The Present: End of the World!

With a snicker, Vincent stared at Steve who stared intently at the fallen Hunter; "Well, turns out we both lost the bet, huh?"

"It seems so..." Steve said a bit absentmindedly, still staring at Hunter and Cain.

"Your friend is hurt. Don't you think you should go help him?" Susan said coldly to Dan. She was still visibly upset at him for stopping her from interfering with the fight.

Dan turned to Susan and David who stood beside her, and with utmost confidence, he said; "Not yet..."

"What do you mean by not yet? Your buddy has been defeated. Do you want to leave him there like that?"

Although hostility existed between them, it wasn't to the point of wishing death upon one another. It may be because of the circumstances they found themselves, or no one was willing to get their hands dirty. But for whatever reason, no one had yet to cast the first stone.

His piercing blue eyes shone like stars without even a speck of doubt.

"Trust me when I say this. This fight is far from over. I can argue with you that it's just begun..." Dan said with a smile as he stared right at the still Hunter.

"I win."

Cain let out a heavy sigh as he stared down at the defeated figure of Hunter.

Something about the fight puzzled Cain. He had expected it to be way more difficult than it had been. When he fought the {Devil-eyed White Primate}, he had been put in an extremely passive position. That severely affected the way he rated his opponents and caused him to be more cautious of the opponents he was dealing with.

'Could it be that I have gotten much stronger? No that doesn't make sense... That can't be the case, as there isn't much of a strength difference between me of now, and me of a day ago, right?'

What Cain failed to acknowledge, was how much progress he had made in less than 24 hours. Not only did he gain a lot from the fight with the {Devil-eyed White Primate}, but the contract he made with Teddy had caused a fundamental change in his power level.

His opponents weren't weak. He had just gotten stronger and a lot faster by putting his life in danger.

High risk, high return...

"Hmm?"

Just as Cain was about to turn his back and walk away, he noticed a slight twitch in Hunter's eyelids.

'Guess this fight isn't over yet...'

***

1:30 am...

It was already way past midnight, very early into the morning and if this had been a normal night, at this time, most people would be in their beds, their minds lost in a world of dreams created by their subconsciousness.

Anyone who had survived till now would feel like they were living within a dream, or more accurately, a nightmare.

Cain and the others were quite lucky, as the area of the school they currently were had very few people in the area, and was a bit isolated from everywhere else.

It was separated from the main campus by the artificial forest, and if one wanted to get there from the main campus, one would have to journey through the path through the forest. Now that said path had vanished because of the encroachment of the forest, a sort of barrier of trees had been formed, closing Cain and the others, but also keeping out anyone or anything that would try to get in there...

This forest barrier was both their cage, as well as what protected them from the hell that was now the main campus...

City Z was an important intercontinental trading location, as it was situated right at the edge of the continent. It was bordered by the immensely large Pacific Ocean at the west, making it a huge trading hub. Even with how far humanity had progressed technologically, maritime trade was still one of the most predominant means of trade. This made City Z an active and populous metropolis.

It was the capital city on the Kolaris continent, one of the eighth continents of the planet. As such an important and populated city, it was only expected that it was one of the most affected places after the planet's inception of God Ash.

Calling it hell might be a bit of an understatement...

A more accurate term to describe it would be Armageddon...

Meaning the end of the world in an old language. It signified the beginning of the end for all things that existed under the sun. Most people would never have dreamt of its arrival, but it had come, and it's arrival had shocked the entire world more than its herald.

Not just in the school, but everywhere else on the surface of the planet, Urbus had faced the apocalypse. The devils that had come from the skies were like the messengers of death itself. The ones Cain had met paled greatly in comparison to the monsters that began spreading carnage and slaughter.

Huge grotesque behemoths descended from the grey skies, bringing along swarms of smaller devils. The average devil was many times bigger and stronger than an average human, so it was only normal for the humans to be mostly defenseless against them. The only ones who stood a chance at survival were those who had means of defending themselves. As for those who didn't, their fates were left to whatever gods might exist to decide.

These devils destroyed and consumed everything in their wake, brutally devouring or capturing any living beings they could find, humans or not...

The invasion of the devils, and the mutation of all life on the surface of the planet, caused the infrastructure of the unprepared humans to collapse like a house built on sand. In less than three days, the entire city went up in smoke. The shrill cries and wails of terror, pain, and agony of the humans reverberated within the city as their homes, places of leisure, and work were all invaded by these evil and bloodthirsty beings.

Within these three days, most of the people within the campus and city had been killed off. The rest had found out that there was only one way to survive. And that was to kill...

Kill the devils and mutants if you desired a chance at life...

