Chapter 34: Multiplying Threats (part-2)
Day 101 - November 25th - 10:15 AM
The compound was in controlled chaos when we returned.
All three strike teams were mobilizing simultaneously, Maya's, Reyes's, and a third team hastily assembled under Cross's direct command. Weapons were being distributed, mana potions prepared, healers assigned. The organized efficiency was beautiful to watch, a testament to three months of drilling and preparation.
But it wasn't enough.
"We have a problem," Dr. Chen announced the moment I entered the command center. Her face was pale, hands shaking as she clutched her tablet. "The rifts aren't appearing at the rate I predicted. They're accelerating."
She pulled up a map on the main display. Seattle was covered in dots, red for confirmed rifts, yellow for predicted formations, orange for possibilities.
There were dozens of them.
"I calibrated my sensors based on the first rift's formation rate," Dr. Chen continued, her scientist's precision barely masking her fear. "But the energy readings are increasing exponentially. Each new rift makes the next one easier to form. It's a cascade effect. By my calculations, we'll have fifteen to twenty rifts opening per day by the end of the week."
The room went silent. Fifteen to twenty rifts per day. That meant 450-600 rifts over thirty days, not one hundred.
"The quest says we need to close one hundred rifts," Lucas said slowly, his mind clearly racing. "Maybe that's the minimum to stop the cascade? Close enough rifts to stabilize reality before the exponential growth becomes uncontrollable?"
"That would make sense," I agreed, my Strategic Mind processing the mechanics. "The System isn't asking us to close every rift, it's asking us to close enough to break the feedback loop. Stop the cascade before it reaches critical mass."
"Then we need to close rifts faster than they open," General Cross said flatly. "How many can we handle per day with three teams?"
I did the math quickly. "Assuming each rift takes thirty minutes to clear and seal, and each team can operate for eight hours before exhaustion... maybe six rifts per team per day. Eighteen total if we push everyone to their limits."
"That's not enough," Sarah Chen said. "If fifteen to twenty are opening daily, we fall behind by two to seven rifts every single day. The problem compounds."
"Then we need more teams," Maya said immediately. "Train more mana-users to seal rifts. Recruit from other factions. Expand our operational capacity."
"Agreed," I said. "But that takes time. Today, right now, we have three rifts forming and three teams. Let's solve the immediate crisis, then plan for tomorrow." I activated Tactical Link, connecting to all squad leaders. "Final deployment assignments: Maya, your team takes Green Lake Park rift. Reyes, University District. Cross, Waterfront. I'll rotate between all three providing tactical coordination."
"What about you?" Lisa asked, concern evident in her voice. "Your mana is depleted from sealing the first rift. You can't seal another one for hours."
She was right. My mana had only regenerated to about 350 out of 870, not enough to seal a rift and definitely not enough to fight effectively while providing tactical coordination.
"I don't need to seal them personally," I said. "Each team has mana-users. I'll teach the technique, then coordinate the fights. It's more important that I maximize our combat effectiveness than seal rifts myself."
"Smart," Lucas agreed. "Delegate sealing, focus on your actual role, strategic command."
The teams deployed within ten minutes.
I went with Maya's team to Green Lake Park, the closest rift to our compound. As we jogged through familiar streets, streets we'd cleared of zombies months ago, I explained the sealing technique through Tactical Link.
"It's intuitive," I sent to all three teams simultaneously, my consciousness stretched thin across three separate conversations. "You feel the rift's wrongness. Channel mana into your hand, press against the edge, and will reality to heal. The System does the actual work, but it needs a catalyst. Any mana-user can do it, but it drains you significantly. Budget at least 500 mana minimum."
Multiple mental acknowledgments came back. Carlos the fire mage on Maya's team. Yuki Tanaka on Reyes's team, a Japanese survivor I'd met briefly, apparently a lightning specialist. Cross's team had two mana-users, both Tier 3 veterans.
We had the capacity. Now we needed the execution.
---
10:35 AM - Green Lake Park Rift
The rift hung above the lake's still water, a purple wound reflecting in the glassy surface below. Smaller than the downtown rift, maybe eight feet across, but no less dangerous.
And something was already emerging.
Not a Riftspawn Hunter this time. Something different.
It looked like a mass of tentacles made from liquid shadow, constantly shifting form, never quite solid. Where it touched reality, things dissolved, grass, dirt, air, everything simply ceased to exist in a sphere around its body.
