Full Summary:
Earth is an incredibly peaceful and beautiful World home to the amazingly intelligent Humans that live upon its surface. Upon these many, many Humans that live on the bright blue planet, only a single one of them is exceptionally gifted leaps and bounds ahead of the rest, and it is this gift that is nestled in the chest of this being that brings power, pain, love, truth, and Destiny into his life.
Nova is the 18-year-old college student who is fated for greatness. An unknown past shrouded in confusion, a mental intellect far above those of his World locked behind monotony, and unbelievable power slumbering in his Soul, all factors that kept this man from becoming all the things that he was meant to become, but soon these factors will be null and void.
One ordinary morning, the Sky seems to crumble underneath itself, inviting Devilish Monstrosities and Demonic Beasts into his World, and a senseless slaughter soon begins as Nova is forced to use all of his Will to Survive.
Under intense pressure by the beings that seem to stalk after his life the moment they spawn, will this exceptional life be consumed by the foe's that detriment his new life? Or will he live long enough to destroy the enemies in his path, conquering all that faces him, and fulfil his potential, becoming the Awakened One
Volumes:
Volume 1: Awakening; Prologue~Chapter 7
Volume 2: Vale; Chapter 8~Chapter 20
Volume 3: The Demon Clan; Chapter 21~Chapter 30
Volume 4: The Underworld; Chapter 31~Chapter 38
Volume 5: Fairy Tales; Chapter 39~Chapter 48
Volume 6: Beacon of Hope; Chapter 49~Chapter 56
Volume 7: ?
(A/N)
Hello! I am Nentai, and it is very nice to meet you! This Novel/Fanfiction or whatever else you want to call it is my fist Creation ever, so I know that I have a lot of improvements to make, but eventually I hope to create something that we all can enjoy together! First things first I'd like to let you know that this story was/is previously a reader insert fic (you know the (Y/N) type of thing). I wanted to turn this story into one with an actual main character, but I know that it would take a bunch of time that I just don't have right now, so what I did was change all of the reader insert stuff into the OC stuff until I eventually rewrite the entire story with Nova's character in mind. However, I don't know exactly when that will happen, but I hope I'll be able to get to it as soon as possible! The next thing I would like to mention is the fact that I recently rewrote the entire first Volume of the story (the volumes being the arcs of the story) so there will be a few canonical discrepancies between the rewrite and the original that will be fixed whenever I finish the rewrite.
Although I don't want to spoil any of the story, I still want to explain a little of what this story is about so you don't end up wasting your time reading something you'd rather not read. At first, this story was supposed to be a quick Multi-Verse fic, but it quickly turned into a slow-burning Rwby centric fic that will eventually turn into a World hopping fic. As such, this will be Book 1, of hopefully, multiple Books of Multi-verse crossover stuffs. Because of this, at the beginning of the story Nova will be a 'normal' everyday person that has to work to achieve his abilities and after that he will will grow into a gamer boy. That's the other thing, in essence this story is simply a OC, Gamer, Harem, overpowered, Rwby fic that has touches of originality sprinkled throughout it. So if that is not something that you are interested in then I apologize greatly, but if it is then I hope you enjoy!
Please Favorite and Review on chapters to let me know if you like what you see thus far or if you think there is a mistake that I could fix or even if you have some feedback that you think would prove useful! If you do like what you see, then definitely Follow my account so you can get updates on the story's status and things like that. Of course my PM's are fully open so feel free to hit me up whenever you see fit, and without further ado, please enjoy The Awakened One, I'll see you when I see you!
Prologue
A void of black, infinite as the eye can see, revealed itself in front of the powerful being, and unknown to this being, this was its home. A bottomless box of invaluable jewels, an infinite universe of endless potential, a creative world limited by nothing but the master's imagination, all at the fingertips of a master. This vast black canvas of infinite possibilities was available to a one individual, one of limitless creation, endless potential, and infinite power, one above even the existence of the void itself. However, this grandiose space of seemingly endless potential remained void, sitting patiently, waiting forbearingly, mercifully biding its time for its Master to come home.
Earth. The bright blue orb of life that held the mass of the knowledgeable humans inside of its warm bosom continued its revolution, showing it's gorgeous face unto the Sun yet again. With the face of the Sun came its direct gaze of loving warmth that was sure to bring joy to the Earth's inhabitants yet again, bringing sunlight to those formerly in the darkness, and bringing them one step closer towards the future. Among these incredibly knowledgeable inhabitants, only one was truly taking leap towards their destiny, but that leap began with the shock of awakening. The glowing sun rose over the horizon, greeting the Earth's special inhabitant the same way it always did and would no longer, shinning it's blinding light into the closed eyes of this comatose man. The Sun's rays shot expeditiously through the blinds of this sleeping man's apartment, contaminating the room with its bright presence, and revealing the state of ware that he lived in. However, the rise-and-shine properties of the Sun's gaze were ineffective on this particular individual, and as such he was allowed a few more minutes of ignorant bliss before he was forcefully awoken from his slumber.
Beeeeeeeep
A single annoying beep and buzz from the device on his bedside table was all it took to rouse him from his slumber, and the man immediately moved to turn off the disruptive device with a single swift movement. In one foul swoop, he managed to grab, tap, and toss his phone from tabletop to across the room, shutting it up and punishing it for waking him from his dream. The man groaned heavily as he woke up, widening his jaw in long drawn-out yawn before he achingly sat himself up from his comfortable bed. As he sat up, his blanket slid off his shoulders, exposing his bare chest to the cool morning air, and forcing him to shiver slightly as he attempted to wipe the sleep from his eyes with little success. "What an empty dream" he thought, trying to shake his fatigue from his mind with thoughts. In his sleepy stupor, he looked around his room in a half-asleep daze, checking his surroundings to see if anything had changed during his ten-hour dreaming session, and much to his chagrin, nothing had changed.
As he gendered at his colorful room, he immediately noticed the numerous postures, wall scrolls, and banners that covered not only his walls but also his ceiling as well. The Sun's rays showed through his partially closed blinds at just the right angle to perfectly illuminate his entire bedroom, allowing him to gaze happily at the seemingly hundreds of nerdish memorabilia that littered his place of residence. Naruto, Dragon Ball, Bleach, One Piece, No Game No Life, Mirai Nikki, Kill la Kill, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Monogatari, High School DxD, Hunter X Hunter, Boku no Hero Academia, Noragami, Danmachi, Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill, etcetera, etcetera. These were the colorful, numerous posters that covered the surface area of his room, and this wasn't all his room was decorated with either.
Although the room was small, in front of his bed frame was a full-size bookshelf, that was as tall as his door frame, was filled to the brim with manga, light-novels, and various other more intellectually stimulating books as well, and on each of those rows of books were various high-quality figures that beautifully decorated the bookshelves. As the man looked to his right, he saw his spotless glass desk that had two identical lit 27inch monitors sitting atop it, and in front of the left monitor sat a glowing, rainbow-colored keyboard, accompanied by an equally glowing mouse, that sat atop a full-length Monster Musume mouse pad depicting a spider-woman from the Anime.
Connected to the two apparent gaming monitors were a few pieces of technology that sat on the hardwood floor beneath the glass desk. On the furthest left was a rainbow flashing PC with its colors flashing and its fans spinning as it had clearly been left on the previous night, next to the large computer was a slick PlayStation 5, and on the far right, separated from the other two, was a small Nintendo Switch with the console still in its dock. Sitting in between the two sets of consoles was a comfortable, cushioned, Pink and black gaming chair that was spun haphazardly and was now facing towards the tired man and his bed. The other things that were inside the small room included his wide-open closet, filled with an assortment of hoodies, T-shirts, and joggers, and also his dresser for his undergarments and the junk drawer where he put random things that had no place. Although the room was incredibly stuffy because of the multitude of large objects that were crammed into it, everything was fairly neat, polished, and organized with the only exception being the clothes that spilled from the closet.
With one final yawn and a long stretch to limber his limbs and fully wake himself up, the special human thought, "where the fuck did, I throw my phone?" The question that he asked was entirely rhetorical and he in fact already knew the answer, so with all the energy he could muster, the man rolled his way out of bed, leaving his blanket behind, and stood in the cool morning air. As he stood, he near immediately sat back down in his central seating location, his comfy gaming chair, and spun his way towards his desk, squinting at the overly bright screen as his eyes adjusted to the light.
"I was playing Guilty Gear," he said aloud to himself, "I really need to stop leaving my PC on." With that said, he turned off the glowing box which immediately shut off all the other glowing electronics on his desk, leaving the only light in the room being the Sun that glew through his windows. After his first objective of the day was complete, 'turn off PC', he slowly rose from his chair, ignoring the creaking wooden floor, and began autonomously walking out of his room's doorway and entering into the greater apartment. Taking a quick look around, he immediately noticed everything else the tiny apartment had to offer, a short TV stand with a 36inch standing on top of it, and a small black three-person couch that had never been used before. Connecting directly to the unimpressive entertainment area was the open kitchen, completely barren of everything accept a black air fryer and all the various things that came with the tiny one bedroom, one bath, apartment that he lived in.
