When the rooftop doors opened, the blast of heat immediately permeated their protective barrier. Jennifer squinted out at the scene before her. The smoke had created a vortex of thick grey clouds overhead, and the fire now ran like a maze in multiple lines across the tarmac. Oh, and the smell. Was this barrier not scent-proof? The stench of burnt chitin was not something Jennifer could describe in words. Urgh...
As they approached the low wall, Jennifer could see the battlefield below them stretched out in chaos—flames still raging, heroes repositioning, the massive Lord's Portal looming like a wound in reality itself. And in front of it—Micah. He stood exactly where they saw him over the video feed, as if everything else had simply arranged itself around him.
Everything else was certainly scrambling around him. Jennifer assumed the large wolf still shaking out the broken AAA Shilem Roach was Damien. The other heroes were also on the move around the single-wolf chaos, and, funnily enough, they were also creating chaos with their various abilities. One was throwing vehicles around, and more than one hero was spraying projectiles at the smaller roach monsters scrambling across the tarmac.
"They're regrouping," Adrian realized. The vehicles were slowly becoming a wall around the perimeter, and Adrian pointed out the other heroes creeping around in the shadows. Then Aerial shot more explosive feathers across the tarmac; he didn't even pretend to be aiming at Lord Micah. Instead, the tarmac split open with a dramatic splaying of rubble, dust, and smoke, an obvious distraction from the otherwise conspicuous gathering of heroes down the side closest to their building. They had Ronan there, along with other injured heroes, and Angus was there healing them while Damien—the other distraction still in center field—continued to use his life steal on the AAA roach in his mouth.
After the brief regroup, some of the heroes ran back out into the battle, running alongside the young alpha wolf and attacking random roaches while their Lord Micah watched with mild amusement.
"What are they doing?" President Xel sighed under her breath. "Surely they know by now they don't have a chance against that monster."
Jennifer was still trying to wrap her mind around what was happening. Technically, none of the heroes were actually attacking Lord Micah.
"Nope," Harry cheerfully chirped from behind Jennifer. "You know us heroes. Never give up."
"But even Ronan…" Laura worried.
Ronan was still lying on the side under Angus' heal. Jennifer couldn't see him clearly; there were quite a lot of injured heroes gathered around Angus' healing glow.
And then Lord Micah suddenly turned toward their direction and smiled.
"Oh dear," Adrian said. "He knows we are here."
"Good," President Xel said. "Make sure the other heroes know that they are to stand down. There is no reason for any of them to be sacrificed. Let me meet our guest."
No, there was nothing good about any of this. But one of the uniformed guards was sent with the message, and President Xel squared her shoulders to walk forward to the edge of the roof. Did she mean to yell down at Lord Micah from their vantage point?
Jennifer felt rather panicked. She didn't know what would happen, but since she was the writer of this Lord Micah, she was quite sure nothing was going to go right.
Just at this moment, a lanky young hero cadet started following behind Lord Micah, bowing repeatedly and gesturing animatedly.
"What the hell is that kid doing?" Harry squinted.
"Chosen One," Adrian identified, narrowing his eyes. "Isn't that Quintin?"
Jennifer nodded. Quintin was supposed to be the chosen one in her story, written as an OP protagonist who would walk over the heads of his enemies. Instead, he was doing quite the opposite. If Jennifer didn't know better, she would have thought her MC had decided to replace the AAA Shilem Roach in his wolf friend's mouth and become Lord Micah's local guide.
The barrier pressed gently at her back as they moved forward. President Xel walked ahead with measured, deliberate steps. If she were a queen stepping up to the weight of her throne, Adrian was her advisor who would help carry her burden. Harry and Laura were her loyal guards, their barrier thickening and warping slightly as it met the pressure in the air. And Jennifer… Jennifer followed behind them, her heart pounding, her hands icy, her eyes torn between the approaching threat and her Rolly still lying on the tarmac half hidden by the other injured heroes. There were also medics on the scene now; they had bandages, stretchers, oxygen tanks, and blankets, and bottled water was being passed out among the injured group, but it would be horrible if Lord Micah walked into them.
Luckily, Quintin was showing Lord Micah the side entrance to their building. Were they going to take the lift up? Maybe the lift would break down and keep Lord Micah trapped inside.
Ah. Jennifer shook her head to clear it. A broken lift wasn't going to trap something like Lord Micah. She hoped Quintin had a better plan.
This was probably Jennifer's fault, but none of her MCs were playing by the standard webnovel expectations. Her chosen one was bowing and smiling like a doormat at the devourer that was about to doom their world. The young alpha was still running amok with giant dismembered roaches in his mouth like an oversized puppy with a chew toy. The romantic prince was glowing like a nightlight on the side. And Bastien—her favorite ML who was supposed to be the reincarnated grandson out for revenge—had decided now was the right time to activate his awakener's power, his charm of all creatures unfolding in full magical girl transformative glory, sparkles included.
Harry gave a low whistle. It was quite a sight.