Author's Preface
"237!"
"236!" Blue yelled back.
Then something landed on him. Aaron and Yuki watched as Blue began to flail around in distress, yelling, "Get off me! What the fuck? Oh my God, help! This monster won't let me go!"
"I am not a monster."
Blue calmed down and slowly turned his head. Nomi was sitting on his shoulder, her tails dangling against his back. "Nomi? Kuk? Shit, I don't know what to call you. What are you doing here?"
"Making sure you are okay and not doing anything stupid to endanger yourself."
"Have ya had a look around? Kind of hard to just let thousands of monsters roam the streets, don't ya think?"
"Indeed, but that doesn't mean you need to do stupid things or rely on yourself. Your friends are capable enough to handle all of this, even without you."
Blue sighed. "Like hell I'd let that happen."
Aaron screamed to get Blue's attention. "You better hurry! We're almost into Dublin."
"266!" Yuki screamed.
Blue and Aaron both stopped for a moment and stared at each other. Aaron let out a deep, thundering laugh as Blue sighed. Her owl flew overhead, sending gusts of wind in front of them that knocked monsters into the air and into buildings.
Blue looked back. "Those don't count! They aren't dead, just knocked out!"
Blue turned and sent a wave of sword energy through a group of monsters, his energy crashing into a building. Aaron summoned more greatswords to slash through the wave of monsters.
As the three pushed into Dublin, Aaron stopped and pointed. "Blue, when did Cynthia perfect that?"
"Perfect wh... Ohhhhh. I haven't the slightest idea."
In the distance, a few miles down the road, they stared at Cynthia's mech marching toward them. Blue smiled and looked at Aaron. "This seems to be the last bit for now. I'm at 304."
"306."
Blue sighed. "Well, seeing as Eve and the others seem to be doing fine, I suppose I can go all out."
Blue began to channel his divine energy, but a hand landed on his shoulder. Aaron stood behind him with a serious look on his face.
"What are you doing?" Blue asked.
"Don't. Not yet. This may just be the beginning. These monsters have all been weak, nothing above a C-class monster. If you use it now, what happens when a second wave comes with stronger ones? Or even Midnight themselves?"
"Guess I didn't think about that. You're right."
"Good thing you left the guildmaster position to Eve. Good Lord." Aaron smiled at Blue. "Now let's finish the monsters in front of us and meet with Eve and her team. What do ya say?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Aaron, Blue, and Yuki pushed through more of the horde until they reached a clearing. The three stood in the middle of the street, staring at the dead bodies of monsters all around them. Buildings that had once been restored were wrecked. Homes that had been built for civilians and awakeners alike had broken windows and holes in their roofs. Some had walls torn down completely and were on fire. Others were simply demolished.
Aaron looked at the wreckage in front of him and the smoke billowing from the north and south. As he did his best to hold back his anger, he heard loud steps that shook the ground. Cynthia's mech appeared in front of them. It reached up, grabbed Samantha, and placed her on the ground. Chris and Darrien walked forward between its legs, smiling and waving. From behind them, Eve was sprinting. She pushed Chris and Darrien aside, ran straight to Blue, and wrapped her arms around him.
Aaron looked at Blue, who now had Eve hanging off him. "Oh, I guess I'm just discarded goods now, huh? Good to see you too, Eve."
Eve let Blue go and took a step back. "I'm glad to see you're okay. I was worried."
"Thanks, Eve." Blue looked around. "But I don't think we're quite done yet."
"Actually, the other guilds are handling the monsters to the north and south. It's mostly cleared. I'd say this wave is basically done for." Aaron pointed to his phone. "The other guildmaster just texted saying everything's basically handled. Now it's just the aftermath and preparing in case another wave comes through."
Aaron noticed Olivia and approached her. "Where's my father and Titus?"
"Oh, I asked Arthur to stay with my new recruits just in case," Eve said, looking back at Aaron.
"Titus ordered Eve and her team and us to come meet you and clear this horde," Olivia said.
"So where is he now?"
Olivia pointed. "Back that way, I presume. Although I doubt he's standing where he once was, so your guess is as good as mine."
Aaron turned to Blue. "This is why you keep your brain on during a crisis. Now we have to search for fucking Titus so we can figure out a plan for the next step."
As Aaron was speaking, he noticed Blue's eyes go wide. Everything went silent for a second as Blue slowly raised his arm into the air. Without a word, everyone turned at the same time and looked at the Association building stretching into the sky. Everyone saw the same thing.
A figure floated just in front of the building. The figure was far enough away that they couldn't see who or what it was, but they could see and sense what was about to happen. A red ball formed in front of the figure. It grew larger and larger by the second until it filled the sky. Then the figure launched the ball into the top half of the Association building. The explosion rocked all of Columbus. The shockwave reached even where Aaron, Blue, and the others stood. They watched as the building exploded and began to crumble. As the dust from the explosion cleared, the figure was still floating in the air in the exact same spot.
Blue looked at Aaron, then Olivia, then Eve. "We need to go... NOW!"
Aaron nodded. As he did, another red ball formed in front of the figure before it sent the energy flying toward the old college campus where the Buckeye Guild was. Another explosion rocked the city as a fireball rose into the sky and black smoke filled the air above.
"That motherfucker best not have!" Aaron clenched his fists. "Eve, you and your team stay here. Clean up whatever other monsters are around. Olivia, Blue, on me. We're heading to that."
Blue started to move, but a hand caught his arm. A single tear ran down Eve's face as she stared at him for a moment.
"Please be careful."
Blue smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be back."
Darrien and Chris walked up to Eve.
"He'll be fine. He's with Aaron and Olivia," Chris said.
"Yeah, between my sister and Nomi, I think he'll be fine. Plus, I think we'd just be getting in their way if we tagged along." Darrien cracked his knuckles. "So, shall we begin the bug extermination?"
Samantha and Cynthia were already ahead of the group, killing any stragglers that had been left behind.
Eve watched as Blue, Aaron, and Olivia sprinted toward the Association building and the figure floating in the sky. She let out a deep breath.
"Yeah, let's focus on our own task. Yuki, that includes you too."
Yuki stopped mid-step.
"I wasn't going anywhere."
Eve narrowed her eyes. "Sure."
Blue didn't hear any of it. He kept running, Aaron and Olivia beside him, his eyes locked on the figure hovering in the distance. Then the figure turned. Even from this far away, Blue knew it was looking directly at him. The figure raised one hand, and waved.
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