After the quick look, his body instinctually moved to the open door in the center of the hallway, leading him directly to his usual morning destination, the bathroom. The instant he lazily swung his body into the white tiled room, he began his morning routine, turning on the hot water faucet in the sink and doing the same in the shower after parting the curtain slightly. With the water from the sink beginning to warm, he cupped the water into his hands and scooped it as he splashed it against his face, clearing the rest of last night's rest from his eyes, and allowing him to see his face clearly in the small, rectangular mirror. "Wow Nova, you look… like a person" he said in dreary joking tone, taking a moment to flex his facial muscles before he continued his routine.
Opening the mirror cabinet, he pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste, running the soft bristled brush underneath the warm water, applying the crest to its bristles, running under the water once more for good measure before putting the bristles to his teeth in light circular motions. After he fully completed brushing each of his thirty plus teeth, he spat the minty foam from his mouth, and watched as the white substance was washed down the drain with the warm sink water. After swishing mouth wash between his teeth for a moment, he spat out the blue liquid and subsequently took off his boxers to hop into the now perfectly tempered shower.
Once he was in the hot water, he pulled out the shampoo, squirted it into his hand, and lathered it into his scalp before doing the same with his conditioner on the tips of his hair. Then reaching for the body wash he grasped it tightly and lathered the hibiscus water scented wash into his skin, taking a moment before taking a small step forward into the heated water. The water rushed through his hair and trailed throughout his body, draining the dirt and grime from his skin, and leaving his body cleaned and refreshed. He finished his shower by turning the water off at the exact time before the water lost its warm temperature, stepping out of the steaming box, and drying himself with a towel before walking back to his decorate room.
Once he reached his closet, Nova bent down to the numerous T-shirts that littered the floor and thought, "where is my phone? I know I threw it somewhere over here." While that thought was on his mind, he sifted through the shirts before eventually lifting a graphic T with four girls on its front, one in red, another in white, a third in black, and the last one in yellow. Underneath the graphic T-shirt he found his cellular device that he had thrown earlier, picking up the phone as he dropped the shirt back on to the floor.
After standing back up, he moved over to his dresser to grab and put on some underwear and then turned back to his closet to decide what he'd be wearing for the day, saying aloud, "what unique and completely original outfit will I wear today?" Asking the question to no one in particular, his eyes glazed over as he scanned the closet full of hoodies not exactly looking for anything in particular. Nova eventually decided to reach into the closet at random, pulling a thin, silky Naruto graphic hoodie, putting it on, and doing the same with a pair of black jogging pants.
After finishing dressing himself, he picked up his laptop bag from the edge of his bed, put his phone in his pocket along with his wallet and house keys, and walked to the exit of his small apartment. Before walking out of his apartment, he took a moment to put in his earbuds and turn on his music before finally unlocking his door. As he unlocked his front door, he turned to say a silent goodbye to his place of solitude, and opened the door, exposing himself to the bright gleam of the powerful Sun. "Goddamn it's hot outside" he thought as he took his first steps out of the one-bedroom apartment.
Although he lived in an apartment, the building that housed all the tiny rooms was oddly inn like in structure. The apartment building was completed with 4 floors, with each floor having 40 apartments lined up next to one another, being wall to wall filled with other college students. This apartment building was a cheap, on campus, alternative to the usual dorms that the college normally required students to live in, allowing Nova to have his own space and not need to live with other people which he was quite fond of. It also had the additional plus of being extremely close to his classes which made it a lot easier to travel to and from school. His apartment was number 115, as such whenever he walked out of his apartment door, he was already on street level, which meant that when exiting and entering his room he didn't need to exert any extra effort climbing stairs to reach his destination.
After opening his apartment door and walking outside, he exited right into the buildings lot, walking out from underneath the shade that covered his apartment door, and entering into the Sun's direct gaze. Nova took a moment to adjust to the brightness of the world around him before he began walking towards the large, glass building that was located just down the road. As he walked to the sidewalk, he looked down the road at the massive glass building, one of the many locations that housed the facilities to provide the students enrolled to the university with a good education. Leading up to the building were a few cafés, convenience stores, a bookstore, and numerous outdoor seating spots all located along the paved road that allowed both students and civilians to travel along it.
However, vehicles on the campus were almost non-existent since a little under a mile away was a massive 10 floor parking garage that allowed everyone who had a vehicle to park there and simply walk around to see what the beautiful campus had to offer. The tallest part of the building itself was massive being 12 stories tall, appearing to be more like a luxury apartment building then a school, but this was the location that most students attended to learn their craft. The tallest part of the building was the center most of the entire structure, although the entire building itself was like a large rectangle, having an expansive open, central courtyard that could be seen from the glass windows inside the building. Although the building had its massive eruct tower at its southern epicenter, the rest of the building's lengths were only 5 floors high, and the sections that were next to the 12-floor tower were this size as well.
Whilst Nova walked up to the large building, he took to people watching, seeing the numerous partners and groups joyfully talking, smiling, and laughing with one another as they did whatever they were doing. They appeared to be incredibly happy, basking in the light of the Sun, freely traveling wherever they wished to be, and speaking with one another in large groups of accepting individuals. He found himself watching these people with a slight glare, rolling his eyes whenever he heard a joke or laugh, cringing internally at the sight. It was an awkward feeling, getting irritated and angsty whenever he saw others being joyful, but at the same time the thought in itself gave him a oddly satisfactory feeling, almost like he was happy that others were happy, but he didn't want to see it play out in front of him.
Ignoring the feeling that the surrounding groups brought him, Nova focused inwardly on his music as he quickly approached the glass building that held his classes, but before he was able to enter the structure, he was stopped by a blonde woman walking in front of him. She had walked in front of him from the corner of his eye, coming from a clothed table that was filled to the brim with flowers of all colors and pictures of someone that he failed to make out before the woman took his attention. Nova watched as the woman's mouth moved as if she was saying something, but because of his earbuds he was unable to hear her at all. Instead of just ignoring her, he chose to pull out his right bud, immediately hearing the tail end of what the woman was saying.
"-for a moment?" The woman said excitingly, holding a clipboard and pen towards her chest.
"I'm sorry, I had my headphones in. What did you say?"
"Oh sorry, I didn't realize! My name is Jessica, and I was asking if I could speak with you for a moment?" Seeing the look of confusion appear on the man's face she continued with, "I would like a moment of your time to see if you might like to donate? I promise it's for a very good cause!"
The bright smile on the woman's face was warm and inviting, but Nova simply responded with "maybe next time, I really gotta get to class." As he responded, he swiftly put his earbud back into his ear and walked into the building, leaving Jessica and her group of friends to find someone else to donate to their cause. Once the man entered the massive building, he was immediately met with a blockade with four security guards that stood guard, checking student ID's before they were granted entry into the building. Seeing as this was a daily obstacle, Nova had already pulled his Wallet out of his pocket and grabbed his student ID to present to the first open guard that motioned him forward. Nova handed her his ID and she quickly swiped it against her card reader and asked, "what's your name?"
"Nova Pollux."
"How old are you?"
"18."
After looking at his picture and his face back and forth a few more times she said, "go on ahead" as she handed his ID back to him. The identified student then passed through the security and began walking to his classroom, traveling straight to the stairs since the elevators were always crowded. The way the building was organized was simply, it was sectioned off into a North, East, South, and West halls, each section being dedicated to a different type of facility. In the north were mainly large lector halls that held the massive lectors for masses of students, east hall held the library and computer rooms essentially functioning as the research hall, the western hall was dedicated to lab rooms that had larger scale classes working on more physical tests and studies, and the southern hall was where the vast majority of the classrooms were, and it was also where the towering pillar of the building was located. This pillar was where Nova found himself heading to, climbing the long staircase until he reached the Seventh floor, and walked leisurely down the hallway until he reached room 717.
He swiftly swiped his student ID against the doors hotel-like lock-pad, which functioned as a way to keep attendance, and walked into the large classroom, scoping out his usual seat in the far back corner of the room. His seat in the far back of the lecture hall was right next to the window, giving him a phenomenal view of the open courtyard. The yard itself had stone paved walkways, hundreds of vibrant flowers, a few ponds with koi fish, and, at its center, was a large fountain with coins in its pool. There were tons of benches, tables, and other seating things that would allow any of the students to enjoy the space and work on schoolwork while they were at it. Nova meandered, as usual, to his chosen seat, sat down, gently placing his bag on the floor, and began leaning back comfortably in his seat.
Without much thought, he then turned his head towards the window to take in the serene, calming view of the courtyard. This was one of the few things that Nova looked forward to during the week when he was required to go to class. Being so high up in the building on a clear day like today and without a single cloud in sight, the world below was so peaceful. It's almost like being up on the seven floors of this gargantuan building let him get away from it all, like all of his mental turmoil and personal issues were left behind on the ground floor of the building, sitting in the Eden like courtyard below.
