Chapter 108: Impending Doom

"Isabella..." I said.

"I know. It's here, isn't it?" She said worriedly.

I simply nodded.

A moment later, I felt Iris talking to us with telepathy.

"Mizik, Isabella! What's going on? I just felt an incredibly strong presence enter Ignitus!" Iris said.

"The feeling of impending doom... We felt it. It's something that comes over us when the Black Ooze is nearby. Iris, I'm afraid to say that this might be an emergency of the worst kind," I said.

Iris was silent for a moment.

"I'm going to have Leiso send a few spy planes to the region I felt it in. Then we're calling a meeting of the Enforcers. It's time to tell everyone," Iris said.

"Teleport us when ready, Lady Iris," Isabella said.

We waited for about an hour and got changed out of our bathing suits. Finally, we were teleported to the meeting room in Torantis.

Isabella made a quick call to Emily and told her that we were called away on urgent business.

She understood.

Although I shuddered to think of what horrors might soon befall our beloved world...

A few hours later, the other Enforcers were called into the room and Leiso began setting up a presentation with a strange and perplexed look on her face.

I could hear her mumbling to herself as she viewed the recently-taken photos from the hastily-deployed spy planes.

"What the hell is going on here...?" Leiso mumbled.

"Hey, umm...is everything okay?" Michael said.

"I can't remember the last time we had an emergency meeting..." Jallah said as he placed his finger on his chin.

"Everyone...I have called you here today for a good reason..." Iris began.

Leiso sat down with a worried expression and Iris turned on the screen to display the images that had been taken.

As soon as we saw it...

We couldn't help ourselves...

Our faces instinctively twisted in fear as we looked on at the familiar pictures...

The landscape was partially covered in a Black Ooze-like substance. The entire region looked completely unnatural.

The pictures had been taken in a remote part of Nexus.

"What the hell are we looking at here?" Michael said with a very serious tone.

"Mizik, I need to know right now. Is this what I think it is?" Iris said.

I nodded slowly as I tried to compose myself.

I was finding it hard to suppress the images of the things I had seen thirteen years ago back on Avernia... I slowly stood up and made my way to the front of the room.

"Hey...what's this about?" Gavin said.

I held my hand up to silence him and cleared my throat.

"Everyone...what you're looking at is the substance that destroyed our world. We call it 'The Black Ooze'," I said.

"Destroyed...your world? Didn't you say a Demon King did that!?" Gavin said angrily.

"Gavin, you need to calm down," Iris said.

"CALM DOWN!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!? THIS GUY JUST ADMITTED TO LYING TO US! THIS SHIT MIGHT HAVE FOLLOWED-"

I could no longer suppress my rage.

I waved my hand as I grabbed him with psychokinesis and threw him partway into a wall.

"Ugh..."

Gavin moaned in pain as he fell onto the floor.

"You...bastard... I trusted you..."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, GAVIN!" Iris screamed in rage.

He looked up slowly at Iris and Isabella healed his body.

"This is exactly why we kept it a secret! Because of nonsense like this! Now be quiet and listen!!" Iris continued.

Gavin meekly got up and sat back down as I composed myself.

"Yes...we lied. It wasn't a Demon King that destroyed our world. It was a man called 'The Source'. I can explain everything now..." I said.

I pulled out my journals and notes and began the long process of explaining everything I knew about the Ooze to everyone.

I did not stop to answer questions and simply continued my briefing.

When I finished, I could see the look I genuine concern on everyone's faces.

"How...how do we stop this...?" Dante finally said.

"Kill the Source. That's the only way..." I said.

"But you said...this guy is like...waaaay stronger than you, right?" Michael said.

I nodded sadly.

"This battle is going to be hell..." I said.

Everyone was silent.

"Can I please say something?" Gavin said.

I looked over to him.

"Tell me...honestly, Mizik. Did you know this stuff would follow you?" He said.

"We weren't sure at the time. The Oracle said that it was a threat to all of creation but we wanted to think we were safe. Actually, when we first arrived we didn't even know it was another world. When we discovered it was a new world completely free of it, we decided to keep it secret. Although, we did tell Iris. To answer your question, I don't think it followed us as much as it just finally arrived," I said.

"If you had told us, then we could have prepared a-"

"Gavin, shut up. You know damn well you would have killed us on the spot if we told you what really happened to our world. We kept it a secret partially because of you and your shitty attitude," I said.

