Chapter 2: The Invasion Has Begun

...

<Void Invasion has now started.>

<Void Invasion will end in 24 hours.>

<All beings can now access their own status.>

!!!

Rion suddenly heard a voice coming from his brain, while a distorted red text appeared at the center of his vision, causing his mind to go on full alert.

Eh?

What's this?

Rion rubbed his eyes to see if he was seeing some sort of bullshit in front of him.

He didn't even listen to what the voice was talking about.

'Isn't this some sort of game text? What's this Void Invasion?' Rion's brain crashed for a few seconds at the sight right before his very eyes.

...

Hahahaha~... I must be dreaming, right...? Right.....???

Rion tried to pinch his dumpling cheeks, as he opened his eyes, only to feel a slight pain in his right cheek from where he pinched.

He suddenly heard the slightly bustling passengers inside the bus, some asking if they heard some sort of robotic voice, or if they were seeing something like a red text in their vision.

'Looking at their reactions, it seems everybody heard that voice and can see the same red text like mine...' Rion breathed in, trying to calm down.

He then noticed that the red text at the center of his vision disappeared, and was replaced by a small red text at the corner of his vision, which is clearly some sort of timer.

Rion closed his eyes again and assessed the situation before him.

1st possibility, I can confirm this isn't a dream...

He said as he rubbed his swollen cheek.

Unless this is some sort of 'a-dream-you cannot-wake-up.' type of crap. But that's impossible.

2nd possibility, did I–... Did we get isekai'd to another world with a game system...?

Rion shook his head as this was nonsense in his opinion, the scenery around them didn't change and he was still on the bus along with the other passengers...

Although… he felt a bit of anticipation coming from his otaku heart.

But before he can even think of another possibility...

Break!!!

The bus swerved its path as the bus abruptly stopped its acceleration, causing the passengers to bump their heads on their front seats, while those who were standing lost their balance.

"...W-what in God's name are those..." Soon after, a voice of pure shock and fear was heard by the passengers coming from the driver's seat.

In the midst of the ruckus.

Rion, who rubbed his aching forehead from the bump, woke up from his otaku delusions when he heard the driver's voice as he and some of the passengers who heard him, turned their heads at where the driver was looking.

"... What the fuck." Nobody knows who said it first, but it represents the absolute surprise that's in front of everyone, gaping their mouths open.

"Am I dreaming....?"

"What the hell is that?"

...

Soon everyone woke up from their surprise, and everyone started giving their reaction.

However, that surprise was instantly replaced by panic and chaos because what they are seeing right now is...

ROOOOAAAR!!

Various strange and grotesque monsters with black pulsing veins can be seen destroying the buildings, eating people, wreaking havoc, and turning the city into a land of massacre.

Flames and destruction run asunder across the whole scenery; explosions mixed with gunfires and screams of pain can be heard in the background.

"RUN!!" Suddenly, a passenger started running to the door.

SCREEEECHHH!!!

Before they even have time to think why the sudden reaction.

They saw a massive flying creature that looks like a pterodactyl with oversized eagle-like sharp claws and a wing span of two meters with black veins pulsing all over its body, approaching the bus at a high speed.

Screeching at them, the already panicking passengers get into further chaos as they start racing to the door of the bus trying to get out.

Seeing the crowd being unable to think properly from the panic, Rion who instantly woke up from the screech of the flying creature, shouted:

"EVERYBODY DUCK AND BRACE FOR THE IMPACT!!"

Unable to register his words due to their panic, the passengers continued pushing each other to race through the door.

While very few of them who heard Rion's voice, immediately ducked under their seats and braced for the impact.

BAAAAANGGG! CRAAASH!!....

Due to the instantaneous speed of the flying creature, the bus was instantly turned upside-down as it rolled through the street like some kicked soccer ball, only stopping when it reached ten meters away from its original spot.

The bus was a mess, all of the windows were shattered, and part of the roof was dismantled, while most of the parts were deformed and pierced by the strong grip of the flying monster.

The bus was basically laying on its sides with white smoke belching out.

Most of the passengers were killed by the impact and sharp debris of the bus, and screams of pain can be heard, as some lost or broke a part of their body, adding the despairing noise to the already chaotic background.

...

Cough... Cough...

Rion coughed, as he slowly tried to open his eyes...

Seeing his right vision red, he knew his head was wounded either from the strong impact or from a sharp object, regardless it isn't time to worry about it.

He knew he had to get out of this mess first.

"... Ah crap."

While trying to move, he can feel some aching pain from some parts of his body, but he is very lucky that it is nothing too serious, just some skin-deep injuries and some fractures.

Looking for an exit, he soon finds a hole he can climb through, but before he can move his body…

Rion heard a fitting of coughs, as he saw a messy teenage student, wearing a pair of nerdy glasses, recover his consciousness.

"... Oww. My head."

Seeing a student regain his consciousness, Rion called and gestured his hand to the student, indicating he found a hole to climb through.

Seeing Rion's gesture, the man nodded thankfully, climbing first with his thin body.

When he got out, Rion followed secondly as the student helped Rion to get out due to his 'medium-sized' body.

"Thanks." Rion thanked the student, but the nerdy student waved his hand frantically.

"No, no, no! I am the one who should be thanking you, good sir!" The nerdy student hurriedly replied.

"We should–" before Rion was even able to advise the student to get out of this place.

They heard a faint voice.

"...help... Please help... help my daughter." A woman's voice can be heard faintly from the overturned bus, crying for help.

Hearing the voice, the two looked at each other briefly and they simultaneously nodded as the bro code kicked in.

