Hektor approached the scared man that was covered in the same filth the Vermillion Tyrant had failed to yet clean off himself.

A Demonic Beast laid dead on the ground; its internal organs fried from the inside thanks to a hole a flaming spear had poked through it.

“Hey, is this Italy?” Hektor asked.

“What?” the jogger couldn’t stop looking at the hideous beast on the ground.

“Is this Italy, man?”

“Uhm, yeah? What’s that? Is this some kind of prank?”

What came after was a brief explanation from Hektor, who showed the man a simple spear made of Vermillion Flames to convince him that there was no lie in what he was saying.

“Listen, Angelo, come with me. How many people are in this city?”

“Around ten thousand, I think?” the man looked confused at the question.

“Ten thousand? That should mean no Oriole Realm monsters, probably. Mantis Realms for sure, though. That thing I just killed was at the 8th stage of the Cockroach realm. Well, it’s going to be a tough battle from here forward. Give me your wrist!”

Hektor was still finding his footing in this new world and he didn’t feel like his usual cheery self.

“What? But that…” Angelo kept pointing toward the horror on the ground.

“Some kind of low-leveled sea Demonic Beast, don’t worry,” the man with fiery hair said while taking Angelo’s hand. He pulled the other man close and put another hand close to his navel.

Ignoring the protests, Hektor gave him a nod.

“9th level Talent in both Qi and Mana, impressive. Karma is clearly playing some games here, huh.”

“You have family?” Hektor asked while letting the man.

“A wife and two daughters, why?”

Hektor stepped forward again, this time imprinting one of the most powerful sets of Cultivation, Martial Techniques and Spells that could be learned fast in a situation like the one they were in.

“Tell me where they are. We need to save as many people as possible. If you see something, shoot a Fireball if it’s small. Shout if it’s too big.”

Hektor almost dragged the man up to the beach resort’s entrance and then to the street right in front of it. The beautiful promenade was already bloody.

Hektor saw a Mantis realm monster tear apart an elderly couple that had been taking a stroll right there.

“Stay back, Angelo,” Hektor said.

It was going to be really hard to save the whole city at his current level. But well, he could always cultivate during breaks between one fight to the death and the others.

Saving humans was a priority, one even greater than his own life. Then, in second place, in the back of his mind, there was something not less important than saving humanity.

Jacob. I have to find Jacob.

The monster looked like a humanoid octopus, with many tentacles on his body, ink dripping from some extremities and, the only not-octopus-ish trait, a big damn maw of teeth.

Why do monsters always have all these teeth, Hektor thought to himself, running toward the creature at a sprint.

4th level of the Mantis realm.

That was how strong the creature was, an entire realm and one level above Hektor.

He dodged the first tentacle whip-blow and slid close to the beast mid-section. He had already cultivated for a minute while talking to Angelo, just enough to cross the first few levels of some Body Techniques.

And, as his Hidden Constitution worked its magic, Hektor felt a massive influx of Mana rocket through his Meridians.

He put his hands on the beast chest, before the monster could bite him or kill him.

Vermillion Nova

The monster died the next second while Hektor’s constitution was already hard at work to regenerate his Mana.

Hektor spared a quick glance at the couple’s half-eaten bodies and sighed. The apocalypse meant that saving everyone was impossible. He was not one to beat himself up for having lost a life, knowing it was part of the process that would bring humanity out of the gutter; however, it still felt wrong seeing the old man’s hand tightly clutching his wife’s while their faces were not there anymore.

Two old faceless corpses shared a last intimate touch, a promise of love fulfilled.

Hektor looked away, knowing he had to get to the people who were still alive. He was the only person in the entire town who could do a damn something to save humans.

And that was because he wasn’t just Hektor, he was the goddamn Vermillion Tyrant.

He had been blessed by the heavens with the Vermillion Bird’s Constitution.

The Vermillion Bird’s Constitution or, to be more precise, the Emperor Vermillion Bird’s Constitution, the highest grade a Vermillion Bird heritage could reach, was one of the most offensive-geared Constitutions one could find.

Not only it massively increased the reserves of Qi and Mana of its user, regenerating them at an insane pace and making these people a nightmare to fight in a prolonged battle; but the Vermillion Flames had also the strongest destructive properties among all known flames.

Whereas a Phoenix Constitution made its user almost impossible to kill by any ordinary mean and an insane tank, the Vermillion Bird’s Constitution was the epitome of pure damage delivery.

Hektor was by no means a glass cannon, and he could more than hold his own in a hand-to-hand fight, but his specialty was delivering pure, unadulterated, insane damage.

Him being a massive talent and resilient too was just the cherry on top.

He was what a glass cannon would be if the glass had been adamantium instead.

The Vermillion Tyrant cracked his neck, finally getting back a feeling of peace. Now that he was handling Vermillion Flames like he was meant to, he started feeling his soul coming back to life.

“HA! Come on, Angelo! WE have a city to rescue, my glorious side-kick!”

Angelo was clutching his hair, but now he seemed convinced that this wasn’t a dream. Nor a joke in bad taste.