World Filter

Mark eyed the security around them. To say it was overkill was an understatement. But it wasn't every day that all the major powers in New York gathered in neutral territory.

High-level fighters from all parts of the city had arrived, and not only were they working together, but everyone seemed in good spirits as they gathered around the tower's base.

Mark's attention was drawn to the center of the group when Lieutenant Colonel Liam stepped up beside Jason. A soldier next to him cast a spell to amplify the sound across the area.

His voice carried a harsh quality, but his words were filled with purpose.

"Congratulations, everyone, and greetings! I'm sure that today will go down in the history books, so I won't mince words. We will begin the process shortly. The unbound will be divided into two groups and split between the two gates. Everyone, please get ready to move out."

Mark crossed his arms. As much as he wanted to believe it, Colonel Liam was not making trouble for them. A test was conducted earlier, and only fifteen unbound could be at any one portal at a time. So the splitting of their forces was necessary if they wanted to proceed.

Their order had already disclosed their intention to stay near the door within their territory. The Loyalists would head over to their side with the remaining neutral parties.

Gathering like this was just a formality, so that no unbound could slip through the woodwork.

As everyone prepared to leave, Mark watched the Loyalists gather up the other neutral parties and begin their walk toward their gate.

The trek to their own was a little way from here, so they began to head in that direction.

Lisa and Nathan took up the front while their order moved to the middle of the formation and arranged themselves around the bubble. Finally, Ning Wei and her guild brought up the rear. She did, however, move parallel with them as she greeted them all.

"Good to see you are all doing well. I heard you went outside the walls. I'm sorry I couldn't be there to see you off. My father was very busy. If you don't mind me asking, what's it like out there?" she asked, directing her question towards Joanthan.

Jonathan shrugged at her like he didn't mind.

"Well, let's put it this way. If you ever get a chance to go out there, don't. There's nothing out there by death."

Ning Wei pursed her lips.

"But I heard a different story. Rumour is you guys found a town filled with people out there," she said, smiling.

Jonathan grimaced and glanced at Sam.

Mark leaned forward and made eye contact with Ning Wei, linking the four of them.

'You're not wrong about the town, but as far as they were concerned, there was only one person in it. Her name was Aiyana.'

Ning Wei's eyes widened as she plastered them with questions about the hive mind. They answered them all, and she nodded, satisfied.

'Wow, that's incredible, but you're right, I don't think I'm all that interested in going out there anytime soon.'

As Ning Wei answered, Mark could feel a strange satisfaction bleeding through the link.

'Looks like the rumours about you changing were true, Mark. Even the air feels right around you.'

Mark had been watching their surroundings but glanced back to send her a questioning look.

He wanted to ask what she meant; however, a sudden commotion up ahead drew his attention.

Their line had been advancing at a constant pace, but now it halted as a sudden plume of flame exploded up ahead.

Screams of panic filled the air as bystanders were caught up in the eruption. At this distance, it was hard to tell what was going on when a rumbling in the street began to shake the nearby buildings.

Karter's voice cut through the noise in a way that only a commander could.

"We're under attack, all units defensive positions, now!"

Not a single fighter from their faction hesitated as they went on guard. The flames had continued to wash over the front of the formation, but at Lisa's command, several Mana-users pushed them back.

The shaking of the streets had only worsened, and with a tremendous 'crack,' the road in front of them fell inwards like a maw opening.

Dozens of people were sucked into the yawning earth screaming.

Mark, along with several others, took to the air, preparing for battle. Below, weapons were drawn, and spells were channeled. Mark even saw Boe grow to the size of a minibus out of the corner of his eye.

His new senses were screaming at the wrongness below them. It didn't take a lot for him to realize what was going on, but how was the real question.

A powerful construct exploded out of him, covering the front of the formation as the dust settled.

What came into view was a hole in the ground spanning the street. Portions of the tarmac had collapsed, forming a ramp into the darkness.

Everyone who had managed to regroup stared down in horror as familiar growls and howls echoed up.

