7 Planes.
7 planes to that signaled the abrupt end of the Festival.
A festival that was supposed to bring the future superheroes of the world together… ended in the deaths of probably more than 900 people. Of course, that number was just an estimate, there could be less, there could be more…
…But now, the only thing in the minds of the students is how helpless they were in the situation as the sky above them was filled with nothing but darkness and pain.
Just a few moments ago, they were cheering and howling for glory… but now the only thing that remained was a silent bitterness– a regret that they could do nothing about. They were supposed to be heroes, but the only thing they could do was watch as hundreds of people died above them.
The Dark Millenium aimed for this. They could have aimed from anywhere within the Academy… but they crashed the planes right on top where the majority of the people were gathered… they wanted them to see what they were capable of doing– these were the thoughts of most of the students,
“N… no. We… we need to help them!” Silvie, who was still inside the coliseum with the others, quickly snapped out of her thoughts as her feet began to float from the ground.
“Where are you going, Silv!?” Gary quickly stretched his arms to block Silvie as she flew away, but his arm was quickly swatted away.
“I’m going out!” Silvie yelled as a skirt of wind traveled across her body, propelling her directly outside the coliseum.
“…She’s going to the gate,” Hannah breathed out before her feet were engulfed in flames, “I’m going with her.”
“W… wait, we should wait for the instructors– Ah, god damn it!” The only thing that Gary could do was jump to the top of the coliseum to try and chase the two, leaving Riley and Tomoe with the rest of the students.
The number of the students dwindled, however, as most of them chased to follow Silvie; if there were any hopes that there were survivors, then the least they should be able to do was to help them.
“Should we go and follow them, master?”
With most of the students gone, Tomoe carefully approached Riley and stood behind him; her voice only traveling through Riley’s ears.
“The Dark Millenium… did they do this because they wanted to take revenge on you?” Tomoe then said as she looked at the cloud of darkness above them; there were still some parts of the airplanes hanging on the invisible force field, but with the dome not offering and friction, it will only be another moment for them to fall to the sides,
“They said they were doing what they were doing to save humanity, but look at them… killing all of these people just to pretend that they actually have a chance to reach your heights. A bunch of hypocrites.”
“Oh. I apologize, Tomoe.”
“M… m… master!?” Tomoe’s body instantly straightened like a pole as Riley suddenly leaned closer to her, placing his face just a few inches away from touching her ears. Tomoe was trying her best not to faint even with all the redness that crawled through her face
“You were not privy to the information because you were only the Second Subordinate.”
“H… Hm?”
“This is my doing.”
“W… what?”
“Let’s go, Tomoe…
…We need to make sure no one survived.”
***
“B… Bleurgh!”
“W… why… why do something like this?”
“Dark Millenium… they will pay for this!”
Ants.
From the view above, the students of the Academy that forced themselves through the gate looked like ants that were trying to drag leftovers back to their nest. The Academy guards initially wanted to stop Silvie as she was the first to be asked to leave, but when the rush of students started appearing, the only thing they could do was open the gate; as they seemed adamant to the point that they would probably destroy it.
However, they too were not ready for the destruction that rained down upon them.
The land area of the Academy was its own city with its size– but even then, there were debris falling everywhere as they slid from the invisible dome. The weirdest thing is as if the heavens were mocking them, as most of the debris seemed to have slid and rolled near the Academy gates.
There were already instructors and some staff of the Academy searching for survivors. But judging by the looks on their faces, they have not been successful yet.
“!!!”
Silvie carefully lifted a large chunk of the plane away, only for her eyes to be welcomed by the scenery of several charred bodies stuck to each other. Those who were near her could not help but take in a small but deep gasp; almost to the point that their chests exploded– This was a mistake, however, as the smell of the roasted bodies fumed through their noses.
“Heurkh!” And so, once again, the retching sounds of the students whispered in the air.
As for Silvie, her hand trembled uncontrollably; not knowing whether she should let go of the debris and cover the bodies or wait for someone to move them away. She tried to cover their bodies, but as soon as the sound of their skin crackling whispered through her ears, the only thing she could do was close her eyes.
“Silvie, remove it!”
Her rapid thoughts were then disrupted as Hannah passed by her, quickly covering the bodies with blankets that she got from the guards.
“…” Silvie watched her for a few seconds, before letting out a small breath and nodding, “T… thank you.”
“Snap out of it, Silvie. You’re the school’s No. 1 student, remember?”
