Blessed by Night

Chapter 142  Appearance of a New Threat

In the four years since gates had come to earth, the highest recorded dungeon had only appeared in Taipei, and was SS ranked. Initially, the Republic of China declined help from outsiders and told the world that their blessed were more than capable of handling this catastrophe on it's own. This supposed show of dick swinging ended with an entire team of 15 SS rated blessed being eliminated in under 2 hours. Over the course of a week, the republic sent blessed after blessed into the gate in the hopes that they would be able to amend this monumental mistake. As a result, the gate failed to get cleared in time, and a break occurred on the island of Taipei. The death toll was catastrophic, and the entire island was destroyed as the monsters started to cross the sea. In the end, a problem that should have been solved in a little under a week instead required the better part of a month to get under control. The difference between a S rated gate and a SS rated one was like comparing a little league sport's team to a professional one. So how terrible would this new gate opening be?

After the disaster on Taipei, the governments of the world came together and decided that they would put all differences aside and provide aid in the future should a similar threat arise. And now, it seemed like the this shaky new alliance was about to be called into practice. After the group read the news alert, they understandably fell into a tense silence. How could something like this happen?

What kind of creatures could be inside of the gate to warrant this sort of alarm??

And most importantly, would those who had to go be safe??

Eyes within the room became firmly locked on Mal, Bianca, and Aisha to gauge their reactions. Shock, anxiety, and fear could be seen on all of their faces. Except for Malachi who seemed to be thinking about something else rather seriously. "Babe..?"

Bianca gently nudged her boyfriend to get his attention and looked up at him with eyes filled with worry. "Do you think... those things are coming already..?" She whispered. Malachi honestly didn't know the answer to Bianca's question. It wasn't like he had some inclination on when the end of the world was supposed to occur, so he was just as unaware as anyone. "I.."

'They're not here yet.'

The thought was alien and belonged someone that he couldn't even begin to identify. But it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, so he decided to trust it. "Nah... it's not them." He said reassuringly. Bianca seemed to relax a little bit in his embrace but she still seemed to be a little worried. And she wasn't the only one. Aisha was seated on the couch trembling, being consoled softly by Aubrey just as Mal was doing with Bianca. Ring!

Mal's phone started to vibrate in his pocket, and he pulled it out to answer as soon as he read the name on the screen. When Morgan saw the serious faces of Malachi and Bianca in the camera, he knew that they had already seen the news just like the rest of the world. "Seems you've gotten the alert."

"Kinda hard to miss, no?" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Indeed, but I was calling to ask whether you had planned to join in the raid. Or even you as well, Bianca?"

The young couple looked at each other in confusion before turning back to Morgan. ""We didn't know we had a choice??""

*Sigh.* "Of course you have a choice, kids. Your guild master is supposed to be putting together a team of around twenty five evolved to meet in London by noon tomorrow. Has she not spoken to any of you yet??"

It was at this moment that Mal realized that Luna had no way of knowing about the request from the U.N because she was currently in a coitus induced coma. And since they had been going at it rather intensely all day, he figured that she would require a bit more time before she woke up. 'Whoops...'

"She'll likely be getting around to it in a few hours or so..."

"Hours?? We don't have that kind of time, Malachi. The U.N wants a report of our expected numbers at 4pm sharp."

Bianca sighed as she finally released Malachi and started walking towards the bedroom. "I'll go wake her up."

After hearing that, it wasn't difficult for Morgan to determine what the cause of Luna's absence was. He gave Mal a slightly accusatory look that he desperately pretended not to notice. A few moments later, Bianca returned with the weary Luna wrapped in nothing but a blanket. Her legs were wobbling and her hair was somewhat in a mess but she was awake all the same. "What's going on..?" She asked sleepily. Morgan opened his mouth and started to explain the world's current dilemma, and her eyebrows shot to the top of her head. - 5 Minutes Later Who would have known that the threat of impending doom was all it took to wake a woman up fully?