A second later, the first Corrupted dashed out of the hole at the frontline. It didn't even make it two steps before an arrow and several enhanced bullets ripped it to pieces.

However, where there was one, there were always more.

A horde of screaming dead rushed from the shadows like a torrent, crashing into the front of their formation.

Mark watched them with a scowl. How had they gotten this close? Screams at the front drew his attention as the fighting began.

Kicking his core into gear, he gathered his energy and rose higher, spreading out his hands.

Mark's Prana rushed onto the battlefield carrying [Invigorate] and [Regenerate] freely.

Immediately healing those who were hurt in the initial ambush, and ensuring their fighters remained in peak condition.

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Below, Sam and Jonathan joined Lisa and Nathan to form a powerful blockade, while Ning Wei and the guilds moved around the edges to prevent any Corrupted from escaping into the city.

They effectively funneled the creatures and slaughtered any that dared to show their face without incuring any losses.

From the looks of things, these creatures had to have made their way through the underground to get here. What was more interesting was that even with the spire so close, they still recklessly charged. Their ranks were made up of mostly humanoids and the odd Ordinator, but the numbers more than made up for it. The Corrupted's skin bubbled and boiled under the light of the spire, weakening them with every step. So much so that they weren't even half as strong as they usually were. Each Aura-user was able to take five at once without much fuss, but that in itself was worrying.

Why had they chosen to attack now? Mark was not stupid enough to think the Corrupted could organize an attack like this. That meant they had help from the Corrupted humans, but what was their goal? If it was just to do damage, then they were well prepared

Mark watched their men easily wipe the Corrupted from the face of the earth, but something wasn't adding up.

Sam reached out to Mark through the connection, confirming his suspicions.

"Mark, connect us to everyone else. I think this is a distraction."

Mark felt his blood turn to ice in his veins.

He turned to look back at the dome they formed around the unbound, and to his horror, he saw a creature charging at the screen.

This thing was not like any Corrupted he'd seen before. It was like a mix of a gorilla and a beetle as black goop leaked from its joints. Two razor-sharp, sickle-like claws replaced its arms, turning it into a mangey nightmare on legs.

It had somehow avoided his detection and arrived at their barrier in seconds. Even as it approached, Mark scowled. They had channeled a simply massive amount of energy into the barrier, so he wasn't worried about it breaking, but something told him to move.

Mark created a mental link to every pillar he could manage and sent what he saw. Then, in real-time, Mark watched as the Corrupted blinked from existence and tried to reappear inside the barrier.

It was a short-range teleport at best, but it was still unexpected.

Mark had long since learned how to block teleportation from entering his shield, but this was something different. It was like trying to catch an eel as it slipped through his defenses. Even with all his power, the Corrupted appeared inside the dome as a transparent, flickering figure. It hadn't managed to solidify completely yet, and Mark could feel his construct rejecting it, but not before it raised one of its bladed arms and attacked the people within.

A scream came from within, and his heart dropped.

Mark closed the distance and pushed the creature out with all the strength of his will. The force of it launched the Corrupted out and lightning speed, causing it to crash into a nearby wall.

Mark could feel one of their people had been injured, and using his Prana, he knew it was Jose. The soldier had interposed himself between the rest and gotten his arm cleaved off for his effort. However, everyone else was safe. Mark regrew the man's arm in a heartbeat and turned to look for the Corrupted. What he didn't expect was that the creature was already getting up, and it was not alone anymore. Five more sythe-wielding Corrupted had gathered near their fallen brethren.

'Jon, Lisa. Get here now! I need you!' Mark shot through the link

Taking their two most powerful Aura-users from the frontline was not ideal, but if those things attacked all at once, Mark wouldn't be able to stop them.

If their forms were able to endure the harsh nature of incomplete jumps, then his shield would become a cage for the unbound.

Jonathan was the first to abandon the frontline, rushing towards Mark as the Corrupted attacked. Mark immediately shifted the construct containing their unbound and lifted it into the sky with him.

Though this didn't seem to discourage them, they were specifically targeting the unbound as they charged towards the dome. Mark's spell could only move it so fast; however, the Corrupted were blindingly quick.

