Chapter 381: It’s an apocalypse!
The moment Damon’s group arrived, the world around them was already unraveling. From their vantage point on a ridge well outside the city gates, Lotera city no longer resembled a stronghold of human civilization. The entire place looked as if it were being swallowed by a humongous tornado of darkness.
The small anomaly in the sky had by now become a full-blown vortex, a wound in the heavens that bled darkness and corruption into the world below. The anomaly was no longer a curious swirl of black energy, it had grown into a colossal storm that stretched across the skyline, blotting out the dawn sun.
The protective enchantments of Lotera’s defensive formations were long gone. The once strong and sturdy city gates were completely ruined, with only bits and pieces of them remaining. The city buildings and towers that once stood tall now lay in heaps of rubble, as though some unseen giant had smashed its fist straight through the heart of Lotera.
Whole districts sagged and collapsed inward, streets warped as if the earth itself had been dragged into the abyss. From where Damon stood, he could see wide cracks tearing across the stone roads.
The screams of civilians and players alike carried faintly on the wind, but they were quickly drowned out by the deafening roar of the vortex. Shadow tendrils cascaded down in waves, slithering outside the city like colossal serpents. Anything caught in their path, humans, NPCs, even beasts, was instantly shredded into black mist, erased without a trace.
It would be a challenge even to enter the city now.
Beside Damon, Riven fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. "Th-this... It’s... it’s an apocalypse..."
Erin, on the other hand, tilted her head back and laughed softly, a wicked smile curling across her lips as her serpentine eyes glowed faintly. "So much death. So much fear. How intoxicating..."
Ellora’s expression hardened, her usual playfulness gone. "My Lord, if we enter that storm... even you can’t predict what will happen."
Damon’s crimson eyes never left the collapsing city. "It’s fine. We won’t get in too deep, and we are not going in just yet."
The wind howled across the ridge, carrying with it the acrid stench of smoke and something far fouler. Damon’s cloak whipped against his legs as he stood at the front of the group, crimson eyes fixed on the roiling storm that had devoured Lotera.
He then pulled up the system interface to look at the chat. There was still an hour or so left for the reset, and he was going through the log. He tried to see if anyone had gotten more information, but all he could see were videos from afar.
His crimson gaze scanned quickly, sifting through the hysteria, but there wasn’t even a single close-up shot. "I expected as much." Damon smiled. Anyone close enough to see this phenomenon wouldn’t exactly be alive at the moment.
They would be in a state much more miserable than death, constantly dying and coming back alive, only to be killed by the darkness all over again. The sheer torture of undergoing such a cycle continuously without a break would be enough to make many go mad.
The cycle was merciless.
Death would come instantly, without warning, their avatars shredded into black mist by shadow tendrils, only for the system to drag their souls back into broken bodies seconds later. They would wake up disoriented, only to be torn apart again. Again. And again. Over and over, without end, until their sanity cracked like glass under a hammer.
Their souls would become weak and brittle, their minds a complete wreck, only their bodies intact when they respawn for one last time. Now they would be free to leave, but whether they could leave that place was an entirely different matter.
Perhaps the elite could. Even then, they would need a few more deaths at least to finally figure out a way out of there. In his last life, when these miserable souls finally managed to exit, many of them simply quit the game and completely stopped playing.
And this time, among these thousands of miserable souls were also his enemies.
Damon opened up his friends list, the players he had recently communicated with. No surprise, Aiden’s name was still there. TotallyNotAGod had still not removed him from his friend’s list. The two of them were mutual friends.
Damon’s gaze turned cold when he saw his name. It was in that familiar grey color. If he were offline right now, just like the others, he would have been red. Instead, he was very much grey. This meant he was one of those miserable people, continuously dying and respawning, only to die once again.
Damon wondered what his condition was right now. He had a feeling that this wouldn’t affect him as much as it did the others. Even this kind of torture wouldn’t probably break a guy like him. It was fine. He was still not done with that asshole.
Damon went over many lists like leaderboards, hall of fame names, pvp top rankers, special event title holders, and got to work as he meticulously made a note of every single greyed-out name. This was a golden opportunity to figure out who worked with whom, or at least get a good idea of the hidden members of the super guilds, and he was not planning on wasting it.
Finally, after several minutes, he was done, just in time for the reset. The world chat instantly exploded as soon as the gates opened, players pouring in as if they were waiting right beside their gaming helmets.
Damon also immediately received several messages he had been expecting. Blood Wraith, Phoenix, Sylvara, Meira, Ghost, Kate, and Mark had all messaged him back. Aurora was the only one whom he did not hear back from.
Damon’s gaze lingered on the name for a moment before he proceeded to open up all the messages. Everyone had pretty much responded just as he had expected. They would all be arriving shortly for a joint expedition into the chaotic mess that was previously Lotera City.
Since he was inviting Meira along, he figured, why not invite a few more people who would benefit from this trip? The more the merrier. After all, cutting down the enemies alone was good, but strengthening his allies at the same time was even better.