The girl lightly pointed a finger at that rift. The water on the ground quickly converged into a towering python. Letting out a silent roar, that python opened its jaws and bit at the rift. That rift looked like a tiny bug in the face of that water python.

Snap!

The water python snapped its jaws.

In a blink, that water python froze into an ice sculpture.

The void rift was contained. The gust stopped. Peace had returned to the streets.

The girl looked at her coworkers with an alluring smile.

Pop!

Looking back, cracks were running down that ice python now.

Leaving a glass breaking sound, that ice python shuttered into pieces. In the next instance, the ice shards stopped falling. Floating back into the air, the stream of ice shards shot into that rift.

Letting out a humph, the girl seemed flustered by the result.

"Tsk." Leaving a disdainful smirk, Lion-face stepped forward. Rising its foot, this monster stomped onto the ground. Cracks quickly spanned out under its feet.

The monster stabbed its fingers into asphalt ground. With a heavy inhale and a heave, lion-face lifted up a house-sized block of ground, leaving a deep pit behind.

"Haaarrrrrhh!" Lion-face threw that giant dirt block at the rift.

That block flew right through the rift. Crashing onto the ground, that house-sized block of soil collapsed into loam and rocks.

Seeing this result, lion-face awkwardly froze in place.

Still facing the rift, the towering monster lord looked sideways at the cloaked figure.

The cloaked figure didn't say anything. Nevertheless, it's clear now. He's hesitating. Could the Sanctuary really be defeated? They couldn't even solve the problem created by a mere bot.

The monster lord took a deep breath. Blowing forward, a black mist left his mouth.

The rift absorbed the black mist. However, the surrounding wind quickly died off.

The rift was still there. But their way was clear now.

"Your answer. Human." The monster lord spoke with a rumbling voice.

The ground started to shake. With each second passed, the Earthquake quickly intensified.

"I only wish that our terms will be kept." The cloaked figure kneeled onto one knee.

"You will become my right hand." Having no expressions on his face, the warrior looked down at the cloaked figure. "And your family will be the nobles of the new era."

"Lord Trample. Your servant is at your service."

"Ohmm..." The monster lord turned away. Walking up a large debris, Lord Trample grabbed his warhammer.

"Forward!" The monster lord pointed his warhammer in the direction of the sanctuary.

The swarm of monster parted themselves around their lord. Without slowing down, they charged towards the Sanctuary.

At the same time...

City hall of Berrystone city... Ground floor. Entrance hall.

It's packed like a can of sardines in here. Loud chatter filled this hall. People had to shout to get their messages across.

Some people squeezed around, looking for someone.

Families gathered up in little groups.

"Sorry. The underground bunkers are full. You will have to wait at the halls here." A security agent in grey armor repeatedly shouted. "Stay calm! Everything will be fine! Sorry. The underground bunkers are full..."

Outside the city hall. It's just as packed.

"Sorry. The city hall is full. We will need you to stay calm and stay where you are!"

Just across the street, hunter groups gathered up, forming one last line of defense.

"I sure hope we get holiday pay for this." A hunter lit up a cigarette.

"Yeah? I sure hope we won't be needed in battle." Another hunter checked his equipment.

A subtle tremor could be felt on the ground now. In one direction, it sounded like there's a cavalry charge. The hunters looked towards the walls in concern.

At the wall...

Pam!

A line of flares shot out the walls in unison. Drawing out arcs in the air, they landed a street away, providing some extra vision.

One after another, lights in the watch towers flipped on. Beams of light shot into the foggy veil of the night.

Down the street, the row of street lamp lights snapped off one after another. Holiday lights was being engulfed by the tide of darkness.

The ground started to shake. The silhouettes of massive creatures could be seen now.

Below, the smaller monsters quickly approached like a tide.

"Open fire!"

"Fire in the hole!"

Streams of bullets rained into the charging monsters.

Then, the deafening sound of bazookas echoed through the city.

Fiery explosions blossomed in that swarm. One after another, those large-sized monsters started to collapse onto the ground.

That charging tide of monsters slowed down a little. The loud sounds scared them. Some tumbled down. Some tried to flee, only to run into another monster. Some tripped and fell. It's a stampede out there. More monsters died to trampling than to bullets.

Nevertheless, the wave of monsters was still pushing forward.

It's approaching... Getting closer!

Looking ahead, rows of buildings across the street tumbled down. It's like they were grass being mowed down.

As the buildings crumbled down, flares on the buildings dropped to the ground.

"Hold your ground soldiers." The keyholder stood above the front gates. "I stand by your side!"

Liam stood by the keyholder. Pressing onto his temple with two fingers, Liam spread the keyholder's message.

20 meters... 10 meters...

The soldiers could see the monsters clearly now.

5 meters... 3 meters...

There's still too many of them! These things were closing in the gap!

The smaller monsters sprung into the air. Looking from the side, these monsters looked like a shower of artillery shells.

"AArrrrhhh!" Pulling on triggers with bloodshot eyes, the soldiers readied for impact.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Yet, those monsters stopped in mid-air. They had crashed into an invisible wall!

A shower of collisions...

With the monsters pressed against it, the film was visible now.

The swarm of monsters started to crawl up that film. They looked like flies crawling on windows.

They couldn't get in, but bullets could pass through.

One after another, the monsters dropped onto the ground, evaporating into a mist.

"Security Agents!" The keyholder ordered.

In this loud battleground, even a calm man like the keyholder had to shout.

Liam Evanstein nodded and pressed his finger against his temple.