Slowly, the massive rock armor around Owen’s body began to crumble apart.

Large chunks of stone fell into the flooded street one by one as he finally returned to normal.

The moment his feet touched the ground properly again, he immediately bent forward slightly, breathing heavily.

"...Holy shit," he muttered.

Theo landed beside him and took a step forward.

Owen glanced up at him for a moment before letting out a tired laugh.

"You really got way stronger," he said, still trying to catch his breath. "That attack at the end was insane."

Theo glanced toward the crater once more, confirming the siren had truly stopped moving.

Only then did he let out a quiet breath himself.

’That cost me more than two-thirds of my mana,’ he thought, his chest still rising and falling heavily.

’I just hope I have enough left to reach the apartment like this.’

Just then—

Panicked cries suddenly echoed out behind them.

"W-What happened?!"

"Why am I here?!"

"My son! WHERE’S MY SON?!"

Both Theo and Owen immediately turned around.

Their expressions shifted at the same time.

Well over a hundred civilians stood scattered throughout the flooded streets, many staring around in confusion and terror after regaining control of themselves.

Some collapsed into the water crying.

Others looked around desperately for missing family members.

A few hunters immediately began shouting orders, trying to calm everyone down.

"Oh shit..." Owen muttered beside him.

Theo remained silent.

’Seems like the spells wore off after those sirens died?’

His gaze slowly moved across the surrounding streets, scanning them in great detail.

But that only made his expression worsen.

He could already hear soft noises from other creatures in the distance, which seemingly were getting closer each second.

And with this many civilians gathered together...

There was no way all of them would survive like this.

’But... what do we do now?’ he thought, clenching his jaw.

"Hey man."

Theo snapped out of his thoughts and turned toward Owen.

Owen rubbed the back of his neck before forcing out a grin.

"I’ll deal with this shit," he said. "You go to your parents."

Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Theo gritted his teeth and nodded once.

"...Thank you," he said quietly. "I’ll come straight back for you once my parents are safe."

Owen let out a soft chuckle.

"We’ll see about all that later."

Then he waved his hand dismissively.

"Just go already."

Theo stared at him for one last second before finally turning around.

The next moment—

Splash! Splash!

He dashed off through the flooded streets once more.

Building after building flashed past him at full speed.

Along the way, several weaker creatures lunged toward him from the sides.

Swish!

His spear sliced straight through one of their necks.

CRACK!

A lightning bolt pierced another creature’s skull before it could even reach him.

Theo ignored the screams and cries echoing throughout the district around him.

Right now, only one thing mattered.

’Mom and dad... I’m coming to get you!’

Finally—

A familiar apartment building slowly appeared in the distance.

Theo’s eyes widened for a moment, seeing it in pretty decent shape.

’Go!’ he thought, pushing himself to go even harder.

As he ran, he glanced around the area.

Luckily, there barely seemed to be any creatures around.

Without hesitation, Theo dashed across the street at full speed.

It only took seconds before he skidded to a halt in front of the entrance.

The doors had been shattered, faint traces of blood and battle all throughout the lobby.

’Come on!’ he thought, desperation flashing across his face.

Theo rushed through the corridors, his heart pounding heavily in his chest.

The entire apartment building was deathly quiet around him, sending chills down his spine.

Deep claw marks covered the walls, faint blood stains left and right.

’Yet... why is it so empty?’

Several doors had been ripped off their hinges left and right, coupled with humanoid remains.

He gritted his teeth, shaking his head as he sped up.

Finally—

He slid to a halt in front of a destroyed doorway.

’...’

Theo’s face slowly drained of color as his expression faltered.

’Please...’

Slowly, he took a step forward.

As he stepped through the doorway, his eyes raced across the living room.

The entire place was thrashed.

Water dripped down from the ceiling, shattered glass covered the floor, and multiple deep claw marks stretched across the walls.

Theo’s breathing slowly became heavier.

"...Mom?" he called out weakly. "...Dad?"

But no response came back.

His heart sank even further.

Theo immediately continued, pulling aside the broken door to their bedroom.

But... it was also empty.

