Dale. "We still have the Monster App to communicate with the Tamers and App users in those cities."

Mash. "Everyone! Please reply to this message with the status of your cities that got hit by the Pink pillar."

Mash recorded himself before asking his butler to message the Tamers. Everyone was worried that the explosion had destroyed the cities and inhabitants. Within five minutes, video messages began flooding in from tamers located in the Five superpower countries.

Mash's butler shared them on the holo screens filled with static before.

[Video message replies through the Monster App:

Tamer Gong Shu (Beijing) - The impact from the pillar took out all comms in the city. Lights and vehicle engines are still running. It can't have been an EMP like my friends are saying. I don't see any loss of life on the streets, but people are confused by what happened.

App User Rahul Singh (Delhi) - The political opposition parties are leading protesters towards the Red Fort to demand answers from the government. They want the Prime minister to resign for letting the pillar of light fall on Delhi and disrupt comm towers. Damn idiots! They have to make everything about politics, even in a crisis.

App User Alexa Rodes (London) - Thank god I can still use this App! I was freaking out when they said all the major cities went silent. My parents are wondering how I can still communicate with people online. Should I tell them about our App communication feature?

Tamer Alexi Petrov (Moscow) - I am at the site where the pillar of light landed. I can see something coming through it. Am I hallucinating? Have the Angels finally descended on Earth? Huh, why do they have Eagle heads and wings made of steel?

Tamer Xu Fei (Beijing) - A freaking army of Snakemen and Lizardmen covered in bone armor and wielding Bone spears are coming out of the pillar of light. Wait! Is that a Dinosaur? Wow, they are riding on a Brachiosaurus. Herds of Triceratops, Stegosaurs, and Ankylosaurs have appeared. Oh, some of them are heading this way! I gotta go!"

App User Jagan Dev (Delhi) - Monsters are attacking us! They look like werewolves, werecats, werebears, were-any beast you can imagine! I saw one of them with an Elephant head using its tusks to skewer a police officer! If it is Ganesha reincarnated, then I am done with praying to him!

Tamer Jack Reed (London) - A fucking giant wart-covered Toad just passed through the pillar and crashed into Big Ben! There are short Frog-men dressed in monk robes leaping out of the Pink Light. They are using their long disgusting tongues to grab and choke people. My hand got paralyzed when some of their salivae fell onto it. There is a giant Salamander the size of an elephant spewing corrosive acid onto everything it comes across. God save us!

App User Zain Khan (New York) - You all think you got the worst, but we have helicopter-sized Dragon-Flys and Moths swarming over the skyscrapers here. My apartment got demolished by a tank-sized Hercules Beetle with carapace-made Ice! I was lucky that I was out on the streets when it happened.

Tamer Sofia Katherine (Moscow) - I saw my neighbor Tamer Alexi Petrov cut down in half by a Garuda-like creature, who used its metal wing like a Katana sword. Am I a horrible person for saying that those wings look beautiful? Their movement is so graceful, and their Eagle eyes are mesmerizing...

Tamer Drona Patel (Delhi) - Centaurs! I see big hairy Centaurs covered in Treebark armor and wielding sharp-edged wooden double blade axes. They are swinging them around and cleaving the cars in half in one swing. Oh, Shiva! Is that a Rhino beastman with a two-handed wooden Warhammer in his hands? It's plowing through the protesters who were massing around the parliament building.

App User Dave Carson (Washington) - Where the fuck is the military? Why are there no fighter planes or military drones fighting back against these oversized insects? People are being slaughtered by humanoid Ice-sickle armed Mantises. None of our bullets are piercing through their carapace. How the hell is Ice armor bulletproof?

App User Jacques Macron (Paris) - Everyone is escaping the city on foot. Most streets have building debris, dead bodies, and corroded vehicles. I saw the dead body of a Giant Toad on the way. Someone used a rocket launcher to blow its belly open. Oh, thank god! The army is finally here! What took them so long?

Tamer Andrei Volkov (Moscow) - Eat artillery! Eat missiles! Eat Lazers! HAHAHA! The army is throwing everything they have at these Blade Wing Garudas. They can't deflect or block them with their wings like our bullets. Bomber aircraft are dropping enough munitions to level every building around the pillar of light as far as two kilometers.

