The girl who wears an ice cream-shaped hair ornament runs swiftly towards Johann with a stern face.

 

“What have you done?”

Johann sneered. “Take a look at the city’s water bank. Tell me what happened there.”

 

Arisa quickly ran out of the room, and her friends followed after. Sato takes Johann under his custody following the direction of Mr. Davide by dragging him to come to the police car, ignoring the state of his freezing arm. At the same time, Mr. Davide follows Arisa and others to see how the situation turns out.

Arisa and co quickly arrived at the highest spot in this abandoned factory. Fortunately, the door there was unlocked so Arisa could reach the right height to view the city dam at the north end. Even though it’s located at the furthest end of this place, it’s still visible from where Rio is standing now.

A thin thread of blue light descends from the sky. Judging from the direction in which the light fell, the dam was precisely underneath that mysterious light. Mr. Davide could tell right away that this might turn everything into a mess in an instant, so he rushedly broadcast to all the police officers on standby all over the city.

 

“Level 4 threat! Listen carefully, all of you! Perform evacuation procedures for the entire city right away! Prioritize the residents in the northern area of ​​the city without exception! There is no difference between the original inhabitants of the past and the volunteers of the future. Everyone should get out of there immediately! I repeat, this is a level 4 threat!”

 

No one knows what will come after the light. However, they all knew that it was a premonition of danger.

The light particles gather into the shape of something round, like a giant ball. At a glance, Rio swallowed his saliva when he guessed what would happen due to Johann’s actions.

 

If the thing that would appear soon were something I imagined, it could threaten every citizen in this city. A dam must not receive the slightest damage, or the consequence will be fatal!

 

Rio and Valerie look at each other. They agreed in silence that this would be very dangerous for everyone in Tantoris.

The shards of light keep gathering into the dam’s center and condensing even more. The massive circular object is almost perfectly formed, and its upper side sticks out from the dam’s wall.

 

“--that!” Rita squealed.

“…a communications satellite. As we all know, they orbit in space to transmit the signal that we use for our all forms of communication. It shouldn’t be on this timeline,” said Valerie with a worried tone.

“Mr. Davide, the situation will only get worse as we speak. How is the progress of the city’s evacuation?” Rio hurriedly asked the head of the police force next to him, who also couldn’t move from his place.

“Considering our tight time, I can’t hope much for the evacuation. We have mobilized other authorities on behalf of the Tantoris’ police force. However, I’m not sure we can save everyone, especially those who live in the north area,” Mr. Davide replied while biting his lip.

 

The thing finally reached its final shape, which is rock solid, mostly made from steel. The lights flickered alternately, which resembled a wave moving from one side to the other. A second later, the massive wall that had stored water on the northern edge of Tantoris for decades breaks due to the sudden appearance of a satellite from the future, effectively adding a ton of volume inside.

The concretes at the top of the dam were thrown several meters away. Everyone can see that the water dam Tantoris has always been proud of is being destroyed into pieces. Its contents start spilling like a giant waterfall, ready to drown everything that stands in the way since the spherical satellite pushes the water from its enormous container. 

The dam’s water rushes down, going through the sloping terrain to follow its nature gravity. 

 

“Hey…” Rio muttered. The worst-case scenario that became the basis of the proposal that he and Rita had been working with happens before his eyes, a few kilometers ahead.

 

From the very beginning, he came up with an idea to strengthen the structure of the dam’s wall so that it could remain safe for the next countless decades, enhanced by Rita’s plants.

However, the situation unfolding before his eyes right now made him unable to utter a single word. Rita covered her mouth while goosebumps hit her skin, witnessing the event where a chunk of concrete was thrown away and fell on other parts of the city.

It’s over. Everything is over now.

 

“…no, no. This is bad,” Arisa muttered tremblingly, “I have to make sure my family is safe.”

 

Rio quickly grips Arisa’s arm before she reaches the stairs. When she turned her head, Rio shook his head slowly.

 

“Don’t be hasty, Arisa. I know that the current state of the city’s north is quite dangerous. That’s why Mr. Davide ordered the evacuation right away and the police personnel are doing their best as we speak. Please cool down your head first.”

“But—”

“Arisa!”

 

Rio raises his voice as Arisa flinches. Still, she notices that Rio’s hand holding her arm is shaking right now. 

 

“Rio… Rio. Please—”

 

She understands very well that Rio, perhaps, is also worried about his family. But Arisa can’t contain her reasoning in telling her to see her family until she suddenly loses the strength in her legs. She kneels with a trembling voice, and tears fall from her eyes.

This is the first Rio sees her like this. He has never seen Arisa so vulnerable and begs for something.

Rio bites his lip and tries to help Arisa stand back up.

 

“Alright, Arisa. We’re going to the center of town now, Arisa. Let’s check our family together,” Rio said firmly.

“We’re in the same position right now. Don’t worry. We’ll get through this together,” Valerie added. Beside Valerie, Rita hesitantly nods.

 

Everyone looks at Mr. Davide, followed by Arisa, who is the last to look at him with pleading eyes. The middle-aged man is racking his brain for proper judgment at this urgent time. 

 

“Okay. I’ll take you to the center of town. After that, I will go to help my men. I’m sure everyone will be in dire need of help when we get there. Once you all got there, I don’t take any responsibility for your safety, you understand?”

“Noted, sir,” said the group of teenagers simultaneously, except Arisa.

“Follow me now.”

 

They quickly got off the building and got into one of the police cars on standby. Sato was already in his car with Johann secured in the back seat, watching his boss go with another vehicle with the teenagers.

When Mr. Davide is moving, Sato follows him from behind.