Chapter 437: Dark Awakening - Part 1

The ground trembled. It felt like there was an army of giants stomping somewhere. It even reached Rose Records, who were far away from the site of the Centipede.

"Something is happening." Della said. "I feel something... deep and evil. A massive monster must’ve woken up."

"Killing that monster must give enough points to basically grant the win immediately."

Jax Hugo said.

"It’s an ancient beast. I agree with Jax. We will never get good points by killing these small fries."

Adam said.

"What do you guys think?" Della looked at Raon, Rock, Waylen, and Miranda. "We could go check it out."

"Everyone will head over there." Waylen said. "It’ll be risky. We are not only fighting against the monsters but other guilds as well."

Fang Raon, Rock, and Miranda were in agreement with Waylen, but they also knew that they would never win the competition like this.

They had already accumulated close to a hundred points. It placed them sixth in the leaderboard. It was never going to be enough at this pace.

Killing that monstrous beast might give the guild that killed it more than a million points. To match that, they would need to kill close to half a million of these regular monsters.

"We should go look," Fang Raon said. "If we are not trying to win, then what are we doing here in the first place?"

Everyone agreed. Della as well. They made their decision and followed the sound of the rumbling.

Nobody had any idea that today. The day of the Grinder’s Day. Would end up becoming the most influential day in humanity’s history.

Time till the Dark Awakening: 3 hours and 18 minutes.

...

The ground shook. The massive centipede slithered down the ground, toppling over trees, mountains, and anything else in his path.

Monsters and all kinds of animals tried running away from its past. Most didn’t make it in time and got crushed.

If the centipede was in the leaderboard alongside other guilds, it would already be at the top of the rankings.

Crackle!

Lightning crackled, and at that moment, Lock Manchester appeared from the fog, running alongside the monstrous creature.

"Interesting," Lock grinned, and then he pulled out his dagger. "Let’s see what you’re made of—God of Speed!"

He vanished. Lock moved so fast that he was nothing but a blur. It was obvious that he had become even faster than when he was at Dead Redemption.

There was no equal. It was just Lock, standing at the apex of speed. Nobody could hold a candle to him.

"GOD SCREECH!" Lock landed on top of the centipede, piercing its hard exoskeleton with his sharp blade. "GOD DAGGER MASSACRE!"

The arms, wielding the daggers, moved so fast that they appeared as a blur of silver. It almost looked like he had no arms. The daggers scratched the exoskeleton.

It was really hard, but in just a few seconds, Lock had slashed at the exoskeleton probably a few thousand times.

Crack... the exoskeleton cracked. A little bit of the monster’s green blood dripped out. It was working!

"This is our monster!" Collingham clashed daggers with Lock. "You have no place here; you reject!"

"A reject?" Lock grinned, and then he darted past Collingham and left behind a nasty gash on his arm. "You’re only Dead Redemption because we left. Do not think even for a second that you are our equal."

"Hmph," Collingham looked at his bleeding arm and then turned his head around with a smirk. "You are too soft. You could’ve killed me. That’s not good. I won’t hesitate to kill you, you shitty brat."

"But that’d be too boring." Lock twirled his daggers in his hands. "I want to play with you a little longer."

In that moment, he sensed something, and he moved out of the way. A few arrows swooshed past him and embedded into the exoskeleton. He then saw a pretty girl landing on top of the centipede.

"Hey, Alice. Do not interrupt." Collingham said angrily. "I can handle this."

"Leon told me to help you," Alice said. "You’re not strong enough to take him down just by yourself."

"Tell Leon to fuck off." Collingham said angrily. "I can handle him. I don’t need yours or anybody else’s help for that matter."

"Hey, you should listen to the pretty lady. You are not a match for me. At least you have a chance with her."

Lock said with a smile.

That smile and those words pissed off Collingham. He jumped straight for him. The dagger sang a song of death as it slashed through air.

Lock disappeared. He appeared behind Collingham. He tapped him in the shoulder and said. "I am over here!"

