Rafael

Liam had been leading the party from the front. As the only Legion in the team, he knew that he had to take responsibility for his members' safety, which was why his senses had never been heightned as much as they were right now.

And his choice have been proven correct because not even five minutes have passed since they left the Awakened Station, and he had already heard a Rift breaking. It sounded like a breaking glass. However, the only difference it made was the sound of glass shattering was accompanied by the Chaos creatures' growls.

The officers and Night stopped on their tracks after seeing Liam raise his hand. The officers looked around while sweating profusely, Night, on the other hand, stood straight in his place and looked to his left. He had been looking at the same direction that Liam was glowering at.

"Prepare for battle."

Liam uttered only three words, but it made the atmosphere's temperature grow colder. In their minds, they hoped that this moment wouldn't come, but knew that it would happen sooner rather than later.

'It's not called Chaos Dance for no good reason.'

Night positioned himself behind Liam to act as a support.

Chaos creatures are monsters that came from the Abyss. Although no one had ever gone to the Abyss and survived, Night thought that it was logical enough that the Abyss is packed with Chaos creatures. Having the event named after the Chaos creatures and was put together with 'dance' meant that Awakened ones would dance with the Chaos creatures. It was a dance with death itself.

The Rift completely broke, and the surrounding atmosphere turned silent. The frequent sound of the wind swooshing in the abandoned park couldn't be heard, and Night found it normal as the dried leaves in the tree branch remained stuck to it. The temperature dropped. However, beads of sweat threatened to roll down his forehead.

The ragged breathing of the officers behind him occupied Night's thoughts, and for a moment, his head became clear of anything.

"Don't get distracted. You don't know when you'll lose your life."

Liam's advice made Night snap out of himself and brought him back to reality. Night's face crumpled as he blamed himself for losing focus. Getting distracted in the battlefield was one of the common mistakes made when fighting with an opponent, be it a weak one or a strong one. Night might not want to admit it, but he just made that common mistake.

Cursing himself inwardly, Night took a deep breath and fisted his palm, his nails which have small dents due to neglect dug in his palms and made him bleed.

Reverting his focus back to the upcoming fight, Night focused his senses specifically to his front. Thick clouds signaling them that rain would pour sooner rather than later covered the moon, making the night sky darker than it already was. And just then, wind blows resumed, and the sound of the dried leaves rustling as they fell off the branch resonated with the cold atmosphere.

The breeze took the thick clouds with it and made the moon visible. As the moonlight shone down on the earth, a swift gleam of light traversed the space and hit Night's eyes. It was a reflected light. And Night knew too well what and where that light got reflected on.

The slight blindness caused by the light was disregarded by Night as he took a step forward. Just as the dried leaves crunched under his feet, the sound of low shrieks echoed and reached their position. Wind blew in an irregular pace as if there were a crowd fanning in different directions and strength.

Slowly, the moonlight illuminated the spot where the sound and the wind were coming from. In that short moment of revelation, the officers' faces became horrified, Liam's hardened, and Night stayed stoic. He still stood behind Liam, which made him unable to see his expression.

'Something else is in the dark.'

Night's eyes narrowed ever so slightly towards the places where the moonlight couldn't reach. He used his inner mana and circulated it before using it to heighten his vision. However, before he finished doing so, a black smoke that looked like a shadow appeared right beside the Chaos creatures. And what made Night to be baffled the most was that it spoke.

<...hounds.>

The black smoke in the form of a human being made it look like a shadow, whispered. Night shivered because the whisper sounded close even though there were several meters distance between them. So close that it was as if the shadow whispered right in his ear.

'What?'

Confused, a frown formed in Night's forehead. Unlike the Chaos creatures, the shadow showed no malice, nor did it show overt hostility to the group.

<Black hounds... Chaos>

A second time was enough for Night to confirm his speculation. The whisper was like it had been said right beside his ears, and more importantly, the something that hid itself in the dark was a kind of Chaos creature, the black hounds.

"Damn it."

Uttering a curse under his breath, Night grabbed Liam's shoulder and made the latter snap at him, if not only after seeing Night's expression filled with unmasked horror.

Black hounds with a combination of Chaos creatures that fly. In fact, one of the most complicated Chaos creatures that could fly, the imps. It was truly the worst combination it was. Imps relied on their aerial capabilities and speed, and black hounds, which moved stealthily but dealt bursting damage. In this night, where the moonlight comes and goes, a battle of a heightened sense of sight tilted the favors toward the monsters.

Night bit his lip, the frown on his face deepened.

"Imps and black hounds. How are you supposed to fight them alone?"

Night spoke through gritted teeth. It might have been a bad move for Night to speak of the black hounds. It was because Liam still had no idea that black hounds had joined the battle. But he had no time to think about how Night knew of the existence and presence of the black hounds and if what he had said was true because it was proven so after a low growl rumbled in the dark.

Liam's face distorted even more. Although Awakened ones who could use the Sage as a system for them to get stronger were called Legions because of their power which was similar or more powerful than an ordinary army could deal massive damage to the Chaos creatures. They would still be defeated if surrounded by multiple enemies, just like an ordinary legion.

Ever since the cataclyst befell on earth, human military technology showed no signs of usefulness when fighting with Chaos creatures. Humanity's population had dropped from almost eight billion to four billion. People were ready to give up because they knew that it would soon be their turn to be buried underground and if unlucky, their corpse with missing limbs would be left in the wilderness that majority of the world had become.

"Awakened Night, have you received an invitation by the Sage?"

Liam whispered under his breath. His voice sounded of strong resolve, but Night had no idea what Liam had firmed his to do so.

"Not yet."

Night looked quite annoyed after answering his question. Liam glanced at him, the side of his lips rose but quickly hid it from Night's view.

"Then go to the back. I'm sure you feel antsy and want to fight, but you'll die if you fight right now. Instead, watch carefully. I'm sure you'll learn one or two that can be useful to you."

Liam returned his gaze towards the Chaos creatures and circulated his mana. As weak as he could be, Night had no other choice but to step back. However, his eyes stayed on Liam's back as if he could see right through him. The shadow remained several meters away from them.

<...strong.>

Night focused on the words that the shadow kept whispering. He could not decode what the shadow was talking about as it only spoke of one to a few words at a time.

'Does it say the Chaos creatures are too strong for us? But a Legion of Rank Hero Grade 2 is their opponent.'

A Legion is ranked into five categories: common, rare, transcendent, hero, and legendary. And each Legion rank is divided into three Grades. Liam is Legion rank Hero Grade 2, which meant that Liam needed to reach Grade 1 before he could ascend to being a Legion of rank Legendary.

However, being an augmenter, Liam specialized in strength, exploding strength at that, his eyes may catch the enemies' movements, but his body couldn't keep up with them even if he wanted to.

<Strongest Sage... feel.>

Night's worried expression turned into confusion. He had finally understood what the shadow whispered this time.

'Strongest Sage. Is it referring to Liam? But all Legions uses the same system?'

The Sage oversees all Legions' growth. No one has ever obtained or invited by a stronger system by the Sage. Furthermore, no one even knew if there were other sages existing. The strength of the Sage depended on how the Legion uses the game-like interface the Sage has provided them. Likewise, the strength of the Legion depended on the Sage's guidance.

This proves Night's confusion to be natural. And made the fact of no other stronger Sages exist became null because...

[Awakened Night, Rafael has chosen to be your system. Rafael is offering to guide you on becoming the strongest Legion. Upon accepting Rafael, the system will be imbued to your soul and thus will not be lost upon the death of your incarnation.

Will you accept? Yes/No]

<Strongest... Sage>

The strongest Sage has descended.