Chapter 560: Ticking Time Bomb
Before the arrival of Thoren, Suncrest City had been teetering on the edge of destruction.
The sudden appearance of the strange group that had emerged from the Abyss, followed by the breakout of the massive beast tide, had completely changed the trajectory of the city.
What had initially been considered another dangerous incident connected to the Abyss had quickly turned into something much more serious, and the continuous disappearance of people afterward had only made the situation worse..
At first, it had been easy to dismiss the disappearances as casualties caused by the chaos.
Many people had died during the beast tide, and countless bodies had been recovered from the streets and destroyed buildings.
So nobody immediately considered the missing people to be connected to something else. But as the time passed, the number of missing people continued to increase.
Some disappeared from their homes.
Some vanished while traveling through the streets.
Others simply failed to return from work.
Even people who had remained inside heavily guarded areas had mysteriously disappeared.
And that was when people became frightened.
Nowhere was safe.
If people could disappear from inside their own homes, then where could they possibly be safe?
As for the Federation, many citizens had once believed that the Federation’s forces would always be able to protect them, but that belief had begun to crumble.
They had all heard how many police officers had mysteriously disappeared.
If even those people could disappear without leaving behind any clues, then what chance did ordinary citizens have?
The more people thought about it, the more frightened they became.
Worse, the Governor had yet to address the people and her silence only worsened the situation more.
Nobody knew what the government had discovered.
Nobody knew whether the Federation had any idea what was happening.
Nobody knew whether the disappearances were connected to the Abyss or whether something else had entered the city.
Every unanswered question created another rumor.
Worse, rumors create fear.
Fear creates chaos.
And as the hours passed, Suncrest City began to feel like it was sitting on top of a ticking time bomb.
And nobody knew when it would explode.
...
...
Meanwhile, throughout the city, people remained inside their homes.
Families gathered together in living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms, speaking in low voices as they waited for some kind of announcement from the Governor.
Some people had barricaded their doors while others had moved heavy furniture against their windows.
Few families had gathered weapons beside their beds, hoping that they would never need to use them.
As for the streets outside, it had become unusually quiet. Even the places that had once remained busy throughout the night had lost their usual activity.
People were afraid to go outside while also, they were afraid of the beasts. Most of importantly, they were afraid of something they could not see.
A family sitting around a dining table stared nervously at the television.
"Why hasn’t the Governor said anything?"
Nobody answered.
The father looked toward the window.
"Maybe they’re handling it."
His wife shook her head.
"They’ve already lost many police officers."
The man’s expression became grim. "Don’t say that in front of the children."
The woman immediately looked toward her two children, they were sitting close together with their faces pale.
Seeing this, she forced a smile. "Everything will be fine."
Deep inside, she did not even believe in her very own words.
Across the city, thousands of other families were doing the same thing.
Waiting.
Waiting for the Governor.
Waiting for the Federation.
Waiting for someone to tell them what was happening.
Just then, a loud, piercing alarm suddenly rang throughout the city.
WEEEEEE—!
The sound tore through the streets and echoed between the buildings. And instantly, every television screen immediately changed and emergency lights flashed across several public buildings.
The alarm signified only one thing.
The city was under attack.
People who had been sitting inside their homes immediately stood up.
"What happened?"
"Are the beasts back?"
"Everyone stay inside!"
Another announcement followed almost immediately.
"Attention, all citizens of Suncrest City. This is an emergency announcement. A hostile threat has been detected outside the city defense perimeter. All civilians are instructed to remain indoors and immediately seek shelter in designated safe zones."
The announcement repeated.
"All armed forces are to mobilize immediately. Military personnel, police forces, and registered hunters are instructed to secure their assigned areas. Do not leave your designated location unless instructed to do so."
...
...
Standing on the defense wall, the General stared in horror at the endless beast tide rushing toward them from the Abyss.
His face had turned pale and his hands tightened around his weapon.
Thousands.
No.
Hundreds of thousands.
The beasts were pouring out from the direction of the Abyss like an endless black wave.
The ground shook beneath their feet and dust rose into the sky.
The creatures roared as they charged forward, their massive bodies colliding with one another as they fought to reach the defense wall first.
There were beasts of every shape and size.
Some crawled on four legs.
Others ran on two.
Several massive creatures moved through the tide like living mountains, crushing smaller beasts beneath their feet.
The General’s throat tightened. And for the first time, he was not sure their city could survive from this.
....
...
While everyone was focused on the beasts outside the city, something far more terrifying was already happening within the city.
In every corner of the streets, people suddenly dropped to the ground. Some were walking while some were running toward shelters.
Without warning, their bodies jerked violently and a strange black creature suddenly emerged from their chests.
At first, it was still, unmoving and then, it began to move.
The black creature expanded across their bodies before several long tendrils suddenly erupted from their chests.
"Help!"
A man screamed as one of the tendrils wrapped around his body.
He tried to grab it but only for his fingers to pass through the black creature as though it were liquid.
Ahhhh!
His scream thundered throughout the street sending shivers down the spine of everyone.
People nearby froze in terror.
"RUN!"