Dimensional Descent

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.

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

could only

run out of here, even leaving Aina behind. However,

lucky that their buildings

gloomy. Students who could go here didn't think often of the Paradise Islands above their heads. They would occasionally obscure the sun, but no more invasively than the

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

heave and vomit. A putrid smell filled the fourth floor lobby along with mute sobs almost completely obscured by the vicious

yet to even begin, yet billions

unconcealed pity. Even though he had closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, keeping his visage

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.

feet. 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

though nothing had happened. He carefully took James' shirt off, being mindful

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

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

if the medics they had on standby for the game were still here, or if they

pieces of glass stuck in his flesh. Finally, he wrapped them after

"Love you, man…"

faded, only to be replaced by his light snoring soon after. Those here couldn't help but think he was the luckiest

gaze turning empty for a moment. What should he do

as well. As one of the protected zones, they could obviously

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,

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

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

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 be unable to recover in

thoughts spun quickly. A part of him wanted to act frugally out of caution, but another part understood that unless people had evidence toward how dangerous

to go

I can't stand

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

didn't stop Conrad from walking away, and

wasn't destined to get very

moment, Leonel thought that the foundation was too shaken by the previous earthquakes and that the dormitory

if there ever was a spatial tear, it would look exactly like this. Maybe the only thing that deviated from his fanciful image was the fact it lit up the

else was the same. The abrupt cognitive dissonance, its black, starry innards, the way it seemed to have no, and simultaneously