However, his peaceful view of the world below was suddenly distorted by the booming sound of books slamming loudly against a desk. "Good morning class!" The professor yelled as entered the classroom. "I hope you all had a fine weekend. Did anybody do anything especially exciting?" The happy professor took a moment to scan the classroom for any volunteers to answer his introductory question, but after he saw no hands raise, he switched from scanning to stalking. "Since we don't have any volunteers, how about… let's see…." he began as his eyes scoured the class for a victim. He then spotted a quiet kid in the back of the classroom that he had yet to hear from this year, he quickly checked his attendee list before saying, "young man in the back, Mr. Pollux! Would you like to tell about how you spent your weekend?" The class all turned their attention to the quiet man in the back of the room who was leaning in his chair and was clearly enamored by the outdoors as he stared out of the window.
With Nova still having his earbuds in, he continued staring into the seemingly infinite sky and the serene courtyard bellow, completely unaware that he was ever spoken to in the first place, however from the classes perspective it looked as though he was purposefully ignoring the professor. "Oh well," the old man began, "it seems that some people really enjoy keeping their weekend activities a secret. I guess that means that this is a good enough time as any to begin todays lesson" he said with reinvigorated excitement. "Please if you all would, could you open your E-Books to chapter 4 where we will begin talking discussing…" The professors lector began and with that came Nova receding deeper into the depths of his mind while he stared out the window.
"The sky is so blue today" Nova thought aimlessly trying to fill his mind with anything, but the lecture. "Pure blue sky, a beaming Sun, and not a single cloud in sight. The perfect storm for a nice day outside but instead we're stuck in this stuffy ass building doing absolutely nothing" he thought slightly depressingly. "I wish we'd at least have class outside, then I could easily sneak away and go back home, or shit maybe the class wouldn't have required attendance, then I'd could just stay home without leaving at all." Although the courtyard was beautiful, today, for some reason, the sky seemed infinitely more interesting than usual. It was on clear days like these that made the spherical shape of the globe all the more noticeable, and that shape created another thought in Nova's mind.
"I wonder what it's like outside of the Earth, the endless expanse of space and the infinitely growing universe. The Earth is the epicenter of human life, the supposed only form of intelligent life in the universe, but the universe is infinitely vast meaning that it is literally impossible for there not to be another form of intelligent life somewhere in the universe. So, if you think about from that angle, then the Earth or any planet is less like a home and more like a cage that prevents any other form of intelligent life from meeting one another." For some reason the thought made him crack a small smile, imagining the Earth and all other planets as a preventative cage that prevents any and all life separated from one another.
He chuckled slightly at another thought that formed in his mind, "when I really think about it that kinda sounds like a plot to a solid book or movie. Living planets that keep the life captured inside of them like Yanderes in Anime. Damn, wouldn't that make Earth-Chan a Yandere?" He continued on the thought for a while, mulling it over, slowly coming up with a followable plotline and a potential conclusion for the story idea that he just came up with. When he finally reached a possible climactic ending, he thought, "the only real way the story could end would be blowing all the planets up wouldn't it? Somehow blow up the cage that is the sky, breaking through the metaphorical 'sky is the limit' meme, then begin the expanse of space to find the other beings, confirming that we are not alone in this universe." At the sudden thought, he began smiling again, this time his smile seemed far less happy, "maybe if I break my sky, I won't be alone either." Nova immediately shook the depressive thought from his mind, but the effects of it still remained, and as he looked up to the clear blue dome above him, he grimaced slightly. "I guess, maybe it's worth a try. Fuck it, I'll imagine blowing up the sky on some mental training shit, if it doesn't make me feel better than nothing gained and nothing loss."
Nova then receded to the deepest depths of his mind and body, thinking and focusing so inwardly that he unknowingly looked directly into the innermost parts of his existence, his soul. In this mental scape that he had entered, he viewed the infinitely vast blue space that encompassed his inner-most soul. The environment was incredibly bright and vibrant, absolutely glowing brighter than any star, encompassing a space greater than any universe, but seemingly emptier that the vacuum of space. However, even in the seemingly empty space there was still a single thing given shape. The only thing in this unknown space was a floating spherical object of a dull, dark grey coloring. The 'object' was a perfect sphere and looked like a ever shifting, molding lead ball, but at the same time it appeared incredibly solid like Steel.
Although it was exactly what he was trying so hard to envision, Nova figured that this was a good enough object to project his issues onto, imagining himself growing far beyond the span of this earth sized object, looking down on the object of his projected hatred. In his mind, he had formed himself into a massive behemoth of a humanoid figure, a faceless entity made entirely out of a Pink, that looked similarly to Galactus as he overlooked the now puny lead ball that sat in the center of this seemingly infinite sky. He stifled his growing form for a moment, mentally strengthening himself for what was to come, and as finished his metal preparations, he lifted and then shot his fist rocketing towards the object with all the strength he could manage. With unbelievable speed, he managed to crash his Pink fist up against the shifting metal structure, immediately being met with intense resistance from the orb. The blackish-grey planetoid fought against his planet busting fist with all it had, forcefully pushing Nova's attack back with all it had, preventing him from achieving what he was always meant to.
However, his strength was far too great, and as he pushed further and further against the floating orb, soon it had to concede to his power. It was almost as if the planetoid itself conceded that Nova's will was far stronger that its desire to hold him back, and with that concession made, the metal planet shattered like a frail window coming into contact with an unstoppable force. It was true, Nova's strength and will was unstoppable, and even after the surface of the orb cracked, fractured, and broke underneath his powerful force his fist didn't stop. It blasted straight through the ball itself, causing a massive explosion like no other. Instead of a usual explosion that he would have imagined, the molten, shifting ball of grey exploded into an all-encompassing Pink light that instantly flew from the orb's previous location. In that exact instant, the entire blue void suddenly turned from blue to Pink, and in the place of the destroyed planetoid was an everchanging, ever shifting, infinite essence of Nova's creation.
The man himself then opened his eyes to reveal that he was still staring out the window at the blue sky, but instead of feeling that same stagnating pang that stayed in his chest, he felt content, happy even, about his current situation. An incomparable warmth spread throughout his body from the depths of his core, and for some reason the air tasted a bit sweeter than usual. Nova then looked up to the clear as day sky and put out a silent 'thank you' for giving him the idea that led to a bit of relief from his everyday turmoil. "Mental training? Maybe this is why therapy and meditation is good for people, it feels like a massive weight has been lifted off of my chest." Looking up to the sky with a renewed outlook on life, he noticed that something about the sky looked a little bit different. "What the hell?" Nova whispered to himself, getting the attention of the guy sitting next to him. As he stared into the brightly lit, almost clear blue dome above him, a sudden thought immediately crossed his mind, "Is it just me or does it look like the sky has a crack going right down the center?" As Nova continues to stare into the now cracked sky, he soon realizes that this is not a figment of his or anyone else's imagination.
The man and the guy sitting next to him watched as a single crack, then turned into various fractures spanning the entirety of the globe. A once bright and sunny day was now something in between day and night as the sky filled the Earth with eclipse like lighting. But somehow, the fact that there was no moon to be seen and the bright ball of Sunlight in the sky was now split into thousands of glass like fractures that blocked it's light from reaching the Earth, made the entire view terrifying to the viewers. In a moment of panic, Nova's thoughts seeped to his lips as he very audibly shouted, "Ayo, what the fuck!" His sudden outburst brought the classes attention to the window as a bunch of students stood up and ran to the window to look at what the quiet kid saw.
The instant they saw the same thing that Nova had, the classroom erupted in outbursts of various kinds, 'What the Hell?', 'What is that?', 'Is it some kind of Eclipse?', 'IT'S THE END TIMES!', and other things of that nature. A bunch of them also took out their phones to record the entire event, and the Professor tried to take control of the situation to no avail. All the students in the room began discussing the freaky, unnatural event that they were seeing and recording, and the vibe of the classroom was buzzing excitingly like someone had just seen a popular celebrity out front. However, this exciting environment of the room didn't last for long as the outdoors turned a blood red color, almost as if someone put a red filter over the Sunlight itself. However, the, now red, Earth was not caused by the Sun at all, in fact the lack of the Sun's shine that created the eerily night red environment outside. The various fractures, cracks, and fissures along the sky were opening up slightly like portals, allowing this red light to seep in. The fear inducing sky distortions continued their transformations and the fractures portals grew open like mouths with pitch black outlines that only helped to darken the already nightly red Earth.
All across the sky a thick, black tar looking substance became forming in the crevasses of the portals mouths and glopping off the cracks like the buildup of water off a leaf. At first it was just a few drops in random places across the sky, then the heavens opened up and allowed the tar to start raining down from above in a black downpour. The substance thump against the windows, roofs, and ground of the campus like hail, sticking to whatever it landed on and slowly dripping down like sap on a tree trunk. Directly in front of the building Nova was in, down in the courtyard, a large droplet of this tar like rain fell, crashing against the ground and creating a large puddle. This rain continued to fall until the puddle turned into a pool of thick black rain that covered the entirety of the previously serene square, and as it sat for a moment, it slowly began bubbling and shifting as if something alive was inside and trying to get out.
