Michael didn't know what was happening, but he had a bad feeling about it.
He stood there a few seconds longer, watching the darkness continue to spread. Then he exhaled slowly.
"...Doesn't matter."
Whatever was about to happen, it wasn't going to stop him from going ho. After months of dealing with supernatural matters without rest, his family ca first. And more importantly, this was not so weak, unguarded city.
Aside from the nearby academy, there were at least two other major posts of equivalent standing.
If sothing really did happen here, they would handle it.
Michael's eyes lingered on the sky for one last mont. Then he moved.
His figure blurred, and the next instant he was gone.
Michael reappeared several streets away, his footing steady the mont his body stabilized.
"...That felt different," Michael muttered, a hint of excitent flickering in his eyes.
This was the first ti he had used teleportation through the void without entering Wisdom's state.
Michael flexed his fingers slightly, feeling the residual traces of space distortion fade from his body.
"...So this is what it's like."
There was a quiet satisfaction in his chest. In fairness, this was only possible because of Wisdom. Without that foundation, without that understanding of space and perception, achieving sothing like this
so cleanly right after advancing would have been out of reach.
He didn't waste ti. His figure blurred again as he appeared outside the city, suspended in midair.
Michael gave the city and its darkening sky one last look, then prepared to teleport again.
His body froze before he could.
Across the sky, cracks began to appear.
They spread slowly, like wounds being carved into the air itself, thin dark lines branching outward before widening bit by bit. The sight alone sent a visible ripple through everyone watching.
The earlier curiosity broke instantly.
So of those still recording lowered their devices in shock. Others raised them higher instead. In other places, murmurs collapsed into shouts.
"What is that?!"
"The sky is breaking!"
"No, that's not normal, that's not normal at all!"
Michael stared upward. Shock passed through him.
The familiarity of the scene struck him all at once, hard enough to make his jaw clench. He had known it felt familiar. He had suspected it from the mont the color of the sky changed. And now, watching the cracks widen, he understood why.
Michael's teeth pressed together. "Demonic supernaturals."
The words ca out low and full of rage.
And right behind the anger ca sothing colder.
This city had millions of people, and based on the mana already gathering in the cracks above, Michael could tell this would not unfold the sa way Woodstone had.
Back then, weaker creatures had co through first. Enough to spread terror, but not enough to bury the city in blood before its defenders could respond.
This felt different. The mana in the cracks was too dense.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
"...Are they scaling their evil in relation to their target's strength?"
The thought made his expression colder. Was that the logic behind it? Weaker cities received weaker attacks, stronger cities received proportionally stronger ones? The more powerful the target, the
more vicious the opening strike?
The idea was insane. And yet, looking at what was forming above the city, it felt entirely plausible.
Below, panic had finally taken hold. The earlier excitent was completely gone. People moved in every direction, so running without any clear destination, so calling out nas, so frozen in place and still staring upward.
At that mont, Michael still thought of his family. Last ti, when demonic supernaturals did this, it wasn't limited to a single location.
Regardless, this city had its own protectors, and plenty of them. Suddenly, every second he spent standing here felt like a second wasted.
Though leaving like this made him feel a trace of guilt when he saw a few supernaturals rising to et the threat in the air, the feeling
quickly faded.
Michael's figure blurred, and space folded. This ti, he crossed a far greater distance.
Far behind him, the cracks in the sky continued to widen.
anwhile, far away from the city and completely unaware of what was unfolding above Brightgate, Jester and Lily were still inside the virtual space.
The raid had only just begun to settle into rhythm. The earlier storm of ssages had cald sowhat, replaced by a mix of casual chatter, ga suggestions, and the occasional anxious comnt about awakening.
Jester had just finished responding to one when a new ssage appeared.
-wait why is it getting dark outside
Neither of them paid much attention at first.
Then another ca.
- sa here
- my window literally just got darker
- is it about to rain?
- no the sky looks weird
Jester's eyes flickered toward the chat. Lily noticed too.
"...Weird weather?"
The ssages multiplied.
- hold on I'm checking
- no this isn't normal
- sky looks wrong
- why is it so dark all of a sudden
- wait are you guys seeing this too???
Jester's expression shifted slightly. The chat was moving faster again,
but the energy behind it was different from before. It was sothing closer to confusion edging toward unease.
So people started posting half-ford descriptions. Others left the stream entirely to check their surroundings.
The viewer count in the corner began to drop.
20,341. 19,880. 19,102. 18,400.
Jester frowned. Even when sothing distracted the audience, the drop was usually gradual. This felt different. Abrupt. Like people were
leaving all at once rather than drifting away.
Lily's eyes narrowed. "...That's not normal." Jester said nothing, but he nodded slightly.
More ssages ca through.
- the internet is acting weird
- my screen lagged
- anyone else???
- signal drop???
- WHAT IS THAT IN THE SKY
Then the stream froze.
Not for the viewers. For him.
The interface in front of Jester flickered once, twice, then dimd.
[Connection Unstable]
[Attempting Reconnection...]
The viewer count dropped harder.
12,000. 8,000. 3,000.
Then zero.
The entire panel blinked red.
[Network Lost] [Switching to Offline Mode]
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