Lazar blinked several times, expecting the golden panel etched with white letters hindering his sight to disappear at some point, but it remained.
He frowned, then, in a final, stubborn attempt, shut his eyes for several seconds before opening them again and…
[CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE AWAKENED]
Still there.
His gaze wandered, from the two corpses at his feet, to the blade in his hand coated in a sticky blend of blood and fat, and finally to the towering pillar of fire still raging on the opposite side of the street.
He drew a slow breath, 'Oxygen deprivation and adrenaline could explain a hallucination.' He reasoned as he searched for a rational explanation for the message hovering in front of him.
But the truth was that, deep down, he knew he was in denial.
After everything that had happened in the past few minutes, was a floating panel really the strangest part?
This time, Lazar went so far as to reach out and touch the message.
His fingers sank through it, though not as if it were mere air.
The panel shivered under his touch, a faint, unnatural ripple distorting the golden surface.
There was no denying it anymore. It was real.
Out of the blue, the panel vanished, replaced by a second.
[THE WORLD IS IN GRAVE DANGER…]
The instant Lazar read the opening words, he tried something instinctive by mentally pushing the message aside, gambling on the fragile assumption that whatever mechanism was behind it could hear his thoughts.
After all, there had to be a way to dismiss it. Otherwise, he would spend the rest of his life staring at a floating panel.
Just as he had suspected, the panel faded, leaving his vision clear once more. And with it, his thoughts cleared as well.
The world was in danger? That was a distant problem.
What could he do about it right now? Absolutely nothing.
Before thinking about saving anyone, before trying to understand anything, he had to survive and find safety.
Only then could anything other than himself become his concern.
With that thought, Lazar turned around and prepared to evacuate as well.
The immediate threat had been dealt with, lingering any longer would only invite another.
Fortunately, most people had already crossed the intersection, including Viktor and Mamma, who were waiting on the other side of the crater, anxiety etched across their faces as they looked toward him.
One glance at them was enough for Lazar to grasp their intention.
They were planning to regroup with Viktor's mother, as they should, but they seemed to assume he was coming with them, which was not the case.
He waved them away, signaling that they should leave without him, then sprinted toward the evacuation route.
From the corner of his eye, he caught Viktor's surprise falter into hesitation, while Mamma looked resigned from the start.
A moment later, she smacked her nephew's shoulder and shouted at him, likely urging him to accept Lazar's decision.
By the time Lazar reached the mass of people trying to push their way out of the street, he could no longer spot them and could only assume they left.
'Don't do anything stupid.' He thought, hoping they wouldn't throw themselves into danger by remaining here in a futile attempt to change his mind.
By the time he finally made it across the crater, nearly a minute later, Mamma and Viktor were nowhere in sight.
'Good.' Lazar thought, breaking into a light jog with a clear destination in mind.
On his way, several police cars and fire trucks sped past him, heading straight for the street he had just fled.
The fact that emergency services were still operating under these circumstances came as a mild surprise.
'It's the USA, every firearm vanishing into thin air alone should have sparked nationwide panic in seconds.' Lazar thought, briefly picturing a bunch of rednecks flailing and screaming 'They done took mah guns!'
A few minutes later, he stopped on the sidewalk and looked up at a twenty-story apartment building.
The lobby doors slid open with a soft mechanical hum after he pressed his pass against the reader, then he headed straight for the elevator.
He had only made it a few steps before the doors of the said elevator opened with a chime, and a family of four stepped out.
A man in his forties, a tired-looking woman of the same age clutching the hand of a little girl, and a boy a few years older.
They all stopped, so did Lazar.
For one stretched, agonizing second, nobody said a word.
The man's gaze traveled from Lazar's soot-covered tactical gear to the sheathed blade hanging at his side, before settling on his ash-smeared face.
"Uh…" The man started, in a cautious tone, "Everything okay?"
Lazar looked at him, that was, unfortunately, a question with a complicated answer.
The little girl hid halfway behind her mother's leg while the boy kept staring at his weapon with the morbid fascination some children had for things that could kill.
The woman's eyes widened with surprise, "You were outside just now." She said quickly, "We heard a bell, and then there was that huge light, and, was that fire?"
"Is someone hurt?" The man asked over her, his probing tone making it sound as though he was also asking whether Lazar had hurt someone himself, "What's happening out there?"
"Your weapon looks way cooler than ours!" The boy said, with far less restraint and far more carelessness, before his mother smacked him on the head to encourage him to stop blurting out whatever came to his mind.
'Excellent,' Lazar thought, suppressing a sigh. Unless he planned on threatening them, answering their questions was the only way he was getting into that elevator.
