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.

of the high rise skyscrapers first, it could slow its descent enough to

the end, Leonel could only force

system-wide failure, he would immediately run out of here, even leaving Aina behind. However, before everything happened, their wrist watches had warned of a Class 9 Code Red.

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

Paradise Islands above their heads. They would occasionally obscure the sun, but no more

boom, they became more and more aware that each represented the deaths of countless

heave and vomit. A putrid smell filled the fourth floor lobby

warned of had yet to even begin, yet

looked toward Leonel with unconcealed pity. Even though he had closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, keeping his visage expressionless as he covered

boat. Even if their families were affluent enough to have a home on the surface, not all of them were able to have a

it was only now that they had become aware of just how

they did, Leonel began to work as though nothing had happened. He carefully

did James have a concussion, but the remnant shards of glass on the bottom ledge of the windowsill

the blow torch from the Four-Star Chef, Leonel borrowed a few scented candles from a resident

but he had taken a 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 to their homes. After

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

"Love you, man…"

he was the luckiest

turning

Everyone else knew as well.

himself that he had no real evidence for this being the case. It was just that… how could the mighty Ascension Empire which unified Earth

that there was something that caused this outage actively. It wasn't a

The academy also stockpiles several years worth of food in an abundance of

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 opening and closing their

they'll believe I'm being overly paranoid. The 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

that unless people had

only wanted to go and see if his father was alright, he

can't stand

longer. Usually such a mess of vomit would be cleaned

stop Conrad from walking away,

that Conrad wasn't

shaken by the previous earthquakes and

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, it would look exactly like this. Maybe the only thing that deviated from his fanciful image

the same. The abrupt cognitive dissonance, its black,