I will be the Strongest

Chapter 15

The buzzing in your ears numbs your senses. Your eyes seem to shake in the smallest of openings. And the alarms echoing throughout the plane even make your own thoughts impossible to hear.

Desperately unbuckling the safety belt feels like an unwinnable struggle as everyone tries urgently to regain their senses.

The first hurried attempt to rise fails, causing many to kneel on the floor drenched in vibrant red.

"That... that is..."

Their hands seem to be engulfed in that sticky, warm liquid. Their clothes cling to their bodies, and despair uncontrollably wells up in their hearts.

Agony consumes them, yet there's no time for it. This is not the right time to drown in the terror of their own minds.

Regaining their senses amidst distress, parents scramble to undo their children's restraints, their hands trembling involuntarily, making the simple task of removing the safety belt enclosing them difficult.

"Mom... mommy... I'm scared..."

With children in their arms, the path to the door never seemed so long, so terrifying. Now, the plane had gained a new interior paint job. Red runs down the walls and ceilings, dripping at times onto their bodies.

"It's okay, sweetheart... it's okay... Just keep your eyes closed like mommy asked, okay..?"

The trembling doesn't cease, and like in a terrible nightmare, everyone wishes it were just a horrible hallucination. A dream none of them would want to repeat.

The lights flicker constantly, making the path even more treacherous. Their hands, covered in something with an iron smell, continue to shield their children's eyes so they don't have to witness such an atrocious scene.

Their feet stick to the floor, making walking difficult. And the obstacles in the way complicate anyone's steps.

"Mom... I think I hurt myself... it hurts..!"

"It's okay... it's okay... I just tripped... I'll check it, but don't open your eyes, okay?"

Just like their hands and clothes, their daughter is now covered in the same red liquid. Tears roll down, and the attempt to wipe them with their wrists only spreads the blood across their face.

Near their feet, what caused them to trip, the woman sees something of an apparently familiar shape. An object seemingly spherical, tapering at the base. The lights flicker, causing their eyes to widen immediately.

Bringing a hand to her mouth, she moves her face away from her daughter's and tries to contain her own vomit. Her heart squeezes, her mind darkens, and tears from her eyes almost announce her surrender.

"Mommy, is everything okay...?"

Her eyes turn to the little girl with closed eyes.

"Yes... We're almost there, okay...? Just a few more steps, and everything will be fine..."

Swallowing her own saliva, the blood in her mouth mixes automatically. That taste... she will never forget it.

"Ow! ...Mommy, it hurts.. It hurts a lot!"

Her eyes quickly roam, searching for the cause. How could this happen? Why would something like this be in such a place?

For a brief moment, her heart seemed to stop, but it soon started beating again. Clenching her teeth and biting her own lips, blood drips from her chin as she carefully walks to the exit with her daughter in her arms.

The glaring light immediately blurred her vision, almost causing her to fall down the plane stairs.

"...Thank you..."

Those distant, cold black eyes, and that simply angelic face momentarily made her forget the situation she was in.

"Are you okay?"

However, the restrained groan of the child in her arms quickly brought her back to consciousness.

"Please, help me! My daughter... please..."

Her desperation is evident, there's no need to even look for long to realize that. In fact, the anguish of everyone around is more than evident on their faces. So why...? Why does this boy seem so indifferent to all of this?

He looks at the woman and then, moving his head as little as possible, briefly observes the child in her arms. However, initially, he takes no initiative to help her.

"What happened..?"

The arrival of the dark-haired brunette woman seemed to somehow completely change his reaction.

"The child's leg was pierced by a knife."

Such dry... empty words. The woman doesn't understand how he can say them so calmly.

"And you say that so casually?! Help her already! What are you waiting for?!"

His hands came, taking the child from her arms. However, contrary to what her mind desired, the woman couldn't say a single word.

When that man stepped away with the child, unable to stand any longer, the woman collapsed in tears as her legs finally gave in to the tremor.

"Don't worry..., your daughter will be fine." his hand gently caressing the back of the bloodied woman.

Samantha looked around. Of the hundreds of people on that flight, only a few dozen are those outside the plane at this moment. Less than ten percent, that's the survival rate.

The surroundings have changed, obviously. Now, no longer in the skies above the ocean, they all find themselves in what appears to be a crater amidst a gigantic forest of fantastical proportions.

The smallest trees surrounding them ridiculously seem to be as tall as fifteen-story buildings or more. And what dashed everyone's hopes, what indeed threw them all into that place in the mud, the floating messages before their eyes.

Most of them aren't even fully awake, but still, they can see them so clearly that it almost seems like a hologram.

[Warning!]

[You've entered the Tower of Six; The Prince's Resting Place]

However, despite being able to see the system messages, nothing good came of it. Because, unfortunately, knowing they are trapped is the only thing they can do.