When Everything Isn't Enough

Not far from where the action was concluding, Jun had stumbled upon a terrible situation that the chaos had brought upon.

All the impacts to the ground were causing earthquakes in the city and the underground shelters had started to cave in. But the collapsed buildings and widespread fire had trapped many people inside the shelters.

The shelters had become death traps.

He had heard the screaming of people banging on the doors as debris had completely blocked it from opening. All the shelter entries were inside other buildings so that they wouldn't be in direct line of attack when the angels came. So that meant some of the buildings that caught fire had collapsed on top of the shelter entrances.

For those poor souls, there was nothing he could physically do on his own.

As a contracted slayer, he of course knew where every shelter entry point was. Since he knew he couldn't defeat the God that appeared, he put his skills to better use and tried to free anyone he possibly could from the shelters. He finally happened upon a partly collapsed building that he could navigate inside to the shelter entrance.

He could already hear banging and screaming coming from inside as part of the building fell in front of the door so they could only open it a few inches. Not enough for even the smallest child to get through.

He sliced his sword as fast as he could at the debris in an attempt to cut it in half and lessen the weight so it could be moved.

The blade bounced back against the piece of building.

"No, I'm rushing and can't focus enough! I've got to calm down." He told himself. "If I could just reach the same focus I had against Athos, I know I can do it!" But his thoughts were much too jumbled to reach such a state.

"Please, the ceiling is cracking in here!" A muffled voice called out from the other side.

Jun stepped away from the door, "If you can hear me clear away from the door! I'm going to try to blast away the debris!" He pointed two fingers at the door. "Unholy art: Dark Overhaul".

*BOOM!* The energy erupted out of his fingertips and blew apart the debris. Since the buildings were laced with unholy energy to reflect holy energy, his attack just added to the energy and blew it apart.

"Yes!" Jun said finally relieved at the success.

The vibration from the attack had also been just the push needed to break away the last supports of the already fragile building.

"Oh God no..." Jun whispered in despair. The building gave away and began to collapse around him.

"Damn it, no!!!" Jun darted towards the door and prepared to strike at it to bust it open. Just before he did however, a large piece of concrete fell right on top of the door and blocked it once more. Jun could only look as it sunk in that he didn't have the time to cut through this and another blast would just make things even worse.

"I'm....I'm so sorry!" Jun cried as he dodged out of the way of the falling debris and launched himself out of the building.

The building collapsed which in turn caused the ground to cave in since it was already on it's last leg with all of Conquest's stomping around and attacks. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Screaming could be heard as the sound of falling rocks and broken bones created a most unwanted symphony. Then...there was silence.

Jun had fallen backwards and landed on the ground at the sudden happening of the cave in. He got up and looked at the now mass grave that had large amounts of dust flowing out from the gaps around it.

He couldn't find the words for what he just witnessed.

"I tried..." He whispered to the building as his words now fell on deaf ears. "I tried damn it!! But just like with all this, it wasn't enough. I beat an archangel, but for what?! A God shows up and just undoes everything we worked for. Everything..." Jun looked around at the burning city that once was filled with such joy even in these dark times. "...is gone."

How many shelters were filled to the brim in this city right now? He thought. And each of them...Jun clenched his fist in frustration.

"I...don't know what to do." He admitted. "I'm not strong enough to make a difference on my own when it really counts. Maybe Axel really was right after all."

Jun grabbed his sword and turned his back on yet another failure. "Mother, please don't look down on me in shame. I have enough on my own."

< System Warning. System Warning. >

"System warning?"

Jun was knocked off his feet as a gust had torn through the city streets that he wasn't prepared for.

< Disregard warning >

Jun got back up off the ground, "Wait why?? Now's not a good time to keep secrets from us!"

< Disregard because the Beast of Apocalypse has been taken care of >

Jun's eyes widened, "Axel. He actually pulled it off.."

< No. The slayer Axel had been momentarily removed from action. >

"Then who could've possibly put up enough power to...." That's when it finally clicked for him. "Please. Tell me who did it. I need to know!!"

< It was a joint effort by the slayers Iris and Jayden, but it was Iris who dealt the finishing blow. >

Jun's face suddenly opened up, "You mean they're...they're actually alive? They survived the impact?"

< This is correct. All slayers in this vicinity are still alive. >

"Thank you...thank you. Finally, some good news." Right as he said those words, Jun felt the disappearance of a large body of not one, but two divine energy sources. One was definitely Conquest, but the other...

< Jun, you may want to head to the other's location. Something has happened to Axel and you'll be needed for this. >