"Belore, did you seriously forget us? We just became younger, not strangers."
That familiar, dry tone made Belore blink hard. His eyes widened as he scanned their faces. "That voice… that expression—Layla? And Liam? What the hell happened to you two?"
Liam shrugged. "I built a new body."
Layla smirked. "And I mutated."
Belore blinked again. "Can people even do that?"
"We did," Layla replied smugly.
"Sit," Liam gestured to the guest chairs. "Tea or coffee?"
"Coffee. Strong. Loaded with sugar and milk. I need to stay awake—chaos is spilling through the capital."
"AISAR, two coffees—one sweet and milky. One black tea for Layla."
"Right away, sir."
They settled around a polished glass table in the guest corner of Liam's office. A service drone rolled in moments later with a tray perfectly balanced on top.
"Your drinks are ready, sirs and madam."
Belore picked his up and gave the drone a long look. "AISAR's amazing. I need something like him."
"Thank you for the praise, Knight Belore," AISAR responded flatly. "I hear it frequently."
Layla narrowed her eyes at Liam, who was grinning like a child. "Why are you smiling? AISAR is the amazing one, not you."
"But I made him," Liam said proudly. "So I get to be smug."
"Liam," Belore leaned forward, face grim. "I didn't come just for pleasantries. I need your help. The outside world is spiraling into collapse. Mount Tambora erupted."
Both Liam and Layla stiffened.
"The experts estimate global ash cover in five months. It'll last a decade."
"That's…" Layla whispered. "A second dark age."
"The god clans? Gone. They used interplane teleportation and left this realm. The entire Elven Forest vanished—just a pit left behind. The dwarves retreated to their deep sanctuaries. No word from the Grasslands—beastmen, greenskins, all silent. Earthquakes are destabilizing the entire continent. And I've got no news from the other continents."
Just as the words left his mouth, the room shuddered violently.
"Under the table!" Liam barked.
The three of them dropped low as the floor groaned and lights flickered. Ten long seconds passed in breathless silence. Then, stillness.
"AISAR, status?"
"Structural integrity at 75%. All systems operational at average capacity."
"And the capital?"
"Widespread damage," AISAR reported. "Several buildings collapsed. Drainage systems in multiple sectors have caved in. Entire sections now rest atop compromised foundations. The slum district has been completely flattened."
Belore's fists clenched. "It's happening… the worst-case scenario."
Layla looked up sharply. "Why is your building still standing?"
"I reinforced it myself. Yours too, Layla."
Her expression softened for a moment. "Then my lab might still be intact."
Belore stood, grim-faced. "I need to assess the city. I came to ask for your help—both of you. Meet me at headquarters the day after tomorrow at 8 PM. I've summoned everyone who hasn't fled."
Outside
Belore ran from the building, activating layered enchantments on his armor and taking to the sky using flight magic. His voice crackled over a walkie-talkie as he tried to reach his scattered forces.
Liam and Layla emerged into the street, and the devastation hit like a punch to the chest.
Collapsed buildings. Fire smoldering from gas lines. Screams echoing from every direction. A child crying beside the crushed body of her mother. A young man screaming for his brother buried under rubble.
Liam tapped the side of his smart glasses. "AISAR, give me structural maps and life-sign locations."
"Overlaying optimal clearing routes. Advising debris removal pattern now."
Small debris he tossed aside. Larger rubble he smashed with reinforced limbs.
Layla moved among the crowd like a commander. "You! Help dig there. You, get cloth and water for the wounded. Form a line—move the injured out of the danger zones!"
Civilians responded, eyes hollow but driven by desperation.
Around them, only reinforced structures remained: mage towers, churches, and estates built by the ultra-wealthy. Buildings with layered enchantments or seismic dampers.
The rest? Collapsed like paper in a storm.
This was no longer a city. It was a graveyard.
The divide was clear. The rich survived. The poor died in crushed tenements and sunken gutters.
Liam looked at the ash-blackened sky. "If this is the capital… what's happening in the rest of the world?"