CHAPTER 3
"Finally. I caught you again."
Spinning around, Ray saw Van approaching, which caused him to instinctively hide his ability book behind his back.
That movement did not go unnoticed by his friend's sharp eyes.
"Huh? What are you hiding?"
"Nothing."
"Your hands are clearly behind your back and you say 'nothing'?"
"I just feel like stretching my arms behind me. I always do that." Ray faked a grin.
"You never do that. You forgot? I have been with you since we were three."
"Oh. That's true." Ray let out an awkward chuckle as he rubbed his hair nervously.
"So tell me. What's behind your back?"
Ray wanted to tell Van the truth. He genuinely did. However, he couldn't. Not yet, at least.
Nobody must know until he fully learned the book.
He also knew how persistent his friend could be and how Van would do everything possible to uncover whatever Ray was hiding.
Once Van set his mind on something, there was no stopping him.
Still, there was always one thing that could divert his attention.
"... Your new invention. You said you wanted to tell me what it was. Do you have it with you?"
Van lifted an eyebrow, then his bright green eyes lit up with excitement.
"Yes. I actually do."
'Works every time.'
Rummaging through his sling bag, Van pulled out a small clock.
"Here." He said, stretching the strange object forward.
Ray cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
"A clock? No offence, Van, but we already have one at home. I don't need another."
Van raised an eyebrow briefly, then chuckled softly.
"... I know you better than you know yourself. But it seems you don't know me very well, eh?"
"Huh?"
Van proceeded to explain.
"This is no ordinary clock, fool. Heck, it doesn't even tell the time."
"Then what does it do?"
Van pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head slowly.
"We are constantly surrounded by danger, right? We live in a world where extraordinary humans exist. A world filled with beasts and creatures known as Abberants."
"Yes?" Ray nodded along, urging him to continue.
"... Humanity has been cooped up behind these massive walls, sealing us off from the outside and the remaining terrains of Alcatraz. We live every day with the fear of being crushed to the ground."
Ray sighed deeply, shaking his head.
"I asked what the clock does, not a history lecture. Where are you going with this?"
"I'm getting there." Van replied calmly. "I'm just saying that since humanity always has to look over its shoulders, worried about when an Abberant might appear, I decided to create this clock for our use."
Ray lifted an eyebrow.
"For our use? Meaning?"
Van smiled, clearly pleased.
"I'm glad you asked. For the past three years, I dedicated my time to studying Abberant attack patterns. Not just how they appear, but the signs that come before their arrival."
Ray's brows knitted together.
"I think everyone knows the biggest sign. A massive mothership the size of a planet usually shows up."
Van nodded in agreement.
"Yes. But there's another detail people overlook. Whenever they plan to attack, a tremor usually occurs one or two minutes before they actually appear."
Ray tilted his head slightly.
"A tremor?"
Van nodded, his smile widening.
"Yes. Human ears can't pick it up. It's almost like an invisible vibration moving through the air, sometimes even through the ground itself."
Ray frowned thoughtfully.
'... I've never heard of that before. Do the Legacies know about this? Or is Van the first to notice it?'
Oblivious to Ray's thoughts, Van continued.
"And that's why I created this. This 'clock,' as you call it, will ping whenever that same tremor appears."
He raised the device slightly.
"You see this hand here."
Van pointed at the singular thin clock hand on the construct, his eyes gleaming with pride.
"It will rattle loudly if the tremors appear. Almost like an alarm clock of some kind."
Ray raised an eyebrow in doubt.
"And how do you know if it works? It's not like you've tested it before."
Van let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing a hand through his already messy hair.
"I… I have faith in my inventions, so I know it will w—"
His words were cut short by a strange disturbance in the air.
Ray turned around instinctively, noticing that people had begun gathering around them.
Shuffling on his feet, he gripped his ability book tighter behind his back, his body instantly tensing as he went on guard against the growing numbers nearby.
But surprisingly, none of them were looking at the two boys.
Every single adult moving along the street suddenly paused mid-stride.
Their gazes were fixed on the sky above.
Seeing this, Ray stepped back together with Van, distancing themselves from the crowd while also trying to get a clearer view.
"Huh? I can't see anything. What are they staring at?"
Suddenly, the voice of a man rang out.
"What's that? A shooting star?"
"Idiot. A shooting star during the day? That's unheard of."
Ray and Van strained their eyes harder, squinting upward until they finally noticed it.
A tiny dot in the sky, barely visible, moving ever so slightly.
'Huh? What is that?'
"So then what is it if it's not a shooting star? Because it sure looks like one to me."
"Maybe it's a comet? Or a meteor?"
Van frowned deeply.
'… That's not right. A comet shouldn't be possible at this time of the year. Then what could it be?'
As that thought crossed his mind, the dot suddenly grew larger.
Closer. Bigger.
With every passing second, it approached rapidly, causing murmurs to spread as people gawked at the sky in confusion.
"It's getting closer! Is that a meteor?" someone shouted in horror.
The object continued descending, still unclear in shape, and that was when it happened.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
A deafening sound similar to an alarm blared through the air.
Ray and Van froze, their breaths hitching as they slowly lowered their gazes.
The source of the noise was clear.
Van's clock.
Their eyes widened in sheer horror.
"Could it be? No… no, no. Van, it's broken, right?"
Van couldn't answer.
He stared at the clock in silence, his mind torn apart.
Should he feel dread that his invention had just announced an imminent threat, or pride that it had actually worked?
Before either of them could process the situation further, a sharp, panicked scream erupted from the crowd.
"Fe… feet! Giant feet!"
Both boys snapped their heads upward.
A pair of colossal feet were descending rapidly from the sky.
In the blink of an eye, they slammed down atop the transparent dome enclosing the massive walls.
A thunderous boom echoed as the impact shook the ground beneath them violently.
But that wasn't the end.
The force sent ripples spreading across the glass-like structure, making countless hearts skip several beats as the owner of those feet became visible above them.
Before anyone could even fully register what they were seeing—
Ring!
The sound blared louder than before, piercing and overwhelming, forcing everyone to clutch their ears as dizziness washed over them.
Cracks appeared across the supposedly indestructible dome.
They spread at a terrifying speed.
"Ba… thump!"
Ray and Van's hearts pounded in unison as shock rooted them in place.
Then—
Crash!
Shatter!
The entire dome collapsed like fragile glass, raining shards down upon the people below as the massive feet finally crashed through and struck the ground itself.