Gacha Leveling

While Catherine checked the bodies for any signs of survivors, Kleb accessed one of the computers and opened the security footage. Cathbad was kneeling at the side of the empty altar that held Uaithne’s body. Matthew and Ffyr got close to Kleb to watch the footage with him.

"15 minutes ago." Kleb shook his head. "When they started the assault."

The security cameras captured a score of Wechuges coming through a red portal that opened in the middle of the safe. Some of the people inside tried to defend themselves, others tried to hide and others tried to run.

All in vain. The Wechuges claws froze their blood as soon as they carved the skin of their victims.

Samil came out of the gate shortly after.

Claudio was the last line of defense. Instead of trying to run or hide, he fought desperately. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t know how to fight. Yet, he did with all he got.

He used lightning wands and magical guns. In his desperate stand, he took down 4 Wechuges on his own. But when Samil stepped forward, Claudio couldn’t defend himself against the man’s fireball.

Claudio flew against the altar that supported Uaithne’s body. Even with his clothes on fire and blood coming out of his mouth. Claudio threw a grenade at Samil.

That took the warlock by surprise and the explosion seemed to hurt his face, as Matthew and Kleb could see blood coming down to the floor.

Samil then covered Claudio’s body in a fan of flames.

He died in extreme pain.

"Fuck." Matthew said, looking over Claudio’s body still sitting by the altar.

Matthew had tears in his eyes. He really didn’t expect Claudio of all people to give his life trying to defend the Harp. Part of him felt guilty by the way he treated the man.

"Why didn’t they warn us?" Catherine asked after finding no survivor.

"They couldn’t." Kleb rewinded the footage. "See? They tried, but the demons were too fast." He pointed to two people trying to access the communication panel. "The dampers we use are so strong that you can’t even get cellphone reception in here." He explained to Matthew, foreseeing that he would ask about using a radio or a phone.

"Where did they take the body?" Catherine asked her husband.

"Back into the gate." Kleb said, looking over the footage.

"Fuck." Matthew exclaimed.

"What does that mean? What will happen now?" Catherine asked Matthew.

"I don’t know. They said that Uaithne was the key to bringing Paimon to Earth. And Claudio said he was one of the shields protecting Earth from other realms. I have no idea what will happen now." Matthew said.

"You mean that they will bring a Demon King to Earth?" Kleb questioned him.

"Yeah. That was their goal from the beginning." Matthew walked out of the safe.

"Matt. This is bad." Ffyr followed him. "We need to do something." She said, stopping him.

"I know. But what can we do? We can’t follow Samil to Cocytus. And even if we could, I don’t think we have the power to stop him." Matthew said angrily. Not at Ffyr, but at himself. He was frustrated because of his failure.

"We can think about it later." Catherine said, following the two of them out the safe, while Kleb closed the door. "There are still demons assaulting the city." She looked up, hearing the sounds of gunfire coming from above them.

Matthew looked up, she was right.

"Let’s go Ffyr." He said, still angry.

Catherine and Kleb followed Matthew and Ffyr back to the lobby.

There Kazan was fighting almost alone against a Baalor, but he easily killed the greater demon as soon as the four of them came back.

Kazan needed just one look at Matthew to understand what was going on.

"We lost?" He asked for confirmation.

"We lost." Matthew confirmed. "I’m going outside." Matthew said with his teeth clenched.

"Where to?" Kazan asked.

"Hunt them down." Matthew said and looked at Catherine. "There’s no need to hold the ground anymore."

"There are still plenty of treasures inside the safe. That fat man only took the Harp and left everything else. I’m staying." She said.

"But run away if you can’t hold them." Matthew asked her.

"I will." Catherine smiled at Matthew.

Kazan and Ffyr followed Matthew outside. There were still thousands of demons roaming the city. Without Lenore, most of them gave up from attacking the tower.

"What’s your plan, Matthew?" Kazan asked, following him close by.

Matthew took out his gun and shot at an imp who tried to ambush them, killing it with a precise shot at its head.

