Whatever it was, it had finally taken shape. A red sphere closely resembling a moon. A blood red moon
"What... is going on?" Adam says while looking at the red sphere
"No... way! Is... Is that!" Seleph says with a smile of disbelief
It only took a few minutes for the residents of the first floor to notice the red sphere floating up above them. Now, they were all standing and staring at it as it started to bulge and move around. Eve turns around and slowly walks towards the door leading to the stairs in the building
"we...WE NEED TO GO BACK!!! TO THE ORPHANAGE!!!" She yells after stopping before the door
Seleph turns around and follows her. The two leave the building while Adam keeps staring at the red sphere
"Wha...What do I do? I... I don'- I need-" Adam starts saying as he tries to remain calm
He suddenly jumps down from the roof and lands on the ground right before Eve and Seleph. The two freeze in shock when their brother lands before them, but the young boy immediately dashes forward in the direction of the orphanage at a speed that seems humanly impossible. The two others follow and run as fast as they can
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!" Seleph yells, confused as he tries to gather his thoughts. "I THOUGHT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO ENTER THE TOWER OR APPEAR IN THE TOWER!!!"
"IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE!!!" Eve answers as she sweats buckets while running panicked. "THE TOWER PROTECTS THE OUTSIDE, BUT I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THE INSIDE!!!"
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!? HOW DOES THE TOWER EVEN WORK!!!" Seleph says while tearing up
"NOBODY KNOWS!!" Eve answers as she also starts to tear up
Up in the sky, the red giant sphere had stopped moving. Suddenly, it starts spitting out multiple small red spheres that land in different places. Each landing was accompanied by a powerful explosion, creating an orchestra of explosions. As for Adam, he had just arrived in front of the orphanage as he violently gasped for air, the kids, along with Mother Lyvie, came out of the orphanage in panic. At that very moment, a small red sphere lands on the orphanage, creating an explosion that engulfs all of them before the boy's very own eyes. His hand that he had stretched forward a few moments before the impact in the hope of saving someone was met with a violent blast of wind that sent him flying backwards with his consciousness following suit. When he opened his eyes, only a few moments had passed, but those few moments were enough to have completely changed the place he had lived in for the past two years. The boy gets up and starts to walk through the remains of the orphanage. The debris, the damage, the fire on the ground as he saw those, the boy's thoughts started running wild
"No! Again? Again? Am I going to lose everything again?" He thought as he kept walking through the devastating landscape
Explosions continued to resonate throughout the entirety of the first floor as more of the small spheres were being expelled from the main body. The cacophony of sounds, such as the yells of despair, the odd screams, and the explosions, created a song of disaster and despair which slowly encroached into the boy's mind when he saw the body of a young child he knew. One that he had been taking care of during those past two years. One that he created memories with. One that he unknowingly had acknowledged as family. Unfortunately, the more steps he took, the more bodies the boy discovered. With each discovery, a beautiful memory emerged from the young boy's mind and was burned by the fire of tragedy. He kept walking and walking. Each step became heavier than the one before until he saw a bizarre lifeform standing atop Mother Lyvie. At first, the boy smiled, but it didn't take long for that to disappear. The liquid and blood red lifeform atop her was feeding itself of the still-alive Mother
"Mo...ther? Adam says as he falls to his knees with his eyes wide open
She uses all her remaining strength to move her head and look at her son
"A..d...am? She says with a weak voice
She was barely conscious. Her vision had already gotten blurry, but she still managed to smile at her son
"I'm glad you're ok?" She thought
She didn't even have to say it. Adam understood why the tears he was holding back flowed out like a waterfall from his eyes. With the last ember of life that burned within her, she mouths her last words to him
"I love you all."
Her eyes close, and her breathing stops. The embers of the fire, known as life, had burned out. She was gone. At the sight of such a devastating event, a multitude of emotions rose deep within the young boy. Pain, Sadness, Loss, but the one that made its way to the top was anger. That very anger led him to yell. A yell full of anger and pain. A yell that made the lifeform notice him, and so it turned around. The faceless lifeform only had a mouth, and as it leaped towards Adam, it opened it. Revealing the countless sharp teeth it had used to feed upon one of the boy's most important people. Adam grits his teeth, draws his arm back, and attempts to swing at the monster
"DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!" He yells as he swings his fist at the monster
However, before his fist reaches, the odd beast splits in two. After splitting in two, the separated body of the lifeform explodes, which creates a rain of blood-red liquid
"What the hell is happening here?" A voice says
Before Adam, in the middle of the red rain, stood a man. His black, relatively short, disheveled hair reached his neck, while the bangs in front even reached his nose and covered his eyes. Opposite his hair was the stubble of a beard that looked like it was quickly shaved a few minutes, maybe moments, ago. His white tank top did a good job of showing his well-toned body. He stood tall at 6'4, his body was not too big nor was it too small, it was a perfect in between, which looked difficult to maintain. His black shorts and sandals created a very basic outfit alongside the tank top, but the long fancy black cape on his shoulder that reached his legs stood out. Finally, in his mouth, a cigarette that had just been lit up
"How the hell did Blood Fiends appear in the tower?" He says while walking towards Adam. "That bastard didn't go easy on them."
He puts his hands together and bows
"Now." He says as he looks at Adam. "How should I deal with a suicidal kid?"
