Harem Legion: Queens of the Apocalypse-Chapter 112 Wrong Orders, Raining Blood

Red rain.

It had been six months since the world went to hell. Magnus could still remember the last time it fell - vivid, like a scar burned into his mind.

Back then, the sky had turned blood-red, clouds thickening like a storm of fire. The air itself stained crimson... and then the rain came.

Didn’t take long. Barely ten minutes, if memory served. The rain didn’t hurt people. But it sure as hell turned the monsters into demons.

Giant centipedes. Those freak-spiders. Sky-darkening blood mosquitoes. Once that red rain hit ’em, it was like lighting a fuse. Their speed, power, senses - doubled. Maybe more.

Normally, they just stuck to their turf - slow, creeping, mostly harmless if you didn’t provoke them. But with crimson rain in their veins, they went berserk. Didn’t stop moving, didn’t stop hunting - until something died. Pure madness.

"Torches! All squads, light your torches - three times the usual count!" Magnus shouted from the truck roof, voice rough. "Squads stay tight! Minimum five torches each! One lookout for every two people! Move!"

No time to waste. Magnus kept barking down orders, the sky already glowing like lava. "Rocket launchers, flamers, ready up! Keep your rifles loaded - don’t hold back on ammo! Rain’s coming now!"

Liana jumped up beside him, pale-faced, voice shaking. "Magnus! What the hell is going on? Who are we fighting? Talk to me!"

"It’s not people - we’re up against madness! That red rain’s about to hit, and when it does, the monsters get stronger - twice as fast, twice as deadly! Think of them Awakening!" Magnus snapped, then froze. Shit - Emily and the others were still trapped in Southriver City.

"No time. Liana - you take command!" he said fast, urgency tightening every word. "I’m heading out to get Emily! They’ll never make it through that storm without backup! I’ll go alone! You lead here!"

"Don’t! I’ll - I’ll go in your place - " Liana started, but he was already gone. Leapt from the truck like a shot, sprinting to the front of the convoy.

"Fifty people! Get in the trucks now!" Magnus shouted as he ran. "We’re heading to Southriver City - get those torches lit INSIDE! MOVE!"

Panic spread. Five squad leaders scrambled, herding people into the trucks. Then - drop.

A cold slap hit Magnus’s scalp. One single, fat drop from above.

His stomach dropped.

Too late. He’d misjudged.

No time for blame.

He vaulted back to the truck roof, sprinted toward the convoy’s center, yell ripping the air like thunder. "Protect the torches! Don’t let ’em go out in the rain!"

"How could it not go out? What’s the Captain even talking about?"

All the Ice Regiment members were stunned. Red rain, thick like beans, was already pounding down from the sky, hitting their heads one after another. One by one, their torches were snuffed out like cheap candles.

"Drop the torches! Everyone, forget about the fire - focus on killing the centipedes and spiders!"

Magnus had made one mistake after another. First, lighting the torches... then guarding them like they were sacred. Not fatal mistakes, no; just plain stupid.

He knew it was Crimson Rain. And still told them to light up torches? What was he thinking?

The crazed centipedes and spiders swarmed like a black tide toward the convoy. Panic spread - people fired wildly, bullets spraying into the horde like rain.

Magnus didn’t stop to think anymore. He broke into a full sprint toward Southriver City. He ran faster than the trucks, didn’t need to carry anyone - he’d go alone to save Emily and the others.

Just me. I’m enough. I damn well am enough.

The words rang in his head over and over as he bolted forward, wind roaring in his ears.

A normal person might need over three minutes for a kilometer. Magnus? Just seconds. He moved with the power and speed four times that of a regular man -

But his endurance? Still human.

Barely hitting 3,000 meters, his lungs burned. Choking, wheezing, he doubled over with violent coughs.

Then - BAM! Something smashed into his back. He was thrown forward, hitting the ground hard.

Luckily, the Fire Crystal burned hot against his chest, flaring just in time. The crazed centipede that’d struck him hissed and backed off, scorched.

He flipped to lie on his back, gasping for air. Red rain slapped his face like mocking hands.

Two seconds to breathe. That’s all he gave himself.

He clenched his teeth and jumped to his feet.

Fire Crystal protection. Damn right. I’ve still got that. Wait - Wood Crystal!

At that thought, he yanked a Nature Crystal out of his pack, crushed it with a burst of energy. Then, using a battered flint lighter, he crouched and shielded the flame from the rain.

"Click."

A thick wooden log blazed up from the broken crystal. The rain couldn’t quench it.

Hope came rushing back.

Reignited with purpose, Magnus tore through the streets of Southriver City, zigzagging through alleys, hunting for Emily and the rest.

"BOOM!"

An explosion roared from the next street over. It shook him. He tried slowing, to turn -

Too late. He was going too fast, the rain-slick street gave no grip.

He couldn’t stop.

Ahead, a building loomed.

With no time to think, he ran right at it -

Thump-thump-thump!

He ran up five steps along the wall like it was a hill, did a twisting leap, and landed clean in a swarm of spiders and centipedes.

No pause.

He swung the flaming log in each hand in a wide arc.

The monsters shrieked, blue fire igniting their bodies, sending them into flailing spasms.

Magnus leapt, clearing the flames, and shot forward toward the blast site.

Up ahead, smack in the middle of the road, a sleeper coach was under siege. A horde of spiders and centipedes swarmed it, slamming into the steel-plated windows.

Four cargo trucks behind it had already been flipped, goods spilled everywhere.

The women were huddled inside the coach. The beasts outside rammed the vehicle again and again -

Several of the steel plates were bending inward. Wouldn’t be long now.

Magnus ran for the coach, heart hammering.

But then, trouble.

On the right side - twenty centipedes suddenly arched up together and lunged straight at the bus. The frame couldn’t take the load.

It began to tip.

Slowly. Toppling to the left -

Disaster. Imminent.