Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 478: The raid

Few minutes earlier...

"Hello guys! Welcome back to my channel, HuntWithTheLordOfOceans," Noah said, waving at a small camera embedded in the helmet he was holding in his hand. "Can you guys guess where I am right now?"

---

_LOL_Man: No shit Sherlock, the video title clearly states that you are in San Francisco. Btw I heard the situation is very dangerous there. Be careful.

DaoOfFarting: How many Awakeners are participating in the raid? What about the people living in the city?

Noah’sSlaveInBasement: Kyaaa!!! Master is live again! Please call me good girl, master.

Noah’sWife: Stfu bitch. You should be embarrassed of your nickname. Hubby!!! Please don’t do anything dangerous.

IHateBitches: I heard the Lion King is also participating in the raid. Stop showing your stupid face and turn the camera around.

---

"Alright, alright. Calm down, guys," Noah said as he put on the helmet. He was reading the rapidly moving comments on his phone.

Only a few seconds had passed and already fifty thousand people had joined.

Even though he was a famous live streamer with sixty million subscribers who regularly uploaded dungeon clearing videos and day-to-day vlogs, this was the first time so many people had joined his stream so quickly.

He turned his head to show the surroundings to his viewers. Hundreds of Awakeners stood before him, with ten of equal standing gathered beside him. Most of them were quite famous locally. As for the S-Rankers, they were renowned heroes that everyone knew.

The comment section flooded with exclamation marks and shocked emojis from the viewers. They were all the faces of their heroes, each one a legend in their own right, yet they all stood side by side. What kind of monster had appeared in San Francisco that even the Lion King and the Blood Demon were participating in this raid together?

"Well, guys, I won’t be able to read the comments anymore since I’m about to head in, so enjoy yourselves," Noah said. He made a heart shape with his fingers and said while pouting, "I absolutely wuve you all!"

"Oh dear lord, what crime have I committed for you to show me such a heinous sight!" Rocky gasped from beside him. "I need to bleach my eyes to rid myself of this cursed image."

Noah gave him a single glance, ignored him, and continued streaming as he moved a few feet away.

"Th-this bastard," Rocky muttered, obviously annoyed. He turned to Aryan, who stood on his other side, and asked, "Is it alright to let him stream this raid? Things might get bloody in there."

"Since the American Association is allowing it, who are we to raise objections," Aryan answered with a sigh.

He had seen a few of Noah’s live streams before. Whenever things got intense, the worst of the gore was either blurred out or cut entirely, meaning the streams always aired on a slight delay while a moderator censored anything that shouldn’t be seen.

That was most likely why the Association was allowing it as well. Through the stream, they could showcase the might of their strongest Awakener and how he commanded the clearing of the highest ranked dungeon.

At Theodore’s order, the Awakeners stepped past the border of the city.

The moment they crossed it, the brightness of the morning completely vanished and the blue sky turned terrifyingly dark.

Most of the buildings had been demolished into ruins. The lights that had once illuminated the entire city were gone without a trace. Faint black mist blanketed the whole area, sending an eerie chill down the spine of every Awakener present. The atmosphere was strangely cold and deeply unsettling.

Leo turned, finding that the same darkness blanketing the sky had appeared like a tall wall behind them. He reached out and touched it, but his hand was strongly repelled backward.

"The exit is blocked," he declared, his expression darkening. "Lion King, please explain what’s happening here."

Before Theodore could say anything, the dark mist stirred at several points ahead of them. It compressed together, forming several dark figures with twisted expressions. They all had the shape of humans, yet they seemed far from it.

"Graagr..." the humanoid monsters let out wet, disturbing growls.

"They are A-Ranked monsters called Soul Eaters. Their mere touch can corrupt any body part they make contact with. Everyone, prepare yourselves and make sure not to let them hit you," Theodore declared, drawing a shiny golden spear from a small pouch hanging around his waist. "Tankers at the front. Strikers, support them. Mages, attack from the back. Healers, remain on standby."

