Devil's Apocalypse

A heavy atmosphere still weighed down on the residents of the human base, it almost felt as if the current unease was permanent and that the base would remain in a state of unending apprehension. Though, even in this bleak and unwelcoming mood, everyone still had to work and keep the operations of the base running.

John and his cohorts moved out of the base, going by foot as their destination wasn't far. They, like most combatants, were in charge of exploration, information gathering and hunting. Previously, they had quite a bit of freedom with which activities they chose but now, due to the decreased population, there were much fewer people to hunt for food, so they decided to go out. Not that they'd give away what they caught for free, after all, they needed to live as well, but currently there wasn't enough fresh meat in the markets so they sought to procure more.

Originally, John's friends thought it was an unwise decision for him to go with them, considering his disabled state, however, they relented in the end due to the solid argument that, if he couldn't learn to fight properly with only one arm, then he'd die sooner or later anyway, additionally, not leveling up would be suicide with the most recent developments.

The group were out hunting for a few days yet they didn't run into many creatures and almost all of the attacks they sustained were repelled thanks to their armor so there were no major injuries which, after recent events, was quite a relief to the group, however, what wasn't a relief, was the aforementioned lack of creatures.

They needed to hunt them in order to gather food and, while having a few less monsters in the fields wouldn't be a need for concern, only finding a couple of creatures, in what was once an open plane littered with strange gazelle-like monsters, was most certainly concerning.

"Do you think this is connected to recent events?" Michael asked the others while Joey was working on skinning the corpse of a felled fulgur.

"Maybe, but we can't exactly blame every new circumstance on the fog which appeared, even if the timing is suspicious." Replied Joey, not having much difficulty in his task due to his ever increasing stats.

"What I'm curious about is where the creatures have gone, and if this is happening anywhere else besides here?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to agree with you Ty." Responded John, uneasily looking over the horizon in the direction of the fog wall.

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Originally, he'd be satisfied with the quick reinforcement from the security but, in this situation, the timing was awful. Sweat beaded on the Aids brow as he felt a pressure start exuding from the Monkey Lord, displaying its displeasure towards the approaching combatants.

With a quick hand wave, the combatants stopped approaching, throwing the Aid a confused look before backing away. He was still unsure of the Monkey's combat prowess but, if just the simple action of starting to circulate mana was this frightening, he didn't want to enter combat with it if at all possible.

"Forgive that interruption. They were tasked with handling any unexpected situations and violence is the only way they could think of performing that duty."

Despite the initial exchange garnering no reaction, the Aid once again attempted to communicate in the demon's tongue, wanting a peaceful resolution, at least until he knew if the creature was beatable.

Much to his relief, the words seemed to have been understood this time as, even though the Lord didn't speak, it dialled down on the pressure and, once again, turned to face the Aid.

"Since you are here, do you mind explaining your intentions?" Feeling emboldened by the prospect of a stable communication, the Aid asked another question, but the Monkey Lord simply stared at him, not giving any reply.

"Well, in that case, would you like accommodation for now? We have numerous spare rooms for various individuals of importance and one can be set aside for your temporary use." Not perturbed by the lack of an answer, the Aid then enquired about accommodation, which was rewarded with a slight nod, much to his relief.

With a request to follow him, the Aid began to walk out of the summoning room, earning a few curious gazes from the various people working but they knew better then to stare at strange individuals and the ones who didn't got a harsh glare from the Aid right as he noticed the Monkey Lord preparing to fight again.

While the walk was short, it felt infinitely longer, thanks to the thing he was escorting and, even though the Aid was used to dealing with demons, he had yet to meet any creatures which were this strange, or this threatening, to the point that, when the room he was aiming for came into view, he couldn't be more thankful that he could be temporarily done with this issue.

"Feel free to use the services and items within this abode, food will be supplied at regular intervals and I humbly request that, if your Lordship detects anything amiss outside this room, that you do not take any hostile action." A trickle of sweat slid down the Aid's brow once he concluded his sentence, as he had no idea as to the temperament of this creature and it was already a blessing that it hadn't flown into a bloodthirsty rage, especially with the fact that simply staring could result in open hostility.

After a couple of seconds, though, the Aid watched the Monkey Lord stalk towards the door, opening it with ease before entering and then closing it. While this action might seem simple and impressive, this, paired with the reaction to the Aids words, proved that the creature was aware of civilisation and confirmed that it had intelligence, meaning that this time bomb that had been dumped on him might end up being useful.

Letting out a long sigh, the Aid turned back and started walking down the corridor. With the arrival of the Monkey Lord, he had to quickly inform everyone to not wander towards that door without a reason and include it in the food distribution rounds. He just hoped it would like what demons liked.

'I just hope that nothing happens before the Director returns, I'm not paid enough to deal with this.'