The world fell still as everyone's head slowly shifted to stare at the otherworldly pool of black mass, terrified, but enthralled by the sight of the otherworldly event. The puddle continued to bubble and shift for a moment until the bubbles grew larger and more numerous, and the movements underneath the surface became more than apparent. Slowly and eerily, someone or something began rising from the pits of the black depths, allowing the pool to rise with it as it slowly exited its spawning pool. As it grew, the black tar that covered the yard was no longer in the shape of a pool, matter a fact, it was no longer in the shape of anything recognizable from the Earth. As the splotch continue to rise from the ground, it took slowly took shape, and as it did everyone in the room fell deadly still.
The first thing that became of this ooze was by far the most terrifying thing anyone on this planet had ever seen, its head. The thing that began rising from was barely reminiscent of a head, but instead of the usual qualities of a head, it appeared to be a bare skull with three massive horns protruding out of the sides. The horns were long, thin, and curved down at the ends, and the further they grew from the pit, the more blood and black ooze dripped from them. At the base of the skull were dagger shaped, rotting teeth that were connected by strong muscular, but rotten, tissue that seemed to hold the entire thing into place. Pieces of reddish, discolored bone grew off of the top of the skull like tree branches, some were even covered by that same muscular tissue endlessly pumped a black blood from its innards like blood vessels. As the horned skull became visible, long, fleshy, rotting arms suddenly shot from the pit and grabbed harshly onto the sides of the 12-floor building.
The instant its arms gripped the sturdy glass structure, the crashing of shattering glass and the booms of crushing concrete echoed throughout the building. At the same time, the entire structure trembled underneath the pressure, the room shook violently like a severe earthquake, toppling books, laptops, and desks. But even though the entire student body was extremely terrified, nobody in any of the classrooms could move a muscle. Everyone was completely petrified, they couldn't move, breathe, or even think as the beast slowly rose from the hell pit. The arms that made the building quake were made completely from discolored bone, but the same rotting muscular flesh ran across it like veins, dripping with ooze and blood that spattered across the windows of the building.
The demonic entity then gripped tighter to the building, slowly pulling itself up out of the pit where it spawned, shaking the structure even rougher than before, but still no one moved. As it pulled itself from the pit, its skeletal torso took form. It had a very cylinder-shaped ribcage that looked like someone had carved it up perfectly like a pumpkin, and there were no insides to its stomach either, only bone and more of the veiny flesh that accompanied most of its body. Following quickly after the atrocity that was its body was the beings central source of movement, its two legs. The bipedal demon's legs began to rise out of the pit, showing rotten flesh and bone with more branch like material running across, and jutting out from, it's entire lower body. Needle like bones littered its legs as if it had been stabbed multiple times by another massive monster, these crucifixion stakes were stabbed through its shins, knees, and thighs . To say the creature was large would be an understatement. While resting on one knee and bending over, its 'head' was still on level with the 7th floor of Nova's classroom building.
After the titan full erected itself from the depths, it stayed on its single knee, possibly taking a moment of rest before it began the slaughter it planned to commit. Either way it didn't take long for the demon to begin slowly turning its head from side to side, scouring the premises for any form of life. It seemed as if it could 'see' even with its lack of eyes. As Nova watched the being shift its skull from side to side, he suddenly came to his senses and his mind began racing at an unbelievable pace. "Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit" was all that could go through Nova's mind as the titan with no face seemingly pinpointed his classroom. "Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck! I have to run; I won't be able to survive if this big ass monster attacks me. I gottagetthefuckouttahere!"
Before attempting to force his stiff legs to move, Nova took a moment to check the status on his classmates, slowly turning his head to face the rest of the students in the room. Unsurprisingly, they were absolutely petrified and because of it, not a single one of them could even blink, let alone escape. "Shit! I think it's over for them" and with that depressing thought, he slowly turned his head back to the window, facing away from the classmates that were sure to a second thought, he mustered all the strength in his body to simply take a step backwards, forcing his will into his legs so the motor function in the muscles would return. After the first step, he was slowly able to take another and then another, until he was eventually backing away from the window at a steady pace, eyes never leaving the demon in front of him.
Nova was not even a moment too late as the massive monster began sweeping his long, rotten, lanky arms across the yard, crashing its hands into the windows of the lower floors of the building. The sounds of shattering glass and the demolishing of structure echoed throughout the entire complex, and Nova horrifyingly watched as blood, limbs, and various organs sprayed throughout the building, staining everything they touched. The demon continued the with the momentum of his swing, whipping up wind and blood as its human like claws clashed with the building once more, bringing its grip into room 717's windows and walls, smashing everything that was in the way of its sweep. Glass, chairs, desks, and body's all alike flew through the air like ragdolls, squelching as they slammed against the powerful swipe of the Demons claw. The metallic smell of blood instantly filled the air, suffocating Nova's nostrils with the visceral scent and leaving him, and a lucky few others, as the only survivors of the first onslaught, but even as the monstrosity wound up its next swing, the last remaining survivors did not move even an inch.
All across the world this same horrific scene repeated itself time and time again, and all across the world nobody moved to stop it. The instant this black ooze connected with the ground, unknown beings of various shapes, colors, scents, and sizes begin rampaging through the streets, smashing buildings, eviscerating all human life they came across, and consuming the remnants of the kills for sustenance and power. Giants with clubs the size of house, behemoths with tusks like mammoths, humanoid soldiers riding and flying on animal like beasts that one could only imagine began instantly slaughtering everything in their sights. All at once a world that seemed so quiet and peaceful turned into a living hell filled with the perpetual screams of millions as the demons that fell from the sky and rose from the ground began a biblical genocide of all human life on a scale so horrifying that it could only be called, Armageddon.
Chapter 1: Armageddon
As the suffocating stench of blood and guts clogged Nova's nostrils, he realized now was not the time for a slow and steady retreat, and the man immediately turned on his heels and sprinted out of the room, leaving the rest of his classmates to their fate. As he sprinted down the empty halls of the seventh floor it didn't take long for the second impact to hit, shacking the building even more than the previous attack. As the ground shook and rumbled from the event, Nova lost his balance slightly, but his slow stumbling eventually returned to an all-out sprint, quickly making it to the emergency exit that was the stairs. He shot through the door without hesitation, quickly jumping down the stairs three at a time until he made it to the ground floor, but before he ran out of the G-Floor door, he thought, "the rain fell everywhere! What if there's more of those… things behind this door?! Where the fuck do, I even go!? Is anywhere safe? Am I just fucked?!" His rapid thoughts filled with negativity brought a sense of intense panic and angst to his body, and because of this his heart began beating out of his chest, sweat drenched every part of his body, and his hands shook with a nervous intensity that he never felt before.
In all truth, he was terrified, shaking with the fear of death plastered on his mind, but even amidst this panicked sensation something in his core forced him to calm down, brining rational thoughts to his sporadic mind. "Ok, ok, let's just take a moment to calm down. You can't make logic decisions if you're panicked" with that thought he began slowly taking in deep breaths, calming is heartrate and bringing steadiness to his hands. With his body and mind calm once more, he thought, "first lets peek out the door to see if there are any Demons present, and if not then we'll go back home to figure other shit out, but if there are then we'll come up with a different plan." With the quick plan created, his still slightly shaking hand reached for the push bar to open the door, gently, and silently, pushing the door open just a sliver to allow him to see what was happening outside.
The main area of the School was completely void of human life, instead the beings that stalked and crawled across the floor were anything but human. There features were indescribably inhuman, fleshy rotten demonic entities like spiders and zombies appearing with the faces of people, but clearly not having any human qualities. The Demons walked aimlessly around the floor, slamming themselves into walls, furniture, and other random objects as they looked for their next meal, and it was clear that they were looking for a meal as Nova saw the dismembered chewed up corpses of the security guards by the entrance.
Luckily for him, the Demons had finished their security guard meals and were looking for bigger and better things, leaving the entrance to the building completely vacant, giving him an opportunity to exit. As he noticed his opportunity, he silently closed the door once more and came up with a quick plan of escape, "the southern exit of the building is by far the closest way to my apartment, and its clearly open so we'll sneak passed the Zombies to get to the doors. Once we're outside, there's no way of knowing what it'll be like, it could be desolate, it could be filled with hordes of beasts, either way it's a straight, open shot to the apartment. So, we'll just have to run and hope for the best." Once he completed creating his plan of escape, he said a silent prayer to no one in particular before slowly exiting the door and beginning his crouch walk towards the buildings southern exit.
He continued to take slow, quiet steps as he exited through the door, staying as oblivious of his surroundings as possible to avoid stopping for any reason, and his strategy worked perfectly. Nova quickly went from the stairway door to the glass doors of the building, getting a fully detailed look at the corpses of the guards before he made his exit. The damage that had been done to each of them were different, some of their limbs were missing, faces were slashed asunder, and numerous other visceral injuries, but one thing remained the same with each of the corpses. Their chests had been ripped open and gouged out, and because of it they had no ribs, hearts, lungs, or anything else that may had occupied their chest cavities. Instead, all that was left was an empty husk of what was once a live person, normally a sight like this would leave someone staggered, or possibly even stunned, but Nova remained calm and collected among the dead bodies.
