Born in apocalypse

Looking at the burn-down group, he said.

"You all, go and quickly maximize your cores, so you can start the process of evolution as fast as possible," he instructed the group. Locking eyes with Vexar’s brutally injured body, he added, "And allocate all the cores to Vexar initially. This way, he can get better through evolution."

"And remember to do at least something that will help with healing, Vexar," he said. This time he truly was worse, even after drinking multiple healing potions on top of using basic healing multiple times, His arm didn’t join itself. So, the only thing that can help him is his evolution to the next Tier.

Subsequently, he proceeded to create 12 mega undead for Azarex once more, replacing the ones that had been destroyed in the previous battle. Once again, the number of undead he can control has increased. Observing them as they dutifully carried out their assignments, he redirected his focus toward the sea. There, he intended to investigate one of his hypotheses.

If his assumption proved accurate, the entire wave scenario could be resolved effortlessly. Fueled by this determination, he began walking towards the gate, which he had located with the help of mana sensitivity—it was truly a godly skill. The crack was not situated far from the shoreline, making it a convenient destination to reach.

After reaching the crack, he positioned himself a meter away from the gate and fired a metal arrow.

"Boom."

The arrow fell to the ground without causing any harm to the gate. Observing its ineffectiveness, he initiated the process of preparing his enhanced metal arrow spell. After a brief moment, with the spell ready, he fired it without a hint of hesitation.

"Boooooooom"

However, the outcome remained unchanged. There wasn’t even a scratch on the surface of the gate, let alone destroying it. Anyway, his intention was not to destroy the gate; he had done this just in case, it was even possible to destroy the gate, which clearly wasn’t. His main motive for coming here was to find out whether he could enter the gate or not. Similar to many video games and novels, this gate might also be destroyed, if its main boss were to be killed.

Some might deem him crazy for entertaining thoughts inspired by video games or fictional novels. However, they overlook the fact that this entire circumstance was nothing short of a fantasy itself.

All he wanted to do was destroy at least this gate, thereby sparing himself from facing the monsters from multiple fronts during the waves. This was precisely why he had stationed the trio at the prison; their current condition makes them incapable of fighting in a gate, assuming such a thing was even possible, to begin with.

He began to traverse the final few steps, and with each step, his heartbeat quickened. As he drew closer, his heart pounded with increasing intensity. When he stood just a few centimeters from the gate, he raised his hand, his pulse racing in anticipation. Extending his hand toward the gate, he approached the white crack until there was merely a centimeter’s gap between his fingers and the gate’s surface. Closing his eyes, he pressed his hand against it.

"Ahahahah..."

An intense current coursed through his hands and body, causing excruciating pain. Assuming his plan had succeeded, he cautiously opened his eyes. However, the sight that greeted him left his eyes wide with disbelief. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"What!?... How!?"

The sight that confronted him was strange—he was in front of the very same gate. He hadn’t gone anywhere; he was in the exact spot where he had been only a few seconds ago. As he had opened his eyes, he didn’t precisely "see" anything, but he sensed it. A potent, strong force field was surrounding the gate, protecting it from any intruders, and it wasn’t peaceful either as it delivered electric shocks to those who dared to breach it.

’So, that invisible field, which is working like a shield, is what is stopping people from entering the gate. That means there is a way to enter the gate if someone passes those force fields, he thought, his mind racing as he contemplated potential approaches to overcome this obstacle.

Now, For the past hour, he tried every method he could, from using every single spell he could cast to trying to use mana drain on the field and even going as far as to even endure the shock for a total of five minutes. But nothing he did changed the outcome one bit; the gate was still there, calm and mighty. Ready to throw another wave of monsters when three more hours passed.

Defeated and disheartened, he retraced his steps toward the group, intending to assess their condition and possibly rest for a while. As he arrived, he observed that Vexar had already entered his evolution process, encased within a crimson egg-like structure. From a distance, it appeared incredibly resilient, yet upon closer inspection, its fragility became apparent. Alaric and Azarex were still in the process of absorbing their share of cores.

Glancing at them, Dhruv said, "Once you’ve finished absorbing the cores, don’t initiate the evolution immediately. We can’t predict how many hours it might take, and it’s too risky for all three of you to be in egg form during a wave..."

"Understood, Master," they responded in harmony.

"If there are any cores left after your absorption process, gather them and set them aside. I have a specific purpose for them," he instructed, remembering past situations where his words had been misunderstood. Hastily adding a clarification, he emphasized, "But only after you’ve completed your absorption process. Do you understand?"

"Yes, of course, master."

"Alaric, make sure to rest once you’ve finished absorbing. Also, Azarex, please wake me up half an hour before the next wave," he added. With a nod of comprehension, they both resumed their core absorption processes.

"Please, let it not be that dream again," he silently pleaded, succumbing to sleep the moment his body met with the mattress, and just like that he once again began to drift into the world of dreams.

***

Dhruv’s eyes fluttered open as he felt a gentle but urgent shaking of his body. His mind struggled to shake off the remnants of sleep, and confusion fogged his thoughts. Gradually, the haze cleared, and he registered the urgency in the touch that roused him.

As his vision sharpened, he looked toward the thing he was most worried about. Dhruv’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed that Vexar was still evolving, with only half an hour remaining for a wave to start.