Marion's voice cut through the chaos, echoing loudly. She spoke a single word in Enochian, sharp and bright. Light flared as if a missile of green light had burst from where she stood; it pushed through the demon like a harpoon, piercing it. The demon stumbled in its flight, smoke rising from its body. It roared in pain and rage, slowing down and collapsing to the ground on one knee.

  "Come here!" Samantha grabbed Alexander's hand.

  "What?"

  "Give me some of your [MP]?"

  "Huh?"

  "Your MP. Shit, Marion was right; we should've trained you. All kinds of magic are worked through mana points, or MP. This is called linking!" she exclaimed hurriedly. Her [MP] appeared over her head.

  [SAMANTHA: MP: 350/350]

  "It's a powerful demon!" she shouted. "We need to subdue it now. We need at least [200 MP] to subdue it. I'll give 150, you give 50, alright? That way I can keep a bit more than 100 in case I need to use other techniques."

  "How!"

  "Will it!" she said, as more letters appeared in front of her, pale white.

  [ALEXANDER MP: 118/200]

  His MP had increased slowly since subduing the creature in his apartment.

  Alex nodded, feeling his will come through to her. A brief flash of light passed between them.

  He visualized a transfer toward her. It happened immediately, and he didn't even need to touch her. A brief green glow drifted, like an invisible energy cloud, as quick as an afterthought.

  [ALEXANDER MP: 68/200]

  "I will subdue it," she said. "Now," she explained. "For the most complex skills, the system quantifies them. I'm gonna use [SPIRIT CHAINS]."

  [SKILL SELECTED: SPIRIT CHAINS]

  [MANA COST: 150]

  Alex nodded sharply. A magic sigil appeared before Samantha's hand. From it, a twisting chain of energy reached for the demon, pushing it down and holding the flying demon in place. It struggled sharply until they both felt something lock into place.

  The monster collapsed to the ground on its belly, just like the wolf demon had.

  A spear of white light appeared right above him, stabbing him through the heart. A figure like a bright angel in shining white armor stood behind it. Alex didn't need to guess that it had come from Thomas.

  The summoner stood alone now, the purple light fading from their hands. Marion walked toward them, staff in hand.

  "Surrender," Marion said. "Dispel your demon and leave."

  The summoner pulled off their mask. A woman, maybe forty, with wild eyes and a smile that didn't reach them. "Foolish witch. Do you think your natural magic and pathetic angels can stop the Beast from rising? Our force is made of millions. Our army passed through the Gates and walked through them. Thousands. You can't stop them all."

  Marion smirked. "We don't care about your bluff. We can stop you. Surrender now, or we'll take you and make you talk. And believe me, you will sing."

  Marion raised her staff. A cool breeze started blowing around her, and a magic circle blazed beneath her feet.

  The woman in black laughed, spreading her arms wide.

  "Me? You will not imprison me! I! I will rule in hell! Take me, oh master of the dark!"

  As tendrils rose from Marion's circle, aiming toward the woman, to Alex's shock, flames erupted from the woman's chest, as if explosives had been wrapped to her body. Her clothes caught fire as if doused with fuel, lighting her up like a human torch. Alex gasped as her entire body was consumed, her face morphing into a burning skeleton that immediately fell to the pavement like a lifeless shell.

  The horrid smell of burning human flesh wafted across the empty street.

  "Her master took her," Thomas said. He'd come out of the building. "Coward."

  The bound demon was still crouching, but barely. It looked at Marion with those burning eyes, then at the dead cultists.

  It lifted its head toward Marion, Thomas, and Samantha.

  "You carry... power," it said. The voice sounded like English forced through something that did not have the right shape to speak it. "But so many worlds have opened now. They are stronger. You cannot stop them. The Dukes of the North are out, the West, the East... They are encased in flesh again, like before the Flood. They are back."

  Thomas looked at Marion.

  "Interesting, isn't it?"

  "Who released them?" Marion asked.

  The demon huffed. "I..."

  The creature's eyes drifted from side to side.

  "Ah... I am not allowed to know."

  Marion's expression did not shift. She held herself absolutely still, as if she were measuring the exact moment when it would become more dangerous to let the creature live than to end the conversation.