After gendering at the bodies, a moment longer, figuring that the monsters had eaten their hearts, he turned his attention to the outdoors where much of the same was happening. The café's, bookstores, convenience stops, and public seating areas were vacant of human life, but were filled with Demons of all shapes and sizes. Even right next to the door where that girl stopped him for the donations had succumbed to the nightmare, her corpse's chest gaping open like the rest of them. But he remained calm, choosing to begin his sprint plan since it was by far his best option. The entire street was completely open, not a single hiding place in site, but the Demons wandered near the edges of the side-walks giving him the chance to run straight through the center and remain unharmed. So, Nova reinforced his will one last time and silently exited through the shattered southern doors of the campus building, but after taking a single step outside he began a dead sprint towards his apartment building.
Just like a track runner is told not to look back because they'll lose speed, Nova didn't even give a thought to looking in any direction but his destination, sprinting down the road with every ounce of strength he could manage, and as he got close to his building, he noticed that the Demons were vacant from the premises which he chalked up to good luck. The instant he reached door 115 he shoved the door open, entered his apartment, and slammed the door shut behind him. After taking a deep breath and walking to his bedroom, he quickly closed the door behind himself before sitting down heavily in his comfy gaming chair, taking a moment to rest before he was forced to move again. "The Demons aren't around my apartment now, but that doesn't mean that they won't be soon." This thought was the single realization that fueled the rest of his thinking for the rest of his first life.
Now within the comfort of his own home and the temporary safety that it brought, his mind moved with much better efficiency than it did previously, allowing him to come up with a bunch of different future plans at once. "Figuring out what is happening right now is not important, what is important is finding a way to survive. Staying in my shitty little apartment is a terrible idea since its defenses are severely limited and so are the food options, so if anything got in here, I'd more than likely be fucked. I guess really… if I stay by myself, I'll be fucked either way, so the first thing I really need to do is find survivors." That last thought irked him a bit, but he continued planning ahead, swallowing his pride for the sake of survival. "The three main things I need to live are defense, sustenance, and people, so wherever has these three things in abundance is where I'll go. The only place that comes to mind is the Facility." The Facility is a massive building on this university's campus, it functions in so many different ways that giving it a name for any specific event was impossible. Thus, the students dubbed it The Facility although its official name was the Flash Center.
The Flash Center has a world class competitive pool with a football stadium right next door and were connected to a massive expansive mall with a huge food court, and the building even had multiple sections dedicated to office spaces and other things of that nature. Connecting directly to all of this was a massive 10-floor parking garage that held every car of any person who wished to explore the campus and because of its popularity the location was always full. Basically, if anyone was going to be alive anywhere, it would be in the Facility. "And as a plus it's not far from here, so traveling amongst the Demons shouldn't be much of an issue. Perfect! I'll just grab whatever clothes I might need, maybe take the switch for some entertainment, and then figure out shit from there." Once his plan was completed, he made to get up and grab a duffle bag to begin filling with important objects, but suddenly everything felt completely wrong.
The deathly feeling of eyes beaming on the back of his neck and the tingly sensation of warm breath brushing up against his ear suddenly dawned on him. The feeling shook him too his core, sending a massive shot of adrenaline through his veins, bringing his heartrate up to a thousand before Nova quickly shot his head around to discover the cause of his distress. But when he turned to face the perpetrator, nothing was there, just his usual room. "Wait, what the fuck is this?" Upon closer inspection, he noticed a long red streak of a wispy, wind like substance trailing from directly behind his chair all the way outside his bedroom door. When he attempted to touch the red wisp, his hand was able to physically move and alter the airy substance, but when he attempted to grab it, the wisp simply disappeared in his hand. It felt… odd, and something about the long trail of this red wisp brought an extremely eerie feeling to the core of his being.
However, the room only had a single exit, and the window was blocked off behind his desk, so his only real option was to check what the red streak led to. Nova slowly got up from his chair, quietly standing on both of his feet, and immediately began searching for any object to use as a weapon, but as he looked over to his desk for a weapon, he noticed something terrifyingly sinister. The window that formerly allowed lots of red light to shine through the cracked blinds was completely black as if a massive shadow had suddenly overtaken the light, and peering through those same blinds were two slitted, blood-crimson reptilian eyes that glew brightly in the shadow. The instant Nova's eyes met them, fear shot through his system and his adrenaline levels rapidly rose to unhealthy levels, and in that moment only a single thought entered his mind, "RUN!"
Nova immediately turned to run, taking a single large step towards the door, but somehow, someway, a being unlike anything he had ever seen suddenly appeared in front of him, and the moment he entered into the beings presence his life was forfeit. "Huh?" was all that he could muster as he stared into the hollowed out, blackened eye holes of the Demon that stood far taller than himself. The being that stood towering over Nova with its bulbous head scraping against the ceiling was the complete embodiment of the word malice and just by being in its aura could stop the hearts of hundreds of humans, but somehow this man managed to not die instantly upon standing so close to this Demon.
The word Demon itself was not nearly enough to describe this malicious entity, for the thing that came to end Nova's existence was far above any lowly Demon outside, it was the true Devil. Nova could not breathe, he could not move, he could not blink, he could not think, nor could he feel. Every single one of his bodily functions stopped the instant that the Devil appeared, the only thing that kept him alive in that moment was the Will that he had built up since the classroom incident. The Devil's physique was the manifestation of a warriors perfection, a wet dream of anyone who wished they could embody fear, strength, power, and immortality. Its body was chiseled like a Greek god, covered head to toe in rippling muscles that were covered by skin like black armor that looked harder than any metal on this planet.
The Devil looked as though he had been through and, single handedly won, every single battle that had ever taken place, EVER. It was impossible to tell where the armor ended and the Demon began, because it looked as if the Devil had been completely fused with its armor or the armor had fused with it. In addition to its already more than imposing frame, plastered in its right hand was a long, demonic katana with a red hilt, and as the Devil gripped his blade it looked as if his hand couldn't leave its hilt. The blade was so long that even from the Devil's position from the door, the elongated sword was more than capable of stabbing directly through Nova's chest. fused with his inhuman stature was a single blade connected to his right hand. But more terrifying than all of these factors combined was the Devil's sinister face, more specifically the lack of lips and rotting teeth that spread wide to form a maniacal smile. A smile that spoke the most impactful phrase anyone who had seen this smile would ever know, 'YOU'RE FUCKED'
Time fell still for Nova and he felt as if he had starred into the depths of the Devil's hallowed eyes for an eternity but breaking that feeling of eternity was the mechanical movement that the being before him started making. The Devil began robotically raising his sword towards the sky, the maniacal grin on its mangled face widening ever so slight as it did so. The Devils widening gap of a mouth slowly began forming words and booming from the beings mouth came a deep rumble that shook the very foundation of the building he was in. "EnO eHt Si eH." In a tongue that Nova's brain couldn't even register the Devil spoke, vibrating the air and his surroundings in the process. After saying the first phrase, the Devils blade had cut deeply into the floor above them, allowing the Devil to hold its blade perfectly straight up before lowering it yet again. The Devil brought its katana down in a perfect arc, stopping the tip of its blade directly at the center of its target's forehead, drawing only a bead of blood. The Devil stared down the human and spoke its final words. "MIH LLIK!"
The instant the Devil's words echoed through the room an unbelievable force suddenly erupted through the apartment building as a beast smashed through Nova's apartment window, shattering the glass desk and everything that was on it as the beast entered. The behemoths massive jaws were opened incredibly wide, spanning from the floor to the ceiling of the apartment and revealed rows of razor sharp, dagger like teeth that slashed through everything they touched. Emanating from the beasts jaws was a burning swell of scalded heat, instantly turning the room into a blazing oven just from parting its maw, but at the speed that the beast approached left no time for Nova to even reaction to its presence. And in moments the superheated maw of the beasts enveloped Nova's body cooking his skin burnt and he felt as the teeth stabbed into his body, splitting his form in half, viscously tearing through him like wet paper, and brutally ending the life of this special Human.
Earth. The bright blue orb of life that held the mass of the knowledgeable humans inside of its warm bosom continued its revolution, showing it's gorgeous face unto the Sun yet again. With the face of the Sun came its direct gaze of loving warmth that was sure to bring joy to the Earth's inhabitants yet again, bringing sunlight to those formerly in the darkness, and bringing them one step closer towards the future. Among these incredibly knowledgeable inhabitants, only one was truly taking leap towards their destiny, but that leap began with the shock of death. The glowing sun rose over the horizon, greeting the Earth's revived inhabitant the same way it always did and would no longer, shinning it's blinding light into the rapidly shifting eyes of this dreaming man. The Sun's rays shot expeditiously through the blinds of the once dead special human's apartment, contaminating the room with its bright presence, and revealing the state of ware that he lived in. However, the rise-and-shine properties of the Sun's gaze were ineffective on this particular individual, and as such he was allowed a few more minutes of unconscious turmoil before he was forcefully awoken from his nightmare.