"RAGH!" Collingham stabbed behind him, but Lock was already gone. "Stop playing around, you bastard!"

In the skies, a winged dinosaur, carrying Leon and Seonwoo Kim, flew towards the massive head of the centipede.

"Redfury, get us on top of it," Leon said. "I will cut off its head."

Redfury listened. It let out a loud screech. With a single flap of its wings, it soared through the air faster than any plane.

He appeared high above the centipede.

"Do it." Leon looked at Seonwoo Kim.

"TANK’S SUPREME TAUNT!" Seonwoo Kim raised her sword high, and she then opened her mouth wide. "RAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The centipede stopped. It turned to look towards the sky. It had close to a hundred eyes on its face that looked like a human face that was stitched together with other human faces.

Then.

Leon jumped down, like a skydiver, except he didn’t have a parachute, and then he moved his white katana in front of his face.

He began to recite something. It sounded like a chant or prayer. In that moment, the white katana started glowing.

"Archangel’s Death From Above!" Leon smashed the katana into the centipede’s face. "Supreme Slash."

A sword wound ran down the centipede’s face. Its face almost got sliced in half. It screeched in agony and started writhing.

It began slithering away. It looked like it was trying to escape somewhere. They saw that the Monster Backyard was ending soon.

Behind the Monster Backyard, there was a fog-shrouded sea. Green Sea, it was called. The centipede seemed to be headed straight for it.

"Don’t let it leave!" Leon shouted towards Seonwoo Kim. "If it reaches the sea, we won’t be able to kill it!"

Redfury took Seonwoo Kim to the end of the Monster Backyard. It was a steep cliff with crazy ocean waves and rocks below.

She jumped down from the back of the winged dinosaur, and then she turned around and saw the monster centipede heading her way.

"Old Fathers, listen." Seonwoo Kim stabbed her sword into the ground. "Protect this land with me!"

From the ground, a powerful gust of wind blew. It formed into a wall of air. It stretched from where she was standing all the way to the left and right.

The centipede came close. It smashed its head into the wall of air. It couldn’t pierce through it at all!

The centipede looked surprised. It was then attacked from all the sides. It wasn’t just Dead Redemption anymore.

Guilds from all around the tower started sending spells, arrows, and whatever weapons they had at the creature. The centipede’s exoskeleton started cracking more and more.

"God damn it!" Leon looked angrily at all the players. "Fucking leeches. Don’t they see that this beast belongs to Dead Redemption? How dare they?"

He jumped down from the centipede, landed in front of several players, and slashed through them with one swing.

"Hey!" The guild master of those players shouted angrily. "What the hell do you think you are doing, Leon?!"

"Shut up." Leon stabbed through his face ruthlessly. "How dare you question me? Do you know who I am?!"

Dark clouds appeared above the Monster Backyard. Then, lightning came raining down and struck down many players.

Distortion, crackling with lighter, stood atop a tall hill, looking down at the scorched players with a grin.

Instead of fighting the centipede, the members of New Dead Redemption started attacking the players!

"Hmph, Dead Redemption." Grimson Duke clashed weapons with Partsman. "You all have grown arrogant!"

"Old fart," Partsman scoffed. "Shouldn’t you already retire, you piece of shit?"

It wasn’t just New Dead Redemption fighting other players. Many guilds started attacking whoever got near them. It suddenly turned into a massive all-out war!

"Kill them all, men!" Delaweed laughed as he cut down a player. "Today, we will reach the top of the world!"

Mahabunta followed behind Delaweed. A cold look on his face. He was holding a dagger, but he wasn’t using it to kill other players.

It was like he was waiting for something.

In that moment, Rose Records arrived at the scene of the centipede. They saw the massive centipede and were shocked. And then saw everyone fighting each other.

It was total chaos.

Cameras hovered high in the sky. The scene of Grinder’s Day was broadcast to millions of viewers all around the world. It was one of the most anticipated days in the year.

However... no one could have predicted what was going to happen.

Time till the Dark Awakening: 2 hours and 48 minutes.