CHAPTER 318: SCREAM

Aria had never expected to see the city from a bird’s eye view, especially when she was technically the bird herself.

As she soared above the city, looking for anyone in distress, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth in horror. It had only been a few minutes since the Quest began but people were already beginning to riot like it was the end of days.

Bodies laid scattered in the streets while shop windows and property were being trashed by the people. Even those without powers seemed to be joining in. However she also noticed that while not as numerous, there were people trying to help.

She saw one group of people being corralled towards the theatre. About a dozen people were defending a large group of about 100 women or children from at least three to four hundred hooligans. There were some men among the 100 but they were bleeding profusely, most likely wounded and in desperate need of medical attention.

Aria’s wings beat harder against the air as she hovered above the chaos. Her heart thudded in her chest, equal parts adrenaline and dread. She had known things would be bad, but this... this was something else.

She locked onto the scene below. A cluster of defenders surrounded by screaming, weapon-wielding rioters. Blood already stained the pavement. The wounded were being shielded by human walls, people putting themselves between the mob and the vulnerable.

Aria didn’t hesitate.

"There!" she shouted, pointing toward the theatre district. "They need help now! I’m going ahead!"

"Wait—" Crystal’s voice called from behind, sharp with alarm.

But Aria was already gone, wings catching the wind as she shot forward like a dart. The rooftops blurred beneath her, cries and shouts rising from the streets below. She gritted her teeth. Her voice wouldn’t be enough. She’d need to scream.

Crystal cursed under her breath and planted her foot hard against the ground. She didn’t have wings, but she didn’t need them.

Frost bloomed beneath her boots, cold mist swirling as ice spread in a jagged path. With a sharp push, she launched herself forward, skating down her frozen trail like a comet, weaving around shattered lampposts and overturned cars. She chased Aria’s silhouette across the sky, her mind racing.

"Dammit, Aria," she muttered. "You better not die on me."

The theatre was only a few blocks away, but at the speed they were moving, it wouldn’t take long to reach it. Even so, Crystal could already feel the chill clinging to her skin, not from her magic but from the sheer scale of what was unfolding.

Were humans always this...destructive? Was the allure of power really that great?

Among the crowd heading towards the theatre, the leader who had rallied the group together was now breathing in shallow, ragged gasps. His hands pressed weakly against the gaping wound in his side, but the blood wouldn’t stop. It seeped through his fingers, hot and fast, pooling beneath him on the pavement. Each pulse of pain was a reminder of his failure. He had tried to help. He had stood in front of the others when the mob surged toward them. But now...

Now he was just another body on the ground, mere feet away from the theatre, from a place they could defend themselves.

His wife knelt beside him, her hands stained red, shaking as she tried to stop the bleeding. Their daughter sobbed, clutching at his other arm, her small voice trembling as she begged him not to die.

He could see it in their eyes. Not just fear.

Terror.

The kind that ran so deep it made the world around you blur.

He hated this. Hated how powerless he was. Hated that he couldn’t stand, couldn’t fight, couldn’t protect them. His vision swam. The screams and chaos faded in and out like someone twisting the volume of reality.

Then... something changed.

The light above them dimmed.

He blinked slowly, his head rolling to the side. The sun had been shining just a moment ago. Now it felt like it had vanished behind something massive.

He turned his eyes skyward and saw her.

Wings spread wide. Red hair trailing in the wind. Silhouetted against the sun, radiant and beautiful all at once.

He couldn’t make out her face clearly, but it didn’t matter. His broken mind grasped at the image like a drowning man grasping for a rope.

An angel.

It had to be.

Please... he mouthed the word more than he spoke it, his lips barely able to form the shape. A tear slipped from the corner of his eye, carving a line down his dirt- and blood-smeared cheek.

"Please," he whispered, voice so thin it was barely air. "Save them... please, just save my girls..."

His eyes fluttered closed.

His wife screamed his name.

His daughter sobbed louder, shaking his arm, shaking him like her tiny hands could pull him back.

Yet his words reached her. Aria’s eyes chilled as she looked down at the mob who had chosen the darkness. They too had stopped when they saw her flying above them. But it wasn’t out of fear. No, they had simply stopped because she was beautiful and in a world without order, being that beautiful came at a price.

Some men licked their lips while others catcalled her, telling the ’Angel’ that they will teach her how to sin if she comes down to them. This only made Aria angrier as her normally soft voice came out chilled with permafrost.

"I will give you one chance and one chance only. If you are part of this group but have not injured anyone. You can turn around and leave right now."

"Or what? You’ll let us hear your lovely little scream~? I would prefer to hear that on a bed!" The man in the lead wielding a warhammer sneered as he hoisted the weapon onto his shoulder. He was middle aged with a thinning hair line.

His vulgar remark resulted in his members laughing and chuckling in agreement. They weren’t taking her words seriously.

At that moment, something in Aria snapped as she slowly lowered herself to the ground. A storm of debris as the wind around her was distorted. She remembered Leo’s request that they do not kill. But he didn’t say anything about not maiming them. She glanced at the people behind her and softly remarked.

"You might wanna cover your ears."

Shocked that someone had come to save them, most people listened to her as if she was their savior. She even saw one brave little girl using her tiny hands to cover her unconscious Dad’s ears even as tears trickled down her face.

Smiling at that sight, she turned back to the men with fire in her eyes.

"You all wanted to me hear me scream? Fine. I’ll scream for you. But don’t say I didn’t warn you."

She took a deep breath in as the Mob felt a chill go down their spines. As if something dangerous was about to happen. The Leader realizing that the source of the danger was the one woman they had dismissed and insulted, instantly shouted

"Shit! Somebody stop her!"

But it was too late. Aria took a step to brace herself as she let out the loudest scream she had ever done in her life. The ground in front of her cracked and the windows in the surroundings shattered as a storm of wind shot out from her mouth.

Like a domino, the Mob began to scream, falling to the ground as blood gushed from their ears, their eardrums having been completely destroyed by the noise that Aria had unleashed.

When Crystal arrived moments later, she was shocked to see Aria tending to the wounded, handing out potions from her inventory while the Destructive Mob was moaning in agony on the ground. Crystal realized that Aria truly belonged to the Chaos Pantheon when she saw this scene. While she may seem nice and kind, she was not above destruction if they messed with her