The bunker doors hissed shut behind them as Jarad and Evie stepped into the open air. The morning was cool, the artificial lights of the Dome flickering in the distance. The world felt quiet—too quiet.
Jarad didn't speak at first. He simply walked, his movements deliberate. Evie followed, knowing what was coming.
"You've been hiding something from me," he finally said. His tone was measured, controlled—but there was an edge to it, sharp as a blade.
Evie clenched her fists. "Jarad, I—"
The ground beneath them trembled. A deep, guttural rumble spread across the land, growing into a violent quake. Buildings shuddered. People screamed. The world seemed to groan in protest.
Then, the sky split open.
A colossal gash tore through the heavens, a wound stretching across the entire Dome. The void beyond was unlike anything seen before—black, infinite, pulsing with eerie light. And from within, six beings descended.
The entire population of the Dome fell into stunned silence.
The figures hovered effortlessly, their forms shifting between celestial and nightmarish. One stepped forward, its presence suffocating. It opened its mouth to speak—static, garbled noise filled the air, a sound so alien it made bones ache.
Then, the voice adjusted.
"…ting, testing—is this working?" It paused, then chuckled. "Ah, yes. It seems you can all hear me now. Took me a few seconds to learn the language of you lower beings."
The silence deepened.
"Stand proud and be happy, for we have chosen this planet, 'Sector 25C3#,' to participate in a game. A game played across many worlds, many dimensions. Ah, it seems you were unaware that your species is not alone in the universe. Well… you'll discover that soon enough."
The figure tilted its head, its voice laced with amusement.
"But before that, we must initiate the culling."
The words carried weight—heavy, suffocating.
"You lower beings may be familiar with the phrase 'the weak outlive the strong.' We disagree. The weak shall perish, and only the strong will remain. So… try not to die too quickly."
Then, as if to cement their arrival, reality itself twisted.
A surge of energy rippled through the world, sinking into the bones of every human. A foreign force embedded itself into their very being. Knowledge—impossible knowledge—poured into their minds.
[Soul Forge System Activated.]
A cascade of information flooded their thoughts. Status screens materialized before their eyes. Names, attributes, abilities—every person now held power they had never imagined. The world had changed in an instant.
But the Oracles were not done.
With one final gesture, they opened the floodgates of terror. Across the land, portals burst into existence, their swirling voids spilling forth horrors beyond comprehension.
Twisted creatures, malformed abominations, nightmares given form—Earth was no longer theirs alone.
And the game had begun.
The world was no longer the same.
The moment the Oracles left, humanity was thrown into chaos. Cities burned, screams filled the air, and monstrous creatures roamed free.
Jarad didn't waste time. He grabbed Evie's wrist and pulled her forward, sprinting through the collapsing streets. The Dome, a place meant to be a sanctuary, was now a battlefield. Overhead, the dimensional rift still loomed, a massive gash in the fabric of reality. From it, twisted creatures poured into the world, spreading terror with every step.
Evie stumbled, still shaken from their conversation moments ago. "Jarad—what the hell is happening?!"
"No time," he said sharply. "We need to move."
They weaved through the panicked crowd, dodging debris and fleeing civilians. Jarad's eyes were already scanning for the fastest route back to the bunker, where the rest of the team was waiting. The streets were clogged with wreckage, but he found a side alley that seemed mostly clear.
"Through here."
Evie hesitated, her breathing ragged, but followed. The alley was dark and narrow, but it led them straight to an abandoned transit hub. Just as they reached the entrance, a sound made Jarad freeze.
A guttural growl.
Slowly, he turned.
A creature stood at the alley's mouth, its body covered in jagged exoskeletal plates. It had too many eyes, each one glowing with an eerie hunger. Drool dripped from its fanged maw as it locked onto them.
Evie gasped. "What is that—?"
It lunged.
Jarad shoved Evie aside, barely dodging as the beast's claws scraped against the concrete. He rolled, grabbing a rusted steel pipe from the ground. The creature snarled and charged again.
Jarad swung. The impact cracked one of its eyes, making it screech in pain. But it wasn't enough. The monster reared back, ready to strike again.
A gunshot rang out.
The creature's skull exploded, and it crumpled to the ground. From the shadows, Toni emerged, rifle smoking.
"About damn time you showed up," she said. "Come on. The others are waiting."
Jarad nodded and pulled Evie to her feet. They hurried into the transit hub, moving past overturned benches and shattered glass. Deeper inside, they found Frieda and Leon securing the entrance.
"You made it," Leon said. "Thought we'd have to come looking."
Jarad didn't respond. He was already scanning the room, making sure it was secure. "We don't have time to stay here. We need to move before more of those things show up."
Frieda loaded another clip into her weapon. "Move where? The city's overrun."
Jarad turned to Maya, who stood near the back, staring at a flickering holo-screen she had set up. "Doctor, what's our best exit?"
Maya didn't look up. "The ORPHANAGE facility is compromised. I intercepted some comms—security's down, and there's movement inside. If we're going to escape, we need to do it now."
Toni frowned. "We're going toward the facility? That's suicide."
"It's the only way out of the Dome," Maya said. "If we stay here, we die."
No one argued with that.
Jarad adjusted his grip on the pipe. "Then let's move."
The facility was eerily silent when they arrived. The usual blaring alarms were gone. No guards. No security patrols.
Just blood.
Bodies littered the hallways, torn apart by creatures that had already moved deeper inside. The smell of death was thick in the air.
"This place is a graveyard," Leon muttered.
"Then let's not stay long," Jarad said.
They moved quickly, keeping to the shadows. Every now and then, a distant shriek echoed through the halls, a reminder that they weren't alone.
Then, the screens flickered.
[Soul Forge System Activated.]
The words burned into their vision, appearing on translucent panels before their eyes. Lines of data scrolled down, revealing stats, names, and a level indicator. But at the bottom, one message stood out.
[Abilities: Locked. Requirements Not Met.]
Toni narrowed her eyes at the message. "What the hell does that mean?"
Jarad grimaced. "It means we're not getting anything for free."
Another message appeared, answering the unspoken question.
[Objective: Slay Five Monsters to Unlock Your Trial.]
A distant roar echoed through the facility. As if the system itself had summoned them, dark shapes began to emerge from the corridors, clawed hands scraping against the walls.
"Here they come," Maya said grimly.
Jarad exhaled, tightening his grip on the steel pipe. "Then let's get to work."
The first creature lunged. Jarad sidestepped, driving the pipe into its skull. Toni fired her rifle, dropping another before it could reach them. Frieda and Leon took the flanks, cutting down anything that moved. Maya stayed in the back, calculating movements, relaying warnings before an attack could land.
One by one, the monsters fell. Blood splattered the walls, their bodies dissolving into mist as they died.
Jarad's screen flickered again.
[4/5 Kills.]
He barely had time to process it before a shadow loomed behind him. The last creature had snuck through the chaos, moving silently. Its claws arced forward, aimed for his back—
A blade sliced through the air.
Evie stood behind him, her dagger buried deep in the monster's throat. Its body convulsed before disintegrating into dust.
She was breathing hard, hands trembling, but she had done it.
Jarad's screen updated.
[Threshold Reached. Initiating Soul Forge Trial.]
The world around him blurred.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
And then, he was falling.
"Wait a second, where the fuck did Jarad go?" Toni who was right beside him questioned but before she could get an answer to the question she asked she also vanished.
"Jarad now Toni, I wonder which one of us will be next " Evie said her expression morbid
"Don't zone out Evie, there's still more of them" Leon said