App User Gao Lu Bu (Beijing) - It's GODZILLA! A thirty-foot-tall T-Rex that can shoot out lightning from its mouth just took out six heavy Lazer tanks bombarding the Lizardmen infantry. Oh... it's not just him, but the other big Dinos have lightning arcing across their bodies... their lightning attacks just took out all the attack helicopters in the air. This is not Japan! You came to the wrong country, you stupid Godzilla-Kaiju wannabees!

App User Dimitri Semenov (Moscow) - I can't wait to see some Garuda corpses... dear lord in heaven! Why are they still alive? When did that barrier appear over their forces? Oh shit, I think one of them used a mana bubble that protects its kin from the explosions.

Tamer Ragnar Lothbrok (London) - One of the army officers told all the survivors to evacuate. They will stay here and keep these monsters occupied while we gather the wounded and weak. I told them I would stay and help them fight, but they said the others needed me. I can't believe I am abandoning London to these Toads.

App User Mustafa Belgami (Delhi) - The Indian army is urging us all to head to the safety of the south. Even though communications don't work, they said there are no signs of Pink Pillars there. The beast men here are multiplying faster than they can be blown up. There is no end to those invaders unless we destroy that pillar that is letting them enter our world]

The Tamer Council members and Dale watched all the videos with rapt attention. Then, Rebecca muted the videos after a while, still pouring in with the battle and evacuation updates.

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Rebecca. "We need to process all this information since we are the only ones who can see the bigger picture at the moment."

Dale. "Didn't the monster app give us Bird, Beast, Reptile, Amphibian, Insect, or Dinosaur options in question four?"

Rebecca. "Before that, we need to go into Bunker Mode. If one of those Pink Pillars drops near here, I am not sure we will be safe."

The building vibrated as the windows and doors were soon sealed air-tight. Then, finally, the bunker began to descend into the ground as if it were sinking. A few minutes later, they reached low enough in the land that no one knew there was a building in that spot.

Rebecca. "Now that is done, let's address Dale's theory."

Markus. "I marked the monster sightings that emerged from their pillars and found something interesting."

[USA - Insect Species - Ice Element

Russia - Bird Species - Metal Element

China - Reptile & Dinosaur Species - Lightning Element

India - Beast Species - Wood Element

EUF - Amphibian Species - Poison Element]

Mash. "It's not just the options from question four but also question five!"

Markus. "My butler also compiled the list of all the cities that were officially hit by the pillars. Apart from the Capitals, the pillars fell on cities with the highest population density."

Zao. "So they didn't target all of them?"

Markus. "Seems like there are five in each of our nations for twenty pillars."

Sergei. "Even though this intel is useful. How are we supposed to fight them with monsters still in their infant form?"

Soma. "Hey, did you all forget that our monster's locked evolution requirements will be lifted."

Rebecca. "Do forgive me for not prioritizing that detail."

Everyone except Dale quickly opened the monster App to check the evolution requirement status of their monster partners.

Sergei. "Dale! Check your phone!"

Dale. "Mash said it takes three days before infant monsters get their evolution requirements. Mine hatched yesterday, so there is no use in checking."

Sergei. "Ah, I see. The rest of us should not have that problem."

Mash. "What the hell? It says here my monster has to walk twenty kilometers by my side to evolve."

Rebecca. "Mine needs to meditate for four hours to evolve."

After everyone discussed their monster's requirements, they made a conclusion.

Mash. "So infant monsters that are Body type have to walk twenty kilometers, and if they are mind type, they meditate for four hours to evolve."

Zao. "Mash, inform our discoveries to the Tamers and App users immediately. After that, they must retreat to a safe area and focus on evolving their partner or hatching it as soon as possible to protect themselves."

Mash nodded.

He then recorded the relationship between the questions and the monsters in the cities. After that, he urged the Tamers to find a safe shelter and focus on meeting the requirements to evolve their partners.

Once the message was sent, gratitude and acknowledgment were returned from the Tamers and App users several minutes later.

But among those replies came heartbreaking messages of those who lost family and friends to the invaders. The desire for revenge was evident on their faces, and darkness seeped into their hearts.

The Tamers who survived the first contact could not aid the current battle between the military and the invaders. So everyone obeyed Mash's instructions and retreated with the city refugees to find safety in areas that hadn't been touched by the Pink Pillars.

