He never had liked these people. Selfish and unconcerned about others. They harmed the weak who could do nothing but comply. It was inevitable when the law did not protect. They had to bear through whatever injustice they were going through.

It was because of this he had decided to do something and he regretted it not but that did not mean he had no bad feelings within him, especially against the syndicate. They were the worst he had experienced, it felt like they only recruited people that had no care for others as they committed the worst if they could get away with it, which they could.

He could not move, the smell of blood that was ever-present hit different this time. The monster he could understand. They had always been out to kill since he first encountered those big-eared monsters in the towers but these were humans. Even if they had no thoughts of helping they could at least not cause any more damage.

There had always been bad blood between him and the K Inc. But he had not thought they would do something like this even in this situation.

‘No-’

Anger rushed in him and the scene from long past came back.

‘Had they not killed so many back then just to get him in prison?’

The black tar within him exploded and with it all the unthinkable he had been thinking of.

Everything suddenly slowed down and he watched as they grinned, hands moving to change the clips, and then reloading.

His hands moved, palms opened, and while they steered their nozzles towards him-

‘Inferno’

The asphalt instantly boiled while the stones started melting and for one second it seemed like they were all trapped within an oven, then it was gone. The massive tongue of fire disappeared  and all that remained were the burning cars and charred husks. He quickly ran, quickly establishing a connection with the fire burning the cars, and with ease that he did not remember the fire gathering upon his arms.

“Let’s go.”

They all nodded, unaffected because though the perpetrators were their fellow humans this time, they had been experiencing deaths continuously for the past hours. He check them all, and they were dead.

The shooting only struck the nails in the coffins. It had been hours since they had been on the run, from one street to another, running, without any food, without any water. They could not stop. Stopping had meant death. It had drained them all.

He took out another elixir from his storage. The black bottle seemed to consume the light as not a single proton seem to escape. He moved from one survivor to another. There were hundreds of them so non got even a whole drop but it gave them enough strength to continue for some more. It was the fourth had was taking out.

“How much farther is it?”

“Just around the corner now.”

The older man stood up, legs trembling but when he tried to help him, the old man refused. He acted as though unaffected but seeing the trembling shoulder he tapped him in the back.

“Relax, we are going to get there in one piece.”

“Does this mean one piece to you?”

The voice was trembling as were the arms as they pointed to the dead, men and women, elderly and children. He could not reply, just hear.

Inhaling a large breath of air the old man started moving ahead.

Next were the giant and the young women, they got up quickly moving around and helping others around them. Especially the children.

The children had become quiet, slowly over the past few hours. Each death had made them even quieter. Even those that had been the biggest crybabies did not open their mouths. He felt terrible at what had happened to them. It was enough that momentarily it pushed back the things that were swirling within his head, not for long though.

They moved slowly, passing by the cars, keeping their distances. Their metallic bodies were visibly melted while the paint was burnt off.

Just when he was leaving he heard a rustle, and his head snapped towards the sound. With charred lower body and melted flesh, he looked at the man, and for a brief moment, he was overwhelmed by the pity which quickly was torn apart as his foot pushed on the man's stomach.

“Tell me where your base is?”

The face twisted but instead of voice, the noise of sound came out from the man’s mouth. As he kept twisting his foot, the man quickly wrote it on the ground, barely being able to move his arm.

***

It was a massive mansion, filled with trees that block the view from the outside. Hundreds of them pored inside and all eventually fit in.

Each and every one of them had a similar reaction as soon as they stepped in. Tears came out and the voices he had thought lost erupted with full force. It did not matter whether one was young or old, all were crying.

He kept fidgeting. He was on the roof on the lookout for any monsters. Now that so many of them had gathered and so much noise concentrated here the monster slowly started converging towards this place.

As he looked down, he could see the old man coming out from inside the building and within his arms were packets of bandages and other things.

Those who were well stood up first, quickly taking the things off the elder, and under the leadership of a woman the first aid process started. With practiced movements, she bandaged the wounds and others followed her motions. 

While the rest carefully wrapped the bandages the woman worked quickly, nearly thrice as fast. Those who were completely well were few, and this caused a lot of time to be taken up just in providing the first aid during that time, due to all the crying noise monsters had been attracted which he quickly dispatched.

