Gravitational Hole

"Bastards! What the hell are they planning now!"

Cayenne cursed as she stomped her foot, probably out of annoyance or just to support her weight onto the gravity that was trying to pull everything up.

She let out a breath first to calm herself down as she began to assess the problem on her front. To be able to think, one must've their train of thought on the right track.

Duke, on the other hand, wasn't going to be involved in any of this crisis even though, somehow and incidentally, he was at fault as to why this was happening.

He sneakily darted away from the luxurious, interrogation room and was almost successful not until the door creaked right after he twisted the knob which caught Cayenne's attention.

'God damn it…'

"Where are you going? Almost didn't hear you leaving."

"Go home and evacuate, maybe. As a civilian, and saw that danger, I'll go to the nearest evacuation area and hide."

"…"

Cayenne stared at Duke for a few moments, her gaze unrecognizable before her eyes changed. It looked like she finally set her mind straight, setting the last piece needed for her idea.

She walked towards him and looked straight into his eyes.

"You're right, the evacuation is a must."

'Oh no… I don't like where this is going…'

"That's why help me."

Duke stared at her, full of regret inside.

That goddamn door is going to need some serious renovation in the future. But already having a gist of what Cayenne was trying to say, he replied with a doubtful tone.

"Help? I'm just a normal businessman. I couldn't help the problem you guys are going to face."

"You already said it yourself. Obviously, you're not going to help us but your carriages that your business has stored might."

"W-what are you trying to say?"

Cayenne threw a piercing gaze at me, "Hey, geezer, I'm going to give you a simplified explanation so this wouldn't take long, got it?

"Let me borrow your carriages. Your business is all around the globe, isn't it? The human nations are enough. Now, order everyone to carry civilians to evacuation shelters near their neighborhood. Then, we'll get the military, the students from the academy, and every person that we have to work to assist these carriages. Don't worry, we'll prioritize the safety of the people. Are we clear?"

Duke paused for a moment, "And?"

Cayenne tilts her head, "And?"

"And why would I…"

Before Duke could even stop his words, Cayenne's eyes dangerously lingered for a moment, starting to have suspicions.

It only spelled trouble which is why Duke, with an awkward tone, continued.

"And why would I not help?"

Cayenne calmed down, instantly removing her dangerous gaze as she smiled brightly, her hair hovering up in the air, ironically, depicting the chaotic background from the windows.

'This is nuts…'

Duke lightly shook his head as he informed, "I will not inform my men to dispatch. You'll have to let your men do it. Besides, if we're talking about nations, it will take a long time."

Cayenne magically summoned her rapier from the side which is a Holy Relic that she had gotten from one of her adventures as she answered.

"One of my men will do it. She had the means of transportation to do it. Just give me the locations. Come on, geezer, we have no time left."

'Ah, that woman…'

With a sigh, Duke looked around for a moment, grabbing both a pen and a paper from the air as he began writing what Cayenne needed.

In two minutes, he handled it over to Cayenne which she caught as she looked at it, commenting afterwards.

"Nice handwriting."

"Thanks?" Duke thought for a second as he requested with a purposive, awkward, shy tone, "Uhm, Cayenne. Do you have a gun I could use?"

…

Inside the rumbling administrative station, everyone moved around. Cayenne began leading the people inside, asking an officer inside for a revolver and a bunch of bullets before handing it over to Duke.

"Follow me. I'll get you straight to your place to do your job."

'How come it became my job…' Duke mused inwardly as she began following Cayenne outside the station.

It was messy.

Rocks, stones, bricks, street lights, and everything that the gravitational hole from the heavens could pull was slowly levitating.

Regular humans who couldn't withstand the pull were receiving help from fellow humans to endure it. On the other hand, those with enough physique or special ones were able to at least stay on the ground.

For a moment, people wouldn't have a problem with falling debris. In retrospect, they had to worry about staying afloat, afraid that they would reach high or smash into the crashing monsters and Fiends.

Duke lingered at his chaotic surroundings for a moment before looking towards the gravitational hole.

It was the only hole that wasn't bringing out monsters, but it was also the most dangerous place to be near.

Bang—!

It was at the same moment that the monsters started landing in different houses and buildings which started requiring the help of the authorities.

Some weren't able to survive the fall but most of them started wreaking havoc, destroying everything they saw the moment they stood up.

"Help!"

Duke glanced at the place where someone was pleading for help but he didn't have to move since the woman on his front already vanished from her place.

Slash—!

With one single stroke, Cayenne was able to cut off the monster's head that tried to hurt a family of three. She signaled them to move quickly and go to the nearest evacuation shelter.

She went back beside Duke, who saw this as a chance to keep moving since she would be with him for the meantime until they parted ways.

Duke wasn't still doing anything aside from running around though.

Haste.

