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.

their island crashed into some of the high rise skyscrapers first, it could slow its descent enough to save his father's life. These skyscrapers were exactly the very last

end, Leonel could only force his worry

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.

his ears. It was lucky that their buildings were built with the highest earthquake technology, or there was no way it

above their heads. They would occasionally

more and more aware that each represented the deaths of countless innocent

putrid smell filled the fourth floor lobby along with mute sobs almost completely obscured by the

even begin, yet billions had already died. What kind

his eyes and clenched his jaw, keeping his visage expressionless as he

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 those falling

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

to work as though nothing had happened. He carefully took James' shirt off, being mindful to support his

not only did James have a concussion, but the remnant shards of glass on the bottom ledge of the windowsill had left deep gashes to

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

medic, 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 all, it had been over an hour, approaching two, since the game ended. He didn't have the luxury of looking

glass stuck in his flesh. Finally, he wrapped them after disinfecting with some cooking wine

"Love you, man…"

but think he was the luckiest one of them all. Even if they tried to sleep now, they had

shook his head, his gaze turning empty for

Everyone else knew as well. As one of the protected zones,

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 being the case. It was just that… how could the mighty Ascension

something that caused this outage actively. It wasn't a mistake, but rather an event even their Empire had no means of

and board. The academy also stockpiles several years worth of food in an abundance of caution thanks to previous

to the game and the after party. Also, without

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 to recover in that time, so they wouldn't be

of him wanted to act frugally out of caution, but another part understood that unless people had

to deal with 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

walking away, and why

seemed that Conrad wasn't destined to

and that the

if there ever was a spatial tear, it would look exactly like this. Maybe

its black, starry innards,