing to break the barrier and shatter one of the arms, even though that big man was an SS rank facing stronger individual.
Agatha cast her spell, creating a silver light that descended like a pillar, burning the demon’s body directly.
“GRAAA!”
Such a creature was a calamity, and it wasn’t going to die easily, such a thing proved as it screamed.
With his demonic magic, he opened a small crack in the dimensional barrier and attracted all sorts of monsters.
However, halfway through the process, chains of light appeared becoming tangible and began to bind the demon.
Where did such an attack come from?
It was quite possible that it was one of the many reinforcements that came from Terra nova.
This confrontation had started unexpectedly, so Agatha didn’t mind if there was more help.
“It’s better to surrender...”
A whisper spread through the surroundings. It was an amused voice, as if he was watching some kind of show.
However, it carried a certain feeling unique to it, getting people who heard it to follow his will, and that happened with the calamity.
It was weak, but for a few seconds, that demon that was about to become an abomination stopped, allowing the chains of light to bind it.
Was the voice coming from the leader of that new guild that had emerged in Turkey?
Such a thought came to Agatha’s mind as she created a huge sphere of light that illuminated the surroundings and dissolved the darkness and corruption.
“Oh... Great Lord Ketzula... GAAA!”
Before the demon could pray to his god, a powerful slash of light that burned and pulverized everything in its path was launched.
The old man who had cut down everything in his path had a pair of white wings that stretched out on his back like a divine existence and in his hand was a pure white sword formed from his single aura of light.
Archangel Michael was not a mage, he was a swordsman and his light was given by his angelic lineage which he was now showing clearly.
That powerful slash did not kill the demon, but it split his shoulder and made it clear that Ketzula was slowly corrupting him.
What was possible if left in that state?
Possibly, that Evil God could ‘descend’ and even ‘possess’ that body, quite possibly spreading chaos throughout this world... Of course, if the gods didn’t try to stop him.
However, it wasn’t necessary.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
The huge stone titan stepped on the demon with all its might at once, spreading a cloud of dust and when it distanced itself, a whirlwind shattered the surroundings.
The King of Arabia, who wielded that huge titan, showed a strength that did not pale against the fighters and the last attack was from Director Vincent.
The figure of the demon was shattered, but it was still a calamity and slowly rose again.
There were too many powerful individuals against him, and that meant he didn’t have the means to take them all on.
When one added the increased power and corruption of that Evil God, then it combined to make him slowly lose his mind and not be able to give his all in battle.
Still, even though the battle had gone on for quite some time and each of them interspersed attacks to prevent him from doing something terrifying, his end had come.
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“[Gate to the Abyss]”
A voice rang out coming from a large, muscular creature with gray skin.
It was one of the Falion Empire’s reinforcements, Duke Kristoph Marshall, in his full vampiric form.
Beside him was a red-eyed, red-haired elf woman on fire and also a hooded individual releasing a presence of death.
All three were SSS rank and were considered ‘calamities’ because of their terrifying strength... They were the official reinforcements of the Falion Empire.
A door appeared near the demon and when it opened, grey tentacles started to come out trapping the demon wanting to lure it in.
“NO!”
Whatever was on the other side of the door horrified the demon, who was pulled with a colossal force, to be swallowed.
That was a forbidden spell... There was no doubt that it was as dangerous as it was sinister.
“Let’s get this over with,” declared the red-haired elf with a smile advancing at the demon.
Her hand became a thick claw and scales began to appear around it, covering the entire arm that had grown.
“GRAAA!”
The demon let out a cry of pain as that arm pierced the chest and the red scales began to burn, burning the flesh.
That elf was thin and while she was a beauty, her slender body gave off a sense of weakness.
Unfortunately for the demon, it was the opposite. No matter when he kicked or resisted, that elf pushed him to the entrance of the strange door where tentacles were coming out.
Then, turning away from those tentacles, the hooded individual moved by waving his hand.
A bone spear came out of the ground, piercing the demon again and pushing him to the door entrance.
“...”
It was at that moment when the demon was close that the entrance closed, swallowing the demon and then disappeared.
It seemed like an anticlimactic ending for an SS rank demon that had prayed to a god and had obtained the strength of an SSS rank calamity, that quite possibly if it escaped would cause enormous destruction, still, it was all over.
