The earth shook, and the ground collapsed like air as fractures ran across the ballroom, from the depths of the ground a pitch-black tentacle erupted like a pillar of darkness, it didn't just break the floor, it pulverised the ground near it, the limb wasn't small by any means, it was towering over everything.
The end of the tentacle slammed through the ceiling of the ballroom, crumbling the marble roof into raining debris upon the crowd.
This time nobody held back, panicked screams tore through the air as the nobles of the empire scrambled over one another, some slipped on the puddle of crimson blood, painting themselves with gruesome liquids.
Only those who truly possessed strength fared better than others, the patriarchs and matriarchs of the noble families, still very few stood up compared to the number of agitated ones.
The emperor, Draxel and Alaric, the three strongest currently stood there without moving, not because they couldn't but for some other reason.
Their eyes weren't even looking at the massive tentacle in the centre of the ballroom, they were looking elsewhere, like they could see something no one else could.
"Shit." Alan cursed, his face darkened instantly, he hoped his guesses were wrong, but as fate would prove, it wasn't.
He, of course, recognised what the tentacle was, so did Julia, Iris and Lucian, it was the limb from one of the test subjects, a failed product of the emperor's experiments.
Only its tentacle was bigger than they previously saw, it was sturdier, with pulsing scales along its skin, like someone forcefully boosted the creature beyond its natural capabilities.
While utter mayhem unfolded, a flash of pale golden light zipped through the air.
SPLAT
The dark tentacle detonated, a torrential raid of vicious black blood exploded outward, it painted the white marble pillars in a sickly colour.
It didn't help the situation, instead made it much worse, the torrent of black blood drenched the screaming crowd, the thick, foul-smelling fluid dripped down their expensive clothes.
The screams didn't stop, they intensified even further, becoming too loud for Alan's liking, he shut his eyes for a moment, holding his head in pure annoyance.
These were the same high and lofty people from before? Those who acted as if they were above everyone else? Now squealing and screaming as if they'd never seen blood before?
Oh... they really might not have, most of the nobles are raised without ever seeing the colour of blood in their lives.
Though he felt a huge sense of disappointment in the nobles, he had to admit, this was quite disgusting, Alan managed to protect himself from the rain of blood but frowned once he caught a whiff of the smell.
Julia remained where she was, standing her ground, she didn't move or flinch, only staring at the remains of the black tentacle with an ice-cold expression, she allowed the dark liquid to soak into her dress, turning her beautiful golden gown into a mess, yet the blood never touched her face.
"I'm not late, am I?" Amidst the chaos, a light-hearted voice resounded, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Confused, Alan turned towards the source and found a figure hovering above the collapsed floor of the ballroom.
His hair was cut shorter than the other nobles, a jagged style, the colour of deep wine that stood out in the ballroom, his identity however, was practically written in his eyes, twin orbs of gold melted into his irises.
Zale Wyn Caelis, the grand duke and patriarch of House Caelis, one of the four strongest humans in the world, as well as Iris's father.
"Dad...?" At some point in time, Iris reached Julia, standing beside the princess.
"Yo!" Zale grinned, as the smoke cleared itself, his body was finally revealed, in one of his arms, he was carrying something... or rather, someone?
"Grrr!" It was Sparky, polymorphed into the form of a little boy.
"Sparky!" Julia's cold expression vanished, replaced by fear not towards herself but at Sparky, after all, nobody else knew of his existence.
"...you, uh, named him Sparky?" Instead the reaction was quite different, Zale's face scrunched up in a weird way.
Julia didn't respond, keeping her stance, she glared at Zale with agitation.
"You don't have to look at me like that." Zale scratched the back of his head awkwardly and tossed Sparky to Julia. "Here, make sure you don't lose him."
"Gah!" Sparky instantly grabbed hold of Julia, holding onto her clothes, he spun his head back to Zale and stuck his little tongue out.
"Oh my, you're a feisty one, aren't you?" Zale scoffed. "Oh yeah, my daughter said something about leaving the continent."
Julia lightly nodded her head in response.
"Well, right now would be the best time for that." With those final words, the grand duke turned away, leaving behind a stunned Julia.
"Oh, you're here?" The emperor turned his blue eyes to the approaching Zale.
Behind the emperor, the other grand dukes emerged from the settling dust, Draxel and Alaric arrived.
"Wassup Cas!" Zale waved his hand, his playful grin broke the tension. "I didn't miss out on anything, did I? "Well, it looks like your castle definitely took a hit, though."
"You missed out on everything." Draxel stated plainly, his voice was as deep and serious as his appearance.
"No..." Cassian interrupted in a low voice, dropping to a sharp whisper. "Not everything, apparently."
Clap Clap Clap
The slow, rhythmic round of applause returned, but this time it didn't echo for the crowd but for the four men standing together.
Simultaneously, as if pulled by the same string, the emperor and the three grand dukes tilted their heads back, Zale's playful demeanour vanished in an instant, replaced with cold stillness.
