"DJINNS WITHIN THE TOWER!?" The voice of a man says with anger. "HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?"
"It wasn't Djinns." A woman says
"Blood Fiends are created by the special-type Djinn with the codename, Vampire." A second man voice says
"NONE OF THAT MATTERS!" The first voice says. "HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!? THE TOWER KILLS ANY DJINN WITHIN A 50-METER RADIUS FROM IT! HOW COULD THEY APPEAR INSIDE OF THE TOWER!?"
In the darkened room, only a table could be seen. On the table there are three holographic screens, each with a figure that couldn't be discerned but there was one person who was present. All three of the four were looking at the only present figure. Two of them were the ones that talked, the man and the woman
"I have no clue either." the man that's present says nonchalantly
"That's not the answer we want from you." Another man, the fourth figure, says
The second man, the one who they were all looking at, exhales
"I have some news but... I'm not sure you're going to like it." The third voice, the one that's present, replies
"What. Is. It?" The first voice asks
The second voice starts to talk
"We discovered the one behind the attack." The woman says calmly
"Good news. Who was it?" The fourth figure asks
"..."
"Tell them." The third figure insists
"The fourth Djinn King." The woman says
Silence envelops the room
"Is this some kind of joke?" The first voice says nervously. "That means that the one behind the attack is-
"The Scarlet Lord, Absalom." The fourth voice says
He sighs
"To think a King was behind the attack. Oh, Great Lord Leo, please give us strength." He says after sighing
"Does that mean that it is now strong enough to get past the tower's defense?" The first says after calming down
"I doubt it." The woman answers. "If that was the case, it wouldn't have sent the Blood Fiends to do the job."
"It would have done it itself." The third says
"That makes sense." the fourth says pensively. "But if that's the case, then how did it do it? How did it manage to make the Blood Fiends enter the tower."
"The fourth lion order, Grey Lion Order created a hypothesis." The woman says. "We believe that Blood Fiends are able to bypass the tower defense system because the tower doesn't recognize them as Djinns."
"The core, isn't it?" The first asks pensively
"As expected from him." The third thought. "Once he's calm, he's quite impressive."
"That's right." The woman answers. "Humans have hearts while Djinns have cores. The two work in the same way but are still different. We believe that the tower can somehow distinguish between the two and once it senses a core, it attacks until it's destroyed. Blood Fiends are created by the Djinn known as vampire through the infusion of their life force in a liquid form of arcane energy. But... there is another hypothesis that we came up with."
"What else?" asks the fourth
"During the last expedition of the Black Lion Order, we brought back some refugees that went onto the first floor. It's possible that they somehow carried the Blood linked to Absalom which he then used to create the Fiends inside the tower."
"This is meaningless. Now that it has happened, there's no point in trying to think of something. Let's move on. We need to decide what to do with those living on the first floor." The first voice says after sighing calmly
"No need to worry about that." The third says. "I've already taken the necessary measure to deal with that."
In the Scalae first floor, some of the survivors were sleeping on the ground while others were looking at the Black Lion Order taking care of the remaining Blood Fiends. In a corner, Adam and Seleph were sitting down while Eve was still unconscious
"What are we going to do now?" Seleph asks Adam with his voice cracking with each word coming out. "Mother Lyvie is... is...Elia... the kids...they all are..."
"That's... that's a lie...right?" Eve asks with tears building up
Both Adam and Seleph look at her in surprise
"RIGHT!?" She yells with tears and a smile, one full of despair. "IT WAS JUST A DREAM, RIGHT!?"
Adam gets up
"It wasn't." He answers sternly. "It wasn't a dream. Mother Lyvie, Elia, and all the other kids. They're all gone. They're all dead."
"ADAM!" Seleph yells with anger
Adam turns around and starts to walk away
"Where are you going, Adam?" Seleph yells
"Where I came from." Adam answers as he walks away. "It's what I was gonna do after turning 16."
"Are you crazy!?" Seleph asked while looking around. "Climbing to another floor is impossible without an access card. Elia told us, remember?"
"I'll steal one from the guards." Adam says
"You'll be executed if they catch you." Seleph replies seriously
"I won't get caught." Adam answers
He stops
"I need to go back." Adam thought
As that thought ran through his mind, a memory from two years ago resurfaced. A voice. The voice of his father along with the last words he heard from him before he left him at the orphanage. The two were on a platform going down
"Where are we going, Dad?" younger Adam asks nervous
"Listen to me, Adam" His father starts seriously. "If the first floor ever gets broken into go back home. Go back home and head to the mountain behind the house. Do it alone and never let anyone find out about what you're going to see there, ok?"
"What are you talking about, Dad?" young Adam asks worried
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, ADAM!?" His father yells
Adam flinches in surprise
"I...understand." younger Adam answers shocked
"..."
