Chapter 58: What Next

Huey watched with a lingering gaze as Sonia's back retreated further into the apocalypse. The dark clouds hung low, and the world was veiled in a transient gloom that bleached the earth.

His thoughts were a mystery. He just stood silently and stared. After a while, Huey turned around. "What just happened?" he thought.

There was a lot to think about, but first, he had to find out more about Sonia. He had a strange inkling about her. As Huey's thoughts strayed, a deep and familiar voice drew him out of his reverie. The voice came from beside him, belonging to an imposing figure.

"That woman is strong," said Barak. Huey, not paying attention, was surprised to see the large man already beside him. Huey glanced at Barak's severed wrist and grinned.

"Stronger than you?"

Barak didn't meet his gaze and remained silent. Huey was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected reaction from the battle maniac. He had expected a rebuttal, but the development filled him with a strange pride.

'Sonia, huh...' For the first time in many years, Huey found something interesting. The thought of her took his mind off his heavy and gloomy heart concerning his old neighborhood and fam—

'And now it's back.'

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After returning to his room, Huey had a lot to think about. He needed to decide what to do next and where to go from here. Since coming back to Earth, his sole focus had been finding his family, a task that had distracted him from the reality that the world he knew no longer existed.

All of his friends, family, and acquaintances had perished. Huey was alone. From the beginning, he knew this, yet he persisted in searching for his family or their remains as a temporary escape from the harsh reality.

He ventured through the apocalypse and eventually found his old neighborhood, his old park, his old house, and his old middle school.

Indeed, Huey Blade was now truly alone in the world.

"What now?" he wondered, trying to take his mind off the lingering gloom where his heart used to be. He pretended it wasn't there. Ultimately, the revelation wasn't a shock to him.

He had expected this outcome; but expecting something and facing the truth were entirely different experiences. Nevertheless, he had already made his peace with it. His way of showing it was by burning down his old home.

His family was dead, without a single corpse to bury. The closest thing he could offer them as a burial was to raze his old home to the ground.

Huey had watched the vibrant flames consume the archaic walls of the dojo and devour the collapsed ceiling. The building was already overridden with nests of Elder Gods anyway.

As for the colossal guardian of the Black River that emerged during his... episode... it fled after trading a few powerful blows with the Swordsman. It was regrettable, but Huey failed to exterminate the abomination before it could flee. However, the battle helped him clear his mind and siphon all his anger and emotions.

Let's just say, the abomination has a couple of tendrils less than when it arrived. But yet, it was strong. And massive. The largest one he had seen on Earth yet. This one was also on the verge of evolving.

Something so diabolical had been lying in rest beneath the tainted rivers and water bodies of the Earth, patiently bidding its time. It was an ancient abomination, one of the first to breach the world through the initial Rifts during the first invasion. As an Elder God, evolution required a long time and an even greater amount of resources, so the monstrosity opted to hide and slumber.

Until Huey Blade came along.

By the end, it was safe to say that the Elder God wouldn't be evolving anytime soon. Although Huey hadn't been able to deal the finishing blow, he had made the Elder God expend much of its accumulated energy meant for its breakthrough. Essentially, it was now half dead.

Huey occupied his fleeting mind with such vain thoughts. At this point, anything that could distract him from thoughts of his family was welcome.

After the commission above ground, he was briefed on what had happened while he was away and gained a vague understanding of the earlier commission's details. However, he was more interested in Sonia. It was possible that his interest was a way to keep his mind occupied or a part of his emotions yearning for a 'but' in the story of his family. Perhaps it was both.

Huey didn't know, didn't care, and didn't dwell on it much. At least now, he had a few new goals. For the time being, he focused on what he considered chores, one of which was to meet with the professor and continue from where he had left off.

Ah, he also needed to meet with the Village head and the council again, though he wasn't sure why. After that, he planned to investigate Sonia's whereabouts and follow whatever impulses came next. The idea of traveling through the now-ruined world intrigued him—perhaps he could visit the Dome Fortresses, mysterious structures rumored to be scattered across the desolate landscape.

There was also a faint hope he might discover clues suggesting his family could still be alive. Although Huey had made his peace, he hadn't entirely given up. His thoughts and feelings were contradictory, but in the end, Huey was still human—somewhat. If there was a glimmer of hope...

Before he could fully settle back in, Huey received some surprisingly uplifting news. Lyra was awake, and her transplant had been a success. The news was a welcome boost to his spirits, and without much of a thought, Juey decided to go see his travel companion.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

There isn't much going on anymore in this current chapter and the few other ones come. I've mostly achieved all I wished to for the first volume, and this chapter is only the beginning of its conclusion, so the events might be slow.

Yes, no more fight scenes! Thank heavens!

Also, I was planning a Mass release, and I apologize for the mass delay instead. I've actually had to be writing with my phone for the past couple of weeks, and that has greatly impeded my progress by a lot. But with my laptop busted, I don't have much of a choice. Not to mention I use a brick for a phone(⁠〒⁠﹏⁠〒⁠)

While we're at it, RED has finally made it to the top hundred power ranking! Just barely!

So how about we keep it there, huh, guys?

Push me up to top 50 and get a bonus chapter by the end of the week

Top 30, and two bonus chapter!

Top 20: Three bonus chapter

Top 10: ???

Golden Ticket Ranking top 50: Mass release (RIP my sleep schedule. RIP my brick of a phone)

But thank all of you who have persisted with me this far with all of my inconsistencies, I really appreciate it. And I hope you've continue to journey with me through this apocalypse.