Once all was done, it came time to eat. By this time he had circled the area, with this place in the center, killing all the monsters for the few hours it took in first aid. Now he sat with others and as he ate he inquired about the address he had gotten from the burned gangster.

It was not a place that he remembered and, as he asked different people, he was right. It was a new area that had been developed while he was jailed. He kept asking for directions based on the locations he remembered and after a while, he had an idea where he had to go.

He replenished his energy and then decided to sleep.

***

It took much time to calm them but he had to go. Opportunity rarely knocked twice so he was not going to let it go. Still, before he went out he left them with some of the lighter weapons that he had. They were still heavy but useable unlike a lot of others.

Jimping roof to roof, he rushed towards his destination. A few monsters seemed to have trickled back into this area, and as he ran, he threw a spark whenever he saw them. There were few if any people on the roof as most still resided within the houses. He could pick out the noises from within. 

As he ran he could see the pitch-black smoke where ever his head turned. As he stood upon the building, everywhere his eyes went there was blood splashed. Nothing was in one piece, the boards were torn, the shops destroyed and the road was blocked with the cars that were either crashed into the buildings or one another.

Monsters were roaming the road in small groups and as he was considering what he should do, he saw a man running, not stopping even though there were monsters in front.

He quickly found the reason and shivered. An excessively thin body compared to its height but containing the strength of unimaginable proportion. It was a boss, he did not doubt it. He took out the massive sword having to desire to leave such a monstrosity alive.

The man zigzagged through the cars but the monster bulldozed its way through, its mouth snapping which the man barely avoided.

He jumped down, the sword dragging behind. He jumped from vehicle to vehicle, leaving behind dents upon their bodies.

He jumped again, and while the monster opened its mouth, he spun in the air and the sword cut towards it. It quickly jumped behind growing at him verily. 

“Quickly hide.”

Multiple flames rushed towards the monster, and when it tried to dodge, his sword stopped its way. Its legs twisted mid-air. Landing upon the blade and jumped, soaring over the flames, its mouth open as it neared him.

He quickly let go, jumping back, his palm open and a jet of fire rushed straight into its mouth. With a massive scream, it fell, burning but still alive.

It took a while to kill it but it was easy. Nothing like what he encountered inside the dungeon. 

‘Maybe the monsters inside this tower are weaker?’

He escorted the man back home which was near.

He could not help them all. He had come upon this conclusion during the survival along with others but he decided he would at least help those that he came across.

It was quiet everywhere. It was like he had stepped into a completely different world. There was no hustle and bustle. No one was visible, only stains of blood, whether in the cars or on the road or in the shops.

He had long equipped the twin sword, killing the monster while he went in his direction.

Rarely if ever did he come across people who, for various reasons, had to risk their lives going out, just like the man from before who had come out to loot something to eat as there was nothing in his home. With the children hungry he had decided to take the risk, nearly dying in the process.

He helped all that he came across, escorting back home those he could or leaving them in a safe space if he could not.

***

As he went further and further from the tower the lesser the damage became. Most likely because the monsters were no longer a wave, they did not cause the same level of destruction. There was still no one out but the place look much better compared to where he had come from. It was like he was moving back into the past until he came upon the area where the monsters had, it seemed, just reached.

There was screaming and running away. The people ran, leaving the shops open while the cars rushed past.

‘I can’t save them all.’

He had already experienced it. There had been thousands at the start but despite his impressive powers they had been chipped away all while he tried his best to stop them but that had been the limit of his single self. He could be only at one place at one time so while he saved one, others were killed.

Now that he was so far away that even the tower was not visible, the monsters did not have those same numbers. All across the road, there were hardly 50 to 60 of them and while to normal people it was a death sentence, to him it was child’s play.

He ran, stabbing, as he picked up the monster, barely avoiding saving the lady from being bitten. The monster disintegrated while the lady seemed to be paralyzed.

“Get up and run back home!”

The lady unfroze, like many others nearby. They trembled unable to stand. He ran through the crows, his sword flashing under the summer sun, each swing and each stab killing at least one monster.

It barely took a few minutes and he was done. As he stepped past the running people it was like stepping back into the past. Just a step ahead was the old world where people were just encountering the monsters while a step back contained a new reality that had already been scarred by the monsters.