Chapter 165 Obliteration: Lost Home

Ma-Ri stared at him for a moment, keeping her arms crossed over her black-and-white leather uniform, "...I know it's probably biting off more than I can chew, so I'll be requiring your help. All of you–who is this?"

As the new leader of Gangcheori was looking at the other five present in the stairwell, her eyes fell on the unfamiliar face of Xiaodan.

He took it upon himself to introduce them, as he was responsible for Xiaodan, "--Ah. This is Xiaodan. He's a new recruit–like, a few hours new. Dae-Seon approved of him."

With her icy-blue eyes which seemed to discern each little detail of what they looked at, Ma-Ri looked straight at Xiaodan, who was roughly the same height as her.

"I see. We'll need all the hands we can get, then. Are you confident in your ability to fight? What're your abilities? Are you support oriented? A close-quarters combat fighter? You do have the 'Martial Artist' class, so I'd assume so," Ma-Ri asked repeatedly.

Xiaodan seemed overwhelmed at first, but being given a quiet nod from him, the adrogynous figure began answering, "...Yes, yes, and yes!"

–

After getting the rundown on Xiaodan's capabilities, Ma-Ri seemed to have her composure regained fully–getting the five prepared to move down through the hotel.

"...In normal circumstances, splitting up into groups would be the preferred course of action with such a time-sensitive matter, but…" Ma-Ri said.

"Our enemy is too damn dangerous?" Yeong-Un answered for her.

The spiky-haired adolescent was less than pleased with the current situation, but it seemed the sole motivator keeping him moving forward was the thought of exterminating more of the player killers.

Ma-Ri nodded, "As it stands, our top priority is damage control; we have to retain the numbers we have and drive the enemy back."

"Yeah…I don't want to lose any more than we have," Sol said with a somberness to his tone.

As it stood, the group they had to work with wasn't badly off, but also not great. After a minute of thought, Ma-Ri broke down the status of their group:

Yeong-Un: exhausted and out of spirit, but fueled by grief.

Jeong-Hui: exhausted as well and empty of spirit, but able to continue on due to his Sage System.

Eunji: nearly out of spirit; unable to fight as we need to prioritize her healing abilities, but sparingly.

Sol: highly exhausted from consecutive usage of his alternate System, but otherwise, he's fine on health and spirit.

Xiaodan: seems to be in peak condition.

Myself: tired, moderately good on spirit.

–This was Ma-Ri's evaluation, which was on the dot as the others certainly didn't disagree with those notes.

"What about Korain?" Eunji asked, holding her hand close to her chest worriedly.

Ma-Ri answered, "Don't worry, he's fine. But, as it is, he likely isn't able to continue fighting for the time being after depleting his stamina."

He looked at Ma-Ri, "So, what's the plan here then?"

Before an answer could come, everybody froze as the entire hotel was shaken to its very foundation–trembling aggressively by some enormous force.

"What's that–?" Xiaodan looked up as sediment rained down from the high-up ceiling.

"Am I seeing things or…?" Sol quietly said.

"Seeing what…?" He asked.

Everybody looked towards what Sol himself was staring at: a crack in the wall that swiftly stretched across the surface of the walls–expanding rapidly.

"...This place…!" Yeong-Un began to say.

"It's coming down!" He yelled out.

Suddenly, the walls began to split and crumble, along with the very foundation of the hotel as everything seemed to come down at once–each floor, each ceiling, every structure that was meticulously built with the stability of the towering establishment in mind–gone.

"Ahhh!"

"Crap!"

Even though they were all together, the group was quickly parted by the total collapse of the building around them.

"Ghh–!"

He tried reaching out to hold onto something amidst the crumbling of the floor, but the rain of debris and the chaos that ensued made it improbable, but still–

"Gotcha!"

–Xiaodan managed to grab his wrist, who himself was only still held up by a piece of wood.

"Ah–"

Even that was fleeing, as the plank of wood snapped, resulting in both himself and Xiaodan now falling down amidst the rain of building chunks.

