Chapter 95: A Terrible Day for Rain

[MEMORY FRAGMENT: 2/12]

“What the hell is going on?!”

Zayn yelled despite knowing no one had an answer.

Loud crashes echoed across the town as buildings collapsed, the destruction blending with thunder and heavy rainfall.

Teivel peered out the window of the building they had come to call home over the past month and a half. He remarked as he pressed his face to the glass:

“There was no mention of a surprise trial or anything! These explosions can’t be caused by just the storm, can they?”

Cynthia rushed down the stairs in a panic.

“Did you guys hear that?!”

Shin Hae-Ryung, her usual lax self, was unperturbed by the chaos outside.

“How could we not? It’s probably those Camelot pricks showing off their power again.”

Another impact rattled the building as Zayn replied:

“It could be, but that sounds like active fighting.”

Cynthia screamed:

“What the hell is fighting then?! The sky and the ground?!”

Teivel cracked open the window and stuck his head out, letting the rain pelt him, then said:

“I don’t know, but I’m curious. Imma check it out. You guys should probably stay here.”

Before any of them could get a word in, he hopped out the window.

Zayn yelled:

“What the hell is that man doing? Everyone, stay here. I’ll stop him.”

He rushed after him and leapt through the window as well.

It was only a one-story drop, nothing to them anymore. Zayn hit the ground with a roll and scanned the area for Teivel, only to find him leaning against the wall of their guild hall.

Waving, Teivel said:

“Shall we get going?”

Zayn shouted over the rain:

“Going? Going where?! There’s something big happening right now, and you know we aren’t equipped to deal with it. Let Camelot and the other guilds take care of it!”

“C’mon, we don’t even know if there is a fight going on.”

As if answering him, another violent crash erupted nearby, sending debris sailing over their heads.

“Don’t you want to know what’s going on?”

“Damn… Fine, but if there’s fighting going on…”

Teivel interjected:

“Leave it to Axel and the others, yada yada. When are you going to shut up about Axel? I get he saved you and all, your wittle hero, but come on, you seem beyond parasocial at this point. Has he ever even spoken to you?”

“Shut up,” Zayn shot back as he started in the direction of the booming impacts.

Wasting no time, the two began running towards it. They weaved between buildings and through alleyways, eventually drawing close to the town’s main entrance. Debris covered the streets. Bodies — natives and Summoned alike — lay among the rubble and inside partially collapsed buildings.

The clashing ahead only intensified, each impact sounding closer than the last, until—

“Ahhhhh!”

A man’s scream cut through the storm.

Zayn whirled toward it and found someone flying straight at him. Teivel tried to pull Zayn clear, but he was too slow. Zayn braced himself a moment before the man crashed into him, driving them both to the ground.

The man atop Zayn rubbed his head, then said:

“Zayn? Thank you for breaking my fall, but get the hell away from here. You’re too weak to deal with this man!”

Zayn looked up into the desperate eyes of someone who had earned nicknames like the Smiling Battle Addict and Battle Psychopath. If Lucas looked like that, whatever was happening was far worse than anything Zayn could have imagined.

“Ow… This man?”

“No time to explain. Just run away!”

Lucas sprang to his feet and raced back toward the direction he had come from.

As he ran, a red sword of flame materialized in his hand — his contracted weapon. Its fire was usually brilliant, but beneath the pounding rain, even its glow seemed subdued.

Zayn didn’t know what — or who — they were fighting, but he had no desire to discover what could put that look on Lucas’s face.

“I don’t think we should be here. Let’s just go back,” Zayn said to Teivel, who had been staring off into the distance for the last few seconds as though a flying man hadn’t just flattened Zayn. “Teivel!”

Zayn shouted his name when he still failed to respond, forcing his voice above the storm and the battle around them.

“Mmm, oh yeah.”

Teivel finally blinked, looking like a high schooler who had just been asked out by his crush. Then, he added, “But uhhh… where the hell should we run to? And I kind of want to watch this fight.”

His eyes tracked something in the distance.

Zayn followed his gaze and saw two men bounding across the rooftops, their swords colliding with every exchange as they rapidly approached. Moments later, they passed overhead and continued toward the direction Zayn and Teivel had come from.

Zayn immediately recognized one of them.

Axel.

He had gone through the initial trial with Zayn.

The other, however, was a man Zayn had never seen before, one with lightning crackling across his body, wearing what looked like a robe, wooden sandals, and a farmer’s hat.

Axel was clearly being forced back, retreating from rooftop to rooftop while parrying a relentless chain of attacks. The lightning man pursued him without the slightest concern for the destruction around them. Whenever Axel deflected a strike, his opponent simply carried the motion through whatever stood in his path, using the momentum to reposition before Axel could retaliate.

If someone like Axel was being driven back, his opponent had almost certainly contracted a god or goddess as well.

Zayn screamed at Teivel, who stood frozen by the spectacle.

“They’re heading toward our guild house!”

“I’m sorry, but what do you want us to do? We’re contractless. We don’t belong in that fight. All we can do is hope our guildmates survive,” Teivel replied coldly. “For now, let’s head to the town center. There are fewer buildings there that could collapse on us, and it’s in the opposite direction from where they’re headed. I know you want to help, but we’ll only get in Axel’s way. Just follow me.”

Zayn wanted to refute him, but he couldn’t.

Teivel was right.

Compared to someone with a contract, Zayn was far too weak. Trying to help would only make Axel’s job harder.

Zayn sighed and followed him toward the town center.