Evernight City's alarms had been blaring for a full hour.
Their piercing cries scraped across eardrums like dull knives, and the red warning lights made the entire city look as though it had been soaked in blood.
The streets were deserted, the shops shuttered, and the curtains drawn across every window of the residential buildings.
People huddled together in the shelters. Some prayed under their breath, some watched livestreams on their phones, and some trembled with their children in their arms.
"Is it still not over?"
"They're still fighting outside. There are explosions everywhere..."
"I heard there are ten World-Class Wanted Bosses. Ten!"
"Senior Xia Yuan is holding off eight of them alone. The other UR Contract Spirits are handling the rest."
"But... what if he can't hold them off?"
"Senior Xia Yuan is the strongest Contract Spirit of the modern age. How could he fail?"
"That's all well and good, but those are eight whole World-Class Wanted Bosses, not a bunch of cabbages."
"Why have so many Bosses come here? Is Evernight City going to be destroyed?!"
"..."
No one answered that question.
Everyone present knew the answer. If Xia Yuan failed to hold them off, Evernight City would be doomed.
In the underground command center beneath city hall, several United States officials gathered around a long table, each looking grimmer than the last.
"Have you reached Doctor?" asked a middle-aged man in a sharp suit. His tie had come loose, and sweat covered his forehead.
"No. The line has been busy the whole time." A woman who looked like a secretary shook her head.
"Then send someone to find him! Doctor is the head of the Global Summit. In a situation like this, we need him to take charge!"
"We already sent people, but the laboratory... they can't