With no hope of escaping the towering skyscraper, Setsuna's will to even stand properly wavered as her trembling hands and feet betrayed her. Doubt crept into her mind, questioning the decision to leave her island behind.
-Was it a mistake for me to leave the Hono's floating island?-
Stunned and disoriented, Setsuna stared in disbelief at the devastation that lay before her.
The sight of the destruction made her realize the terrifying truth about humanity's capacity for violence and the never-ending war that ravaged their world. The illusion of a utopia, a paradise, shattered before her eyes, leaving behind only the harsh reality she had been sheltered from.
Hope, dreams, love, and faith - were they merely illusions? Setsuna pondered this as she looked down with a somber expression, her thoughts consumed by the darkness enveloping her soul. Yet, not a single word escaped her lips, silenced by the weight of her disillusionment.
Amidst the gloom, a fleet of masked soldiers caught Setsuna's attention, slowly approaching them from a distance. Despite the dimness of the day, the fleet's sheer size and a colossal cruiser, spanning 180 meters in length, made them unmistakably visible. The cruiser acted as a beacon, emitting a radiant light that pierced through the blank holographic sky.
In their present position, the only light came from a flickering flame, a haunting reminder of the previous explosion that had shaken the building.
In the darkness that consumed parts of the building, their whereabouts remained hidden.
They stood in a shadowy corner, their gaze fixed upon a colossal crack that stretched toward the remnants of the parking station building. The crack served as a haunting reminder of the destruction that had taken place.
As they observed the remnants of the parking station, Setsuna couldn't help but feel a surge of despair. The once bustling hub of activity for people to park their vehicles now lay in ruins. The flickering flame casted shadows upon their faces.
With the fleet of masked soldiers drawing nearer, Setsuna realized that her chances of escaping was getting slimmer.
As for Einsamer, he saw the world beyond the skyscraper once filled with promise and liberation, now appeared as a perilous maze of destruction.
Finally, Einsamer made a determination. "No more cat and mouse game. Let's get to the top floor and confront them."
"Are you sure? Going to the artificial garden might be a trap." said Shan, expressing concerns.
The top floor of this skyscraper was a floating island known as the artificial garden, the largest floating island in sectors 1 and 2.
"I'm not going to play their stupid game. There are multiple exits on the upper floor; maybe we can find one that hasn't been destroyed," replied Einsamer.
"Objectively speaking, I think they've destroyed all the available exits. Just look at the exits on this floor—the school entrance and the parking station—multiple floors of exits are gone. Moreover, we don't have access to any vehicles," Shan said with a serious tone.
Einsamer and Setsuna agreed with Shan's assessment, but they realized they had no other option. There was nowhere to escape, and even hiding wouldn't provide them with a permanent and safe place in the skyscraper.
Though Shan's words were discouraging, he knew that their only chance of survival was to follow the rules and reach the top floor—a leap of faith they had to take.
"Do you have a plan?" Setsuna asked in a low voice.
Shan replied hesitantly, "To be honest, I can't say I have a plan, but we have no other choice."
Setsuna seemed on the verge of losing her sanity, but when Einsamer placed his hand on her shoulder, she felt a warm reassurance that he would always be by her side, no matter what happened. Without saying a word, Einsamer conveyed his understanding, and Setsuna comprehended.
"Let's take a leap of faith then," Setsuna said, her voice slightly more energetic.
In truth, they all knew that something even more dreadful might be awaiting them, but they had to keep moving to survive. Staying stagnant wouldn't solve anything. They were the kind of people who would try again and again in the face of adversity, no matter how long it took to reach their goal. Despite their disappointment with the current situation, their spirits remained strong. Each of them was aware of this fact about themselves.
Returning to the area where they had first arrived on this floor to search for the elevator, they continued to hear cries of people coming from every direction. Some begged for their lives to be spared, while others simply screamed, their voices quickly fading away only to be replaced by another scream from a different direction.
The dark sky provided limited visibility, with only certain areas illuminated by burning flames and the faint light of the floating island. It was difficult to see clearly beyond a normal range of vision.
Suddenly, they spotted a group of people engaged in a battle against several masked men up ahead. Some of the fighters appeared to be high-rankers, possessing the ability to enhance their bodies beyond the strength of ordinary rankers. These high-rankers had modified bodies, with blue parallel lines running from their arms to the back of their necks, connected to a core embedded in their spines.
