Chapter 252

"Oh shit. This is a nightmare..." Van gulped loudly.

....

A few minutes ago, the carriers could be seen flying through the air with heavy momentum and speed. Even with how heavy they were, they were flying forward like planes of the old. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Not too fast but definitely not slow at all.

They had long since left the Corps which had been located in the middle of wall steel so they could respond to any threats whatsoever.

Now, they flew over other cities.

The sight further proved Ray’s theories.

He was right.

The walls were built in a way that will want to force the inhabitants to relocate from one to one for better benefits.

Wall Rose was built like the mediaeval times while with what Ray was seeing, Wall Steel was built like the previous modern times of when humans still lived on Earth.

Skyscrapers, tall buildings. Flashy billboards. A few hundred hover cars flying around with blazing momentum.

They was barely any vehicle that moved on wheels. Even the motorcycles hovered above the ground.

But Ray wasn’t here for sightseeing.

Luckily, Sergeant Lincoln was in their carrier as his eyes rested on the Tribrid who looked composed compared to his peers.

The others were fidgeting in their seats. The weaker ones even sweating but despite being a low grader, Ray wasn’t behaving like them.

He was calm.

’Hm. Now I will the chance to see you in action.’

Kai leaned in, his voice dropping terribly low.

"Bro, something doesn’t feel right here."

"Huh?" Ray cocked a brow. "What do you mean?"

Looking around for a few seconds to see the Sergeant’s gaze drifting away from them, he replied.

"It’s a tier 2 gate break, yeah? Which means tons of Advanced beasts will pour out and nothing below that rank. So why are they bringing out all the Aspirants without leaving anybody back whether weak or strong?"

Ray’s brows knit.

"I don’t understand what you are getting at."

Van who was sitting close to them was able to pick on what Kai was saying even though he was whispering.

"Right. I also find it weird."

"Exactly. Not everybody can defeat an Advanced rank beast. So why not just take those strong enough? Why pick everybody up?"

Ray shrugged as if the matter was of no concern to him and it really wasn’t.

Whatever the Corps decided to do, was none of his business.

He just wanted those sweet cores from the beasts he kills.

Thinking of the cores, his eyes gleamed with a greedy look as he was seconds away from rubbing his palms together when Van butted.

"Why does it seem like a weeding of some sorts?"

"Hm?"

Looking around for a second, Van whispered again.

"With less than a few months before we leave the Corps, it will make sense for the Corps to separate the weak and useless from those who will prove useful in this war and to them."

He paused for a moment before adding;

"... I suspected a test might pop up anytime soon but with the gate appearing, the Corps would be crazy to pass it off."

Hearing Van’s conclusion, Ray’s brows furrowed as he shot a scowl in the Sergeant’s way.

But the man looked unfazed when he suddenly touched his bud and nodded.

"Get ready to land. We are here."

The Aspirants all straightened up while the more weaker ones tensed up instantly.

A cold glint flashed across Trisha’s eyes as frost crept in between her fingers for a few moments before she rose up.

Everybody were standing on their feet.

Soon enough, the door to the carrier opened up with Lincoln stepping out of the behemoth transport.

The first Aspirant to take a step forward, froze.

The moment the others reached him too, they froze in shock at what they were seeing.

The carrier had a few dozen metres away in the middle of an opening space that was untouched by the chaos raging on straight ahead.

Three dozen metres away, a swirling vortex could be seen floating a few inches away from the ground, spawning beasts that trickled out with screeching sounds.

A yellow barricade was set around the portal while members of the Iron Corps could be seen opening fire on the beasts with their strange tech-like guns.

Ray wasn’t about to pay attention to the details of the guns as all he saw was blast of energies shooting out from the muzzels.

They looked like bullets but more laser-like with an ethereal glow.

And it seemed to be damaging the beasts.

Some other Iron Corps members who weren’t fighting were intensity evacuating the civilians out of the way as they screamed with every step they took.

Tall buildings had holes at their sides as the beasts climbed around them smashing the windows.

Smoke billowed into the air from the countless burning infrastructures and cars. The air carrying the faint metallic tang of blood, death, chaos and something morbid.

Flames could be seen licking some building as sounds of explosions rolled across the area from the distance.

The beasts themselves....

They were a legion of rusted nightmares, a tidal wave of cobalt steel and screaming nerves that turned the ruined city floor into a sea of grinding metal.

The beasts were hulking and low-slung, their massive frames dominated by domed carapaces of pitted, blue-grey iron.

From every crack in their armor, pale, veiny sinew pulsed like raw muscle, binding the decaying machinery to something far more ancient and grotesque.

As they moved, the sound was deafening—a thousand hydraulic joints hissing in unison, layered over the wet, rhythmic squelch of organic hearts beating inside metal ribcages.

Their heads were clusters of sensory horror.

Rows of glowing, crimson eyes flickered through the dark, hundreds of red sparks cutting through the smoke of the ruins.

Below those eyes, needle-sharp mandibles twitched with a mindless, predatory hunger, spilling thick trails of neon-green ichor that sizzled against the cracked asphalt.

They didn’t just walk; they swarmed on multi-jointed legs that ended in blackened, three-pronged talons, their movements a sickening mimicry of a spider’s grace.

Each beast carried a pair of serrated, primary scythes that scraped against the concrete with a bone-chilling screech, sparks flying as they tasted the debris of the fallen civilization.

Together, they were a singular, breathing machine of destruction.

The air for blocks around them grew heavy with the stench of burnt oil and stagnant blood, a foul mist that signaled their arrival long before the first cobalt shell emerged from the shadows.

They moved as a hive, a singular intent driving a thousand blades, turning the city into their personal slaughterhouse.

"Oh shit. This is a nightmare..." Van gulped loudly as sweat began forming across his temples.