DETECTIVE SILVERS POV

CHAPTER 43

Somewhere in the City of Notash...

Before the multiple altercations between the S.C.U.L.A.A.R.S. agents and the Child Anomaly escalated across different parts of the city, Detective Silvers remained completely unaware of what was unfolding. At his peaceful residence, the detective had no knowledge of the fate that had already befallen his close friend Reagan Armai. He did not know that Reagan had secretly been a Behemoth-ranked member of the Mercenaries of the Iron Altar, nor that he had been killed by the Beast of Iron of the Order of Exodus. Silvers was equally unaware of the catastrophe that was about to overtake the city of Notash.

It had not been long since Detective Silvers was discharged from the hospital following Reagan's visit. He had returned to his residence hoping to take a short break from active detective work after surviving the explosion at Dr. Richard Hemsworth's apartment. He also intended to catch up on recent developments through the Solarian National News Network. Silvers had been placed on two months of medical leave, which would give him sufficient time to recover from his injuries. He had no intention of remaining idle during that period. Instead, he planned to conduct an unofficial underground investigation into the death of Dr. Richard Hemsworth while remaining officially removed from the case.

Silvers already believed the official investigation had been compromised. His encounter with the strange individual who radiated an overwhelming presence on the way to Dr. Richard's residence, followed by the timed explosion he had detected only moments before it occurred, had convinced him of that. Dr. Richard's journal had also mentioned a secret organization known as the Order of Exodus. According to the information contained within the journal, the group appeared to know who Silvers was and what he had been investigating. Even more concerning was the possibility that Dr. Richard himself had been an accomplice. Silvers would have to determine exactly what connection the deceased doctor had maintained with the organization.

He turned on the television before walking toward the refrigerator to retrieve a drink. His wife did not appear to be home at the time, which was not unusual given her busy schedule. She was rarely present for extended periods. Silvers decided to skip dinner and simply take a drink out onto the balcony of his mid-rise apartment, where he could enjoy the cold night air and the view of the city.

From where he stood, Notash looked remarkably peaceful. The city's lights stretched across the landscape, illuminating the streets and surrounding buildings. Everything appeared normal. So peaceful, in fact, that it seemed impossible for anything to go wrong. Silvers quietly observed the night sky. A canvas of dark, murky clouds had begun spreading across the city's skyline, slowly drifting above the buildings.

"That's odd…" Silvers muttered. "The weather report didn't say anything about a storm tonight."

He narrowed his eyes as he continued watching the clouds.

"Hmm. What's happening—"

The words caught in his throat. His entire body stiffened. His eyes widened as a familiar sensation suddenly washed over him. He recognized the presence. It was the same overwhelming presence he had encountered while traveling to Dr. Richard Hemsworth's residence.

Silvers reacted immediately. He threw himself through the balcony door and into his living room, landing hard before quickly rising to his feet. He rushed toward his bedroom and opened the wooden drawer beside his bed. Inside was his handgun. He retrieved the weapon, checked it, and prepared himself for a confrontation.

Silvers slowly scanned his apartment as his mind raced through the possibilities. Had his location been compromised? Had his investigation into Dr. Richard's death attracted the attention of whoever was responsible? Perhaps the organization mentioned in the doctor's journal had discovered that he was still looking into the matter. But if that was the case, how had they found him? Were they monitoring him? What could Dr. Richard have possibly involved himself in?

Silvers continued processing the situation as he moved through the apartment with his weapon raised. The overwhelming presence seemed to linger around him, creating the unsettling impression that someone was actually inside the apartment with him. Then he noticed something. The presence felt different. It was similar to the one he had encountered before, but there was a much more aggressive quality to it this time. Silvers slowly lowered his weapon. The source was not inside the apartment. The realization came suddenly. The presence was coming from somewhere else. In fact, its influence seemed to extend across an enormous portion of the city.

