Under the Veil of Night

Kanae rested again when Tommy woke up and took over guarding. After several more hours, everyone woke up and prepared themselves. No one knew how many hours have already passed as the sky was still as bright as ever in this place. Only Shiro's voice told them the passing of time outside this place as they ate the food in the cans.

"It's nearly 10 AM here," Shiro answered with a yawn. "You all are truly big sleepers."

"We're taking turns to sleep, Shin. How's the situation outside?" Jason asked.

"Nothing has changed. The barrier is still blocking people from seeing the real condition of the school, so there's no hint that the vial has been taken yet."

Jason frowned. His gaze landed on the tall building from the window not far from him. It was clear to see that some windows were already broken, but the building itself was still standing straight.

"Those powerful groups are taking a long time."

"Should we take a look?" Kanae stood up and stretched her body. "It'll be good training to face stronger monsters."

Tommy looked towards Kanae in bewilderment. "Captain, are you serious? It's not going to be easy for us to reach the top floor."

Kanae rolled her eyes. "I never said anything about reaching the top floor. I'm just saying that we can climb up the building too. The monsters on the higher floors should be stronger than the ones we faced here."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Tommy frowned.

"If you're afraid, you can stay here. I agree with Captain," Jason interrupted. He wanted to find out the source of these monsters, so he had to go inside the main building. Going in alone was clearly not an option, so he has been waiting for this chance. It might be selfish of him, but he needed to find out more.

Tommy's face darkened. "Who's afraid? I'm not afraid! Let's go!"

With that, he stormed out first. Kanae and Jason exchanged wry smiles. At this time, the two of them no longer wore their usual accessories. The eye patch and the cloth were already tossed to the side since they blocked their senses.

"Let's go."

They made their way towards the large tower. From far, this building looked rather ordinary, but when they got near, they finally realized what was meant by massive. This building in front of them was a large tower that stretched high above them.

Kanae heaved a sigh as she walked inside. The sound of fighting was rather clear even on the outside, allowing them to know that the inside was rather hectic.

SLASH! BANG! PRANG!

Numerous sounds filled their ears the moment they stepped inside. Tommy's eyes widened when he saw the mess in front of him. The people there were fighting with their all towards the monsters that came pouring out like a never-ending tide.

"Ah!"

A person fell down and a monster pounced towards him. Tommy was about to help but felt a strong grip on his arm.

"If you go, you'll die," Jason's voice was rather cold and unfeeling.

Tommy was startled. He looked towards the person again and saw numerous monsters already surrounding the person. From the side, another man was shooting both the monsters and the person they pounced on.

"Let's go up," Kanae interrupted their thoughts. It was too chaotic here. They could die at any moment as human lives were reaped like wheat. It was a battlefield.

"Okay."

Making their way towards the stairs, they quickly opened a pathway. Some of the people noticed how easily they fought and secretly followed from behind. However, the three's fast movements clearly didn't give others the chance to follow if they didn't have adequate strength themselves.

"Can't we help them?" Tommy asked as they climbed the stairs slowly.

"If you help one of them, can you afford to help the others?" Jason asked calmly. "Once you help one, the others will swarm towards you. At that time, what reason would you have to refuse them?"

Tommy opened his mouth before closing it again. He clearly didn't have any reasons nor obligations to help them. All he had was sympathy because they were fighting so hard only to die in this place.

"If you want to help them, you should first have the power to do that," Kanae added. "Blindly stepping forward is no different than asking for a death wish."

Tommy himself wouldn't be able to face against so many monsters on his own. Trying to help strangers was not as easy as it seemed. Even though their first meeting was Kanae helping him out, it was only because he happened to be on her way home.

Here, the situation was vastly different. They clearly didn't have enough strength to help all those people.

"The only way to help them is by ending this battle," Jason replied. "But the big question is, do you have the strength to do that?"

"I don't know."

"We'll find out up there."

Quickening their pace, they continued to make their way up. The next few floors were not much different from the previous ones. The hectic situation continued until they reached the fifth floor.

"Whoa! It's slippery," Tommy quickly grabbed ahold of a nearby locker.

Kanae looked towards the floor in bewilderment. The floor was wet, but it was not with ordinary water. The liquid caused their steps to slow because they have to be cautious.

"Watch out!" Jason swung his sword towards the incoming monster. The inertia caused his body to tilt back, and he fell since he wasn't able to plant his feet firmly on the ground.

GUBRAK!

"Are you alright?" Kanae asked, but her attention was on the monsters before them.

"Kind of," Jason rubbed the back of his head. "We have to figure out a way to fight them on this slippery floor."

Kanae shifted her feet slightly. Her lips curled up. "Do you two know ice skating?"

"What?"

Without answering them, Kanae kicked the wall, forcing her to move forward. Reaching the first monster, she sliced its hand before she kicked its feet to change her direction.

Jason's eyes lit up when he saw how smoothly she moved. "Of course, it can be done like this."

With that, he followed after the girl. The slippery floor now became his friend as he used the slick floor to attack.

"Wait for me!" Tommy yelled before following after them. However, the next second, he tumbled to the ground.

Ouch!

It was not as easy as it looked.