They both want to help the woman trapped inside.

The nerdy student instantly went near the bus to locate the source of the faint voice, while Rion looked around him alertly, looking if any of those strange monsters and the weird pterodactyl who attacked the bus, caught their attention.

Seeing that there is no trace of the weird pterodactyl and that the strange and grotesque monsters are distracted by causing havoc and eating chunks of human innards.

'.....ugh.'

Rion almost threw up at the grotesque sight of gore before him but held back as he distracted himself by helping the trapped woman first.

'What the fuck is going on...'

Rion's mind right now is a mess.

His heart tends to beat fast as if it's the only thing he can hear right now, while cold sweat slowly drenches his whole body.

Luckily, a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Good sir! I found the girl!" the nerdy student waved his hand to Rion.

Seeing the nerdy student wave at him, he went to the back of the bus where the student was.

There, he could hear the girl's desperate call.

"...p-please just save.. even just my daughter."

"N-no Mom I don't want to leave you! *sniff*"

Seeing the bloodied woman carrying a 5-year-old girl crying in her mother's arms, their expressions went stern as Rion and the student instantly went into action.

They know they don't have much time, especially since they are out in the open.

As for the other people who are trapped inside...

'There isn't much time to help everyone…' Rion took note.

He noticed that these grotesque monsters spawn endlessly from those multiple huge distorted holes in the skies.

The numbers of these things keep increasing, it is only a matter of time before they will be noticed.

Regardless...

Without any words, they began to work to try and rescue the mother-daughter pair.

The nerdy student instantly went to get a sturdy metal bar from the debris of the destroyed bus to use as a leveraging tool.

'Clever kid.' Rion inwardly remarked as he knew that most people in this situation would be too stressed and clouded by panic to even think of a simple solution.

Seeing the nerdy student's intention, Rion immediately grabbed a medium-sized rock from a destroyed structure, and lodged it under the metal bar, to serve as the base.

"I lift the bus, you pull the mother. Understand?" Rion instantly assigned their role and worked his brain despite the fear inside him.

"Understood, good sir." the student nodded seriously as he positioned himself to go under.

"1...2...3."

'This is where my body finally shines.' Rion ironically thought, using his arms along with his heavy body weight as a way to lift the back of the bus.

"Hurry!" Rion gestured with his expression, while the nerdy student instantly went under the bus to pull the woman along with her child.

"...cough... cough."

"Mom!!"

...

Seeing that the rescue attempt was a success, Rion nodded approvingly to the student.

'This kid may look nerdy, but he knows his stuff at the most crucial times…' Rion clenched his fist at the thought that even a nerdy student might be braver than him.

But before he could finish his thought, he was interrupted by a man's shout who was stuck in his once-expensive car near the bus.

"H-hey you two, can you please come here and help me!? I can give you money if you save me!!" A middle-aged man dressed in a messy suit due to the chaos, commanded a bit desperately to the two, seeing they have the ability to help.

Sensing that there was a hint of condescending tone towards them made Rion frown a bit, but was still about to save him when suddenly they heard a familiar noise:

SCREEEEEEHH!!!

!!!

Alerted by the noise, the group looked at the approaching monstrous pterodactyl.

'We need to run and find a cover, fast!' Rion's brain turned full speed, trying to look for a cover, and soon pointed to a nearby subway station.

"There!" Rion ran along with the nerdy student, as they instantly supported and carried the mother and the daughter.

Rion glanced at the man a bit with a hint of pity and guilt coming from his eyes but was instantly replaced by desperation and a bit of panic and fear as he moved ahead along with others.

"N-no!! Don't leave me!! O-okay I got it I'll give you all my money!! Just help me get out of this shit!! n-noOoO!! I d-Don't wanna die!!!!!" the middle-aged man desperately shouted for help.

Unfortunately…

"AHHHHHHhhhHhhh!!!"

Shouts of agony and pain, along with the sounds of flesh being torn and eaten can be heard in the already hellish background and noise.

...

The duo who were carrying the mother and the daughter stopped running.

Seeing that they are safe, Rion and the nerdy student stop by the bench and slowly put down the bloodied woman and her child who is crying.

".... ah."

The bloodied woman groaned in pain.

Seeing her state, the nerdy student looked at her feet…

"..."

He couldn't help but also gasped in pain, seeing her right foot barely hanging on the skin of her legs with broken bones protruding from her flesh.

Even Rion who saw it feels uncomfortable, he might've watched some movies about gores in the past, but seeing it in real life is a different thing altogether.

"T-thank you for helping us... If I-i don't survive, please take care of my daughter." The woman stuttered weakly, seeing that she was losing blood from the different wounds on her body, especially from her almost amputated right foot.

Looking at the woman's state, Rion knew she needed to be treated fast.

"N-no… Mom, don't leave me!!!" the girl on her chest cried frantically hearing her mother's words.

Looking at the mother and daughter pair, the nerdy student looks like he's about to cry and sympathize.

Seeing this, Rion can't help but smile wryly about this student's reaction, he just met the two but he already acts as if they're his long-lost relatives...

Well, he understands how he feels though.

Rion just nodded at the woman's gratitude and looked at the nerdy student as he said:

"Can you look for any medical supplies? See if you can find one."

The nerdy student nodded as he ran and searched for any medical supplies.

Meanwhile, Rion instantly went to a vending machine, and he ordered dozens of bottles of water, as a way to clean the woman.

Finally having time to think, Rion soon calmed down and looked at the timer in red text at the corner of his vision.

[Void Invasion will end: 23 hrs, 44 mins, 17 secs.]

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