Chapter 42: After The Fire

Jin's POV

We were running towards the location of our group's HQ. As I glanced at my surroundings, some of the buildings are either in flames or in ruins. There were corpses everywhere I look.

"What the hell happened here?" Mark asked.

"We couldn't control the dungeons. There were massive dungeon breaks all over the country. The levelers could not clear all of them. The NLI (National Leveler Institute) and NLEU (National Law Enforcement Unit) didn't have a chance" Jasmine replied. We arrived at the street where our HQ is located.

"Help!!!" A woman shouted.

We looked towards where the scream came from, it was a woman in her car getting attacked by a flaming wolf. I scanned the wolf.

[Monster Name: Flaming Wolf]

[Monster Level: 35]

[The flaming wolves are natives in the Land of Sand. They are under the direct command of the lesser demon, Ifrit]

Lesser demon? Is it one of the dungeon related to Ifrit?

"I can deal with this" Matt said and dashed towards the wolf.

[Matt used Ice Chains]

He then bound the wolf with his chains and pulled it away from the car.

[Mark used Earth Wall]

Mark then created an earth wall to isolate the car from the wolf. Sheila quickly ran and rescued the woman, she brought her to a safe place nearby.

[Eva used Lightning Spear]

Eva then blasted the wolf into pieces using her lightning spear.

"Incoming!" Jasmine shouted as 3 gargoyles came flying towards us.

[Jasmine used Firearm: Sniper]

Jasmine then changed her pistol into a sniper. The pistol disassembled, then the pieces enlarged and turned into a long rifle; the sniper.

She then sniped all of the gargoyles that are coming towards us.

"Let's hurry" Jasmine said and we continued. We left the woman we rescued earlier into an empty house, Jasmine already called one of her workmates at the NLEU to get her.

We arrived at the HQ, it was already in shambles. The windows were shattered, the door is missing, and many cars crashed.

"Oh my, what tragedy could have done this?" Tristan asked.

"How's Andrei, Kyan, the captain, and the others?" Mark asked.

"Do you have any news about my sister and my mother?" I added. The city is in ruins, Ashley, mom, please be safe.

"Jasmine, answer us!" Eva exclaimed.

"Kyan and Andrei are alright. They're in the NLEU, preparing to raid the city hall. It was overrun by wraiths, same with the hospital. If your sister was at home or in school, she would be safe, but if she's not... I don't know" Jasmine calmly answered.

"How about captain?" Jane asked.

"See for yourself" She said and gestured towards the HQ. All of us entered, it was really messy in here. There were papers everywhere, the lights were also broken, letting out loose sparks all over the place , there are also water leakage and tiny bits of glass on the floor.

We heard sounds of someone punching the wall, over and over again.

"He was enraged. He couldn't save anyone from the shelter, including his parents. It was attacked by fire golems, and everyone there burned in flames" Jasmine said "There are monsters all over the city. It was... it was devastating, a truly mortifying sight to see" The always calm and composed Jasmine, is now crying with her hands on the floor. Jane knelt beside her, and hugged her.

Eva, Ive and I entered the room. We saw the captain, his hands were dripping blood, parts of his body were burnt and scars can be seen everywhere.

"Captain" Eva started "We heard what happened... We're deeply sorry for your loss"

"What did I say!? If only you remained here!!!" Captain Emray shouted "As a leveler of this country, you have a responsibility to protect it!!! What did you do? You left!!! For what!?"

He continued punching the wall harder and harder.

"Stop. You're hurting yourself" Ive said but captain ignored her and continued.

"Captain please" Eva added. The punch just got stronger, the walls started to crack.

"I said stop!" Ive shouted and summoned a serpent like chain that binds Captain Emray "Are you planning to bury us alive? Look, we've found traces of Cerberus on that island. Aren't that our common goal?"

"That's not needed, I saw James yesterday slaughtering people on the street" Captain Emray replied.

"What!?" The three of us shouted in unison. Oh my god, what is happening here?!

"He was not the James I know. He moves and acts like a different person" Captain Emray started "Last week, I've heard news about a woman with red hair throwing fire balls at buildings and people near the city square. Sounds familiar?"

"Heart" Eva replied "But, why would they do this? What would they gain from this? If Cerberus was the one that was controling them, then it's a different story"

"Cerberus, nor Hades, his master, cannot alter a person's mind. They don't have the corresponding power to do such a thing" Ive said "There are only a few individuals who are capable of mind control from the pantheon of the Land of Golden Columns"

"Then who? Clones of them? Maybe, a wraith or a ghost had possessed them" Eva said.

"That is also possible, but I think a greater force is behind all of this. I mean, the abduction of different races by Frankenstein, the invasion of Monster Island, and now this. This cannot be done by Hades alone" Ive replied.

"The fire wolf back then. It was a minion of Ifrit. The lesser demon from the Land of Sand." I said.

"There's also Lilia, the daughter of Lilith, the mother of all demons. Frankenstein, Ifrit, Cerberus and Lilith. Big names from different places around the world. All seems part of a bigger plan" Ive said.

Ashley, mom... I need to get out of here and rescue them.

"Sorry but I need to go" I said.

"I'm coming with you. I'll look for Ashley at home or at her school, you'll go to your mom at the hospital. If you manage to find anything, let's meet up back at home okay?" Eva said and both of us left the HQ.

I quickly rushed towards the hospital. I came across many monsters along the way, but I paid no attention to them and just went straight to the hospital.

When I was about to enter the hospital, there were two flame giants blocking the entrance.

[Monster Name: Fire Golem]

[Monster Name: Fire Golem]

[Monster Level: 42]

[Monster Level: 45]

[They are the elite troops of Ifrit. They are gigantic creatures that are made up of flaming rocks. The strongest of these creatures are said to be guarding Ifrit's tomb]

I took out Andromeda and used Heaven Splitter at them. I managed to defeat them very quickly because of the difference between our levels. For your information, I'm already at level 90 after I have defeated Arthur.

[You have defeated a fire golem]

[You have defeated a fire golem]

[Gained 4200 exp]

[Gained 4500 exp]

I entered the hospital and rushed to the stairs. I quickly climbed up and went to where my mom was. On the way, I saw the other rooms destroyed. There were dead bodies of doctors, nurses and patients on the floor. The situation here is the same as the others. When I arrived at my mom's room...

"Mom!!!"