Nightmare Mythos

All they had to do was sweep the entire city for three days, disregarding everything they had worked hard for. Probably because no matter how careful they were or focused their attention on their job, questions such as "Did we really do it right" or "Have we really searched things through" plague their mind, questioning their whole sanity.

Hence for these questions to disappear, they'll have no choice but to force an outcome that everyone can agree on.

It should be enough to gather at least something by obliterating their surroundings and leveling the groundwork.

If not, then they'll have no choice but to move to the third option, an option that they should be avoiding since it's just full of uncertainties and difficulties.

'Can I hope still hope we wouldn't come to it? By the things are going, one can hope a little for these obliteration plans to work,' Cesar mused inwardly as he observed the surrounding area they got positioned into.

This area was once a parking lot in the city at the east. Now, it was abandoned, ragged, and empty. Aside from them, there wasn't a single presence felt in the area. It's just the old parking lot that the city used to utilize.

Now, they were going to destroy it.

"Man, I guess Jacqueline's power is pretty destructive enough. I'm kind of jealous of her," Quentin, on the side, couldn't help but raised in a bitter tone as he watched her standing side to side with Vin, and another member of his squad, Maine.

Cesar and the rest of his cohort were placed on the back. Their job is different from theirs as it involves relaying information on the status of the rest of the people from the borders of the city.

That's right, every squad was positioned in the corners of the city and would continue to push forward until they were in the middle of the city where everyone would meet and see the results of each finding.

Each squad has someone to report the information while there is the obliteration party whose sole job is to almost exhaust its essence and bring out a hundred percent of its power every time it is their time to do the deed.

"Cesar," Vin called out to him while his gaze remained forward, "You know what to do,"

Cesar nodded before picking up a solid gun flare and aiming it upwards. Covering one ear, he proceeds to shoot it which marks the signal for the start of the operation.

The abundant flares that the army had given to each squad were abysmal hence one would not have to worry about emptying it right away. In this way, the operation will be smooth sailing with little to no interruption.

The one carrying the boxes of flares by using a middle-size cart was no other than Joshua since he was buffed enough to pull such road equipment with heavy contents.

Cesar's job was no less than easy. He had a list in his hand that would be used to monitor the situation from each squad. By gathering intel from the three people, consequently, Reyna, Nike, and Quentin, who will continue watching the flares being shot upwards from the skies, everything was set in place.

Swoosh—!

The red flare that slowly dimmed from the sky completely disappeared before a green flare slowly made its way upwards to follow up the previous flare's steps.

"On the north of the city, judging the trajectory of the flare, Squad Witz had given a go signal,"

Reyna who was watching the side of the city, called out Cesar immediately moved onto his list and checked the people from it. Putting a mark on their squad could only mean they were informed that they'd be starting to use the first person in their squad's rotation immediately.

Soon enough, the skies were dimmed with green flares from different parts of the city as the other two people with Cesar immediately started talking.

"In the west, Squad Sean has given the go signal,"

"In the south, Squad Jeremiah has given the go signal,"

"In the north, Squad Klaus has given the go signal,"

Rumble—!

With a barrage of abilities being used to obliterate anything on their way, the ground could be seen visibly shaking.

"We'll be starting as well Cesar,"

Cesar nodded before he saw Joshua grabbing a flare gun, and nocked it with a shell before covering his one ear to shoot it upwardly.

"In the east…" Cesar paused, "Squad Vin has given the go signal,"

Just because Vin's obliteration party was going to start doesn't mean the relaying of information was going to stop. There are hundreds of squads out there and it will be a while till the next formation where switched within their party.

"In the east—"

"In the south—"

"In the north—"

Cesar continued focusing on the list in his hand but his attention shifted to the three people at their front from time to time.

In there, both Vin and Maine were looking at Jacqueline who would be the starting point of their rotation. After that, another flare will signal and it will be Maine that came next, making Vin the last person. Once the full rotation was done, another kind of flare would be shot to relay information to Cesar.

At the front, Jacqueline was reluctant to use her facets but seeing that the two senior officers recognized what kind of Nightmare Potion she had gotten from the academy while getting lucky to receive it, she had no choice but to comply.

At least, she didn't have to use her second facet which only a few know about.

Channeling the essence and coursing it through her body, Jacqueline smiled crookedly before muttering solemnly.

"I'll be starting…"

Jacqueline was done channeling her essence before a repulsive black raven with three beaks and one singular eye appeared atop her head.

It just spawned there when there wasn't anything a second ago.

Caw!

Soon, black ravens began spawning within their area. Some just appeared at the ground while the others were in the air. A few even spawned at Vin's head before they all started hovering in the air, circulating at one singular point, Jacqueline.

"Hahh…"

With thick feathers falling right on her trail, Jacqueline let out a tired sigh. Her figure was surrounded by nothing but ravens as she remained stuck in her position.

Appearing like scarecrows where her only eyes remained uncovered, she struggled to stretch her hand forward before finally managing to do it with a frown on her face.

Giving the ravens directions to go, the ravens flew even higher in the air, casting only a huge shadow on the ground. Some ravens sat or clutched at her shoulders or at the back of her uniform, particularly watching Vin and Maine as if they were her bodyguards.

"Go…"

Once the cue has been given with her fragile voice reverberating through the area, the ravens dove swiftly into the ground.

And began obliterating the things in the parking lot in a matter of seconds.

Rumble—!

As the quake in the ground was never-ending, the ravens only left dropping feathers in their wake.

Thud—!

With Jacqueline as their conductor, the ravens leveled the parking lot to a considerable level, not leaving anything unturned.

It had to be destroyed, and her destructive power delivered.

'How powerful,'

Cesar mused inwardly as he couldn't help but ponder up wishful thinking where he could be on their level.

Right now, he was above average but he couldn't even defeat Jacqueline in terms of battle prowess.

Now that she is showing how capable she is in terms of facets, Cesar got slapped back once more and there's a reason why she's the top one of the academy.

'Is this what she said when she had desire? A desire to take the risky approach, a desire to be the best, and a desire to be powerful,'

Cesar couldn't help but start to get convinced by her words when they took the spar. He was considering it, even pondering if he should follow her advice, if that was what even about.

Jacqueline was right, after all, all Cesar had to worry about was his survival.

But in this cursed world, survival is not the answer.

He had to go higher, farther, and stronger.

If Cesar was like that, survival might be the least of his worries.

'I guess that's what she was trying to say but my ego was just inflated like others that I took seriously my survival than any others out there… God, I can be childish sometimes, I guess?'

Cesar let out a soft chortle that only he could hear before his gaze fell into Jacqueline once more, and farther into his view, the ravens continued demolishing everything on their path with black feathers dropping like flies.

It was a magnificent scene.

"I'll be stronger as well…"

Cesar managed to get a desire throughout his life where for him, only his survival matters.