The Author's POV

[Earth]

The blue sky above seemed to shimmer and vibrate. The clouds parted, and then suddenly the sky began to crack, like a fragile pane of glass that was subjected to too much stress.

C... crack―!

The first fracture appeared, jagged and rough-edged, and then another, and another, until the sky was a spiderweb of broken blue glass.

From within the cracks, shapes began to emerge, strange and distorted, like figures from another dimension breaking through into this one.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Figures materialized into the sky, one after another. Their faces were pallid and drawn, their eyes sunken and haunted. They stumbled out of the cracks, their bodies haggard and trembling.

"We're here!"

One of them cried out, a note of relief in his voice.

"We've made it."

Another echoed, sounding more exhausted than triumphant.

After their emergence, more and more figures began to materialize from the fissure in the sky, eventually filling the entirety of the sky with their respective numbers.

The sky above them had stopped cracking, but it remained a deep, unsettling shade of blue, like a bruise on the face of the world.

Swoosh!

As the last of the survivors emerged from the portal, they took stock of their surroundings.

They were standing on top of what appeared to be a city, albeit one with peculiar building styles. The buildings were long and rectangular in shape, and the majority of their surfaces were covered in glass.

Other than that, it was eerily silent.

There were no sounds of life or movement, no signs of civilization or activity.

"Are we in the right place?"

"This is Earth?"

The survivors gathered together, their faces etched with fatigue and anxiety.

They were well aware that they had cheated death by a razor's edge and that it was only a matter of time before it caught up with them; at the moment, they were merely attempting to cling onto their last hope with the remaining forces on earth.

Soon...

Soon, the demons were going to come, and only one ending crossed their minds.

The survivors could feel it in their bones—a deep, primal fear that made their hearts race and their palms sweat.

"What's going on here? Where are all the humans?"

and as they extended their mana in an effort to

shocked, one of the elven elders voiced out their

it like

I've made it

to see a human with

was calm and he appeared not

"Who are you?"

filled with caution. She was a short

that be a question I'm supposed

voice neither humble nor overbearing, but with a certain authority that made it difficult for them to

elven elder stepped

He seemed rather amicable.

apologize for the inconvenience. We have heard that you humans have signed an alliance with

raised, and although his expression didn't change much, the way he looked at them made it seem as though he was seeing right through them. He didn't

see, so you're the

with no

there was, but his expression and voice were rather monotone. It was

for time. The demons are coming.

glared at the human who was standing

the moment they arrived on Earth, they found out that

pride couldn't

where the other humans and members are

"Or what?"

his ear, and the orc's entire body turned stiff. He robotically turned his head, and his heart dropped at the sight of the human that had appeared without

"How?"

He stammered.

of the three races were also in disbelief. No one was able to catch a glimpse

shoulder. His cold gaze fell on him, and for a short moment, he didn't say anything. Even so, for the orc, that one short moment felt like an eternity,

unruly for a bunch

as everyone looked at

not reinforcements? Look at yourselves. Do you look

one of his words struck the hearts

"Know your place."

rang in the minds of the three races that had

them any attention and turned his head

managed to escape

suddenly asked, gathering the attention toward him once

"What do you mean?"

the dwarven

managed to escape from the demons. In fact, a lot of our forces fell in order to let us

"Heh."

be described as pity. The dwarf furrowed his brows in response, sensing the disdain

went for

them could utter a sound, the human

on

shook his head, his eyes

because of