Screams rippled through the air, causing Seth to snap his eyes closed and open his mind. His senses extended out, travelling all throughout the city to all the different nodes connected to his very soul.

He was like a spider, perched in the middle of its intricate web, feeling the vibrations of a lone fly trapped in his snare. But the vibrations this time were not from a single fly, they were like a swarm trying to puncture through his web with sheer numbers.

All at once, all throughout the city, the standing guards snapped their eyes open and lifted their heads, immediately taking in the situation unfolding around them. Hundreds of sights and sounds assaulted Seth's mind all at once, a typhoon of previously suppressed senses smashing against his mind.

Usually, he would have to spend a few moments sorting through the senses of each of his puppets, trying to find the cause of the issue and where it was located, but there was no need this time.

No matter the sense source, no matter the guard, chaos was unfolding before them. Thousands of creatures pouring through cracks in reality, some charging through while others simply fell from the sky and attacked whatever was near their landing spots.

From colossal insects to miniature raptor-like birds, from cat sized wolves and wolf sized cats.

There were even different varieties of humanoid beasts. Orcs, just like he had seen dead at the hands of the Heart-Eater, to droves of undead horrors. It was just like the initial chaos of the first awakening, chaos everywhere and monsters appearing out of thin air.

But unlike those times, they weren't helpless anymore.

'Activate the Unkindly Guards.'

You see, throughout Seth's evolution his threads were not the only thing to increase in power, for he also had a secondary mutation that had been feeding off of his power for quite some time now.

It had taken him some time after hiss transcendence to truly discover the potential of his Spirit Animal, but as he grew stronger over the last few months, albeit not as strong as he could have possibly become, he was not the only one that had increased in power.

From within Seth's chest a node of light burst forth, although it was impossible to see for those without the same spiritual sight as himself. As the light flew through the air, it swirled and twirled, the light dimming and twisting itself as it took on the form of a translucent, azure raven.

The raven flapped its wings, which had feathers that turned to flickering, incorporeal flames like the feathers of a phoenix, as it soared higher into the sky. But before this raven could climb too high, another node of light burst from his chest. Then another, and another, then a dozen until nearly thirty spiritual ravens filled the sky.

This flock of ravens, this unkindness, immediately spread apart. Some soaring through the air towards different sections of the city while others dove into the intricate web of threads. Their forms once more returned to nodes of light that shot through the threads like a bullet train in a tunnel.

This was the result of Seth's [Spirit Animal] transcending alongside him. It was another step towards the army of puppets he craved since the day he had received his powers. The time he had spent was not wasted, for he had programmed this flock extensively.

As they spread out, all flocking to their preassigned quadrants and taking control of the Unkindly Guards assigned to them, the guards themselves began to move under their command.

All at once, all across the city, the Unkindly Guards stepped off their pedestals and immediately set to work dealing with the creatures and danger before them. Using their extensive knowledge base, months of Seth micromanaging battles from a distance, they were able to deal with countless threats without Seth's intervention.

Armed with fists, stone weapons and armaments crudely forged from scrap metal, but yet to be properly reinforced due to Seth's production issues. These guards were built from a variety of materials themselves. Brass, Copper, Stone, Wood, Plastic. Some were even a mix of these components, like inorganic Frankensteinain beasts brought to life by the mad puppet master that was their creator.

As soon as they touched down, they didn't hesitate to use their programming to deal with the varying situations before them. Using their bodies to shield civilians, kicking little beasts away like footballs and slicing apart flesh with blunt swords using nothing but brute strength.

There was one unfortunate Unkindly Guard who, upon stepping off its pedestal, immediately disappeared into the ground, having fallen through the gateway that opened up horizontally beneath it.

Upon falling through the gateway, the connection to both Seth and the [Spirit Animal] in control of this Unkindly Guard was immediately severed. Although Seth didn't notice the disappearance, since it was one sensory source blinking out of existence in a crowd of hundreds, but the [Spirit Animal] in control of it did notice.

There was little it could do to save this guard, having completely lost any connection to it, but it was enough for it, even with its limited abilities, to understand that this was an obstacle that needed to be avoided in the future.

These guards and their controllers were not perfect, he did still have to contribute some of his mental energy to micromanaging them, but it was a far cry from what he had once been. It allowed him to quell the discourse in his mind and leave the defence of the city to these Unkindly Guards.

But, since this was seeming like a cataclysmic emergency, Seth sent out two more mental commands to those connected to his soul.

'Bob, Gather up all your material. Giant at quadrant 42, I want him gone. Omelette, get back here now. I need air support.'

It was an order that could not come soon enough as, not even a second after he had finished relaying said order, the space around Seth and Astra burst into a hail of glass shards that suspended themselves in the air.

Nearly a dozen reality breaches appeared around their location alone, a few in the sky, while others rested on the ground around them.

Astra's hands immediately started to spark and crackle, miniature bolts of lightning arcing between her fingers as if they were excited to be launched into the approaching enemies. Metal fragments, from various destroyed buildings as well as from parts she had on her very person, began to tremble at her electrifying aura.

The smaller fragments already lifting into the air, eagerly rising to attention in the presence of their queen.

Seth's arm was not affected, as the aura she was ambiently projecting was expertly restrained, so that she didn't incapacitate her fighting companion. As for the man wearing the prosthetic in question, he raised both of his fists in preparation for the oncoming assault.

His fingernails dug into his palm as black veins bulged within his powerful arms. His muscles tensed with restrained power, as trickles of mana leaked into them and increased that power tenfold. They had no idea what was going to come through those portals first, or from where, but they were prepared.

As if anticipating the attack, the black blood surged from Seth's thundering heart and spread across his body once more. It wasn't just covering a single section this time, but crawling across his entire body like a second skin.

It covered every inch of him; Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Not to forget down his arm and to the very tips of his fingers. The only thing not covered by this symbiotic blood was his metallic, artificial arm and his handsome face.

A face that had somehow turned even paler than before, as the blood vacated his body, and was covered once more in a spider-web of grizzly black veins that made his face look like a cracked porcelain doll.

Seth was aware of the strange look Astra was giving him out of the corner of her eye, but he choose to ignore it. Instead focusing his mind at the task at hand, and the pair of puppets under his direct control that were charging towards his location from nearby. As for the pair of giant enemies looming in the distance, well Bob could take care of the Triclops while Corvus could deal with the serpent.

Enemies all around, an ally by his side and reinforcements on their way. This was going to be fun.

Amidst all of this chaos, with so many streams of sensory data being shoved unfiltered into his mind, and countless portals appearing throughout the city, and possibly beyond. It was understandable that Seth couldn't account for everything that was coming through the portals.

With so many inhuman looking civilians, the Unkindly Guards, despite their name, were only under orders to attack anything acting in an aggressive manner and only with appropriate force.

But not everything coming through these portals was aggressive. For one, some of them died on arrival as they fell from high in the sky and splattered across the ground on impact. But others were simply docile creatures thrown into a strange new world.

One particular creature, a lizard-like creature with deep red scales slightly draconic features and which stood on its hind legs at a height of only 2 foot, sniffed the air as it stepped through the portal.

A devilish smirk appeared on its face, showing a maw full of needle-like teeth. It's tail flickered behind it, brushing against the ground as it swished in excitement. It's voice trembling as it spoke to itself

"Oooooh, How I have longed to taste that sweet scent once more."