28. RED [1]
Berry headed to his Domain immediately after receiving the Grand Overseer's orders. He was greeted by a woman in a maid's uniform with corpse-like features.
"My lord, welcome home. How was your trip?" she said calmly.
Her dim eyes stared directly at the power-drunk Berry. He smiled at her, pushing her aside forcefully, opening the door of the manor he had built within his Domain.
He walked down the stairs leading to the basement underneath the manor. Upon reaching the last step, a grin formed on his face as countless birth capsules of Ravter Abominations flooded the entire space.
Huge masses of red muck, similar to blood, attached themselves to the walls of the basement, taking on cocoonish forms.
There were four birth capsules at the far end. They stood out immensely because of their extra-large sizes; they were at least three times the size of the other cocoons. Cracks began to appear on them, spreading like vines across each capsule.
Berry's grin grew wider.
"Senita, alert the others..." he said slowly.
"Our match of RED will soon begin!" he declared boldly.
Senita bowed her head.
"As you wish, my lord," she said.
Over at the training centre, Revet tried to make heads or tails of Uriel's incomplete and highly unsettling transmission.
Nirvana pressed her fingers against her lips.
"This is indeed troubling. I tried to reach Vroh and Delta, but none of them answered," she said with a disturbed look on her face.
Nirvana returned back to her Domain alongside her summons to prepare for whatever the Nuxeon cult might be planning. Revet immediately called a meeting with the SPS.
They discussed emergency strategies to counteract the unknown storm that was about to blow their way. Revet resigned to his room, sitting on his bed with a grimaced look on his face. He tapped his temples lightly.
'The Nuxeons' primary goal is to free their God from the Gates of Helm... everything they have done so far has been linked to that sole purpose,' he thought deeply.
Then it finally dawned on him.
'Souls...' he muttered.
He came to realise that the Nuxeons needed high-quality souls to carry out the grand summoning ritual. But it was already too late.
[Berry has eliminated 15 summoners]
He vanished from his bed almost instantly, reappearing in the surveillance tower. The scene that displayed before his eyes shook his world. An unsettling cold stiffened his joints.
Ravter Abominations—hundreds of them—were attacking all the domains as far as his eyes could see. Smoke, indicating fires, rose to the skies. Some domains were destroyed and set ablaze, while other summoners and their summons fought desperately to defend their territories.
The grounds of Astera were indeed painted in RED.
The ground of his Domain began to vibrate. The tremors split the earth. A three-headed, four-armed, forty-foot-tall Ravter
Abomination approached the Dominion of the Heavenly Peak.
Its skin was black as the night sky. It had no eyes—horns grew from the eye sockets of each head, and an ugly grin was imprinted onto its face as it held four mega-sized spears, painted crimson red, in each of its arms.
Revet looked closer at the incoming Ravter Abomination and noticed a little girl in a maid's uniform standing atop its shoulder. The way she carried herself was a bit too serious for her age.
Her pupils spotted Revet immediately.
She pointed her finger at him. Her lips
moved slowly as she uttered the words:
"No. 4, strike him down!" she said with a harsh tone.
No. 4 grasped the spear in his third arm tightly, taking up a striking position. He extended his arm backwards, raising his legs slightly.
He threw the spear with destructive force. It ripped through the heavens, parting the sky in its path. A mucky red glow covered it as it got closer to the Dominion's protective barrier.
It shattered.
The barrier Revet was once proud of was instantaneously broken without the attack experiencing any resistance.
Just as the spear was about to hit the surveillance tower, a purple light flickered in the sky.
It was Cassie, the indomitable Goddess of Great Swords. Her once miniature sword gigantified, becoming ten times her size.
She wielded the sword with only one arm, swinging it as if it were as light as paper. She slammed her gigantic sword into the incoming spear.
The clash was immediately followed by a heavy gust, enough to cause a mini quake.
"Amazing, simply amazing... what a well-polished attack," she exclaimed as she began pushing the spear backwards.
She knocked the spear back as it headed with blazing speed toward No. 4. Before the redirected attack could hit, the spear abruptly lost its momentum and fell to the ground.
"Hohoho, that little girl is indeed a troublesome one," she exclaimed.
With the barrier now shattered, the Dominion of the Heavenly Peak was in a state of emergency. The Ravter Abomination began to move faster.
Revet grimaced. A single thought burned through his mind:
'Who am I to refuse an invitation to war?'
His dark pupils glimmered.
'Berry...'
He pursed his lips, voice lowering.
'You'll be my first stepping stone.'
The words fell cold.
'I promise you.'
His expression hardened, fury coiling beneath the surface.
"Oh my goodness, Revet-dono, Berry is—"
Revet cut her off before she could finish.
'I'm aware. The bastard has declared war on us all.'
"How in the world did he manage to produce so many Ravter Abominations? Not to mention, they are all Class 3 and above!"
Nirvana said mentally.
Revet's tone darkened.
'Nirvana...'
He looked up at the incoming colossal Ravter Abomination.
'Have you encountered any Class 9 Ravter Abomination?'he asked mentally.
"Berry! That bastard—so he sent a Class 9 to your Domain too. He must be focusing his main forces on the top rankers," she transmitted.
"Knowing you, Revet-dono, I'm sure you don't require any backup," she added mentally.
'Save your military strength for the threat at hand,' he replied mentally.
"Okay!" she answered mentally.
"And Nirvana..." he called mentally.
"Yes, Revet-dono," she relayed.
'Good luck out there,'he said.
"Thank you, Revet-dono. I wish you success in battle," she replied mentally as she broke off the link.
Entria appeared behind Revet.
"This is quite the ghastly situation," she said as she walked up to him.
"How many are they?" he asked.
"Apart from that big guy and the little girl over there—about 300 Ravter Abominations within Classes 3–6," she replied.
"Tell the others to use the first strategy," he said.
"And if it fails?" Entria asked skeptically.
Revet tilted his head slightly.
'The backup plan,'he uttered boldly.
Entria chuckled.
"I always liked you, kid."
Cassie landed on the surveillance tower. She hit her chest loudly.
"Leave the big guy and the little girl to me and—"
Before she could finish, Famel made his appearance, flapping his wings softly.
"Him!" she said upon laying eyes on Famel.
"So what will you do?" Entria asked Revet with an intrigued tone.
Revet clutched his fists tightly as his spirit energy flared violently.
'I'm going to kill Berry,'he said with a dreadful tone—as he vanished.