How did it come to this?

Gahyeon thought to herself as she stared up at the starless night sky. When she turned her head to the left, HappyFace Hero Academy was in shambles, with fire and smoke obscuring the prestigious school. When she turned her head to the right, the soulless eyes of many heroes met hers.

She doesn’t really understand. They knew that the casualties were going to be high so they evacuated all civilians. And yet heroes were dying left and right.

People that she spoke to the day before were unmoving. People that were so confident in their powers that they were going to save the world were going to be buried six feet under. Or maybe not at all, considering the remains were either mangled or hollowed out to the point of obscurity. Sure, some of them were total pompous asses but they had families and people that were going to mourn for them. It was all too much.

“Ugh...” Gahyeon groaned.

“Don’t move around so much…!” Dami’s deep voice was distressed and all Gahyeon could do was groan in pain. The older girl pressed down hard on the wound on her shoulder. Below her shoulder, her left arm was completely numb, broken when she smashed mercilessly onto a statue. The pain was the only thing keeping her awake at this point.

“Ugh...Dami, it hurts. Don’t press on it so hard...” Gahyeon whined.

“Stay awake until a medic - Jiu! Over here!” Dami screamed at the top of her lungs to catch Jiu’s attention. The necromancer ran over as fast as she could, avoiding all of the debris from the ongoing battle.

She got to work immediately, seeing as to how serious Gahyeon looked. Her arm was broken and there was blood seeping on the floor from her head. Jiu suspected a concussion from how delirious Gahyeon was starting to sound. As she healed the youngest girl, Jiu swiped the back of her hand under her sweaty chin. Soot filled her lungs and death permeated in the air. It was hard to breathe.

“Dami, where are the others?”

“Fighting Sun near the pillar. It’s glow is intensifying as the humans and demons die around it.” Dami answered as she looked around her. The unit that she was leading was completely wiped out.

At this rate, the entire city was going to be painted permanently red.

And they had to wonder, was this going to be the end?

--

Heroes were dying left and right from demons that were too far gone for Yoohyeon to call off. Handong even saw some high ranks chickening out and leaving the front lines. She would have called them out for being so shameful but she was too busy trying to help the lower ranks that decided to stay.

They weren’t strong individually, but because of their low ranks and harsh school environment, Handong noticed that many formed groups and used their powers as a team. Individually, they were weak but together, they were impenetrable.

Just like hunting in groups back at home.

The blonde couldn't stop and observe them all forever as she was jumping from place to place to help turn the tide of battle with her powerful instincts. She already slayed a few dragons and cerberus hybrids that were eating up the infantry. Still, too much destruction and death tore through the city like butter. Even she was beginning to slow down from fatigue.

Unexpectedly, a familiar face showed up on the opposite end of the rooftop she was standing on.

“Han Dong! What a pleasure to see you here!”

“Park Jaewon? You joined the cult? Even after they killed your brother?” Handong narrowed her eyes when she saw him holding a black dagger. As far as she was aware, he was not present when the academy issued the daggers to defend against the demons.

He grinned boyishly. “I opened my eyes, Han Dong! My brother must’ve done the same and sacrificed his body for the greater good!”

The rank 4 student was not very amused at what she heard. Park Jaewon was spouting the same nonsense that all the cult members said when interrogated. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of a war and she did not have time to sit down and chat with him about his terrible life choices. Besides, she could tell that the crazed look in his eyes meant that he was beyond convincing with words.

“The Children of the Moon helped me open my eyes and showed me the right way of living! The wonders! The amazement! Everyday I experience an eye-opening event of a lifetime! My powers have grown as a result! And now...I can kill the corrupted heroes of the academy-”

Handong sliced his chest open in one smooth motion without listening to the rest of his speech. She didn't have time for this and the last thing she saw before jumping away was his shocked expression as blood leaked from his fatal wound.

When she got far enough, Handong stopped for a small break in a deserted area.

“...Are all Earthlings that talkative when in combat?” She wondered to herself. If it were back at home, all of the beasts would have fled or killed the hunters for making so much noise in the middle of their territory.

As she looked on at the fire and smoke from the academy, she had to wonder,

When will this end?

--

Even with Bora’s and Siyeon’s help, Yoohyeon still found that Sun was pushing them up against the theoretical wall. After the activation of the third pillar, Sun grew immensely powerful even without absorbing Bora’s powers.

Still, he wanted them. He laughed when he realized that they were trying to kill him the same way he ‘killed’ Haetem and her kind. “What’s the matter, heroes? Haetem too scared to fight her own battles so she left you to fend for yourselves?” he mocked.

“Haetem entrusted everything to us. We will stop this ridiculous cycle once and for all.” Yoohyeon growled out, dusting the debris that got on her clothes.

“Haetem was always so foolish. Then and now.”

“Don’t worry, fraud. We will prove you wrong.” Yoohyeon flew at the speed of sound, sending out wave after wave of wind blades. None hit their mark but Yoohyeon smirked anyways. When Sun looked behind him, all of his soldiers that were watching and waiting for a chance to assassinate were all wiped out.

Bora raised a column of fire under where he was standing, engulfing him in a fiery hellstorm. She knew that he was going to get out of it easily so she jumped right into her own flames for a one-on-one. As expected, he caught her fist as soon as she entered the ring of fire. However, Bora learned from her mistakes and swung her leg from his weak side and cracked a couple of his ribs.

He stumbled a few feet back and spat out blood. “You may have been a Moon child in the past but you’re a bonafide human now. That means that you can be killed.”

Sun frowned at the statement. He let go of his injured side and shifted into a fighting stance that was reminiscent of the Shaolin style. “Now you’ve made me angry, child. I will put you in your place, take your powers, and make you watch as I burn your friends down with it.”

Bora said nothing more and moved aggressively. If he was trying to make her angry and lose sight of her goal, then she will not allow that to happen. Sun matched her prowess with his own fire, strengthened from the pillars. Neither side was giving an inch to the other.

Sun backed up after doing a whirlwind kick that forced Bora to back away. But this time, she was prepared. She quickly opened up a space within her vortex and in came Yoohyeon and Siyeon.

The tall man got knocked over by a wind blade and received a harsh kick to the back. As soon as they landed hits, they jumped right back out of the fire, circling around for another opportunity to attack.

“Hmph. I thought you would have fought honorably.” Sun sneered after wiping blood from his face.

“We’ve already played by your rules for over a millennium. I don’t plan on fighting fairly in this rigged game.” Bora increa