Blood Nemesis-Chapter 90: Gate break

The gate-break warning spread across the city. Anyone with a phone or a TV could see the messages on it. Those close to the gate-break immediately stopped what they were doing and fled the area anxiously, while the rest of the people near the outer city barricaded themselves in their homes.

Oliver’s family was among the people who barricaded themselves in their house. Although the house would fail to protect them against a mana beast or a monster, it gave them peace of mind knowing that something was separating them from danger.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Oliver’s parents and his brothers stood together closely, worried. Their eyes were closely watching the livestream of the event that was transpiring in the inner city fish market.

The live-streamed video feed was from the drones of Hero Union. They were closely monitoring the situation while sending Heroes to the gates. Most people were used to watching the Hero Union feed to get the best information in real time.

Watching the video feed, their worry increased.

"Why did he decide to go there?" Arin asked his parents when he saw the gate come into view.

The undulating light, glowing in a rainbow flavour, did not look beautiful in his eyes. In fact, it was the exact opposite.

He was terrified to the core.

"Why?" He asked anxiously, his face turning grim.

After a short pause, James Thorne, Oliver’s father, opened his mouth to reply.

"He said he registered today."

Just a minute ago, before Arin reached home, his brother had called to inform him he was safe and he was going towards the gate.

*Ah!* Arin let out a knowing sigh.

All registered superhumans near the gates would be temporarily ordered to support in the suppression of the gate. Everyone knew of it. It was the duty of the superhumans to protect the cities they were in.

Although no one would force them to help, it was often considered cowardly to run away when normal people were in danger.

Unless you are a coward, you wouldn’t be able to run away.

Was his brother a coward?

Arin didn’t know the answer to the question. He acted like a coward in the past, often being bullied and avoiding problems. And yet, the past month or so made Arin look at him differently.

While his brother looked lazy and useless most of the time, there were moments when he showed a different side. One such incident was when he saved him from the bullies.

The other one he knew of was about Stephen.

Stephen was the leader of the bullies who tormented him. But recently, he turned a new leaf and was acting like a normal person, not causing problems for anyone. And the reason for this change was supposedly his brother. It was a piece of information Wonjun, his friend, collected after his ’extensive research’, technically called a rumor.

So, could he classify someone like that as a coward?

Arin didn’t think so.

Hence, he came to the obvious conclusion that his brother would not be coming home that day.

’Why today...’ Arin complained in his mind while watching the worried face of his mother.

He couldn’t understand why his couch potato brother left home to register today. If he hadn’t done that, would his mother be this worried?

"Mom, don’t be worried. He is not as weak as we think." Arin said to comfort his mother.

However, that was not enough to clear the worry in her heart. Although she knew more days like this would inevitably come as her sons became adults, she couldn’t break free from the irrational fear that something bad would happen.

Still, she held her hand tightly and replied with a nod.

Then, all of them turned to look at the top view of the gate.

The Hero Union drones had exceptional night vision capabilities. It could show what’s happening on the ground in 4K without any quality issues.

That’s when they noticed the ground being covered by something black and slender. Like tiny veins, it was spreading all over the ground.

’Snakes.’

The creatures that looked like snakes were flowing out of the gate like a tidal wave. The black scales on their body glistened as the drone flew over.

Fortunately, the mana and EMP waves had calmed down, allowing the drones to fly closer, observing the situation in much more detail.

Suddenly, the camera zoomed in to show the image of one of the snakes. The slender creature with black beady eyes and a narrow head was displayed.

Shortly after, the stats of the creature began to be displayed right next to it.

[Name: Black Rat Snake

Type: Mana Beast

Affinity: Water and Land

Rank: F

Description: Non-venomous mana beast found in woody areas and wetlands of Second Earth. Known for being aggressive if provoked.]

The stats were information that the Hero Union had on the creature. Immediately after verifying its identity, they displayed the data on the screen to let the viewers know.

Simultaneously, the information was being transmitted to all the Heroes, Hunters, and Military Personnel in the area.

"Oh! It’s an F rank beast. It’s a weaker one." James sighed in relief.

The situation was not as bad as they imagined.

Meanwhile, Arin had other thoughts. But he kept it to himself so as not to worry his parents.

Gates were unpredictable; the creatures that came from them were also just like that. At one moment, it could be a flood of weak creatures, and the next, there would be hundreds of high-ranking creatures rushing out.

It was better to be prepared for the worst instead of relaxing.

As the small snakes kept on flowing out, a Behemoth carrying two giant mechs approached it from the sky.

The Behemoth, the flying airship designed to deploy mechs, was the same one that dropped Oliver home. It effortlessly floated through the sky like a hundred-meter-wide cloud and hovered near the gate.

Soon, two thirty-meter-tall mechs were deployed in its vicinity.

Because of the early warning, the Thunder Emperor was able to deploy them right in time for the gate break.

The appearance of the steel giants quickly calmed the worried hearts of Arin’s parents.

Arin noticed this.

The mech deployed by the military was the latest kind, designed to suppress large-scale invasions of monsters.

Although it was weak against rank A or S rank creatures, it alone was capable of killing anything below it. And anything below a C rank was easy picking for it. Numbers didn’t really matter in a battle with Mech when you are weaker than C rank.

The steel giant glistened as the chrome outer shell reflected the glowing rainbow light from the gate.

The Mech pilot drove it and took a step forward, reaching the edge of the plaza to stare down at the fifty-meter-wide crater.

Their eyes were looking deeper into the gate, totally disregarding the F-rank snakes squirming in the pit.

At the same time, the superhumans from Hero Union and Hunter Association began to appear near the gate one by one.

Dragon City stood apart from other Federation cities, boasting a significant superhuman population thanks to the permanent gate it housed, which granted it special status. Furthermore, as the second most populous city after the Federation Capital, Dragon City was a formidable power in its own right.

The ability it had to safeguard its people was impeccable.

Fortunately, they received early warning and were prepared to deal with the situation.

—-

Like Oliver’s family, hundreds of people were watching the Hero Union live stream as the mechs and superhumans crowded in the small area around the plaza.

Everyone prayed in their heart together for the situation to be dealt with quickly.

It was the first time since the creation of the city that a gate-break happened in the inner city.

Everyone was looking at it intently to know what would happen next.

—-

Meanwhile, Oliver jumped from building to building using his blood tentacles like a grappling hook.

His body flew in the air and was pulled towards the other building as he quickly made his way towards the fish market.

After reviving, the first thing he did was to call home to say he was safe. Then he informed them of his decision about helping the gate break suppression operation.

Unexpectedly, his parents didn’t stop him from going. Although they knew it was dangerous, they accepted his decision. Other than asking him to be careful, they didn’t say anything else.

Still, Oliver could hear the worry in their voice. He almost wanted to stop and return home, but thinking about the future, he decided against it.

The world was about to change.

They were about to learn that demons were collecting void stones and could open temporary gates with them.

The revelation would be like pouring oil into a blazing fire. The world was about to become more chaotic and unpredictable.

The knowledge he had about the future might become useless in the chaos. Oliver had to prepare for that.

So, he decided to participate in the gate suppression.

The idea behind doing it was for fame.

Though unwillingly, he was about to become a Hero Academy student, a future hero who would shape the world. And for a hero, the most important thing they would need was fame.

In this world, fame was like money. It could buy power and influence.

For fame, he would have to participate in the gate suppression and show that he was an exemplary citizen of the world. Someone who would save the world, rather than run from the danger it might face.

For that, Oliver was swinging above buildings, jumping from one roof to another to reach the location of the gate. The fleeing crowd of people below was blocking the traffic, so this was his only mode of transport.