The Rise Of A Porter

Natalie\'s fingers become entwined in the woollen blanket, gripping it as if it were more substantial than a square of multicoloured yarn. Holding on to it like a shield to protect her from fire.

"Mommy..." The ten-year-old mumbled, seeking help from the mother she never met. Her father had gone out a few hours ago to get some supplies but hadn\'t returned yet. She was worried, and the sight in front of her made her completely break down in tears. 

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Through her window, a giant draconic monster could be seen at a distance. Natalie\'s home was quite far away from the observatory and hence the dragon looked no bigger than a caterpillar to her. Yet the continuous stream of blue flames coming out of its mouth made her feel as if she was living through a nightmare. 

The flames engulfed everything in sight. It didn\'t differentiate between trees and humans. Whatever touched it, was burnt to ashes. The earth was scorched beyond repairs. Yet unbeknownst to the little child, more than a dozen warriors were putting their lives on the line to protect innumerable children like her.

"RAAWWRRR!"

A monstrous cry resounded through the air. Natalie instinctively threw her blanket over herself, crying non-stop. She was just a kid. She wasn\'t capable of handling such situations by herself. She needed someone\'s help, someone\'s guidance. 

Then from the lane outside her apartment complex, came the sound of sirens and tires screeching on the lane. The cavalry was there to save the civilians. Natalie looked down at the blanket and release her hold of it. The once perfectly knitted blanket now had multiple finger holes in it and was stretched out of shape. She heard people running out in the corridors. Upon hearing the commotion, she gathered whatever strength she had, threw the blanket aside and rushed to open the door

The moment she opened the door, she felt a gloved hand on her shoulder. Strangely, the hand contained more warmth than the blanket could provide. She heard a tender voice but couldn\'t focus on the words. Only then did she realise she had been crying this entire time. 

***

Nina hugged Natalie tightly before lifting the kid in her arms. Natalie tightly wrapped her little hands around Nina\'s neck. All while crying on her shoulder. 

Nina wanted to console the weeping kid, but she was too focused on someone else. 

\'You better not die, Arnold...\' She thought, \'I\'d never forgive you if you do!\'

"Nina, we\'ve received new orders." Allen reminded Nina, "We have to evacuate the entire city... The Higherups at the syndicate has already sent a notification to all of the S and above ranking members to immediately rush back to LA."

"I know that!" Nina snapped back, scaring the little girl in her arms, \'I know that but... by the time they reach Arnold and the others- No! He will come back to us. He always does!\'

She pulled Natalie closer to her chest, tears now overflowing from her mystical eyes. Much like Natalie, Nina too needed some form of love and consolation. For, the city of Angels had been declared to be a lost cause, just the way it had been for Florida all those years ago... 

At the moment, the city-wide evacuation was taking place. All of the S or above ranked warriors had been summoned back from all of their mission. But even so, it might take a couple of days for the Syndicate to counterattack with all their might. And by then, it would be too late for Arnold and the others... after all, even superhumans were mortal.

Allen gently placed his hands on Nina\'s shoulder, "Don\'t worry, he\'ll come back. I know he would. But for now, let\'s do our job and help evacuate the civilians. Once that\'s done we can rush in to help them. The sooner we\'re done here, the better it would be for all of us."

Nina nodded and quickly wiped the tears off her face. What would Arnold say if he saw her crying all over herself? He\'d never let it go and tease her thoroughly for the rest of her life. Either way, Allen was right. Worrying about them wouldn\'t help them fight against the Dragon. 

Then she heard it. The bloodcurdling cry of the dragon. The roar of the beast struck her ears like a wall of pain. All of them instinctively clutched their ears.

She wanted it to stop, but it didn\'t. She felt a sharp pain in their heads but the cry didn\'t stop. All air left her lungs, her heart trembled like a dried branch of a tree in the middle of a storm. Next, her knees weakened. The wailing slowly stopped. The onslaught of the sound was now over. But Nina noticed something... unlike before, the cry they just heard was filled with pain and agony.

She handed Natalie to Josh and rushed outside, "What\'s going on!?"

Nina asked the mage who had the ability to view things at a longer distance. The mage called it the \'Sniper vision\'.

Nina asked him once again, but it looked like the mage couldn\'t register what Nina had just asked him. But she was desperate to know what was happening there. 

She shook the mage hard and he finally snapped out of his trance. He looked at Nina and... Smiled, and pointed in the dragon\'s direction. 

"Words! Just speak damnit!" Nina grew more and more irritated with every passing moment. 

"They just severed one of its heads..." The mage mumbled. Even he couldn\'t believe what he was seeing but it was true! "There was a golden flash and the next thing I know, one of the dragon\'s heads fell off its nape. 

"What!?" Nina couldn\'t believe her ears, "Who did it?"

"Um... I\'m not sure. It all happened so suddenly, I barely had the chance to blink! But one of the dragon\'s head is missing. I can bet my life on it!"

\'It\'s him... I\'m sure! Arnold was the one to do it. I\'m sure it was him! YES!\' She threw a fist in the air, \'That\'s my boyfriend for y\'all! Suck it, you dragon pus*y!\'

***

Moments ago at the observatory... 

"That hellfire is troublesome. Not for me but the others..." Arnold mumbled while the angel slowly transformed itself into Arnold\'s impenetrable armour, "but first...\'

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Your skill, [Berserker\'s Rage] has been activated. All of the user\'s attributes have been boosted by 150%.

You have used [Heavenly Blessing], lvl 5.

Your summons have been granted attribute boost. 

Mana increased by 80%

HP increased by 80%

 [Heaven\'s Penalty] debuff has been applied to your foe as they bear [Shadow Affinity].

Foe\'s mana decreased by 50%

Foe\'s HP decreased by 50%

You have activated, [Rapid Flash], your agility has increased by 10%

___

"Let\'s do this," Arnold mumbled, tightening his grip over the Guardian Angel\'s Mana sword. 

"Yes, my liege." Abdiel, Arnold\'s guardian angel replied and began flapping his wings. 

Summoning Abdiel not only gave Arnold the immunity to Tiamut\'s attacks but also gave him the ability to fly and wield a mana sword by combining with the angel.

By combining, it meant that Abdiel had transformed himself into Arnold\'s armour and sword. While the armour protected him from any damage Tiamut could do on him, the mana sword could cut through anything in the whole world. But as the name suggested, using the mana sword consumed Arnold\'s mana. Each time he swung it, it consumed 4900 mana. Moreover, simultaneously activating so many skills had already taken about 50% of his mana, but it was all worth it. 

Initially, Arnold was saving up his skills for the upcoming raid on the swamps, but he got stuck in this dire situation. He couldn\'t afford to hold back against a demigod. Thus he had pulled all the stops. He was going to defeat this self-proclaimed God, and live through it. 

With his temporary ability to fly and all the boosts applied he had applied to himself, he was already a deadly opponent. Yet all this combined with the mana sword gave him enough strength to cut through Tiamut\'s Hellfire spewing head like a hot knife through butter. 

"One down... Three to go." Arnold smiled, wiping the beast\'s gross blue blood off his face.

Tiamut let out a beastly cry, for one of her head had been sliced on half. Yet for her, the pain was only momentary. Unfortunately, for humans, it would be eternal... 

Arnold thought he was winning, but in reality, he just doomed everyone around him. 

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WARNING⚠

The Goddess of Dragons, Tiamut, is about to use a lethal ability. 

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