The sky; with a crack appearing over it, as if the space itself was breaking into pieces. It churned with malice, cloaked in dark purple clouds that rippled like bruises against the horizon. Forks of crimson lightning crackled with an unnatural energy, illuminating the devastation below with brief, terrifying flashes. The once-proud skyline lay in ruins; buildings toppled and twisted into grotesque shapes, their skeletal remains jutting out like accusing fingers. The air was heavy with the scent of scorched earth and the ominous hum of power that surged with every lightning strike. Shadows danced in the eerie red glow, and silence was shattered only by the distant rumble of collapsing debris—a grim symphony of destruction.
The ground was a chaotic tapestry of shattered concrete and twisted metal that has now reduced to rubble. Among the debris lay the lifeless forms of those caught in the storm of destruction, their bodies draped over jagged edges and crumbled walls like tragic sculptures. But all of them didn't seem to be any normal citizen, or working person; rather they were equipped with armors and weapons. As if they were in that place for a war, but why? Something was off…
The air hung heavy with the scent of dust and decay, and the silence was deafening, broken only by the occasional groan of settling wreckage—a haunting reminder of the devastation that had unfolded. And among them, the sound of one person; breathing as if death was just next to him, could be heard.
Just in a few distance, by what seems like a broken bride, a person lay on the broken metals; heavily injured from every part of his body, and both of his arms were missing; as if they were torn apart by some force.
The surroundings had a strong scent of blood, a clear sigh of something big has happened. The man laying down was powerless, as his eyes were focus in front of him; fear clear in his eyes as he could only stare.
And in front of him, stood a figure, in both of that figure's hand were the arms of the man laying down; blood dripping from the torn off arms, as that figure slowly walked closer to the man, the figure's eyes glowing red. Filled with rage, but also tears flowed down as the figure had his eyes fixed on the man. The man could feel the danger in the situation, as his breathing began to take speed, until he felt a jolt; making him close his eyes.
And after reopening his eyes, what he saw was a clear route, riding in a horse, with knights following behind him. A sigh of relief escaped from him, as it was revealed that the man laying on the metal parts was Ornlarf all along. Seemingly to be lost for a while in his thought, Ornlarf had lived his past memory just now. He looked down at his two hands, as the image of himself being helped to walk by his fellow knights ran in his mind, with his arms gone.
His eyes focus on his arms as a voice kept ringing in his mind;
"I WILL FIND YOU!! AND MAKE SURE YOU ALL ARE DEAD BY MY OWN HANDS!!!"
As the voice slowly faded, Ornlarf whispered to himself;
"…That bloodlust… the hatred in it… I'm sure… it's HIM…"
Around the same time, back in the archduke mansion:
Kai was still sitting on the floor, staring into the void as a voice kept running through his mind. A girl's clam and cheerful voice saying;
"You always know what to do right, so I am sure you will not make any wrong choices, Kai…"
As the voice slowly faded, Kai let out a deep sigh, when he heard a knock on the door. As he slowly looked up, the door knob began to turn as Sakura's voice came in asking if Kai was feeling sick or a anything; slowly opening the door and coming up. But as she looked inside, the room was back to normal and Kai too was in his wheelchair, looking out by the window, as he slowly turned back to her, shaking his head. Sakura then came up to him, asking if he needed something and that he can tell her anything if he wants. But Kai simply smiled as he projected his words, saying he still feels tired and would like to rest up more.
After some more talk, Sakura stepped out of his room saying to inform her if he needs anything as Kai just gave her a small nod. Slowly, Sakura closed the door, as she began to walk away, but felt a little unease in her heart. Her smile slowly faded into a worried look, as she slowly looked out the window; where the dark clouds were slowly fading, but there was still no sunlight. She brought her hand to her chest as Kai's face from before came in her mind.
"…Even if he tries to hide it, I can tell he's sad. Very sad… But why…?"
Back in Kai's room, he stared towards the door for a while, before he slowly stood up from his wheelchair and laid down on his bed. Covering his eyes, he mumbled to himself;
"I need to let off so steam…"
As he said so, the world around him shifted, until in a few seconds Kai opened his eyes, back in the dungeon. Looking around in silence for a while, until the system came up to him; materializing in thin air.
"Adventurer!? Wow, I didn't think you will come back so soon. Is your work outside done?"
But Kai spoke in, asking where are the high-level monsters are. To this, the system paused for a while, asking back why Kai wants to know that. But Kai simply stretched out his arms, swinging them around as he said;
"Just because…"
The system screen floated around for some time, but after a while it agreed to it; explaining Kai will be teleported to a higher floor and will be given a quest to eliminate a floor filled with level 300, or above monsters. Just as it was said, in front of Kai, a portal appeared.
The system was continuing to explain, but Kai just entered the portal as the system called him from behind, saying he wasn't finished yet.
Outside the dungeon, in the real world where the girls sat in Elysia's room, talking about last night's attack, when Ana noticed that the weather outside the window was returning back to normal. She pointed it out, as everyone looked outside, smile forming in their faces as they happily decided to go and talk with Kai to go out. As they all made their way to Kai's room, they met Sakura on their way as she told them that Kai needed rest so not to disturb him. The girls slowly nodded, when Hiro came to them from behind, saying that they can go look around the festival once Kai wakes up, which they all happily agreed to. Elysia then suggested that they all should make some desserts together as they all move towards the kitchen.
Sakura and Hiro told them to be careful, as once they all went out of view, Hiro sighed as he spoke in a serious tone. He whispered to Sakura, saying that the knights found something and have a brief idea of what actually happened. Saying so, he pulled out a small red crystal in his hand as Sakura asked what it was.
"The knights found a total of ten crystals like this, all placed around the mansion in a circular formation. But not just anyone can enter the mansion; so, there's only two possible ways for it."
Hiro spoke, as Sakura too nodded, speaking her opinion as she said;
"Either one of those assassins disguised themselves as a worker in the mansion, came in and planted those crystals. Or the other one, there's a rat among us…"
As the investigation was going on, inside the dungeon; Kai was walking around with dominaredor, dragging it on the floor with a line forming from the blood on the scythe-spear. Behind him, were corpses of many monsters, on the floor lifeless. As he walked ahead, a portal formed in front of him again. The system screen then materialized next to him, stating that he had found a hidden floor with a time-limited quest to clear. As well as asking if he would like to enter it, with the options No/Yes available to him.
A smirk slowly formed on his lips as he said;
"It's always the latter…"
Saying so, he stepped inside the portal.
-To be Continued