Chương 154: A Bust

A bang rang out, and June's heart stopped. A distant scream was heard, one that wrenched his gut and woke him from thought. He ran over to the railing, and his eyes started toward Lilia's last known position, then he— Boom A distant explosion echoed — ruffling the drums in his ears with an earthy bass. His face paled; a massive plume of smoke shot upwards, blotting out the starry night.

Debris from a destroyed building was launched up hundreds of feet in all directions and fell from above like a meteor shower; the distant scream became many. Several more bangs rang out, snapping him out of his re-stunned trance; his head jerked, shaking off all awe and fear welling inside, and his face darkened…

'Lilia!?' His head twitched swiftly, scanning the parterre for her. With Will-infused eyes, tears of blood ran down his face as the human body was not designed for sudden — absolute strain. His head stopped swivelling; his eyes had stopped scanning. Lilia was in his sight… and she was fighting someone off? June slammed his hands onto the flat-topped railing and vaulted over it off the balcony, and dropped into a crowd of fleeing aristocrats. He inhaled, shut his eyes… and exhaled; this was no time to be rash.

Pushing a thumb against his palm, he drew blood before clenching his fist and causing the tepid stream to bubble out from the pressure he exerted on himself. He needed to stay calm. Like a sewing needle, he wove through the fleeing crowd, not afraid to juggernaut his way through when a path didn't present itself; he had an objective, and nothing else mattered in the moment.

A few moments of chaos ensued; Lilia recalled making eye contact with one of the perpetrators. A haggard octoloid Triton in a dirty brown cloak; she remembered making accidental eye contact with the man for an instant while conversing with her peers. She looked into his rectangular pupils and saw… no life. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Nobles careened out of his way so as not to touch the filthy man; he had a shrimplike back, and even from a distance, her superhuman senses were able to pick up the scent of feces from the man.

'Strange? They usually screen everyone harshly here.' The man sharply turned away and walked off increasingly fast. Not a minute later, Lilia heard a yelp — one of the attendees pleading, then— Bang! Another attendee screamed, and Lilia's mouth fell agape; her heart dropped.

'Jun—' A thunderous explosion shook the ground she stood on, and the wave knocked her down violently. She rolled onto her back, looked around, and saw the same octoloid human walking around, shooting attendees, followed by an entourage of other attackers armed with a variety of weapons. Single screams became a choir; the few that fled became many. The slow were trampled, the fast abandoned their peers, and abruptly chaos began. Pieces of debris fell from the sky: massive and small chunks trailed ash behind them.

A nearby building toppled over and seemingly dissolved into an expanding plume of dust. Visibility, by the second, dwindled, illuminated only by faint gunshots and the sparks of guards and perpetrators clashing blades. Lilia coughed and looked around; the peers she dreaded conversing with had either left her for dead or had been struck by falling debris. Both of her alters had the same thoughts.

'W-Where's June? Where's everyone?' She shakily pushed herself onto her feet and swayed; the prior blast had rattled her organs, and the floating particulate debris made breathing a task. Lilia shook her head and tore a piece of her flowy dress to use as an impromptu face mask. She looked at a fallen acquaintance and stumbled over to them.

"H-hey… are you alright!?" The person did not respond. Moving closer to check, Lilia recoiled and winced in horrified disgust. Her peer was dead. A piece of small debris had struck them in the throat, killing them. Her eyes scanned the ground, looking in horror at dozens of fallen mundane partygoers… All dead.