22) Pregnant Runaway (I)

It was almost midnight and Ryker had still not moved from his chair. After they finished judging the competition, they announced the winner, gave him a few Tier 2 spell crystals, which was a way better reward than what Ryker had gotten but he could not complain, he felt so powerful right now, well, if not for the fact that he had such a big belly he looked pregnant.

The clock was approaching midnight and Ryker was resting his eyes while laying back on the chair. Suddenly a gust of wind tickled his skin. As his perception was higher than it was a day ago he felt some movement nearby. It was so fast he was doubting himself but his gut was telling him something was wrong.

As he would move kind of slow, he decided to pretend he was asleep but he was really focused on his surroundings. The carnival was on the outskirts of town and right now most people were sleeping or in the dream realm. The shadows ignored him because he was not a threat and they headed straight into town. Especially the mayor's house.

After a few hours, an alarm started sounding.

[Shadow Raid event started]

[Either survive or escape the raid]

'An event? But what about the people here?'

He then started moving. He was slow at first but when he saw smoke rising from the town he quickened his pace. Even though he had no deep connection to the place, he still cared about it. It was the first place where people did not look at him in disdain or talk about him behind his back. He had also met Holand and was worried for the old man. Yes, he was powerful but Ryker believed he would be able to help with his new stats.

Unconsciously he was also worried about the triplets. After years of being cast away by society, anyone who was nice to him had a place in his heart, even if it was just a sincere smile. As he was getting closer he could hear sounds of battle coming from the town.

Suddenly a huge black figure with glowing orange eyes and mouth stood up. It opened up its mouth and sucked all the fire nearby, it then raised its head towards the sky, and out of its mouth came a humongous amount of fire accompanied by a loud guttural sound.

'WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK?!'

Unexpectedly a few stars descended from the sky and arranged themselves in a constellation pattern. Then, a Chinese-looking dragon was formed out of these stars and the fight of two giant summons started. One was a demon and the other one was born from cosmic affinity. It was the Draco constellation, Ryker had read about it when he was trying to find the Underground Market before.

He immediately knew he was far too weak to help the town in any way. As he arrived through the front gate he saw the street was covered with bodies. Thousands of people had died at the hands of whoever was raiding them. He had so many questions but no one to ask them to. He thought about Mr. Hoot Hoot and became agitated once again. He ran with all his might, which was still kind of slow because he was still very bloated, to the library and found it was intact. Despite all the destruction going on around it, it seemed as if it was frozen in time.

When he approached he was met with some type of invisible barrier that prevented him from getting close and he figured it was Mr. Hoot Hoot's doing. While he was lost in thought a huge boulder was heading in his direction.

"Look out!"

A feminine voice called out as a fist covered in a gauntlet broke the boulder into smaller pieces that fell around Ryker and the lady who had saved his life. He immediately wakened up from his daydreaming and saw a female with long blonde hair and a tight red leather outfit.

"Shila??"

"What do you think you are doing standing here in the middle of a shadow raid??? MOVE!"

Just as she said that chains came out of the earth below and started pulling her arms downwards. As a local, she knew what this meant and desperation could be seen on her face. She started pulling and trying to set herself free but to no avail.

*Swish* *clank*

The chains fell to the ground when the dagger in Ryker's hand slid through them like butter. He had used the [Execution] ability to cut through the chains. The tooth of a Monarch Dragon was not to be underestimated.

Shila looked very surprised but it was replaced by fear as a voice behind them started talking.

"Well well well, now this is interesting. He is very weak but he was able to cut through our chains. I would spare your life if you hadn't interfered with the hunt."

*Boom*

A missile crashed between Shila and Ryker and their enemy. Two figures descended from the sky. One was wearing some type of jetpack while the other one had a white halo around her head and a small pair of white feathery wings.

"Step back or die"

It was the other sister. The cold one. Right now she had a murderous aura. If looks could kill, their opponent would be a hundred times dead. Sadly the truth was that their enemy was way stronger than the four of them combined. The girl with the halo approached her sister and her glow healed the bruises the chains had made. Shila then called upon her white tiger and it appeared out of thin air, putting itself between the sister and Ryker and the talking shadow. They had no idea what the owner of the voice looked like, he was covered in a shadowy fog.

"Such a powerful triplet. A summoner, a technomancer, and a holy priestess. And here I thought only the foodie and the demon lord were worth it. It has been a long time since we have had such a fun hunt." -his voice was brimming with pleasure.

Even though the triplets were acting brave, Ryker could see her hands shaking and the panic in their eyes. They clearly had answers but right now was not the time.