GOD OF ALL SYSTEMS
Chapter 42 - 42: An Impending Doom 2

Inside the gate, a chaotic scene was occurring. Numerous mana attacks flew across the scene as war cries reverberated throughout a lightless mountain cave. The cave was pitch black; only the awakened warriors' constant mana and ability attacks made it possible even to visualize that they were in a cave.

"Ahh! Help me!"

"No!"

"Save me!"

"Argh!"

Numerous horrific and agonizing screams resounded as warriors from the team were sucked into the darkness by unknown creatures.

"Everyone, get in formation. Shield warriors activate the shield! Retreat into formation!"

Julius' voice desperately echoed in the cave as he commanded his troops into retreat. And as heard, the shield warriors raised their staffs as they activated their respective defensive abilities, forming a shield above the group of now less than two thousand eight hundred.

As the shield formed, spreading over the group, they fought desperately as they launched countless attacks into the darkness, hoping to kill the enemies despite not being able to see them.

Julius, being an S-rank, had heightened senses and sharp instincts. He would launch at the enemies, hit them with an attack enough to render them weak, and then Joseph, Captain Smith, and the others would finish them off with ease.

But seeing the monsters increasing and becoming stronger by the minute, Julius called for a retreat, trying to preserve the remaining crew.

So, as the shield formed, Julius and the rest of the team increased their ferocity as they tried to protect the defense mages while also buying enough time for them to finish setting up the shield barrier.

Ten seconds later, the shield finally formed, and the crew was saved from the endless attacks from the unknown shadow creatures.

Now protected by the shield, the scene finally lost its intensity, allowing the warriors to attend to their wounds and recuperate themselves.

But despite the crew being protected by the shield, the shadowy monsters relentlessly launched themselves at the barrier, trying to break it despite losing their lives in the attempt.

"How long can they hold the shield?" Julius breathed heavily as he asked Captain Smith, who was beside him.

Also out of breath, Captain Smith replied, "Three hours at best, three and a half if we're lucky. But if the monsters maintain their constant barrage, it would be a miracle if they lasted two hours."

The two chatted as the crew rested from the overwhelming battle earlier.

Among the crew, the healing mage, who chatted with Captain Smith earlier, was healing some injured warriors. She had a frightened expression as she healed the deep cuts on a male comrade made by the monster's claw-like fingers.

The male awakened, seeing the young lady barely holding herself from a mental breakdown, and held her hands as he said, "Hey, you are doing great. You are a great asset to the team, and most of us would have already been dead without you. So, give yourself some credit."

The young lady forced a smile as she nodded, but she turned to the other hundreds of injured being attended to and immediately lost her forced smile. She turned and saw Sir Watson and Captain Smith talking, neither expressing any hopeful attitude toward their situation.

"If only Lady Athena were here," the young lady murmured to herself as she bowed her head in dismay.

....

Outside the gate, Michael and his manager stood in silence as they watched the red gate. The manager then spoke.

"Michael, we must leave Metro City. This gate would likely overload; Metro City being wiped out is the least of what will happen."

"Who cares about Metro City? They can be wiped out for all I care, as long as Julius and his crew get wiped out along with them. Speaking of which, where is Athena?"

Michael asked, not having any recollection of what had occurred with him earlier at the training chamber, or his tone wouldn't be this arrogant and betraying.

"Let's leave; the W.A.O. must have noticed the energy difference already and had evaluated the gate to be an S-rank. Our staying here will only expose us as the murderers of these guards."

The manager spoke as he walked away from the Gate and to the car.

Michael stood by the Gate, he scoffed at the red Gate as he said,

"You called me ungrateful and unfit to be a member of the Watson family; now let's see how you survive this. Your death will be doing me a huge favor; I will marry Athena to the Grey family and gain favor with them, and then, as the only next of kin, I will inherit everything that rightfully belongs to me. Farewell, Julius Watson."

Done speaking, Michael spat at the gate and followed behind his manager. A maniacal smirk was plastered on his face.

....

"Good evening, ladies, and gentlemen; live today at Metro City! According to reliable sources, there has been an explosive amount of mana energy at one of the gate sites owned by the Watson family. The W.A.O. and other necessary authorities have been alarmed by the situation.

Today, we have here a former B-rank captain of a previously known guild, Mr. Garson. He is going to tell us what exactly we should be expecting. As a member of the W.A.O., we believe Mr. Garson is qualified enough to elaborate on such situations.

Once again, good evening, Mr. Garson. So, what do you think is happening right now? Could the presence of such overwhelming energy indicate the possibility of an S-rank gate, and if so, should we expect a gate overload if the gate isn't cleared?!"

In a luxurious and expensive bar in Monaco, the emergency news from Metro City was displayed on the TVs, halting the bar full of people from singing, drinking, and dancing as if someone else had paid. The merry commotion died down, the scene becoming gloomy instantly.

Standing and singing among the crowd were two godly couples: a tall chocolate-skinned man with silver hair and the heavenly beauty of a woman dancing with her ass on his groin.

The couple also saw the news, but contrary to everyone's surprised reactions, they were unreactive, as if they already knew.

On the contrary, as if the couple didn't want to hear the news, the TVs suddenly vanished, and the people, as if gaining consciousness, retracted from their gloomy moods as they continued singing and dancing again, enjoying the free drinks and food paid for by the wealthiest person in the Omniverse.

"Well, first, I would like to reassure the citizens of Metro and Dasia Kingdom that there won't be a gate overload; the W.A.O. already has countermeasures to mitigate this. So, to answer your question, there won't' be a Gate overload."

At the W.A.O. Headquarters in London, Thomas Spike sat in a conference room with several individuals as they watched the news. He maintained a serious and tranquil expression as he observed the situation. He suddenly ordered as the TV was switched off.

