Chef in the Apocalypse

"Oh shit you made it out?" The hooded man who had mascaraed as Victor and trapped him earlier said with surprise. He truly seemed shocked that such a thing had happened.

Yet his face turned up in a grin, showcasing the horrific scar on the side of his face.

"It’s too late now hehehe."

With those words he turned around and walked into the array, holding the unconscious Lianna within his arms.

Before Jayce knew it, he was already rushing at full speed towards the array, his murderous eyes locked onto the remaining three men who had yet to pass through the gate.

Fear painted their features as they jostled with each other to get into the array first.

One managed to get through the array before Jayce reached them. As he was about to head through the gate, he saw something come out of it, rolling along the ground and coming to a stop.

"Shit!"

Jayce cursed, quickly dodging out of the way as fast as his body would allow him.

BOOM!

The sound of an explosion attacked his ear drums, followed by debris and shrapnel which pelted against his body ferociously.

After a few seconds, Jayce managed to get to his feet although he was rather disorientated. His gaze landed on the array, or what was left of it and cursed loudly.

"ARGHHH F*CK!"

The array was now in pieces which meant there was no way of following the people who had kidnapped Lianna. Even if he could create one in a short amount of time, there was no way of knowing which array they had connected to.

Jayce was furious, he felt a primitive urge to take out his anger on something, or someone. His gaze moved around the wreckage, looking to see if either of those two had survived the explosion.

He honed his senses, trying to detect faint breathing or any other signs of life. After a few moments, he found something. He began to dig up the debris, moving it to the side in emphatic fashion.

Removing the last bit of stone, he saw a man who was in his late thirties moaning in pain. The whole right side of his body had burns and was torn apart by the explosion. It was clear that he was in his death throes.

Jayce placed his hand directly on the burns of the man and questioned him in an icy tone.

"Where did you take her?"

The man screamed in pain, feeling agony course through his body. He slowly opened his eyes only to see a devil staring back at him with fury in its gaze.

Getting no response, Jayce squeezed harder, causing the man to pass out from the pain. However, Jayce sent a sliver of Qi into the mans body to jolt awake.

"P-Please spare me." The man wailed in terror.

"Where did you take my woman?" Jayce asked, his words cold.

"I-I don’t know. Please, I’m telling the truth."

"Bullshit."

This time, Jayce drove his knee into the man’s thigh which produced the sound of breaking bones. Once again, the man went limp, falling into unconsciousness.

After being shocked awake once more by Jayce’s Qi, the man felt torturous pain throughout his body, causing him to almost fall into madness.

"R-Russia. We took her back to Russia."

As those words left his mouth, Jayce felt a pulling motion from the man’s chest, as if the gravity around him had increased dramatically. He quickly took a few steps back, only to watch on as the man screamed out wildly.

Upon his chest was something like a black hole, sucking in his entire being in a slow and agonizing fashion.

Jayce’s eyes widened in shock. This was the very same power that had been used against him and his part members after meeting the three beings upon the thrones.

"So it was those bastards..."

Seeing the same black hole-like power being used to erase this man, Jayce was now more or less certain that this was a ploy from those beings. Or at least someone that was related to them.

Jayce gritted his teeth in frustration, he had been too naive. He thought that he would be safe until the barrier surrounding Earth lifted, however he was wrong. Truly wrong.

What he had failed to anticipate was that these invaders would be able to influence other humans to do their bidding. Even going so far as to provide them with unknown weaponry in order to help them succeed.

Although it was not stated, he could guess what their goals and intentions were. They wanted the humans to fight against each other, remaining fragmented and weak and therefore unable to oppose the invasion.

Everything that Jayce had done to bring humanity together and increase their chances of surviving the invasion, was setback in this one move.

Not only had they managed to sew distrust and animosity between the human race, they had also kidnapped Lianna.

It was a complete defeat.

Jayce’s anger continued to smolder as he gazed upon the destruction of the once tranquil and spacious Central Square. Everything they had built together and their lofty plans for survival was brought to ruins in one fell swoop.

"GOD DAMN IT!"

Jayce threw his fist down in anger, striking the debris at his feet and instantly crushing it to dust.

"Jayce? Is that you?

A feeble voice sounded out from behind him, freezing him in place. He felt that his mind must be playing tricks on him, so he didn’t want to turn around.

He felt the weight of a hand fall onto his shoulder, causing his body to jump slightly in response.

’It can’t be... I must be hallucinating.’

Yet that hand gripped his shoulder tightly, forcing him to turn around and face them.

Before he knew it, tears began to stream down his face after seeing the beautiful visage of the woman in front of him. Through the veil of tears, he saw the woman he loved safe and sound.

"Lianna?"