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?"

said. Their eyes swept the area around them, and as they extended their mana in an effort

of the elven elders voiced out their

is it like

because I've made it

soft voice echoed, and everyone turned their heads to see a human with short black hair and deep blue

gaze was calm and he appeared not far

"Who are you?"

the dwarven representatives asked, her voice filled with caution. She was a short dwarven

that be a question I'm

overbearing, but with a certain authority that made it difficult for them to

elven elder

He seemed rather amicable.

have signed an alliance

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

see, so

no sincerity

his expression and voice were rather monotone. It was hard to get a good grasp

rush for time. The

suddenly opened his mouth and glared at the human who was

from the demon's clutches, and yet, the moment they arrived on Earth, they found out that there was

couldn't allow

up, human. You either tell us where the other humans and

"Or what?"

stiff. He robotically turned his head, and his heart dropped at the

"How?"

He stammered.

only one shocked. The other members of the three races were also in disbelief. No one was able to catch a glimpse

placed it on the orc's shoulder. His cold gaze fell on him, and for a short moment, he didn't say anything. Even

a bunch

the air tense as everyone

think I don't know you're not reinforcements? Look at yourselves. Do

didn't change, but each one of his words struck the

"Know your place."

those three words powerfully rang in the minds of the three races that had

and turned his head away

think you managed to escape

gathering the attention toward him

"What do you mean?"

of the

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

"Heh."

pity. The dwarf furrowed his brows in response,

went for

them could utter a sound,

wrong on every

voice cutting through the tense silence. The human shook his head, his eyes trained upwards as if

because