Chapter 72 – Where It All Started

"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"

Dream asked Sophia for clarification. What the hell was an angel doing on Earth?

[This picture was two days ago. And this isn't the only instance. I'll give you a rundown.]

"Alright."

[Two days ago, angels appeared all over the world. In total, there were 7 that were just as massive as the one in the picture that appeared in various places on the globe. But there were also regular, human sized angels that came to certain people on Earth. Primarily, the powerful ability users. And there was one reason they were there, Demons.]

"They came for Demons?"

[Correct. Two days before the angels appeared, I had actually found traces of an unknown entity in certain rural areas of Russia. I had chopped it down to a new species of animal and not investigated it, merely posting a notification for those near the area on the Seeker program. But after the angels came, they made it clear. Demons were invading the world.

"Now what are Demons?"

[Apparently, they're hell's spawns. Creatures created by hell for the purpose of invading worlds. That's at least what I've heard from everyone that came in contact with these angels.]

"Hold on, so you're saying that Demons are now invading the world, and that angels have come to help? Here's a question, who the hell are these angels?"

[They're what you think. They're God's envoys from Heaven.]

"...Seriously?"

[Seriously.]

"..."

Dream went quiet. So heaven is real huh? 

"...And they came to help."

[Yes. Those giant angels only appeared for a day and disappeared. After that, the only people that came in contact with angels are the powerful hunters, and they're still in contact with them even now. I haven't gotten much information about what's going on between them though because these angels have the power to keep me from getting information. But what I do know, is that the Demon threat is now very real.

Several cities in Russia have been utterly obliterated and occupied. And the people who have investigated or fought against them were accompanied by angels. I was also able to investigate and have found that demons are basically mindless killing machines. They're just like the monsters in dungeons, except they look like they were built for the purpose of killing. Other than that though, I don't have much else information.]

"....So demons are invading Earth. How fast are they spreading?"

[Right now, extremely quick. But Russia is spread out and lightly occupied, so it's easy for them right now. We'll have to wait until they hit densely populated areas to track how dangerous they are.]

"Alright. Have there been notifications sent?"

[I have notified everyone and given them what information I have. This demon threat has the potential to be world ending. Everyone is only just getting used to the concept of mana, and now they have to fight them too.]

"But humans are adaptive creatures. If anything, the pressure will bring people together. Not to mention us. We have the greatest intelligence-gathering network since ever. Which will be crucial if we are to combat this."

[Another thing. After the appearance, the mana density on Earth has skyrocketed. It's about 70% the density of this world now.]

"*Sigh* Great. Anyway, how's the family?"

[They're fine. Your mom is finally starting to level up and the rest of the family is close to level 40. I've been making sure they keep fighting. And they're making good advancements in magic. Melody has gotten sword fighting skills, Walter has gotten basic magic for Earth and water, and Austin is actually heading toward the illusion branch of magic. He's able to confuse his enemies a bit.]

"Interesting. Well thanks for taking care of them and keeping them safe. So other than the angels and demons, what about the general state of the world?"

[There have been several people reaching first class. The majority of ability users, which is a surprisingly big percent of the world, are around level 20. Several small governments have collapsed, and the Seeker program has even further solidified its foothold in the world. The first set of businesses have been created for mana weapons development and guilds are also popping up.]

"How are those doing?"

[Surprisingly well. There haven't been many conflicts with governments. I've also taken the liberty to allow these guilds to associate with our program. To keep things organized.]

"Nice....That's very nice."

Dream closed his eyes as he took in all the information. After a bit, he came around to the biggest question.

"....Why now?"

[It has to be a coincidence. I know we just got to class 2, but there's no way we could've alerted Heaven to Earth. We didn't even know that there was a Heaven.]

"These coincidences really need to stop then. First, we bring mana to Earth, and now we're seeing the second coming. I have a hard time believing that it's because of the insignificant me too, but it's these things that make it difficult to keep believing that. Anyway, is there anything else? You said there were multiple things."

[Yes. Uhh...]

"...Yes?"

