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.

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

could only force his worry

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 was very obvious that there

ears. It was lucky that their buildings were

above their heads. They would

boom, they became more and more aware

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

the Ascension Empire warned of had yet to even begin, yet billions had already died. What

managed to keep their bearings looked toward Leonel with unconcealed pity. Even though he had closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, keeping his visage expressionless as he covered his ears, they knew well what he must

of them were

they had become aware of just how many of those islands hovered

happened. He carefully took James' shirt off,

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

candles from a

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,

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

"Love you, man…"

but think he was the luckiest one of

head, his gaze turning empty for a moment. What should he do

stay put. Everyone else knew as well. As one

but he had to admit to himself that he had no real evidence for this being the case. It was just that… how could

that caused this outage actively. It wasn't a mistake, but

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

game and the after party. Also, without power, the large freezers will

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

part of him wanted to act frugally out of caution, but another part understood that unless people had evidence toward how dangerous this situation was, they wouldn't listen. This

with any of this. He only wanted to go and see if his father was alright, he didn't care about

I can't

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

didn't stop Conrad from walking away, and why would

Conrad wasn't destined to

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

but he had a vivid enough imagination to know that if there ever was a spatial tear, it would look

abrupt cognitive dissonance, its black, starry innards, the way