Only moments later, Theo stood in front of the large metal gate again.

As it opened in front of him, he glanced back at Jackson for a few seconds.

’’Just wait for the good news,’’ he said before nodding once.

Jackson stared at him with a meek, uneasy smile on his face.

But compared to before, a glimmer of hope seemed to flash through his eyes.

Even if it was only a little... Theo knew he could trust that hope.

’He’ll get the people ready,’ he thought, a plan formulating in his mind. ’Once I’ve found the others, we can try to make our way out of the city with them.’

Staying was practically a guaranteed death sentence after all.

Unless the national army came to save the city, there was practically no way of changing that.

But as he thought about it, a frown appeared on his face.

’Speaking of the national army... where the fuck are they?’

’They were stationed in our city, but I haven’t seen them at all.’

As he wracked his mind about it, a realization suddenly hit.

’Right,’ he thought. ’They’d leave on the last day of the tournament.’

As that thought settled in, his frown only deepened.

’Wait a moment... why does all of this seem so coincidental?’

The day after the national guard leaves, a massive beast tide suddenly shows up and wrecks the city?

That didn’t make sense at all.

Suddenly, a very familiar uneasy feeling spread through his stomach.

’Something is wrong about all of this.’

Just then—

CLUNK!

The metal door fully opened in front of him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He clenched his jaw and forced his mind off the subject.

’Whatever it is... it’s not relevant for me now,’ he thought, stepping forward. ’I need to find Owen and Iris too if she hasn’t already escaped.’

Not to mention guiding as many of these people out of the city while staying safe.

’’Good luck!’’ Jackson’s voice rang out behind him.

Slowly, the metal door sealed the bunker behind him again.

Only after it had fully closed did the second door in front of him open.

The moment it did, water suddenly began pouring in.

’Huh?’

Theo frowned, quickly squeezing himself out the door.

That’s when he saw it.

The water had risen even more, nearly sitting on the same level as his knees now.

That meant... it had practically doubled in as little as an hour.

’You can’t be serious,’ he thought, heart pounding. ’Are they really trying to flood the entire city?!’

He shuddered at the thought.

Countless hidden civilians would drown and... there was no chance the city would ever recover.

Theo quickly pushed those thoughts aside and began moving through the flooded streets again.

Water splashed around his legs with every step.

Now that it was this high, even moving became countless times more exhausting than before.

’Come on,’ he thought, clenching his jaw. ’I just need to push through.’

Suddenly, Theo spotted movement in the water.

Without hesitation, he swung his spear towards it.

Splash!

It drove through the water, clearly hitting something.

Only seconds later, blood rose to the surface alongside a small fish-like creature.

Theo’s expression darkened.

If the water level kept rising and thousands of such creatures swam through it...

’This is going to be hell.’

He pushed through the water as fast as he could, reaching the Sirens’ corpses within three minutes again.

But... Owen and the large group of people were nowhere to be seen.

Only monster corpses drifted across the surface of the water, painting it a mixture of blue and red.

’They must’ve relocated,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. ’Seeing these corpses, they must’ve gone... south?’

With no other choice, Theo began moving.

He pushed through the water as fast as he could, following the trail of floating corpses deeper into the city.

The further south he moved, the more destruction surrounded him.

’Go,’ he told himself over and over. ’There isn’t much time left.’

Several corpses of weaker creatures popped up one after another, some killed by brute force, others frozen or burned.

Another two minutes passed.

Then—

A bright flicker suddenly lit up in the distance.

Thud!

Noises of battle echoed out through the street.

Theo immediately raised his head, locking onto the noise.

Without hesitation, he accelerated.

The closer he got, the more freshly killed creatures floated up, some of which still twitched.

Finally, Theo spotted them in the distance.

Owen stood at the back of the large group of people, a signpost in his hands as a makeshift sledgehammer.

Several other hunters stood spread out too, some holding real weapons while others only had random items.

That’s when Theo’s eyes fell on another figure.

’Joop Halsa?!’