They were just moving through the streets with Cayenne and Ghale doing everything that required their attention. Soon, the space they created had put enough people on their side in that same area to guard it.

'Still far away from my place…'

Duke already knew he had to make a move soon as both Cayenne and Ghale wouldn't be able to protect him.

As if he needed protection… but he needed to appear frail in front of Cayenne for a moment to not give her an impression that he could do those absurd things.

'I'm still a suspect for goodness sake.'

And soon enough, he was right on the money.

Cayenne had gotten busy and so had Ghale. Both of them were fending off hundreds of monsters themselves and Duke had no choice but to move.

He was still running forward when suddenly, a monster with one leg, one arm, a slim body, and one eye, started rushing at him. It slashed its claws forward while laughing frenziedly.

Duke raised his revolver, aiming at the creature's eye for a moment before slightly lowering it down, aiming at its leg.

Bang—!

The moment the creature's leg was hit, it slumped down on the ground, right in front of Duke before he shot another bullet, this time, right directly into its eye.

Bang—!

'What a fool.'

Duke loaded the seven-chamber revolver with two bullets before putting it back and pulling the hammer down. He began running forward the moment the abrupt stop was done.

Only this time, he didn't stop running.

'One flying abomination on my left and two four-legged monsters on my right. The former's weakness is its wings while the other is its head…'

Duke lunged sideways, aiming at the flying monster on his left first, blowing its two tiny wings once he got the angle. To be sure, he shot its head twice.

Afterward, using the space he created for himself, he used the large debris that hovered in the air from his back to jump around. High enough, he created momentum and shot the wolf life creatures which were caught by surprise once he was at the right angle.

Bang—!

Landing on the ground, Duke loaded his gun before dashing forward.

Thud—!

Every time a monster came on his way, they were utterly thrown on the ground. They couldn't even reach him since he only targeted their weakness which saved both his time and stamina.

Bang—!

"Keeeee—!"

A monster with deformed features, its body was twisted in a weird way lunged towards him after just killing another monster. Its feet were tangled around its body as it used both its distorted hands to run.

And it was a bit fast.

Duke quickly rummaged through his pouches, only to be frozen for a whole second as he realized he had no bullets left.

Clicking his tongue, Duke decided to look around to see some things he could use. To do so, he had to dodge the attack coming from the abomination first.

Whoosh—!

Duke stepped back as he evaded the horizontal spin from the monster, using its feet with claws to instill the damage.

Slice—!

The air hissed and every person who happened to be in the same place as them was killed, blood spattering across the air.

'So, he will have to stop to do the spin… It would be bad to intercept it and face it head-on. It's better to take a move when he comes to an abrupt stop.'

Duke thought inwardly as he started having an idea of how to stop the monster whilst looking for a weapon he could use. After a few more seconds, his eyes soon shifted to a severed arm with a revolver attached to its fingers.

And a plan formed in his head. All that was left was one place where he could execute it.

'Where to go…'

Duke didn't even counter how many times he had to dodge the abomination. The only thing he had in mind was to find a suitable house.

And he found it.

Duke then executed his idea.

Running towards the severed arm that was slowly hovering in the air, Duke managed to grab the revolver and open its chamber to see its bullets which had four shells. He put the chamber back in its place before running to the house he had seen earlier.

Once the house was on view, Duke glanced at the monster chasing his back and threw his previous revolver at it to buy a bit of time somehow, before entering the collapsing house.

Yet, it gave him only a minuscule amount of time before the monster followed suit. The instant it entered the place, it started chasing Duke as fast as it could, crashing into the stones and wood that supported the place.

Bang—!

In a minute of relentless chase inside the failing residency, Duke was very elusive.

There was a few meters distance between him and the monster and only then did he put a sudden stop to ready himself.

The monster was on the second floor, its heavy steps resounding the place. Duke, who saw its body in a large chunk of a cracked hole, made an obvious sound that directed the attention of the monster to him.

Without any stop, the monster followed its instinct and lunged towards him on the second, in the same gap he used to look at it.

Whoosh—!

It was then Duke aimed his revolver, not onto the monster but the last two strands of plank wood which were the last one supporting the place.

Bang—!

The monster which succeeded in landing, immediately shuddered as his instinct took him over, knowing for the fact that the house was surely collapsing.

It spun around.

But only a second later, the monster realized the debris was not going to fall over its body as it stopped.

Abruptly, it looked at the sky, following the traces of those chunks of rubble before looking at its front, only to see the person it was chasing was gone.

"What a brainless fella."

And in that second of distraction, a moment of complete stillness was all that Duke needed.

Located at the monster's back, Duke aimed his revolver at the monster's deformed head and shot it twice.

Crack—!

The roof over his head flowed up in the air as Duke was once again bathed in the bright, warm light of the sun whilst inside the destroyed residence.