OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 437: Terror Awakening V



Amon stood on rubble that stretched as far as he could see, which was really saying something as his eyes could see incredibly long distances.

From his vantage point, the entire way down revealed itself-a makeshift tunnel most likely created naturally after the metro's destruction.

It was dimly lit, but to him, it appeared bright as day.

Behind him were no less than thirty soldiers, all decapitated.

Their heads were sliced with such precision that it seemed to be the work of a machine.

And those whose heads were facing upwards had faces that could be seen frozen in shock, evident even by their bodies, their weapons still clutched in stiffened fingers.

Plop....Plop...

Blood dripped from his hand and, growing annoyed by the sound, he flicked it aside, the crimson droplets splattering against the cold metal floor.

Amon was old school, preferring to wear normal clothes, and that came with several disadvantages, this grime being one of them.

But at that moment, none of that mattered to him.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

'Emir was right... Damnation.'

He took a moment to steady his emotions and then glanced back.

"Call them in. All of them."

His words received no reply, but it seemed like they were heard as he turned around and continued to walk forward, deeper into the ruin.

While he moved, his figure gradually faded into the shadows, likely activating a Camouflage ability.

Just as he became invisible to the naked eye, he picked up his speed, each step faster than Emir's Flash Step.

Even though the floor beneath him was cracked and worn, his movements remained utterly silent.

It was almost as if he was teleporting from location to location, going near the speed of sound.

If that didn't sound ridiculous enough, this was purely due to his physical strength-no abilities involved.

His seventh step had him stumble upon more of Templar's men, gathered in a wide, open chamber.

They were next to the tunnel he stood on, under its rubble, protected by rusted beams that formed makeshift roofs.

Most of the men were busy setting up a dish-like device, similar to those he had seen earlier. He didn't know what they were, but from what Emir had told him, those devices had to be destroyed as they would awaken the terror if allowed to activate.

Amon disappeared, and once he reappeared...

Everything in his vicinity was dead, decapitated, blood painting his hand like earlier.

He then looked at the device and swung his arm, flicking the blood towards it.

This time, he put more strength into that movement, creating an incredibly strong gust of wind that cut the machine in half, as well as the wall behind it, causing rubble to fall and further destroy whatever remained of it.

Once his eyes scanned the scene, he turned around and began moving again, each step propelling him at least a kilometer forward.

But that didn't last long.

On his fifteenth step, the tunnel had reached a dead end.

Rubble was stacked up to the roof, blocking anything from continuing forward.

He stopped and looked around, quickly realizing that this was a natural occurrence, not a man-made one.

There couldn't be any soldiers on the other side unless they went through a secret route, of course.

Otherwise, they would have to dig through this, and that in turn would ruin whatever structural integrity remained in this tunnel.

He pulled up the map in his HUD, his eyes darting around as he scanned it from top to bottom.

'Hm.'

The map ended here, directly where he stood; there was no more ruin to explore; he had killed all of the soldiers...

But was that really it?

Emir gave him this route for a reason.

He knew that it was the place where Templar would station most of their force.

Yet arguably, it was the exact opposite.

Amon had faced the least amount of people compared to the rest of Emir's men.

Sure, they were stronger, but that couldn't be it, could it?

'...Wait.'

His eyes suddenly widened.

He looked up at the rubble and closed his eyes, letting his Aether free.

A second went by, and he felt it-a subtle tremor in the air, a disturbance.

This... this in front of him was an illusion.

The map they had, sourced by his own people, trusted people, was a fake.

For all those years since the Academy's purchase of this ruin, they had used this map, only updating it when routes collapsed or danger zones appeared, either monsters or concentrated radiation pockets.

Amon had a mole deep inside his Academy.

There might also be other sleeping agents that he didn't know of.

'My God...'

His own inadequacy threatened the lives of his students.

Veins began to appear around his neck, almost bursting.

While his face didn't show it, the man was beaming with rage.

He raised his right hand and punched the air, tearing a large hole through the rubble.

It collapsed at first and then dissipated into the air, the illusion broken, revealing a large, empty circular chamber where nothing was placed.

Amon almost sighed with relief but immediately stopped himself.

'...One more?'

His eyes twitched, and he took a step forward, entering the chamber.

Amon found himself before a fully functioning Thumper, guarded by twenty soldiers.

The device was already activated, dishing out pulses that slowly ruined the AI manager's

systems.

He was too late.

They fell into their trap.

This was by no means Emir's fault; it was entirely his.

They trusted a map they shouldn't have.

Standing there, Amon was lost in thought, his internal world moving in slow motion.

Could he force the men to reverse the damage they had done?

Or should he just kill them and destroy the device?

But would that be enough? Would the Behemoth awaken either way?

What was he to do? Which was the safest option?

His thoughts were never-ending, but it seemed that there was no need for him to waste those

fractions of moments.

A decision was already made for him.

Before he could intervene, the atmosphere shifted.

The twenty men in front of him suddenly exploded.

A few of them were outright obliterated, turning into mush.

Those that didn't, had their guts and blood fly everywhere, painting the chamber, leaving

only limbs that looked half-eaten.

Amon was stunned.

Throughout his long life, he was never met with such...

He couldn't name what this was.

Desperation? Savagery? Madness? Derangement?

Either way, whatever this was, he was not familiar.

Lyra was, however.

She entered at that moment, and before she could do anything to stop the device, just anything, another pulse was emitted, sending a shockwave through the whole ruin.

"NO!"

He felt it as she did.

There was no escaping this.

It had happened.

The AI manager, the one everyone had fought so hard to keep dormant whether knowingly or

not, was now enraged.

And in the next moment...

A hologram materialized before them.

That was when Amon finally realized the extent of his fuckup.