The source of that overwhelming bloodlust was the Beast of Iron during her confrontation with Reagan Armai. Silvers had mistaken the sensation for someone being directly inside his apartment because the intensity of the bloodlust alone had blanketed almost the entire city. Confusion spread across his face. Whatever was happening, he wanted no part of it. Silvers quickly began changing into more comfortable clothing, intending to leave his apartment and find a place to remain out of sight until the situation settled.

He had barely begun preparing to leave when the entire building shook violently. The sudden movement nearly knocked him off his feet. The walls trembled as cracks began spreading across them in multiple directions.

"What the—?"

Another violent tremor struck. Then came the wind. A powerful shockwave erupted somewhere outside, accompanied by violent gusts that slammed into the building with enough force to send vehicles across the streets. Every window in the apartment shattered almost simultaneously. The building groaned under the pressure, its structure trembling as though it could collapse at any moment.

Silvers wasted no time. He immediately fled the apartment. Sounds of panic erupted throughout the building as other residents rushed toward the exits. Doors opened and slammed shut while frightened voices echoed through the corridors. Silvers managed to escape the building alongside several other residents. But whatever awaited him outside was far worse. Nothing made sense anymore.

"What the hell is going on?!" he yelled.

Silvers found himself surrounded by a massive crowd of people desperately fleeing through the streets. People pushed past him in every direction, attempting to put as much distance as possible between themselves and whatever was approaching. Silvers was not a superstitious man. He did not believe in supernatural phenomena. At least, he had not before tonight. But what he saw in the direction the crowd was fleeing from was beyond anything he could explain.

The murky clouds had rapidly spread across the city, covering the night sky. Then Silvers noticed something else. Far in the distance, behind the buildings and beneath the darkened sky, stood the silhouette of something colossal. It was so enormous that its form appeared to stretch across the skyline itself. Silvers froze.

"W-What is that?"

He slowly took several steps backward as the crowd continued rushing past him. People brushed against his shoulders and nearly knocked him over as they desperately attempted to escape. Then he saw them. Massive, tentacle-like appendages were descending from the heavens. Each movement of those enormous limbs displaced the surrounding atmosphere, producing powerful bursts of pressurized wind that tore through the city below. Structures shook. Vehicles were pushed across the streets. Anything standing directly beneath their descent was forced to withstand the immense pressure generated by their movement.

Silvers stared upward in disbelief. For the first time since beginning his investigation into Dr. Richard Hemsworth's death, Detective Silvers realized that whatever was happening in Notash was far beyond anything he had ever encountered. And he had no idea that the catastrophe unfolding before him was only beginning.

The urge to investigate the source of the chaos immediately took over. Whatever Silvers was witnessing could not be considered a natural phenomenon. He could not explain what was happening, but his instincts as an investigator told him that the answers he had been searching for might be somewhere at the heart of the disturbance. He navigated through the chaos, moving in the direction of the colossal silhouette looming over the city. The feeling he had was difficult to explain. Something about the presence he had sensed earlier was connected to what was happening now, and Silvers intended to find out how.

Distance, however, was becoming a problem. He was still too far from the source of the disturbance. At the rate the massive tentacle-like appendages were descending, he might not reach the area before whatever had appeared above Notash completed its descent.

Meanwhile, the Mercenaries of the Iron Altar had already dispatched several members to reinforce Reagan, including one of their elite core members. Their objective was simple: reach Reagan and provide support. Silvers, however, had a different objective. He needed answers. If he reached the source of the disturbance, he might finally discover who possessed the overwhelming presence he had sensed earlier. He might also uncover the connection between Reagan, Dr. Richard Hemsworth, and the strange events surrounding Notash.

But Silvers would never reach the battlefield. The Behemoth's descent had already begun. By the time he realized what was happening, the massive appendages had completed their descent. A tremendous wave of force swept through the city. Buildings shook violently as the resulting pressure tore through the surrounding streets. Vehicles were thrown from their positions, structures collapsed, and the streets were rapidly consumed by the destruction.

Silvers was caught in the aftermath. The force lifted him from the ground and sent him crashing into the surrounding rubble. Before he could even react, a large section of debris collapsed over him. His consciousness faded. And somewhere beyond the ruined streets of Notash, the real battle was already underway.