The air was thick with a metallic smell and the low hum of something ancient and awful. 

One by one, people were pulled from the terrified crowd, their cries swallowed by the chanting of the cultists. 

The leader, a figure draped in dark robes that seemed to drink the flickering torchlight, stood at the center of it all. 

With each person dragged forward, he'd perform a quick, brutal ritual, and a faint shimmer of light would flow from the victim towards him.

Su Mu watched, hidden in the shadows of the opposite building, the energy dome, as she and Xu'er found their stomachs churning.

More than half of the trapped civilians were now lifeless heaps upon the blood-soaked sigils, their bodies fueling the terrible ritual.

On a strange, almost invisible screen only she could see, numbers ticked upwards:

[Source Power: 88.7%]... [Source Power: 92.4%]... [Source Power: 95.9%]

The numbers on her attribute panel were a horrifying testament to the atrocity, each percentage point a silent scream absorbed into her. 

"Assholes," she breathed, her voice barely a scratch in her throat. "Don't let me find you guys again..." 

It was a weak threat, she knew. 

What could she, an F-minus rank Awakener, basically the bottom of the barrel in terms of power, possibly do against these monsters right now? Not a damn thing. 

She gritted her teeth. 

But just you wait, she thought, with the help of the attribute panel, it's a different matter. 'If I ever get stronger…' 

Just as that vengeful thought took root, something shifted on the almost transparent attribute panel. 

The attribute bar suddenly blazed bright, filling up as the cult leader did his terrible work. 

Now, it was completely full. The absorbed energy, siphoned from the raw, chaotic emotional and life energy released by the victims swirling in the air, solidified, turning into a single, glowing point. 

One point of source power.

What just happened? she wondered, a flicker of confusion cutting through her fear. 

Then, just as quickly as it filled, the attribute bar in her mind emptied, and the process started all over again.

...0.1%... 0.5%... 

It began to slowly absorb the energy once more, filling up with the same steady, quiet efficiency as before. 

However, this time, with the condensation of that first point of Source Power, a few more details, like puzzle pieces clicking into place, appeared in her mind. 

It wasn't a voice, or a vision, but an innate understanding, a new layer of information overlaying her perception of her own abilities. 

This new knowledge detailed on how to use the Source Power she was accumulating.

'Upgrade?' she thought, her mind catching onto the concept. 

It was simple, yet the implications were vast. 

The information clarified that she could use one point of Source Power to upgrade any skill considered below level 5 by one level. 

It didn't matter if the skill was a level 1 or a level 5, breathing method, or a martial artist's technique or a spell… one point of Source Power would elevate it by a single level.

"Just one level?" Su Mu pondered, the information still settling. 

The efficiency was the same, regardless of the starting point, as long as it was below the level 5 threshold. 

As for the skills already above level 5, the mental note was clear: that was a different matter entirely, requiring more Source Power.

'Okay, so this is Source Power,' she thought, trying to process it. "And I can also… upgrade bound items, even add physical and spirit attributes directly, but the usage efficiency is slightly different."

A strange feeling washed over Su Mu, a bizarre juxtaposition of the gruesome reality before her and this sudden new understanding of her own power. 

She looked at the ongoing massacre, the cult leader raising his glowing knife for another victim. 

The horror was still potent, still gut-wrenching.

Just as despair threatened to completely swallow Su Mu, to thicken the already choking air with its suffocating weight, everything changed.

The very sky above Monster City, a place usually filled with floating clouds, seemed to awaken with a sentient fury. 

It wasn't a gradual shift; it was as if a sleeping giant had been violently prodded. 

A low, guttural rumble began to vibrate through the air, a sound far deeper and more resonant than any simple thunder Su Mu had ever heard. 

It wasn't just a noise; what followed it was a physical sensation, shaking the very foundations of the surrounding buildings, rattling the loose debris in the alleyways.

This rumble grew in intensity with frightening speed. 

The sky itself, moments before just a dark canvas, began to darken further, but not in a way that suggested nightfall. 