Behind Adam, Eve and Seleph had finally reached the orphanage. Upon seeing the hellish picture drawn by the blood fiend, the two fall to their knees. The despair that had spread throughout the entirety of the first floor had yet to reach the two, as they were hoping their family remained safe. Their hope had been crushed. Despair had reached them. The man standing before them now understood. He clicked his tongue when he understood when he saw the body of Mother Lyvie
"I see. An orphanage, huh? If they're here, that means that they were from this orphanage. Damn it, this is gonna leave quite the scar." He thought while looking at the three
Behind the man's ear, there was a small blue patch from which a voice could be heard
"About 10 Blood Fiends are confirmed to be on this floor. 10 and climbing." A female voice says
Indeed, the giant sphere up in the sky kept shooting blood fiends. One lands in the remains of the orphanage
"Ah. One landed near me, but there are some kids here who need to be evacuated. Send someone to my coordinates." The man says as he turns around
On the back of his cape, a black roaring lion emblem was embedded
"Got it." The female voice answers
"Could you take care of the one in the sky, too, Vice-Captain?" says the voice of a child
The man sighs
"I'll take care of it, Captain." The man answers
He clicks on the patch, and it stops emitting light after that. The man picks up a rock and starts throwing it in the air and catching it as the Blood Fiends slowly approach him. From that hand, a red aura appears and surrounds the rock. He throws it one more time in the air, and it changes from a rock to a sword known as a katana
"Let's make this quick." The man says as the sword spins above his head
The sword stops and heads straight for the Blood Fiend, exploding it after piercing right through it
"Weak." The man says after puffing out some smoke
A young man suddenly appears right before the man
"Take care of them." The man says while pointing at the kids
The young man nods and dashes straight to the kids. He grabs Seleph and Eve and puts them on his shoulder. At the same time, he grabs Adam's forearm and starts to run
"The...black...lion order." Adam says while looking at the man's cape flowing with the wind
The young man who took the kids with him had blue hair and eyes. The fact that he was wearing simple and casual attire meant that they were probably not on duty before coming. His outfit consisted of a blue shirt and brown pants, black shoes, and a black jacket with a black lion embedded on the front at chest level. Adam and the young man continue to run at full speed. The young man was honestly very surprised by Adam as he could keep up with him
"I'm controlling my speed but even then, it's not something that a kid should be able to keep up with." The young man thought. "This kid! Just what is he?"
As the two keep running, Eve loses consciousness
"Eve?" Adam says surprised. "EVE!"
"Calm down." The young man says. "She just passed out. Can't really blame her after what you saw."
"Adam." Seleph says weakly
The poor boy's eyes had nothing but despair within. He cried so much that his voice had grown weak, and his face was as pale as a blank paper
"What?" Adam asks
"Did you see it?" Seleph asks with rising anger as he recalls the events that unfolded a few moments ago. "Did you see the thing that did this"
"Yeah." Adam answers seriously
"Did you kill it?" Seleph asks as his anger keeps rising
"No." Adam answers. "The man back there was the one that killed it. I don't know who he was but... he... he avenged everyone."
"First name Ryoma. Last name Susanoo." The young man says. "Susanoo Ryoma is the man who avenged the ones you lost."
Adam looks at the young man
"He's the Vice-Captain of the Black Lion Order." The young man tells the two boys. "The man I admire the most."
"Ryoma.... Susanoo ." Adam repeats in a low tone
The two stops before the giant pillar connecting the various floors. The structure known as Scalae
"We're here." He says after putting down Seleph. "Let's go inside."
A double door stood before them, which opened by itself once they got close enough. They walked through the open doors, inside, hundreds of thousands of people were there, and there was still room for many of the same number. The Scalae was far bigger than what it looked like from the outside
"I got to go now." The young man says to the two boys. "Stay safe."
He turns around and leaves Scalae. From the inside, the Scalae walls were transparent permitting those inside to see outside. In other words, they could see Ryoma heading for the red sphere
"What a pain in the ass?" Ryoma says as he flies towards the sphere on a giant sword
The sphere starts to bulge and shoots out multiple spheres at Ryoma. Those very spheres all turn into Blood Fiends that leap at him. A red aura surrounds Ryoma's fist and when a Blood Fiend reaches him, he swings that very fist at it making its body explode upon contact
"You'll die if you come at me." Ryoma says nonchalantly after puffing out smoke
Since Blood Fiends are devoid of intelligence, they ignore his warning. They all leap at him without a shred of hesitation. He stretches out his hand and penetrates a building and as he continues to fly, his hand runs through the walls of that building. He takes out his hand, which holds pieces of that wall. He then surrounds those pieces in his red aura and throws them in the air, turning each piece into a different sword. The created sword then ran through the many Blood Fiends charging at Ryoma. Eliminating them all in a matter of seconds. In front of him, hundreds of Blood Fiends remained and were still coming at him, however, he uses the swords that he created to annihilate them. It was so easy that he yawned while he continued to approach the red sphere. The sword flying around created a beautiful dance in the rain of blood created from the Blood Fiends the swords were killing. Adam couldn't help but be enamored by the beautiful sword play. Each sword wasn't simply flying; they were each performing a beautiful sword technique allowing him to reach the blood moon with ease and then cut it in half
"Time for the sun to rise." Ryoma says in the middle of the red rain created by the explosion of the moon
"This is... I need to.... I need to learn this." Adam thought as he watched the swords, enamored by the beautiful yet deadly dance they had performed. "I can become stronger with this!"
In a corner of the immense space, Seleph was shedding tears as Eve's head lay on his lap. A sound was drowned by the sound of cheers, the sound of his tears dropping on the floor. The sound of sadness muffled by that of relief
"Damn it!" Adam says with anger. "Damn it."
This day would send tremors throughout the tower, making its history take an unexpected turn. This day would come to be known as the Blood Moon Incident. A day passed and in another place, still within the tower, a meeting was taking place