In a rush, the two men climbed the stairs of the old, barely surviving building, its foundations strong even after decades of downtime.
Roars came from the sides.
The astral creature spotted them, following the first wave. Soon, the building would be surrounded, but that was what Kreyn wanted.
They ended up on a rooftop, looking out over the city from above. Monsters could reach them from either side, but it would take time.
"Alright Kain, this isn't the most common case, but I think we can handle it just fine." Kreyn pulled his rifle from his back. "Here's what we'll do - you watch the stairs and kill the monsters, I'll take the four sides and shoot every critter that gets too close."
Confusion was on Kain's face.
Sure, he escaped from Valkyra and Aurora, but he wasn't surrounded by monsters yet.
"Hey, pull yourself together! All these monsters are just a Tarnished Rank trash! I've killed a hundred of them!"
"But... That monster on the bridge was my first." Kain stammered.
Kreyn smirked, placing the rifle on the barrel.
"That's why you go to defend the stairs. Those who go down that way will be small, it will be a 1 on 1 fight every time. The main thing is to watch your energy and use your Codex effectively. One hit, one dead body.
"We'll either close the rift ourselves or wait for backup. The squad should move out within three minutes, they'll be here in fifteen. So, all we have to do is hold out for twenty minutes."
He narrowed his eyes, taking aim.
"Come on, kid. If you ever want to reach the next rank, you have to be ready for anything. Your whole life is a fight now, in our world and at the Astral Dimension."
Click.
At the same moment, Kreyn pulled the trigger - a fiery blast blew up the three monsters at the foot of the bridge.
"Got it." Kain nodded as he headed for the door.
At the sound of deafening gunfire, Kain stopped in the doorway, focused and excited.
Before long, the first ripple hit his feet, someone or something was running down the stairs.
Thus, Kain encountered the second monster.
A creature with a large, red-masked head and four arms stared at him, baffled, remotely resembling an ape, but the wildest of nightmares.
The ape frowned, it was displeased that someone outplayed it and stood in the middle of the passage.
"GRHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" in a wild yell, the ape pounced on Kain, clenching all four of its fists tightly.
Crackle.
Kain's fist with a burning crimson cross slammed into the ape's mask, a torrent of frozen chunks of flesh crashing into the concrete walls. Only the mask remained.
"I see..." Kain muttered, looking at his hand, a thorn came out of his palm, healing the wound. "As soon as I want to strike, then the thorn pierces my palm, providing me with a single drop of my blood. It hurts every time, but the cold at impact takes it all away."
The Awakened had to learn how to use their Codex and learn its weaknesses and strengths.
"Hmm." Kain hummed as he glanced at Kreyn, who was firing nonstop. "Oddly enough, in some ways, the Forbidden Treasure is similar to his rifle."
The burning crimson cross reflected in his eyes.
"As soon as I want to attack, a thorn pierces my skin - like pulling the bolt on a rifle. Then, there's a drop - a bullet, and my attack is a shot."
A rumbling sound interrupted Kain's musings. A long body running across the floor made him wary.
Two clawed paws left slashes on the walls.
A head with a mad grin turned at a strange angle. It stared at Kain, sticking out its tongue.
In a heartbeat, Kain lunged forward, but before he knew it, the monster was upon him, nailing him to the ground.
Shadows appeared behind them, three more monsters following the big one. Their smirks merged with the shadows, glaring at Kain like it was their dinner.
"Ghehehehehe!" the big one laughed, bringing its fist folded into a hammer down on Kain.
Everything was happening too fast for the inexperienced Kain to prepare an attack.
As a last resort, he covered himself with his arms in a desperate attempt to defend himself.
At the same moment, the thorn pierced his palm, releasing a drop of blood. Kain's hand was open in a palm, so the drop followed his movement - bursting out.
Bloody surges rushed through the stream of vapor, piercing the monsters' bodies like buckshot. A multitude of lacerations tore chunks off the monsters or left gaping holes.
Either way, all of them died, crashing to the ground.
After firing another shot, Kreyn turned around towards the passage.
"Hey! Kain, are you alright?!"
Kain gulped. "Y-Yes!"
Then, he stared at his hand. "At least I think so..."
"Good! Then get your ass over here! Something interesting is about to start! I wouldn't advise you to miss it, rookie!"
It didn't take long to convince Kain. Trying not to slip on the frozen blood, he returned to the roof.
"What the hell..." his eyes went wide in disbelief.
Dozens of corpses lay on the floor, among them a few flying ones with wide wings. A wound with burning embers was in each one's chest. More were around the building, the corpses scattered on the roads.
However, the monsters weren't getting any less.
Kreyn waved his hand, beckoning Kain over to him.
"Here, watch carefully," Kreyn pointed at the rift, placing his rifle on the edge.
For some reason the monsters headed towards the rift, they glanced around searching for any threat. Oddly enough, they left Kreyn and Kain alone, rarely turning in their direction.
"What's going on?" Kain was puzzled.
"Well." Kreyn looked at his watch. "It's already been five minutes, just long enough for the rift to finish forming and enter the portal stage. But, we're not going to let that happen."
At the same moment, streams of energy condensed around the sphere, forming a purple crystal at the top - the portal's core.
A platform and four columns emerged from the surging energy, quickly forming an object that would become a serious concern for all the Keepers and people in the area.
"That's enough," Heret whispered, pulling the trigger.
The flaming blast shattered the barrier with ease, crashing straight into the crystal.
Several monsters tried to protect the rift with their bodies, but it was too late.
One shot was enough to destroy the portal.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
Everything connected to the portal crumbled into dust, the same fate awaited the monsters if they didn't hurry.
In a heartbeat, the monsters' goal changed. Instead of capturing territory, each astral creature rushed back into the rift as fast as it could. If there was anyone in their path, they didn't mind throwing them aside or breaking someone's neck.
Less than thirty seconds later, the rift closed, releasing a lone shockwave.
Hovering runes were left in place of the portal before it could form. When the runes disappeared, they created a bright flash, the light revealing the silhouette of an object slamming into the bridge.
Opening his eyes, Kain gasped - in the middle of the bridge was an obsidian sword, reflecting the glow of the sun on its broad blade with a rough hilt.