“This is a complete mess…” said Chie Shirabe, Sage, the Head Artisan of Angels. She was hooked to her many monitors overlooking the status of Ordo. The President had given Sera and the General of the Army full authority to end the crisis as soon as possible, with both commanding their respective forces. Thus, Chie had the responsibility to providing constant updates to the former, and it made for one hectic evening.

Throne One, one of the Slayer Teams, was being overwhelmed in Akeso Hospital. Banneret, the Team Leader, reported that Pax was down while the Army’s evacuating the civilians to a “secure area”, wherever the heck that was. No one knew. It was a disaster, albeit fortunate. Throne One was already present at Akeso before the outbreak began; in an A-Rank expedition earlier this week, Gallant got himself injured (treasure, trap) and they were visiting him.

They were able to establish a temporary shelter, but it served to be a death camp shortly after. Well, that was all hospitals technically, this more so. Because of the lack of fast, relevant information, Chie had nothing else but to wait on Banneret to fill in the gaps. For now, this wasn’t her concern, as horrible as that sounded.

She zoomed out on one of the monitors, having a bigger picture of Ordo. Ordo was a city-state formed shortly after the Slayer Emergeance after Primordial had lifted a whole chunk of land in the East China Sea. China, Japan, Korea, Russia, America, basically every big-name country claimed ownership of it. The Seoul Convention had determined its sovereignty. Sort of. The Seoul Convention also founded the Global Guards which oversaw Ordo directly and could intervene, but that was a whole lot of politics stuff and Chie was a genius engineer, not a historian.

On the battlefield map, the city was in anarchy, illuminated in multi-colored dots. The Cosmic Caller and its minions led an organized attack against key infrastructure. That was what the red dots highlighted: the current known attacks. Power grids, water treatment facilities, various guild headquarters (including Angels), government buildings, hospitals, anything to weaken the city’s foundations.

The Army and Slayers were stretched thin already. Unlike Hangzhou, Ordo was more unified. Also unlike Hangzhou, Ordo was under a well-calculated invasion. What happened six years ago was a series of horrible mistakes; no one trusted the government to help, which led to a prolonged incident that severely damaged China’s infrastructure and reputation.

That won’t happen here though, Chie made sure of it. Archknell, Monarch, and Master each commanded their own guilds—Glory, Royals, and Martials respectively—communicating with Sera to provide support.

Chie checked the seawalls. The Outbreak Barrier also extended to the sea, so the Navy was currently tasked with defending the waters from giant sea monsters, which was outrageous for one and also catastrophic. Chie recommended that they were reinforced with a high volume of Slayers because the last thing anyone wanted was flooding. But she ran into the same problem: numbers. This location needed these people, and this needed that, that also needed that, everyone needed help and help was limited.

Especially the Five Outbreak Pillars. Chie tapped one of the golden dots and a status bar came: Pillar Dawns - 99.8% Effective. Below was a list of various Slayers present, stationed to protect this particular pillar. There were five pillars placed throughout the city, one in each borough, protected by both swords and rifles. All of them were under attack but they were holding; Chie suspected that it was a test by the enemy, to see how Ordo responded. For now, they responded great.

But tomorrow? That was a different story with a single theme: logistics. Due to the Outbreak Barrier, nothing was breaking out but nothing was breaking in. No imports. They needed to maintain the Five Pillars’ forces first then work their way down; however, there was the issue of roads, vehicles, time, and other variables. Not to mention also protecting the civilians and maintaining trust. If they lose that, then it’d be Hangzhou. Game over.

Thus, as Chie gathered, this was needed: establish supply lines to each of the Five Pillars, secure supply depots, maintain and protect key areas, create safe zones for civilians, and most of all, find and slay the Cosmic Caller. Simple enough.

Chie slammed her head against her desk. “This isn’t simple at all!”

She should’ve taken today off. There, she could stay inside her hermit-hole, play video games, maybe even read a book! But no, something had to attack Ordo and launch the worst outbreak since Hangzhou. Just her luck. These guys were smart too. They created a threat so big that Nathan had to take it, so he wouldn’t be here.

And since it was literally in the atmosphere, the rest of the world had to deal with the Cosmic Beast as well.

If Nathan was here now…

She clenched her fist. “Sage will punch him.”

Chie sighed, tapping on another dot. This one was white, labeled Primordial Zero. It was a secure bunker for the families of top-ranking Slayers. When the disaster began, they were swiftly taken there. Several people were missing though, like Vernon Hugo, but at the very least, Ariella was safe. If anything were to happen to her, Nathan and Sera would destroy Ordo just to kill the Cosmos Caller.

