Under the Veil of Night

Standing near the top of the rubble, Kanae smiled. "What are you waiting for? Let's go up!"

Seeing the visage of a girl standing from above caused the people to feel complicated. They have been trying to climb the mountain of rubble for hours without any results, but this one person managed to do it in a short period of time. When they laid eyes on her, what they saw was not a mere little girl, but someone high above, standing far above them.

'It's like she's in a completely different realm.'

Jason was still staring at Kanae as the people around him started to climb as fast as they could. Seeing the level that Kanae reached, he had the feeling that he wouldn't be able to reach her in this lifetime. Even if he had all the time in the world, he wouldn't be able to reach her.

It was a weird feeling, but that was what he felt from seeing that girl.

"Oro, can you help me?" Tommy asked with a wry smile. His thigh was hurting so badly that he was unable to move properly.

"Ah, alright," Jason turned around to face the boy. He tried to push his thoughts deep into the back of his mind.

At the top of the rubble, Kanae moved to the side. She sat down on the floor, her legs dangling on the rocks. The people around nodded at her and went on their way; no one tried to attack her. They all knew, without her help, they could never get past this obstacle.

After quite some time, Jason and Tommy finally arrived on top of the rubble. Tommy looked towards the two of them apologetically. "I'm sorry. I've become a burden for you two."

"It's not your fault," Kanae shook her head lightly. If she didn't decide to trust that woman, they would never be in this situation. As the leader, she understood that she was the one who bore the burden of her teammate's decision.

"You're not a burden either," Jason chuckled.

Standing up, Kanae nodded. "In a dangerous place like this, being fast does not necessarily mean you're the strongest. It'll only mean that you have to face danger first."

"What?" Tommy asked in confusion.

Kanae smirked as she pointed to the door towards the 16th floor. "What do you think lies behind this door?"

The door was still shut, but they could faintly hear the sound of slashing and fighting. It was clear; the next floor was filled with monsters, so they had to fight with their all to pass through it.

"Let's go."

The three of them climbed the stairs, reaching the next floor. Upon seeing the gruesome sight before him, Tommy nearly vomited out of nausea. The situation on this floor was not any better than the first floor. Aside from the fact that there was severe structural damage, there was basically no difference.

Kanae tightened her grip on her sword. She had already trained her body and techniques to a high level, but she never truly had the determination to fight. As a martial artist, if she could refer to herself as one, she had to be responsible for her sword and face the consequences behind it.

Before long, the three of them engaged in the messy fight too. Tommy was covered by Jason and Kanae because his wound limited his actions.

"Dodge!" Kanae yelled.

Tommy quickly bent down and a sword passed his head, hitting the monster behind him. He tried to move, but pain shot through his body. Seeing how Tommy was unable to move, Kanae quickly covered for him, blocking an incoming attack.

"Captain, why are you protecting me?" Tommy asked in frustration. "Please leave me. I'm just being a burden here!"

"You're not a burden, Tom," Kanae replied without turning her head around. "We came here together, so we will go out together too."

Tommy's leg wound greatly limited his movement. He has been feeling rather depressed by how he couldn't fully exhibit his fighting skills. Without Kanae and Jason protecting him, he would have been dead a thousand times over.

"Stand guard, Tom. You're not alone here," Jason remarked.

"I know," Tommy tightened his grip on his sword. He readied his stance, but his leg gave him another scream of pain. Gritting his teeth, he tried to ignore it as he focused his attention on the enemies before him.

Knowing that his teammates were there, protecting him and at the same time encouraging him, made him more confident. He knew that it would not be an easy fight from the moment they stepped in here. Getting frustrated and angry would not do anything.

He had to fight back with all his strength. He would not let his teammates down!

They didn't know how long it took them to reach the stairs to the next floor, but when they saw the sight on the next floor, despair filled their eyes. There was basically no difference between the 16th and 17th floors.

"Captain, what should we do?"

"We came here to train," Kanae replied calmly. "Since there are still a lot of monsters blocking us, and we can't get out of here, we have to fight."

Jason nodded. "Aye, Captain."

With that, the three of them charged forward once more. Blades flew around the hallway along with the bodies of numerous monsters. Time passed swiftly as they finally made their way towards the stairs to the 18th floor.

"I don't understand why the stairs are always protected like this?" Kanae patted the door as they entered the staircase.

Jason eyed the wall near him. He had only realized after Kanae mentioned it that the stairs between floors were always free from monsters. Unless the door was broken, no monster entered this area.

"I think the door has a special design or mechanism that prevents them from entering."

"Do you think that when they become monsters they lose their senses and ability to think?" Kanae asked quietly.

Jason stayed silent. He simply didn't have an answer for this question. All he knew was the fact that the monsters attacked rapidly, without a chance for them to think about anything. It was as if all they knew was attack, attack, and attack.

If that were true, the experiment carried out here was truly inhumane.

"Shall we go to the next floor?" Kanae pointed to the door towards the 18th floor.

"Sure."

They opened the door and once again saw a mess in the hallway. There was no need to say anything about the floor anymore because by this time, every single inch was colored red. Nothing was spared. This time, however, part of the ceiling had broken through, showing the 19th floor not far above them.

Tommy was speechless when he saw another hole in the ceiling. "Just what happened here that caused even the floor to fall through?"

"A brutal fight happened here," Kanae answered in a low tone. "I'm pretty sure that many of those people and monsters that were fighting here have powers far beyond what is considered normal."

"Do you mean, they can break the world record?" Tommy asked with shining eyes.

Kanae: "…" how was this related to that and why do you look so happy?

Jason shook his head lightly. "You might not want to think so much about them. It's good that we weren't here when the fight happened."

Considering how it looked now after the fight, it was clear that this place was definitely hell when it happened. With their current strength, it would have been nigh impossible to survive. After all, Jason himself knew for sure that he couldn't fight numerous monsters at once, nor those people with strength to destroy the room.

Kanae narrowed her eyes at the floor above them. She could sense someone's presence.

It was already good enough that they could survive the barrage of numerous monsters on the floors below. They were not sure about the other people as they didn't have the time to mind them. However, this area was completely empty, leaving only one person on the broken 19th floor.

"Rei, do you sense someone?"

"Above this floor, there's one person," Kanae replied. "Shall we greet her?"

"Her?" Tommy was stunned. Even before meeting the other party, she already guessed the gender?

Kanae nodded her head. It was strange, but she had the feeling that the person was a woman. Of course, she still needed the confirmation for that.

"We should greet her. The stairs towards the next floor should be near her, right?" Jason asked in a wry tone.

Kanae nodded her head slightly. Taking a deep breath, she turned around.. "Let's go."