The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 668 - 103 - The War For The Holy City (3)

Leon's POV

A sudden, deafening explosion erupted behind me. It was so loud it sent a shockwave through the air that rattled my bones and made the earth beneath my feet shudder.

My instincts kicked in, and I spun around in an instant.

A towering mushroom cloud of fire and smoke bloomed into the sky, the flames licking upward like the wrath of a god. The deep orange hue reflected off the surrounding clouds, casting an ominous glow that felt apocalyptic.

"That's…!" Titania choked out, my voice catching in her throat.

Titania's reaction was immediate. Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide in pure horror as if her brain refused to register the reality unfolding before her.

But I already knew what was in that direction.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

It was where the orphanage was.

My eyes locked on the cloud. "Thankfully… it seems like it's still far enough away…" I muttered, trying to convince myself. But even from a distance, that kind of destruction was terrifying.

As I continued to stare, another movement caught my attention. They were dark shapes slicing through the sky.

Fighter jets.

Sleek, menacing machines tearing across the heavens with screaming engines and trails of exhaust. My eyes narrowed as I tried to make out the details on them.

Wait…

Symbols.

Not just symbols... emblems! Flags.

But not from this world.

A chill ran down my spine.

That wasn't any known nation from this world. The patterns, the color, the insignia. I recognized it. I'd seen it once before… when I crossed through the portal and ended up in that other world.

It was the flag of that nation.

What the hell were they doing here?

Had they come through the same kind of portal? Were they launching a full-blown invasion? Was this… a declaration of war?

"Rose!" I snapped. "Take Nia and the others! Get them somewhere safe—now!"

She didn't hesitate. The tires screeched against the dirt road as she floored the accelerator, disappearing down the road. Titania and the rest were frozen in place, too stunned to speak. Their faces were drained of color, mouths open, but no words came out.

I turned my back to them and launched into a full sprint.

My body moved on pure instinct. My muscles burned as I pushed myself to the limit. My thoughts were consumed with one thing and that was Alice and the others.

Please, please… let them be safe.

The wind roared in my ears, the world blurring around me as I dashed across the fields like a bolt of lightning.

I didn't think. I didn't care about what might happen to me. I just ran.

Faster. Harder.

Until finally, my feet touched down on the outskirts of the village.

What I saw turned my stomach.

Bodies lay scattered across the ground. Some villagers groaned, barely clinging to life. Others… weren't so lucky.

The grounds were painted with blood.

Flui Village had become a graveyard.

The air was heavy, thick with the metallic scent of spilled blood, smoke, and death. The silence between the distant gunfire was suffocating.

I charged toward the orphanage, dodging debris and shattered wood.

And then... I saw them.

Soldiers.

They wore distinct military uniforms, unfamiliar yet unmistakably human. Each held high-tech firearms, their fingers squeezing the triggers without hesitation, bullets flying in all directions.

My gut twisted in recognition.

They were soldiers from the other world. The same world Zoey and Chloe came from. The world I had lived in for those strange, distant four months.

They'd crossed over.

How…?

Had they found a way through the portal?

And now, they were attacking?

Was this the beginning of the interdimensional war?

Were they striking first to gain the upper hand?

Tactically, it made sense… but what they were doing now—slaughtering civilians, burning homes—it was pure fucking evil.

My grip tightened.

I couldn't let this continue.

I had to stop them.

Right here. Right now.

Without another thought, I summoned Ayuru. A burst of dark light formed in my palm, and she materialized.

I grabbed her tightly.

And then I moved.

With one swift motion, I launched into the enemy.

Steel sang through the air as Ayuru cut clean through their armor. Blood spurted, screams erupted, and bodies fell.

The soldiers fired back, their bullets ripping through the air around me. Some grazed me. Others struck true, but I didn't stop.

I couldn't.

I slashed them down, one after the other. Each death came swift. Precise. And unforgiving.

But more just kept coming.

Dozens of them, waves of soldiers, each more prepared than the last. Some rolled in atop tanks. Others hovered in helicopters that thundered through the skies above.

This was no small skirmish.

This was war.