  Thomas shifted his stance and adjusted his grip on the hilt of his blade. "We should kill it now. Binding something of this tier would tear through what little mana we have left."

  Samantha looked the demon over, her expression quiet. "We could store the binding for later. There is a lot we could learn from it. We could give it to Dee to start learning."

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  "Wait, wait, wait..." Alex said. "Did you hear what he just said? The Flood... What does that mean?"

  "It means demons are out, ancient demons that should be burning in hell for eternity," Thomas replied curtly.

  Marion shook her head, addressing Samantha and ignoring the conversation. "It is too big for him. And it serves no purpose. Not with his current stats. It's better we get rid of it and give him something easier to manage."

  Alexander noticed the quick glance they exchanged. Something about it felt wrong, as if there was a second conversation happening entirely through their eyes. He opened his mouth to ask, but Thomas stepped forward before he could speak.

  Thomas raised his own blade.

  "So," Thomas said. "It is decided."

  Marion nodded.

  Thomas lifted the sword over his head. The demon's eyes swung upward, unflinching.

  "Return to the pit," he said.

  The priest swung down. His sword passed through the demon's neck without resistance. The head separated from the body and dropped to the pavement, rolling to a stop with its eyes already fading.

  Then, the head and body dissolved, breaking apart into black smoke that the wind scattered.

  Marion looked at Alexander. "Well, I am really happy to see that you kept your head through it all. That matters more than your level at this point."

  Alexander's eyes swung from side to side. The street was silent now. Aside from the dead cultists, it was hard to believe, but easy to guess, that everyone on that particular street had been devoured by demons. There were probably bodies inside the homes, and no one to claim them, pick them up, and no one to protect their families.

  "That should bother me more," he said.

  "It will," Samantha replied. She walked past him toward the building. "Later. Once you are somewhere safe enough to think."

  Marion rested a hand on Alexander's arm. "Come inside. We need to ward the building. The protection will not hold on its own."

  Alex sighed. Thoughts rushed through his mind, too many to count. He was fine with fighting this war. He spared a brief thought about the cultists he'd killed, still lying on the street beyond them. Were they really evil? If so, how evil?

  They ran back into the gym. Sandra was seated next to Chris, who was somehow sleeping soundly. Had the woman sedated him? Sean was at his laptop again, pulling up more news feeds.

  "It's everywhere," Sean said. "Every major city. The tears opened simultaneously at 8:47 PM Pacific. That was ninety minutes ago. The estimated death toll is already in the hundreds of thousands. I guess millions. The military is mobilizing, but conventional weapons aren't working well."

  "Have you managed to contact other circles?" Marion asked. "Other magical communities?"

  "It's worked worse than expected. They're scrambling. Most aren't organized like us. The old families are waking up, but it'll take time." Sean's eyes swung toward Alexander. "The system is reaching out to people with bloodlines. Activating them. Right now, maybe one in a thousand people have access. Maybe less."

  The whole thing about the system still made Alex's head spin.

  "All right, there's still a lot to take in. How do you know all that?" Alexander asked.

  "Because I have access too." Sean touched his temple. "I am what they call an Akashic Seer. I can interface with the whole system. I've been designated and ordained, kind of as a system secretary. It's very useful and annoying at the same time." He turned his laptop so Alexander could see. "I... also happen to be the designated tech guy. I do databases and stuff. Now, social media is filled with people claiming they can see game-like interfaces. Most think they're hallucinating. But some are figuring it out."

  Marion sat on the edge of Alexander's desk. She looked tired. Alexander could even say, if he didn't know better, that she looked older than she had an hour ago. "Alexander. We need to talk about your bloodline. About what you are and what you're going to become."

  "I'm listening."

  "The Dee line is old. Your ancestor John Dee was one of the greatest summoners in history. He called angels and bound demons, spoke with entities from beyond the veil, and helped shape the magical traditions of the Western world. That power is in your blood. Dormant until tonight."

  "So, how did it happen? Was it just because someone summoned those things? Why did this System even appear?"