Beeeeeeeep
A single annoying beep and buzz from the device on his bedside table was all it took to rouse him from his torturous nightmare, and the man immediately moved to turn off the disruptive device with a single swift movement. "FUCK!" Nova suddenly shot up out his bed, covered in a layer of slick sweat, causing his blanket to stick to his shoulders and back even as he rose. Visions of the coming of the Armageddon created sky, Titan eviscerating his classmates, hundreds of corpses with their chests torn asunder, the Devil that appeared in his home, and the jaws of the beast that cooked him alive were playing on repeat inside his head. "What the fuck just happened?" He asked an invisible entity, taking in deep breaths to calm himself down and allow his brain to start working properly. As he breathed, Nova was able to slowly regain his composure, choosing to lay back down on his bed for a moment of comfort before his brain got to work.
After using both of his hands to wipe the slick sweat from his face, he began contemplating his current situation, taking a moment to feel around his body for any changes. "Was that a dream? No, it can't be, that felt way to real to just be a dream." He looked around the room, closely examining the space to find the answer to his inquiry. As he gendered at his colorful room, he immediately noticed the numerous postures, wall scrolls, and banners that covered not only his walls but also his ceiling as well. The Sun's rays showed through his partially closed blinds at just the right angle to perfectly illuminate his entire bedroom, allowing him to gaze suspiciously at the seemingly hundreds of nerdish memorabilia that littered his place of residence. As Nova looked to his right, he saw his spotless glass desk that had two identical lit 27inch monitors sitting atop it, and in front of the left monitor sat a glowing, rainbow-colored keyboard, accompanied by an equally glowing mouse.
Seeing that everything seemed entirely normal, he pushed his Pink chair away from his desk allowing him to take a look at the illuminated screens that were still on from what should've been the night before. "It's still Guilty Gear" he thought to himself, slowly removing the blanket from his body before silently stalking his way over to the suspicious window. Unafraid, Nova took silent steps towards his blinded window, peering through the blinds as he checked to see if the beast that had killed him before was still here, but instead of seeing red reptilian eyes, all he saw was a bright sun, a few pedestrians that looked to be students, and the other buildings that surrounded his apartment. "Normal" he thought, bending down to turn off his PC, and as he looked around his room, he thought to himself, "where the fuck did, I throw my phone?"
After the thought, Nova's body naturally moved to complete his morning routine, but his mind wouldn't stop thinking about the surreal dream that he just had. "Everything in my room is exactly the same as it was in the dream that I had, but then again, it's not exactly like I leave my PC on playing many different games than Guilty Gear. But even still, that shit felt way too real to just be a dream" as he finished that thought, he remembered the suffocating scent of blood, the sound of a crumbling building, the feeling of a sword piercing his forehead, and the burning sensation of the beasts hot breath accompanied by its teeth tearing him to shreds. Remembering it made him shiver slightly, but after he entered the bathroom and seeing himself and his body, he thought, "nothing on my body changed either. No scars or burn marks, although I think my skin might look a bit clearer, but that could be nothing. There's just no way to tell right now, maybe I should just try to continue my day like I did before and see if anything is different."
With that thought, he turned on the sink and did the same with the hot water in his shower, continuing his morning routine exactly as usual, and once he made it back to his room after the shower he walked to his closet and found his phone underneath the same T-shirt as before. "What show is this even from" he thought, looking at the images of the different colored girls on the front. "It's not that important I guess" tossing the T-shirt to the side to continue his routine on schedule. After getting dressed and grabbing the things he needed for class, Nova confidently stepped out of his apartment and walked towards his classroom, keeping a keen eye on all of his surroundings as he did so.
The Sun beamed down on Nova as he walked along the brick pathway that led up to his massive school building, watching with a sense of Déjà vu as he took note of the numerous partners and groups joyfully talking, smiling, and laughing with one another as they did whatever they were doing. They appeared to be incredibly happy in ignorant bliss, basking in the light of the Sun that was soon to depart, freely traveling wherever they wished to be before the Demons restricted that, and speaking with one another in large groups of accepting individuals that were soon to be dead. As he walked, he began mulling over the experience that he had yesterday/last night, remembering all that had taken place leading up to the Armageddon.
Once the memories began flooding back to him with unusual perfection, he could easily remember every minute detail of his dream and because of it he could easily tell that everything was occurring nearly exactly the same as it did in his dream. As his thoughts filled with the possibilities of the monstrosities that might soon arrive, he was stopped in his tracks by a blonde woman standing by the entrance to the building.
" Hello! My name is Jessica, and I was asking if I could speak with you for a moment?" The instant Nova heard the woman ask the same question that she asked him in his previous go around everything clicked in his mind and he realized that whatever occurred in his 'dream' was really going to be happened, but even then, the immediate shock from the realization over-took him slightly. "Excuse me, are you alright?"
"Huh?" He suddenly came too, seeing Jessica trying to get his attention and make sure there wasn't anything wrong with him. "Oh yeah I'm alright, nothin to worry about." He waved off the issue, choosing not to bring to light everything that was soon to happen on earth. "Uhh so what were you talking about, some kind of donation or something?"
Jessica was slightly startled for a moment, "did I talk about the donation already? I don't know I've been told I'm kind of a ditz" she said with a smile, giggling a bit as she spoke. "Well, basically, me and my friends are collecting donations from people to help fund a funeral for one of the Professors that passed away this weekend. It's a bit complicated as to why all this is going down, but if you really wanna hear about it I can let you know!"
After thinking about her proposition for a moment he said "no that's fine, I'd like to help you guys out, but I don't have any cash on me. Can I cash app you or something?"
Jessica's face lit up at the proposition, "of course! I promise that all your proceeds will go to the cause, my cash code is…" after getting the woman cash app, he chose to send over a thousand dollars figuring that he wasn't going to need money anyway.
"Oh my god! Like, are you sure? This is a lot of money! Aren't you a student here or something? There's no way you could be this well off, no offense obviously, but like seriously, are you sure?"
When the joyful girl asked him the question a dreary thought suddenly came to his mind, "I'm the only one who knows this thing is coming. Jessica thinks that this money has value simply because she doesn't know that she may pass away within the next couple hours." The thought hurt his heart slightly, receiving all this praise from this girl even though he didn't necessarily deserve it, and keeping the information about the worlds destruction from her which essentially just sealed her fate. "But what am I supposed to do, it's not like I can somehow save everyone just by telling them, and it's not like people are gonna believe me anyway." In that moment, against everything that he believed and against all that his heart was telling him, he chose to put on a smile and say, "No its really coo, I'd love to help out anyway I can. Just, make sure not to stay outside for too long Jessica, it's kinda hot today so you may wanna go inside to take a couple breaks."
"Thanks for the advice and thank you so much for the money! I'll definitely take a bunch of breaks, especially since with this we've pretty much reached our goal! Do you mind me asking what your name is? I'd love to talk later… maybe we could get coffee or something like that sometime?"
"Uhm, sure, my name is Nova, it's nice to meet you, Jess. My number is…" after giving the blonde girl his number really quickly, he went through the buildings glass doors, gave his ID to the security team, and walked up to his classroom, swiping his card against the door to enter the room full of students. The instant he walked in a sudden thought crossed his mind, "if this place is gonna get destroyed, then why the fuck am I here?"
But, before he could act on the thought, he was broken out of his mind by the professor's booming voice, "Sir, Mister uhhhhhh… let me see here…. ah Pollux! You are quite a bit late young man; do you mind explaining to the class what made you so tardy on this fine morning?" The instant the professor spoke up, the entire class turned their attentions to him, curious as to who the teacher was putting the spotlight on.
Nova's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he heard the professors comment, "I was talking to a nice lady down at the southern entrance and I got caught up in the conversation, sorry for being late."
The professor smiled and said, "oh, it seems you were, uhh, 'spitting some game' as you young folks say. That's just fine, just try not to do it again, and please don't hold up the rest of our class and head to your seat Mr. Pollux." After giving it a moment, Nova didn't take a single step towards his seat and instead walked back towards the rooms exit, much to the chagrin of the professor. "Young man, where do you plan on going? Class just began and you were already late, don't you think it a little bit disrespectful to simply leave at the begging of my lecture?"
The man took in a deep breath to calm himself down, "I'm going to the bathroom."
"You're telling me that you are going to the bathroom at the beginning of my class. Not only that, but you are also going to take all of your belongings with you?" The professor exclaimed with a chuckle, raising his arms in mock skepticism at the actions of his student.
"Uhm… Yeah" The murmurs of the student body quickly turned into a mass of giggles and chuckles, and the professor even joined in on the laughter. The only person in the room who wasn't laughing was Nova himself and this was made even more evident by the teachers next comment.
"Alright, alright class settle down class, it seems we have a future comedian in the room. Ok funny man, sit on down back in your seat. We'll have a 10-minute break sometime in the middle of our lecture, you can go do whatever you were going to do in the bathroom at that time." Laughing heavily at his own joke, he motioned Nova back to his seat with a finger disrespectfully.
