Doomsday Pillars

Christina could only lay on the ground, while she was squashed by Jennie\'s motionless body. Her mind went awry. She opened her mouth a few times trying to say something, but nothing could come out from it.

Hands trembling, Christina tried to nudge Jenni hoping she was still okay and she had just lost her consciousness. Alas, all she received was zero response, zero heartbeat, which then followed with the feeling of Jennie\'s body gradually losing its warmness. Unconsciously, a streak of tears flowed down Christina\'s eyes, as she still tried to wake Jennie, unwilling to believe what she was thinking at the moment.

"J-Jenni… Wake up! Please... wake… up..."

Jennie\'s sudden death came as an utter shock for the unprepared Christina. The woman was her friend, sister and mentor. Not only did she represent all of those things to Christina, but also to the whole member of the firebirds group.

Since the beginning, Jennie was the only one who had a military background under her belt. Ever since the apocalypse hit the Earth, Christina had always thought of her as the real leader, the one who actually led the group. The reason Christina was more famous compared to Jennie was only because her illustrious family background and higher cultivation.

Now that Jennie\'s lifeless body was within Christina\'s embrace, the whole member of the firebirds group cried.

As for Christina herself, this was like another blow to her already high emotional distress. First, the death of the young boy she adopted, MaSing, and now even the death of Jennie, the closest sister to her in the world. Right at this moment, Christina could feel her spirit breaking and her heart crumbling apart.

Nam, the ex Triad leader, now one of the strongest people under Christina, quickly approached the dazed woman when he noticed her just lying there motionlessly.

"Christina... I... We... we need to move right away. I\'m sorry to say this, but we are behind the schedule. Hence, please choose someone to carry her and the other fallen comrades\' bodies. While you… you have to head back quickly."

Upon hearing the words \'the other fallen\', Christina finally jerked out of her reverie and casted her gaze to the side towards Nam. Pained expression was seen on her face, as Christina asked the heaviest question for her at the moment.

"Who else did we lose..? H-how many..?"

Nam could clearly sense Christina\'s words were shaking, as if she experienced extreme agony. Sighing inwardly, Nam looked at the stricken Christina, hesitating for a split second before he letting out the unpleasant fact before her.

"Carol, Mirtha and one of my men, Joe."

Anguish filled Christina\'s entire being. Including Jennie, that meant four people lost their lives in the fight against the Chimera. However, the fact was this whole one-week expedition had cost her 11 people. Some of them died when facing the Cerberus, while others died in the chaotic fight against the gargoyles.

Christina stood up with difficulty, wiped the tears dripping down her face and turned towards the others. When everyone looked at the current Christina, they felt goosebumps crawling on their backs, as they realized her eyes were filled with absolute rage.

Gritting her teeth, Christina tried her best to restrain the every-growing killing intent within her, " Uncle. You will pay for this!"

Christina then split the rest of the Sky realm fighters into two groups, the first one was led by Nam and they were in charge of taking care of the dead bodies. Meanwhile, Corrie, Chicken and all the fastest Sky realm fighters, together with her, would run back to the surface as fast as possible to bring a piece of the Chimera as proof of clearing the Abyss Hole.

The journey back also wasn\'t as easy as they thought previously, because the closest they were to the tribulation day, the crazier and frenzier the creature inside the Abyss became.

It took Christina and the others one day and a half to exit the Abyss Hole. They still took that much time despite going at full speed. One could imagine how ferocious the creatures inside were to delay the group of strong Sky realm fighters that much.

The dozen or so Sky realm fighters emerged from the entrance of Abyss Hole and proceeded to quickly grab their vehicles. The group drove the vehicles at top speed as they headed to the city. When they reached the outer area of the city, they were shocked to see the view in front of them.

"!!!"

"Sister, look! What happened there?!"

In the distance, Christina and the others could clearly see plumes of black smoke rising to the sky above the city and vaguely hear the chaos amidst the citizens of Singapore.

"S-Sister, could it be… Are we late?"

"No! There\'s no way!" Christina firmly replied.

Alas, despite her strong front, Christina\'s heart was racing like crazy. The group ignored the turmoil around them and headed to the presidential palace as fast as they could.

The moment their eyes laid on the place, Christina noticed there were far fewer guards stationed in the area, unlike the last time she was here.

Without waiting for the vehicle she was in to stop, Christina immediately jumped down and dashed towards the palace. Christina broke into the main hall at breakneck speed, only to find several corpses on the floor.

Due to the still flowing blood and fresh wounds on the corpses, it was apparent a fight happened here not long ago. Among the dead bodies on the floor, Christina spotted Lieutenant Choi, the guy who had been assigned to her since Hong Kong.

Realizing the guy was still breathing, Christina swiftly ordered her subordinates that just entered the hall, "Treat him now!"

One of the Sky realm Magus fighters who possessed the water element approached Choi and casted a healing spell on him. As he felt his wounds getting better, Choi finally had the energy to say something.

"I-I\'m sorry, Miss Christina... I-I tried to hold them, but there were just too many of them."

"It\'s alright, Choi.. but, my boy..? Where\'s my... my Caleb?"

Lieutenant Choi shook his head, because he didn\'t know the fate of Christina\'s son. Seeing Choi was unaware of Caleb\'s whereabouts, Christina immediately went to one of the guest rooms where her uncle previously held Caleb, only to find a dead body in the room.

Christina immediately went over and checked the body as she recognized the outfit it wore and unfortunately her guess was correct. It was the body of the old maid who had been taking care of her family since childhood.

In an instant, Christina felt as if there were thousands of sharp arrows piercing her heart. Pain, unimaginable pain. The pain wasn\'t physical, but it still hurt nonetheless. 

Christina\'s heart beat faster than ever before, followed by a stinging headache. The worry of her son\'s well being, the sadness of her loved ones\' death. Christina was devastated.

Before Christina could drown deeper in sorrow, her attention was caught by a sudden knocking sound. Turning her head, Christina saw Corrie standing at the door.

"Christina, your friend from Bali is here. It looks like he knows what happened."

The words felt like a refreshing breeze in scorching desert in Christina\'s ears. She quickly bolted towards the door, as her eyes were greeted by the sight of a man. Christina couldn\'t see the face of the man because the headache caused her sight to be a bit blurry.

"A-Alex... Is that you..? You are here! ...like you have promised...."