As the clock struck midnight, everything suddenly became eerily quiet. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. It was as if everyone could tell that something had changed. An unexplainable shift in the very fabric of reality that even those without heightened senses were able to notice.

  And then suddenly, blue semi-transparent windows began to appear in front of people. These windows were the manifestation of The System. Some took it in stride while others laughed it off as a bad dream.

  Cassius’ friends were taking it pretty well and discussing what was going on with a rather casual tone.

  “Hey, Cass, any ideas what’s causing this?” Dan asked, turning to him.

  Cassius was not paying attention.

  Instead, he was looking straight up into the sky. His hands balled into fists and his teeth were clenched. His eyes narrowed, like he was searching for something up above.

  Dan raised an eyebrow but then he noticed something.

  Of everyone around them, Cassius was the only person who did not have a blue window floating in front of him.

  His gaze then turned upwards to see what Cassius was seeing.

  Just as he looked up, a massive rift appeared in the sky, spreading out like cracked glass. He was about to say something when it suddenly shattered open.

  A storm of mana erupted from it. Waves and waves of just barely visible blue energy shot out in every direction.

  Everyone around took notice. Some started screaming and panicking, others took out their phones and started recording what was going on.

  Off in the distance a swirling vortex of mana appeared. The portal appeared on the edge of Archfield, but it was so massive that it could be seen from every point in the city.

  The commotion and chaos picked up. They quickly realized that what was happening wasn’t a dream. No one knew what to do. Those that were already panicking were running, trying to get as far away as they could. Those who were recording stood frozen in place.

  Cassius’ friends remained where they were.

  “Cass! What do we do?” Dan asked.

  He raised his voice but that didn’t get Cassius’ attention.

  “Is there anything we can do?” Spencer asked.

  He was looking around at people to see what everyone else was doing. He remained strangely calm.

  “This is a little bit beyond our skill level.” Rob commented.

  He was staring at the mana vortex off in the distance.

  “If anyone has a plan, it’s him.” Jesse spoke, sounding almost offended.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Dan turned to him, confused.

  Then suddenly Cassius rushed off without saying anything. His friends attempted to give chase, thinking he definitely knew something. They couldn’t keep up and he got far ahead of them.

  A mix of confusion and betrayal was all they felt as they watched a young woman rise up from his shadow and instantly transform into a massive dragon.

  Cassius leapt up onto her back and with a single flap of her wings, the dragon launched high into the air carrying him away. They tried to call out to him, but their voices were drowned out by the yelling from the other people around who witnessed it.

  There had been portals before that he dealt with. Usually, it was only a couple at a time, and they were all generally pretty small. The monsters they spewed out were typically easily dispatched with too, except for the odd monster that gave him a hard time on occasion.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  As he was flying high above the city, he could see more and more portals spawning. That tingling feeling he got at the base of his neck when a situation got dangerous was getting worse.

  He had been dealing with them in secret, protecting people from the unknown threats. But now, there were portals beyond count that the public could see. All of his hard work, undone in a matter of minutes.

  The portals from before were manageable, but this situation was beyond his expectations. A large portal probably meant much bigger monsters. He’d deal with the largest one as fast as he could and then take care of the others that had spawned.

  As he got closer to the largest portal, he was bombarded by the intense waves of pressure it was emitting. It was the first time he was met with pressure from pure mana waves. His dragon was powerful in her own right, but the pressure was even getting to her.

  She landed as quickly as she could. Upon landing, she dispersed into a shadowy mist and absorbed back into Cassius, leaving him alone for the moment.

  He attempted to call forth some of his other soldiers, but his summoning powers were being interrupted by the mana waves.

  The center of the portal was directly over an unfinished neighborhood near the west side of the gigacity. Partially built houses and hastily left construction equipment littered the entire area. If there had been anyone around it would’ve been a lot more concerning but with no one around he wouldn’t have to hold back as much.

  Then suddenly, the portal above shattered open.

  Instead of a large monster or an entire force of a monsters, a single Entity descended from it.

  This Entity was humanoid, adorned in intricate white armor with black trim. In its right hand it wielded a longsword with an oddly shaped blade.

  It landed in front of Cassius.

  He could tell it was strong, incredibly strong, yet it gave off no pressure.

  The Entity turned its head, scanning the area before transfixing on Cassius.

  “Hmm…Curious, no link to the System. And yet…You possess a strength that doesn’t belong here.” They spoke.

  “Are you…a fragment of His power?” They questioned further.

  Instead of answering, Cassius called forth his weapons. There was a brief flash of light in his hands, yet nothing came to him.

  He then felt his consciousness shift but not fade. He was suddenly thrust outside of his body. Nothing more than a floating transparent ghost. The Entity before him noticed nothing.

  As Cassius looked at his body from a third person perspective, his posture changed, and he saw his own eyes begin to glow pink. He recognized them as his eyes but the look in them was that of someone else entirely.

  “Let me take this one.” A voice called out to him.

  It was a familiar sounding voice but not one he could fully recall.

  “An Envoy dare step on this planet?” The Being Residing in Cassius asked.

  The voice that came from Cassius’ mouth was both his own and someone else’s. They were layered over one another and just barely distinguishable from one another.

  The Envoy suddenly readied its weapon.

  “There you are.” The Envoy said, giving off a shrill laugh.

  "We’ve been looking for you.”

  The sword they wielded began to glow bright red with a slight golden hue to it.

  “Hiding inside of a human is the last thing we expected.”

  Their tone turned to disgust

  The Being Residing in Cassius then held out his hand and called forth his weapon. There was a flash of light, and a large broadsword materialized in his hand. He flourished it around easily, despite its size, before it came to rest on his shoulders.

  “That vessel can’t possibly channel your power.” The Envoy laughed.

  “You should’ve stayed in that portal.” The Being Residing in Cassius spoke.

  They were both ignoring each other’s words to a certain degree.

  The Envoy then summoned several swords made of pure energy and launched them at Cassius.

  He stuck out his left hand and an invisible force seemed to grab the blades, shattering them midair.

  The Envoy then unleashed its pressure, filling the area its killing intent.

  It passed over Cassius’ body like a wave, yet it remained standing. Cassius, in his floating out of body experience, could still feel the killing intent. It hardly affected him.

  The Envoy then began to visibly tremble.

  Dust, dirt, and other random debris in the area began to float off the ground ever so slightly.

  The Being Residing in Cassius then smirked.

  He unleashed his own pressure. In an instant, the area was filled with a feeling of death far beyond anything Cassius had ever produced or that the Envoy had ever felt. This pressure was so intense it was visible as a transparent wave of black energy.

  It felt as though death itself had descended upon the area.

  Even though it came from his own body, it terrified him. It wasn’t his power; it was something else entirely.

  The Envoy struggled to just barely remain standing.

  They suddenly yelled, breaking free of the pressure.

  The Envoy closed the distance, thrusting its blade at Cassius.

  The Being Residing in Cassius tilted his head to the side ever so slightly. The Envoy’s blade passed by his head and was immediately countered by a wide swing. The broadsword cut through the blade with ease.

  The Envoy tossed the broken sword away and summoned another far stranger sword.

  The Being Residing in Cassius seemed to be toying with the Envoy. Blocking swings or purposefully dodging just close enough to make the Envoy think there was a chance of victory.

  He pushed the Envoy back and summoned forth numerous short swords and daggers. He used his powers to stab them all into the Envoy, catching them off guard.

  They clashed again, the Envoy just barely holding on while the Being Residing in Cassius laughed maniacally as a shower of sparks exploded out from the impact of their blades.

  Whoever that Being was.

  They had the upper hand.