That was the only way to survive...

Well... There were always exceptions to the rule...

***

Within a secret underground location, City Z...

The big shots of City Z, those who had held power in the city, all sat down together, worry and fear all apparent on their faces.

The mayor of the city, a fat baldie with a funny-looking mustache addressed the rest of the people in the room with beads of sweat rolling down from his face...

"A-and so... A-all we have to do, i-is wait for them to come to rescue us. I'm sure t-the military will b-be here any m-moment from now. Y-you have my word." The grossly overweight man struggled to articulate his words properly. He squirmed in his seat, his palms and handkerchief drenched in sweat. The look on his face and the terror in his eyes made those who he was addressing even more worried about their fates.

"No offense, Mr. Mayor, but are we going to sit here and watch as our precious city is torn apart by these devils?! I suggest we go out there with the forces we have at hand and mount a resistance." One of the men in the room said out of indignation.

The beads of sweat rolling down the mayor's face intensified, 'If you want to go fight them, be my guest. Stupid fucker! Don't drag me into this!'

"Well, Mr. Blanton, we all know that these monsters can't be faced with ordinary means. We've seen what they can do. The weapons we have on hand are ineffective against them, and we have no idea if they have any weaknesses or not. Until we receive further information from the outside, I fear we can and should do nothing." The mayor said with a forced smile.

"So are you suggesting we just sit here and do nothing?!" Another big shot yelled.

"Yes! Our lives and businesses are on the line here. If these monsters are allowed to inflict any more damage, only God knows how much it will cost!" Another one of them said angrily.

'These damn geezers! All they care about are their asses. Is this the time to worry about money?!'

In his mind, the mayor was cursing heavily, but he lacked the courage to say these things. After all, the men in the room held a lot of money and power in the city. Regardless of the state on the outside, it would do him no good to get on their bad side.

"Please, gentlemen. I ask you all to calm down for a bit. I understand you very well and can relate to these issues. All I ask of is that you remain patient. Very soon, we should receive a-"

The mayor was still trying to appease these big shots when he was interrupted by a phone call from one of his assistants standing nearby.

"Mr. Mayor, there is a phone call from Major Arltzwalt..."

As he had just seen a ray of hope, he yelled out with renewed vigor, "Don't just stand there, you fucking idiot! Bring it here. hurry!"

In a hurry, he swiftly snatched the phone out of his attendants' hands.

A huge smile appeared on the mayor's face as he addressed the person on the other end of the line, "Yes? Major Arltzwalt? This is Mayor Choi! Any good news for me?!"

"Mayor Choi? Since it's you, I don't think I need to be anything but straightforward, so I'll skip the pleasantries." A gruff voice answered from the other end of the line.

"Go on?" The mayor replied uneasily, as this wasn't how to give good news.

"You all are fucked. Well, a more fitting way to say it would be we are all fucked, but in this case, you guys are way more fucked than we ate. Hahaha!"

"Hahaha... This must be some kind of joke, major. But in all seriousness, what is the situation of things out there? Have you guys defeated those alien devils yet?" By now, the mayor was simply trying to trick himself. Maybe if he tried his best to deny it, it wouldn't come true.

Unfortunately, for the mayor, his wish will never be granted...

"Oh... I'm being dead ass serious right now. As you know, normal weapons don't work on these fuckers. From our information sources, we have been able to gather that there are a few people who have acquired the ability to combat these so-called devils. However, they are all still too weak to face the numbers present in city Z. Hence, the central government has decided to drop a few bombs on y'all to reduce their numbers before we do a clean sweep."

The mayor blanked out for a while before asking in a shaky voice, "S-so what does that mean?"

"Well, it means you are fucked, Mr. Mayor. If you survive this, you'll be pleased to find out that every other place on the surface of this godforsaken planet is facing the same fate as city Z, or even worse in some cases. If you want to survive this, the only advice I can give you is to get off your fat ass, and go kill those things by yourself."

The major spat all these out at lightning speed, not caring whether the now nearly comatose mayor got it all.

"Oh... Before I cut off, I'll have to inform you that City Z will become ground zero in the next 20 minutes. By O two hundred, hell will fall upon City Z. Godspeed..." With that, the major swiftly and brutally ended the call.

"Well, who was that, Mr. Mayor?" One of the men in the room asked.

"Also, why do you look so pale and sweaty? Are you feeling sick?" said another.

"We are all going to die." The mayor mumbled.

"Huh? What was that?"

The sight of their oblivious faces made anger swell up within the mayor as he found his courage balloon up in the face of near-certain death...

"I said, we are all going to die, you stupid fuckers!"