Is This... A System?

The air in the vehicle cackled with uneasiness and Nuel forgot how to breathe for a second.

Khaos's words and presence was intimidating, but that wasn't enough to get the better of him.

Both men gave each other a death stare, none willingly to break the unholy gaze. Nuel was powerless at that moment as he was still bound in chains.

His fists hurled harder at such vulnerability he had been put in without consent and all he could do was tarse Khaos with his almost dead numb azure eyes.

Suddenly, Khaos lips broke into a small smile and he backed out of the staring game.

"Put yourself at rest, Nuel. I am not an enemy and will not be in the future as well. I am an ally." Khaos said, sitting back into his seat.

"That was only a joke." He added, clarifying his previous words that seemed like a threat.

"Well, it would have sounded like one if I wasn't held in bondage." Nuel said back nonchalantly.

Khaos raised an eyebrow, realizing Nuel was indeed still bound with chains.

"Forgive me." He apologized with a sincere smile on his face, breaking the chains with one swing of his pinky finger.

As the chains clattered to the ground, Nuel's gaze remained fixed on Khaos, but his body instinctively reacted to its newfound freedom.

He slowly lifted his arms, wincing as the rush of blood reignited the ache in his cramped muscles.

With a quiet hiss, he began to massage his wrists, tenderly working out the knots and kinks that had developed during his prolonged captivity.

"A mage, I see." Nuel commented, still giving his arm a light massage.

"So it is, Nuel Ainsworth."

Nuel took a quick look around the vehicle. The men whom he supposed to be Khaos underlings were all staring at him with no ounce of mercy in their eyes. It was as if they would pounce on him if he dared defy Khaos in any manner.

One look was to analyze how many men he could pull down in case of an uncalled for combat, while another was to carefully secure an escape route in case he couldn't battle these hefty men in the end.

Alas, Nuel caught sight of his gun, lying on a shared vehicle table in front of one of Khaos men with its barrel opened.

There were six bullets lying beside it and he thought they were just the right amount he needed to end these bastards.

'If only I can get one of these bastards to make a move on me.' Nuel thought, turning back at Khaos.

But with the look of things, it would be tough trying to take Khaos down. Not now that he knows he is a mage.

"Since you know what my name is, I presume you know what I am, so what do you want from me?" Nuel finally asked, reclining into his seat to show some effrontery.

"I know more than you can imagine, Nuel. You exterminate dark magic users and it is safe to call you the best armed man from the Philikio family, but you still live below the surface."

Nuel chuckled lightly as Khaos hit him with his reality in a very curt manner.

"Excellent!" He applauded. "That should be an eye opener to you that you are not entirely safe when you're around me. I could take you down right away if I want to."

Triggered by Nuel's threat to his boss, the most hefty of the men in the vehicle—Raie spurred Nuel to dash a heavy blow, serving as the perfect cue for Nuel to move.

Nuel took a quick break out of his seat, dodging to the other side of the vehicle while the Raie's blow went through the window, breaking it into shards of tiny glasses.

The vehicle jiggled hard, almost threatening to land on its side as more of Khaos's men got up from their seats to handle Nuel at once.

For a moment, everyone seemed to have stopped in their tracks despite the chaos that was once flying in the air a second ago and the next second, Nuel found himself in front of the table, already cocking his gun at Khaos.

"How is that possible?!" One of the men, who couldn't believe what had just happened exclaimed.

"Everyone of you should back down, nice and slow." Nuel commanded, his gun still pointed at the unhinged Khaos who just sat without a single worry in the world.

'What exactly is he made of?' Nuel asked himself in his thoughts, surprised Khaos was not fretting.

"Nuel Ainsworth, as I have said earlier, I am not an enemy to you and the situation of things right now is far more pressing to make an enemy of you."

With a raised eyebrow, Neul asked a question.

"What are you talking about?"

For the first time since Neuls rebellious act, Khaos turned to face him, getting up to his feet with Nuel's gun still pointed at him, ready to take a shot.

"The world ended ten days ago, Nuel."

"What?!"

"Gates from different dimensions have collided into our world, instant dungeons open up at will, spawning monsters to devour every living creature still alive on this planet."

It all sounded surreal to Nuel. None of what Khaos was saying made sense to him.

"What bullshit are you trying to pull here? You think you can sell me such crap of a tale? Are you mages all delusional? Do you think you can rule the world because you can harness magic? No! I will be the end of you all." Nuel raged, pulling the trigger of his gun.

With a light gasp, a generous amount of air whipped past him and his gun suddenly disappeared from his hand.

"Look around you, Nuel. The world you once knew is now a thing of the past and it all happened because you murdered the princess of the demon clan which happened ten days ago."

Khaos Valtor's words dealt a blow at Nuel and he finally took a look at the world outside the vehicle.

The floating buildings he once saw everyday had been pulled down into nothing. Numerous and gruesome dents and debris flying around like the world was at war against unseen forces.

Now it finally made sense why the vehicle jiggled a lot when he came back to himself. The once peaceful, serene atmosphere that he was accustomed with was now pulled into nothing— it seemed the world he used to know was sick, perhaps at the brink of death.

Despite this, Nuel took notice of a fountain, the same fountain outside the hospital his foster aunt received treatment at.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, Nuel dashed towards the end of the vehicle, ramming into the door and breaking out into the street.

He couldn't care less about the bruises he had suddenly acquired by jumping out of a moving vehicle and he dashed into the hospital which had been splitted into two unholy halves which were almost broken to the ground.

Nuel sprinted into the falling building, making his way straight through the familiar corridor that led to his aunt's room.

'Please…' He pleaded in his thoughts with a heavy heart.

Before he could make it to the room, he was forced to stop in his tracks immediately.

Standing two giant leaps away from him was an imposing figure that stood tall and dark within the shadow.

It was a monster. The monster, a huge ant-like creature with wasp wings and a skull head that has antennae-like protrusions sprout from its forehead, quivering and twitching as if sensing its surroundings.

Nuel had never seen anything like such a creature in his entire life, but he knew one thing. The creature was standing in his way.

[(Ding!)]

[You have received a flash quest]

[Defeat the dimensional monster]

[(Description)]

Name: Kraelgor

Specie: Xenomorphrax

Rank: C-rank

⁠■Abilities■

-Strength: 150(×10)

-Dexterity: 14(×10)

-Defense: (36×1)