GLOBAL AWAKENING: My 10,000x Exp Multiplier-Chapter 40: [] The White City Defense, Perimeter Breach

Chapter 40: [40] The White City Defense, Perimeter Breach

The rain in Sovereign City tasted like ash and ozone. Vahn Ryker stood in the shattered lobby of the Sovereign National Bank. The chaotic noise of the dying city was a stark contrast to the heavy silence of the abyssal realm he had just left.

Aria’s arms were still wrapped tightly around his neck. Her face was buried in his chest.

She was trembling. Her pristine Crimson-Lotus Vestments were completely soaked by the relentless downpour blowing through the blown-out glass doors.

Vahn didn’t care about anything else. He just smiled, resting his chin on the top of her head and gently stroking her pink-gold hair.

"I’m perfectly fine, Aria," Vahn said softly. His voice carried a warm tone. "The parasite is gone. My base stats are stabilizing. You don’t have to hold me together anymore."

Aria sniffled and pulled back just enough to look up at him.

Her emerald eyes were red-rimmed, but they scanned his face with fierce scrutiny. She pressed her hands against his chest, right where the jagged black rune of the Calamity Curse had been.

Her golden healing magic flared instinctively. The skin was smooth, unblemished, and entirely free of abyssal corruption.

"Don’t you ever do that again," Aria whispered. Her voice wavered between immense relief and lingering terror. "Don’t you ever just walk into a lethal anomaly by yourself."

"Statistically, it was the only viable play," Vahn teased. A faint smirk touched the corner of his lips. "But I will take your preferences into account next time."

"You are infuriating," she huffed.

Her face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson as she finally realized how tightly she was clinging to him in front of everyone. She stepped back and aggressively adjusted her grip on her wooden staff. She refused to meet anyone’s gaze.

Hana beamed from the sidelines. She leaned against a marble pillar without a trace of the physical fatigue that had plagued her entire life. Her Sun-Silk Aegis shimmered faintly in the dim light.

"I think it’s sweet. You guys are adorable. Now, can we please fix the sky? It’s giving me a headache."

Vahn turned his attention to the ruined streets outside.

The Convergence was in full effect. Sovereign City was no longer just a physical metropolis. It was a canvas being violently painted over by the Chronos Spire.

Massive jagged tears in the clouds bled a horrific corrupted red light. The towering skyscrapers of the financial district were glitching. Their steel and glass phased in and out of existence, replaced by the dark runic stone of the Spire’s architecture.

In the distance, the terrified screams of civilians echoed over the roar of the rain.

The streets were crawling with Level 15 Slag Hounds and Level 20 Mist Wraiths. These were monsters that had bypassed the lower floors and spawned directly into the real world.

"Sia," Vahn called out. His tone shifted effortlessly into absolute authority.

The silver-haired Vanguard snapped to attention. Her massive obsidian kite shield rested securely on her arm.

"Ready, Commander. The perimeter is currently clear, but ambient hostile signatures are converging on our location. The local wildlife has noticed we are no longer hiding."

"Let them look," Vahn replied.

He reached into his infinite storage ring. With a flick of his wrist, a heavy magnificent artifact materialized in his hands.

It was the Chronos Hourglass. The legendary environmental anchor he had ripped from the heart of the Ghost City.

The golden sand inside the glass didn’t fall. It flowed upward, defying gravity, radiating an intense stabilizing warmth that pushed back the chill of the rain.

Vahn knelt and placed the Hourglass directly onto the cracked marble floor of the bank lobby.

"System," Vahn commanded. His voice echoed with absolute dominion. "Initiate environmental anchor. Target. The Chronos Hourglass. Expand dimensional stabilization to a ten-block radius. Override all overlapping corrupted data. Create the sanctuary."

The Hourglass chimed!

It was a deep resonant sound like a massive bell tolling at the end of the world.

A blinding pristine wave of pure white energy erupted from the artifact. It didn’t explode. It expanded outward in a perfect geometric dome. The shockwave washed over Vahn and his team, passing through the walls of the bank and sweeping across the surrounding city streets.

Where the white light touched, the chaos ceased!

The glitching skyscrapers instantly solidified. Their architecture was scrubbed clean of the Spire’s black iron and replaced with smooth unblemished white marble.

The toxic ash-filled rain was vaporized. This left the air inside the dome crisp, clear, and perfectly climate-controlled. The corrupted red sky above them was blocked by a translucent shimmering barrier of hexagonal light.

In a matter of seconds, Vahn had carved a ten-block radius out of the apocalypse. He had built the White City!

"Incredible," Sia breathed. She lowered her shield as the ambient hostility of the environment completely vanished.

