Hiding within his Shadow Realm, Jason witnessed the sky flooded by pillars of irons. Whoever that was targeting him and his allies had finally made their biggest move. Really? An airstrike? Do they really need to go to such extremes?

“Jason, we should run,” Esther said. She too stared at the sky as anxiety was creeping up on her. No one in their right mind could just stand there and do nothing with missiles looming over their heads.

Every point in agility. His fresh new points were all dumped on agility. A blue window emerged, announcing something. Something that he had long forgotten about.

Jason stared at these texts for a while, but his face remained the same. There was no doubt he welcomed a new title, but the current situation looked bleak. He wasn’t even sure if he could survive this one. He opened up his status and saw his energy on the verge of running out. He had a few options in mind, and one of them was just to run away with Esther. That cowardly move was definitely the highest chance of him getting out of here alive in one piece. But those people.

Jason took a quick glance. He saw Arrluk not far away and the siblings a bit further. Hakeem was nowhere in sight but seeing there was no sign of his body, at least Jason was sure that friend of his was still alive. He couldn’t leave them, not after what they had been through. He had his difference with them, but still, they fought for him.

Fuck it! Jason made his decision. He grabbed Esther by the waist. “Hold on tight. Wind Clad.”

His last bit of energy ran out as wind surrounded his entire body. The missiles were coming down, and Jason made his sprint. Everything happened within a short few seconds. The speed he had was unlike before. Within a flash, he emerged out from the Shadow Realm and grabbed on to Arrluk. The old man remained motionless with his eyes still at the sight of those two grandchildren of his.

Jason turned and burst into another sprint. The ground cracked as the force exerted by Jason’s feet were undeniably strong. Cloud of dust trailed behind the man who was becoming closer in mimicking the Scarlet Speedster.

He appeared in front of Nuniq, who was crying over Tapeesa’s unconscious body. She was still in the state of her ice figure, but she wasn’t moving. Jason had no time to think about what had happened as he grabbed on to these two over his shoulders.

“Arrluk! Esther! Hold them down!” His voice sounded, and Arrluk snapped out from his daze. He saw his grandchildren and realizing what Jason was attempting to do, Arrluk followed his order without question.

Yet out of nowhere, a sniper round came flying. Jason heard it and moved. He ran and stopped after finding cover. He looked down on his torso and saw his flank was bleeding. Esther, who was holding the two siblings on Jason's shoulder, panicked after hearing the sniper round. It took her a while to respond as the speed Jason was running was making her disoriented a bit.

“What happened?” she asked as she could only glance at Jason’s face. The frown on him only showed it was a bad sign.

With no energy to spare, Jason couldn’t hide in the Shadow Realm. He was out in the open, and even with his speed, those hidden veteran snipers were being a problem. Jason took his sight into the sky, and the missiles were drawing near. He concluded that those missiles were probably targeting them in a particular area, with the snipers acting as the gatekeeper. Making sure Jason and co wouldn’t leave the designated area. The best possible way of surviving this was to get through that line of gatekeepers as the snipers won’t be within the targeted area. But…

It’s too risky. Not like this. Jason was like a big target with everyone latched on to him. Time was ticking, and options were limited. First, he needed to know where Hakeem was.

“Hakeem! Where the fuck are you!” Jason’s voice rang as loud as he could. He wasn’t a shouter, but desperate time needed desperate action.

“Here!” a voice coming from one of the broken buildings. Jason didn’t wait and sprinted down towards the direction of the voice. He didn’t know where exactly was Hakeem, but he needed to give it a shot. While he ran, sniper bullets were left in the dust. The snipers weren’t going to sit and watch. Even with Jason’s stupid-like speed, the snipers were quick to adjust. They were shooting bullet after bullet as they were chasing Jason from behind.

Jason went into the first building, and he hoped he found the right one. He slid across the messy floor with his eyes scanning the inside. He saw him. Hakeem was leaning over the wall just below the broken window.

“Hakeem!” he shouted.

Hakeem saw the appearance of his friend and those people Jason was carrying. He was about to say something regarding those missiles, but Jason cut him off.

“Grab on to me, and don’t let go!” Jason didn’t wait and began his stride. A blinding speed as he reached Hakeem in a blink of an eye. “Climb on my back,” Jason said. Hakeem piggy-backed Jason as he wrapped his arms and legs around Jason’s body. Jason sprinted as few bullets went through the windows but missed. Jason escaped by a hair-breadth, yet it wasn’t over.

A slight glance at the sky and he could feel his heart clenched tight. They were coming, and they were close. He ran the opposite of where he should. He turned his back on the snipers that guarded the perimeter, making his way to the closest place he could find in dealing with the missiles strike. He ran with his life depending on it. He climbed up a hill as the missiles rained down on the ground.

His feet could feel the earth shook as the heat and shockwave were coming at him fast. Then, he took a leap of faith. The moment he left the ground, the earth crumbled under the might of modern weaponry. Time slowed down as he remembered a time when he did a similar thing. A leap of faith back in New York City. The face of a person surfaced in his mind, a person he once loved. He didn’t know why he remembered such a thing at this point in time. But at least, he knew what he meant to do.

I won’t make the same mistake again.

He fell, along with the rest of his allies. A free fall into the darkness of the deep ravine. He chose this path as it was the only thing he could think of. They managed to escape the bombardment but at what cost? Do they still live, or do they not?