[Well, I think demons have come to this world as well.]

"....You've got to be fucking me."

[I kind of wish I was...]

"Where?! First Earth, now here?! I don't see any angels! Or did I miss that too?! Am I just some kind of walking, extinction-causing button?!"

Dream began freaking out now. What the hell was this situation? First, he gets separated from the family, then demons invade Earth, and now demons are invading this place. It sounded like an apocalypse!

"Aren't I in another fucking galaxy? Or am I just being toyed with by some transcendent, godly being?! Oh wait! Maybe this really all is just a joke! Maybe, I was just having a really good fucking dream, and now everything's turned into a nightmare! Otherwise, could the god that's toying with my life please stop!"

[Hey!]

Sophia shouted and Dream's vision went black. Soon, he reopened his eyes inside the cabin. 

[You need to calm down.]

Sophia, who was standing in front of him, came over and grabbed his head with her hands. 

[I know it's a lot, but we can handle it. One thing at a time.]

"But... How am I supposed to handle two extinction-level threats at once?"

[Don't forget that this world is already established in magic. You won't have to handle it here. Leave it to the Empires around the world.]

"....Then what about Earth? Can they handle it?"

[Didn't you already answer that? Look, this is just the beginning. Nobody knows what could happen. So we're going to take it one day at a time. Okay?]

"...Okay."

Dream nodded as Sophia hugged him. He stayed like that for a while.

"...*sigh*  So what do we do now?"

[What do you want to do?]

"Well I'd like to be on Earth, but that's not possible."

[Not until you have the power. This is actually why I think it's good that demons have come. It'll be an easy way to level up.]

"Where are they anyway?"

[The third continent. They've actually already taken over a kingdom.]

"How big was that kingdom?"

[Not too big. But I suspect that they at least have the power to kill high-level class 2's. They're also spreading quickly. It won't be too long before they enter the two main continents. I suggest maybe going there to get a feel for fighting them.]

"...I don't mind that, but I don't want to leave the family here."

[You want to get them back?]

"Ya. Is it possible?"

[It honestly depends on how good this fox tracking ability is. But if all we need to do is find a good hiding place, then it'll be more than possible. Though it'll take a lot of preparation.]

"...That's fine. If it's possible, we'll make it happen."

[Then there's no time to waste.]

After she said that, Dream's vision went black. He was soon back in his body.

[I already have in mind several places for a base. One of them is actually where you first started.]

"The forest?"

[More specifically, that tree dome. It's untouched by humans, and it's located in a really good place. Not to mention it's an illusion barrier.]

"I think it would be good too. But it's got those clans that Luna talked about."

[Free experience.]

"...Very well. What will we need to set up shop?"

[Lots of materials. And there are two ways to get them. We can either get money and buy materials, or we can find our own.]

"How do you suppose we do that?"

[Simple. It's called Electromagnetic field scanning. We plant nodes around possible digging sites and they send electrical impulses into the ground. If certain parts of the ground are conductive, then they're likely metal. This world hasn't gutted its planet, so there's likely plenty of untouched deposits. Oh!]

"Huh?"

[Volcanoes! Those hold plenty of metal! And I know where some are. There's actually one by the Mountain.]

"That's really smart actually. Alright. We can just get our own materials. And we can also check out that dome. You know what? Let's do that first."

[The dome is about 2500 miles away.]

"...So maybe not right now. Damn, even being able to fly 200 miles an hour isn't enough."

[It's actually almost 400 now.]

"Even then it would take 5 hours to get there."

[Not necessarily. Bring out the mana balls and equip your suit. I have an idea for enchanting.]

"Ok."

Dream took out the 20 mana balls and let his suit wrap him up. Sophia began enchanting.

[Your flight is your magic basically moving your material body through space. So if we enchant the suit to intake mana and help speed up the movement of your body through space, then we'll be able to get faster. And although it'll take more mana, that's what the balls are for. They can hover around and supply the suit with mana. And... Done.]

"Interesting. I guess we're going to the dome then. Let's desummon the house and stuff."

