In the city of Black Pit, at the seventh metro station, the metro stopped and the doors opened automatically. Damian and Arthur exited one of the doors, heading towards an available elevator. The duo entered the elevator and waited for a moment. "Ding." After seconds, the elevator door opened. The duo exited the elevator, then turned left, heading towards the orphanage, which was a fifteen-minute walk away.
"I have a bad feeling," Damian said.
"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, seriousness on his face this time, contrary to his usual personality.
"I don't know, but ever since we left the dungeon, I've had a bad feeling. My instincts are warning me to be cautious for no reason," Damian took a breath and continued, "And I don't know why, but the closer we get to the house, the stronger this feeling gets."
Arthur replied, "I suggest we start running towards the house. If we run at maximum speed, we'll get there in five minutes."
"Agreed."
The two then started running at full speed towards the orphanage, ignoring the strange looks they received from people.
The closer Damian got, the more he felt something urging him to turn back. His heart was beating like a drum until he saw what he feared to see.
The orphanage was a large building surrounded by a garden enclosed by a fence, or so it had always been. But now, what Arthur and Damian saw was destruction. The surrounding fence was destroyed, and the building that had always been their home was partially destroyed. There was a fire in one part of it, while rubble and debris were scattered throughout the garden.
The duo immediately rushed forward, hoping to find the children or anyone who was there. But when they advanced a little, they saw their worst fears. There were many corpses ranging in age from 3 to 14 years old. Some had their heads cut off, others were burned corpses, and some were killed by firearms.
"Apollo, Masouka, Mimi, Jimmy," Arthur began identifying the bodies of the murdered children, shock on his face, while Damian was frighteningly calm, his mind processing what had happened.
"BOOM!"
The duo heard an explosion from the building and immediately rushed towards the explosion, hoping to find any survivors.
As soon as Damian entered the building, followed by Arthur, his instincts screamed. He immediately jumped backward, pulling Arthur with him.
"Pew," "Pew."
Mana bullets hit the spot where Damian had been. The duo looked at the source of the attack. They saw two men wearing advanced military armor, carrying advanced mana rifles.
"Heh, they dodged the mana bullets. That was impressive. But this time, my bullets won't miss!" The two men aimed their rifles at Damian and Arthur. The duo was about to dodge, but suddenly, "Pew," "Pew." The heads of the two armed men exploded.
The duo looked at the source of the attack, shock on their faces.
"Mom!" the duo spoke in one voice.
Ms. Sophia was holding an advanced mana rifle similar to the ones the armed men had, but Ms. Sophia was injured.
"Damian, Arthur, run! It's a trap. They are targeting one of you!" Ms. Sophia spoke, then coughed up blood.
"Mom!" Arthur and Damian rushed towards her. Damian created a Vitality Flame and was about to treat Ms. Sophia, but she suddenly prevented him from using the Vitality Flame on her.
"I think this is a healing skill, or is it related to your class, hehe. Well, it doesn't matter. Don't waste mana on me. My time is up. You two, escape to the forest. Don't think about going to the city and calling for help because you won't be able to reach there. Instead, run to the forest and hide for a while or escape to another city."
"Mom, what are you saying? You're coming with us!"
"Calm down, child. Don't be noisy and listen to me." Ms. Sophia took a breath, about to continue her speech.
"Pew."
A mana bullet pierced her chest, forming a hole in her chest through which they could see what was behind her body. Ms. Sophia's body collapsed forward, falling into the arms of a stunned Damian. He then looked at the source of the attack and found several armed men, and in the middle of them, a man who looked like their leader, holding an advanced mana pistol from which steam was rising.
"Finally, we got rid of this cockroach. Oh, there are still two children. If I remember correctly, our target was a boy with golden eyes and black hair," he said, looking at Arthur. "Oh, we finally found him. It looks like I'll be able to go home early."
Damian's mind was working quickly, analyzing. There was no time to collapse; he was even surprised by his composure. Damian looked ahead and found the armed men slowly aiming their weapons at them. Damian's body acted immediately. He stored Ms. Sophia's body in his inventory and pulled Arthur, who still couldn't process everything, and jumped outside the building, taking cover behind the walls.
"Pew," "Pew," "Pew," "Pew," "Pew," "Pew." The mana bullets hit the wall, causing it to crack. Damian didn't think much. He pulled Arthur and ran towards the forest. Damian jumped over the fence, followed by Arthur, who had returned to his senses, a look of coldness on his face.
"Vroom," "Vroom."
The duo turned to the source of the sound, which were automated vehicles chasing the duo.
The duo entered the forest, running in a random direction. They weren't moving in a straight line; instead, they were using the trees to obstruct the vehicles. Over time, the duo noticed the increasing number of vehicles and the increasing number of mana bullets flying towards them.
The chase continued for several hours. At this moment, there was a plane flying above their heads, and worse, the plane had a group of snipers trying to kill them. The only reason they couldn't kill them with a single shot was that the duo, while escaping, were moving through areas where it was difficult for the snipers to kill them. Despite this, they successfully managed to hit Damian in his left shoulder, but he immediately used Vitality Flame and healed the wound.
Although the unknown killers couldn't kill the duo, the duo was exhausted and at their limits. The dividing line between their lives and death was only time, and the killers knew that too.
The city where the duo lived was called Black Pit, and there was a reason for that. There was a massive black pit in the forest located in the city. Many monsters emerged from it in waves periodically. The monsters that came out of the pit were strangely powerful. If a monster from outside the Black Pit fought a monster from inside the Black Pit at the same rank and level, the latter would win overwhelmingly. No one knew why, but it was said that there were treasures in the Black Pit that made the monsters strong. Many people decided to venture in, but everyone who entered the Black Pit never returned.
It's impossible to say whether the duo was lucky or unlucky, but they were currently heading towards the Black Pit, which was only five minutes away. The duo continued to dodge the bullets and move towards the Black Pit.
The Black Pit was only a minute away, but unfortunately, the duo was no longer running in the dense vegetation they had been in. The area surrounding the Black Pit had no trees, which caused mana bullets to rain down on them. This time, it was impossible for the duo to dodge the bullets, which changed their plan to having the bullets hit non-vital areas of their bodies.
Wounds began appearing left and right on the duo's bodies, their blood bleeding from every wound. The duo's faces were covered in sweat and wounds, but their eyes were filled with determination and iron will. The Black Pit was only five seconds away. The duo looked at each other, then Damian said, "Trust?" Arthur replied, "Trust." Then the duo jumped, their hands holding onto each other so they wouldn't be separated after entering the place.
Damian glanced at his attackers, memorizing every face and the emblem on their chests, which was also on the vehicles, vowing in his heart to slaughter everyone who participated in this operation.