A tension-fueled game of keepaway started as they flicked around the battlefield chasing after Mark's sphere.

When Jonathan arrived with Lisa hot on his tail, he slammed into one of the creatures, cutting it apart in seconds and beheading a second one. Lisa landed and burned two of her own up, but that left the initial one and a supporter.

The two were too close to the dome for Mark's linking, and he used [Telekinetic control] to slam one into the ground and crush it to pieces, but the last one got through. Mark tried to stop it but slipped through his guard once more and raised a limb.

Then Mark saw a blur of black and white fur, and a massive set of jaws closed around the creature's top half.

Boe ripped the creature from the air and lashed it back and forth like a chew toy. Not stopping until the Corrupteds' limp body fell from his mouth. Mark let out a sigh of relief and looked over to see Ethel give him a thumbs up.

Mark immediately scanned the area for more of those creatures. They had snuck up on them like assassins, but in direct confrontation, they weren't that strong. Mark hoped that with the feel of fighting them, he would be able to detect them in the future. Then Sam's voice came through the link.

'We need to hurry! Their target must be to stop us from opening the tower. If they sent forces here, they will no doubt send them at the Loyalists as well.'

Mark's eyes widened as he realized she was right.

Karter quickly came up with a plan, giving them each a task.

'We can't afford to leave this opening alone. Their numbers are slowing, but we need to make sure to get all of them. All the Mid-level units will stay here with me and defend. Mark, take the unbound to the gate, while the rest of you head to Captain Price, to lend aid.'

No one questioned him as they all broke up in separate directions. Sam, Jonathan, Lisa, Nathan, and a whole lot of high-level individuals all headed in the direction they came from.

Mark charged the surrounding fighters with another dose of [Invogoate] before heading towards the spire again.

He joined the unbound in the sphere and did his best to calm them. They all looked shaken up but otherwise alive.

He explained what was going on and encouraged them to stay alert as they watched their surroundings. When Mark wanted to, he could cover a lot of distance. So it was not a surprise that they arrived in front of the gate a few short minutes later

Not willing to set them down, Mark lifted them to the top of the fourth-story gate and pressed the construct to it, affixing them in place. He then created two additional constructs and expanded them outward. Layering each with large amounts of space in between. If anything teleported at them, Mark would know way before they managed to do any harm. So with the tower at their back, they waited.

Everyone seemed nervous as they pressed their hands to the tower while Mark watched what was going on at the other door through Sam's eyes.

The other gate was in chaos. It was clear that the larger force had been sent to them, containing all types of Corrupted, including the new teleporting kind.

Luckily for the unbound, the Loyalists were no pushovers. They defend their charges while retreating. The tanks were erasing entire swaths of Corrupted. Unfortunately, the new ambushers came as a surprise as they teleported into the tanks.

By the time their backup arrived, four of the tanks were completely destroyed from the inside out. The Corrupted were suicidal as they charged against Jason's front line. Through all of this, Mark never saw a single Corrupted human, but their involvement was clear; otherwise, how would they have known to attack the heavily armoured tanks?

Jonathan managed to lead them to the second gate and get their charges to the portal, but it became apparent they had lost two unbound.

Despair bled through the connection as people gathered, pressing their palms to the metal doors. Until twenty-eight unbound were touching the spires' doors.

Unfortunately, it was not enough.

Mark cursed. What happened now? Would more unbound be chosen?

Either way, he could see the Corrupted approaching their unbound from all directions. People tried to slow them, but the ambushers were jumping across the battlefield with ease.

Mark didn't know how to help, but then he felt Sam and Jon's resolve harden.

Stepping up beside the unbound, they fell in line and reached forward. With the battle raging behind them, they pressed their hands to the gate at the same time.

Standing in for the missing two unbound.

Immediately, the world shook as the spire groaned, with the sounds of interlocking metal ringing out. The light raining down from the tree temporarily increased, vapourizing the surviving Corrupted in clouds a golden dust.

Then every person in the city and beyond received a resounding golden message.