Chapter 88: Everything’s ruined

Chapter 88: Everything’s ruined Ethan read the letter. [From Administrator Head, Grace Quinn. Your immediate presence at the Scientist Guild is paramount upon receiving this letter. The city has descended into chaos. We must assess whether your beasts pose any danger to humans—this is critical to the project we’re working on. Please be careful out there.] ’’What does she mean by ’the city is in chaos’?" Eva asked, a confused look on her face. She leaned over Ethan’s shoulder to reread the letter, her mind racing to recall the novel’s plot. ’This wasn’t in the book... or did the fanfic author spice things up?’ Eva sighed. ’Has everything really followed the same path since I came here?’ She shook her head, feeling it was pointless to overthink the plot. ’’I don’t know. Blaine, call in the person who brought this letter.’’ Julian instructed that they should hear the situation from someone who had come from outside. Ethan frowned, his instinct telling him something worse had happened, and it was only the beginning. He trusted his instinct more than anything—it had kept him alive all this while. Ethan folded the parchment calmly and waited patiently as Blaine brought the person. Eva healed herself and sat in an empty seat, hoping whatever it was could be resolved quickly. At the sound of footsteps, they looked at the door, which swung open—Blaine and a woman entered. The woman’s gaze fell on them, and she nodded in greeting. "Good day, Lord Ethan, Lord Julian." She gave Eva a polite nod as well. Julian nodded in response, ’’What’s happening out there?’’ he asked. The woman was surprised by his question but when she recalled this mansion was located inside an estate, she felt it was possible for them to still be in the dark. "Along the way, I saw people killing themselves. Some muttered they were going to die anyway, while others claimed they were helping to reduce the population," the woman explained, her face turning pale as she recalled the horrors she had witnessed on her way here. Eva and the others’ expressions turned grim—they instantly understood that the secret of the Breathfordge had been revealed to the masses with sinister intent. ’Why would someone do that? We could’ve just enjoyed the time we had left before the Breathfordge went off. There might still be hope for the scientists to find a solution. But now... everything’s ruined. There’s no stopping a crowd of desperate people with nothing left to live for.’ Eva sighed as those thoughts crowded her mind. ’’We need to go,’’ Ethan announced with a serious tone, and they nodded, heading to their room to put on clothes. Eva checked on the beasts from her mind and found them lazily in her space—she shook her head at their relaxed figures, buttoned her jean, and left her room. Reaching the hallway she brought them out—the beasts were disoriented by their sudden change of location. One of them stared blankly at Eva, who was already geared up to leave. ’’Let’s go, your vacation days are over, it’s time to work,’’ Eva said, not caring if they understood her or not—with a rub on her fox fur, she noticed it had grown quite a bit. She nodded with satisfaction and headed downstairs, the beasts trailing behind her. In the living room, Ethan and Julian already stood waiting, and upon seeing Eva, they left the mansion. "We’ll have to ride our beasts—the bus can’t handle their weight," Ethan said as they stared at the bus with uncertain expressions. Eva had to keep her space secret from others, or she would have thrown the beast back in and used the bus. ’"Can I even ride that?" Julian asked, pointing at his massive snake. No matter how big it was, he couldn’t imagine sitting on it. ’Will his snake move in Zigzag motion?’ A weird image flashed through his mind, and he shook it off. While he was lost in thought, Ethan carried Eva on top of his wolf as the fox followed behind them. Julian cursed under his breath, knowing there was no other way than to ride on his beast, and they didn’t have time to waste. The woman stared at their beasts with a mix of fear and envy, wishing she had a beast egg of her own. But the rumours from those who had taken the test were clear—it wasn’t child’s play. If you weren’t quick enough to give up, it could kill you. She quickly buried the thought and dashed after them. Ethan wrapped his hands around Eva’s waist as the wolf sped up. The view around them was a blur, but they could glimpse the destruction around them. Julian, who was behind them, glanced at the dead bodies and vandalized shops and frowned—feeling the destruction was too fast; in just two days, the city had become like this. A few bystanders saw a white blur streak past. They glanced around in confusion but saw nothing out of the ordinary. They continued on their way, their next target the homes of the wealthy. Their appetites had grown after their recent success. Some of their objectives had changed—now, they wanted nothing more than to trample on the dignity of the rich and revel in the sight of them begging for their lives. To them, death was inevitable, and they intended to savour the chaos to the fullest before they went under. .... Thirty minutes later, Ethan and the rest arrived in front of the guild. As soon as they walked in with their beasts, Dean was alerted to their presence and rushed down from the second floor. ’’Follow me, madam. Grace is waiting on the 27th floor," Dean said urgently as he headed toward the lift. Since it couldn’t support the beasts weight, he took it alone. Eva grimaced as she glanced at the stairs, before she could step forward, Julian carried her on top of his beast. "My turn—you already rode on Ethan’s beast," Julian said with a grin as his snake began to move. Surprisingly, the ride was stable as the snake slithered beneath them. Ethan shot Julian a look before climbing back on his beasts. The fox let out a sulky sigh—it hadn’t even gotten the chance to carry its master before someone else stole the job. They climbed up the stairs in seconds and waited for Dean’s lift to arrive. After a few minutes had passed, Dean walked out of the lift guided them down a secluded hallway and stood in front of a double steel door. Dean knocked, and a calm voice came from within. ’’Enter.’’ Dean turned both knobs and pushed the doors open. Eva came down from the beast, her finger rubbing slightly on its cold scales. The snake hissed, its tongue flickering in response. Inside, a green-haired woman sat in wait. The beasts caught Grace’s attention, and she rose from her seat and walked up to them. ’’Good day, Madam Grace.’’ Ethan and Julian greeted respectfully, with Eva following along. Grace hummed in response, aware of the heated gazes on her as she carefully inspected the beasts. Julian and Ethan kept looking from Grace to Eva with a puzzled expression. ’’Have you—’’ Grace’s words stuck in her throat as soon as her gaze fell on Eva. Her mind blanked out, her heart skipped a beat.