"Everyone ready?"
"Ready."
"In position."
"Ready."
"Ready."
Four Agents waited outside of a huge hole, while one Agent was hidden inside the hole.
"Don't forget," the leader said, "it can disorient you with its screams. I'll leave your Barriers' settings up to you."
"Ziran, lure it out," the leader spoke.
Ziran, a black-haired man with two short swords, moved deeper into the hole.
Ziran carefully moved forward while his Barrier emanated light.
He reached the bottom of the hole and looked into the cavern.
He couldn't be sure if the Specter had already noticed him.
Slowly, he moved forward, deeper into the cavern.
After several minutes, the walls suddenly turned red.
'It noticed me!' Ziran thought as he turned around.
The next moment, the cave began to warp, and smiling red faces appeared all over the walls.
Ziran punched through one of the walls, but it seemingly led nowhere.
There was just more ground!
Suddenly, the faces opened their mouths.
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
And they all began to screech.
Ziran held his head as the screeches warped his perception.
With one eye, he kept looking at his Barrier, which was telling him where to go.
He punched through more walls, and the screeching intensified.
Suddenly, he saw a mass of black tendrils approaching him from behind.
Ziran gritted his teeth and changed the settings of his Barrier.
He regained control of his mind, but the screeching was rapidly consuming his Zephyx.
His swords lit up in black flames, and he unleashed a slash forward.
The wall was blown open, but new walls appeared in front of him.
He kept cutting through them.
BANG!
Something hit his Barrier.
'This is not a Mid Demon!' Ziran thought through gritted teeth. 'Fuck this city and their shitty intel!'
Ziran's Zephyx dropped as he punched through more walls.
His Barrier started to flicker.
BANG!
Sunlight!
Yet, he only saw the sunlight for a tiny moment before more walls appeared in front of him.
He received another hit to his Barrier.
Luckily, he was a Peak Hero.
The Specter came closer.
BOOOM!
And then, everything below Ziran was blown away by a terrifying white laser.
The faces screeched even more, and both of them saw sunlight again.
Four other Agents appeared below the Specter, cutting off its retreat.
"It's a Late or Peak Demon!" Ziran transmitted to his colleagues.
"Affirmative," the leader answered.
All the walls were blown away, exposing the Specter.
It was a ball filled with smiling faces.
The Specter kept going after Ziran, but his speed suddenly doubled.
He had been going slow during his escape to lure out the Specter.
With his increased speed, he managed to get away from the Specter.
At this moment, the Specter was in the middle of the sky, surrounded by five Agents.
It had made so many new walls that it created a pillar that was extending into the sky.
During the chase, it hadn't realized how far it had ascended.
"Start suppression," the leader commanded.
The powerful screeching returned, but the Barriers blocked all of it.
Then, the Agents went in to suppress the Specter.
"Incoming!" one of the Agents transmitted to everyone else.
They were still in the middle of a fight, but they still paid attention to the newcomer.
It was a beautiful woman with red hair.
When she saw the Agents, she smiled.
The next moment, her entire body turned black, and a hate-filled sneer appeared on her face.
"I'll deal with it!" the leader shouted, shooting at the new Specter. "Suppress the other one and assist ASAP!"
White light appeared around the leader.
BANG!
With terrifying speed, the leader shot at the new Specter.
As the leader came closer, the new Specter expanded, and within an instant, it was almost 100 meters wide.
Then,a huge face filled with happiness and hate appeared in the black cloud.
Everyone felt the terrifying amount of Zephyx coming from the new Specter.
This was a Peak Demon, at least!
Nevertheless, the leader continued rushing forward.
WHOOOOOOOM!
But then, the entire sky darkened.
All the Agents and the first Specter were suddenly surrounded by darkness.
The Nightmare's influence appeared, but the Agents quickly activated their light on their Barriers.
The first Specter used this opportunity to attack one of them.
BANG!
The Agents watched in horror as a priority message appeared on their Barriers.
The leader's Barrier broke!
Within a second, the darkness vanished, and the Agents quickly suppressed the Specter.
They searched for the other Specter and their leader…
But they were gone…
The mood was horrible.
They lost their leader…
"Report to Aegis," the vice-leader said.
After a bit, everyone left with the new Specter.
Meanwhile, the leader of the squad was being pulled deep underground by the unknown Specter.
They knew what was coming.
A moment later, the leader's Barrier was pulled out and crushed.
"You are not in danger. Do you not realize that you are not under the effect of the Nightmare's influence?" a mysterious voice spoke.
The leader realized that the voice spoke the truth.
There was darkness everywhere, but the Nightmare's influence didn't rear its terrifying head.
The next moment, the leader was put down in the middle of a big cave.
The smoke in the surroundings gathered in one place and transformed into a human.
"I need your help," the new silhouette said.
For a bit, the leader was still uncertain, but when she saw the appearance of the person in front of her, she froze.
"It's been a while," Nick said, revealing himself. "I wouldn't do this if I didn't need you urgently."
"And no, this is not about our past relationship."
"Humanity needs you, not me."
Aria Light,the leader of the squad of Agents, looked with shock at Nick.
For several seconds, she couldn't say anything.
"Sorry to appear in front of you so suddenly," Nick said.
"I thought you were dead," Aria spoke with a quiet voice.
"I'm not dead," Nick said before releasing a bit of his Specter Zephyx. "Just changed."
"I'll explain everything."
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