My Scumbag System Chapter 453: The Morning After the Morning After

Thunder jolted me awake.

Real thunder.

Strange, since the forecast predicted clear skies ahead for a full week.

Natalia shifted beside me, her fingers clenching on my chest. The Cryo-Lich Ring throbbed once, reacting to an invisible force.

Maki, still shaped like a cat, raised her head and snarled at the window.

"That’s not weather," I said.

"No shit," Natalia grumbled. She pushed herself up, her purple hair tumbling wildly over her shoulders. "That’s an Aspect. High rank. Very high."

Thunder boomed once more.

Closer now.

My door flew open.

Braxton loomed there in just sweatpants, his scarred chest fully exposed. He thrust his phone forward.

"Get dressed. Now. VHC issued a priority summons for you, Kuzmina, and Vance. Transport lands in twenty."

"What happened?"

"Gate Break. Downtown. Three blocks from Central Station."

My gut twisted.

"Rank?"

"Reports claim C-Rank at least. Maybe A."

Natalia sprang into action, slipping into her combat suit with swift efficiency that hinted she’d anticipated trouble.

I snatched my gear from the closet.

The tactical suit. Reinforced boots. The bat.

"What about the others?" Natalia asked.

"Standby. Escalation means full deployment." Braxton’s face darkened. "Sentinels are heading there. Vipers and Phantoms too. It’s all-hands-on-deck."

"Fuck."

"Yeah."

He departed.

I glanced at Maki, now shifted back to human shape, stretching as if this were routine.

"Stay here. Don’t leave this room."

"But Master—"

"Non-negotiable. If I don’t make it, you guard the others. Got it?"

Her cheeky look faded.

An ancient glint flashed in those hazel eyes.

"Yes, Master."

I seized Natalia’s hand, and we bolted.

The transport idled at the front steps when we arrived.

Sleek black, marked with VHC logos. Military spec.

Celeste waited next to it with Noah, both geared up completely.

Celeste’s silver hair tied back severely. Her features held that usual calm facade, yet her eyes revealed the truth.

Fear. Concern. Weariness.

"How bad?" I asked.

"Three civilian deaths confirmed," Noah reported. "The perimeter grows every five minutes."

We boarded the transport.

The door sealed with a sharp hiss.

Inside, pure utility: bench seats, weapon racks, med kits secured to walls.

A holo-display ignited centrally, streaming live footage from downtown New Vein.

The Gate had ripped open smack in Commerce Plaza.

Fifteen feet high. Ten feet across. Throbbing with foul red glow.

Creatures poured out.

Huge ones.

Shadowy horrors with excessive limbs.

"Spawn class?" I asked.

"Unknown," the driver crackled over intercom. "First reports: insectoid. Now chimeric. Latest: no matches to known types."

Great.

My preferred surprise.

The transport surged forward, dodging morning traffic amid wailing sirens.

Natalia’s hand clasped mine in the dimness.

Her fingers felt icy.

"This isn’t random," she whispered.

"I know."

"Two weeks post-Black Gate? After Arborist survival? After your five covenants in one night?" Her purple gaze locked on mine. "Someone’s delivering a warning."

"Or probing us."

"Or both."

The transport swerved sharply.

Celeste steadied against the wall, face impassive.

But her hand shook faintly.

Just a bit.

"You good?" I asked.

"Fine."

"Cel."

She met my eyes.

"I’m fine," she insisted. "Just processing."

"Processing what?"

"Three weeks in a death realm, now rushing to a Gate Break on four hours sleep." A faint smile ghosted her lips. "My sister will judge my choices hard."

"Your sister judges everything."

"Fair."

The transport halted abruptly.

Door slid open.

Chaos assaulted us.

Commerce Plaza resembled a bomb site amid rush hour frenzy.

Flames engulfed buildings. Cars lay flipped. Blood smeared pavement in dark streaks vanishing into drains.

VHC Hunters held a defensive line around the Gate, weapons poised, expressions dour.

I knew some faces.

Pro Hunters. B-Rank minimum.

Terror etched their features.

That spelled trouble.

Watcher Graves commanded from the post, shouting into her comm. Spotting us, she beckoned urgently.

"Nakano. Kuzmina. Vance. Perfect. We need more hands."

"What’s the situation?" Natalia asked.

"Fourteen spawns confirmed. All Elite-tier or higher. The Boss is still inside, but we’ve got reconnaissance suggesting it’s A-Rank minimum."

"Any civilian evacuation?"

"In progress. But we’ve got stragglers. People hiding in buildings. Can’t extract them until we clear the immediate area."

The Gate throbbed intensely.

A colossal shape stirred within the shadows past the barrier.

"What’s the plan?" I questioned.

"Three strike teams. Sentinels take east approach. Vipers take west. Your team takes center." Graves stared hard at me. "You’re bait."

"Naturally."

"If the Boss comes through, you engage and hold until reinforcements arrive. Do not attempt to kill it solo. Do not be a hero. Just survive."

"Got it."

"Also." She drew me aside, lowering her voice. "Someone’s been asking questions about you. High-level inquiries. VHC internal."

"What kind of questions?"

"The kind that suggest someone thinks you’re more than you appear." Her eyes, like cigarette ash, scanned my features. "Watch your back, kid."

She departed before I could reply.

The Gate throbbed once more.

More fiercely this time.

A piercing cry sliced the air.

Not from any human.

A sound blending roar and screech that set my teeth on edge.

