Chapter 10: Assault on the City
The calm within the guild hall was abruptly shattered. A low, grinding hum resonated from beyond their reinforced walls, quickly escalating into a monstrous roar. Livia felt a crushing pressure in her chest, a phantom weight that echoed the warning flashing across her vision: [THREAT LEVEL MAXIMUM! EMOTIONAL SUPPORT! +150 EXP. WARNING: ANOMALY GETTING MORE STABLE.] The Cleaners were back, and this time, it was an all-out assault on the main city.
From the guild hall's panoramic windows, the scene was apocalyptic. Cleaners poured into Aethelgard Nexus's urban landscape, not in chaotic waves, but in tight, disciplined military formations. Larger, subtly glowing units led the charge, their metallic forms radiating a faint, unsettling aura. The air vibrated with their collective static, a sound like a thousand broken radios screaming in unison. They moved with chilling, synchronized precision, like a perfectly oiled, malevolent digital army, their crimson eyes fixed on the guild hall.
"They're coming for us!" SakuraSorceress, Mei, yelled, her voice tight with alarm as she launched a flurry of Sakura Bloom spells, creating a protective barrier of ethereal petals.
NightBlade, Sari, a blur of motion, unleashed a swift Night Slash, cutting down several advancing Cleaners, her movements sharp and decisive. StarSlinger, Alex, fired a rapid succession of Astral Shots, piercing through the Cleaners' ranks with impossible accuracy, each shot leaving a shimmering trail. The guild braced for impact, their skills already in motion.
Livia's palms tingled, a familiar surge of power building within her. The pressure in her chest intensified, demanding release. She extended her hands, activating Empathy Burst. A powerful wave of pure, focused energy exploded outwards from her, blanketing the entire guild. Their movements sharpened, their attacks gained a new, devastating edge, and their defenses became impenetrable. They moved as one, a single, unstoppable force against the relentless tide of metallic enemies. The world seemed to shift, their actions perfectly synchronized, each player anticipating the next move of their comrades, flowing seamlessly through the chaos.
"This is like a bugged beta patch, the devs forgot to QA!" ThunderStrategist, Bima, grumbled, even as he expertly deployed a Tactical Pulse that sent an entire formation of Cleaners sprawling. "I want a refund for this event!"
"Buffer!" IronVanguard, Dimas, yelled, deflecting a massive laser blast with his Iron Bastion, the shield glowing with newfound strength. "You're making us invincible!"
Livia rolled her eyes, but a determined grin touched her lips. "Buffer? You guys think I'm some kind of EXP spam bot? I have feelings, you know! I'm doing my job!" Her retort, though playful, carried a fierce determination. She channeled her frustration, her indignation, her every ounce of defiance, into her skill, making it stronger, more potent.
"These Cleaners are like forum mods who ban players for chat spam!" StarSlinger, Alex, quipped, firing off a series of rapid-fire Astral Shots that disintegrated a group of drones. "Talk about an overreaction!"
The battle raged through the city streets. Lasers crisscrossed the pixelated sky, exploding against buildings and shimmering shields. The clang of metal against digital armor echoed constantly, and the grating hum of the Cleaners was a deafening symphony of destruction. Livia darted between her guildmates, a blur of motion, her Empathy Burst a constant, shimmering aura around them, pushing their mental limits, making them fight beyond their usual capabilities. She felt their exhaustion, their determination, their fear, processing it all, and converting it into pure, focused power.
StormReaver, Ethan, was a whirlwind of steel, his greatsword deflecting blows and cutting down Cleaners with savage efficiency. He remained steadfastly near Livia, his body a living shield, always interposing himself between her and the most dangerous threats. Livia noticed his hands, usually so steady, now trembled slightly as he gripped his shield, a subtle sign of the immense strain and very real danger they were in. His jaw was set, a bead of sweat (or virtual condensation) tracing a line down his temple. His resolve was unyielding, but the battle was taking its toll even on him.
Amidst the furious clanging and explosions, PsychoBlaze, Rian, suddenly leaned in close to Livia, his voice urgent, barely audible over the din. "Livia, the article! It says the coma patient's name is Livia, a psychology student from UI. And the blurry photo of the accident site… a damaged streetlight, a broken curb... it's exactly like the place in your dream. The one you always wake up from, terrified."
Livia's world spun. The city square, the flashing lasers, the screaming Cleaners—it all became a blurred, indistinct canvas. Her digital vision swam, pixels dancing wildly, threatening to dissolve entirely. The details Rian provided, the concrete, irrefutable parallels between her nightmares and this "rumor," created a sickening sense of déjà vu, a terrifying realization that her two realities were not just bleeding, but colliding. Her head throbbed with a pain that was no longer phantom, but sharp, cold, and entirely real, as if her brain in the physical world was struggling to reconcile this digital nightmare. She staggered backward, her avatar shimmering erratically, a faint ripple distorting her form at the edges, clutching her head, the ground swaying beneath her feet.
The system's voice, now a deep, resonant growl, boomed through the entire city, shaking the very foundations of Aethelgard Nexus. It was no longer just a notification; it was an angry, absolute decree: [EMOTIONAL ANOMALY INCREASING. WORLD DEV-0 PROTOCOL INITIATED. ORIGIN SIGNATURE DETECTED.]
As the system's voice faded, a dark, jagged crack began to rip open the pixelated sky above the city. It wasn't a visual glitch; it was a physical tear in the digital firmament, widening with a horrifying, tearing sound. Through the expanding fissure, Livia could see faint, unsettling flashes of light from a dimension unknown, colors that shouldn't exist, forms that seemed to defy the very logic of Aethelgard Nexus. A cold, alien aura emanated from the tearing sky, a presence that disturbed the very core programming of the game, making the guild hall and surrounding buildings shimmer erratically. It was a portal, but to where? And what was "Origin Signature Detected"? The stakes had just escalated beyond anything they had ever imagined.