After Luna learned about everything going on in London, she went from sultry girlfriend to full business woman in the blink of an eye. Five minutes after she'd been woken up, she was in the process of calling every single member of her guild while she simultaneously returned the numerous emails she'd received from foreign dignitaries. In the end it was decided yet she, Malachi, and Bianca would be heading to London alongside twenty two more volunteers from the guild. Luna was admittedly very surprised when Aisha declined to join, as she had thought that the white haired young woman would have been one of the first to volunteer. She could have attempted to persuade her or even questioned her about her unwillingness to go but she inevitably decided against it. For something as dangerous as a SSS rated gate, she could only afford to bring soldiers who 100% wanted to be there. Anyone who had the slightest sense of apprehension would effectively be throwing their lives away for nothing. The margin for error in a place like that was just that small. After Luna had finished making arrangements, she informed her three traveling companions to start packing immediately. The members were supposed to meet at the guild building within two hours so that they could immediately fly to London, and Bianca and Luna rushed home so that they could make the deadline. As Mal packed for the journey, he was being pelted with worried comments from the girls in his room. Not only Anna and Sei, but Serana and Aubrey were inside as well, equally concerned about something happening to him.

Serana: "N-Not that I'm worried or anything but, you're going to be okay.. right?"

Anna: "I've got powers now too so maybe I can go with you and watch your back...?"

Sei: "M-Me too..! You need all the backup you can get!"

Aubrey: "I'm almost as strong as you so it should definitely be okay if I come, right??"

Malachi shook his head as he dropped supplies into the shadows on the floor.

 "Preciate the offers girls, but you haven't been trained for things like this. Besides, I didn't ask for all of you to be blessed so that you could run off fighting unnecessary battles.

I did it so that in the event that you absolutely HAD to, that you could protect yourself. This is some shit that none of you need to worry your pretty heads about.... and whatever Serana's got."

"Fuck you!"

"See? You girls will be just fine."

Sei grabbed Mal by his shirt and pulled him close to her so that she could rest her head on his chest. "Honey... please don't do this again..."

"Do what, love?"

"You can accept help from us.. You don't have to do things on your own again."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mal glanced at his sister who looked like she wanted to say the exact same thing. She had already watched her brother shoulder everything on his own back when she was too depressed to function, and she would never let let him carry so much responsibility again. In truth, it wasn't Aubrey's fault that her brother became the kind of individual who was unwilling to accept help. It was just the role that he always thought was best. Rather than being the man who didn't know how to do anything without inconveniencing another person, he wanted to be the one that could shoulder the burdens of everyone he loved on his own. That was especially true for the women he loved. Even when he and Aubrey were poor, he would voluntarily go hungry more than one day out of the week if it meant that she had a full stomach. That was just the kind of man that both circumstances and his father had raised him to be. "I know that you want to protect us, but can't you understand how we could also feel the same way about you...? The same love that you feel that makes you want to give us the world is exactly what we feel for you. So let us give you something back, if only to prove how much you love us."

Malachi gently ran his hands through Sei's long brown hair as he let her words sink in.

"...Not this time, love."

Sei flinched as she felt her heart breaking from his blatant refusal. She felt tears beginning to pool within her eyes and she didn't know how to stop them. "But I promise... once you train with Rose a bit more and she lets you pick out a weapon, I will never say no to you again. I will bring you everywhere with me."

As quickly as Sei's tears started to form they dried up.

Malachi's sincere promise had touched her to the depths of her soul and gave her new hope. "I guess I can hold you to that... Just don't back out of your promise later."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Malachi looked at the room filled with his loved ones and held his arms out.

"One last hug before I go?"

Unsurprisingly, Anna and Aubrey did not need to be asked twice and dove into his arms without uttering a word. Serana looked like she was hesitating a bit, but soon she also inched toward the group. "I'll hug you but... don't try to fuck me or anything!"

"Bestiality ain't my thing."

"I'll kill you!"