Inside the barrier surrounding one of the spatial rifts, several hours after the rampage had begun.
When the soldiers entered the barrier erected by powerful mages, darkness had already descended upon the city. The sky had grown dim, and a deathly silence had spread throughout the surrounding area, as if the place were devoid of life. Fires could be seen burning in various locations, while other areas where there seemed to be movement were filled with traces of screams and clouds of dust.
"Zz... Special Forces Dark Entity Suppression Team in position. We need to be quick and precise. One mistake, and we're dead."
A group of soldiers equipped with highly advanced gear entered the darkness while establishing a secure perimeter. They were among the best forces in the world, considering they were merely humans without any supernatural abilities. However, they all understood that supernatural energy wasn't always necessary to eliminate a Cursed Spirit.
"Advance carefully! We're the first line of attack, and our job is to evacuate as many survivors as possible before the exorcist-class hunters enter combat. Avoid making loud noises, and make sure your weapons are properly calibrated!"
The special forces captain advanced alongside fifteen other soldiers. All of them were equipped with visors capable of detecting incorporeal Demons, and their weapons were powerful enough to eliminate even formidable Demons, at least under the right circumstances.
"No signs of life!"
"No signs of Demons!"
The captain broke out in a cold sweat as he felt that familiar, piercing sensation that Demons usually inflicted upon humans without cursed energy. Although they were accustomed to operating under such conditions, with every step they took toward the red zone, their hearts tightened with dread.
"Deploy the drones! We need to locate survivors without exposing ourselves too much!"
The special forces team deployed miniature drones throughout the surrounding area. They first needed to assess the situation and determine whether they were on the right track.
A series of drones entered the green zone, the designated safe area, before heading toward locations where people might be hiding. One soldier operating a drone continued walking to prevent the signal from weakening and causing them to lose the device.
"How tragic..."
The area enclosed by the barrier of darkness covered more than half the city. Even accounting for the casualties during the evacuation, the situation was far worse than they had imagined.
This part of the city had been completely devastated by the Demons' appearance. If the Demons hadn't stopped their rampage, the entire city could have fallen within hours, or even minutes.
The first images they received showed that the buildings no longer resembled their former selves. Cars had been crushed and twisted like sheets of paper. Traffic poles had been bent at waist height, smoke rose into the sky, gas stations burned, human remains littered the streets, and unidentified structures lay completely destroyed.
The word tragic must surely have been invented to describe scenes like these.
"Zz... Captain, we need to expand the evacuation radius to twenty kilometers. All agents must establish a perimeter two kilometers from the Curtain. You must also notify the exorcist-class hunters immediately. If they don't act now, the city will be completely lost."
"Good God, this isn't the time to look for survivors. It's time to attack and prevent further losses."
The soldier operating the drones furrowed his brow as tears of helplessness streamed down his cheeks. If anyone asked him whether he'd ever seen anything like this before, his answer would be that he'd only encountered such scenes in fantasy books.
Unfortunately, they lacked the ability to eliminate those enemies who, in the eyes of ordinary mortals, were no different from gods. They were here to search for survivors and gather information.
"Even though the city has been destroyed like this, there should still be survivors, shouldn't there?"
After analyzing the initial images, the soldier was convinced that some people had to be hiding somewhere. Yet they couldn't find a single one at first glance.
The number of bodies scattered across the streets was enormous, and corpses could be found almost everywhere. However, there were hardly more than a thousand visible bodies. Considering that around ten thousand people were inside this Window, there should have been survivors somewhere.
"This can't be..." The soldier clenched his teeth and growled.
What he was seeing was something he would never be able to erase from his memory.
"Humans are being eaten by the Demons! The rest are standing motionless near the coastline!"
"The target is still at the position the informant failed to disclose! It appears that the human figures standing around it are under its control! Judging by their expressions, they've been corrupted by the enemy. We're expecting zero survivors in the red zone!"
The captain furrowed his brows and ordered, "Send me the drone footage! I need to see what you're seeing!"
As the captain watched the scenes, he began to understand what was happening. While the Demons devoured humans in the areas farther from the coast, the demonic commander appeared to be concentrating on creating some kind of army.
According to the exorcist reports they had received, this particular Demon could absorb people's souls. Considering that, perhaps another of its abilities was to control soulless humans.
"HELP! PLEASE!"
The soldiers nearby immediately raised their weapons and waited for orders.
The captain promptly shouted, "Identify the civilian!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Over here! Help us!"
...
There were no heroes. In this world, there were only people trying to find their own paths without considering those standing beside them.
"Come on, Elen! Move! Keep running!" shouted a young man whose face was covered in blood on one side.
"That damn monster ate my friends! There's no escape! Nobody's coming to save us!"
"Don't be stupid! The army will come and sort everything out!" the young man replied with an expression full of confidence.
Elena didn't want to be pessimistic, but she had seen how ordinary bullets did absolutely nothing to those monsters, which only she could see. Many people didn't understand what she meant because they had no idea what was happening.
But she was different. Ever since she was a little girl, she had been able to see these kinds of monsters, and no matter what she did, no one else could see them.
"We're dead, and you know it... Even the soldiers won't be able to see them. Nobody can."
Elen dropped to her knees and decided to stop running. It was pointless, after all.
Her eyes fell upon the enormous figure about to crush her, and she simply smiled. At least her death would be painless. She wouldn't suffer the same fate as the others, who were slowly devoured alive.
"Elen, run!"
The young man could do nothing more. He tried to run, but his ankle twisted beneath him, and he fell to the ground.
Just as they thought they were about to be killed, a powerful explosion left them stunned and forced them to close their eyes.
When they opened them again, they saw the Demon retreating through the smoke and dust.
"Get the civilians out of here! Keep firing!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The soldiers were using the highest-caliber weapons they could handle. Some carried anti-materiel sniper rifles, whose ammunition was powerful enough to tear Demons in half. However, they could only deal with the Demons in the immediate vicinity because they weren't the main assault force.
"Don't stop! Keep advancing!"
Elen's eyes widened as she watched a group of armed men, covered from head to toe in specialized combat uniforms, open fire on the monster. Although the damage was limited, their attacks were hurting it, and the creature seemed to feel pain.
The soldiers had saved her.
She had thought she was going to die, but now she smiled as she watched the monster suffer.
"Kill them all!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
BOOM!