The soft yellow curtains along Tessa’s windows were pushed back to reveal the whole of the situation of the outside world. From the 23rd floor of the Rosebud Apartment Complex, which was one of the newer housing developments thrown up along Franksburg’s Westside, Tessa had an excellent view of the ominous battle that was happening in the sky above Earth.

In her opinion, her vision was too unobstructed. She almost couldn’t look away.

Tessa winced as another strange tremor of pain radiated outward from the darkness above. She couldn't sense it coming, but it hit her and locked out her brain as her soul tried to manage the abrupt pain. Turning away from the window, she walked across her study, out into the hallway, then down to the kitchen. Her hands were trembling as she removed a glass from the cupboard and began filling it with water from the faucet.

But right as she was lifting the glass to her lips, another horrible, jarring wave hit Tessa. She spat out the water on her lips and her numbed hand dropped the glass into the sink. It shattered with a loud noise, bits of glass skittering across the smooth metal surface before they gradually spun and settled.

At first, the people of Franksburg had wondered if the darkness in the sky had been a reward for passing the trial, but word had quickly come out from the Order Ducis that this was not a reward of any sort. It was something much worse. And while Tessa was glad to see that the Order Ducis was finally taking some responsibility for keeping the Earth united, she only felt despair when those horrible waves radiated downward from what was happening above.

It was clear just from experiencing the intermittent waves that whatever was happening was not good for Earth. The System that had given them all strength was being attacked directly by an enemy bent on its permanent destruction.

Tessa slumped onto the tiled floor of her kitchen, too exhausted to address the issue of the shattered glass in her sink. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to quell her shaking. Her fingers tightened on the fine cotton of her blouse. “I know I wished the System would be destroyed and we would no longer need to horde power… but… I didn’t want things to end like this-”

CRACK!

It was a small noise, but one that made Tessa squirm in immediate discomfort. Then her eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet. It was clear that something had changed with the struggle that was going on in the sky. When she rushed back through the hallway and into her study, Tessa arrived just in time to see a huge amorphous blob of darkness smash into the rolling hills West of Franksburg. Small stones and dust blasted outward in an earthy sort of halo.

A few smaller blobs of darkness could also be seen dropping from the sky toward other locations, but it seemed that whatever this new foe was, it would come toward Franksburg first. The largest portion had come here.

Due to the fact that the area around the Rosebud Apartment Complex was still being developed, Tessa had a completely uninhibited view out of the city. Which meant she could see Lucifer striding along the low wall that ran around Franksburg and the smoky crater a few hundred meters beyond the wall where the dark blob had landed.

Seeing both set the hairs along the back of her neck to slowly rising. The difference in tension gave her a bad feeling.

Gradually, figures began to stir within that crater with an almost lazy energy about them. Strange, twisted monsters that seemed to just be silhouettes skittered outward from the shadows, raising their heads to examine the air in front of them. From her vantage point, Tessa could see the air around these inky-black monsters rippling and shimmering with their passage. It was as though the very substance of their bodies attacked the surrounding space, constantly corroding the air.

And as Tessa watched, that impression of corrosion was reinforced as the area around the impact began to ripple and shudder. Tessa even had to blink several times to see if she could clear her vision, but the distortions continued to get worse. It seemed that the space in the surrounding area was deteriorating before her very eyes. Everything was vibrating lines and blurry details.

First a dozen of the monsters, then a hundred, then an additional hundred each second erupted from the impact site in a vibrating swarm. They didn’t form up in any sort of organization as they appeared, but each just began to wander outwards, radiating a dreadful energy that was practically palpable to the viewer. Tessa watched as Lucifer barked out some orders and a hundred of Franksburg’s most powerful Classers stepped forward to the edge of the wall.

As one, they fired powerful ranged Skills targeting the strange monstrosities that wandered nearest to the edge of the Village. The Classers’ aim was accurate, but Tessa didn’t miss the way most of the Skills dimmed and slowed as they neared the foes. Several monstrosities were smashed by the attacks and knocked over, but they soon straightened and turned their focus toward Franksburg with an animalistic fury. The disparate groups of monstrosities began to gather and rumble forward as more and more reinforcements flowed out of the impact point.

By this point, Tessa was convinced they were corroding the Earth just by their presence. Looking toward the crater and all the surrounding visual distortions was enough to give her a headache. But she didn’t dare to tear her eyes away.

She was afraid that if she looked away for a second, humanity would start to die and she would be taken by surprise when her own death arrived at her doorstep.

Her shudders of fear had grown worse. Tessa pressed her palm against the cool glass, wishing this was all a dream. This was why we let you rule over us Randidly, despite how poorly suited to the role you were. So… please… just…-!

