Chapter 19: Scorched Earth

Though the only answer he received was the injured agent giving a single code-word to his radio, “Code: Scorched Earth.” 

Just then, Noah’s hyper senses kicked in as a blaring whistle filled his ears only for a moment before an explosion was released. 

The windows shattered and volatile flames swept through the home, bringing everything down in an instant. 

Filling the streets, military-grade, bulletproof vehicles were parked on the street, blocking it off as dozens, if not over a hundred of the mysterious ‘S.E.N.T.I.N.E.L’ soldiers surrounded the destroyed home of Noah Grays, pointing their guns at the burning rubble. 

Of course, the debris was blown back as Noah stood up; his black t-shirt was nothing but loose fabric on his chiseled body, bearing marks of dust, but no injuries laid on his impervious flesh. 

However, the bomb did have an effect: Noah Grays was now angered beyond reason. 

Just as the gunfire began once more with the click of triggers and the smell of gunpowder in the dusk air, Noah wordlessly invoked his time-halting magecraft. 

[“Absolute Freeze”] 

Like a picture taken out of time, the world was grinded to a halt as bullets were left stagnant in the air and even the flash of newborn sparks and minuscule explosions of gunpowder were frozen. 

“If none of you will talk, I’ll take the information I need, then,” he said bitterly. 

[“Absolute Mind Infiltration”] 

Through the manifestation of a violet light that emitted from his palm, the flash of its nebulous essence brought to him the inner thoughts belonging to the soldiers. 

As he tried to peer at the memories he held in the palm of his hand from the collective squadron, he was taken by surprise at what he found: nothing. 

‘Their minds are…blank?’ He realized. 

It was an inexplicable discovery; he tried delving deeper, individually looking through each blank soldier’s memories, only to find more of just ‘nothing’. 

As he tore one of their masks and tactical helmets off, he found a bald, pale figure with no eyebrows or unique features. It was the same for another he checked, as if they were perfect clones. 

This realization left him to one conclusion:

‘Are these soldiers specifically for dealing with people like me?...If that’s the case, is this ‘Sentinel’ organization tied to those system wielders?’ He thought. 

Finding that route of information gathering to be a failure, he turned his attention back to the battle as rage still burned in his blood, looking towards the array of bullets frozen in time along with their firers. 

He allowed time to resume just as he conjured another spell from his Creator’s Grimoire, once more finding the sound of gunfire filling his ears. 

[“Dark Gale”] 

Manifesting around him was a whirlwind of shadowy winds, sweeping outwards and repelling the bullet that were shot in his direction before the dark air sliced up the soil and concrete alike, reaching the first line of soldiers. 

The spiraling storm of darkness eviscerated those in its path, slicing the agents into mincemeat before he allowed it to dissipate after finishing the first line of soldiers. 

‘Not a single one will escape,’ he resolved. 

Flipping through his grimoire again as he silently allowed bullets to carve through the air past him and digging into the grass, unflinching to them as a passive air shielded him, he unleashed astral entities that soared towards the soldiers. 

[“Koi of Hades”] 

The ethereal entities resembled enormous fish of light-blue energy, intangible to gunfire before they swept through the blank soldiers. 

Each life they took, vigor was replenished automatically to Noah as he watched. 

While he witnessed the astral marine life decimate the enemy forces, he looked up at the whir of helicopter blades, finding multiple all-black, assault choppers above his home. 

The grass was parted by the wind generated by the noisy helicopters, causing his jet-black tufts of hair to be brushed by such howling winds. 

‘Annoying,’ he thought. 

More soldiers were being deployed, sliding down ropes from the airborne transports while heavy-duty turrets were being manned on the assault choppers. 

A spray of anti-tank bullets swept in, ravaging the lawn of his destroyed home but failing to pierce his protective shield of wind. 

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Invoking his [“Object Authority”] again to a higher degree than ever before, he pointed his hand towards one of the helicopters, taking hold of it as he clenched his fist. 

Out of rage, he swiped his arm right, causing the air to contort and hiss from the forcibly moved mass, causing the helicopter to smash into another, resulting in a massive explosion of flames and smoke amidst the air above, causing debris to fall onto the neighborhood. 

Screams from civilians followed the destructive collision, though he hardly cared as he was focused on wiping out all of his attackers. 

TAKKA-TAKKA-TAKKA. 

Even after the [“Koi of Hades”], there were still soldiers firing at him, prompting him to change his approach as he used [“Levitate”] to take to the air, soaring high before looking down. 

‘I’ll end this,’ he thought. 

Before, he had been taking things lightly as he was running on an exhausted body and sparse mana, but now, annoyed and ready to be done with it, he invoked something truly heinous from the depths of his grimoire. 

[“Hail To The Shadows”]

The air grew harrowingly cold; brisk to the touch like the frosted atmosphere of a haunted land. 

Birthing through the cracks in the ground, running through the parted soil and split concrete, tendrils of darkness wriggled into the open air, stretching out with a nebulous cry echoing out like that of a whale’s call. 

The ground rumbled as if an earthquake had gripped the street, causing the grass to wilt from the sealed terror given way by his invocation. 

It spanned the vicinity of the block; the enigmatic entity from the depths of primordial horrors stretched its dark limbs out, curving them and snapping them towards anything that moved, ensnaring soldiers and even stray birds that passed. 

“Consume them all,” Noah instructed. 

Wringing out the life from those caught in its hold, the abyssal entity from below dragged all of its victims back down through the cracks in the earth before they closed back up seamlessly. 

After seemingly wiping out the enemy forces, he descended, looking around at the aftermath of the battle as his home was reduced to flaming debris and his lawn was torn up. 

Nonetheless, it was only a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things as he huffed, flipping through his mystical grimoire. 

“I should fix this before Mom gets home,” he mumbled. 

[“Absolute Reversal”]

An extension of the ability to manipulate time, he was able to singularly target the existence of his house and the block itself, rewinding the damage done to it as the wilted grass flourished with life, soil coalesced, and his rubble-turned home rebuilt itself as though invisible handymen tended to it. 

It only took a few minutes before returning to its original state; stable and clean of the blood spilled on its premises. 

“Aaaagh!” 

“What happened?! Call the police!”

Just as he was planning to head inside to get some quiet time to soak in what happened and try to finally relax, he stopped as he heard his neighbors around the block screaming out from the blood staining the street and damage done from the destroyed choppers. 

‘What a bother,’ he thought, raising his hand. 

[“Absolute Hypnosis”] 

Expanding throughout the neighborhood, the mind-altering magecraft flushed through with a vibrant glow of pinkish-purple, freezing and ensnaring civilians within its scope. 

‘Let’s just chalk this up to a disaster from the police. This could help me in the future, should they stand in my way,’ he thought. 

After implanting false memories into the minds of those within his neighborhood, he finally returned to his house, sitting back down at the table and finishing his sandwich. It was a rewarding meal after handling an annoyance, filling his exhausted body with much needed energy. 

As he grabbed the remote, he turned the living room T.V. on, switching over to the local news station. 

[REPORTER: “It’s a sad day, folks. There have been over twelve found dead, and twenty-three in critical condition. We still don’t know what caused the police helicopter to crash down, but analysts predict it was simply a freak accident.”]

It was surprising just how quick the news got onto such topics as it was merely minutes ago that the disastrous event struck the neighborhood. 

‘Well, I’m not to blame for this. They attacked me, not the other way around. Nothing wrong with defending myself,’ he thought. 

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