259. The gate that changed the world (II)

The world was rumbling. Everyone on the planet could feel the shift and groan of the planet's core. Hundreds of small dungeons appeared as one primary gate appeared up above the Atlantic Ocean. Nobody knew that such a devastating gate would appear above until it sent out a powerful chilling storm that blew in all directions.

Quickly, the weather changed, causing dangerous turmoil. Demons of different powers were spat out from the gates, creating a mighty swarm of monsters. They all dispersed into different directions, heading toward the mainland. It took a few days, but every land that had any connection to the Atlantic Ocean was being overrun by monsters.

Demons from the sea crawled out onto land, and the demons from the sky pelted down, destroying buildings and devouring people. Screams of fear rung loudly at the piers. The Players and Hunters that were closed to the forefront quickly regrouped to push back.

At first, they were able to push back and slay the monsters without too much trouble. Days went by, the demons that came from the sea and the sky were more potent than the last.

The world was on edge at the powerful push of demons coming from the sea as the guilds worldwide were summoned to Atlantis.

Snow was sitting in the front row seat in a large stadium. Thousands of different guilds from different parts of the country were coming in from all over the world, taking seats as they waited for the meeting to start.

Eventually, everyone was able to take a seat. Both Hunters and Players came in through the doors. The room was packed as quite a few more stragglers came in the last minute, standing by the side of the wall.

The room dimmed, giving it an alluring air.

Mike stepped out underneath the light. “Thank you for coming out on such short notice.” He motioned his hand in front of him. “I assume you all know why you are here. This has become a global emergency problem. A SSS dungeon had appeared that could threaten the whole world.”

Mike’s words were grim.

People mumbled under their breath, whispering amongst each other on the topic.

Mike pulled out a remote. A large screen appeared before him from behind, showing off a world map. It zoomed in on the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

A clear picture of the ocean was shown. The middle of the ocean was a dungeon portal that floated above, glimmering in and out into existence. A pulse of red light shimmered around the portal, telling everyone that it was an active dungeon getting ready to have a dungeon break.

“As you can see here, it's getting ready for a dungeon break.” Mike said with a serious tone, “Give or take, it should take about a month.”

“A month?!” The people in the seat spoke out. “It’s that soon?”

Mike glanced at the person who spoke out loud and replied back, “it could actually be in two weeks. I was just giving a very rough estimate.”

Mike took a few steps. He then stopped and shifted.

Snow could tell that he was unnerved. She knew how serious this was as a SSS class dungeon was something that could annihilate a nation or, worse, the whole world. Such an event wasn’t something that she could handle by herself.

“We will need to work together to make this happen. Any Players above A+ level and up will be entering into the dungeon. The rest will be keeping the monster under control around the area.”

One of the people in the stand raised their hand.

“Go ahead.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“What if some of the monsters escape the dungeon that is higher level than an A?”

“That should not happen.”

Red stepped out onto the stage. She was wearing her cute pink dress with floral patterns. “Until a dungeon break happens, any higher level monsters will be restricted inside the dungeon. I assure you, this only happens when a dungeon break has happened. Right now, it's gearing up for a dungeon break. We don’t know if it will happen or not, but the rate that the red light is pulsating around the gate signifies that it is getting ready to break.”

“Does that answer your question?” Mike spoke next.

The male Player shook his head.

“We will be splitting up into ten different teams. Each team will be led by its own respective leaders, but our priority is the complete annihilation of the dungeon core and dungeon master. If we don’t succeed before the dungeon breaks, I assure you. We won’t have a home.”

A burst of voices chattered out loud, all in the cacophony. Some were trying to voice their opinions over each other, heatedly debating the right course of action.

“What are you talking about? Such a dungeon can’t destroy our world.” One of the Players shouted. He stood up facing Mike.

“Yea, we haven’t even been in an S class dungeon, and you guys have completely erased it without trouble. How are you so sure that a SSS isn’t any different?”

