Kale passed through the same tunnel that he had used to enter the military base.
He was now on the surface with other soldiers.
"Kale." Ming's voice called out to him. He turned around and saw Ming beside a tall person with a familiar build.
"I see you found your suit, the military must have taken it. Otherwise, I don't see how you could lose it."
"Nice modifications." She tapped on his suit where the feather-like design was prominent.
Ian shifted slightly and claimed their attention.
His suit appeared to be very thick and heavy with his warhammer firmly attached to his back.
It was a great contrast to Ming's which was not too different from her body suit. It was thin and seemed very flexible.
Even her helm didn't cover her entire head. It was more like a face mask. As for her knives, they were in straps attached to her legs.
"I have a bad feeling about this gate opening." Ian opened up.
Ming tilted her head slightly, "Well you aren't wrong. The military even seemed worried themselves."
"But that doesn't mean that it's out of their containment capacity. If it were, I'm sure we would have been evacuated already."
Kale was about to add something when a mass of flames gathered above the soldiers and coalesced into Toby. He was flying.
He turned to the sky with his finger pointing west. "Brace yourselves, it's about to open."
His words were carried by the wind and silenced the light chatter in the air.
A large wave rose and approached the island but the force field surrounding it stopped it from getting too close.
__________
In a hidden room within the Military Base Alpha, Miss Cayenne was seated with Mr. Daniel.
"I believe that what we feared is coming true." She tapped her tablet screen, recording information in real time.
Several screens were showing live footage of the surface.
Mr. Daniel sighed, "It seems that whatever is opening the gates is aware that our central defense is situated on an island."
Miss Cayenne put her tablet away and looked him in the eye.
"It makes sense, no? The last gate that opened was fixed near an island, and now this? It's far too much to be a mere coincidence."
The two stayed in silence for a while.
"But what could control a dimensional tear and send out a Tier 5 beast is what I fear."
______
The sunny sky slowly turned grey as it was covered by storm clouds. Thunder rumbled on in the distance.
Strong winds started swirling around the island and a faint sense of dread fell on everyone present.
The feeling strengthened until next to no one could move.
'What is this feeling?' Kale's face was drenched in sweat and his body was starting to tremble.
A small red spark phased through the sky and the gravitational pressure of the island increased.
More sparks formed and vanished as quickly as they came. The sky rumbled and cracked with a large red lightning bolt.
A massive crimson rift tore the sky in two. Its edges looked like broken glass and its insides were like a whirlpool.
A small dot left its confines and charged at them. It came in closer until it hit the force field which turned it into ash.
Another left it and met the same fate as the previous one. Then another and another until hundreds came out at the same time.
They all hit the force field at the same time and place. Most died on the spot but the weakened field let one slip through.
It crashed into the ground and lifted up dust. As the dust settled, it became clear what they were dealing with.
It was like a human and an insect had made an unholy offspring.
It had human-like skin with bug eyes, mandibles, clawed hands, and two pairs of translucent wings.
The soldiers stared at it, some with disgust and others with fear.
It clicked and charged at one of them. The soldier it was flying to didn't move, she was frozen until a large warhammer slammed into its exoskeleton and turned it into mush.
She stumbled back and saw that it was another soldier who had saved her. Kale recognized that it was Ian.
While everyone had been paralyzed, he had acted silently and even killed it effortlessly.
Loud clicks drew their attention and they looked at the force field. Multiple holes had opened and those beasts were starting to flood in.
The soldiers adjusted themselves and started killing off the insectoids. Feeling fear at a moment like that meant death.
Everyone was slaying the beasts except Kale, he found himself all alone with nothing to kill.
The beasts seemed to be avoiding him. If he had to guess, he'd say that it was because of his suit.
Compared to him, everyone else seemed like more suitable prey. Toby had made that clear.
His gaze went to Ming who had her knives in both hands.
She tapped on her heels and her shoes took on a faint blue glow. She took a step forward, and her body almost blurred.
'Her shoes increase her speed? Amazing!' Kale muttered as he watched her.
Ming spun majestically amidst the chaos. Her blades seemed to find the slots in the beast's exoskeleton with ease.
She pulled her blades and stabbed when necessary. There was no hesitation or fear, just grace and precise lethality.
Ian was very different. He swung his warhammer with power and crushed whatever he could get his hands on.
Kale watched him twist the handle of his warhammer and saw it take on a bright blue glow.
Ian jumped and slammed the hammer into the ground. It released a shockwave that paralyzed the nearby beasts.
He proceeded to resume smashing them open.
All the soldiers were extremely effective in handling the beasts but Kale felt odd. He wasn't participating.
'Will I get in trouble for not killing?' Kale pulled out his normal sword from its holster.
He gripped it firmly and took on a stance, ready to join in when a massive rumble shook the sky.
All eyes fell on the rift and even the beasts stopped moving.
An antenna left the rift, and the world started to shake. The Tier 3 beast was coming through.