Zao. "At least we have the luxury to train our monsters in the safety of this bunker. But every moment counts, and we need to evolve them quickly and provide vital aid to our comrades in our homelands."

Dale. "You guys can go train them. I will stay here and listen to the reports coming into the bunker. I will alert you if there are any concerning developments."

Soma. "Concerning? I think we crossed that line already."

Markus. "Call us if something is a threat to the bunker."

Zao. "Keep an eye out for any more reports from China that concern the CCP. I have not received any messages from them since Beijing was attacked."

Mash. "I will tend to Melani and tell her that we can't let her leave the bunker."

Soma. "Should we get you another room for you to sleep in?"

Mash. "Funny... but keep a room ready just in case she kicks me out."

Sergei. "My bodyguards never leave my room, unfortunately."

Markus. "Do they sleep on the floor?"

Sergei. "My bodyguards never sleep. The two of them are always watching... and waiting."

Soma. "Now that is creepy... well, see you all later."

Markus, Mash, Soma, Zao, and Sergi left the comms room and returned to the private rooms to train their partners.

Dale. "Rebecca, aren't you going back to your room?"

Rebecca was staring at her phone, lost in thought. Then she nodded her head.

Rebecca. "I have to tell the twins about what happened outside. They need to know that their father might be dead."

Dale. "I doubt the plane crashed. The pillar took out communications only. Isn't the new Air Force One capable of staying in the air for twenty hours?"

Rebecca."They still need to communicate with someone to know not to return to the cities infested with Ice bugs that can fly."

Dale. "Do we have a Tamer or an app user on that plane?"

Rebecca. "Even though we created the council under a joint initiative of the five powers, they all were worried about security leaks. The monster app escapes all forms of monitoring. Thus, they don't allow anyone other than the leaders themselves to have a phone with a Butler. I know that my uncle would have used it by now if he could contact his sons."

Dale. "Damn... then the others too?"

Rebecca. "Yes, they are better at hiding it than me. But, I am sure it hurts the other representatives, not knowing what happened to their families."

Dale. "From the moment I got here, everyone treated this place like a fun vacation home. I sometimes wondered how they are so casual about the apocalypse. Did you also not believe it would happen?"

Rebecca. "The honest truth is that I didn't want to believe it, but at the same time, I was obligated to believe it. Now that it has happened, I realize I didn't properly say goodbye to my family because I thought I would see them again soon since they were well protected."

Dale. "I... I also didn't say goodbye to my father before he passed. So I kinda know what you might be feeling right now."

Rebecca. "We all have our regrets... take care, Dale. But don't stay alone in this room. Instead, summon your partner and let her keep you company. Talking all the time to a butler will drive you crazy."

Dale let out a chuckle before looking away from Rebecca, who steeled herself and walked away.

Dale pulled out his phone and launched the monster app when he was alone in the room.

An oval egg that resembled a charcoal rock appeared over the phone. Dale grabbed the egg and poked it a few times.

"Agni, wake up!"

The oval charcoal rock suddenly wobbles before several dark Red glowing lines appear over the surface. The lines cause the surface to split, retract, combine and transform into a dark metal body Eagle chick with two cut Ruby eyes. Small red flames sprout from its head, wings, and tail like feathers. The claws on its feet and its short beak looked like they were carved from raw Ruby. Its dark metal body frame looked fragile and beautiful by the luster of the metal.

"Chiiiirrrrp ChaaAAA!"

Agni screamed in rage for being woken up so rudely. She pecked at Sander's fingers that tried to stroke it.

"Hey, be gentle. You can't always be sleeping whenever I summon you."

"Chip Charrp?"

Agni's angry ruby eyes looked at Sander's eyes for a minute before she calmed down. Then, she went over to his hand again, but she nuzzled it gently and made cooing noises this time. The flame feathers did not burn him. Instead, they provided a warmth that he was missing in his life.

"Thank you, Agni."

Dale stroked her warm head. Then, his eyes returned to the holo screens.

Tamers and App users shared videos that recorded the devastated cities that were the centers of five great powers.

Dead bodies of both man and monster lay spread out across the shattered landscapes. Children and babies were among the victims, not just soldiers or adults. Their eyes stared into the void as the stream of survivors marched on to find safety.

Tears welled up in Dale's eyes at the tragedy he witnessed. He made a silent vow to make Flufflas pay for this tragedy if he got the chance to meet him face to face.