[VOID TENDRIL SWARM - TIER 4]
[LEVEL 15]
[HP: 1,800/1,800]
[ABILITIES: REALITY DISSOLUTION, SPLIT FORM, ACID SPRAY]
[WEAKNESS: FIRE, HOLY MAGIC]
[WARNING: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD - CONTAMINATES SURROUNDINGS]
Tier 4, not Tier 5. Slightly weaker. But the environmental hazard warning was concerning.
"Carlos, you're primary damage dealer," I commanded through Tactical Link. "Fire is this thing's weakness. Maya, keep it away from civilians. There are families living in those houses." I pointed at the residential area behind us. "If it gets past us, people die."
"Understood," Maya said grimly, drawing her blade.
The Void Tendril Swarm fully emerged from the rift with a wet, tearing sound. It had no eyes, no face, no features, just an amorphous mass of writhing darkness that moved with disturbing purpose.
"Engage!" I commanded.
Carlos opened with a Fireball, a spell he'd learned at Level 5 and mastered through constant practice. The flame struck the creature dead center, and the effect was immediate. The tentacles recoiled, smoking, the shadow-substance burning away where fire touched.
But the creature adapted. It split, literally split its mass into three smaller swarms, each one spreading out to flank us.
"Split Form activated!" I warned. "Don't let them separate us! Formation Delta-2, tighten up!"
The team compressed, maintaining line of sight with each other while still allowing Carlos clear firing lines. Maya and two other melee fighters, Marcus (the teenager) and a Tier 3 woman named Jennifer, formed a protective semicircle around the mage.
"Rotate target priority!" I called, my Probability Analysis calculating optimal focus fire. "Kill the left swarm first. Concentrated damage, don't spread attacks!"
All eight team members focused on the leftmost swarm. Arrows, bullets, Maya's blade, and Carlos's fire, everything hitting one target simultaneously.
Its health bar dropped precipitously: 600... 450... 200... dead.
The shadow-mass dissolved with a sound like steam escaping. One down, two to go.
But while we'd focused on one, the other two had moved. They were flanking, trying to get behind Carlos. Smart. Eliminate the biggest threat first.
"Maya, intercept right!" I commanded. "Jennifer, intercept center! Don't let them past!"
Both fighters moved with perfect timing, blades meeting shadow-tentacles before they could reach their target. But where steel cut shadow, the blades came back corroded, acid spray coating the metal, hissing and bubbling.
"Acid effect!" Maya warned. "Weapons are getting damaged!"
"Switch to ranged after this!" I ordered. "Melee only when necessary!"
Through Tactical Link, I was simultaneously monitoring the other two battles. Reyes's team at University District was fighting something that looked like a floating jellyfish made of crystallized screaming, sounds solidified into physical form. Cross's team at Waterfront faced what the System identified as a "Dimensional Leech", a creature that drained mana from anyone who got too close.
All three fights were manageable but exhausting. Each team was winning, but slowly, and everyone was taking damage.
"Left swarm down! Focus fire on center!" I called.
The second Void Tendril Swarm died under concentrated assault. Just one remaining now, and it knew it was losing. It tried to retreat, flowing back toward the rift.
"Don't let it escape!" I commanded. "If it goes back through and comes out stronger, we lose twice the time!"
Maya's Whirlwind Strike caught it mid-retreat, blade spinning through shadow-mass and physically preventing its movement. Carlos hit it with three Fireballs in rapid succession.
The final swarm dissolved.
[VOID TENDRIL SWARM DEFEATED]
[EXPERIENCE AWARDED: 900]
[LEVEL PROGRESS: 16 → 43% TO 17]
"Carlos, seal the rift!" I ordered. "Everyone else, defensive perimeter! Watch for secondary spawns!"
The young mage approached the rift nervously. He'd never done this before. Through Tactical Link, I guided him: "Feel the wrongness. Your mana wants to fix it. Let it flow naturally."
Carlos pressed his hand against the rift's edge. I felt his mana drain through our connection, 550... 400... 250... 100...
The rift collapsed.
[DIMENSIONAL RIFT SEALED: 2/100]
[QUEST PROGRESS: 2%]
[REWARD: 500 POINTS, RIFT ESSENCE CRYSTAL x1]
"Got it!" Carlos said triumphantly, holding up his crystal. Then he collapsed, completely mana-drained.
"Sandra, support him," I ordered. Our healer moved to help the exhausted mage.
Through Tactical Link, I checked the other battles. Reyes's team had just finished their fight, rift sealed, three injured but no deaths. Cross's team was still engaged but winning.
Two down, one to go.
Then Dr. Chen's panicked voice came through my communication crystal: "Ethan! New rift forming! It's.." Static. ", bigger than the others! Much bigger! And it's.." More static. ", right outside the compound!"