"Lenore, the demon general, didn’t know anything about Samil. But she said there was another legion coming. I bet their leader might know something more." Matthew explained, while Ffyr flew up in the sky.

Gunfire roared from all around them. Hundreds of small skirmishes between the army and demons raged all over the city.

"There!" Ffyr pointed south. "There are a lot of demons hanging out there." She pointed at the Obongo Park.

"Let’s go." Matthew said, pressing the pace towards the park.

Kazan ran easily keeping pace with Matthew. Ffyr followed them in the air.

While running, Matthew’s mind started to go back to the enemy’s strategy. To divide their forces and assault the Tower, it made sense to attack different positions. But, if he could simply open a portal inside the safe, what was the point?

Matthew kept thinking it over and over, but he could not find any meaning to this type of attack.

Until he remembered Beleth.

To bring Beleth to Earth, the Howling Spear tried to take a huge amount of human souls. Human sacrifices.

But if his position was just to amass sacrifices, wouldn’t it be better to just attack the city instead of waiting? Waiting only gave time for the army to come and to evacuate the city.

It made no sense.

He started to get even more angry.

Matthew slashed the demons that appeared on their path with vigorous slashes releasing his frustration with each strike. But it wasn’t enough. He was only getting madder.

"You’re pressing. Don’t let it get to your head." Kazan warned him with the experience of his many years.

Matthew took a deep breath and stopped on his feet.

"I know." He spat on the floor and leaned against a building wall. "It’s just..." He tried to put into words what he was feeling.

"You don’t need to explain. And it’s ok to be angry. Just don’t let it take over your head. Stop. Breathe. Think." Kazan instructed him.

At this moment his phone rang. It was Sarah.

Matthew took a deep breath. He didn’t want to talk to her with anger. He calmed himself down and picked up the phone.

"Hello." He answered as calmly as he could.

"Matt." Sarah’s voice was trembling, as if she was crying.

"Sarah? Is everything ok?" He asked.

"No..." She started to cry. "Sebas... He’s not okay. Vanessa and Eric too. They’re..."

"What happened?" Matthew asked, but Sarah just cried and couldn’t talk over her hiccups.

"Hey Matt, it’s Michael." The archer took the phone from Sarah.

"What happened?" Matthew asked worriedly.

"We stumbled upon a strong one. We managed to survive, but Eric and Ness took a beating. That Sebastian kid is in critical condition. Ness seems to be fine, but she isn’t waking up. And Eric..." Michael took a deep breath. "He’s alive, he’s awake. But he’s not well. He was hurt really badly. I think he’s blind. We just got a call from the hospital informing us about Sebastian. He might not survive the night." He explained.

"What did you fight?" Matthew asked and sat on the floor as he lost strength on his legs.

"A Marilith." Michael said. "We tried to run away, but couldn’t. It was too fast."

"I see." Matthew simply said. "Was Sarah hurt?"

"No. Paula, her and I were mostly unharmed."

"Thank god." Matthew said. "Is there anything we can do for Sebastian?"

"We need a good healer. But in his state... I don’t know if there are many people who can do anything." Michael said.

"Fuck." Matthew exclaimed. His thoughts went to Marcus. Losing his brother now would destroy him. Sarah also would suffer a lot if he died. He didn’t have a deep friendship with the kid, but of course he also didn’t want him to die.

Then his mind went to that information. A Marilith. A greater demon in the suburbs? What was one of those doing so far away from the tower? Also, the suburbs weren’t a good place to take souls. It was far less populated than the center. It didn’t make sense to attack there.

"Can you send me the location where you found the Marilith?" Matthew asked Michael. "And tell Sarah everything will be alright. I’m sure Sebastian will pull through." He lied.

"What do you have in your mind?" Kazan asked.

"Something is odd here. There’s more to this invasion than the Harp." Matthew said. "Go to the park where the demons are. Help the army on what you can. I’ll go investigate this." Matthew said.