Instead, it was a swirling congregation of storm clouds that boiled and churned with impossible speed, a vortex of bruised purples, angry greys, and terrifying blacks. 

They gathered directly above the large energy dome, it was as if the sky itself, the silent witness to countless events in Monster City, couldn't bear to watch the vicious acts of the evil god's followers any longer and was gathering its rage into a tangible form.

"What in the…" Xu'er breathed beside Su Mu, her voice filled with shock as her eyes were wide and reflecting the terrifying spectacle above.

Su Mu didn't answer, her own gaze fixed upwards. 

The knot of fear in her stomach was still there, but it was now joined by a sliver of awe, and a desperate, almost mad hope.

Then, flashes of blinding, silver-blue lightning began to tear across the rapidly forming cloud banks. 

These weren't ordinary bolts; they were savage, jagged tears in the fabric of the storm, each flash briefly illuminating the upturned, horrified faces of the remaining civilians trapped below and the startled, almost confused, expressions of the cultists. 

The air crackled with raw, untamed power, a palpable energy that smelled of something primal. 

It made the hairs on Su Mu's arms stand on end.

Suddenly, a voice, impossibly loud and filled with a righteous fury, boomed from the churning chaos above. 

It wasn't just spoken; it was a declaration that resonated through every stone and soul in the vicinity. "Damn you… members of the Hollow! How dare you act so wantonly in my Monster City!"

Following the harsh cursing came a deafening roar, a sound so powerful it felt like it shook the entire district to its very core. 

Su Mu clapped her hands over her ears, wincing, but it did little to muffle the sheer, overwhelming force of the sound.

And then, as if summoned by that furious voice, a huge spear of lightning, thicker than a water tank, gathered itself in the churning clouds directly above the horrifying dome. 

It blazed with an almost sentient fury, a pillar of pure, incandescent rage, making everything below seem insignificant and fragile. 

For a breathtaking, heart-stopping moment, it hung there, a divine judgment ready to strike. 

The light it cast was so intense it bleached all color from the scene, turning everything into stark shades of white and deepest black.

However, even in that blinding light, few awakeners like Su Mu with visual enhancements saw a faint human shadow.

Only for a moment. And then, it fell.

There was no sound at first, just an impossible, terrifying descent. 

The violet-black energy barrier, the one that had contemptuously shrugged off the combined attacks of E-rank and even D-rank Awakeners, the shield that had seemed an unbreakable prison just moments before, didn't even last a fraction of a second under the incandescent wrath of that powerful thunder.

The huge lightning bolt struck the dome with an apocalyptic crash, a sound that ripped through the air. 

It wasn't just loud; it was a physical concussion that slammed into everything. 

The shield didn't just break; the shockwave it brought, a visible, physical fist of displaced air and raw power, slammed outwards from the point of impact. 

It hit the surrounding buildings with a huge force of a hundred demolition crews, shattering windows into glittering shards, and sending debris, chunks of concrete, twisted metal, and shattered glass remnants raining down like deadly hail.

The onlookers, Su Mu and Xu'er included, who had been pressed against the building for cover, were thrown back like ragdolls. 

Su Mu felt a sharp, searing pain as her shoulder slammed into a brick wall. 

The world spun, a chaotic mess of noise, light, and flying debris. 

She tasted dust and something metallic, probably her own blood in her mouth. 

Vaguely, she heard Xu Er cry out, a sound quickly lost in the overwhelming cacophony. 

It was only thanks to them staying slightly far away that they were still, get up without much injury.

Because they kept a slight distance, they were able to get up without significant injury.

However, it's a different story for those inside; the force of the shockwave was very intense, not just pushing the civilians, but also including the Ferals, the awakeners fighting them, and the Evil God followers.

Throwing them into the distance, tumbling end over end before they finally skidded to a painful halt amidst the rubble-strewn street, further away from the epicenter.

The only one that was unaffected was the leader of the Evil God Followers, still standing there, holding the blood-drenched blade in his hands, with a wicked smile.