The calming breath didn't work as well as it did the first time, and he glared slightly at the older man before saying, "you'll be dead by the break." The room went from noisy to silent in an instant, no one moving a single inch as they heard the matter-of-fact statement that permeated from the lips of the formerly quiet kid. Without wasting a moment, Nova walked out the door, heading downstairs to the lobby, and walked out the southern entrance of the building. Once he took a single step out into the sunlight, he noticed that Jessica and her friends had left their stand, presumably going somewhere much safer than outside, which gave him a warm feeling in his chest. "Now's the time to execute the plan I thought of yesterday/ in my dream, if the Devil somehow showed up at my apartment, then it's probably best that I avoid that building. Instead, I'll just head straight for the Facility and hunker down there until further notice."
As Nova lightly jogged through the walkways and paths that led to the massive complex, he quickly came upon the main street that separated the Flash Center from the part of the campus that he lived in, and the side-walk was completely packed with people. The traffic was intense, but he quickly lightly pushed his way to the cross-walk, intent on waiting for the light to allow him to cross. As he was waiting, he took notice of how bright it still wat, but even though it was bright outside he looked up to check for the progression of the breaking sky and what he saw was a slowly forming crack. Feeling pressed for time, Nova sprinted across the street, undeterred by horns and screeching tires, running directly into the massive parking garage that was connected to the entirety of the greater complex.
The garage had three different exits on the base floor, all of them leading into various sections of the Flash Center. The exit on the far east side of the building it led into the massive football stadium, but it was only accessible by students at certain times of the day and right now was not that time. On the north side of the building was the entrance to the world-class competitive swimming pool and this area was accessible to the greater public as long as they had a pass, luckily students got in for free. The west side exit lead into more faculty style offices, some gyms and more training areas, but this area was more or less restricted to everyone except for those that worked there.
"The only area that I'm able to access with my student ID is the pool area, plus it's the fastest way to get to the mall area anyway. So, the pool it is." Nova, still jogging, made his way up to the entrance of the swimming building and with a swipe of his ID the door switched from red to green barring him entrance in the safe haven. "Safe at last" he thought, letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding in.
Upon entering the building, the hot, sticky, humid air choked him slightly, sticking his clothes to his body and creating an incredibly uncomfortable sensation. However, the feeling was infinitely better than being outdoors amidst the hell spawn, so he just gritted his teeth and bared the feeling as he located the entrance to the mall he was looking for.
The room was filled to the brim with students, parents, and children alike, all enjoying the freshness of the cool water on the hot day. The pool itself was filled with people laughing and splashing one another with the cool substance, and there were tons of adults quietly chatting poolside with one another. It a very lively vibe, only made more terrifying by the fact that this liveliness would be ending soon, but unfortunately, or fortunately, for them they had no idea what was on the horizon.
Nova quickly made his way through the crowd of people, trying his best not to be rude as he gently pushed people out of the way to make it to his destination. He swam quickly through the crowd of lively people until he eventually reached the pools exit, and mall entrance, on the west side of the room. As he came to a stop in front of the large glass double doors, his attention was overtaken by the reflection of red light that shined through and off of the glass door. Turning around, he saw an incredibly familiar red light that was beginning to shine in through the glass ceiling of the pool room. The fractures began littering the sky and in doing so it left the Sun's rays completely vacant from earth, leaving the people to watch in awe at the beginning of the end.
Everyone in the room turned their attention to the supernatural occurrence that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Various 'oohs' and 'aahhs' could be heard echoing throughout the pool tile walls of the room, reverberating the sounds of ignorant individuals who were soon to be slaughtered. There were even some parents covering their kids' eyes because 'looking at an eclipse with your bare eyes is bad for your eyesight' and while all everyone's attention was focused on the ceiling, Nova opened the exit and sprinted through the door. He ran straight into the mall of the Flash Center, however as he looked up towards the sky, he saw a sight that frightened him to his core.
"This place is like every other damn mall! All of the ceilings are made of glass! How the fuck did I forget that the ceilings were made of fucking glass!" As he cleared the thought from his mind, he continued running as he tried his best to think of a different, safer, location where his survival needs may have been met, but before he could truly come up with a plan of attack, a loud thudding sound began emanating from above. The sounds were like a thick liquid substance thudding against a hollow window, and almost immediately one thud became thousands as the mall became dark. The black tar pools that spawned demons began covering the entire surface of the malls ceiling, but the lack of light only lasted temporarily because soon after the pools formed, a much more horrifying occurrence began.
Rising and forming out of these tar pits came monsters, demons, ghouls, and any other name that could be used to describe a terrifying inhuman entity. Some were like the same rotting flesh zombies and humanoid spider demons that he saw in his dream, but others were completely different beasts entirely. Some were boney skeletons with rotting flesh hanging off them like ragged clothing, others were creatures with large mosquito wings on their backs with little infantile bodies, and vary few and far in between, were soldiers with rusted and tattered weapons, broken armor pieces with decayed faces. After a moment of quiet the legion of demons simultaneously began pounding against the glass with all of their strength, slashing with weapons, striking with fists, and banging with heads, creating a terrifying chore of demonic moans and the sound of destruction.
At first the building was silent except for the sounds of bashing, scratching, and screeching coming from the monsters from the glass roof, but once people were able to register the faces of the demons everything went south. People rapidly began to realize the gravity of the situation, and gradually everyone in the building went from happy and amused to scared and panicked, turning the gallery into horde of terror. At first it was as if no one wanted to recognize what was happening instead choosing to watch on while their dooms were slowly shattering the window above, but all it took was for one lady to scream before all hell broke loose.
The stampede began and people instantly started yelling and screaming their throats raw in an effort to somehow relieve themselves of the fear that they face, but even then, it only worked to fuel the fire. Everyone in the building collectively ran towards the one exit they knew of, the one that lead to the parking garage., the place where their cars were located. The crowd of people quickly became a tsunami of human bodies climbing on top of one another, hoping and pleading for a chance to survive a bit longer than the rest. Men, woman, and children were rapidly crushed under the immense pressure of hundreds of human feet hustling to get to their vehicles for an escape, causing a slip and slide of blood and guts as they ran with all their effort to their vehicles. But to make matters worse, amidst the rumbling stampede of morally devoid hysterical humans a single crack could be heard, somehow overpowering the sounds of thousands of people screaming at once. One crack quickly turned two, two cracks turned four, and four turned eight, and this process continued unbeknownst to the entirety of the stampede who didn't notice until it was too late.
CRRRAAAASSSHHHH
Suddenly the entire glass ceiling fell through, raining foul creatures and deadly shards of glass on to the masses. The falling glass itself claimed many, many lives as they stabbed through the unsuspecting victims below, but it was truly only the beginning of the slaughter. If the screaming could have gotten any louder, it would have done so, but in the panic of their escape attempt none noticed as these monstrous atrocities were upon them, instantly beginning to cull through the tsunami of bodies, creating waves of blood with every clash. Even the ones who remained in the pool weren't safe and soon the formerly blue water ran a deep red, and the walls were stained with those same bloody hues.
"I knew the glass wasn't gonna hold!" Nova thought as he sprinted through the building looking for another quick exit. He watched with his mind's eye as the legion of hellions began killing the people in mass, but as they fell through in his direction, he simply sprinted past them, feeling much faster than he was before. In fact, the demons didn't even seem to be paying much attention to him, instead focusing on killing the stray humans that were in the various shops and the ones scattered through the halls. Nova didn't know much about the buildings various intricacies as far as entrances and exits go, but he did know that there was a parking lot that lead directly out to the main street. That parking lot was promoted a lot as a VIP, privileged parking area that allowed people who often visit, and pay top dollar, to park directly next to the mall for easier access.
He knew that it had to be in this general area, located somewhere in between the pool and the food court, but he didn't know exactly where it was since he had never used it. "Damn special parking passes. Where the hell is the lot at." As if the gods themselves had opened the way, as he was running down the hall, he found exactly what he was looking for. A small off shooting corridor that was perfectly perpendicular to the hallway he was running in, and it was fit with a red carpet like rug, a sign that read 'VIP Flashers Only' and a silver door that led out to the parking lot . "After exiting the mall we'll run through the streets for a while, heading towards the other school buildings since it's not very likely that another titan spawns right next to those ones as well." With his plan swiftly created, he noticed the lack of Demons surrounding the hall that led outside and the feeling that it brought him was intensely eerie, but even then, this was his only real exit, so he ran down the VIP corridor towards the silver doors.
Nova quickly shot down the hallway, feeling his steps padded with every carpeted step, and once he reached the silver doors, he immediately shot out of them with a small smirk, figuring that he had escaped the first onslaught of Demons yet again. However, the Devilish final obstacle appeared in his way once more, immediately stunning all thoughts from his mind and forcing his bodily functions to cease. Also, this time the armored Devil was not alone and instead he was sitting on the back of his fiery dragon mount that had ended Nova's life previously.