My blood ran cold.
"Maya, get back to base! NOW!" I commanded verbally and through Tactical Link. "All teams, converge on compound! Emergency Rally!"
I activated my new Leadership skill, Emergency Rally. Power flowed out from me, a beacon of energy that every territory member could feel. Suddenly, everyone in the alliance knew exactly where to go and felt compelled to respond.
The three-minute channel time began. I couldn't move, couldn't fight, just had to maintain the summoning while my people raced toward home.
Through Battlefield Awareness, I felt the rift forming. It was massive, thirty feet across already and still growing. The energy signature was different too. Stronger. More stable.
More dangerous.
And then I felt it, something emerging. Something that made every instinct I had scream danger.
[ANALYZING ENTITY...]
The System took longer than usual to identify the threat. Finally, the information appeared:
[RIFT GUARDIAN - TIER 6]
[LEVEL 25]
[HP: 12,000/12,000]
[ABILITIES: ???]
[WARNING: EXTINCTION-CLASS THREAT]
[SPECIAL: GUARDIAN ENTITIES APPEAR AT MAJOR RIFTS]
[DEFEAT REQUIRED TO SEAL RIFT]
Tier 6. Extinction-class. The same threat level that had nearly wiped us out during the tutorial.
And it was attacking our home.
"Everyone, move faster!" I commanded through every communication channel available. "Tier-6 at compound! This is not a drill!"
Emergency Rally completed. Every alliance member knew exactly where to go.
I ran, pushing my Level 16 Agility to its limits. Maya was beside me, both of us sprinting at speeds that would have been impossible pre-System.
Two miles back to the compound. At full sprint, maybe three minutes.
The question was: would three minutes be enough?
Through Battlefield Awareness, I felt the Guardian fully emerge. Felt it survey the compound with alien intelligence. Felt it identify targets—the children sheltering in the central building.
No.
Oh God, no.
The Guardian moved toward the central building where Sophie, Tim, Marcus, and twenty-seven other children were sheltering under minimal guard. The combatants were all deployed with the rift teams.
"ALL CIVILIANS, EVACUATION PROTOCOL OMEGA!" I screamed through every communication method simultaneously. "GET THE CHILDREN OUT! TIER-6 INCOMING!"
But I was still two miles away.
And the Guardian was already there.
Through the mental connection of Tactical Link with the few guards at the compound, I felt their terror as they faced down an Extinction-class threat with only seven defenders.
I felt their determination as they formed a line between the monster and the children.
I felt their deaths, one by one, as the Guardian cut through them like paper.
Three seconds. Seven people. All dead.
The Guardian reached the building's door.
The children were inside, hiding, praying.
One minute until I arrived.
Sixty seconds.
The Guardian raised one massive arm, I could see it through Battlefield Awareness, feel the energy building...
And then something impossible happened.
A golden portal opened between the Guardian and the door.
A figure stepped through.
Someone I'd never seen before. A man in his thirties wearing armor that looked like it was made from solidified starlight. His eyes glowed with power that made the Guardian look weak by comparison.
**[ANALYZING ENTITY...]**
[UNABLE TO ANALYZE]
[ENTITY LEVEL: ???]
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: BEYOND SYSTEM PARAMETERS]
[CLASSIFICATION: ???]
The mysterious stranger looked at the Guardian. Raised one hand casually.
And the Tier-6 Extinction-class threat simply... disappeared. Not killed. Not banished. Just ceased to exist, as if it had never been there.
The massive rift outside the compound collapsed instantly.
The stranger turned, looked directly at me despite being two miles away, and smiled.
Then he vanished through another golden portal.
I arrived at the compound thirty seconds later, gasping, terrified, confused.
The seven guards were dead. The children were safe. The rift was closed.
And I had absolutely no idea what had just happened.
[DIMENSIONAL RIFT SEALED: 3/100]
[QUEST PROGRESS: 3%]
[NOTE: EXTERNAL INTERVENTION DETECTED]
[WARNING: UNKNOWN ENTITY ACTIVE IN REGION]
[RECOMMENDATION: EXTREME CAUTION]
Lucas found me standing outside the compound, staring at where the rift had been.
"What happened?" he asked. "My precognition went crazy, then nothing. Like reality hiccupped."
"Someone saved us," I said quietly. "Someone or something way beyond System parameters. Killed a Tier-6 like it was nothing. Then just... left."
"Who?"
"I have no idea." I looked at him, genuine fear showing through. "But Lucas, if there are things out there that powerful just casually wandering around Earth... what else is out there? What else is coming?"