High above, perched casually on the edge of the ruptured roof, sat Ziray.
Behind him, the sky was a violent blend of sunset orange and deep purple, rapidly receding to welcome the upcoming night.
"Oh dear..." Ziray glanced down, his silhouette framed by the falling sun. "Who would have thought? It was actually all four of you and not just the emperor?"
The four men below offered no answer.
"Pfft." Ziray burst out laughing, clutching his stomach, wiping the corner of his eyes, he laughed incredibly loud, gradually coming to a stop. "Fine then."
Ziray stood up, his figure blocking the last of the sunlight, grinning, he curled a finger to himself. "Come then."
BOOOOM
The ground exploded, half of the ballroom evaporated entirely, transforming into a large cloud of dust, the destruction wasn't caused by Ziray but by the impact created from the sheer velocity of the emperor and the three grand dukes as they launched themselves upwards.
In the eyes of others, they blitz through the air in a trail of light, too fast for anyone to even comprehend what they saw.
...
RUMBLE
The ground violently trembled once more.
"What the fuck just happened?" Alan blinked, he didn't understand a single sequence of action that just transpired, everything happened in literal seconds.
A black tentacle popped out of the ground and exploded into smithereens, a grand duke appeared out of the blue carrying a dragon, then blew up half of the ballroom? How did that even happen?
Alan looked to the side, there was no exaggeration when it was mentioned that half of place had evaporated, there was nothing there, just a vast open view into the other districts of the capital.
"I'm just going to stop thinking..." Alan muttered and focused, whatever situation they were trapped in wasn't over. "Oi, Lucian."
Lucian glanced at Alan and silently nodded, already understanding his intentions.
Whoosh
The two of them broke out into a sprint, not running in the direction the others were, but in the opposite way.
They jumped over the gargantuan hole in the centre, for a moment Alan glanced down, peering into the depths of the space below, but saw nothing, it was purely bottomless.
RUMBLE
The ground shook again, but this time Alan clearly felt it happening in several different locations, and his intuition? It was firing off in his brain, screaming at him to leave immediately.
"Alan? Lucian?" Julia muttered, looking slightly lost, beside her was Iris, standing there with a somewhat anxious look on her face.
"We need to go!" But Alan didn't care about what emotional state they were in, he yelled the moment he got there. "We have to get out of here!"
Julia snapped out of her daze and nodded, removing Sparky from her embrace she stared into his eyes with an unusually serious face.
Sparky fell silent for a moment and lightly nodded.
The little boy lowered his head and stretched his arms forward.
Pop
His tiny frame began to distort, his limbs elongating, blue scales erupting along his skin, and his bone structure shifting rapidly, and finally a pair of wings burst out of his back.
"Get on him!" Alan didn't waste a second, the moment Sparky completed his polymorph, Alan practically screamed to jump on.
The others listened, the moment he shouted Julia, Iris and Lucian leaped, positioning themselves on in between Sparky's wings, Alan followed them the next second.
Through the panic painted on his face, Alan stole a final glance back.
The ballroom was still in a state of turmoil, people rushing to leave the place, but in the middle of it all stood Alden, unlike the frenzied masses stumbling over one another, his feet were planted in the gore slick floor, his violet gaze cutting through the dust.
He was looking directly at Alan, there was no confusion in his eyes, no fear, only clarity pouring through it, like he knew what Alan was going to do.
Then he did something that silenced the world for Alan, he smiled.
Over the past six years of knowing the man, Alan had never seen his lips curve into anything other than a frown or scowl, he'd spend the better half of his time chewing Alan inside out with insult and curses.
But now, that very same man was smiling, a soft smile graced his lips, kind and gentle, the type of expression you'd never expect from someone like Alden... still, for some reason that smile just looked like it belonged there.
For the very first time in his life, Alden was looking at him with such a tender gaze, not with his usual sneers, but with a warm face, like an older brother watching their sibling.
Alden lifted his hand, he waved his hand first, before curling it into a ball, he pumped it towards the ceiling, his grin widened enough to reveal his teeth.
"GO!" Alden's voice tore through the pandemonium.
"Yeah..." Alan gritted his teeth tightly, pulling himself together, he sharpened his eyes looking forward. "Sparky!"
"GRRR!" Sparky's wings pushed against the wind, lifting the dragon off the ground.
Just before Sparky flew out the castle, Alan twisted his body back one last time and flashed a bright grin of his own. "FUCK YOURSELF!"
Alden paused, then doubled over in a fit of wild, hysterical laughter, which was weird, Alan had never heard him laugh either... it was kind of refreshing.
Before he even realised it, Alan found himself smiling back, his mind racing back the years he spent with Alden.
Sparky, along with the four passengers flew through the opening, leaving the castle.
RUMBLE
Then the ballroom collasped in the distance, the last thing Alan saw before leaving the castle was Alden's laughing.
The first and last smile he ever saw on his face.