Figure

Donovan felt his heart almost stop as the Annihilith stared at the invisible him. Then, the Annihilith's arms both turned into sharp blades. It first swung its left arm at Donovan, causing him to dodge it by the side, his body becoming visible in the process.

After dodging the attack, he then tapped his umbrella on the floor, making the Annihilith be bound by strange, yellow chains that came out of thin air. At that moment, Donovan heard multiple footsteps from upstairs. It was the remaining three Annihiliths.

He pointed the tip of the umbrella at the Annihilith's head, and a fast beam of light pierced it, the Annihilith's head resembling a miniature black hole slowly disappeared right after.

The magic Donovan used on the Annihilith are "Light Chains," which, once it wraps around an Annihilith, will drastically weaken it, as well as its defenses.

The lifeless body of the Annihilith slowly fell to the floor, creating a loud thud. Donovan looked at the top of the stairs, and saw another Annihilith fix its gaze on him, though it had no visible eyes.

The chains of light wrapping itself around the dead Annihilith disappeared, and at that same moment, the Annihilith on the top of the stairs had already lunged straight towards Donovan.

He opened the umbrella, causing the Annihilith to crash into it. A Visitor's umbrella can also act as a shield, though it's inferior to a Tanker's umbrella. Right at the tip of the umbrella, another beam of light was shot, hitting the Annihilith who lunged at him on its stomach, and the stairs behind it were also destroyed.

The Annihilith let out incomprehensible sounds, mixed with the sound of a black hole, before raising its blade arms to repeatedly strike the umbrella. Donovan felt the umbrella shake with each strike of the Annihilith, and he shot another beam of light at the Annihilith. Donovan, expecting it to strike again, didn't furl the umbrella yet.

But the Annihilith had already fallen to the floor, its head gone. Two down, two to go... He thought, as he slowly went up the stairs while his umbrella was still unfurled, just in case another surprise attack was to happen.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he was surprised that no Annihilith could be seen in sight. Strange... I heard multiple footsteps earlier. Could they have retreated to the third floor? He said in his mind as he went around the floor he was currently on. He checked the rooms, nothing. But what he found most strange was the fact that, not only were the streets empty of people, but also the rooms, perhaps even the entire apartment building. He also considered the possibility that the four Annihiliths had already devoured them, but that doesn't explain the empty streets. Four Annihiliths can't wipe out an entire city, right?

After all, there's no way this world can't defend itself against four measly Annihiliths... Ah, but if that's the case, then there would be no need for Umbrellas to send me, a Visitor, here... Something's not right here. Plus, there was no blood on the streets, and I only saw it on the first floor... No, Clark, you shouldn't trouble yourself with this. You're here to eradicate Annihiliths, nothing more. This world's business is its business... This is also how the original Donovan sees things... But... no one's here, no one's watching me... I don't need to keep acting as the original Donovan...

He went to the stairs leading to the third floor, but found that it was blocked!

What the...? Blocked? How? Why? If it's blocked, then where in the world did the remaining two Annihiliths go? No, there's also the possibility that they went to the third floor, and blocked it... Or... He looked at the windows, or they must've escaped... But intelligent Annihiliths are quite rare... But if these last two Annihiliths are intelligent, then this mission is more dangerous than I thought... It must've seen me as a strong opponent, and decided to just escape. That must be it...

After gathering his thoughts, he tapped his umbrella on the floor to make the holographic map appear again. But then, he felt his heart drop as he stared at the holographic map. Two red dots were still in the building! On the same floor as him!

At that moment, a sharp, searing pain ripped through his chest as a blade pierced him from behind. Blood splattered onto the floor, and a chilling, otherworldly sound—part scream, part void—sent shivers down his spine. The Annihilith retracted its blade arm, and kicked Donovan's back. Donovan rolled on the floor, his left hand on his wounded chest.

What's going on? What's going on? Why didn't I sense them? Did they turn invisible? No! There were no records of Annihiliths turning invisible! What the hell's going on?! I let my guard down! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts so much! Where's my umbrella...?

He reached for the umbrella lying on the floor beside him, trying to find the "Emergency Teleport" button. But he immediately remembered that if he were to go back to Umbrellas now, his mission reward would be lost.

Then, he slowly stood up with immense struggle, using his umbrella to support him. He heard the Annihilith let out a bunch of sounds, but Donovan was sure that it let out a "chuckle." Blood was dripping from the wound on his chest, staining his clothes.

I'll get reimbursed for it, anyway... He thought as sweat trickled down from his forehead. His breathing had become irregular, and his legs were slightly trembling. He felt he'd pass out any second.

A blur of black crystals rushed at him. Donovan barely had time to react—his body moved on instinct. His umbrella struck the ground. In an instant, golden chains snapped into existence, wrapping around the Annihilith mid-leap. It crashed to the floor, thrashing and screeching in frustration.

Why... did the original Donovan... never bothered... to learn more spells...?!

The restrained Annihilith was lying on the floor, letting out a "scream." Just then, Donovan felt another presence in the room beside him. It was the fourth Annihilith! And it seems the restrained Annihilith called out for it!

Without wasting any time, Donovan pointed the umbrella at the restrained Annihilith, almost falling to the floor because of the pain as he did so. He fired three beams of light at its head, but as he was about to fire a fourth beam, the other Annihilith plunged its blade arm at Donovan's side!

He coughed up blood, and he pressed down the tip of the umbrella on the Annihilith's neck.

"Should've went for the head!" He shouted, before firing his fourth beam of light.

Both Annihiliths lay motionless on the floor, their heads gone. Donovan immediately pressed the "Emergency Teleport" button on the umbrella, and his body was quickly enveloped with light.

Even though I said... I'll investigate what happened in this city... My life comes first... He said in his mind, as he disappeared from the scene.

...

A figure stepped inside the apartment building. They saw an Annihilith lying on the floor, one lying on the bottom of the stairs, and two were lying down on the floor from upstairs.

The figure collected a crystal from each of the four Annihilith's lifeless bodies. The figure ate all of it at the same time, and with a rough, deep voice, the figure said, "Donovan..."