"No..." he muttered under his breath.

He rushed toward the final room and threw the door open.

Empty again.

For a brief second, Theo just stood there silently.

His thoughts felt completely blank.

The apartment around him suddenly felt unbearably quiet.

’I was too late...?’ he thought, his chest tightening.

He slowly lowered his head, clenching his fists.

’Did... some creature eat them already?’

Just the thought made him want to throw up uncontrollably.

He stumbled forward a few steps, then shook his head.

’No, maybe they are still alive somewhere.’

’They have to be!’

’There’s no way they’d just sit around and wait in here... especially dad wouldn’t if he knew something was happening.’

’But... did they know something was happening? How did the first few minutes of the disaster even go? Were there warnings or—’

His mind rattled on endlessly.

Glancing around the apartment again, Theo’s breathing grew ragged.

His thoughts spiraled harder and harder, almost to the point where he could barely think straight.

Yet he was convinced of one thing.

’If they left... surely they would’ve tried telling me somehow?’

He glanced around, scanning each room carefully.

His heart pounded so hard, all the noise around him faded away.

Then—

He froze.

"...Huh?"

Something white barely peeked out from underneath the broken fridge.

Theo’s heart skipped a beat as he stepped forward.

’Soaked paper?’

Theo carefully pulled out the soaked piece of paper, making sure it didn’t rip.

As he turned it around, his eyes widened.

But... it wasn’t a note.

It was a flyer — from the Santa Barbara tournament with red circles marking each of the dates.

Everything went silent around him.

Theo slowly let go of the flyer.

For a moment, he just stared in front of him expressionlessly.

Then, his thoughts plunged into despair.

’No...’

The circled date immediately brought back the memories from the past few days.

’If I hadn’t insisted on fighting to the end... and even breaking through,’ he thought, eyes wide. ’We would’ve never been in this situation...’

Many conflicting thoughts and emotions ran through him.

’Why?’

’Why was I being so fucking stupid?’

’My gut warned me time and time again that something was coming...’

’Yet I still stayed here, confident nothing would happen.’

He clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his skin.

’No!’ he suddenly shouted at himself internally. ’I need to think!’

His expression twisted as he forced himself to calm down.

’I haven’t seen their bodies, and there’s barely any blood in the apartment.’

There was still a chance.

A small chance that his parents had indeed made it out alive.

’If I were them... there’s only one other thing I’d go to.’

And that was an underground shelter.

’But where are those?’ he thought, biting on his lip. ’I don’t think I’ve ever looked at them since we moved here.’

That’s when his eyes suddenly widened.

’Wait...’

Every large apartment complex in Santa Barbara was legally required to have evacuation routes and emergency shelter plans.

Without hesitating any longer, Theo immediately rushed back into the hallway.

Splash! Splash!

Water scattered beneath his feet as he sprinted through the corridor once again, his eyes scanning every wall desperately.

’Come on... come on...’

Then—

He slid to a halt.

A cracked evacuation map hung crookedly beside the emergency staircase, half submerged in water.

Theo immediately rushed toward it.

His eyes rapidly scanned across the faded blueprint.

It showed him the entire floor plan, each emergency exit, and finally—a small map with the nearby shelters.

Theo’s heart nearly stopped as he looked at it.

’There is one!’

And it was directly underneath the building.

Without wasting another second, he instantly spun around and dashed toward the emergency exit.

BOOM!

He practically tore the exit door off its hinges before rushing outside at full speed.

Taking a few sharp turns, Theo’s eyes locked onto a large reinforced door leading into the ground.

At the same time, several strange crab-like creatures continuously smashed themselves against it.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Deep scratches covered the metal surface, yet the thick door still held firm.

The creatures immediately spun toward Theo the moment they noticed him.

SCREEECH!

"Out of my way!" he shouted, swinging his spear horizontally.

CRACK!

Lightning exploded from it as it sliced the crab-like creatures in half.

Theo didn’t even bother looking at them, instead scanning the door closely.

Beside it, a tiny security camera slowly turned toward him.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then—

RUMBLE!

The massive metal door slowly began sliding open.