He had no answer.
None of us did.
Day 101 wasn't even half over, and we'd already faced four rifts, three Tier-4/5 creatures, one Tier-6, lost ten people, and encountered something beyond the System itself.
Twenty-nine more days of this.
I wasn't sure we'd survive.
The alarm screaming through my quarters pulled me from restless sleep.
Not a gentle wake-up call. The emergency alert, three short blasts that meant immediate threat to the compound.
I was moving before conscious thought caught up, Stormbreaker in hand, Battlefield Awareness activating as I burst into the hallway. The compound was organized chaos, people running to stations, voices shouting orders, the controlled panic of a military base under attack.
Except we weren't under attack.
We were under siege.
I reached the command center in under two minutes. The situation board lit up like a nightmare Christmas tree, red dots everywhere. Not just one or two. Not even five or ten.
Seventeen dimensional rifts had opened simultaneously across Seattle.
"Talk to me!" I commanded, connecting to all squad leaders via Tactical Link. Information flooded my mind, locations, status, threat assessments from multiple sources at once.
Dr. Chen stood at the central console, her face pale. "They all opened within a fifteen-minute window. 4:30 to 4:45 AM. Like someone flipped a switch."
"How is that possible?" General Cross demanded, fully armed and ready despite the early hour. "Yesterday you said rifts appeared randomly!"
"They're supposed to!" Dr. Chen pulled up energy readings that meant nothing to me but clearly terrified her. "But this... this is coordinated. Synchronized. Like something is deliberately forcing rifts open all at once."
Lucas burst through the door, his precognitive senses clearly screaming warnings. "It gets worse. My ability is showing me...." He stopped, face going gray. "Three of the rifts have Tier-6 creatures coming through. Not just Tier-5 like yesterday. Tier-6."
The room went silent.
Tier-6 meant Extinction-class threats. We'd fought them during the tutorial, barely survived with massive casualties. And now we were facing three of them. Simultaneously. While also dealing with fourteen other rifts.
[Content continues with emergency response, contact with Marcus Wu (Dragon Coalition) and Captain Torres (Portland Settlement), alliance formation, Void Drake battle]
[Void Drake Battle]:
• First Tier-6 fight post-tutorial
• 160 fighters coordinated via Tactical Link
• Level 28, 15,000 HP Void Drake
• Void Breath erases three fighters permanently
• Victory through perfect coordination
• Ethan levels 15 → 17 (double level-up!)
[...battle victory, celebration cut short]
I checked my other Tactical Link connections. Captain Reyes's team at the second Tier-6 site was engaged but holding. Maya's...
Maya's link went silent.
Not dead-silent. Emergency-silent. The kind of silence that meant something had gone catastrophically wrong.
"Marcus, Torres, finish sealing this rift!" I ordered. "Lucas, Cross, with me! Maya's in trouble!"
I was running before I finished speaking, Battlefield Awareness guiding me toward Maya's last known position.
Two miles away. North side of the city. The third Tier-6 rift.
Please let her be okay. Please let her...
The mental link flickered back to life. Maya's voice, strained with pain and fear:
"Ethan... this one's different. It's not just a Tier-6. It's.."
Static. The link cut again.
I ran faster, fear driving me forward.
When I crested the hill overlooking the third rift site, what I saw made my blood run cold.
The rift was twice the size of the others. And emerging from it wasn't a Void Drake.
It was something worse.
[DIMENSIONAL OVERLORD - TIER 7]
[LEVEL 35]
[HP: 35,000/35,000]
[ABILITIES: ??? ]
[WARNING: APOCALYPSE-CLASS THREAT]
Tier 7.
The kind of threat that required entire armies to defeat. The kind of creature that could wipe out cities.
And Maya's eight-person team was fighting it alone.
I watched in horror as the Dimensional Overlord raised one massive arm. Reality bent around it. And Maya, my found family, my partner, the person I'd trusted with my life for three months.
She was directly in its path.
The attack descended, and I was too far away to help, too far to intervene, too far to save her.
I opened my mouth to scream a warning she'd never hear in time.
"MAYA...!"
[END OF CHAPTER 34]
---
CURRENT STATUS (After Chapter 34):
• Ethan's Level: 17
• Class: Tactical Overlord
• Alliance Members: 472 (3 erased by Void Drake)
• Days Survived: 102
• Rifts Closed: 1/100 (processing more)
• Days Until Stabilization: 28
If you enjoy this chapter, please vote with your Power Stones! It helps a lot! 💎