Before checking the rest of the map, someone called her on her left monitor: Aiden Kang, Firebrand, the No.6 Slayer. The infamous prodigy who reached Rank SS by twenty, twenty-one now. She answered, irritated, “What is it, dummy?! Sage is kinda busy here, don’tcha know?!”

“Yeah uhm, kinda busy here too! Don’tcha know?!” he fought back like always, even when there was a crisis. “These motherfuckers are everywhere! Gimme some tactical support or something! Please?! I’ll be nice to you from now on!”

“Hmph…”

~~~

“I saw Mattis,” said Damien to the others, waiting at the entrance to the System Articles underground tunnel. Gradually, a crowd of rattled folks filtered in, relieved. They believed they were safe. Debatable. They traded one monster for another.

After a few seconds of silence, Alexander replied, “Yeah.”

“And Mai?” asked Damien, although his eyes told Alexander that he already knew the answer, so Alexander didn’t bother answering.

“It’s best not to dwell on it.” Kirk had his head low, idly tapping his feet. “It’s harsh, but we have to be realistic about this: people die and we can’t save them all. We have to move on.”

“I suppose that’s all we can do: survive.” Leona was still disturbed from the events prior, both Mattis’s and Mai’s deaths, and coming so close to losing Alexander. She stood beside him, leaning close, and didn’t think twice holding his hand. He held hers.

Alexander eyed Carn. He stood at the broken doorway, the doorway where they caught the Wolva. He had a big, friendly smile, showing all of his jagged teeth. Freaked people out more than anything but he assured them of his strength. That was true, he could protect them all if he wanted to—if he wanted to.

Carn noticed Alexander’s staring and winked. Alexander shivered.

“He’s after the vault,” whispered Alexander. He didn’t know if Carn had a skill that allowed him to hear the faintest of things; even if he did, would Carn care? What could the party do against a Slayer who was almost an S-Rank?

Kirk nodded, glancing down at his left breast pocket. He patted it and sighed in relief. “Yup. Obviously, that’s bad.”

Damien posed, “We could use the weapons though, and the armor, and whatever the vault has.”

Alexander frowned, rubbing his lips. “We do, but we can’t. System Articles has some valuable stuff down there; can you imagine if word gets around? People get greedy. People fight. As if the Slayers need that on top of the current mess.”

“It happened in Hangzhou,” Kirk said. “When the government made one blunder after another, the people lost hope. They became Pseudos, raided item vaults, and the entire city descended into anarchy while an outbreak was going on.”

“Lucky us, I guess. After the outbreak was sort of handled, it took an organized effort to dismantle rogue Slayer groups wanting to keep their prizes,” Alexander added, remembering the time well. “I don’t think it’ll happen here, not to that extent at least, but the less items on the streets, the better. It’ll make for an easier clean-up job after the Cosmic Caller is killed.”

Leona sighed, eyeing Carn as well. He acted so friendly despite being covered in wolva blood. “It’s not like we can, well, you know. This might surprise you, but I haven’t killed a man before, especially not a Slayer.”

Damien nodded. “Ditto.”

Alexander and Kirk said nothing.

He winced. “Good God…”

It was true. After all, Alexander had the [Necessary Killer] skill: You always thought you would slay only monsters, but not your own kind. There is no particular benefit with this skill unless it is taken further.

“It’s fine. It was my life or theirs.” Alexander focused on Carn, not bothering to hide his contempt. “My life or theirs.”

Kirk groaned, knocking his knuckles against a wall. “Even if we wanted to, we can’t. I’m just a normal person, and the rest of you are E-Rank Pseudos. He can flick our heads and they’d explode. If the Wolva”—Leona tensed—“nearly did us in, then, well, what did you say earlier, Shen?”

“We have a better chance at jumping out of a window and growing wings,” he repeated.

“Exactly. We have a better chance at jumping and growing wings.”

“I don’t think I’m charming enough to persuade him either.” Alexander scratched his cheek. Carn was speaking to an angry executive; surprisingly, he was patient.

Damien chuckled. “What about my charm?”

“He held a dagger to your neck, with telekinesis,” Leona pointed out.

“You’re right, I’m way too strong for him.” Damien awkwardly rubbed the side of his neck.

It’s impossible to win against Carn. Unless we somehow come into contact with Seraph or Mark, then we’ll die. No amount of sneak attacks or dirty tricks will do him. We need to get out of here then. But…

