Elena squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fall to the ground to avoid the debris, but to her astonishment, the barrier surrounding the Vatican proved impenetrable. The skyscraper shattered into dust upon contact with the invisible wall above!

  At the same time, soldiers began to run along the two curved walls surrounding the courtyard, wielding weapons she had never seen before.

  One soldier, dressed in black fatigues with a wide belt adorned with colorful rhombus-shaped stones, sprinted forward. His hands were encased in silver-gray gauntlets, and he carried a weapon that resembled an AT-550 assault rifle, but with glowing blue gems embedded along its frame. Reaching the edge of the wall, he leapt towards the monster.

  Elena stared in disbelief as the soldier's boots transformed into small jet boosters, propelling him upwards while maintaining his balanced stance. The soldiers behind him followed suit, leaping into the air, and the deafening roar of gunfire filled the sky.

  The monster's tentacles recoiled from the soldiers' relentless barrage, seemingly being pushed back.

  But suddenly, Elena heard a bishop in the courtyard shout something, and then the sky shattered before her very eyes!

  The cracks in the sky suddenly expanded. From within the gaping hole, a colossal creature with glowing red eyes peered down at her world.

  Elena had never seen such an enormous eye; the size of its owner could rival that of an entire city.

  More black tentacles continuously emerged from the sky through the fissure – now a gaping hole the size of an airplane.

  They lashed down at the ground repeatedly, using the force of the wind to collapse buildings and attempting to breach the invisible barrier protecting the Vatican.

  Sparks flew as the protective barrier clashed with the monster's attacks, like darkness and light colliding, like fire and ice, wind and earth.

  The powerful strikes became more frequent, as if the terrifying intruder was growing increasingly frustrated by the resilience of the defensive wall.

  Above everyone's heads, the fissure widened at an alarming rate, now becoming a gaping hole perhaps the size of Fiordland National Park in New Zealand .

  Elena gained a clearer view of the octopus-like monster. She noticed sharp black fragments growing around its eyes, each fragment a large mouth filled with sharp teeth and purplish-red slime.

  On its tentacles protruded gray-blue circles that looked like suckers, but upon closer inspection, she saw they were numerous human-like faces screaming, interspersed with jagged spikes.

  The large eyeball rolled into a circle, then the pupil expanded, splitting into other blood-red eyes that swirled and intertwined, making Elena feel dizzy.

  From within the monster's retina, tiny arms emerged and flailed while dripping a thick, slimy black liquid.

  She raised her hand to cover her mouth, trying not to vomit.

  Even though only a part of its immense form had emerged, the monster's appearance was so repulsive that anyone who saw it would surely retch until their insides came out.

  While the monster's eight tentacles continued to devastate the city, angrily hurling structures at the barrier between it and the Vatican, the special forces soldiers quickly reorganized.

  About ten remained in position, continuing to fire at the tentacles to limit their destruction.

  Roughly thirteen others split into three smaller teams and scattered.

  They began to assemble a weapon that resembled a cannon with a strange iron frame.

  It looked similar to a Browning M2 heavy machine gun but was completely hollow.

  The outer frame was bone white, and no ammunition was visible.

  A soldier from what Elena assumed was the sniper team took out a sphere from a black metal case.

  It resembled a snow globe with a soft red light emanating from its center.

  He gently placed the sphere into the hollow part of the gun, and it slid into the center smoothly, as if designed for it.

  Each gun used a sphere of a different color.

  Although the governments of the world had produced many special weapons, this gun was truly the most bizarre weapon she had ever seen.

  However, for Elena, after witnessing a monster emerge from a crack in the sky, even a strange weapon was as mundane as seeing a dog walk on two legs.

  "Can they really fight that terrifying monster with such small guns?" Elena wondered, a strange nausea rising within her.

  She was half afraid that the firepower from the white bone gun wouldn't even scratch the monster's tentacles, and half hopeful that it would somehow repel the creature.

  The three cannons were aimed at the monster's tentacles.

  In an instant, brilliant beams of light shot towards the hole in the sky.

  Surprisingly, when the beams of light touched the tentacles, they caused the monster to disintegrate!

  Perhaps underestimating its enemies, the monster was caught off guard by the special forces' powerful attack.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  It roared hideously, a sound beyond description, half ringing bell, half jet engine, and sometimes like the hoot of an ominous owl.

  Faced with the intense firepower, the monster quickly retracted its tentacles, but whenever it found an opening, it would launch one or two in retaliation.

  A sharp tentacle whipped through the air, the sound like tearing silk.

  The monster slammed down at one of the gun positions that was overwhelming it, but it was blocked by the barrier. Enraged by the persistent resistance, it rolled its hideous eyes and let out a terrifying shriek.

  At this moment, the airborne team began to fire more intensely at the monster's opportunistic tentacles.

  The entire team coordinated seamlessly, gradually pushing the monster back.

  From the distance, the roar of aircraft engines echoed through the space.

  Five military aircraft with the large white letters "The ZONEs" painted on their tails arrived.

  It seemed this was the name of the agency responsible for the counterattack.

  One of the five aircraft landed in the Vatican courtyard, passing through the invisible barrier.

  The clergy moved aside, making way for the aircraft.

  About two platoons of soldiers, dressed similarly to those already fighting the monster, disembarked in two neat rows.

