Kiersty frowned over at her idiot brother, who was hurrying down the stairs toward their seats at such a pace that she hadn’t even been able to look around at the vast crowds swarming around the stadium. “All I’m saying is that we don’t need to be this early to this thing! Let’s go play some of the carnival games they set up outside.”

“I just want to check out how good our view will be,” Nathan insisted as he took the stairs down two at a time. Behind Kiersty, Tykes and Dinesh smiled while they strolled to follow, but they had been largely content to let Nathan drag them along like cans after the car of newly-weds.

And if compared him and Mariah to newly-weds, Nathan’s head would be full of nonsense for a week… Kiersty could only purse her lips and refrain from commenting on this aggressive switch in her brother’s behavior.

If she hadn’t used her Sphere of Detection Skill multiple times over the course of their journey to the heart of Zone 1, Kiersty would have just assumed that Mariah had cast some sort of spell on her twin brother. He was positively chipper, even in the mornings. And Nathan had always hated mornings.

As it was, Kiersty could only conclude that his brain had gone on vacation and left the wheel in the sweaty hands of hormones.

With Nathan setting the pace, the group quickly found their seats and Kiersty was at least pleased to see that their seats were quite close to the field. They walked down the tiered stairs past several other chatting groups of people that had arrived two hours early, as they had, and arrived at the bottom-most section. And from there, they continued downward until they arrived at the literal bottom of the stands.

“We are in the front row?” Kiersty asked in surprise. No wonder the tickets had been about as expensive as paying a contractor to clear a field for planting coffee beans. Kiersty supposed that these sorts of seats were probably worth the money.

“Actually, those are our seats, miss.” Just as Kiersty was about to pounce on the aisle seat, she heard an unfamiliar voice behind their group and turned around. An athletic-looking man with tired eyes smiled in a friendly manner down at Kiersty. Reflexively, she smiled politely back. As their eyes were locked, she could literally see some Skill of the man’s trigger a look of slack-jawed alarm.

Inwardly, Kiersty frowned. Especially in Zone 1, there weren’t many people that bothered to get a detection Skill that would help them when the other party had no malicious intentions. It was bad luck to meet someone like that here.

Not that it mattered. With most of President Greyman’s attention directed at making sure this game went off without a hitch, she hadn’t had time to drum up support for the Hero Initiative. So for now, their passage between Zones was just as free as the average person’s.

Nathan stepped into the second most row without noticing the shocked gaze of the man behind them. “Yea, these are our seats. I call the aisle seat.”

Kiersty was still examining the man behind them, so she didn’t have time to be disappointed that her brother had stolen the seat that she wanted, albeit one row back. Her Sphere of Detection quickly informed her that the man had utilized Survival Instincts and probably detected a possible threat from her. Kiersty’s grin widened slowly.

Why so shocked? Surprised that I feel dangerous to you? I’ll have you know that being a priestess of Arbor comes with some perks.

As the strained staring contest stretched, Dinesh coughed lightly. The man blinked and shook his head. Then he cast a tired smile toward Dinesh. “Sorry, I must have-.... Ah, well, common Tim, let’s take our seats.”

The man had frozen again as he looked at Dinesh. Then, with a steely control that Kiersty admired, the man glanced at Tykes and his expression didn’t even flinch. But his hand was tight on his son Tim’s shoulder as he moved to walk past the group and take a seat.

Yet what caught Kiersty’s attention was the fact that the nine or ten-year-old boy was staring at her with all the stunned awe of Moses receiving a revelation from God. Although Kiersty was slightly pleased by the reaction, she still shook her head inwardly as she shuffled over to take her seat.

I thought we were here for football! What the hell is up with all these boys?!

*****

The back of Derek Moss’s neck itched. The powerful sense of danger that he had gotten from the girl, and even more strongly from the two men sitting with the teenagers, was still on his mind. Gradually, however, Derek forced his twitching body to calm down. Even if all four of the people sitting behind them were powerful, that didn’t make them a threat to him or his son.

