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.

hope was that Leonel and his father lived on a Paradise Island very close to the surface — the closest they could get, in fact. If 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 line of defense for these disasters. They were

could only force his

was a normal power outage caused by some sort of 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. It

hands firmly clasped over his ears. It was lucky that their buildings were built with the highest

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

and more aware that each represented the

A putrid smell filled the fourth floor lobby

had yet to even begin, yet billions had already died. What kind

toward Leonel with unconcealed pity. Even though he had closed his eyes and

to have a home on the surface, not all of them were able to have a home

become aware of just how many of those islands hovered above their heads… of just how many lives they hadn't even

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

did James have a concussion, but the remnant shards of glass on the bottom ledge of the windowsill had left deep gashes to

Chef, Leonel borrowed a few scented candles from a resident of the

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

best he could, he slowly removed pieces of glass stuck in his flesh. Finally, he wrapped them after disinfecting with some cooking wine

"Love you, man…"

only to be replaced by his light snoring soon after. Those here couldn't help but think he was the luckiest one of them all. Even

shook his head, his gaze turning empty for a moment.

Everyone else knew as well. As one of the protected

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

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

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

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

take preemptive action and cure what we can. But, not many will listen to my words, 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

part understood that unless people had evidence toward how dangerous this

only wanted to go and see if his father was

I can't stand

building normalized, he didn't want to stand there a second longer. Usually such a mess of vomit would be cleaned easily with their high-tech.

stop Conrad from walking away, and why

it seemed that Conrad wasn't destined

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

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

everything else was the same. The abrupt cognitive dissonance, its black, starry innards, the