  The commanding officer, a man in his fifties with a stern face, barked orders into his radio.

  Without needing verbal commands, the soldiers moved to advantageous fighting positions, holding weapons that resembled submachine guns but, instead of a magazine, had a transparent chamber filled with swirling purplish-orange gas.

  "Omega-level Entity, unidentified classification, form and size categorized as Outside. Form up according to the plan!"

  He roared amidst the gusts of wind. Elena understood that this man was referring to the monster on the other side of the crack in the sky.

  The soldiers' faces hardened, and their eyes seemed to change. She recognized that look.

  It was the gaze of those ready to sacrifice themselves, the same look she had seen in the Middle Eastern soldiers she had once interviewed.

  Each soldier gripped their weapon and aimed at the enemy in the sky.

  The first volley of fire erupted with shots as loud as booming drums.

  Dense streams of projectiles shot towards the fissure, unleashing clouds of purplish-orange gas that melted any exposed tentacle upon contact.

  The remaining half of the platoon used jet boots and formed a large V-shape, circling to provide cover for the platoon below.

  What was remarkable was that while the strange gas projectiles could harm the monster, they seemed harmless to the soldiers.

  They could fly through the purplish-orange clouds and continue to force the enemy back behind the fissure.

  Elena had never seen such a bizarre weapon.

  In fact, the world's governments had never publicly revealed this invention.

  This surprised her and reminded her of the captain's use of the term "Entity."

  Elena had heard this term before, in a discussion thread on Reddit .

  "Entity," as the users referred to them, implied extraterrestrial monsters, or something of that nature, that had existed alongside the universe for millions of years.

  She had skimmed through their discussions. At the time, it was a lively topic on the global internet, but it soon faded into obscurity.

  In that thread, participants claimed that secret organizations were working to protect humanity from the destructive power of "entities," but she hadn't believed they were real.

  And now, the army of one of those organizations was arrayed in battle right before her eyes.

  At this point, it was clear that the monster was being pushed back by the special forces' firepower.

  Its tentacles moved slower, and it seemed to be retreating towards the other side of the hole.

  Following the commanding officer's orders, the special forces soldiers began to rearrange their formation while continuously firing at the fissure, as if trying to seal it.

  The scene before Elena reminded her of the recent Avenger movie, part 8, where alien monsters were repelled by heroes.

  "They can do it. This is almost over," Elena thought excitedly.

  Although fear still gripped her, a glimmer of hope had ignited within her as she saw the tide turning in favor of the special forces.

  The enemy, no matter how hard it tried, was contained both above and below, and its attacks were neutralized by the gas projectiles.

  It seemed increasingly frustrated. Its large eyeball contracted, and the faces on its tentacles roared with curses.

  On the other side of the fissure, faint red spots glowed. A loud roar echoed, and the earth trembled.

  "Oh God! This is a terrible nightmare!"

  A priest fell to his knees and exclaimed, clasping his hands in prayer.

  The other clergy also knelt and recited prayers amidst the roaring sounds.

  Elena felt her hands tremble. It seemed that roar was a herald announcing the rise of a dark power that no government army could match.

  The sky turned pitch black, and blue-white lightning flashed continuously.

  Tornado-like winds descended, lashing out at anything that dared to stand in their path.

  The monster's pupil dilated, and its slimy drool fell onto the city below, filling the air with a putrid stench.

  It roared again, and the ground shook, causing hundreds of buildings to collapse.

  Elena could almost hear the fissure cracking and groaning, and in an instant, the sky shattered before the witnesses in Rome!

  From within the gaping hole, a long, thin arm began to emerge, followed by a completely featureless human-like head, crawling out of the fissure and clinging to the sky like a lizard on a wall.

  "Slender!"

  Several soldiers shouted. The real trouble began as more monsters of all grotesque shapes and sizes appeared from the other side of the hole, which had now expanded into an archway right in the middle of the Italian sky.

  The world was now divided by a massive, dark gateway suspended above the Vatican City. A blood-red electromagnetic field crackled along the boundary between Earth and the realm from which the monsters poured.

  Their screeching was like the grating sound of nails scraping across glass, sending shivers down the spines of those who heard it and causing their eardrums to ache.

  The special forces soldiers appeared to be in disarray at the sight of the endless stream of monsters. They urgently called for reinforcements, but it seemed the situation was already critical.

  From beyond the arched gateway, a dozen flying ships, seemingly from the Middle Ages, emerged at incredible speed.

  They were propelled by six large wings attached to the sides of their hulls.

  The masts were as tall as large buildings, adorned with bizarre symbols and burning with an unending black fire.

  At the bow of each ship, a horned goat-like figure was mounted and painted blood red, its eyes gleaming as if it were alive.

  And on those ships... Elena struggled to find the words, but could only describe the creatures swarming on deck as "Demons."

  The sky gradually changed color. The aurora borealis appeared over Italy, and the air filled with the smell of smoke and the pungent odor of blood.

  Explosions erupted from the flying ships, creating massive fires. Blue flames consumed everything they touched.

  Cries of despair echoed everywhere. It seemed as if, in that moment, humanity realized that God had truly abandoned them.

  Amidst the scene of fire and destruction, Elena knew that the true Apocalypse had begun.