Dream hovered over to the house and workshop, putting everything in his inventory. Then, he turned around.

"Alright. Let's test this new iron man suit."

Dream flew up almost 200 meters into the sky. Sophia put a blip in his vision indicating where the dome was. 

"...Here goes nothing."

*Fwoosh!*

In a massive burst of speed, Dream sped off into the air. In less than a second, he had achieved speeds of 150 mph, but this was only the beginning.

Dream didn't waste time and speed up to 400mph in a few seconds. He then looked around and saw the mana balls that were surrounding his body from several feet away. They created a sphere around him and had no problem keeping up.

'So?'

[There's no mana consumption. Speed up.]

"Alright."

Dream put more mana into the flight and climbed in speed. 

450, 500, 600, 675.

Soon, he had reached 700 miles per hour. At this point, the forest under him was just flashing past him and he didn't see any patch of land for more than a second or so.

[Almost near consumption levels. You have more room though.]

'Seriously? I'm already almost near the speed of sound aren't I? What is it, 750 mph?'

[767, but yes. Though you wouldn't be able to achieve this speed if we didn't cancel air resistance. And since we're splitting the air, you won't get the sonic boom.]

'Kind of anti-climactic, but alright. let's speed up.'

Dream further increased his speed. He hit 750mph, and then when he got to 770mph, Sophia spoke.

[Mana consumption at 772 miles per hour. That's pretty good.]

'Nice. How fast am I compared to a jet?'

[Jet's can easily reach double your speed, so there's still a bit of a ways to go.]

'Oh. Oh well. How long until I reach the dome?'

[Around 3 hours.]

'I guess I'll buckle down until the- Wait!'

Dream suddenly halted in mid-air.

[What?]

"The box! With the orb in it! We left it behind. Crap!"

[No we didn't. Look to your left.]

Dream turned his head to where Sophia told him. Among the mana balls floating around Dream was the orb outside of its box.

"Oh, thank god. Alright then. Let's keep going."

Dream took back off, heading for the Dome.

.............

.....

3 hours later, Dream was back to where everything started.

"Huh. Never thought we'd be back here. Especially so soon."

Dream went over and first landed not near the dome, but the cottage that the family lived in. He was currently standing in front of it.

"Last time we were here, I wasn't even class 1. And a few months later, I'm class 2. Time flys."

Dream walked over and entered the cottage. And sure enough, everything was as they left it. The empty kitchen, the workshop next to the house, and even the garbage he set aside in bags. Nothing seems to have been touched.

"Do me a favor, reinforce and illusify this place. Make sure nobody can find it or break it."

[Alright.]

Dream's mana spread out and covered the entire house in moments. Soon, everything was enchanted.

"Alright. Now let's head to the dome."

[You're so sentimental.]

"Yea. Not sure why though."

Dream took to the skies. And not more than a minute later, he was in front of the fog that led to the dome.

He would've just headed straight in, but he noticed something with the fog.

"This fog, it's enchanted?"

[I think it is. It's illusion based. The mana scripts are very complicated as well.]

"It was written by someone?"

[No. At least nobody that uses the script in those official books. It's actually not that different than the script we use.]

"What script do we use?"

[Basically, soul language. This stuff is very similar but with a couple differences. Honestly, if I had to guess I would say that this fog is totally natural. In fact, considering the irregularity of the entire dome, I would say that this is all one huge natural oddity.]

"Well the fog and dome are definitely connected. So if this fog is meant as an illusion enchantment, then why was I able to walk through it before class 1?"

[Because of your title. This fog works by affecting the mind of the user and turning him around. He would never be able to walk through the fog and would come back to the same place every time. But your mind can't be influenced, remember?]

"Oh, right. Then the family?"

[Riddick is powerful enough to block the effect, and the girls could've been supported by him or used some innate ability, whatever it is.]

"Interesting. Well, this would honestly only help us with hiding, so I see no reason to get rid of it. Let's just enter. I want to see that amazing sight again."

Saying so, Dream began walking into the fog, full of expectation.