Seeing that the other attacks weren’t effective, Lucifer stepped forward. And his signature hellfire swirled around him as he raised his large saber in challenge. With a shout, Lucifer brought his enormous weapon downward and released a swirling strike of fire that ripped forward across the ground. The monstrosity he had targeted noticed the assault but didn’t seem to regard it as a threat at all. Instead, the monstrosity accelerated forward, spreading its arms wide as though it was about to embrace the attack like a long lost brother.

Yet when the attack hit it, for the first time, the strange beast began to scream.

Unlike its fellows that had rapidly recovered after being hit with a Skill, this monstrosity fell to the ground and writhed in obvious agony. Lucifer’s strike had split it from shoulder to waist. One of its arms and a sliver of its torso flopped on the ground beside it, hellfire licking at the wound. The defenders on the wall raised their weapons and shouted their approval; this was their pride as people of Franksburg. Then they unleashed another volley of Skills to streak across the space and strike the shimmering beings of darkness.

The dark monstrosities surged forward, the frequent attacks having firmed Franksburg as a threat in their eyes. The practically trampled the wounded silhouette on the ground in their haste to attack the defenses.

But through the press of bodies, Tessa couldn’t help but notice that the wounded monster on the ground didn’t immediately die. It struggled and shifting, resisting the deadly properties of Lucifer’s Hellfire.

Yet before the monstrosities arrived at the defensive fortifications, another change occurred on the battlefield. Among the continuing stream of silhouettes coming out of the smoking crater, an ominous figure parted the dust cloud still hanging in the area and walked forward. All other monstrosities avoided it, deferentially giving it space. The visual distortions in the area around it intensified, drawing Tessa’s gaze. Immediately, this new horror gaze slid along the wall until it located Lucifer.

It raised its arms and howled. Very soon, every one of these strange monsters of darkness joined its call and the air was trembling with their warbling cries. The glass pane underneath Tessa’s hand began to tremble. The visual distortions spread, beginning to creep nearer to the defenders on the walls. Then the new, obviously more powerful arrival pointed its claws and the monsters surged forward-

“Really? Just one Nether Gatekeeper? I guess the attack is really focused on the Nexus…”

The visual distortions shrunk and disappeared all at once. It was only for a brief second that Tessa saw Randidly Ghosthound’s now unfamiliar figure appear on the wall next to Lucifer before her vision was blinded by a vast tree that appeared around Randidly.

It almost looked like this titanic plant was three was thousands of trees wound together, with vast chestnut-colored roots winding their way from the ground to merge into an enormous monolith of the tree. The trunk was as thick as an entire city block, extending upward to such a height that Tessa needed to press her nose to her window in order to see the leafy emerald canopy.

And the whole thing radiated light from the spiraling, shifting symbols that covered every inch of the trunk. The longer Tessa looked at the bark of the World Tree that Randidly had imagined, the more she was struck with a certainty that if she looked for long enough, she would be able to understand the secrets of the world. That tree contained deep secrets.

The magnitude of the temptation to lose herself in those twisting symbols quickly brought back the fear that had cause Tessa to tremble for the last hour. This was why they needed Randidly Ghosthound. Because he was the monster that could scare away all the predators circling around in the darkness.

“A necessary evil,” Tessa whispered to her own reflection in the glass pane of the window. But even to her own ears, her voice was weak and feeble.

Suddenly, the light from the World Tree dimmed and Tessa found that she could see through the manifested image when she looked at it directly. It was like one of those pictures that changed depending on the angle of viewing. If Tessa looked directly, she could see through it and out onto the battlefield. But if she viewed through her peripheral vision, the World Tree remained steadfastly present, radiating a warm and reassuring glow.

Which was why she saw a few of the previously impervious monsters that had been caught in the Ghosthound’s image writhing and melting beneath that steady golden light. Their limbs twisted and cracked as they practically melted before that light. Of course, Tessa also saw that furious figure that had emerged raising its hand to focus now on Randidly. It howled its fury and more and more monstrosities emerged to form a veritable tide of inky-black silhouettes that surged toward Franksburg.

Looking unmoved, the Ghosthound waved his hand. From behind the wall, several hundred figures leapt up and crossed the barrier of the wall to land on the battlefield. Then each exploded in a powerful image that made Tessa gasp.

Even the weakest of these is at least as strong as Lucifer… maybe even stronger… Tessa thought in wonder. Where had Randidly found so many powerful Classers…? Was this the true power of the Order Ducis…?

What was even stranger was that each of these figures appeared as much animal as human. But Tessa was quickly distracted as Randidly hopped down off of the wall as well.

“It feels like it’s been a while since I fought against a Nether Gatekeeper… but it really hasn’t been, has it?” Randidly raised his right hand and flexed it, the knuckles of his fingers cracking. “Well, I’ve been training for a foe much more intimidating than you. Time to see how much I’ve improved in the last two months.”