Two high-rankers were locked in combat against four masked men armed with swords and spears. Although the high-rankers seemed to be struggling, they managed to hold their ground. The remaining people in the vicinity were desperately trying to evade the attacks from the masked men, resulting in the echoing sound of clashing metal.
Without hesitation, the three of them sprang into action, joining the battle. Einsamer rushed to aid a high-ranking woman by delivering a swift kick to one of the masked men, causing him to release his sword and his head to collide with the surface. However, when Einsamer attempted to wield the fallen sword, his grip on the hilt caused it to transform into blue shimmering particles, which eventually faded away.
In disbelief, he murmured, "The mana particles..."
The effect of these blue particles resembled the mana particles in TWOD. Moreover, Einsamer knew that any weapon summoned by mana particles could only be wielded by the summoner. It seemed that this rule also applied to the sword he had tried to grasp, which now dissipated into nothingness.
He didn't want to believe that magic existed, but what he had just witnessed was undeniable.
Lost in thought, Einsamer was caught off guard when another masked man noticed his vulnerable back and leaped towards him, ready to strike with his sword. However, the female ranker with her boosted and modified body intervened, pushing the masked man aside but falling onto the surface herself, now vulnerable to attacks from the other masked men.
Startled by the strange sound behind him, Einsamer turned to see a girl with short brown hair and brown skin. Her body emitted a faint blue light, indicating that she had also modified her body to enhance her physical strength. She looked somewhat familiar, but in the heat of the moment, Einsamer didn't pause to remember who she was. Instead, he immediately jumped into action, repeatedly punching the masked man lying on the floor until he was knocked out.
"You are... never mind," the brown-haired girl murmured.
With the smoke and dimly lit surroundings making it difficult to see clearly, Einsamer now had a close-up view of the girl's face. He felt a slight blush rise to his cheeks as he recognized her as the person who used to watch him through the basement window while he trained with Geralt.
"You're that girl!" Einsamer exclaimed, his voice filled with shock.
Just then, Setsuna called out to Einsamer, diverting his attention from the brown-haired girl. "Hey, Einsamer. The elevator is up ahead. We need to go now. More of them are coming!"
As soon as Setsuna found the elevator in this lobby, she guided the remaining survivors in that direction, fending off the other two masked men herself by using her remaining strength to activate her bio-data chip. However, elsewhere, the survivors who were too terrified to move, as the battle raged across the area, were brutally slaughtered by the approaching squad of masked men, drawing closer to Shan.
After defeating his two enemies, an old man with a muscular physique and a modified body shouted for the remaining survivors to follow Setsuna.
"Hey, you! Follow that young girl," he commanded with a strong and sharp voice, addressing the huddled group of people who were sitting in a corner, knees pulled close to their chests as if trying to make themselves as small as possible amidst the scattered debris.
Due to the smoke and the dimly lit area, Einsamer couldn't see the old man's face clearly. However, he had a feeling that the voice was familiar. Yet again, he didn't dwell on it too much as he reached out to Shan and told him, "Let's get going."
As the squad of masked men approached them, Einsamer knew their time was running short. Gritting his teeth, he charged in to help Shan, who was still fighting off one masked man repeatedly attempting to land a hit. Once he got closer, Einsamer punched the masked man in his temples, while Shan followed up with a kick to the stomach, sending him flying against the wall. It was a fierce double hit on his vital points, even with a mask on, his mask cracked.
Blood dripped from Einsamer's knuckles, as he hadn't held back his strength when he punched through the mask.
"Shan, let's hurry. We need to go now!"
Only then did they notice that most of the survivors were already moving toward Setsuna, while the two of them were left behind. Setsuna noticed this and paused, turning to look at her friends with anxiety as a new wave of masked men headed toward the two of them.
Nonetheless, Einsamer and Shan swiftly turned in the direction of Setsuna and ran as fast as they could, even though they felt like they couldn't move any longer. The will to survive took over every fiber of their beings, and seconds later, they arrived at Setsuna's side. The two high-rankers also waited for them in front of the elevator, ready to jump in and help if Einsamer and Shan didn't make it in time.
The footsteps of the squad of masked men echoed louder as they drew closer to the two young men, who were desperately escaping for their lives. They despised running away from their problems, but today was different. They ran to live for another day, hoping that they could strike back in the future. This was the reason they kept moving forward, even though each step seemed to drain the strength from their legs, leaving them feeling as if their limbs were encased in lead.