If this was truly the start of the interdimensional conflict… then the bloodshed that would follow would be unimaginable.

The death toll on both sides would be catastrophic.

I turned my eyes toward the orphanage again.

It was still standing.

Barely.

But something felt off.

I couldn't sense anything inside. There was no movement inside and there was no presence as well.

Had Alice and the kids made it out?

I didn't know.

I needed to find out.

Soldiers aimed their guns at me again. I didn't even flinch.

I cut through them, heads rolling, bodies collapsing like puppets with severed strings. Helicopters spiraled out of control, crashing to the ground in fiery infernos.

Tanks rumbled forward, but I hurled powerful magic at them, blasting them apart in bursts of searing light and deafening roars.

Still… they kept coming.

An army determined to burn this world down.

Determined to ignite a war across dimensions.

They weren't going to stop.

But neither was I.

***

Alice's POV

"Are you okay, Alice?"

Sister Lily had somehow managed to drag us into a narrow underground shelter, its cold, cracked stone walls barely holding back the chaos above. Dust trickled from the ceiling with every distant explosion, and the air smelled of smoke, dirt, and iron. She was now kneeling beside me, carefully tending to the wound on my shoulder. Her hands trembled ever so slightly. She was trying to be strong for all of us, but I could see the panic creeping behind her eyes.

"I think I'm fine," I muttered, wincing as she pressed cloth against the wound while also applying healing magic. "But more importantly, Sister… what is happening out there?"

Her gaze flickered toward the shelter entrance, then returned to me with a grim shadow cast across her face.

"We're under attack," she said, voice low but firm. "I don't know who's responsible. They aren't like the usual bandit groups that roam around and harass villages... no, these ones are different. Organized. Heavily armed. And it looks like they're targeting the Holy City too."

Just as we were trying to piece it together, a sudden, thunderous voice echoed through the shelter. It sounded unnaturally loud and booming, as though it came from every direction at once.

"Citizens of this wretched world, filled with nothing but garbage… we are the people of a new world, born from a realm far greater than any of you pathetic trashes could even dream of reaching."

The voice reverberated from every machine. From the roaring land vehicles and the low-hovering flying vehicles alike. It was like some twisted declaration, blaring proudly and without restraint.

"We have come to conquer this world… to rule it with absolute authority. Those who resist us will be cut down mercilessly. Those who yield will be allowed to live, but only as slaves to our glorious nation."

Every child in the shelter flinched at the words. I could feel the way their tiny bodies shook against me. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms tightly around them, pulling them into a protective embrace. Their fear seeped into me, making my chest tighten.

"Women will serve as sexual pleasure. Children will be torn from their parents and forced to work for our empire. And this world—your world—will be reduced to nothing more than a puppet, dancing to the will of our ever-growing conquest. You can struggle all you want, but it is futile. You are nothing before the might of our nation."

"...Sister," I whispered, my voice strained and shaky. I turned to her, and we both listened—our hearts racing—as the unmistakable sound of dozens of approaching footsteps echoed from above. They were drawing closer by the second.

The children in our arms started crying, small whimpers that filled the tiny room like glass cracking under pressure. They were terrified. So were we.

Sister Lily's eyes sharpened. She nodded to me once and turned to the children, her expression calm despite the chaos around us.

"The moment we say go, you all run. Do you understand?" she said.

"B-But what about you, Sister Lily? And Big Sis Alice?" one of the children asked, voice trembling, tears staining his cheeks.

"We'll stay behind to give you an opening, as much time as we can manage," she replied without hesitation. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of a small dagger hidden in her robes, the metal glinting faintly in the dim shelter light.

"But—"

"Listen to me!" she said, her voice rising, not out of anger, but urgency. "If you manage to get out, don't look back. Don't stop. Go straight to find Big Bro Leon. He'll protect you. He will."

The children looked at us with wide, frightened eyes. They didn't want to leave, but deep down, they knew there was no other choice. One by one, they nodded, swallowing their sobs, clutching each other tightly.

And just like that, Sister Lily and I stood.

We braced ourselves… for whatever came through that entrance next.