Chapter 28) Across the City.

.With the Domination Ritual disrupted and the portal to the void closed up, the red clouds above the hospital buildings vanished from the sky as if an invisible hand was clearing them away. Nissan, the black moon, retreated back into whatever part of space it had emerged from. The many number of dungeons that had appeared on the street were mostly conquered and destroyed.

The tall towers of the dungeons disappeared one after the other. That was the thing about dungeons. Once all the beasts and bosses inside were all vanished, the dungeon would simply fade away leaving behind no trace of it's existence. No matter the grade of the dungeon, it couldn't reappear again for any reason.

On the streets surrounding the hospital, the dungeons were vanishing thanks to the valiant actions of the Atlas Conquerors. No beast or beastly boss was too powerful for the four of them to battle. With their soul creatures at their sides, they were an unstoppable force.

Even with that, a good number of the beasts still roamed the streets of the city. It would take some time to reach all of the beasts who had broken rank from their colleagues. The grizzlies broke through mostly empty residential houses, malls and utility buildings. They were empty because the people of the city had been hastily evacuated to an underground holding. Those left had missed either missed the alert on their phones or had just been too frightened to go out of hiding.

A couple of blocks from the hospital was a diner that normally opened only during the evenings and through the nights. Most of the costumers had already come in for dinner when the dungeons began to appear and all hell broke loose. Some had hurried in during the commotion outside to seek shelter. This meant that there were about twenty people hiding inside the kitchen of the diner.

They had been in here for close to an hour and tensions were running high now. Some of them were kneeling low beside the counters, some tucked into the cupboards, others on the floor. A brave few, armed with frying pans, turning spoons, and forks, stood guard close to the door. Everyone looked frightened and close to panic.

"It is the end of the world!" Someone cried suddenly, breaking through the hushed silence to scare everyone. She broke down into fresh waves of tears.

"Did you see the dungeons? I've never seen one before. They just appeared out of nowhere. Hundreds of them are out there right now."

"A beast crashed into our street car. It ripped the floorings apart like they were paper." The young man shuddered. "I've never experienced anything scarier. We all managed to run away, though."

"We should have ran out when we got the alert." A man said tersely, looking around through huge spectacles. "They have evacuated the whole city to a safe place. We could be the only ones left!"

"You got the alert, didn't you? Why didn't you honour it? You were as scared as the rest of us. It's better to hide in here than to go out on the streets where we could get eaten by those...those monsters."

The quiet conversation continued in that manner, as everyone who had been silent a few seconds ago now felt free to talk again. The crying woman had encouraged them...broken through the ice of fear.

A middle school aged girl was sitting on the floor beside her mother. She had headphones on her pink hair and was tapping the screen of her huge iPad excitedly.

"The Atlas Conquerors are in the city!" She said to her mother and everyone else because of her high pitched voice. "They are going to save us. Would I be able to meet their leader, Mom? She's such a badass."

Her mother shushed her. "Language, Min Ho."

But around the room, spirits were lifted. Hopes lighted. The fact that the mystic heroes were here meant that everything was going to be ok. They were safe. Everyone here had seen them on TV and online during and after vanquishing dungeons. Everyone in Ferling City knew about the Atlas Conquerors.

Something thudded just outside the room causing everyone to go quiet again. They stared at each other in fright before returning their attention to the door praying that they had not heard anything worth screaming about.

"There's something outside." A man beside the door whispered. He peeped out through a tiny hole at the top of the door and shuddered from fear. The cutting knife slipped through his fingers and clattered on the floor. He staggered back, his face white.

"What is it? Did you see anyone?"

The man shook his head and cleared his throat. "I saw them. I saw two of them coming towards the door. They are hideous and monstrous."

Almost immediately, something heavy crashed into the metallic door. There was a sizeable dent where it had hit.

Everyone hurried to get away from the door as another crash struck it. They gathered behind a counter of stoves and cookers, all of them scared and trembling. The four men holding the miserable weapons formed a rough semicircle before the door, pans and spoons lifted at the ready.

"There are knives everywhere! Any you choose to carry a spoon as a weapon?" The bespectacled man said from his position below the cubicle of a sink.

"If you see the knives, then pick one up and join us! A man like you hiding with the women and children."

The bespectacled man went red with embarrassment and shut his mouth. He was a high school teacher who taught intro to physics. What now they expect him to start fighting beasts? He shuddered and tucked himself deeper out of sight.

With a thundering boom, the double doors split into two as a grizzly Chaos Charged through it. It was big, muscular, angry and beyond monstrous. Steam poured from its nose and its many claws scraped the floor like nails.

One look at the beasts and the four courageous men gave up. They scattered from their position, screaming around to find hiding places. The only problem was the kitchen was set in an open floor pattern. There was a wide space at the centre and all the cooking stations along the walls. This meant that no human in that kitchen was really out of sight from the beast.

Two beasts. Another one that looked similar to it sniffed its way in, eyes red and rows of fangs dripping with saliva. Together, they inched into the room without taking their eyes off the paralysed humans who were already saying their last prayers.

The two beasts stopped suddenly to look above their broad shoulders as if sensing something approaching. Their defensive perceptive skill was picking up signals about an incoming danger. It was easy enough for them to sense it, but to avoid it was impossible.

A long trident sailed swiftly through the air to embed sharp points right in the face of a grizzly beast vanquishing it immediately. Vashti sprinted in after the weapon to deliver a roundhouse kick to the other grizzly.

She followed it up with super kicks and power punches, her movement too fast for any eye to follow. She succeeded in breaking off a few fangs and sending the beast crashing into the wall before facing the awed humans with a bright smile on her beautiful face.

"Are you all doing good?" She asked cheerfully. You would think that they were at a fun house instead of under attack from dungeon beasts.

"Mom! It's Vashti Verona, leader of the Atlas Conquerors!" Min Ho cried with glee, her starstruck eyes wide.

Vashti curtsied. "I'm happy to be of service. Sorry about the whole dungeon chaos. My friends and I are handling it, so you guys have nothing to fear."

"Eh... ma'am..." The bespectacled man started shyly. "the monster...it's getting up again."

"Oh..." Vashti looked behind her. The beast was indeed rising and ready to enter Berserker Mode. "That?...nothing to worry about. I got it pretty bad already."

Still smiling, she walked leisurely towards the beast that was now standing on it's hind limbs making it loom over her like a mountain. She scripted silvery runes that rippled like water and released it towards the beast. When she punched the beast in the chest this time, her fist went right through its furry skin to bring out a green crystal core that dissolved into her own body. The coreless beast simply vanished.

The humans broke into cries of relief and cheers, happy that they were alive and grateful to the amazing Mystic for saving them.

This was a typical scene around the city as the Atlas Conquerors went about vanquishing the stray beasts. By midnight, there was not a single Devil Horned Grizzly left in the city. Though the destruction of property was great and a few people had been injured, no life was lost.

Now, back to Xavier Xerxes, our beloved Novice Mystic. He was already on the way to the famous Celestial Academy. He was in for a great surprise at the Academy.