At his order, the Awakeners quickly moved into formation, each S-Ranker positioning themselves behind their respective groups.

From the other side, the Soul Eaters bolted forward in twisted, lurching motions, their arms hanging loosely at their sides and their dark mouths stretched wide like gaping holes.

The two forces collided. The Tankers blocked the advance using their shields while the Strikers unleashed a barrage of attacks with weapons laced in concentrated mana. From the back, the Mages unleashed wide-range spells. Fireballs rained down from one flank while crushing boulders fell on the other. Some monsters had their bodies frozen solid while others were cut down by the blades of the Strikers.

Soul Eaters had appeared in dungeons fewer than five times in recorded history, and every single time they had, casualties were unavoidable. Yet here, against the elite A to AAA-Ranked Awakeners of America, the monsters were being killed like flies.

In just a couple of hours, all the Soul Eaters at the border were wiped out. The few Awakeners who had sustained injuries were immediately healed by the spells of Saintess Riya.

The team moved forward. The deeper they went, the more Soul Eaters kept emerging. Yet not a single S-Ranker had to lift a finger to deal with them. The A-Rankers held their ground and dominated the field with surprising ease.

"America has trained their Awakeners thoroughly," Aryan said, genuinely impressed. "Each of them fights like a veteran. Some of them are even performing at an S-Rank level. I may need to revisit the training regimen for my own guild members."

"Haha, we are honored to be praised by none other than the Blood Demon himself," Noah said, completely in character. "Folks, did you hear what the Blood Demon just said? Even he is envious of our Rankers."

Theodore called out from the front, "Alright everyone. We will rest here for a few minutes before marching forward."

The Awakeners settled down among the ruins of scattered buildings, catching their breath.

"Tch, the monsters here aren’t even that dangerous. If we had come sooner, the city might not have ended up in ruins like this," one of the Awakeners said, drinking water from a bottle.

"Precisely. The government wasted time waiting for foreign support," the one beside him added. He lowered his voice and continued, "To be honest, we didn’t even need their help. With the Lion King and the Lord of the Oceans leading us, we could have easily cleared this dungeon on our own. Now we even owe them a fav—"

He never got to finish his sentence. A wide shadow fell across both of their faces.

"Th-the Lion King?" the duo murmured, gulping hard.

Theodore stared down at them with his auburn eyes, his thick, ruffled hair giving the impression of an actual lion gazing down at its prey.

"If you have that much energy to spare on running your mouths, why don’t you patrol the surrounding area and check for any remaining monsters," Theodore said in a low, heavy voice. It was phrased as a suggestion, but every Awakener within earshot understood it as an order.

"As you command, sir!" the duo shouted in unison, scrambling to their feet and rushing outward.

Theodore held his gaze on their retreating figures until they disappeared from view. Then he turned and made his way back toward the raised platform of a ruined building.

"That was surprisingly out of character for you," Aryan said, falling into step behind him. "I thought you might actually praise them for their sentiment."

"Tch, what do you take us for?" Theodore muttered. "We aren’t the kind of people to talk badly about those who came to our aid and risked their lives to do it."

He turned his eyes sideways and added in a low, barely audible tone, "I am grateful for your help. On behalf of all of America."

"Now you are giving me the creeps," Aryan said, genuinely taken aback as he stepped away. "That sounded uncomfortably close to a confession. Let me make something very clear. I am already married."

Theodore’s expression hardened immediately. "I was an idiot to show any respect to a fool like you. Get lost before I—"

"Aaaghhhhhh!!!"

A loud scream tore through the silence, sharp enough to snap every head in the area toward its source. The voice belonged to one of the men Theodore had just sent out to patrol.

Both Aryan and Theodore broke into a sprint without a word between them. When they reached the area and saw what lay before them, the breath caught in both of their throats.