Doomsday Pillars

KABOOOM!!!

A severe explosion arose as the red stick of dynamite blew up near Alex, or rather, right in front of him. The others who noticed the explosion couldn\'t help but shout, as they were worried about their leader\'s condition.

As the thick smoke dispersed, the group was greeted by the sight of white translucent barrier with only faint cracks covering Alex\'s figure. Fortunately, Alex reacted fast enough to immediately casted his [Shield Barrier] spell. 

However, despite him being unaffected by the explosion, Alex hurriedly turned his gaze around. He was mostly worried about the other fighters around him. The explosion resulting from the dynamite was quite huge, as the blast knocked back a few others who coincidentally were near him.

When Alex saw that the other fighters were mostly deafened by the thundering sound and suffered several grazes on their bodies due to the blast and fall, he heaved a sigh of relief. But then his gaze turned sharp, when he turned his eye towards the Heavenly Gate people. 

These lunatics were willing to kill themselves only for the sake of their belief.. These kinds of people were the hardest to deal with. While Alex was thinking of how to handle these lunatics the best possible way, his attention was attracted by another commotion.

KABOOM! KABOOM!!! KABOOM!!

Several loud sounds resounded through the air, as there seemed to be more and more explosions happening on many corners of the battlefield.

Realizing the hectic situation they had to deal with, and the possibility of it growing even more chaotic, Alex swiftly shouted, "Keep your distance with those suiciders! Don\'t get too close to them, barrage them from afar while battling those who transformed and don\'t carry anything!"

As soon as the orders were given, the already fierce barrage swiftly increased 3 times, as more bullets and spells were thrown towards those lunatics.

But unexpectedly, despite receiving the 3 times intensity of attacks, these lunatics seemed to not feel anything, as they kept their advancement towards the group. It looked like they were able to ignore the attacks thanks to their high resistance and regenerative ability.

Alex also noticed another problem with these madmen. It seemed they were unaffected by the poisonous smokes spreading around the battlefield, while some of the fighters on Alex\'s side started to be affected by it. 

Those affected by the continuous exposure with the poisonous smokes began to feel their bodies weaker, as their limbs turned sluggish and their minds spunned. This made the fighters have to rotate and sent the affected one to the back to recover.

Noticing the severe situation, Ardeth as a Wind Magus fighter decided to solve the situation. Collaborating with other strong Wind Magus fighters, they swiftly casted [Wind Gust] spell, effectively blowing the poisonous smokes away towards the other side.

Meanwhile, Theo, Daisy and the other Light Magus fighters also didn\'t remain still. They quickly casted [Shield Barrier] on the side where the smokes came or where the recent poison jar explosion happened.

The two parties collaborated with each other to take care of the poisonous smokes. Alas, their spells and range was quite limited. Thus, dozens of Sky realm fighters were still affected by the smokes and became heavily wounded or dead.

The intense battle kept continuing to blaze on for several minutes, as the status quo was maintained. When Alex was sure there were no more surprises from the enemy, he immediately gave the signal. 

Immediately after, another wave of fighters led by Jurgen swiftly entered the battlefield and struck the Heavenly Gate people.

*Tratatatata* *Taratatatat*

Loud gunshots reverberated in the air. The people who rushed out of the buildings inside the compound were shot before they could get any closer to the group. Now, only the transformed were leff; grotesque-looking humans Alex needed to help deal with personally.

There were still a few dozens of them locked in a brutal battle against the fighters. A few Sky realm fighters were working together and ganging up on one of these monsters to stop them, and still didn\'t manage to defeat it in a short time. In short, these monsters were not so easily killed, as if they were strengthened cockroaches.

When Alex was about to join the fight against these monsters, from the largest building located at the center of the compound, a group of people came out and quickly made their way over to the group.

However, from the demeanor this group of people showed, they didn\'t look like fighters at all, more like a bunch of scientists. Then, one of the men among the group attracted Alex\'s attention. The second highest-ranking man in the Heavenly Gate, the right-hand man of Hafiz, the chemist.

Seeing the figure of Alex looking at him, the spectacled man waved his hand and shouted from the distance, "Mr. Alex..!!"

The unexpected greeting after all the hostile actions surely made Alex concerned about the motives of this man. So, he decided to approach the group, of course, still maintaining his guard to the highest level.

The chemist, the most senior among them, quickly opened his mouth when Alex arrived several meters away from them. Alex, who saw the gesture, swiftly stopped in his tracks and waited for the man\'s words.

"Mr Alex, the future you were in was incredibly disastrous and dangerous. Is that correct?" The man asked with an inquisitive tone.

"Yes, it was." Alex replied calmly. 

"Then… Why did you go against us? The work I have done will help humanity survive longer and grow stronger. Look at that beauty." The man said, pointing his fingers towards one of the transformed humans.

Unfortunately for him, his words were only received with a piercing glare. "Helping humanity? By creating a mindless cult? That\'s YOUR solution for the survival of humanity?"

Ignoring the gaze he was given, as if nothing had happened, the man said, "Ah... yes, yes, you are right... Actually, I never liked what Hafiz did. It makes us look like a crazy cult. But what I did here is purely science. The method I chose is so unorthodox no other governments would support me, which forced me to resort to people like him. If you gave me more time to deepen my studies, I could really create something that would greatly help humanity."

Upon hearing the logical explanation coming out of the man\'s mouth, Alex could only sigh deeply. At first glance, the man\'s idea might help humanity, however, as the one who came back from the future, Alex knew the result of this path.

"It doesn\'t work… In the future, the result of your work will only bring harm to humanity."

"There\'s no way that would be true this time! Because of your interference… your early information about the Doomsday, the attack that drove us to this country. If it wasn\'t because of you, there was no way I could have perfected these beauties."

Alex could only keep his silence, as he heard the current reality spouted from the chemist\'s mouth. It was indeed true this transformation ability could change Earth realm fighters into Sky realm-level fighters was new. He had never seen an ability like this one in his previous life. However, the cost of this easily gained power was too difficult to bear for humanity, truly difficult.

"You might be successful in creating a new, powerful being to stand against the apocalypse. But the cost itself is their humanity! That thing is no longer a human! What is the point of getting more power if you are no longer human? We might as well just surrender to the apocalypse, then." Alex spoke emotionally.

However, the old man kept his calm when he was faced with Alex\'s harsh words, then said, "That\'s because you haven\'t seen the real successful product."

Looking at Alex directly in the eyes, the man continued, "Mr Alex, I have found something here in this country, something precious that helped me perfect my research. I found remains from the Babylonian civilization!"

"What did you find?" Alex asked, curious by the findings.

"You should just see it for yourself, Mr Alex." The chemist said while chuckling.

The chemist then brought out a wireless transmitter and said , "Bring it up."

While Alex was confused by the man\'s words, not far from where Alex stood, the field that looked like a helicopter pad suddenly opened and a huge metal cage emerged from underground. The sudden emergence of the massive cage attracted the attention of everyone, except those who were still focused on fighting and couldn\'t even spare a glance.

Inside the cage, Alex could clearly see a giant human-like figure 3 meters tall with a bulky, muscular reddened body. Apart from the figure\'s face that still looked half human, his entire body seemed to be covered with plant-like roots that had hardened into muscles.

A moment later, the cage swiftly opened up as the figure opened its eyes and roared ferociously like a starving beast.

RRROOOAAARRR!!!

From within the figure\'s physique, Alex could feel an extraordinary power, one that was beyond himself. However, his expression quickly changed when he heard the deafening scream of a girl.

"ADAM!! NO! What have they done to You!!"