"Skiiskreech!"

These aliens were probably communicating with each other, but all Adam could really hear were loud screeches and shrieks. But even those, however, were quickly drowned out by the loud groans of the tilting building.

No, not tilting. Falling.

Falling straight toward the pink aliens.

The first thing they noticed was the shadow, looming and growing larger upon them as if swallowing them whole. It was only then that the ominous hum of destruction reached them, their heads snapping at the groan.

Their eyes slowly turned wide as they looked up at the colossal tower inching closer, and closer, and closer to them. An orchestra of their screeches filled the air again, each almost complimenting each other, only to be drowned by the thunderous drum of the building as it crushed them.

One, maybe two of them were able to let out one final screech, but for most of them, there wasn’t even a time for them to register any pain at all. They were just... squished.

It was followed by another groan—no. This time, it was more like a howl as all the dust was blown away, creating a haze that completely turned the entire street gray; not even a hint of sunlight could reach the ground now. Well, not like there was much ground anymore.

The only thing that existed within this haze was shadows. And one shadow, in particular, was starting to move.

A part of the already demolished building cracked, a thump whispering from beneath it as its uneven surface began to almost boil. And very soon, a figure shot out from this boil, spewing out chunks of debris.

And there, the figure stood... short.

"F..." Adam gasped for air, wheezing and coughing out dust, powdered cement, blood, and whatever else he accidentally swallowed as he clawed his way up.

The dust, debris, the glass, the metal—there was no part of the building that wasn’t sticking to him. If anything, he could be mistaken as debris himself if it wasn’t for his gleaming green eyes that were able to pierce through the haze.

Adam patted himself, but no matter how hard he dusted himself, more and more dust just stuck to him. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Where..." he whispered, his voice still cracking from the dust still resting inside his throat. "Where’s... the Leak?"

Adam squinted, trying to look through the heavy cloud, but couldn’t see anything at all. And so, he just started walking around, casually pushing away debris with his feet as he moved. After a few steps, he heard a heavy clank gong from beneath him—it was a wide metal table.

Adam was going to ignore it and just move on, but he gave it a second look before picking it up. The edges of the thick metal slightly crumpled in his grip, but he was careful not to completely destroy it. He looked around again, and with a nod, he swung the metal table with all of his strength.

The very air resisted him, his feet dug through the debris as a low-pitched whistle screamed through the air—and along with that whistle, the cloud of dust gathered around him was completely blown away.

"And..." He swung it again, this time clearing away the dust that wanted to settle back. He was about to fan it once more, but the metal groaned under his grip before completely tearing apart.

And finally, Adam could see the destruction he caused.

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before finding a much elevated part of the demolished building—if he was right, then that should be where the Leak was.

He quickly made his way to the mound, not wasting any more time as he dug, lifted, and threw away chunks of the building until finally, he practically made a large crevice.

There it was, the Leak, completely intact like nothing happened to it at all.

He sucked in a breath, however, as soon as he saw the mangled and squashed corpses of the aliens.

"I guess parts of the building went through the Leak?" he whispered to himself, trying his best not to feel anything from what he just did. He stared at the Leak, and then backed away until he was already hugging the wall of the crevice he had made.

The area was at least an entire basketball court—he could probably seal the Leak by putting up another huge chunk of the building to block it, but then... the aliens’ attention would be split, and they might see Beatrice and the others.

The only thing to do was to let them come. And soon, they came again.

Adam took in a deep breath, watching as several figures stepped out of the Leak. He quickly looked above their heads...

"Halos. They’re... still not sending in Heroes?"

Adam’s hands immediately balled into fists upon seeing that. His body trembled, but then just... stopped. He looked at the aliens, who looked incredibly worried and scared.

He studied each of their faces one by one, and then studied them more as another batch stepped out. And with a sigh... he grabbed a metal bar beside him, pulling it out of the concrete before rushing at them.

He ran, lightly pushing the metal bar so that it hissed and sharpened itself against the pavement. The trail of sparks only added to the aliens’ fear.

A quick death—that was truly the only thing Adam could grant these people.

Before the aliens could even know what was about to happen to them, two of their comrades were already pierced together, their chests skewered. Adam twisted the metal bar, pulling it out and completely eviscerating their entire torso in half.

Before their bodies could fall, Adam grabbed both of their weapons, a saber and a spear.

He quickly threw the spear, creating dozens of holes as it went straight through an entire file of enemies.

[Wow! 1 Status Point grant—]

Adam cleaved the words that suddenly floated in front of him in half, slicing the alien in front of him at the same time. He didn’t rest at all. He rushed toward the next alien, swinging the saber again—he managed to slice another alien’s head off, but the saber snapped in half as it hit the armor.

He glanced back, then leaped toward the next alien, ramming his shoulders at them and breaking every inch of their bones and caving in their armor. Before they could be violently thrown away, he grabbed the alien’s weapon.

He let out a breath and turned his focus to another cluster—his eyes, now only looking at their necks, before he lunged at them. The only thing the aliens could really see was the glints of light coming from the saber before their heads were cut completely clean from their shoulders.

[1 Status po—]

Adam gritted his teeth, his lips almost twitching as he continued his onslaught. He didn’t, not even for a single second.

Until finally, he saw them take a step back.

Adam instantly froze, the blade in his hand just an inch away from slicing another neck. His eyes snapped at the alien’s face, their eyes meeting.

"S...Skee..." The alien quietly screeched, and very slowly, they once again stepped back. And then another, until they finally turned around and ran back to the Leak. And soon, the rest followed.

Adam didn’t attack; even the ones passing by right beside him were completely ignored as he just watched them disappear into the Leak. He dropped the saber, breathing heavily and just standing there until the last veteran alien creep disappeared into the portal.

He stepped back, taking a moment to rest before—

A head rolled out of the Leak. Adam watched as a head—no, several heads rolled out of the Leak. One managed to roll right in front of his feet. He stared down at it for a long moment, wondering what sort of expression this alien face actually held.

"I... see," he whispered to himself, crouching as he steadied the head, gently closing its still-opened eyes. "I see."

A light crunch cracked from the front, but Adam didn’t bother to look up at the giant figure stepping out of the Leak. The only thing he did was run at it.

He ran, each of his steps cracking the ground beneath before he leapt up. He grabbed the figure’s head by the chin, his momentum causing the head to snap back. Adam pulled himself down, landing on the giant alien’s shoulder before landing a violent kick on the back of its head, snapping its spine instantly.

But Adam didn’t stop there, he pulled even harder, and harder... until the skin of the pink alien started to tear.

And with a stuttering growl, Adam completely pulled out the alien Hero’s head from its neck. All of this, before the alien Hero’s body thudded to the ground.

"Ha..." he breathed out, clumsily stepping down the giant alien’s corpse while carrying its head. He turned around, and without any more pity or remorse...

...he rolled the head into the Leak.