A massive beast that towered over Nova glared down on him, standing on all fours at 10ft (3m) above the ground the animal was by far the most intimidating animalistic creature he had ever seen. While the beast's head only lightly resembled anything on this planet, it had far more resemblance to the mythological legendary dragons that are created in fictional tales. It truly did have the head of a dragon; however, its body was like that of an oversized wolf, having four legs, a long swaying, muscular tail, and flaring fur that grew from parts of its form. The Behemoths dragon like head was huge and extending from its mouth were incredibly sharp, dagger like teeth that were easily multiple feet (meters) long in length.
Also connected to each side of its skull were two slightly front facing reptilian slit eyes that glew with the intensity of a blazing inferno, and decorating its head were two spiraling horns that grew from the top of its head. The entirety of its body was covered in iron black scales that shinned in the red light of day, with its underbelly being plated in much larger grey scales that had super-heated steam rising from the gaps in between each scale. This gave its neck and undersides the appearance of being a ventilation unit that worked to release excess heat from the Behemoth's body, and it clearly had a lot of excess heat. Steam poured from the gaps in its armory, filling the surrounding air in an intense musk of overwhelming heat, lightly burning the skin on Nova's body just from being in the beasts presence.
However, what terrified Nova the most about this sudden encounter was the Devil who sat comfortably on the Behemoth's back as if it was a simple pet or a mount, and once the Devil laid eyes on the target that trembled before him, a sinister grin widened across his non-existent, rotting lips. With the same katana that pierced his skin in his dream still fused to the Devil's black, armored hand, the Behemoth before him opened its jaw slightly to let out a flaming ember of orange steam that instantly burnt Nova's face to an unholy degree.
Unlike the first time he faced the Devil, this time the man was able to formulate thoughts, and his mind immediately tried to calm itself down so he could come up with a solution to this problem "Fuck! What do I do! My body wont fuckin move!" Nova thought as he stood before the Devil and the Cerberus, facing his inevitable death yet again. Before Nova managed to do anything, the demonic figure began do the same motion the Devil did before ordering the Behemoth to kill him in his dream, slowly, tauntingly, raising its lone blade above its head, and into the air, grinning maliciously all the while. "No, fuck! I don't know if I'll have another life after this one, I don't know if I'll have another chance to escape this bastard! I have to run; I have to escape!" Nova screamed in is mind, pleading with his body to resist the temptation of giving in to death.
"EnO eHt Si eH." The Devil rasped out, rumbling the air around them and exciting the Behemoth beneath it. The beast began drooling, its molten steel saliva melting into the concrete bellow as it listened to its master pronounce each unknown syllable with deathly reverberation, actively mocking, taunting, and disrespecting its victim knowing he could to nothing in return. The sword that was raised high was then steadily moved in a precise arc to face the center of his prays forehead, this time far to high up to cut Nova's skin, but it still felt as if the blade had sliced his forehead.
"I won't let it end like this! Come on legs move, move, MOVE!" Summoning all the willpower he could from the depths of his soul, Nova forced the unimaginable substance from his core, shooting it out all across his body to break free from the Devil's bondage.
"MIH LLIK!" As the behemoth shot forward at the command from its master, a sudden Pink shockwave burst from its targets body, erupting from Nova's skin in a blinding light that illuminated their surroundings. The light was blinding, and the shockwave was forceful, but it did little to no damage to the Devil and his mount but stunning them both just long enough for Nova to make his next move.
Wasting no time all, Nova leaped back through the silver doors that he came from, sliding back into the corridor a top the red carpet in an awkward rolling motion. This quick movement allowed him to easily avoid the lunging mount who was far too large to fit through the small doors, getting its head stuck in the crushed concrete walls for its attempt. Nova took a second to make sure the Behemoth was stuck before he quickly rolling back to his feet and turned towards the main mall hall as he took off sprinting with all his body would give him. The man's feet started flying at speeds he had never felt before, not even giving him a moment to realize that he reached the end of the hallway almost instantly.
Nova was shocked at how fast he ran across the carpet, but he quickly recovered from it and managed to adjust his eyes and mind to match the incredible speeds that his feet carried him at. The moment he entered the hallway, he slid across the floor, skidding his shoes across the polished tiles as he made an incredibly agile right turn towards the main pool and parking garage. " Going back to the garage is my best bet right now, I gotta somehow make it into some tight spaces where he can't follow me through. On a straight like this I'm sure he can catch up to me somehow and its only straight shots from here to any of the nearest exits. So, I need to get through the parking garage and somehow evade them through some alleyways till I can make it to a different safe space." With that thought complete, he dashed down the hallway, taking only a moment to turn around and make sure that he wasn't being followed.
At the same time, he thought, "at least that hallway is too small for him to go through, and the Behemoth has its head stuck in the doorway, those should buy me enough time to get down to the garage and make my way out." As if on cue, the Devil and his mount suddenly appeared directly in the center of hallway, teleporting through the corridor and into the main hallway only leaving a long wispy red streak as proof that it happened at all. Nova immediately recognized the wispy streak of red that trailed from the VIP parking lot to the mall's hallway but looking at the streak now seemed much different than before. The streak seemed to glow like a light in the dark and he could clearly see it emanating from the Devil himself, and even as he turned back around to begin his sprint, he could still see everything. The Devil teleported himself and his mount directly into the building, bypassing the tiny corridor in its entirety, and on top of that the movement was completely silent.
Fear should've overcome the man as the 10-foot Behemoth and its demonic master suddenly appeared behind him, but even as he turned around to continue his sprint, he could still feel the exact location of the Devil behind himself. Matter of fact, all of his senses felt incredibly heightened, and he could clearly pinpoint the locations of everything surrounding him, including the immanent objects that littered the mall.
"What the fuck, he can Teleport!" Nova thought as he continued sprinting towards his designated exit, trying his best to compile all of the sudden information that awakened in his body. He listened with enhanced hearing as concrete crushing claws dashed against the ground behind him, pounding against the tiled floor with every bound. The metallic claws crushed loudly against the floor creating deathly crumbling sounds, like a tank crushing gravel but much more destructive and numerous. The Behemoth sped down the hallway like a freight train, using all four of its muscular, concrete crushing paws to gain quickly on its designated target. All the while, the Devil on its back smiling wildly, sinisterly keeping its blade poised for Nova's head even amongst the intense movement of the speedy beast.
"I guess that explains how the Devil snuck into my apartment before, a silent teleportation that lets them bring something with it" He thought as he began forcing his will into his legs, trying his hardest to escape the coming demons. The situation was dire, the Behemoth was gaining fast, the stench of blood filled the air, and it seemed as if there was nowhere for Nova to go as the Devil was going to claim his life once more. However, even amongst these extremely dire straits a small smirk began forming across Nova's lips as he ran and with this smile came a thought. "I feel like I should be afraid for my life right now, but for some reason…" the sprinting man stopped the thought to slowly take in a deep breath, noticing the new smell and taste of the air, "I feel fucking FANTASTIC!"
With each step his body lightened, with each breath his senses heightened, and with each thought his euphoria escalated! The thought that this beast could catch him slowly dissipated into afterthought as Nova flew down the hallway at inhuman speeds, and the will that had been forced through every vein in his body created a high like no other. His senses rapidly heightened to insane levels and because of it he could 'see' exactly what happened as the Devil approached any of the other monstrosities. The instant anything got within a domain that surrounded the Devil, the souls of the fleshy creatures, that looked like small glowing orbs in their chests, were violently getting ripped from their chests and fused with the Devil behind him. The instant the glowing souls from the other beings fused with the Devil's brightly growing soul, the Devil's soul grew a little bit brighter and grew a tad bit larger as well, seemingly strengthening it slightly.
However, this event caused the monsters physical forms to quickly quiver and dissipate into nothingness, acting as if they had never existed in the first place. "I guess that explains why there are never any friendlies around him. I'd imagine the same thing happens to people as well." He mentally shivered at the thought. "But that's not important, first I have to make it to the garage!" Nova's energy rapidly increased, steadily increasing the distance between himself and the Devil's mount as his legs burned faster and faster down the mall's hallway. As the glass pool doors quickly approached, Nova felt completely unstoppable. So, naturally, instead of stopping to rip the handle of the door and risk the Behemoth catching up last second, he decided to jump straight through the hard glass. "Alright. Let's see how fast we can go!"
Nova's legs blurred into nothingness as he shot all of his will into his legs, and in what felt like an instant the space between him, and the door became negligent. He then prepped his legs with a small crouch and swiftly sprung 6 feet (2m) in the air, perfectly aligning himself with the center of the glass door. As his bodily flew in slow motion towards his ticket to freedom, he suddenly saw a streak of red appear in his field of vision. He sensed as the trail of red will traveled from the previous location of the Devil behind his, underneath his airborne body, and through the glass door in front of him.
Sitting with perfect posture ten feet (three meters) in the air on the other side on the glass exit was a smiling Devil and his ferocious mount, the Devil himself poised with his blade perfectly pointed at the head of the airborne Nova. In that instant the two enemies stared one another down, glaring daggers into each other's eyes as they knew that the victor of this interaction would decide who would walk away from this exchange with their lives intact, and neither of them were willing to give the other a chance at victory. The Devil would no longer give chase and Nova refused to run from anything anymore, the Devil in front of the will fueled human was going down today and Nova was going to make sure of it.
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