In Washington, D.C., 11:
Explosions rang out all over the capital, as missiles and anti-air defenses fired relentlessly, the soldiers running around as their leaders communicated orders all over. A screech is heard overhead as a large shadow covers the Washington Monument, becoming the target of another barrage from the military. The White House lies in ruins, destroyed beyond repair as pieces of it float about alongside the ruined, mangled, and burned bodies of those who were unlucky or unable to leave in time. Several fighter jets fly over, sending a missile barrage, having no effect on the beast as they simply change direction and slam into whatever is left of the defensive line surrounding the White House.
Many soldiers, still near the monster, begin to float into the air, feeling a sense of freedom from a more bloody fate as they slowly fade into nothing. Those who were able to figure out their skills in time had no effect on the beast; their attacks either dissipating or not meant for combat, especially against the beast attacking them. The creature began its attack just after six o'clock, destroying the White House and emerging from the ruins, the first area to be affected by its power.
Nobody knew what it was, as they were unable to even remember its form for more than a few minutes, and the unceasing monster hordes from nearby gates were of no help, holding up much of the military from being able to launch a concentrated effort on the monster. It felt hopeless to the soldiers below. It had been nearly a full two days, and they had yet to even land a scratch on the monster, despite their systems telling them it was a low-ranking monster.
If someone couldn't do something soon, they would be overrun and wiped out. That was a thought similar to what every person in the city was thinking, praying to whatever god they worshipped to be saved from these unstoppable monsters.
Meanwhile, in New York City, our group was dealing with something similar.
Keido awoke in the late morning, or at least the time on his phone said that. It was still evening in the dungeon, the sun was setting in the west, never moved, and it was a bit strange, but it didn't affect the trio. They were still in the dungeon and had killed a fair number of monsters, but were still far from fully clearing the dungeon. All of the monsters, as expected, were F-rank, the weakest rank. Most F-ranked humans or monsters could be killed with a well-placed gunshot wound, and normal means of killing someone were only effective until reaching D-rank.
Of course, there were naturally a few exceptions to all things, just like Kimsung's most recent kill. It was a High Tier Mutated Wolf, and its howl ability nearly sent him through a thick tree trunk. He killed it quickly, but he'd already come to the same conclusion as before, concerning his defense.
Kimsung never did find any armor artifacts in the Met Museum, so he had no protection for himself in case they faced a strong enemy. Perhaps he'd be able to find one as a reward for killing the dungeon boss at the end. But as long as he did not, it meant he'd be susceptible to dying from even a broken bone. Sure, he knew how to wrap his mana around himself to form a simple defense, yet he did not possess enough mana to do so.
He was beginning to understand exactly why Keido had been so insistent on coming to New York, which was to find Achilles. With his supposed defensive skill, they wouldn't be so overly worried about their defense. However, there was a large problem in this plan, which was whether Achilles would accept working with random strangers who, for some reason, knew he possessed a defensive skill.
Perhaps Keido would come up with a plan to recruit him, or perhaps just make him an ally of theirs. Either way, it would depend largely on Achilles' mood. He'd never even talked to him in a relaxed way, much less known anything about him, aside from what he was told by Jamal and Armando. That part would be up to those siblings to figure out.
There were still many Mutated Wolves in the forest, judging by how, after he killed the High-Tier, its own group of wolves fled in the same direction. Perhaps the way they ran to was a monster that even the High Tier Mutated Wolf was subordinate to. If that was the case, then it was for sure the dungeon boss. Whatever it was, they needed to complete the dungeon soon, to make sure the survivors in the museum were holding up well. This dungeon in particular, was unfortunately not a Fixed dungeon, which would have been easier to deal with rather than this regular dungeon.
Suddenly, a future projection of a wolf biting his head appeared in front of him, and he quickly dodged to the side, evading its sneak attack. Naturally, this was its territory, so it could have approached him quietly from behind, and he wouldn't have known. Kimsung was about to fight the wolf before two other future projections appeared. This time, it was two wolves, one about to attack from his right to bite his neck, and the other about to bite his left thigh from behind. He evaded them as well, now circled by three wolves. He looked around, and to his shock, many other wolves, at least over a dozen, were in the forest.
Kimsung was extremely shocked. How could he not be? They had successfully snuck up on him, an entire horde of Mutated wolves, without him noticing. He blamed it on the fact that he'd grown used to having his Survivor Perk. He knew how to activate them, but now was not the time for it. The first three wolves quickly charged at him, and he took the opportunity to flee, letting them chase him rather than fight them head-on.
The wolves, naturally faster than humans, even more so when chasing an unranked human, caught up to him in seconds, one of them pouncing on him only to be beheaded by his blade and a quick spin. He regained his balance as the other two were upon him, and quickly stabbed the wolf on his left in its neck, then turned his attention to the one on his right.