Mike sighed. He stood silent for a moment before he spoke out loud. A burst of powerful magical electrical energy snapped all around him and even blasted outwards to the stands. This caught everyone’s attention. “Silence!”

The pressure in the air caused many to take in short breathes. Powerful surges of magical energy throbbed erratically, pushing down any who tried to oppose him. Many were shocked to feel Mike’s aura, especially because it was monstrous. Not many could stand up to his power, and when they realized how serious he was about the S class dungeon, the room slowly started to simmer down. Finally, after a few seconds, the room went silent.

“Have you entered an S class dungeon?” Mike's voice was strained. “If you have never been in one, you don’t understand how bad it can get. After breaking the dungeon, we all got cursed. CURSED.” He stressed the words.

Mike slowly stared down at anyone who challenged him.

Eventually, he allowed his magical aura around him to wane off, allowing the others to breathe.

“An S class is no joke, and a SSS class is probably ten times...No, one hundred times worse than what we can deal with.”

The air was heavy.

“Then what’s the point of joining in on this quest?”

“Did you not hear him?” Red rolled his eyes. “Dungeon break will happen soon, and if that happens, you will still be dragged into the hell that it would pose.”

Mike raised up her hand to calm her down. “If we work together, we still have a chance. Now, the day we all enter will be on September 23. That will be in one day, meeting at the Atlantis harbor as we take the ship to sail toward our destination.”

Snow paid attention to the screen diligently. Her mind was scrambled with many different thoughts. She knew she had to join in on this battle as an SSS class dungeon wasn’t something to scoff at. What worried her was what was in it? What legendary monster would they meet? She shuddered at the thought of the danger that they would come across.

“As of now, there are E-level monsters that are streaming out of the gates. The low-level Players should be able to handle them.”

“Oh my god!” A woman gasped out loud, catching everyone's attention.

They were all glued to the screen. The others were shocked by what they had seen.

Mike turned around to see what they were gasping about.

From the very gates, a burst of vines appeared out. Its vines quickly grew, diving into the ocean water. Quickly, the vines formed around the very gate, turning into a giant green lily pad. It didn’t take long for buds of tiny flowers to develop, but in the center of the lily pad was a bloody pink bud that was blooming and growing bigger.

Monsters that were streaming out of the gates were being snatched from the sky and sea. They were being devoured alive, becoming thin shells and bones. Others were being cut apart into pieces as the flower buds turned into a beautiful red color, sucking in the energy from the monsters.

Blood swarmed the very ocean water, dying it red.

While the lily was growing bigger and bigger where it blossomed underneath the gate. It was a dazzling pure blood red, crystallization as the sun gave it a magical glow.

Silence descended upon the crowd, realizing that they were lucky that the monsters were being devoured by the giant plant.

“What just happened?” Red said with disbelief. “Did we just get saved?”

“No.” Snow stood up. She took a step closer. Her eyes could see that something dangerous was forming inside the red lily. The small flowers that were turning redder spat out pockets of seeds that looked like dandelion seeds.

It floated in the air, being pulled by the wind.

“Seeds?” Mike asked, confused. He stepped aside for Snow to stand in the middle.

“Yes.” Snow stepped forward into the stand. Her eyes glowed gold while the aura around her gave her a soft sheen. People were mesmerized by the soft light energy around her.

“We need to move now. Those seeds need to be one of the two top priorities to be destroyed. Each of those seeds might produce one of those giant flowers. If it eats monsters, it might even eat us."

Snow’s words brought chills.

“Whatever that plant is, we don't know why it came through. From what I see, it blossomed under the gate for a reason. Looking at how it's eating up the monsters and growing, they get stronger by preying on their opponents like a venus flytrap.” Snow shifted. Her posture became straighter as she explained.

The crowd listened to her diligently.

“Whatever it is doing, it's only going to get ready. We need to be careful.”

With a clap of his hand, Mike brought everyone’s attention back to him. “Let’s get moving. We heard the Saintess.”

The Players mumbled, but they got up as they started to head outside.