Aiden cautiously moves deeper in the subway station, with the ant demon by his side. Aiden felt more safe, though this was his apocalypse.
After a long, deep walk, the subway station began introducing cave-like pathways, with blue flames on the walls lighting the path clearly.
In front of them was a colossal golden-red gate with intricate designs on it. Aiden sighs. "Just as I imagined it."
Stepping closer, the door automatically opened itself. At first, when Aiden stepped in, the place was dark.
However, blue flames on the wall gradually turned on by themselves, surrounding the pillar room and an empty throne ahead of them.
"Hmph, I didn't add stealth to your abilities. I know you're in here, old friend," said Aiden with a smirk.
The moment the word old friend left his lips, a black, gigantic serpent launched from behind the throne, roaring tremendously in front of Aiden.
So close that he could see its tongue and human-sized fangs covered in blood and snake slime.
After the rude entrance, the serpent demon—Aiden was unfazed—retracted itself back, coiling and accompanied by a shimmer of light.
As the light faded, a lady with long, black, floating hair appeared, having the upper parts of a woman and downwards that of a black steel-scaled centipede.
"Old friend? Have you come to battle me?" she hissed, coiling around her throne.
"You're from the evolution game I played. You remember me?" Aiden asked.
"I remember nothing but being drawn into this world from my world. And the only thing that rings—" she hisses again, her eyes glowing blood red, staring at Aiden.
"—is to kill all humans," Aiden completed. "I programmed you that way. I brought you from Evolution Online to my world. Now you'll do as I say."
The serpent stared at Aiden with a sharp look. She wasn't sensing him as the person he posed to be. She'd have attacked him if it wasn't for the killing intent coming from the ant demon beside Aiden.
"I already maxed out the skills you need. You'll be hunting a player for me."
Hisss—
The serpent coiled on a pillar, moving fast from one to the other, and then appeared behind Aiden's neck with a sharp sting.
"And what if I refuse and kill you instead?" she muttered. Aiden smirked and shoved her hand off his neck.
"You'll do as I have instructed, or you'll exist in neither world."
—[Serpentina]
—[Levels: All Maxed Out]
—[Quest Given: Kill The Savior]
The serpent hissed, faked a smile at Aiden, and then, without further words, slithered very fast out of the room.
Meanwhile, Belle sits in a throne watching Aiden's every move through a specific blue screen. And now, Aiden was leaving the serpent room to where only he knows.
———————
Back in Lighthouse Hospital, the broken lights flicker. Xs and her father walk around with feet and eyes skimming every place.
"This place is wrecked," said her dad, Maximus. "So tell me, Xs, the last boy we saw—you seemed stunned by his face," Max asked, moving his eyes back as if wanting to see behind his ears.
And what he saw was Xs blushing when he brought the topic up. "I wouldn't advise that, kiddo. A cute face cannot pro—"
Max stopped talking as he saw someone's fingers twitching in a room. He quickly ran towards the person and saw it was a nurse, brutally wounded.
"What happened? Where's Doctor Melitta?" Max quickly asked, holding the woman against his lap.
"They... they took everyone," she muttered. "Big red gia—" The last words fled her lips and she died. Max closed her eyes and stood up, staring at his daughter.
After a short search, they came out of the hospital looking disappointed. Xs leaned against the building, staring at the dark alley across the ruined streets.
The apocalypse had, with no doubt, done a lot of destruction. "If I should catch the madman that created this shit, I could—"
"Dad, something's running towards us."
Max and his daughter stood up. Now that he was also looking across the street, not only were his eyes seeing something coming, but the ground was vibrating.
And Bam—rrghaaaaa—a giant red orc with pointy ears, fangs, and dressed as a barbarian with two huge battle axes.
"Holy shit, Xs, run!" Max yelled.
Accompanying his scream, the monster struck the ground with its double axes, adding to its destruction and causing a mini earthquake.
Xs and her dad both backflipped, landing perfectly meters away from the monster.
"Xs, I'm gonna need you to run and find your mom. I'll handle this."
"No... I'm not leaving you."
Max groaned, and a blade covered in flames took form in his palm, pointing at the monster that returned the favor by roaring and charging toward them.
"Fine, but don't go over your head."
Boom—
Max's eyes were engulfed in flames. Dashing forward as well, and inches from the monster, he twirled in midair, landing on its back as he raised his blade to end it quickly.
Kweuk—
His back was hit very hard against a building. The monster had effortlessly picked him up with a single palm and sent him crashing against the wall, so hard he coughed out blood.
"Daaad!" Xs yelled.
Her life flashed before her eyes. Without knowing, the monster had reached her, axe readied to end her life. Her father couldn't believe what he was about to witness.
However—wiiis—
Aiden came out of nowhere, covering the humongous monster's face with his palm. A smile crept on his face—and kaboom.
The loudest and biggest face slam in history just occurred, so hard the orc demon bounced when its back hit the ground. The monster was dead.
"Are you okay?" asked Max, standing up while supporting his might-as-well-be-broken arm.
He and his daughter stared at Aiden with strange looks. "Why is there not a notification? You just killed a level 20 monster," asked Xs. From the stares of her dad, that was his question as well.
"Oh, I'm not a player," Aiden muttered, sending confused looks onto their faces. Then their hearts skipped a beat as he added:
"I'm the Boss."