“Can you take me to the station?”

“Sure, what do you have in mind?”

“We need to hide the people and though I have informed my men I still need to be there otherwise I can not calm down.”

He turned towards Arshad,

“Just make sure the people stay inside quietly. These monsters will waste no time in breaking in if they hear any noise.”

He was thinking of picking up Mamun, ready to rush off when Afzal, his son, stopped him.

“I want to come too, I can help”

“And why should we take you?”

“I can break into the CCTV system of the city. You can have a live feed from all the areas where there is any camera.”

“Really?”

He asked Mamun.

“Unfortunately yes. His skills at these things were one of the reasons those bastards kidnapped him. But you can't come. You don’t have the stamina to keep up with us.”

“Why do I need to? Won't he be carrying us?”

“it's not the time for humor son”

“Tell him”

When Afzal said that so strongly all of them looked at him he replied.

“It is the only way we can reach there anytime quick. Besides, I just need to carry you until we find the car or something.”

While others looked on absurdly, unable to say anything, Afzal climbed up his back, and then he picked up Mamun.

He could feel some weight on him now and again he considered how absurd it was. Within one year he had gained this much. He considered how much power he could gain if he allocated a few more years.

‘Maybe I can accomplish it. Maybe there is no need to fear them anymore.’

As he considered how much he had suffered within the tower there was no need to be afraid of them now.

‘I can already take care of them.’

“You should put up some weight.’

He said to Afzal while he jumped up and down on the spot, letting his body adjust itself to the extra weight that he was going to carry. He nodded at others who looked at him with their mouths opened and jumped. Instantly he could feel the difference.

When he had carried just Afzal he had felt weightless but now he could feel the exertion. It was still small, but it was there. He jumped and was suddenly surprised mid-air when he was pulled down much faster. His arms threw Mamun to the next roof, while he fell to the ground, Afzal screaming in his ears.

Multiple flames bloomed, dispersed, then exploded and the red swarm rushed towards the green on the ground. As they collided, the green and red, one explosion after another occurred. A hammer appeared in his hand he swung, up-down, and a crater dented the already old pathway.

The pressure from the swing put out the flames within the vicinity while the bodies disintegrated. His legs bent, the hammer nowhere to be seen, and then they unsprung and he was in the air, he quickly grabbed onto the wall, his hand finding its way into the small holes or whatnot. While the monster below howled as the fire burnt them while he was quickly up on the roof.

“Sorry. I haven’t picked so much weight before.”

Again they looked down with wonder as the fire quickly spread from monster to monster. He would have been afraid of it spreading uncontrollably but already as the burning monster disintegrated, the newer ones kept pushing the fire back. Still, they were much less problematic than those he had fought. It was difficult to kill one of them with this spell and here a bunch of casts had taken out tens of these monsters and kept killing more.

They seemed to want to say something but he pick Mamun, and now rushed off, pushing more force behind his jump. He was quickly out of their view.

“Well, no time dilly-dallying. We have work to do.”

Everyone turned towards Arshad.

***

One roof to another. Occasionally there would be people on the roofs, and he would stop. They seemed surprised but delighted when they saw Mamun. He would let Mamun tell them what was happening, instructing them on what to do to stay safe.

It took some time but despite that, he was quickly able to get the lead on monsters. While the monster had to move through the twists and turns of the streets below he made a beeline straight towards the station guided by Mamun.

Suddenly something changed. He started hearing the screams making him speed up. Unlike the housing area, the situation was not good here as he jumped down from the double-story building to the single story next to it. From the left side, the monsters were pouring out. Thankfully that was the only street that connected to this road giving the people time to run. It was not any better as the crowd ran, panicked, without using their heads.

“You go take care of your station. I will manage these people here.”

He jumped back up and quickly rushed out, passing the maddened crowd and stopping some distance away from them.

“Okay, just hang in there. I will send people as soon as I can.”

“Rather send them to other areas, now go.”

‘Oh God help me in this endeavor.’

He moved back, his eye moving about. Most were running and screaming. He did not need those, he was looking for others. He widened the gap to see clearly, the cloth had loosened causing it to restrict his vision as the slit became even smaller

He quickly started identifying those who would be helpful. A who had picked up a thick wooden stick. A boy, a lady, a girl, a giant of a man, and a few more. They all seemed calm and took in the situation, observing. They were far and few within the swarm of people that just kept running away, screaming.

