The freezing cold wind of the southern terrain of Gilgal Village whistled through the leaves of a mango tree, plucking some of its leaves and letting them fall on the four figures standing beside the grave with a wooden cross pierced at its head.

Two droplets of rain fell from the sky, drifting and dripping on the canopies of the mango tree, moving calmly and gently on the leaves, and finally landing at the top of the wooden cross.

Among the three young people standing a little bit far from the old woman, clutching her shoulder with her left hand and holding the wooden stick tightly with her right arm.

Jinx, the only young lady, stared at the tip of the wooden cross, jolted her gaze to the old woman, and moved toward her, clearing her throat.

"Please, can we get to meet Fenlore?" she asked in a calm and highly polite tone, but swallowed when the old lady turned a sharp gaze at her.

The priestess stared at the girl without blinking, causing her eyes to turn wily. After noticing two drops of tears peeping out of her eyes, she closed her eyes, placed her left arm at the top of her right arm, and tilted her head upward.

Jinx, who knew nothing of what the woman was thinking, moved two steps back, joined the two young men, and brushed her right palm on her face, feeling bad for herself.

Oin, the guy with brown hair, turned to Jinx, placed his right arm on her shoulder, squeezed her a little, then smiled, shaking his head while raising his eyebrow slightly.

"Let's not cause more sorrow to her, I think Fenlore is also dead, just based on her reaction," he said, pushing himself and the other two to move a step back.

The priestess stood there silent but tuned her ears to the words the boy said, inhaled deeply, then turned her gaze to them.

"He didn't die, he vanished," she said, her voice sounding as if it were the last statement left for her to say before she dies.

All three of the young men and a lady stopped, turned toward the old lady, and opened their mouths widely.

'Vanished?!'

All three of them had the same thought running in their minds and kept tilting their gazes from themselves, the grave, the old woman, and the building they saw the woman continuously staring at.

The night wind blew, snaking through the little space in their shirts and moving toward the branches of the mango tree, slamming on the leaves hanging and letting them move sideways.

The priestess, who had a saddened expression, stared at them, now having a slightly happy expression as she began walking in the direction of the building they saw her looking at and pointing at.

…

The walls of the dormitory shook, letting picture frames hanging on them fall on the ground, shattering completely.

Hearing glass shattering sounds, everyone sleeping in the building from the down floor to the sixth jolted from their beds, shaking heavily and panting.

One after another, they opened their doors, ran out, opening the door until they all stopped at the main entrance of the building, exchanging their shocked glances.

"Is that an earthquake?"

One statement kept on flowing through the now crowded entrance, turning the place into a midnight meeting ground for questions.

From the back, a lady wearing a nightgown stretched her head, scanning the faces. After spending seven minutes checking them, her face tensed.

"Where is Kai?" she said, her voice echoing in a high-pitched tone.

Hearing the name Kai, everyone, including the lady herself, raised their heads and stared at the purple light seeping out of the open window at the center of the fourth floor.

"Clara, where are you going?" another lady said, stretching her arm and grabbing the sleeve of the lady now navigating her way through the crowd.

Clara pulled herself from her best friend's grip, tearing the part that got grabbed, then opened the huge glass door and entered the building again.

The ground shook wherever she placed her step, but she didn't stop until she reached the staircase serving as a bridge between the third and the fourth floor.

Though she stood closer to an elevator, she didn't use it, knowing how dangerous it would be if the building shook; she didn't even think of using it in the first place.

'I have to get to Kai's room before the building collapses,' she thought, tightening her grip on the metal fences placed on each step and dragging herself forward.

The moment Clara finally reached the top of the staircase and stood in the hallway leading to the boy's room, the ground shook loudly, trembling harder and forcing the building to go sideways.

'I thought his earthquake had stopped years ago, why now?' she thought, squeezing her eyes and pushing herself across the walls of the room.

At every door she passed, she opened it slightly, moved her head inside, and made sure no one was there before continuing. And when she reached the door of the boy for whom she had come's room was, she swallowed, noticing the door melting.

Chills ran through her as she covered her eyes with her left arm and pushed her way through the bent door.

…

Two military trucks moved from the far building stationed in the remote side of the barracks and stopped around the gate, where it was crowded with half-naked soldiers, both male and female.

From each truck, six men stepped down, two from the front and four from the back, making twelve in total.

One after another, they moved to the crowd at the dormitory's entrance, guiding them through the gate at the wall of the barracks and making them stand when they reached the center of the street of the alley.

Gray, who happened to be part of those who got down from the front seat of the second truck, scanned the faces of those walking out of the gate.

His eyes widened when he noticed two people weren't part.

He moved toward Ryo and the lab technician moving out of the wall's gate, held Ryo on the left shoulder and the lab technician on the right.

"Where is Clara and Kai?" he said, his voice sounding in both worry and longing as he tilted his gaze from one person to another.

Ryo, who couldn't stand still as memories of seeing his father die as they escaped in a cart, pointed a trembling arm toward the fourth floor of the dormitory, panting.

"Your sister said Kai is still in his room," he said, his voice rising and breaking like an asthmatic patient.

Gray turned a sharp gaze at the floor the boy pointed to, swallowed, loosened his grip on their shoulders, and moved two steps back.

He closed his eyes, letting the memories of both the same earthquake that happened ten years back repeat itself in synchronization with the view of the stone lady figure he saw before closing the barracks hospital temporarily.

The moment the memories stopped, he cracked his eyes open, moved toward the truck, unwrapped his katana swords from his back, placed them on the dashboard of the truck, and then dashed into the building.

His name got called, but his ears were long dead to hear them.

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