"Tch...right..." Gavin said as he gritted his teeth and looked away.

No doubt feeling angry at himself for his behavior.

"He has a point, dude. Hell, even I might have tried to kill them," Michael admitted.

"Mizik...I would like to do research on this Black Ooze. Can you get some for me?" Carlos said.

"We can try, but that's extremely dangerous. From what we know of its capabilities, it's unlikely that it could really be contained," I said.

"Honestly, it's one of the best hopes we have. We can't just sit here and do nothing, can we?" Leiso said.

"That's true, but starting from here on out, Isabella and I will take charge of the situation. Since it's our duty as special forces to deal with existential threats, we're taking the lead. Is that acceptable, Dante and Iris?" I said.

They both nodded.

"Then you two will lead the Enforcers into battle and order them as necessary until the crisis is over. There's a lot at stake here, so please...don't fail us," Iris said.

"The world itself and all of the people dwelling here are the responsibly of the Enforcers. This is our home and we will not stand idly by as this horrible Ooze comes to take everything away from us again!" Isabella said.

"First things first. Leiso, I want the entire military to go on high alert. Get them to do constant patrols around the world. Don't send ground troops and instead, use air-based attack options. Ground troops are a liability. We only use those as a last resort," I said.

"Of course. I will not allow my soldiers to be infected by this Black Ooze. You have the full extent of my authority at your disposal, Mizik and Isabella," Leiso said.

"I have to admit, I don't know how the Ooze will react to you all. Be careful that you don't let it touch you...and prepare to see some truly terrifying monsters," I said.

"So what's our first move?" Leiso said.

"I want both Isabella and I, along with Leiso and a few support troops from the air to go to the initial site of touchdown. Ground zero. The mission is to collect a few usable samples of the Black Ooze for Carlos. Leiso, get a hazmat team ready to transport it as well," I said.

"Understood, sir," she said as she got to her feet.

Leiso left the room immediately.

It felt weird having her call me sir. But I didn't have time to worry about that.

"And the rest of us?" Dante said.

"I want everyone except Carlos to go on high alert. More thorough patrols, and great caution. The Ooze can appear from anywhere. I want Carlos to start preparing a special testing facility for experiments on the Black Ooze," I said.

"Understood. I'll use the laboratory here in Torantis," Carlos said as he got up and left the room.

"Mizik...I'm sorry for my...behavior... I should learn to trust you two more. You have my full support," Gavin said.

"Thank you, Gavin. Now get out there and patrol as much as you can," I said.

After the other Enforcers left, Iris stood up.

"I'm going to Excelsis to request aid. If possible, I want to see if I can have someone help us out," Iris said.

"Thank you, Iris," I said.

After that, she left and it was just me and Isabella.

"I have to admit, it was really manly of you to take charge like that, my love," she said.

I smiled weakly at her.

"Thank you. But we can talk about that stuff later... I'd be lying if I said I was confident about this whole thing..."

Isabella stood up and walked to the front of the room. She hugged me tightly and smiled.

"Let's just do our best, Mizik. It's all we can do. If we fail, at least we can go down with the ship, right?" She said.

"Yeah...but somehow, I feel a lot more confident than I was before. Maybe it's our new power. Maybe it's also our allies... But regardless, we might still be able to pull this off," I said.

And with that, we left the room.

* * *

We boarded a helicopter and eventually, Leiso got us onboard a military transport plane.

It was specially outfitted for the transfer of hazardous materials and capable of flying at slower speeds with its transforming wings.

This particular type of aircraft could become a heavily armored war plane in a pinch if need be.

As we flew, I familiarized myself with some of my old notes.

"Mizik, how should we handle this when we touch down?" Leiso said.

"Set the aircraft into hover mode. You, me, and Isabella will go to the ground. Once it's safe, we'll get the hazmat team down there to collect the Ooze. If anything starts moving, kill it immediately," I said.

"With my thorns, right? All I need to do is destroy the core within those creatures?" Leiso said.

I nodded.

"Very well. I will do everything I can to ensure the destruction of this Black Ooze."

Eventually, after flying for several hours, we reached our destination.

We decided to monitor the situation from above for a few minutes and already, I could feel a strong sense of impending doom.