Chapter 67: Death

"Huff."

"Huff."

"Huff."

Having trouble breathing, the young man huffed and puffed up a flight of stairs. Sweat drenched his back as his muscles were suddenly exposed to unprepared exercise. Due to many years of not using his body dexterously, the young man felt his body aching like never before.

Still, though, he kept on, as he had seen the girl running through the same flight of stairs not long ago. He was so close, and he had to know. So he could not stop.

Finally, the long stairs leading up had come to an end. Before the young man was a metal door, which he swung open.

Walking through the door, the young man was greeted by the blinding light from the sun. Shielding his eyes with his arm, the young man walked forward and waited for his eyes to adjust to the light.

And it wasn't long before they did. Letting him take in the view of the surroundings.

He was on the roof of a building not far from the nearby university. From the corner of his eye, the park he usually visits could be seen. But that was clearly not on his mind, as what he was looking for was right in front of him.

The young girl from before stood right in front of him. She looked at the city from atop the building. The young man could not see her face. She had turned away from him, but the lovey tail swinging back and forth on her was a good enough indication of her identity.

But now that she was right in front of him, the young man suddenly realized that he didn't really know what to say to her. All this time he has been looking for her, but he never took the time to think about what he was going to say when he actually found her. So he decided to just wing it.

 "Hello?"

When hearing his words, the young girl turned to look back. She saw the young man before her and frowned.

The young man, on the other hand, was shocked. This was because she was as he had seen a week ago. The young girl had short black hair and feline features on her face.

"Who are you?"

From her mouth, words that came from an unknown language were heard. Yet somehow, the young man felt like he could understand what she said. Or rather, he felt what she was saying. So he didn't ponder it too much and jumped to an answer.

"My name is... Ahh!"

But at that moment, as he was just about to say his name, he felt an intense headache. No, the pain he felt at that moment could no longer be considered a headache. It was as if someone had just stabbed him in the head with a knife.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

That unknown cracking sound is back once more. The young man clutched his head as he tried to calm himself. But by the time the pain in his head had subsided, sweat had almost drenched his whole body.

When he looked up, he was surprised to see the young girl standing on the edge of the building. Looking like she will jump down at any time.

"Wait stop!"

The young man shouted. He walked closer in fear that she might suddenly jump. If she were to jump, when would he see her again? Wait for another lucky encounter?

"We are all going to die; I'm no exception." The young girl suddenly said causing the young man to stop

"But before then, I have to be useful to the kingdom." Saying these words, the young girl jumped down.

"Noo!" The young man ran towards her in hopes of catching her. He was a step too late. In the end, a horrid sound was heard down below the building.

Bang!

When the young man turned to look, he saw the blood splatter on the pavement and the crowd of people. He turned his gaze from the crowd and turned around to sit down. The young man was really tired. With his little adventure unsuccessful, his body finally let out So he could only sit down as he caught his breath.

After a few minutes, the young man turned to look down. And the eerie scenes of a group of people each turning to go their own way were seen once more. The young man prepared to Stan up and leave the building. As it seems like today was not the day his questions would be answered.

But suddenly, the young man saw someone pointing at the sky. At first, the young man did not take it to heart, but more and more people looked in that direction. Some pointed, while others stared in gasps.

But either way, young or old, all people who looked in that direction stared in shock. Seeing such a scene, the young man grew curious as well. When he turned to look, and he too was shocked.

A blue, luminous pool of water floated in the sky. It swirled slowly as it glowed blue. The young man marveled at the sight. His mouth was agape as he tried to comprehend how what he was seeing was possible.

Looking at It, the young man could not help but liken it to a portal. A portal like the ones that appear frequently in either sci-fi or fantasy movies.

But what was it doing here?

Just as he had thought that, a cracking sound suddenly came from the supposed portal's direction.

Crack!

"Rooar!"

A terrifying voice sounded from seemingly within the portal. The young man covered his ears in pain. But although his ears were covered, his eyes were not. That was why he saw it come from the portal.

It was blood red in color, with dozens of segments on its body. Its gigantic head had large mandibles that looked like they could cut a car in two.

It was a centipede.

Or at least something that looks like it. Unlike most centipedes, this creature was not just a few centimeters long. Just the incomplete body was more than a hundred meters long. Unlike a centipede, this creature did not have legs to crawl on the ground but floated in the sky.

As it rushed from the portal, the many Windows on the buildings mattered from its voice alone. Finally seeing the behemoth monster, the pedestrians on the streets ran for their lives.

But the giant cenipede opened its mouth right before they could get far. Light gathered within its mouth, and suddenly...

Whoosh!

Boom!

A ball of light flew from the centipedes mouth and exploded on contact with the ground. The explosion wiped out every single person on the streets.

All that was left was a large crater that was covered in dust. Looking at the surrounding buildings, the young man could see the blood splattered around.

The young man was rooted on the spot in fear.

Boom!

But it was that second explosion that awoke him from his stupor. Getting up from the floor, the young man ran towards the open door.

Back inside the building, the young man rushed out, looking for a place that had any sign of safety. But all he heard were the screams of people running and frequent explosions here and there.

Running with the crowd, the young man looked around frantically for any place where he could hide. But at that moment...

Boom!

An explosion suddenly occurred in the next building. The young man was coincidentally right next to the window. So he was able to see what was attacked.

The giant flying centipede had blasted the opposite building with one of its light bombs. As the building didn't collapse, the creature kept bombarding it over and over again.

With this clear view of the outside, the young man managed to see the centipede up close. The creature had alarge axe-like thing on its mouth and long antennas that a green-skinned humanoid held like reigns.

But the young man didn't focus on any of that. What got him shaking was that in the sky, there were more of these creatures.

In his vision, more than six centipedes flew as they bombarded the buildings around them.

Seeing such a situation unfold, the young man saw the dire situation he was in. So he came to a conclusion.

"I have to get out of here!"

...