Agatha watched as Archangel Michael disappeared as lonely as ever and for his part, the ‘titan’ collapsed in the area and his creator left.
She looked at her husband, who sighed as he surveyed his surroundings.
He was a giant and now all his muscles pulsed as if he was still in an alert state of battle and it was, to the point, giving a feeling of constant growth.
“Peace must be necessary. We are all in this place now, but if this had happened in a populated area... Hundreds of thousands would have died,” Anton said, looking at the destruction of the city.
This was an ancient and abandoned city, but the destruction shattered everything.
Huge craters, destroyed buildings, burned and shattered everywhere. Land razed for hundreds of meters and even whole kilometers.
Los rangos SSS eran llamados ‘calamidades’ por la simple razón de que podían causar una enorme destrucción similar a las calamidades naturales.
If this place were the capital of some powerful country... The destruction could have claimed millions of thousands of innocent lives.
And even at this moment, the destruction was reduced thanks to Logan Harris, who created a battlefield with his space magic.
Agatha understood her husband’s words, even so....
“We’ll tell Abraham to support peace... It’s better to give them some land than to give them millions of lives, I guess,” Agatha commented without giving it too much importance.
There was talk of peace, but that peace came at a cost... And that was to give away this land and that meant giving away the middle east with millions of innocent lives that could not escape before.
No matter how many groups and organizations would take refugees to other countries, in the end, the number of those who stayed was remarkable.
Of course, the number of people who would die if other high-ranking demons were pressured to do crazy things, as now, was going to be much larger.
The Terranovian and Terran authorities took down many demons, reducing their numbers greatly since it had all started, yet powerful individuals remained.
And if one of those SS ranks decided to play dirty and go to the big cities, he could bring them all to their death with some forbidden spell, before anyone could stop him.
Malik Zamora destroying Jerusalem with all its inhabitants was the clear example of such a danger.
“Stop thinking about it... I just want to relax again and talk to my daughters,” Agatha said, taking a deep breath.
The magical energy in the surroundings was attracted to her body, which was slowly changing her.
For now, the magical energy at present was enough to keep her body invigorated, but it was possible that, in the future, it might not be enough.
After all, even if she resisted advancing in rank, she would continue to improve.
Such an advantage her innate ability gave her.
******
“You look tired, Mother.”
Aurora heard that comment from Alice, who had projected her mother through the holographic clock.
She stopped checking the documents and gave a glance at that woman who would look like her older sister because of the beauty and youth.
No matter how much attention Aurora paid to that beauty, her mother’s complexion invigorated and full of energy, but just like Alice, she could notice the tiredness in her mother’s eyes.
“A few hours ago we finished a little skirmish, and I had to exert myself a bit,” replied her mother and giving them both a look, she commented. “I see I’m disturbing you. I’ll call later.”
She had seen the documents and the holographic clock projecting different information, but the woman was not upset and simply smiled.
“If you want, you can talk to Alice... As soon as I have time, I’ll call you,” Aurora said with a simple tone.
She was busy, but Alice didn’t need to work and she didn’t like this kind of work, so she was free.
“That’s not necessary. I’d better go have an appointment with your father,” Agatha replied and, after a short goodbye, ended her call.
Watching her sister open a bag of chips to eat, Aurora went back to reviewing the documents with a serious look on her face.
Those who had been present at this place waiting for her were Nicholas and a member of the Orisha Oko, called Eposi Alima, who was an A rank.
She had informed her of Zinder’s circumstances, the people who wished to travel as refugees, and the current situation.
She had arrived a few hours ago in the city and she had remained reviewing all the information that Alima and Nicholas had got.
She needed to be up to date with the current situation, with her people and with the circumstances of this city, to see how they should act and what they could do.
“They are going to start a meeting already, are you coming?” Aurora asked her sister and Alice hesitated for a moment, but in the end she nodded.
Alice liked to eat her chips and usually went unnoticed at both meetings and times of leading, but she was not naïve. For such a reason, Aurora liked her sister to be at her side and serve as an occasional advisor and assistant.
Aurora left the small office Alima had set up and headed for the main room on the second floor.
The two of them were the first to arrive, but a moment later, the others began to arrive.
