Entering Apocalypse in Easy-Mode-Chapter 576: Calling

The change took effect immediately. Screams rose around them from every direction. It was not the grinding shrieks of buildings or the collapse of concrete but human voices filled with fear, panic, and something else layered with it. Something that sounded like excitement or ecstasy.

Steel rang against steel. Skills detonated in tight spaces. Someone laughed as another voice cut off abruptly.

The massacre had already begun.

The bold and cold ones moved first. Those who did not hesitate once the rules allowed it. They turned on their own kind without restraint, driven by the promise of faster power, better gear, and stronger skills.

Humanity did not crumble slowly. It just snapped like that.

People hunted people. Not out of hatred, but efficiency. A belief that killing first meant getting better power, so living longer.

They became savage beasts wrapped in human shapes.

Clyde felt his stomach twist. And the worst part was that he could not bring himself to hate them.

They were doing what this world demanded. What the system rewarded. What survival twisted into necessity.

Some killed for themselves. Others killed for someone they wanted to protect.

The only one truly at fault was the one who had written the rule.

The World Master.

"What should we do?" Mina asked. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Her voice was tight. Her jaw clenched so hard it looked painful. Anger burned in her eyes, searching for a target. And the only one worthy of that anger was the man in white who had smiled as he set this loose.

"Let’s hide for now," Clyde said.

They moved immediately, slipping into the shadow of a small unmoving building.

They kept low and moved through narrow paths and broken alleys, avoiding open streets.

Not long after, they saw a safe zone ahead. A green dome shimmered faintly between buildings.

However, it was already stained with chaos.

Fighting spilled across its boundary. People ignored the protection entirely. A man attacked an old woman and a child without hesitation. Teenagers surrounded a lone girl, their skills flashing clumsily as panic and greed drove them forward.

Clyde stopped. His chest tightened.

Mina took a step forward on instinct, then stopped as well.

Even if she saved them, then what?

Gratitude meant nothing now. Mercy was a liability in this situation. The people she protected might turn on her the moment they thought they could take advantage of the situation.

She bit her lip hard with frustration and fury shaking through her heart.

Before either of them could decide, a shadow swept over the street.

The light dimmed. Clyde and Mina looked up and they froze instantly.

Above them, something massive moved through the air.

It was a ten story building.

It was flying with jagged wings made of magical energy and torn rubble extended from its sides. The wings were glowing as they held the impossible weight aloft. Concrete and steel should not have been able to fly, but they did.

The building landed hard a moment later. It slammed down directly in front of the safe zone.

The impact crushed the people there instantly. Screams ended abruptly. The ground split. Dust and debris swallowed the dome’s edge as the structure settled, grinding what remained beneath it into silence.

Clyde snapped back to himself.

"Move!" he said sharply.

They ran.

They did not stop until the noise dulled and the ground steadied beneath their feet.

When they finally slowed, it was in a place that felt only temporarily safe. A narrow space between inert buildings with shadows that was thick enough to hide them for a moment longer.

Clyde let out a breath. There was no safe place left in this world but at least for now there were no living buildings around.

This was the point where something had to change.

Clyde lifted his head and looked up at the empty air.

"World Master," he said calmly.

Mina turned to him, surprised.

"Let’s make a deal," Clyde continued. "I’ll give you something interesting to watch if you meet me."

"What are you doing?" Mina asked.

"I want to meet the World Master," Clyde said.

His voice was calm. Too calm for what surrounded them.

Mina stared at him. "Why?"

"This is the only choice," Clyde replied. "We need to end this scenario faster."

He turned his head and looked at her directly. His eyes were sharp and steady, not desperate. There was intent there. Calculation.

Mina fell silent.

She studied his face. She saw the set of his jaw and the stillness in his posture. Whatever he was thinking, it was not a gamble born of panic. It was something he had already decided.

"You have a plan?" she asked.

"Yes," Clyde said.

Her brows tightened. "But how. What are you going to do?"

Clyde exhaled through his nose. "I have a secret," he said. "But it’s not time for you to know yet."

Mina clenched her jaw.

She hated that answer. She wanted to grab him and shake the truth out of him. But she knew better. Clyde would not speak until he chose to. And this was not the moment to argue.

The sounds around them grew louder. Buildings groaned and collapsed in the distance. Human screams rose and fell, cut short or replaced by laughter.

Skills detonated nearby. The world tore itself apart piece by piece around them.

Clyde planted his feet firmly on the cracked street. His spear rested in his right hand, angled slightly downward.

He waited.

Mina twitched uncomfortably beside him with a tense expression. Her gaze kept darting to the shadows and the sky, and to every corner where danger might come from.

"Are you sure he’ll come?" she asked.

Clyde did not answer.

He did not look at her.

His eyes stayed fixed ahead.

Then the air rippled.

Space folded inward with a low spiraling distortion. Light bent around a growing point in front of them.

A circular portal formed, white and smooth, its edges rippling like liquid glass.

A moment later a man stepped through. He was wearing a pristine white suit, had pale skin and neatly styled black hair, and that same wide, delighted smile.

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