  "Not exactly. The System is a response to the mess we're in. Someone summoned the System in response." Marion pulled a silver pendant from under her shirt, a circle with a sun and a moon. "We did. Nine of us. The last of the old guardian circles. We suspected this was coming. We'd seen the signs: rifts opening, grand magical rituals resulting in thousands of deaths, darkness encroaching, entities testing the barriers, dark cults gathering power. And suddenly, it all broke through. We got in contact immediately and summoned up the oldest magic we knew. Something planned for situations like this: The Akashic System."

  "By that you mean these letters and stats that I see? You brought it? Why... how is it supposed to help?"

  "It's a framework, lad. Rules for magic," Thomas spoke from the side. "A way to harness and quantify power. Magic used to be wild and chaotic. The System is there to organize it in times of crisis. To make it learnable, teachable, and through it, we have the ability to level up and reach greater power than without. It was designed by a long line of sorcerers and witches, prophets and mystics, ancient ascended masters. Prepared for these troubled times. The moment when hell would open up. It... is a costly matter, in fact."

  "Costs what?"

  Marion met his eyes. Her voice became stern and yet carried a deep melancholy. "Us and a few others performed a ritual. The others are in different parts of the world. Thomas, Sandra, and I... were here. We're the Circle of Nine, and we're representatives of the old traditions: witchcraft, ceremonial magic, shamanism, all of it. The ritual required our lives as payment. We're dying, Alexander. Slowly. We have a few weeks, maybe less."

  The apartment went quiet. Even the sounds from outside seemed to fade.

  "Thomas and I knew that full well," Marion continued. "We chose to do it. Better to die activating the System than to watch humanity get slaughtered without a chance. The System finds people with magical bloodlines. Just like you. And gives them access to structured magic: levels, skills, growth. A chance to fight back."

  "You... sacrificed yourselves for this?"

  "Death comes to everyone," Thomas said. "Isn't it better to make it meaningful?"

  Alex sighed, crossing his arms. The pain in his forearm flared for an instant.

  "And where are the others?"

  "Across the world," Marion said. "We're good friends. Edmund Stowell in England, Katherina in Prague, Rashid in Cairo, Priya in West Bengal, Beatriz in Brazil. And Sean's instructor, Master Huang, in the Wudang Mountains."

  "I see," he said slowly, realizing that her revelation meant her certain death. "I really do want to help, if I can. I... still can't get over the fact that probably my life as a trainer might be over," Alexander said. "But seeing what I've seen tonight, it is probably time. Aside from that, I'm just a guy who runs a gym and studies dead traditions."

  "You're John Dee's descendant. Your bloodline is one of the strongest in the Western tradition. The System recognized that." She stood. "And we need to fully awaken that power. Tonight. You need to be initiated. Before something worse than a Rakshasa comes looking for you."

  "Initiation... huh? I kept seeing that message popping up. But what difference does it really make?"

  "We need to perform a ritual," Marion said. "It isn't symbolic. It binds you to the coven, and it gives you authority under the Nine. Without it, the System treats you like a rogue. You'll have access to your abilities, yes, but not the deeper ones. It will keep a registry of skills and more." She paused, jaw tight.

  "What would the ritual actually change?" he asked.

  Thomas answered, "Right now you're half-awake. You can use mana, but only the surface layer. The System recognizes your bloodline, but it doesn't trust you. The initiation is how you convince it that you're part of us. The Nine oversee registered covens. It'll help with managing skills. Also, our friends around the world are initiating their own members. Members swear not to act against each other, and the System enforces that oath. That's why we don't kill each other in power grabs like in the old days."

  "This is for fun. You're doing it because we'll be dead without someone with your affinity."

  Alexander rubbed the bandages on his arm. "So if I don't do this, what? I'm stuck at this base level forever?"

  "You'll hit a ceiling fast," Samantha said. "You'll be strong for a rogue, but still a rogue. And if your power starts drifting in the wrong direction, the Nine will treat you as a threat rather than an ally."

  Alexander took a deep breath. "Alright. What do I have to do?"

  "It all starts with a magic circle," Marion said.

  Samantha stepped in front of him. "Ready, then?"

  He stood. "Alright. Let's get it done."