He knew them by sight. People he had exchanged the usual nods with, held the door for once or twice, shared the occasional elevator ride with in silence.
Not enough for names, let alone actual familiarity, so it wasn't suprising when the father awkwardly went with what he could to put Lazar at ease, "Sorry for all the questions, we are a little on edge. You live on one of the upper floors, right?"
Lazar cast a quick glance toward the elevator behind the family, a flicker of irritation crossing his face.
"There's trouble outside." Lazar said at last, keeping his voice flat and controlled.
"If you are not willing to use the weapons you were given, get back into your apartment and lock the door." He added, seeing that they left all of their weapons behind.
The color drained from the mother's face, "What kind of trouble?"
He hesitated. How exactly was he supposed to phrase this? 'Well, I just saw a monster that could have swallowed your daughter whole. Does that answer your question?'
"It's not dangerous yet, don't worry." Lazar answered instead, his eyes flicking toward the little girl still hiding behind her mother, making it clear for the parents that this was not a conversation to have in front of children.
The man swallowed, "Should we call the police, just to be safe?"
Lazar almost laughed. That would have sounded wrong, so he didn't, "I think they are going to be busy."
A beat of silence followed that. That one landed.
The boy looked alarmed now, "Dad."
"Okay." The man said quickly, his voice tightening as he pulled himself together, "Okay. Right. We are going back upstairs."
The woman didn't move. Her eyes stayed on Lazar, "Are you hurt?" She asked.
The question caught him more off guard than the others.
"Yes I am, and I need to go back to my appartment to take care of it right now, but I doubt crowding in the elevator with you will do my injuries any good." It was a lie, though one he was not entirely sorry to use if it meant having the elevator to himself.
"Oh, sorry. Go ahead." The father wasted no time shepherding his children out. The mother followed a beat later, though not before sending Lazar one last uneasy look.
The doors began to slide shut.
Just before they closed, the little girl's voice slipped through the narrowing gap, "Are there bad people outside?"
Lazar met his gaze for half a second, then decided to remain silent.
The doors sealed.
There were 11 floors between the ground floor and his apartment, he had time to check the notifications.
'Show me what I missed.' He ordered before seeing the panel he had dismissed as well as many, many others.
[THE WORLD IS IN GRAVE DANGER]
[IF YOU ARE READING THIS MESSAGE, THEN YOU ARE AMONG THE FIRST SOULS CAUGHT WITHIN THE AREAS PLAGUED BY THE CREATURES NOW INVADING EARTH]
[BUT YOU ARE ALSO SOMETHING ELSE]
[YOU ARE ONE OF THE FEW WHO PROVED ABLE TO TAKE UP THE WEAPON GIVEN TO YOU AND TURN IT AGAINST THEM]
[THE CREATURES YOU HAVE FACED SO FAR ARE AMONG THE WEAKEST OF THEIR KIND]
[MORE DANGEROUS ONES WILL COME]
[IF HUMANITY IS TO SURVIVE, IT MUST GIVE RISE TO INDIVIDUALS CAPABLE OF STANDING AGAINST THEM]
[YOU HAVE FULFILLED THE FIRST CONDITIONS]
[YOU FOUGHT]
[YOU SURVIVED]
[YOU KILLED]
[THUS, YOU HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED]
[THUS, YOU HAVE BEEN AWAKENED]
[POWER WILL NOT BE GIVEN TO YOU AS A GIFT]
[IT MUST BE EARNED]
[ONLY THOSE WHO STRIVE, WHO RISK, WHO ENDURE, AND WHO OVERCOME WILL CONTINUE TO GROW]
[THE PATH OPEN BEFORE YOU IS NOT ONE OF MERCY]
[IT IS ONE OF TRIAL]
[YOUR EFFORTS WILL BE REWARDED]
[YOUR COURAGE WILL BE TESTED]
[YOUR WILLINGNESS TO FACE DEATH SHALL DETERMINE HOW FAR YOU ASCEND]
[THE GREATER THE CHALLENGE, THE GREATER THE REWARD]
[THOSE WHO HIDE MAY DELAY THEIR END]
[THOSE WHO FACE IT MAY RISE BEYOND IT]
[GOOD LUCK]
✦ [Level 5 - Damned of the Circle of Gluttony eliminated (F ★★★☆☆)] ✦
✦ [You have earned 720 experience points] ✦
✹ [LEVEL UP : 0 ⟶ 1] ✹
✹ [LEVEL UP : 1 ⟶ 2] ✹
There were still more notifications after that, but Lazar needed a moment to compose himself before continuing