After all, they were here for the football game, just the same as them. And Derek had needed to dip into the savings he had built up from the early days of the System, when he had led one of Zone 1’s special forces teams, in order to buy the tickets. For others to afford tickets in this portion of the stadium, right up against the playing area around midfield, they couldn’t be weak individuals.

It’s just insane that I got this close before my Survival Instincts felt anything… Derek grimaced.

The real reason that Derek had felt so panicked was that he saw his son squirming right after noticing the threat from these individuals. Initially, he had worried that Tim could sense something as well, but as he observed his son, he realized this wasn’t the case.

No, from the blank and surreptitious stares that Tim was throwing over his shoulder as he ‘casually’ turned to look around the stadium, he just had a crush on the older girl sitting behind them. And with that realization, the rest of Derek’s anxiety bubbled and faded away. Releasing a tension-filled breath, suddenly he was just a father out at a football game with his son.

“Who do you think will win?” Derek asked, unable to allow his son to so blatantly looking behind him any longer.

Tim straightened and thought about it. “The Stallions. They have the great quarterback, right? They will score more points.”

Although he nodded, Derek cautioned his son in a low voice. “That’s true that their offense will probably be better. The Stallions have Jake Tuck, and if he’s as good as he was in college… hell, I bet he’s better with the System. But you shouldn’t underestimate the Vipers. Their coach was pretty famous before the System arrived for being a defensive mastermind. His team won four Superbowls in ten years under his watch, which speaks for itself. And the Vipers have Donovan Sikes.”

“Who’s that?” Tim asked.

Derek grinned. “A hall of fame linebacker. He probably retired the year before the System came. And with the System… well, age doesn’t matter as much anymore. Even if Jake Tuck is going to someday be the greatest quarterback in history, I’m not sure if he is that man yet. He has to prove it on the field today.”

“But it doesn’t matter how good they are on defense,” Tim insisted. Derek did his best not to smile. His son was at the age where, once he made up his mind, he stubbornly refused to admit that he might have been wrong. “You only win if you score points. And Jake Tuck is better than the other quarterback, so he will score more points. That’s that.”

Slowly, the smile on Derek’s face faded as he watched his son frown down at his lap. Although maybe the reason that Tim became so stubborn recently is because he’s been called a liar repeatedly at school…

Damnit, I want him to have the best chance in life. And that means getting a headstart at a good school. But if he’s really getting bullied that badly...

Struck by the sudden desire to cheer his son up, Derek stood abruptly. “Hey, buddy, want to go get a Jake Tuck jersey? I saw them selling them on the way in. We can grab some food while we are up too. Want some nachos?”

“Really?” Tim’s smile was bright and his smile was full of joy. More than anything else in the world, Derek wanted to be able to protect that joy. Derek’s eyes grew clear as he looked at that smile.

The future’s a long time away. Maybe… maybe I need to make a change. For his sake.

*****

In a sub-basement beneath the stadium, the two sides faced each other in grim silence. Two humans watched the Nemesai, waiting for their decision. Eventually, the Winged Serpent sighed; at this point, they didn’t have much choice but to gamble. The foes on Earth were too strong for them to face otherwise.

It glanced sideways at its fellow Nemesai then across to the other party. “We agree to your terms. In exchange for your assistance, we will construct the array and make sure not a single living soul walks out of the stadium.”

The man in the crimson cloak leaned forward. With the dim light of the room, it was only possible to see the edge of his smile as he looked toward the group of five Nemesai gathered in the room. “As long as you gather enough of their blood for the ritual, I will give you what you desire.”

The Winged Serpent was annoyed at the man’s condescending tone, but it could only keep its reptilian face neutral. Of course, the Bandit King scowled fiercely, but even he did not dare say anything. The truth was, this individual was currently more powerful than them with their images shackled by the System. Which was why they were willing to bargain their services in order to obtain the man’s assistance.

Of course, if it wasn’t for the damned lock… The Winged Serpent’s tongue flicked out, but it doubted others would notice the frustration in the gesture. To further distract the other party, the Winged Serpent said in a low voice. “If we do this, it will earn the ire of the entirety of New Earth. At least twenty thousand people will be here. Killing them… will have consequences. Are you prepared to face the wrath of an entire world?”

