Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 70: Silent Wave

’Spatial Lock’

Julien screamed the words in his mind, thrusting his open palm toward the incoming wave of destruction.

An invisible dome of mana came to life.

It appeared into place around him and Kiara just a split second before the concussive blast hit the Association lobby.

The noise was screeching, sounding like a high-speed train crashing directly through the front doors.

The shockwave slammed against the ten-foot radius of the Spatial Lock.

Julien’s legs skidded backwards across the floor from the transfer.

Deep, spiderweb cracks rapidly spread across the surface of his invisible shield.

His newly acquired E-Rank mana pool drained at a terrifying, agonising speed, burning his chest as he fought to keep the barrier standing.

He held Kiara tightly against him, shielding her head as the world outside their bubble tore apart.

The heavy wood of the reception desk splintered into thousands of pieces.

The janitorial staff, who had just been quietly sweeping the floor, were caught dead in the blast zone.

They had no defensive skills.

They were swept off their feet and thrown backwards like ragdolls, crashing into the far walls amid a storm of shattered glass, pulverised wall, and broken stone.

"Hold on", Julien shouted over the roaring wind, his muscles shaking under the strain of holding an A-Rank skill with a beginner’s body.

The barrier groaned, the mana flickering rapidly, but it held just long enough to part the deadly wave around them.

A few blocks away, in the market streets of District 5, they were unaware of the impending disaster.

Chris and Alice were sitting at a small outdoor patio of a popular barbecue joint.

A massive platter of glazed ribs sat on the wooden table between them.

It was Alice’s favourite food, though she was currently picking at her plate in silence.

The atmosphere was incredibly awkward.

This was the first time they had ever been out alone together, away from the dark basement, away from the hunters, and away from Julien’s merchant scheming.

"So," Chris started, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to break the heavy silence.

"How is this compared to the ones from our district?"

Alice looked up from her plate.

A small, rare smile tugged at the corners of her pale lips.

"This is far better than that," she admitted softly, her spectral eyes softening.

"But... I still like the one from our old place more."

Chris nodded eagerly, a genuine smile breaking across his bruised face. He was just happy she was enjoying herself.

"Yeah, definitely. We’ll go back there once things settle down."

He reached for another rib, but his hand froze mid-air.

The hairs on the back of his arms stood straight up.

A horrible, familiar feeling crept into his gut.

His survival instincts alerted him, sending a cold, sharp spike of pure terror down his spine.

The air pressure dropped so fast his ears popped.

Chris didn’t think or look around.

His body just moved on its own.

He kicked his chair back, lunged across the small metal table, and tackled Alice.

He wrapped his massive arms tightly around her small frame, using his broad back as a physical shield.

BAM.

The mana wave tore through the market street.

It ripped the heavy awnings off the storefronts, flipped heavy food carts, and obliterated the outdoor patio.

The force swept up everyone in its path, carrying Chris, Alice, and the wreckage of the restaurant away in a chaotic storm of debris and screaming civilians.

Miles above the chaos, the sky over District 1 was spotless.

The air was clear, the sun was shining brightly, and the skyscrapers gleamed with wealth and unbothered security.

Standing on the private rooftop of the central command tower, it was almost impossible to believe that people in the lower districts were currently fighting for their lives against falling buildings and monster waves.

Gina stood at the edge of the rooftop, her hands resting firmly on the reinforced glass railing.

Her expression was dark as she listened to the emergency reports flooding her earpiece.

The lower levels were going dark one by one.

"So, it really is Kane," a voice said from behind her.

Gina didn’t turn around.

She knew the man walking up to her.

He had bright blonde hair and wore a spotless set of high-tier armour paired with a sweeping white cape.

His gear looked like it had never seen a real battle.

He was Damon, one of the elite guild masters stationed in the upper districts.

"What other places have Red Gates formed as of right now?" the armoured man asked, stepping up to the railing beside her and looking down at the sprawling city.

"We don’t know," Gina replied, her voice tight with frustration. "Eden didn’t reply to any of our priority messages, and the Republic hasn’t been in contact for months."

Gina kept her eyes fixed on the horizon, taking in the grand scale of the world they were trying to hold together.

Districts 1 through 9 were just one fraction of humanity’s surviving territories.

There were other massive settlements out there, each operating under wildly different systems.

The Republic was infamous for its brutal, militaristic regime, where a single mistake from a citizen would lead to immediate execution.

Eden was rumoured to be a paradise holding the strongest Awakeners on the planet, hunters who could handle any gate break without breaking a sweat.

"Keep asking Eden for help," the blonde man said, his tone turning desperate.

"Send every courier we have. We don’t have any other choice."

"And what about Kane?" Gina asked, finally turning to look at him.

"What exactly is his plan here?"

"We don’t know that yet," the man admitted, his armor suddenly feeling inadequate.

"Is he trying to bring the end of the world sooner? Or is he trying to gain something from the centre of that gate?"

Down in the ruined streets of District 9, the answer to that question was taking shape.

The redirected shockwaves from the gate had completely levelled whatever hiding spots the remaining refugees had managed to find.

Buildings collapsed into thick clouds of dust.

The lower-tier awakened hunters were left buried under the rubble, bleeding and broken.

Only a handful of the toughest fighters could even manage to stand their ground against the crushing atmospheric wave from the gate.

Right at the epicentre of the destruction, Kane stood directly beneath the swirling vortex of the Red Gate.

A massive, heavy piece of machinery, a cannon-like structure known as the extractor, was aimed straight up into the portal.

It was currently firing a continuous beam of dark red power directly into the heart of the gate, forcing the dimensional tear to swirl rapidly and expand beyond its natural limits.

Six other figures stood beside Kane, forming his elite Vanguard.

The dark-haired woman crackling with blue sparks stood near the back, keeping watch over the perimeter.

Closer to the extractor, a woman with short pink hair held her staff high.

She was a high-level mage, and she was currently pouring all of her mana into a glowing barrier that shielded their small group from the devastating blowback of the extractor’s energy waves.

Sweat dripped down her face from the immense effort.

"How much longer?" asked a tall man with stark white hair.

He was physically bracing the base of the heavy cannon, his muscles bulging under the strain as the machine vibrated with terrifying power.

Kane didn’t answer right away.

He was staring down at a heavy, modified radar instrument strapped to his wrist.

The screen was dark, save for a single sweeping green line, which let out a series of high-pitched beeps as it scanned the deep, unknown depths of the forced dimensional rift.

For a long moment, there was nothing but the sound of the gate and the echo of the pink-haired mage’s barrier.

Then, the radar shrieked.

A massive dot appeared right in the centre of the screen.

It was huge, unlike any regular monster signature they had ever seen.

The density of its mana was causing the scanning instrument to spark and glitch.

Kane lowered his arm.

The scar over his eye twitched as he looked up into the swirling red sky.

A terrifying smile stretched across his face.

"It’s here."