Next Time on Returner’s Defiance 4 (Patreon)

All over the world, people noticed the ground quaking. A research team in Antarctica, the people on the streets in Bangladesh, the city workers of Denmark, the fishermen in the Atlantic, the workers in Russia, the bazaar-goers in Angola, and those in the heart of Australia all looked around.

Everyone turned to the massive disruption around them. The steady rumble built and built, until a swirling red energy pierced up into the sky. It shot up from the ground, tearing anything in its path asunder, banishing the clouds above and spreading the red light as if crowding out the beautiful blue sky.

In Bangladesh, the busy street had suddenly stopped. Crowds stared at the red beam, only to then stare into the middle distance in front of them. Many of them began swiping into the air, waving their hands, while some of the younger people gently reached out and began to tap the air in front of them.

Only those closest to the red light didn't have time to bother with the system screen that appeared in front of them. 

Horrifying shrieks echoed into the air. Cow-sized locusts shot from the bottom of the red beam, swooping down on anyone they could reach. People tried to swat away the monsters, but they were simply powerless as the creatures ripped through the populace like wet tissue paper.

The busy street turned into a panic as it turned into a river of blood.

In Antarctica, the research team fell on their backs as massive, looming juggernauts appeared from the red beam, trundling forward with clubs that must have weighed an entire ton. 

Meanwhile, in Denmark, the beam appeared just outside the college campus. The students were out with their phones, beginning to take pictures as red armored forms with strange crimson tentacles wriggling underneath their helmets, walked out, chuckling as they stepped foot on Earth.

The students gawked, shouting at the demons, taking pictures, more concerned with being the first to post what they were seeing online than they were with staying alive.

The demons saw people flocking to them and only laughed with glee. Some of the human shells were bothering with the system windows, but so many weren't even paying attention.

The first demon stepped forward, grabbing a student and lifting them up by their face. Dark red tentacles shot out of the armor and pierced into the student, as they dug beneath their skin, causing the student to scream in agony.

Only then did the crowd finally begin to wake up from their daze. Many turned and tried to flee. Just as many fell to their knees in hopeless prayer.

The Rapture had come.