VILLAIN'S RISING

A sight of sheer horror that could induce fright into the hearts of the bravest ones.

As far as the horizon stretched, the sky was covered with massive, fire-breathing winged beasts.

A loud rumbling sound thundered throughout the world as hundreds of thousands of demons kept on marching forward as one.

Huge iron walls encircled the city of Los Angeles, enveloping it in a protective barricade.

Heroes stood guard on top of the iron structure, ready to face their impending doom.

They were sure that the walls could hold the demons for at least a few hours. But how could they ever hope to stop those colossus dragons?!

-“They’re so big! It’s cheating!”

-“Shut up, dude. We might die any moment now. You sure you want those to be your last words.”

-“Tsk, true. We should say something cool.”

-“Yeah. Hey, you remember in middle school I said I fucked your mom after I lost to you in a game of COD?”

-“Ahh, yeah, what about it?”

-“Yeah, so I wasn’t lying.”

-“Dude! What the actual fuck!”

While all the heroes stood there, trembling in terror, the two heroes continued to chat nonchalantly, as if everything that was happening was the most natural thing in the world.

As they perceived the demon army getting closer, the two heroes announced a command in the loudest voice they could muster

“All initiators, ready to engage! We will let the dragons fly through and help the duelists fight the demons on the ground here. If you see the Progenitor, do everything in your power to avoid him!”

“All duelists, prepare to engage! We will let the dragons get past us and leave them for the stronger heroes. If you see the Progenitor, run. Leave him for the Willburn siblings!”

“”Our mission is to hold the demon army for as long as we can! Understood?!””

As soon as the orders were initiated, the heroes standing on top of the iron walls shouted back in unison.

-“Yes, sir!”

*

On the peak of a tall skyscraper, two men stood fearlessly as their hair fluttered violently with the passing winter winds.

“We are screwed,” Anthony, who was wearing a golden and white hero suit with the letter ‘S’ embroidered on his chest with golden lace, uttered in a bitter tone.

With his supervision, he already saw the demon army marching toward them.

“I mean, considering they’re only attacking from one direction, it’s not that bad?” Eve, who was right beside him, wearing a flashy crimson hero suit, responded to Anthony’s comment.

“Well, no shit, since on our back is the Pacific coast. They can’t flank us from behind. On the downside, we can’t retreat back either.” Anthony scratched his head in frustration.

“Hey, still, as I said, it’s not that bad. The enemy numbers are around eighty thousand. If we wait for Martian spaceships to arrive, then coupled with our troops, we’ll outnumber the demons by three to one,” Eve commented.

“Well, I like the sound of it. But the problem still remains. How do we stop him? We can stop his army. I’m sure if Rebekah and I work together, we can stop his dragons too. But what about him? What about Sam? Who will— who can stop him?”

Eve couldn’t help but find his words stuck in his throat as soon as he heard Anthony. He was right. Who ‘can’ stop him?

After all, he defeated Starsuper. Is there any hero alive on the planet who can beat such a monster?

After a long moment of silence, Eve finally mustered his voice back and said, “Anthony, as I said, leave him to the hero Council and me. We’ll stop him with our lives.”

Anthony, although he nodded his head at the moment, wanted to argue that even their lives won’t be enough to stop him.

“Anyway, should we join the battle?” Anthony spoke.

From here, the duo could see the demon army clearly. Although large in number, they looked like a swarm of ants.

They were trying to break through the huge iron wall. The heroes’ first line of defense was about to fall.

It was the cue for the rest of the heroes present there to hurry up and join the battle.

“Yes,” Eve nodded. “Remember, leave the small fries to the rest of the heroes. You and I need to find the Progenitor. If we come across a dragon, you’ll fight it, and I’ll fight Sam.”

“Got it,” Anthony instantly replied. This was the plan they had gone over at least a thousand times by now. “My job is to stick with you so he can’t use his [Biology Manipulation] on you, all the while keeping any kind of distractions away from you.”

“Yes. The members of the hero council had already joined the battle. We will slowly break through the ranks of those demons and surround the Progenitor. After that, it’ll be us against him.” Eve answered and prepared to take off.

In short, the plan was that Anthony and Rebekah would hold back the dragons while the strongest heroes would face Sam.

At first glance, it would come out as a very stupid plan since Anthony and Rebekah both can’t be affected by Sam’s [Biology Manipulation], and both of them were arguably the strongest heroes in the world now that their father, Starsuper, was dead.

So naturally, Anthony and Rebekah should be the ones facing Sam. But aside from being a very straightforward and simple plan, there was a flaw in it.

What may that he, you ask?

It’s that Rebekah and Anthony are the only ones who could hold back two hundred dragons without dying.

If the hero council— a team of the strongest superheroes in the world— were to try to fight the dragon, they would suffer casualties.

Also, Anthony and Rebekah were basically weaker versions of Starsuper himself. They possessed almost the same type of powers. If Sam had defeated Starsuper himself, it wouldn’t take him much to defeat them.

While the hero council consists of 7 heroes. 7 strongest heroes that the world has to offer. These 7 heroes possess a plethora of different abilities that they could spam on Sam.

Basically, it was a gamble. Sam had experience against Starsuper but not against the council.

If he were to fight the Willburn siblings, their defeat was predictable.

But if he were to fight the hero council, the result was… unpredictable. Hence, a gamble.