From Abdellah, Cardinal Brousseau, Zhan Tian, Cynda, Alima and Arnold, the guild leader, the red bulls.
“Makeba is still gathering information with his militiamen. Looks like he will be late,” Aurora said as she checked the messages and, giving the group a look, she asked. “So, how have your tasks been going?”
They were her eyes and ears, but also her arms... Aurora knew that she lacked a lot to control everything, that was why she made use of them.
Whether it was to get information, to make her representative to the local rulers, or to give an image of Zerzura’s presence.
“I have spoken to the Warlord who rules these lands. He has orders not to intervene about our actions, but he does not seem to offer us help.” Cardinal Brousseau began and with a serious tone, she explained. “It’s hard to pinpoint his personality with just one meeting, but he seems like a guy who is dedicated to the military and only cares about his own goals.”
The best person to interact with whoever ruled this small town was Cardinal Brousseau.
He had experience in talking to important people and his age gave him the cunning that only old foxes have.
Such words confirmed what the Orisha Oko had reported... They managed to obtain the approval of the ‘General’, that SS rank that ruled all these lands.
Even so, their ‘governments’ were not stable, and it was only a military hierarchy with all kinds of people, including individuals who were not loyal and were submissive out of fear or ambition.
In the end, all that mattered was that local ruler did not interfere in their actions.
“We have been in charge of security, but there are too many eyes watching us. Many of which don’t seem to have good intentions,” Arnold revealed, giving a serious look.
Sensing malice was quite normal for the experts, and the worst thing was that this place had no rules.
The local ruler was not in the business of administering the area and gave a semblance of protection, which meant it was possible to run into trouble with local guilds, mercenaries, or other militiamen.
It was even possible that the common people might try to go against them in order to steal the medicines, food or clothes they had brought for donation.... Or worse, steal from those they gave it to.
“Still my mercenaries are still investigating. Still, many view us with animosity as a foreign presence. They think we come to take over their dungeons or hunt magical beasts,” Abdellah added and earnestly, he commented. “There is also very shady business... Nicholas didn’t report it, because he is still investigating, but there is too much dirt in this place.”
Such words got Aurora to give a more serious look.
This place was a small town, but its position was excellent to enter the magic forest and risk getting valuable materials or hunting magical beasts.
Adding the natural dungeons that were present nearby and the temporary dungeons that could appear all over the area, it was an excellent spot to reside.
Even though it was a small city with less than twenty thousand inhabitants. The city had entertainment and many of them were probably illegal.
She hadn’t been out yet, but there was no doubt that possibly all sorts of difficult situations were to be found outside.
Aurora, seeing some looks, understood that perhaps that information was omitted as she was the one leading.
Thinking that she was young and didn’t have the stomach to put up with some things, or maybe by not daring to report on some issues, it was a way of wanting to show that her mission was only to rescue the refugees and leave.
Her breathing became slightly heavy at her own thoughts.
She had too much work to do and too many things to think about, but she calmed down immediately and no one noticed her inner thoughts, thanks to the fact that her expression remained serious.
“What’s going on with the refugees?” Aurora asked seriously.
“The paladins have begun to set up camp and the priests are ready to share the food. However, we have not yet dared to start donations because we do not know how high the security is,” Cardinal Brousseau said, trying to change the subject and seeing her look telling her to answer her question, she explained. “And the refugees are more than we can take... Many more.”
She did not find that answer strange. When she arrived, she had seen the situation and the state of this small city.
The temporary and natural dungeons generated some wealth, but all that wealth went to those with skills, while the common people suffered under the yoke of the powerful.
This was a place without rule, which meant that there were no labor laws, rights or any form of protection.
It was normal for many of these people to wish to leave and it was possible that the number would continue to increase, now that they realized that ‘Zerzura’ had the capacity to provide them with help.
“For now, let the paladins start with the portals. We need to send as many people as we can and start the journey with those in the fit condition to travel,” Aurora replied, and watching her sister eat, she added. “Also start with the nutritious food. I don’t know how difficult the journey will be, but it’s better if everyone is in the optimal conditions.”
“As for safety...”
Before he could finish her orders, the door opened and Nicholas walked in with a serious expression.
“Something has happened...” He said in a tired voice, most likely from moving fast.
Aurora’s expression turned serious.