He almost felt the need to rub his eyes.

The Hunter Association leader himself stood outside the crowd, though the man was far out of his prime, a deep purple flame spread out from both his hands.

Just then, a loud screech echoed through the streets.

Theo glanced aside, finding a D-rank fishman charging towards them, a large water bubble forming on its trident.

Behind it, several dozens of mantis shrimp followed.

Before he could even react—

A deep purple flame surged forward through the street.

SCREEECH!

The fishman let out a shrill scream before turning into dust.

Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

The entire flame swallowed the street, wiping out countless more creatures in an instant.

Even from this far away, the intense heat prickled his skin slightly.

’Whoa...’

Without another thought, he continued forward.

But someone had already noticed him.

’’Theo!’’ Owen’s voice rang out loudly.

Instantly, several of the hunters turned towards the noise.

Even Joop turned around for a moment, a thin smile appearing on the elderly man’s face.

Bang!

Owen swung his signpost into another creature.

’’Come on over!’’ he shouted again.

Theo didn’t hesitate.

He took his spear off his back and charged forward, cutting through any creature that stood in his path.

Several F and E-rank creatures were killed in an instant.

Only as he got closer did he finally notice how bad the situation actually was.

Each of them was covered in blood and visibly exhausted to the point where Theo wondered how they were still standing.

Behind them, countless people had gathered in a large shopping mall, which had been barricaded by large metal boards and overturned cars.

The moment Theo finally reached them, Owen immediately let out a heavy breath.

"About damn time," he muttered, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

Then his expression turned more serious.

’’You got to them in time?’’

A smile flashed past Theo’s face.

’’Yes,’’ he nodded. ’’They got out safely.’’

Owen grinned, swinging the signpost back onto his shoulder.

’’Good shit,’’ he said. ’’To bring you up to date...’’

’’We joined Joop’s group after finding him.’’

Theo stared at him blankly, expecting more information than that.

’’So, what’s the plan now then?’’

Owen shrugged, his gaze already on another approaching creature.

’’Just keep fighting I guess,’’ he said, taking a step forward. ’’You’ll have to ask Joop for more information.’’

Just then, a familiar female voice rang out behind him.

’’Less talking, more action!’’

Owen’s expression shifted slightly.

’’Keep it zipped, loudmouth,’’ he shouted, glancing back.

Theo also followed the noise, quickly spotting Lyra’s figure further towards the back.

Her tiger-like beast stood by her side, though the harpy was nowhere to be seen.

’’Loudmouth?’’ Lyra shouted angrily. ’’YOU are calling ME a loudmouth?!’’

Owen chuckled, taking the signpost off his shoulders.

’’You’re all talk and no bite,’’ he said. ’’Of course you’re the loudmouth!’’

With that, he dashed forward to meet an E-rank creature.

Theo just glanced between the two, caught off guard.

’The two of them have time to banter like this?’

’Do they not... fear what’s going on?’

Finally, an even larger smile grew on his face as he shook his head.

’I really chose the right people to be around.’

Theo immediately turned back, spotting Joop’s figure on the opposite side of the crowd.

Without another thought, he made his way through them.

As he walked, countless people whispered around him, each staring at him.

’’Look, this year’s champion is also here!’’

’’You see that, boy! The strong hunters are here to rescue us.’’

Each whisper that entered his ear spiked the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

As he reached Joop, he froze.

’Shit...’

The old man was breathing heavily, his back bent from overexhaustion.

Yet... purple flames kept appearing around him.

They flashed forward time and time again, killing creatures left and right.

Theo’s expression hardened immediately.

’He’s pushing himself too much.’

Even though the man was clearly far, far stronger than he was...

In the end, he was still an elderly man.

His body and core had probably long deteriorated from their prime state.

BOOOOOM!

Another wave of purple flames shot through the streets, instantly swallowing over a hundred creatures.

Some civilians nearby immediately cheered in relief.

But Theo’s expression only worsened.

’At this rate...’

Joop would collapse before the creatures stopped coming!