Seleph's voice snaps Adam out of his flashback. Bringing him back to the present
"We'll go with you." Seleph says as he looked at Eve
The poor girl was completely out of it. It was almost as if her soul had left her body. Nothing but an empty shell remained behind
"What?" Adam asks surprised
"We can't stay on the first floor now that the orphanage is gone." Seleph starts. "Without the orphanage, there's no way we can survive there. So, we are going with you."
"Not happening." Adam replies
Seleph puts her Eve's arm around his neck and gets up with her
"If you don't bring us with you, then I'll make sure you can't leave here." Seleph says with determination and a frown while staring at Adam
"Are you serious?" Adam asks with anger
"..."
"Fine." He replies frustrated as he looks at Seleph's eyes filled with determination
"Do you need help stealing the access card?" Seleph asks
Adam puts his hand in his pocket and takes out an access card
"When did you?" Seleph says surprised
"It belonged to my father." Adam says while looking at the access card
Adam slowly approaches the pillar standing in the middle of the Scalae while looking around for the guards
"Where are we going, Adam?" Seleph asks while following
"Where I used to live with my father and mother, the third floor." He answers
"The third floor!? You used to live that high up in the tower?" Seleph asks surprised
Adam nods
"It's not that high up there. Plus, there is a huge difference between the middle and upper floors." Adam whispers while sneakily making his way to the pillar
The guards from the White Lion Order were far too focused on keeping order within the Scalae. Far too focused to notice the kids reached the pillar
"What do we do now?" Seleph whispers. "Do you even know how this works?"
He places the access card and places it on a grey pad. The pad lights up and a double door leading to the inside of the pillar opens in front of them
"Whooaaa!" Seleph makes with his eyes and mouth wide open
Adam quickly steps into the pillar and uses his hand to tell Seleph to come in
"Now's not the time to be amazed by things I've never seen. From now on, I'll need to become stronger."
Seleph quickly enters the pillar, and it closes behind him. The white platform they are standing on starts to rise. Adam looks at Seleph and Eve as he remembers Mother Lyvie's last words
"I love you all."
"How is she doing?" Adam asks after turning his head to look before him
Seleph, surprised, looks at Adam with widened eyes. Then he looks at Eve who's muttering and talking to herself in a low tone
"She's still in shock." Seleph answers
He looks at Adam and asks
"How come you're not shocked."
Adam looks at his palm
"I am. I'm barely keeping it together." He answers
Adam looks at Seleph noticing just how much he was trembling and shaking
"This is not my first time...seeing people die." Adam says
He clenches his fist
"But It'll be the last time." He thought as he clenched his fist
Suddenly, the platform starts to slow down. Adam looks at the number above the door they used to enter and starts frowning
"What's happening?" Seleph asks as nervousness starts to take over him
"We're stopping on the second floor." Adam answers with a frown
"WHAT!?" yells Seleph. "WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW!?"
"Calm down." Adam says as he tries to regain his composure. "Right now, all we can do is act like we came from the upper floor. Since we're kids, they might believe us."
Seleph looks at Adam surprised
"THAT'S YOUR PLAN!?" Seleph yells. "ACTING!? WE'RE GONNA GET EXECUTED WHEN THEY FIND OUT WE TRIED TO ILLIGALY MIGRATE TO A HIGHER FLOOR!!"
"Stop yelling. Adam says after calming down. "There's nothing else that we can do. We're stuck here and the platform's gonna stop on the second floor no matter what. Stay calm no matter what. Ok?"
Seleph nods nervously. He takes a deep breath and stands straight. Adam looks at him and sighs and just as he does that very action, the platform stops. The two take deep breaths as the double door slides open revealing two knights waiting before the pillar. One was a man about 6'2 with brown hair and eyes. A lean and toned body along with a slightly dark toned white skin. The other was a woman around 5'11 emerald-colored eyes, scarlet red short hair that stopped at the base of her neck, incredibly sharp features that accentuated her beauty. Both were wearing grey blazers and pants with black boots and were in their late 20's. On their left, at their chest, the head of a roaring white lion
"What are you kids doing here?" The woman asks with a smile
"We are-" Adam starts but is cut by a voice coming out from the blue patches behind both knights' ears
The woman puts her hand up to stop Adam from talking
"Damn it! Did we get caught downstairs!? I can't hear the voices from the communication patch." Adam thought as he tried to listen in
Seleph looks at Adam with nervousness
"What do we do now, Adam?" Seleph whispers
"Calm down." Adam mouths without making a noise
The light from the patch goes out and at the same time a deadly silence settled in. The two knights were simply staring at the three kids in the pillar
"Are we good or did we get caught!?" Adam thought with a frown. "WHICH IS IT!?"
The woman slowly raised her arm towards the kids and waved towards her