The Bandit King gave the Winged Serpent an incredulous look, but the Winged Serpent ignored it. That fool was probably wondering why the Winged Serpent would ask something that might convince the other party to change his mind.

Yet this was not a casual decision. The Winged Serpent had studied past Nemesai actions extensively after it had received the role. And history was clear; Nemesai that attracted the ire of the world before they could decisively make the world fail a Calamity often were annihilated.

Which honestly had almost happened on Earth already. Randidly Ghosthound was that powerful. He had forced the Nemesai to dire straits just by casually showing up twice. While the Nemesai were already numb to being targeted by every side, but the Winged Serpent needed to make sure that this powerful man in the crimson cloak understood the consequences in his actions. It was clear the man was mad… the Winged Serpent simply wanted to sound out the depths of his madness before the Nemesai bound themselves to his cause.

The man chuckled. “I am the power of an entire world. Of a true world, where all the tragic losses of the past could be avoided. Why should I fear this small planet? The dream of escape from this farce is why we work toward the Red Revival. That is why we will pay any price…”

“You are truly willing to kill your fellow humans for this?” The newest of the Nemesai, the Grey Lich, frowned over at the two men who represented the Red Revival. Although the Grey Lich had been on Earth for several months, it was still having difficulty grasping how different this world was from most.

After all, he had never seen either Randidly Ghosthound or Neveah.

It was impossible to comprehend the other Nemesai’s urgency without fighting one of the true monsters that had been birthed here. But the Winged Serpent supposed this man in the crimson cloak counted as one of those same monsters.

This time, it wasn’t the man in the crimson cloak that spoke. The figure leaning on the wall next to him straightened. With a flourish, he produced a dagger and made it dance across his fingers. The man’s eyes were bright and bleak as he looked at the Grey Lich, even in the darkness. “I think you will find us perfectly willing to pay the price to return to an Earth that hasn’t been consumed by violence. This world… has been tainted.”

Even more unstable than the other human. The Winged Serpent hummed to itself. Truly, this Earth is far more dangerous than it appears on the surface. And this ritual this man wants to perform… Even I find it difficult to understand. Exactly where did these people find this ritual… and will it truly allow them to return to a time before the System…?

For a second, the Winged Serpent was tempted to throw its lot more directly behind the Red Revival. The trophy it promised was appetizing. But its blood was cold and as it rationalized the prospect, it deemed it unlikely to have any legitimate merit.

After all, it obviously meant something that the two individuals who believed in this Red Revival most fervently were positively mad.

The man with the dagger twisted his hand and sent the weapon darting forward. With a snort, Thea forcefully caught the projectile in her hand and glared over toward her attacker. And her ire was a potent wave of pressure that blasted steadily outward. Even the Winged Serpent could only wince and endure the pressure radiating off the woman for as long as the System bound their images.

That was why she was their leader. Although she started out the weakest, she had grown strong. And because she hadn’t been bound like them, she was able to benefit from the collective guidance of the Nemesai to develop her own image that could be utilized freely on Earth. More than that, the strange bitterness that slowly consumed her heart ensured that her image wouldn’t accept weakness.

The dagger thrower stuck his tongue out at Thea. “Good to be working with you again.”

“Don’t fucking talk to me, Hyde.” Thea spat out. Then she turned to the man in the crimson cloak. “And? What about the two real threats to us?”

“Our spy in the Order Ducis gave us the time that Randidly Ghosthound will be meeting with the leader of the Ogre Gorge.” The crimson cloaked individual said casually. “When the operation starts, we will use the evolved elemental of Drake that you captured to strike at his psyche, causing him to go on a rampage. It should distract Neveah long enough for us to finish things here.”

The Winged Serpent frowned. “We had heard that Drake’s body had been moved to Donnyton.”

For a second, the man in the crimson cloak paused. Then he shrugged. “So we finish before Neveah can arrive. And if she shows up… I will move personally. You don’t have to worry.”