The Martial Unity

While everyone was distracted, Leonel had already moved, making it to Conrad and James in a few steps and grabbing a side of the latter's collar himself. Another person might have chosen to fight off Conrad first, but Leonel was well aware how foolish such a choice was.

No matter what just happened, securing James' safety came first. No matter what happened between them, James was still his best friend. And, luckily, he had the now darkened lights on his side.

As expected, Conrad wasn't able to react. Seeing that Leonel now had a firm grip on James himself, he could only let go, allowing Leonel to pull James up.

"Leo…?" James' words slurred.

It was only now that Leonel realized James had actually been unconscious. It was likely his head that had smashed the window apart, it wouldn't be surprising if he was diagnosed with a concussion. Coupling that with the fact he was drunk and it was a recipe for disaster.

"Heeey, maaan. You're late, my sister-in-law was waiting on yoouu…"

Leonel sucked in a cold breath through his teeth when James heavily leaned on him. He was really in no shape to be taking on such a burden, but he still carried him out, letting him sit on the couch.

"Chef, do you have any gas burners back there? We need some light." Leonel called out.

The Four-Star Chef who had not said a word even when James' life was on the line finally looked a bit shaken. He didn't seem to know what was going on.

"… Yes… We use a blow torch for the finishing touches of certain dishes…"

He absentmindedly fumbled through the dark, pulling out the draw of a hidden compartment to take the torch he was speaking of. But, before he could think to hand it to Leonel, it happened.

In that few minutes, it felt that the planet would collapse. A cacophony of booms so loud Leonel had no choice but to cover his ears sounded. The earth beneath their feet trembled fiercer, the building swaying wildly from left to right.

It was then that Leonel froze. He didn't need to think to know what was causing this…

The Paradise Islands!

'Dad…'

A bout of worry seized Leonel's chest. No Paradise Islands were allowed to have routes that crossed over important landmarks. The top ten Academies, government buildings, and historical landmarks all fit this description. So, they were safe, for better or worse.

However, Leonel didn't care about his own safety. He was worried about his father.

Higher class Paradise Islands like the ones him and his father lived on had several safety features in case an event just like this one happened, however they weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. This was especially so considering the scope of this power outage.

the surface — the closest they could get, in fact. If their island crashed into some of the high rise skyscrapers first,

could only force

out of here, even leaving Aina behind. However, before everything happened, their wrist watches had

the shaking earth with his hands firmly clasped over his ears. It was lucky that their buildings were built with the highest earthquake technology, or there was no way it would

think often of the Paradise Islands above their heads. They would occasionally obscure

with each crashing boom, they became more and

fourth floor lobby

even begin, yet billions had already died. What

closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, keeping his visage expressionless as he covered his ears, they knew well

them were in the same boat. Even if their families were affluent enough to have a home on the surface, not all of them were able to have a home in those protected zones. Their families might very well die by being crushed by

Maybe it was only now that they had become aware of just how many of those islands hovered above their heads… of just how many lives

did, Leonel began to work as though nothing had happened. He carefully took James' shirt off,

the remnant shards of glass on the bottom ledge of the windowsill had left deep gashes to

Four-Star Chef, Leonel borrowed a few scented candles from a resident of the dorm and lit them,

few first-aid classes. He was unsure if the medics they had on standby for the game were still here, or if they had left

his lower back as best he could, he slowly removed pieces of glass stuck in his

"Love you, man…"

after. Those here couldn't help but think he was the luckiest one of them all. Even if they tried to sleep now,

smiled and shook his head, his gaze turning empty for a

was to stay put. Everyone else knew as well. As one of the protected zones,

was this Code Red? Was it just a worldwide power outage? Leonel had a feeling that it was more, but he had to admit to himself that he had no real evidence for this

made Leonel think that there was something that caused this outage actively. It wasn't a mistake, but rather an event even

several years worth of food in an abundance of caution thanks to previous rebellion and hostage

capacity due to the game and the after party. Also, without power, the large freezers will slowly lose their heat. It'll be even faster if people are constantly

food here is enough to last a month easily before they start to go bad, no one would think that the Empire would be unable to recover in that time, so they wouldn't be willing

of him wanted to act frugally out of caution, but another part understood that unless people had evidence toward how dangerous this

any of this. He only wanted to go and see if

I can't stand

to stand there a second longer. Usually such a mess of vomit would be cleaned easily with their high-tech. But, this was obviously impossible now. It

stop Conrad from walking

it seemed that Conrad wasn't

building quaked once more. For a moment, Leonel thought that the foundation was too shaken by the previous earthquakes and that the dormitory was collapsing. But in the next instant, he saw something he would never forget

was a spatial tear. Leonel was absolutely certain. He had never seen one, nor had he ever read the description of one, but he had a vivid enough imagination to know that if there ever was a spatial tear,

cognitive dissonance, its black, starry innards, the way it seemed to have no, and