Invasion 4

Before Raven got to the scene, Crimson was running towards the direction of OCEDA but stopped when he saw the two humanoid unknown creatures attacking the academy gates.

“Umm… excuse me? Mind if I ask why you’re attacking the school gates?” Crimson approached the two, unaware of what they are. In response, the two creatures charged at Crimson as he got closer at the same time.

Crimson’s reflex acted and immediately activated his Zed, “Twin Cycus Vampiric Blades.” These are black colored swords with blood-red blades. It can consume the blood of Oblivoids, and the more it absorbs, the stronger and faster its wielder becomes. It is also one of the most dangerous ever created, for it has a will of its own and can possess its wielder if it deems him or her unworthy. It chooses its wielder regardless of what it is, a Haulus, a Blessed, or even a Normal citizen. A normal Zed’s mechanism doesn’t apply to it because whoever can wield it gains complete compatibility, but if a person not acknowledged by the blades touches it, they either die or get injured severely.

Crimson dodged the two creature’s attacks by swiftly sidestepping. Almost instantly, he jumped and twisted his body midair with his head facing downward and readied his Blades. He swung the back of his swords at the necks of his two enemies. After doing so, he twisted his body again and landed. Soon after, the two that attacked him collapsed. All of it happened in a flash.

“What are these creatures...?”

Crimson said as he crouched and poked them.

Then Raven appeared, then the explosions and havoc followed up. Lastly, robots and drones entered the scene to repair the damages.

“Raven… what the hell is going on?” Crimson asked with an intense look in his eyes. Raven kept her silence and thought deeply for a moment.

“Do you know the Grimmers?” Raven asked after a long pause.

“Nobody doesn’t know that term. It’s a dark organization that conducts dangerous experiments… at least that's what the media says, but their activities are almost non-existent. Are they even real?”

It's as Crimson said. Royal Phantoms first discovered their activities and decided to make it public for the people to be more aware of their surroundings. The reason why Crimson said that there aren’t many of their activities is also because of the Royal Phantoms, secretly demolishing their activities as soon as they could.

“Those creatures you fought, what do they look like to you?” Raven asked another question and Crimson answered immediately.

“They… looked like a new breed of Oblivoids to me.”

“That’s what they are,” Raven said while looking somewhat down.

“They aren’t related to the Grimmers?” Crimson asked because Raven did mention them earlier.

“Of course not. Same as you, I also don’t know much about them.” Raven lied, trying to dodge the topic. Her earpiece rang afterward, and she replied immediately. What she heard was Xion’s voice.

“Get back to Lia and the others. They're starting to get suspicious.”

“Understood.” She whispered as an answer.

As with Crimson, he got reminded of how hungry he was with his stomach growling and rubbed it in response.

“U-umm… Raven, do you have-“

Crimson attempted to ask Raven but got cut off.

“Well then, Crimson. I need to get going now. See you later!” Raven said and waved at Crimson as she turned her back against him and ran towards the alleyway where the portal point is located before Crimson could ask something.

“Ah! Wait!”

…

“… She’s gone…” Crimson let out a sigh.

“I just wanted to ask if she’s got a snack with her… I guess I’ll continue patrolling.” He added as he started walking with weak motivation.

Meanwhile, with Dright at a certain part of the city.

Gunshot as well as the sound of a body falling to the ground was heard. A portal appeared below the fallen body, and it fell inside then the portal closed itself soon after. It was Dright’s doing, who is standing several meters away from the body. After defeating one of the creatures, he transferred the body to his storage. Since time is frozen there, it won’t detonate and since it's already a corpse, Dright won’t get tired of carrying it.

“That should be the last one…” Dright mumbled as he placed his gun back in his holster. The weapon he used is also a Zed. It is one of his favorites and its firepower can penetrate at most ten walls of concrete walls. Its power is adjustable, and if a Haulus were to use it to its fullest, it can kill a Dragnapede as long as it hits its vitals. It’s name is “Diablo.”

“Now then…” Dright raised his hand with his palm facing the sky. A portal soon after appeared several kilometers above ground. Since Dright was aiming straight upwards, he didn’t need to be accurate anymore, surpassing his 500meter limit of accuracy. Bodies soon after fell from it. Chain explosions followed afterward, similar to the event that happened earlier at OCEDA, but with five simultaneous detonations.

Dright let out a sigh. At the same time-

“DRIGHT?! What are you doing here?!” Crimson shouted while pointing his index finger at Dright.

Crimson is several meters away from Dright. Clouds of dust can also be seen by his feet. It seems that Crimson just stopped running after rushing towards the source of the explosion.

“I could ask the same to you, shorty,” Dright replied.

“Don’t call me short!! Anyway, do you have a snack with you? I'm freakin’ hungry!” Crimson closed the distance between him and Dright and asked for food. Soon after, his stomach grumbled again.

Dright released a sigh and placed his palm inside his storage. Crimson's face, on the other hand, was full of expectations. Then suddenly, Dright’s earpiece rang, interrupting him from his action.

“Unknown life signature detected…”

The sound came from Ceda. Another Crisis emerged once again.

Dright stopped rummaging from his storage and used his other hand’s finger to press the earpiece.

“Where..?” Dright replied in a small tone

“At the clock tower…”

Dright inspected the surrounding buildings and searched for the said feature, and ignored Crimson.

“Dright?”

“There, huh…” He mumbled and pondered.

“That life form that Ceda detected is located at the tallest building within the city. Not to mention, there is also the issue of those creatures getting controlled by that red jewel. There’s also a high chance that this ‘unidentified life form’ is the one controlling those creatures…”

Dright thought while completely ignoring his surroundings and made a portal that leads to the top interior of the clock tower.

“Huh?! Dright, where are you going?” Crimson asked.

“Somewhere…” Dright replied immediately and threw something to Crimson as he removed his palm from his storage. Crimson caught it immediately. Then the portal that Dright entered closed. Crimson, on the other hand, took a look at the thing that Dright gave. It was a can of Soda.

“… I want food, not something to drink…” Crimson sighed in frustration and opened the can of Soda that Dright gave anyway.

Meanwhile at the top-most interior of the clock tower.

A person wearing a lab coat can be seen standing on a platform near the gigantic clock at the tower.

“… Tsk! Useless pawns!” The person in lab coat stomped his feet, frustrated.

…

“Are you the one that killed my underlings..?” The person in lab coat asked as he noticed a presence behind him.

Cracks in the air appeared, then a portal formed. Dright walked out of the portal while pointing his gun at the guy in lab coat.

“Who are you… Are you a part of the Grimmers..?” Dright asked in a monotone voice with a hint of threat.

“Hahaha! KAAHAHAHAHA!!”

The person in lab coat breaks out in maniacal laughter as he faced Dright. His eyes had black colored sclera. The right side of his face has several crack-like wounds that came from the edges of his eyes. His hair is black, and he is also wearing glasses with some crack visible on the right lens.

“Isn’t it obvious?!”

Dright fired off a bullet that grazed past the right cheek of the lab coated person. He created another portal for the bullet to pass through to avoid damaging the clock tower.

“… Hanzo…” Dright whispered in a monotoned voice.