The Summit Banquet (3)

The tranquil night was cold and long.

Yet human life, even if its lifespan was tens of either purposeful or worthless years, was fleetingly short.

Under the dark veil blanketing the serene sky, with the silent whispers and watchful gaze of resplendent stars, a suspicious group of cloaked men and women, with black masks covering half of their faces, convened on the spacious rooftop of the lofty Red Moon Hotel.

On the other side of them was another rooftop, with a long bridge connecting the two, where another group of the same questionable people were having their own meeting for tonight's grand Summit Banquet.

However, if there's one thing similar between the two groups, it's their sole agenda—the heir of the Eurasia Grand Agency.

No, it was not the demise of her that would trigger something profound and irreversible.

"Don't kill her. We've been tasked to just abduct and secure her in Lab H. If any of you tries to be hot-headed, you know we'd be killed outright."

Even though the reminder was not necessary, the leader of this particular group still did so. After all, it was a blatant and rare commission from other heirs of the Seven World Corporations, under the permission of each one's respective directors, all apart from the Orion World, which couldn't care less about the antics behind the M-Rev File previously possessed and compiled by the leading researcher that focused on studying the Goddess—Alina's very father.

"But if anyone gets in the way, you know what to do."

The sole objective was Alina and her alone. Other than that, they could not concern themselves about the potential collateral, especially from the first-year students—the banquet's main audience, as the new bloods in this grand society, where anything could simultaneously go right and wrong.

These two groups of cloaked men and women, with each one composed of at least a dozen manpower to sow chaos, were cautious with each other. It was due to the undeniable fact that they were tasked by different people, and that what mattered was the objective.

They received one order other than securing Alina, and even if they could not talk about it, each group likely received the same command.

- "If they get hold of her first, kill them all."

"In ten minutes, we will go down. Be prepared."

The imagery of the Red Moon as the place of personified human depravity was something that invited the lustful and dimly lit surroundings. However, just as this man opened his mouth to prepare everyone under his command, they heard a few confused steps.

It was the same for the other group on another rooftop.

Step, step.

"Huh? Who's this? Why's a kid in this place?"

A child around seven to eight years old was treading the path carefully. Her steps were puny, and reluctance was evident in them. On the other hand, on the other side of the operation, what they saw was someone with an expression filled with far greater confusion.

"What the hell? Why's an old woman in this place?"

A child and an old grandma, each one walking absentmindedly on a rooftop.

The former, lost in her own world while holding a girly toy, asked in utter confusion, "M-Mister. W-where am I? I-I was just with my grandma..."

Meanwhile, the latter, holding a cane while being scorned by the cloaked figures, gazed past them and stuttered with worry, "Y-Young man, h-have you seen my granddaughter? S-she was just with me a moment ago, but she ran away. T-that clumsy kid, really."

With their heightened senses, the two leaders of tonight's operation gauged the situation—that these two stray souls coincidentally arrived in this place while looking for one another.

"What should we do?" One of the men asked.

"There's a bridge over there, just let them meet each other. But considering the grandma looks senile, I don't think it'll be easy though."

"Hahaha! So it's a challenge then?"

Chuckles echoed with that remark. However, the two leaders seemed to come to a tacit understanding.

"Just get rid of them."

"Quietly dispose of them."

It was an ultimatum that stemmed from avoiding any possible risk of exposure, something that was understood by everyone in this place.

After all, with the right technology or godent ability, any possible witnesses of the upcoming assault could have their memory extracted, which would inevitably lead to them—a fact that couldn't be denied.

They could not risk that.

That's why they had decided to just silently execute the two innocent figures.

"Sorry kid. We've got a job to do. So, would you mind taking a sleep? I'll bring you to your grandma."

"Grandma, it seems your granddaughter isn't in this place. How about I lead you out and help you find her to some quiet place?"

Just as both sides were simultaneously getting into work, fast and quietly, a man grabbed the child's hand...

Only to notice that he was not dragging anyone.

"Huh?"

Spurt!

Looking behind, he witnessed that his hand had disappeared, and he heard some cracking and chewing sounds.

It prompted everyone in the vicinity to widen their eyes in horror. It was not due to the child's amethyst eyes that became cold, but rather to the toy with an open maw, chewing the man's torn hand, flesh, and bone.

"Ah, ah... ARGH! M-My hand, my hand!" He stumbled on the floor.

However, the next thing that happened was far more horrifying.

In the severed hand of the bleeding man, a miniature thread gradually coalesced and formed, revealing a head of another children's toy as if it had been a part of his entire body since the beginning.

"Where's my brother?" The little child asked a baffling question.

From grandmother to a brother.

Meanwhile, on the other rooftop, the same scenery of horror and unfathomable unfolded.

The cane of the grandmother revealed a lone eye, as if it had been sleeping and just opened its gaze to stare down the unworthy.

The grandmother then asked the man, who was supposed to lead her somewhere quiet, but now frozen in place, "Where's my grandson?"

From granddaughter to grandson.

Since such a thing happened simultaneously and as peculiarly as possible, they could not provide a proper response.

Only then, when the grandmother poked the rooftop's ground, did something shift—the eye from the cane blinked once, and the next moment they knew, the men and women in dark cloaks had the fabric of space surrounding them vertically opened, revealing numerous hands that suddenly pulled them into nothingness.

Everything happened in an instant, with no resistance.

With no lingering screams.

At the end of this one-sided slaughter, the seven-year-old child pranced around in delight, her playful voice reverberating,

"I'm so happy! Mory seems so satisfied! I have to thank my brother Aeon when he comes home! Yey!"

She glanced around, seeing dozens of toys born from the limbs of the already dead men and women—who all perished helplessly—jumping with her in unison.