"Satori." Natalia spoke calmly. "Whatever happens—"

"I know."

"Do you?"

I gazed at her fully.

Eyes of violet. Faint glow in the white strands of her hair. Frost gathering on her fingertips.

My queen.

My first.

My unbreakable anchor.

"I know," I said again. "We survive. Together."

"Good answer."

Celeste shifted to my opposite side.

Her periwinkle gaze now steely. Intense.

The princess was gone.

A fierce warrior remained.

"Let’s go kill something," she declared.

The Gate ripped open broadly.

Hell itself surged forth.

The initial spawn towered twelve feet high.

Encased in black chitinous plating.

Six legs. Four arms. A head that parted vertically in the center, exposing a maw of whirling teeth.

It spotted us.

It lunged forward.

"Formation!" I bellowed.

Natalia lifted both palms.

Telekinetic power crashed into the beast like a runaway locomotive, halting it abruptly.

Ice burst from the collision site, racing over its torso in intricate patterns.

The monster howled.

Celeste advanced, her hands flowing in elegant yet lethal motions.

"Glacial Serenade."

Ice spears formed out of thin air.

Dozens in number.

All targeted at the immobilized foe.

They shot forward.

The noise resembled a volley of gunfire.

The spears pierced chitin, meat, and skeleton, impaling the creature to the ground behind.

It jerked once.

Twice.

Then lay motionless.

"One down," Natalia noted.

"Thirteen to go," I replied.

Two additional spawns burst from the Gate.

Smaller ones. Quicker.

Resembling wolves.

If wolves consisted of shadows with human hands replacing paws.

They divided.

One targeted Natalia.

The other rushed me.

I swung hard.

The bat struck its cranium.

Spatial Cleave triggered instinctively.

The unseen edge sliced shadow and bone alike.

The beast’s head came off smoothly.

Its form crumpled.

Behind me, Natalia had encased her assailant in ice mid-jump.

She smashed it down forcefully.

Ice exploded on contact.

The wolf shattered too.

"This is too easy," she remarked.

"Don’t jinx it."

"I’m being realistic."

A thunderous roar boomed from the Gate.

Louder than earlier.

More profound.

The sort of noise that gripped your chest and squeezed your heart.

I spun around.

A massive presence pushed through the barrier.

Something enormous.

The Boss appeared gradually.

As if relishing the emergence.

A claw emerged first.

At least ten feet in length.

Jet-black obsidian laced with silver veins.

Next, the limb.

As thick as an ancient tree. Armored in scales shifting from purple to gold.

Then the head.

No.

Three heads.

A hydra.

But twisted.

Scales of crystal. Eyes blazing with flames cycling through nameless hues.

In place of its chest, an open gash exposed a throbbing core of utter darkness.

The System pinged.

[WARNING: BOSS-CLASS ENTITY DETECTED]

[Threat Level: A-Rank]

[Designation: Chimeric Hydra - Unstable]

[Recommendation: Retreat Immediately]

I glanced at Natalia.

She met my eyes.

"So," she said. "We’re not retreating."

"Nope."

"Just checking."

The Hydra’s middle head parted its jaws.

Flames burst out.

Blinding white-hot, heat waves hitting us from fifty feet distant.

Celeste summoned an ice barrier.

The inferno struck like a siege engine.

Steam billowed explosively.

The barrier endured.

Just.

"That’s a problem," Celeste gritted out.

"Agreed."

The left head gaped next.

Lightning crackled forth.

Vivid blue-white and snapping.

It slammed the earth ten feet to our right.

The pavement burst apart.

Concrete fragments turned into flying debris.

Natalia’s telekinesis seized them in mid-air.

She hurled them right back toward the Hydra.

They ricocheted off its scales like tiny stones.

"Physical attacks aren’t working," she said.

"I noticed."

The right head drew in a breath.

The air chilled in an instant.

"Move!" I shouted.

We dashed apart.

The Hydra breathed out.

Ice coated the spot where we had stood, encasing all in a solid freeze over a twenty-foot area.

"Okay," I said. "Fire, lightning, ice. Anything else we should know about?"

The beast let out a roar.

All three heads together.

The noise broke windows halfway down the block.

My Protection from Arrows blared a warning.

I lunged to the left.

A huge tail lashed through where I’d been, crashing into a parked car and flipping it over repeatedly.

"Suggestions?" Natalia called.

"Working on it!"

The Hydra pressed forward.

Every footfall trembled the earth.

Professional Hunters unleashed shots from the edges.

Energy weapons. Explosive rounds. All their arsenal.

The strikes fizzled uselessly off the creature’s crystal scales.

"Core," Celeste said. "We need to destroy the core."

"The giant glowing target in its chest?"

"Yes."

"Any ideas on how to reach it?"

"Several. None of them good."

The center head unleashed fire once more.

This sweep covered the whole plaza.

I seized Natalia and Celeste, pushing them behind a concrete wall.

Flames surged over us.

The barrier endured.

For roughly three seconds.

Then it began melting.

"Okay," I said. "New plan. I’m going to do something stupid."

"No," Natalia said immediately.

"Seconded," Celeste added.

"Not asking permission."

I rose up.

I channeled Ember through the bat.

The metal blazed white-hot.

All three of the Hydra’s heads swiveled to me.

Six eyes. Every one aflame with that unnatural blaze.

I grinned.

"Hey ugly. Over here."

It barreled toward me.

And I charged right at it.