“Hello! My name is Akira Raven! I noticed the two of you weren’t interacting with anyone and figured I’d come say hi.” The little girl, Akira, said in a cheerful tone.

“Nice to meet you, Akira. My name is Olivia Zoller, and this is my little sister, Mika Zoller. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Olivia politely greeted back. Although the Raven family wasn’t that prominent, Olivia still knew who they were. From her limited information, they were a family that mainly kept to themselves.

‘Though, from what Mother and Father have told me, they have a rather extensive information network.’ She mused but pushed that thought aside in order to pay attention to the little girl before her.

“...Hello,” Mika replied but was apprehensive to say more than that to some random child.

“Ah! You can already talk?! Amazing! You must be some sort of genius or something. I wish I were a genius. I learned to talk over a year ago, but apparently, that’s the norm for kids my age. Oh! I’m four years old, by the way. How old are you? Would you like to be my friend? ....”

The girl, Akira, kept rambling on and on about nonsense, but neither Mika nor Olivia had the heart to tell the little girl off. 

‘What a pure-hearted girl.’ Mika thought, and her eyes softened a bit. As a woman who has lived over 40 years in her previous life, she naturally had a soft spot for children. While most of humanity was rotten, children were an exception. Even if they were to do something bad, the responsibility for their actions falls on the parents for teaching their children poorly.

She hasn’t met many Nobles in this life, but from what she experienced in her past life, she knew that many Noble children end up being corrupted by their parents at a very young age.

Mika glanced around while listening in on some of the other children’s conversations and found most Noble children to be like what she experienced in her past life. To those that had a lower status than them, their noses were upturned, and their tone more arrogant. However, to those with a higher status, their backs were hunched, and they wore fake, polite smiles on their faces.

Of course, not all the children she saw were as annoying as the ones she was used to, but the superiority complex seemed ingrained in every single one of them. Though, that wasn’t only the case with the children…

Among these Noble children today, Mika hadn’t found a single kid as pure-hearted as Akira. Her eyes were bright and clear, devoid of any negative thoughts.

This was incredibly refreshing, and Mika felt something shift in her heart that only had room for training and swordsmanship. 

‘That’s how children ought to be; curious and playful. It’d be nice if she could stay like that,’ Mika thought. It was a weird thought, especially for someone like her, but she found herself drawn to the little girl. 

On the other hand, Olivia didn’t know what to think of Akira. She didn’t want to get mad at such an innocent little child, but the girl never shut up! At some point, she wasn’t even saying anything relevant and was just saying the first thing that popped into her mind!

‘Is this how other people feel about me when I play with them? If that’s the case… God, I must be annoying! No, no, no, there’s no way I’m as annoying as Akira. At least I know when to… stop. Oh. NO! Am I really like that?! Is that why nobody likes me?’ Olivia suddenly felt her world turning upside down and wished she’d never met this annoying little girl.

“...You enjoy talking, huh, Akira,” Mika spoke up, interrupting Olivia and Akira’s inner and outer monologues. 

“Yes! I love talking! My parents are always busy, so I can only talk with them at night, but by then, I’m too tired to talk and end up falling asleep before I can share my thoughts with them.” Akira was about to go on another rant again, but Olivia interrupted her before she could do so.

“What about your friends? I’m sure there are other people you can talk to.”

“Yes! Although, for some reason, my friends really like playing the ‘Quiet Game’,” Akira answered in her usual cheerful voice, but her eyes drooped a little, and Mika could feel the sadness hidden underneath it all. 

Although Mika felt bad for the little girl, she couldn’t blame her friends for treating her like that. During her childhood in her previous life, she would have beaten up Akira if she were in their shoes. 

In fact, she had some respect for those kids who gently turned Akira away instead of breaking the little girl's heart. 

Even Mika was annoyed by her constant blabbering. She would have already smacked this annoying brat if she hadn't had the mentality of a grown woman.

“...I see. Do you enjoy doing anything else other than talking?” Mika asked, trying to take the lead in the conversation.

“Of course! I like watching cartoons, playing tag, and magic! When I grow up, I want to be an amazing mage like my parents! Did you know they can make water appear out of thin air? But don’t drink that water; it tastes weird and doesn’t make you feel any less thirsty. It kind of tas-Blurgh!!” 

Akira was about to continue her rant, but suddenly a creature as black as night and the size of a large dog appeared behind Akira and had its appendage jammed through her stomach.

“Akira!!”

***

15 minutes ago

The sun was shining brightly over the bustling city of Avalon, known for its towering skyscrapers, bustling markets, and advanced technology. Everything was normal around the castle and in the city. The citizens were going about their normal lives like usual, and the party in the Castle was going smoothly.

Suddenly, the space around the city started distorting and breaking apart. A loud rumbling sound echoed throughout the city, causing people to stop in their tracks and look around in confusion. 

As they watched in horror, a massive rift opened up in the sky above the city, tearing through the fabric of space itself. The rift glowed with a magical energy, its edges crackling with sparks of magic.

It was impossible for anyone to tell what was on the other side of this rift, but everybody who looked at it had a bad premonition and felt their stomachs churn.

The people of Avalon froze in fear as strange creatures began to pour out of the rift, their grotesque forms illuminated by the pulsating light of the tear in space. 

The creatures were about the size of a medium-sized dog and looked like spiders with only 4 legs. Except these legs were nothing like legs and were more like razor-sharp blades. Their legs and body were stick thin; they had no face, only a mouth, and were as black as the rift above them.

It was like there was a glitch in the world!

As the chaotic energy coming from the rift ripped apart the fabric of space around Avalon, along came with it was the destruction of homes, buildings, cars, roads, and everything in between. Chunks of rock disappeared and reappeared randomly, crushing anyone in its way. The rift even directly consumed some people, their bodies wiped from existence.

“AHHHH!! What is that?!”

“Somebody help me!! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to-!!”

“Why are there cracks in the sky? Is the King doing something special for the Third Prince’s birthday?!”

“NOOOOO!! MY HOUSE!! How did my house disappear?!”

Some people lost an arm or a leg, while others found half of their bodies gone and died on the spot. Others were crushed under buildings, while others were teleported into the sky or the ground.

“AAAAHHHH! SOMEBODY SAVE ME!! I’M FALLING!!”

Those who appeared in the sky, if they weren’t strong enough or didn’t have the right affinity, could only despair as they fell to their death. Others were teleported into the ground and were ripped apart, not leaving a corpse behind for their families to bury.

However, this was only the beginning.

It only took a few tens of seconds for these creatures to reach the surface from the rift, where they instantly started wreaking havoc on the city and its inhabitants.

They swarmed the City of Avalon like locusts and destroyed anything in their path.

The humans on the ground tried forming groups to retaliate, but it was impossible to do so in such a short amount of time. 

Most people that lived in Avalon at least had some cultivation, or at the bare minimum, they’d strengthened their bodies and could defend themselves against minor threats, but not everyone was a battle-hardened veteran. 

The country has been at peace for a long time, so the drive to seek power and strength has lessened over the years. Not everyone wanted to brave unknown lands in search of opportunities when they could live a perfectly good life within the safety of the country. 

At least, that’s how it was before today. Who knows what might change after this incident?