"Kora thinks it looks boring," a sassy telepathic voice echoed in their minds.

The tiny crimson-haired dragon-girl wandered over to the edge of the bank’s ruined entrance. She chewed on a piece of scrap metal. She peered out through the translucent barrier at the ruined city beyond.

"But the snacks outside look very angry. Master, can I go play with the food?"

Vahn stood up. His Verdant Chronos-Sight flared to life.

The glowing green and azure circuits mapped the perimeter of his newly forged domain. The Hourglass had expelled all hostile data from the zone. But the monsters of the Spire were drawn to the massive concentration of order like moths to a flame. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Hundreds of red digital signatures were swarming the outer edge of the dome.

Slag Hounds clawed at the barrier. Their molten bodies hissed against the pristine light. Towering winged Gargoyles dropped from the bleeding sky. They slammed their stone fists against the hexagonal grid.

The barrier held, but Vahn could see the microscopic fractures forming in the code. The Hourglass was powerful, but it wasn’t a passive shield. It needed active defense.

"Not yet, Kora. Let them gather," Vahn said smoothly.

He walked past his team and stepped out onto the steps of the bank.

"Sia, send the signal to the subway terminal. Tell the survivors to move up to the surface. The airspace is secure."

Sia retrieved a flare gun from her tactical belt. She aimed it straight up into the clear sky of the dome and fired a bright green streak of light.

Moments later, the heavy iron grates of the subway station down the street were pushed open.

The player Vahn had tasked with guarding the civilians emerged first. His cheap sword shook in his hands. He looked up at the pristine white buildings and the glowing barrier protecting them from the apocalypse. His jaw dropped in absolute awe.

Slowly, dozens, then hundreds of terrified soaking-wet civilians began to pour out of the underground tunnels. They flooded the clean streets of the White City.

"Aria," Vahn said. He did not take his eyes off the perimeter. "They are going to need medical attention. The radiation of the Convergence has likely compromised their health."

"On it," Aria nodded. Her professional composure returned instantly.

She rushed down the steps. Her staff flared with a brilliant warm pink-gold light as she began casting wide-area restorative spells over the exhausted crowd.

Vahn cracked his knuckles. His base stats were fully restored. The fifty points of Agility hummed in his veins. He was a coiled kinetic spring waiting to be unleashed.

He didn’t draw the Soul-Bound Shadow Blade. He didn’t need a weapon to defend his walls.

"Sia. Kora. With me," Vahn ordered.

He walked casually toward the edge of the dome where the concentration of monsters was thickest. "It’s time to teach the Spire that this neighborhood is under new management."

Sia fell into step perfectly on his right. Her massive shield radiated thermal heat.

Kora skipped along on his left. Her slit-pupils were wide with gluttonous anticipation.

They reached the boundary line. A massive Level 25 Obsidian Gargoyle was relentlessly pounding on the barrier. Its heavy fists caused the hexagonal light to ripple. Behind it, a pack of twenty Slag Hounds snarled. Their jaws dripped with liquid magma.

Vahn didn’t step outside the dome. He simply placed his hand flat against the glowing barrier. He engaged his Architect permissions and tapped into the massive reservoir of EXP he had siphoned from the Alpha.

"System," Vahn murmured. A predatory smile broke across his face. "Target. Hostile entities within a fifty-meter radius of the exterior barrier. Modify localized gravity parameters. Increase downward kinetic force by one thousand percent."

Vahn snapped his fingers.

The result was instantaneous. The air outside the dome violently compressed with a deafening boom.

The towering Obsidian Gargoyle didn’t even have time to shriek. The sheer crushing weight of the multiplied gravity slammed the beast into the asphalt. It shattered its stone body into a million useless fragments.

The pack of Slag Hounds was flattened instantly. Their molten cores ruptured and splattered across the ruined street.

The horde of monsters was entirely eradicated in a fraction of a second! This left nothing but a sea of floating blue experience orbs.

Vahn lowered his hand and dropped the gravity field. He looked down at his tiny feral companion.

"Dinner is served, Kora."

Kora’s gold eyes gleamed. She unhinged her jaw and inhaled sharply.

A localized vacuum formed. It aggressively stripped the raw data from the street and sucked the millions of experience points directly into her mouth. She swallowed heavily and let out a highly satisfied burp that released a puff of golden Primal Energy.

"Delicious," Kora announced telepathically as she rubbed her stomach. "You are the best Master. Can we squish more of them?"

"Patience," Vahn laughed.

He crossed his arms and looked out at the ruined skyline of Sovereign City. The White City was secure. The lifeboat was operational. Now, he just had to make sure the passengers didn’t sink it from the inside.