The military convoy entered the Glimmer District and immediately slowed down.
Nobody inside the vehicles spoke.
They did not need to.
The moment they entered the district, they saw the chaos unfolding in real time.
The soldiers stared through the windows, their expressions gradually changing as they took in the scene before them.
The streets that had once been clean and orderly were now covered in blood.
Bodies lay scattered across the roads and sidewalks, some motionless while others still twitched weakly.
Smoke rose from damaged buildings.
Vehicles had been abandoned in the middle of the streets.
Windows were shattered.
Blood flowed along the pavement like streams, gathering around the bodies of those who had fallen.
But what shocked the soldiers the most was not the corpses. It was the people still moving among them.
A group of police officers rushed down the street. For a moment, the soldiers thought they were going to help the civilians.
Then they saw what the officers were doing. One of the cops had a civilian pinned against the ground.
His uniform was covered in blood, and his face had already turned black. His mouth opened unnaturally wide as he bit into the man’s shoulder.
The civilian screamed desperately, trying to push him away.
Another officer stood nearby, his body already twisted into something monstrous as black tendrils emerged from his stomach.
The soldiers inside the convoy froze. Those were the people who were supposed to protect the civilians.
Yet now they were devouring them.
"What..." A soldier whispered.
Nobody answered him.
The convoy continued moving.
A little farther ahead, they saw a father standing in front of his family.
The man held a metal pipe in both hands as he desperately tried to protect his wife and two children.
His wife was crouched behind him, holding the children tightly against her body.
The man was trembling with his legs shaking. Blood covered one side of his face.
But he refused to move.
A black creature slowly approached them from the other end of the street.
The man raised his crude weapon.
"Stay behind me!" His voice cracked.
Just then, the creature lunged at them. The father swung the metal pipe with everything he had.
Bang!
The weapon struck the creature’s head and the creature staggered sideways. Quickly, the man immediately raised the pipe again.
"Don’t come any closer!"
The creature did not stop.
The soldiers watched helplessly as the father continued standing between the monster and his family, even though everyone could see that he had no chance of winning.
Then the convoy passed another building and they saw her.
A girl stood on the edge of a five-story building.
She was young.
Too young.
Her clothes were torn, and her face was stained with tears. For a moment, she simply stood there, looking down at the chaos below. Her eyes were soulless as she had already given up on living.
She had watched her family die one after another and then turned into the creature they promised to protect her from.
She thought of their family happy memories, the time she took her parents’ care for granted. And now, everything was gone.
Worse, she was slowly turning into one of the evil creatures. But she refused to become such a thing but rather..
She stepped forward and her body disappeared over the edge.
Instantly, one of the soldiers looked away and what followed was a dull sound coming from somewhere below.
Nobody inside the convoy spoke.
The sound seemed to linger in their mind.
Just then, they saw a group of young people had their backs against one another in the middle of the street.
There were perhaps seven of them.
Their clothes were dirty, their faces pale, and several had blood covering their bodies.
Yet they were holding weapons.
Crude weapons.
The young man at the center tightened his grip around his weapon.
"Stay together."
His voice trembled.
"If one of us falls, pull them back."
Listening to his command, the others nodded. Each and everyone of them were terrified as they wanted nothing but for this nightmare to be over. Unfortunately...
The miserable screams of people being attacked mixed with the sound of gunfire, alarms, collapsing structures, and roaring creatures.
And beneath all of it was something that made the soldiers’ hearts ache even more.
Children were crying.
Somewhere in the distance, the weeping of children and babies could be heard. Their cries echoed throughout the chaos.
Listening to the babies cries, all the soldiers had their blood cold and deep fury mixed with hatred appeared in their heart.
Many soldiers clenched their fists so tightly that their fingernails dug into their palms.
One soldier turned toward the captain.
"Sir..." His voice trembled.
If Thoren had not been present, many of them would have already left their jeeps.
They would have rushed into the streets.
They would have tried to save whoever they could.
They were soldiers.
Protecting civilians was what they had been trained to do.
But they had received a direct order from Thoren.
And they knew that whatever was happening in the Glimmer District was far beyond anything they had encountered before.
Leaving the convoy without his command could place the entire group in danger.
The vehicles continued moving.
Then Thoren suddenly raised his hand.
"Stop..."
His voice was calm.
But the soldiers immediately reacted.
The drivers slammed their feet against the brakes.
Screech!
The convoy came to a halt.
Thoren opened the door and stepped out.
The moment his feet touched the blood-covered pavement, the surrounding soldiers instinctively became alert.
Thoren stood beside the jeep and he immediately smelled it.
The scent of the Bleeding Desert.
Even though he was away from the second floor of the Abyss, the creatures carried the same presence he had encountered there.
Thoren looked toward the road ahead. The creatures continued moving among the civilians, spreading further into the district.
Behind him, the soldiers waited for his next command.
Thoren turned slightly.
"Use the jeep to form a defensive formation. Do not allow anyone to pass without my consent."
"Yes, Young Master!" The soldiers immediately moved.
Thoren did not look back as he simply walked toward the chaos. His footsteps landed against the blood-covered pavement.
Step. Step. Step.
The soldiers watched him move farther away and then something appeared beside him.
Four figures emerged silently.
Undead.
Two carried swords.
The other two carried spears.
Four ordinary undead.
Yet their mere presence was enough to make the surrounding atmosphere become heavier.
Thoren continued walking and he reached into his inventory.
Something appeared in his hand.
It was a small bell.
At first glance, it looked ordinary as there was nothing particularly threatening about it.
Just a small bell resting quietly in Thoren’s palm.
The soldiers behind him noticed it, but none of them understood why he had brought it out.
Slowly, Thoren raised the ordinary-looking bell while his eyes remained fixed on the chaos ahead.
Then he shook it gently.
Ting.
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