“I–” Silvie was about to say something, but as soon as she saw Hannah’s trembling hands, she could not help but take in another deep breath,
“Let’s… search for survivors,” she then once again closed her eyes; and as she did so; the cries, the screams, the panic, and the sorrow became silent. What remained were the hearts that drummed erratically through her ears. She tried desperately to hear a different beat– weak, tormented, and in need of rescue.
But alas, she could hear no such pain.
“…” Silvie bit her lip as she finally realized… there probably weren’t any survivors here.
“Father! Why… did you leave!?”
“We’re… too late.”
Silvie’s thoughts were then disrupted by Hannah’s sudden bellows. She carefully put the giant debris she was holding to the side before turning towards where Hannah rushed to, only to see Whiteking and the others descending from the sky.
Whiteking… Whiteking could have probably stopped this from happening; along with Scarlet Mage and the others they were with. So why… why were they gone?
“Why did you leave!?” Hannah repeated her words, “You… you could have saved some of–“
“There… was another plane,” the tone of Whiteking’s voice was sedated; his helmet slowly opening and revealing his face to the others.
“F… father? Another plane? Did you… manage to save the–“
“It was empty.”
“What?”
Silvie, who was quietly listening from the side, could not help but join in on the conversation, “Did… the Dark Millenium use it to lure you away from the Academy?”
“…” Bernard only looked at Silvie and nodded, before rushing to help the others in trying to find survivors. At least just one…
…if they could at least just find one. Just a single light in the darkness to tell them what truly happened.
“I… I think we have one here!”
“!!!” Silvie and Hannah quickly looked towards the sound of the voice, only to see Gary waving his hands at them.
“She… we think she’s breathing!”
And as soon as they heard his words, the two quickly rushed towards him.
“Where!? We need a medic here!” Hannah quickly bellowed, garnering the attention of the other people.
“A child? Where, Gary!?” A smile slowly crawled on Silvie’s face; her breaths finally replacing the sorrow stuck inside her lungs.
“T… there! Riley is taking care of her!”
Silvie and Hannah quickly looked towards where Gary was pointing to, and there, they saw Riley gently carrying a small girl in his arms– her eyes… still trembling.
“R… Riley,” Hannah could not help but take in a small gulp as she saw her brother carrying someone; never in her life did she see Riley being that close to another human other than her, and to see him with a sorrowful look on his face, her eyes almost could not stop the tears that were wanting to burst out from them.
“How… how is she?”
“Shh,” Riley placed his finger on his lips before softly pointing towards the small child.
“A… Angel?”
“!!!”
Silvie, Gary, and Hannah sedated their hurried steps as soon as they heard the weak breaths coming from the small child.
“Is… is that you, Angel?”
Silvie could not help but cover her mouth as a small gasp escaped from her mouth, her hands trembling as her tears fell upon them. Finally, through all this sorrow and madness. Finally…
…there was light in the dark–
“Keuhk!”
“…” Silvie’s gasps completely ceased as red once again painted itself in front of her. She slowly touched her face… only to see her tears now mixed with the blood– blood that gushed from the little girl’s mouth like rain.
“No…
…No!”
Silvie’s screams… rippling through the air, as if signaling that their last light has now completely withered.
“…”
“…”
“…”
[Katherine, are you still there!?]
“…I am, mom.”
Tears. Tears fell on Katherine’s face as she watched Riley and the others from afar; her voice slightly trembling as she seemed to be talking with her mother through her phone.
[The… the news just came up! All… all those people.]
“…I know, mom… I’m here.”
[N… no, oh my god. I’m… I’m so sorry, Katherine.]
“We still have a lot to do, mom… please call back later.”
[W… wait, please wait. What about your friend!? Is he alright!?]
“…He’s alright, mom.”
[He’s… alright? Did you find him!?]
“He… didn’t get on the plane.”
[That’s… oh my god, thank god… Thank god. That’s good… that’s good.]
“…”
[I… I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep knowing I was the one who got him on the plane. I… I bought the ticket for him, after all.]
“I… was the one to ask you to do that, mom.”
[But even so–]
“Mom, please…
…please don’t tell this to anyone.”
[O… of course, honey. A lot of people died… it would be spitting on their faces if–]
“Thank you… mom. I… I need to go.”
[Okay, please… please be safe, okay?]
“Mom… I love you.”
[…]
[…I love you too, honey. Eat your meals, okay? Don’t stay up too late, call me if it gets too hard.]
“…Goodbye, mom.”
[Hm…
…Goodbye, Kathy.]