The closer the monsters got the crazier the crow became. They increasingly became more uncaring of others especially when the screams of the people being ripped apart became more and more clear. It did not take long for those that were back there, both the shopkeepers and customers to be ripped apart.

His head kept moving, looking for the best place to create a barrier. A stretch of space filled with only shops with no connection to streets came into his view. He decided upon it. He quickly went around, grabbing the few he had identified to be useful.

They tried to resist in vain because they could do nothing as he picked one person after another and gathered them at one location.

“Asalam o alikum. Now here is the thing, you can either be ripped apart while you all try running away or you can help me and maybe get out alive. Any problems?”

They just nodded. On one side were the monsters and on the other side were people. And there were no pathways connecting to streets anywhere near. It made them quick to nod, the power they had felt and authority within the voice nudged them to answer how he wanted.

“Now here is the thing,” he started taking out weapons from the inventory and handing them out to the men. And then blocks of wood afterward.

“Men upfront. Cut down any that come closer and the women, see this–”

He showed a piece of wood. It was reached till his elbow from his hand, “throw it like this,” the block of wood flew through the air, slamming onto the monster in front of the swarm that was rushing towards them. It exploded.

Maybe because they were already so scared they did not seem to care when the explosion occurred only nodding their heads quickly.

“Just remember you can’t run forever. You are going to die anyway because you see that shining tower, it is pumping them out every second. If you help me I will try my hardest to get you out alive.”

Maybe because they were confused they did not question how someone just like him, just covering his head, could save them from the wave that was rushing towards them. The explosion had not impacted the wave in any way, after all.

For those who looked fit, he handed them weapons but when they tried picking they were unable to even swing them. He tilted his head and swung them around. To him, they felt even lighter than before.

“How can you swing them so effortlessly?”

A giant among them all asked. His veins were bulging when as he barely swung the sword from one side to another. It was an incredibly bad swing, easily dodgeable and broken form.

He scanned through his storage and took out the knives. But looking at the size and the incoming monsters he put them back in.

“Change of plans. You all have to stop those maddened masses. Get them inside the shop and have them close the shutters.”

“Most importantly, they must keep quiet. That must happen or that will happen.”

His finger points towards the monsters bashing the shutters. It did not take long for the thin sheet of metal to be torn apart. Scenes like that kept repeating whenever noise came from inside the shop. They quickly nodded.

As the women were going to run he stopped them.

“Let men handle those beasts. You see these wooden blocks-”

He pointed at the pile of wooden pieces. This was all that remained of the pile but there were still hundreds of them. All of them had been carefully prepared by him, applying all his knowledge of IED and what he had learned about the Incinerate spell.

“Spread them all across the road in a line, five to six feet away from one another.”

While thy started doing that he looked around, found a tin box, filled it to brim with bombs, and then put the rest back in storage. Looking within the storage, he searched for a weapon that would be suitable. In the tower, there never had been a time when he was in an environment so expansive. All the spaces were tight, suffocating it made. It made it difficult for him to use certain weapons because they hindered his agility, the most important thing. Here, the open space made that negative longer applicable and so he took out one of the things he had always wanted to try.

It was a massive thing. Too big to be called a sword, or a greatsword even. Its blade is twice the size of his hand and the edges rough. Its hilt too was nearly half the length of the sword, thick enough that a hand could not warp it and filled with holes. It would be more suited to be called a heap of iron if not for the shape resembling the sword.

It was one of the weapons that he had few in numbers and the ones that he had difficulty picking up. Despite his new strength it was still difficult to pick it with one hand not because it was too heavy but because it was too difficult to unwieldy. His fingers went into the holes on the massive hilt, picking it up. It was much easier now with both his hands.

Sssssss

Sssssss

Sssssss

Each swing cut the wind, the cloth on his body fluttering with each action. All those around him stepped back but the howls of monsters woke them up from the daze. Quickly they were done setting it up.

“Take this and start setting up another line further back.”

“How much back?”

“There-”

He pointed towards the sign three storefronts away.

“Create a line there. And here-”

Handing them all knives he sat down, eyes closed, and just inhaled and exhaled. It calmed his nerves. It stayed away from the exhaustion that he was starting to feel. He had not once slept since he came out.

“Also! Hide behind something just in case.”

His eyes snapped open as he said that. He dragged the sword, leaving behind a trail on the asphalt road, and ran away until he stood a good distance away from the first line bombs. As the monster kept nearing he started organizing the triggers associated with the bombs lined in front of him.