"Sir, we already contacted our top assets, but because of the treaty of not involving in another nation's affairs without permission, we haven't taken action yet."

Marie Spike, Maria Spike's twin sister, who was among the individuals said calmly.

"Now isn't the time to care about nonsense treaties, override everything with code red and begin countermeasures. Our top priority is to secure all humans within a hundred miles of the Gate." Thomas Spike said as he continued to calculate the situation.

But suddenly, as if she had received new information, Marie hesitated as she stared at her grandfather. Thomas noticed Marie's hesitance as he asked.

"Speak."

"Sir, according to our men at the site, they found some corpses at the Gate entrance, and human feet tracks are entering but none facing out, there-

"A team must have entered before it became a red gate. And since the Gate belongs to the Watson family, it's most likely that they are in the Gate." Thomas finished Marie's thoughts.

"Yes, Sir. What are your orders? If we request S-ranks, they would most likely request billions in compensation, and our funding is barely hanging by a string, paying it A-ranks and below; we won't be able to afford a single S-rank, let alone several." Marie asked, her expression tense and serious, awaiting Thomas' answer.

"…."

Silence permeated the tense atmosphere of the conference room as everyone stared at Thomas for orders.

Most were aware of Julius Watson being his former comrade and friend, but the situation was too dire to be sentimental, especially when it involved breaking national treaties, requesting for S-ranks, who are practically the most prized assets on the planet, and more importantly, the lives of an entire nation.

"We are the W.A.O. Our duty is to humanity, not to nations or for organizational benefit. Summon as many S-ranks as necessary; that gate should be cleared immediately. Let all S-ranks know this: failure to answer this call means a one-year sanction to their awakened license.

That's it; update me on further changes." Thomas said as he leaned back, dismissing the conference. The group left, leaving Thomas, Marie, and Maria Spike in the room.

"Grandfather, you do understand you don't have that much power to sanction a single S-rank, let alone the entire continent right, they would just give us the fuck-you finger and go on living their kingly lifestyles." Marie Spike said as she sat on a chair dejectedly.

"I know. I guess now the world will know the W.A.O. isn't as powerful as we are portrayed globally. We are a funded organization, owned by major corporations and families, and the original purpose for creating the W.A.O. was to have millions of Awakened under their control. *laughter* ~ What a load of bullshit, the W.A.O."

Thomas said as he leaned back while holding a hand to his face laughing in self-mockery.

"What now, grandfather, are we just going to allow Sir Julius and his family to die in the Gate? Knowing the pride of those S-ranks, they won't move an inch unless they are paid, and if we wait for all proceedings, the Watson family would have already been wiped out by then."

Maria Spike, the woman who previously applied as a teacher at Patrick's orphanage, said while standing beside her grandfather.

Hearing his granddaughter's words only aggravated Thomas' gloomy mood. He couldn't help but murmur these dreadful words: "Am I going to witness my friend and comrade die in a gate with his family, even though I am the one responsible for preventing such situations?"

....

It had been half an hour already inside the Gate, Julius Watson and his team were still protected within the shield, most had already recuperated and revitalized themselves.

But just when the group had adapted to the comfort of being safe and protected, "Boom!... Boom!... Boom!" Loud, booming sounds resounded within the darkness, the sound becoming louder and closer as if an incoming giant.

The group reacted as they began assembling in defensive formations, with Julius, Joseph, and Captain Smith standing before the crew as the leaders.

Suddenly, the group felt the ground trembling and the surface rising as if something was raising them with the ground.

"Welcome, humans!"

Suddenly, from within the darkness, an extremely heavy, hoarse demonic male voice sounded, causing the cave to tremble as if an earthquake were happening.

As the demonic voice resounded, red, energy-like flames began lighting up from each side of the cave. One by one, the lights lit up, displaying an extremely massive and spacious cave.

Julius Watson, his son, Joseph Watson, Captain Smith, and the rest of the team expressed horrified faces as they were introduced to what any human would classify as dreadfully horrific.

As the cave lit up, it showed hundreds of thousands of eight-legged shadowy creatures with razor-like claws as hands, black eyes, and long fangs, all sticking to the walls within the cave. As the expansive cave lit up, the shadow creatures growled as they escaped into the shadow of the giant that was currently holding up the Watson crew.

Although the crew was horrified after seeing the giant, it wasn't the most fearful thing within the gate. The most horrifying thing within the Gate was a creature sitting within the heart area of the giant. This one realization indicates that whoever is sitting within the giant's heart area also killed the giant and made it their puppet.

The creature had a completely pitch-black face, almost resembling a black hole, as not even the lights within the cave could shine on his face.

The dark-faced creature sat on a large sword plunged within the giant's heart, his staff hovering beside him. Standing beside the dark-faced creature was the lion-like beast from earlier. The lion-like beast had an expressionless look as it stared at the humans shielded within the energy firmament.

"I, on behalf of the Demon God, would personally want to express my gratitude to you for bringing in these many sacrifices. Especially you, S-rank human." The demon spoke in a now understandable but hoarse tone as he pointed at Julius Watson. He then stood up and walked to the edge of the giant's chest as he continued.

"My legion, today we march for the human world."

"SCREECH! GROWL!" The creatures growled and screeched in excitement as they listened to their leader.

"We shall conquer this planet, and serve it as the welcoming gift to our God, we shall-

"What a bold existence you are, little demon. Causing all this drama and boasting of killing my father-in-law."

While the dark-faced creature was busy rallying his legion of shadow creatures, a silver-haired man was suddenly standing behind him while looking down at his legion. The silver-haired person stood with his hands behind him as his voice sent a wave of chilling dread into the dark-faced creature's body system.

It was like prey being baited by its predator. The dark-faced creature felt an impending doom. Or, more exactly, something way worse.