The news broadcast didn't cease for a second. The two-wheeled vehicle was closing in fast on the heir, Caelum, and his fiancée, who—terrified—ran toward his customized luxury transport.
It looked like a diamond, shimmering with green glints that symbolized the pure Elentita it was reinforced with. Caelum leapt onto the vehicle and shouted at the distracted young woman:
—What are you waiting for?! Get over here!
But the girl didn't move. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, beyond the chaos unfolding in front of her. She stared at the sky, serene and indifferent to the destruction below. The growl of the vehicle, spewing its noxious fumes, stirred a fragment of memory—something she had once called home. But what was that home? She couldn't understand herself, and for that reason, she didn't even know what she wanted. To her, if this day were her last, it would almost feel like a gift.
That gift, however, was ripped away by a cursed moment of courage from her "fiancé," who seized her hand and dragged her into the vehicle.
—You'll see, Audri! No one will touch you while you're with me!
In an instant, the diamond-like machine shifted, leaving only sleek, cushioned seats intact. Its crystalline structure warped and folded, taking the shape of a sphere. The color darkened, becoming dense and opaque, until it resembled translucent obsidian flecked with crimson sparks.
—This is the pride of EternaCorp… Elentita Noctis! —the heir boasted.
Hide understood at once. The Noctis series was a marvel on its own: Elentita pushed to its absolute limit of refinement and tempering, forming an almost unbreakable shield. Neither crimson rounds nor even the dreaded violet Elentita shots could pierce its armor. And because of that, it was exorbitantly expensive. It didn't surprise Hide at all that Caelum flaunted it as the plating for his personal ride.
But none of that mattered to the menacing figure who now stood before the smoky, solidified dome. From within, Caelum's voice rang out with arrogant confidence:
—Don't even try it! Your arms will shatter before you scratch the pride of my family! The national guard is on its way—any moment now the Silver Guard, or even the Gold, will arrive and crush you in seconds!
Rex Tyranus paid no heed to his words. He merely rolled his neck, releasing the tension with a couple of sharp cracks, and flexed his knuckles.Calmly, he muttered:
—Is this the best the Paradise has to offer?… Pathetic.
With a single punch, thunder echoed. A brilliant violet-red flash erupted, blasting a perfect hole into the Noctis shield. The wound spread like molten glass, widening into a circle large enough for Rex to thrust half his body through.
—By the gods, George, what's happening?! Someone save young Caelum Von Drel and his bride-to-be! —cried the commentator, Emma.
—Don't be afraid, Emma. The national guard has been alerted. The "Heavenly Stairs" will be here soon enough —replied her co-host, though his voice trembled.
Hide was paralyzed. That violet-red glow went beyond anything he could comprehend. He had never seen anything like it—except in…
—The Abyss… —he whispered.
The professor with the bionic eye turned sharply toward him.
—Mr. Took, you've been mumbling for some time. What is it? Do you know something?
—I'm just as clueless as you, sir —Hide quickly denied, shaking his head and shoulders—. But I can't shake the feeling that man comes from the…
—Abyss… —the professor finished grimly—. It's possible, boy. But even if he does… how could he have gotten his hands on that kind of technology?
—Maybe… —Hide hesitated— from the ruins…
—Centuries-old relics… it makes sense —the professor nodded to himself—. According to the records, some old machines might still be functional, along with technologies now considered taboo: rubber… or even petroleum.
—Petroleum? —Hide echoed.
—You're too young, Mr. Took. But three hundred years ago, petroleum was the world's main energy source. Before the Elentita revolution, it was considered practical, efficient. But in their ignorance, they abandoned it, believing it was "less pure" than Elentita. And look what that arrogance brought us.
Hide lowered his gaze. He knew it well. The Abyss itself was the consequence of that arrogance—the refusal to embrace logic. Elentita radiation was far more toxic than ordinary waste. Their "solution" had been to bury it deep into the earth's core. But they hadn't foreseen that the corrosive gases would lodge themselves in tectonic plates. The result: not only deadly, mutagenic vapors seeping upward, depending on how close one was to disposal zones, but also the awakening of long-dead volcanoes.
Even peninsulas, lands once still and calm, began to quake. It was said that in the past, only two great continents had existed, instead of today's fractured five—born from that catastrophe. But in the end, it didn't matter. Most of Earth was no longer habitable anyway.
In the skies, the luckiest lived in the ultimate Elentita structures: the Paradises. Their workers had the "privilege" of living on the Rooftops, where Elentita purified the air just enough to sustain something like a life. Unlike the Abyss.
Both men stood frozen at the sight before them. The cameras swarmed across the scene, ignoring the civilians, focusing solely on the pair of young nobles cowering inside the once-brilliant dome—now dull and lifeless.