Location:The Outskirts of the High City
Status:Trapped in Wonder World
The air in the High City didn't smell like oxygen; it smelled like copper and old parchment. For Sophie and Sooji, every breath felt like swallowing needles. They weren't like Null or Kai. They didn't have the Umbro blood or the Mirror of Fate to shield them from the sheer atmospheric pressure of the Wonder World.
"We can't just sit here," Sooji hissed, clutching her Stone as it vibrated against her palm. "If the sky is showing that the 2nd Seat is vacant, it means Null is actually doing it. He's fighting... and we're just hiding in an alleyway."
Sophie looked at her hands, which were trembling. "He told us to stay back for a reason, Sooji. We aren't ready for what's up there."
"You never will be if you keep shaking," a booming, familiar voice interrupted.
From the shadows of a collapsed clock tower, Fang stepped forward. He looked battered, his armor scorched by High-Rank energy, but his eyes were as sharp as ever. He wasn't just an ally; he was the bridge between the human world and the divine madness they were currently standing in.
"Fang!" Sophie gasped. "Where have you been? Where's Null?"
"Null is... elsewhere," Fang said, his voice heavy. "He has crossed a line he can't come back from. But right now, we have a more immediate problem. The King has released the **Hounds of Deletion**."
The Ambush
As if on cue, the ground beneath the city streets groaned. The shadows didn't just move they grew teeth.
From the sewers and the broken windows of the skyscrapers, monsters began to pour out. These weren't the low-level grunts from the lower realms. These were Aether-Beasts: creatures made of solidified stone and liquid shadow, their eyes glowing with the same oily darkness that now resided in Null's heart.
One beast, a massive six-legged wolf with a face made of cracked porcelain, lunged at Sooji.
"Get back!" Fang roared.
He moved with the speed of a veteran, his own power flaring to life. He met the beast mid-air, but for every one he knocked back, ten more emerged from the fog. The city was no longer a refuge it was a slaughterhouse.
"Sophie! Sooji! Use your Stones!" Fang shouted over the roar of the monsters. "If you want to help Null, you have to survive the next ten minutes. Stand your ground!"
The porcelain-faced wolf lunged, its jaw unhinging to reveal a throat made of swirling nebulae.
"Sooji, move!" Sophie screamed. She reached for her Stone, her fingers brushing the cold surface of the gem, but she froze. The timer in her mind was ticking. She had used her power for fifty-nine minutes during the escape. One more second one more spark of energy and her mind would snap into the "Madness" phase. She would become just another mindless beast in the Wonder World.
Sooji slammed her palms onto the ground.
"Life Prime: Rooted Vigor!"
Green, vein-like light pulsed from her Stone, causing massive, thorn-covered vines to erupt from the cracked concrete. They wrapped around the wolf's throat, squeezing until the porcelain face began to spider-web. But Sooji was pale; healing Fang's internal burns while holding back a pack of Aether-Beasts was draining her life force.
"There's too many of them!" Sooji gasped, blood trickling from her nose. "Fang, we can't hold the line!"
Fang swung his heavy blade, decapitating a shadow-beast, but he was being swamped. "Don't stop! If you stop, we're fucked!"
Suddenly, the air didn't just turn cold it turned heavy.
The Gravity of the Situation
A massive *CRACK* echoed through the alleyway as the ground beneath the monsters suddenly sank three feet into the earth. The Aether-Beasts, which had been mid-leap, were slammed into the pavement by an invisible force so powerful their bones turned to powder instantly.
"What the hell is this...?" Sophie whispered, feeling the weight in her own chest.
A figure stepped out from the fog on the rooftops, silhouetted against the crimson sky. He had long, dark dreads that swayed with the shifting pressure, and a look on his face that suggested he was already tired of everyone's bullshit.
"Are you b*tches serious right now?"
The man hopped down, landing with a thud that cracked the street but didn't hurt him. He adjusted his jacket, his dark eyes scanning the remaining monsters with pure disgust.
"Daniel?" Sooji blinked, her light flickering.
"Don't 'Daniel' me, Sooji. I told y'all stayin' in the open was a stupid idea," Daniel spat, his voice a rough mix of Caribbean soul and American grit. He stepped toward a massive, ten-foot tall Aether-Beast that was trying to stand up against the pressure. "Move your asses behind me. Now."
The beast roared, defying the weight, and charged. Daniel didn't even flinch. He just raised a single hand, his unawakened Gravity Prime Stone glowing a deep, menacing purple.
"I haven't even used this shit yet and it's already giving me a headache," Daniel growled. "Gravity Prime: Event Horizon."
BOOM.
The gravity in a twenty-yard radius didn't just increase it inverted. The massive beast was crushed into a ball of meat and stone no larger than a basketball, the sheer pressure folding its reality into itself. Daniel let out a sharp exhale, his dreads sparking with purple static.
"Fucm... that takes a lot out of a folk," he muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. He turned to the group, his expression hard. "The fuck you staring at? Fang, get the girls up. We gotta move before the King sends something that actually knows how to fight."
The New Alliance
Sophie looked at Daniel in awe. "You... you're unawakened. How did you do that without going crazy?"
Daniel let out a dry, cynical laugh. "Who says I ain't already crazy? Now shut the fuck up and move. Null and Kai are up there playing God, and we're down here playing target practice. I ain't dying in this dusty-ass city today."
With Daniel leading the way, the gravity around them stabilized, creating a "Safe Zone" where the monsters couldn't reach. They began their march toward the inner sanctum, a new, foul-mouthed protector standing between them and the end of the world.
END OF CHAPTER 89
SEE YOU NEXT TIME