Alexander saw a couple holding each other, both showered in blood. If we leave, then I’m leaving everyone’s fate in his hands.

“I can’t leave these people at his mercy,” Alexander confessed. More civilians pooled in, traumatized one way or another, and the total summation of survivors amounted to pebbles against a mountain.

“We may not have a choice,” Kirk replied, sharing the same sentiment.

“I know.”

They waited until the last of the survivors trickled in. They were none other than the top executives of System Articles, their bodyguards, and the CEO, Andre Bernard, a French man. Old, gray, round, was married to a woman several decades younger, and he had wrinkles weighed down by bitterness and standards. Carn wanted to shake his hand but he walked past, seeing Kirk.

Bernard stomped over, furious, with two sun-kissed bodyguards at his side. “Kirk, where the hell were you?! The emergency elevator failed, the alarms failed, the cameras failed, every security measure failed and I had to walk down those bloody stairs to come here! You assured me they would work under normal circumstances!”

Kirk blinked, looking around. “The answer’s beyond me, sir. This is about as normal of circumstances you can get. Just a normal Wednesday to me.” He cleared his throat. “Sir.”

“Pah! And revealing company secrets too, eh? If this was any other time, I would bury you in lawsuits and you’ll never see the light of day again.”

“Your prayer’s been answered, sir.” Kirk gestured outside to the false, stretching night.

Benard gritted his teeth, crooked and green. He looked like he wanted to strike Kirk across the face for his impertinence. Must’ve thought it’d be “discipline” or “consequences”. As if. Alexander never liked him; last year, Benard was in a scandal about abusing his personal secretary or something. Ultimately, he restrained himself, deciding against starting a second one, and stormed off with his two guards. Faintly, he muttered, “Fucking American…”

“Well!” Carn threw his hands up, his daggers hovering over his head. “I think it’s time to get a move on, yeah? Old man, hey old man—not the fat one, the ‘Fucking American’ one—why don’tcha lead the way to the light, alright? I’m a bit lost here.”

He wasn’t asking.

“Whatever you say, sir.” Kirk moved to the front of the group, and Carn playfully wrapped his arm around his shoulder. He shouted for the rest to chase their asses, reminding them about his promise of protection—from the mobs, he said, from the mobs.

Then, Carn hummed.

“Mmm, mmm, mmm.” His hums echoed off of the thick tunnel walls, a haunting tune that did nothing to ease the peoples’ worries. Alexander was unnerved, trying to formulate a good plan to get rid of this psychopath. Or if he needed to: escape.

Carn responded to violence, to strength. He was a predator so treacherous that a single wrong step meant death—a death so gruesome that the Wolva was preferable. The thought stabbed Alexander, making him imagine the worst: murder and banditry, brigands strolling for standards while wielding bloodied blades and loose accessories, tormenting the common folk.

What could they do?

Alexander shut his eyes, but then he heard a ding.

[Quest Update]

Stage 1 of Survive the Siege is complete!

You have been rewarded:

12,500 standards

Slayer Shop

Slayer Gift 1

The rewards!

Alexander opened his [Inventory] first and saw the Slayer Gift 1 in one of the slots. He tapped it and saw its contents: Survival Kit, Minor Healing Potion, Steel Dagger, Ordo Shop. The Survival Kit contained a backpack, some medical supplies, rations, fresh pair of clothes, and other miscellaneous items. The dagger was a typical, standard dagger with no special effects.

But the last one, the Ordo Shop was a consumable. He used it immediately and a notification came: A new section has been added to the Slayer Shop!

Alexander checked it. The Ordo Shop had various items for sale:

3x Survival Kit [6,250st]

3x Minor Healing Potions [12,500st]

x1 Protector’s Shortsword [12,500st]

x1 Protector’s Bow [12,500st]

x1 Protector’s Stave [12,500st]

x1 Ordo Teleport Scroll [25,000st]

Shop Reset: Stage 2 of Survive the Siege completion

The Ordo Shop was virtually the same as Hangzhou’s—a good sight to see. The rest of the Slayer Shop was irrelevant; everything there was too expensive. For Pseudos anyhow. Yet the Ordo Teleport Scroll? It had the most value. You and up to four other people could teleport to anywhere in Ordo.

Alexander looked at his balance: 17,500st. He had more in his bank account; however, he needed to make an electronic transfer to his bank account to his System’s to get a penny. Currently, that was impossible. But he had something special: the [Hobgoblin Handax], an E-Rank weapon he obtained when clearing the building.