He attempted to swing his body around to find a piece of falling debris as a foothold for a [Blink Step] but with his tired body and the chaotic nature of the collapse–it was impossible.

It was only for a moment amidst the storm of material, but he saw it–what was responsible for the sudden destruction of the hotel:

The sounds of thousands of steps came to his ears amidst the sound of the building falling; it sounded as if an army was marching rapidly.

"Large," was the only thought that came to mind, as it was the only visible object within the blinding darkness of the hellish night, bearing crimson-glowing cracks along its body.

Those sounds of an army marching belonged to the countless, enormous legs belonging to the gargantuan creature that crawled overhead, having torn through the building.

Before he could get a proper look at it–

CRASH.

He hit the floor harshly, falling nearly fifty meters, sustaining minimal injuries only because of his light-footed nature as an assassin and his altered body with the System.

But, as he landed–so did countless chunks of the building, which landed directly on top of him.

–

As he opened his eyes again, he felt a colossal weight sitting on top of him. Each expansion of his lungs with his breaths was stifled by this weight on his chest, forcing only small breaths to come in and out.

"--"

[Health: 2000/3250]

[Breathe.]

With such limited oxygen coming in, he could feel himself begin to panic, but quickly managed to calm himself through the efforts of himself and his gathered proficiency.

"What's the situation?" He whispered quietly.

[It's been four minutes and thirty-three seconds since you lost consciousness initially.You're pinned beneath rubble from the hotel. It's been obliterated completely. Roughly three tonnes of weight are pressed on your chest – damage has been minimalized.]

The voice of his Sage System answered him as he kept his eyes on the object that blocked his vision.

Though each of those revelations was daunting, he remained calm, composing and controlling his breathing as he placed the bloodied palms of his gloves against the pale, dense column that laid on his body.

"Is it possible to push this off?"

[...It will need to be done in a single effort. All functions will be allocated to strength for a moment, and in that moment, you will need to push with everything you have, or else you'll risk tearing your muscles and squander a second chance.]

"--"

[When you're ready to do it, say the word.]

He spent the next few seconds managing his breathing perfectly before nodding his sweat-and-blood lathered head, keeping his palms readied against the stone.

Many thoughts were racing through his mind:

"Is everybody okay?"

"Is what did this still nearby?"

"What should I prepare for once I move this stone?"

"...Is everybody okay?"

Each thought ran simultaneously, moving so quickly that it made it difficult to stay composed, but he managed.

"Let's do this."

[I'll count down then. On one, push with everything you have. I'll release the natural limiters on your body then, and only for that moment–so don't miss your timing.]

"Got it," he nodded with a quiet response.

[Five.]

[Four.]

He kept himself focused, listening in closely on the System's voice that existed solely to himself.

[Three.]

[Two.]

I have to get up. This battle isn't over–it isn't over until we're all out of this, he thought.

[One.]

The very moment the ring of "One" reached his mind, he pushed up with everything he had, summoning a ludicrous strength that flexed his body to its utmost as his veins bulged against his skin, but–the heavy stone moved.

With such desperate strength flowing through his body, he clenched his teeth before finally toppling the stone to the side as a cloud of smoke was kicked up with it sinking into the ground beside him.

"...Huff…"

[Good job.]

He laid there, now able to fully expand his lungs with the deep breaths he took in with his arms sprawled out on the debris-blanketed ground.

Around him was the absolute darkness of the hell-turned world, looking upwards towards the crimson clouds that swirled in the black sky. The air was stuffed with dust and the heat of the infernal tides that had extended into the world.

"...Alright," he said to himself.

After filling his lungs with a proper amount of air, he picked himself up swiftly, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he looked on.

It was difficult to see in the desecrated street, as a veil of complete darkness clung to the horizon, and the smoky atmosphere risen from the collapse of the building further obscured his view.

He cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling out, "Hey–!"

As if responding to his call, it wasn't a yell back that came, but a tremor across the ground as a familiar, but harrowing sound of countless legs moving met his ears–approaching from a distance.

Looking up, he saw the familiar, crimson glow that stretched along an impossibly long body, this time seeing clearly what it was:

The colossal centipede.