If he sold it straight to the shop, he would earn forty-five hundred standards. However, using the [Auction] mechanic of the Slayer Shop, there’d be thousands of Pseudos wanting a better weapon.

Alright, let’s see how much I can make. I would need just under eight thousand standards to buy the scroll.

Alexander catalogued the [Hobgoblin Handax] into the Auction House, set the starting price at six thousand standards and put the timer at three minutes. Almost immediately, someone took the offer, then another raised it to two hundred, and another to two-fifty, three hundred, three-twenty, and it kept going up.

He laughed to himself. He won’t lie, watching the numbers increase was addictive. Normally, such a horrible weapon would get pennies.

“What are you laughing at, White Eyes?” Carn asked. He turned around and saw all the blue screens in the crowd. “Hold up, the hell’s going on?”

Damien and Leona looked to Alexander. He nodded. “Us Pseudos got a [Main Quest] for the outbreak. It has five stages, and we completed the first one by surviving for sixty minutes. We unlocked the Slayer Shop.”

“Cool. Don’t waste your stands in one place; fucking, I did that when I was starting out. I brought a shiny ring in an auction but it was fucking useless. It told me I’d fly but—” Carn complained about being scammed but Alexander didn’t listen.

Damien leaned over his shoulder. “What are you laughing at anyway? Show me.”

“Alright.” Alexander tapped his screen, allowing Damien access. Everyone could see each other’s screens but were unable to view its contents unless given consent. For Damien, he would see [Content Locked], not the auction.

“Oh,” muttered Damien, smirking. “I didn’t know you picked up an axe. You killed another hobgoblin?”

“Me and Leo did, yeah. It’s fetching an amazing price.”

Six thousand and a half. In a blink, it broke seven thousand. Leona came and watched as well.. The three watched as the number slowly increase, closer to the deadline, the bids slowing as the price rose. After two and a half minutes, it was at seven-point-three. Fifteen seconds later, seven-point-five. Ten seconds remained, ten seconds passed, and the auction ended.

[AUCTION COMPLETE! SOLD!]

PROFIT: 7,630st

WINNER: Undisclosed

The deal was made; Alexander received his hard-earned money and the lucky man had a new axe. Looks like I didn’t need [The Wolf of Ordo Street].

A skill of his: whenever he made a trade, he earned one percent more standards. Instead of receiving 7,630 standards, he received 7,706. Combined with his current total, he had 25,206, just enough.

Finally, Alexander brought the [Ordo Teleport Scroll]. “Alright, we have a way to Julius High. Or an instant escape to Black Paladin.”

Before Damien and Leona could respond, Alexander was shoved aside by two massive, sun-kissed man wearing a stained black suit, the CEO’s mute minions from earlier. They stood between Benard and Carn, who was amused by the theatrics.

Carn hummed curiously, eyeing the left guard, then the right, switching between them as though playing a game. Kirk took this time to back away towards Alexander and the others. “Something wrong, Mister CEO?”

“Slayer, whoever the hell you are—!”

“My name’s Carn. Like ‘carnivore’ or ‘carnage’“ Carn shrugged. “For the kids, it’s ‘carnival’—”

“I don’t care!” exclaimed Benard, outraged and audacious, “I demand an answer, you! An answer! Where?! This is the path towards the vault, not topside! I want to touch the street, not cold steel! I already expressed my displeasure with this so-called ‘escape plan’, don’t make me displeased any further!”

“Oh.” Carn picked at his ear, caught a small gray blob on the pad of his finger and flicked it off. “Yeah, that’s what I want: your vault.”

“Huh?”

Alexander grimaced.

Carn hummed once more, skipping, bouncing. He approached the two walls; they stopped him from going any further. They placed their hands against his chest—a warning. But what was a warning to the Predator of Predators? He jerked his head to the side, whitish-blue hair falling over like bleached vines, and a wild, undiscriminating grin was seen through the gaps of the walls’ arms.

“Your. Vault. I. Want. It.”

And Alexander heard a haunting ding.

[Sub-quest]

Predator of Predators

You have detected incredible malevolence from Carn, Predator of Predators. Defeat Carn to re-establish stability within System Articles.

Difficulty:

S

Time Limit:

???

Victory Condition:

Carn is defeated

Defeat Condition:

Andre Benard is killed AND/OR Roswell Kirk is killed

The Vault Keys are stolen

Rewards:

2,500,000 standards

Item - Keys of the Hunt