Pov Vivian

  My mind was in turmoil. The fire cleansed everything, but I was still seeing visions of those horrible moving corpses. It was so hard not to imagine what would happen if that small life was let loose. My mind was so occupied that I only snapped out of my daze when I saw the barrier disappear, and I involuntarily stepped back.

  My grandfather was next to me, and I looked towards him to see him deep in thought. A meeting was called, and I started to head there, but my grandfather put his hand on my shoulder. “Follow me.”

  Instead of going to the meeting, for some reason, he was leading us back to our home. My mind immediately went to the reason why. We were one of the only ones who basically had our entire clan here, and if the dungeon’s threat about killing everyone who remained was true, we needed to get as many people out as possible.

  “Tell everyone to follow the emergency plan A1C,” my grandfather told one of the guards as we made it back in record time. That once again confused me. That plan was for everyone to be ready to move at a moment’s notice but to stay here until Grandfather gave the order to move. Were we not staying to fight?

  He led me to his study and activated the enchantments, basically sealing the room from the rest of the world. “Vivian, how credible is that threat from those living corpses?” he said while sitting down and starting to go through his desk, looking for something.

  The question was difficult to answer. There was just so much unknown, but the speed and the fact that that small life could so easily kill even platinum ranks who were completely healthy was something none of us had seen before.

  Yet my mind was already making calculations, and it was horrifying. There have been really deadly small life outbreaks, but when they kill their hosts, their corpses stay in one location and eventually die out. This obviously wasn’t the case with this one.

  “Vivian?” my grandfather’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

  “It’s not good, Grandfather. From what I could tell, there was some sort of unifying shared field amongst all the corpses. That small pattern must have access to mana of some sort. I am certain there are ways to fight it, but the spread was so fast, and if it's really in every corner of the world, we simply won’t have the manpower to keep it at bay. What I’m certain of is that there could be isolated communities that might survive, but I believe his timeline is more than accurate.”

  My voice got quieter by the end as I simply didn’t have the strength to continue. I sat down heavily—not because of the threat of the small life, but because I didn’t believe that those idiots would actually stop. They would think it was just another bluff, even with that demonstration. Although I’m certain it affected at least some to the point that they would believe him, would that be enough?

  I looked up and no longer heard any sounds of rifling through stuff from Grandfather. He was now completely still, looking toward the entrance of the dungeon. Some time passed before he spoke.

  “I don’t believe they will find the threat credible enough. They will end this world because they believe they are above it. Perhaps I can do something that will give this world a chance.”

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  He went quiet after that. There seemed to be no life in his eyes, like he was somewhere else. Then he blinked a couple of times.

  “Those idiots actually think they can hold this place, but at least they’re evacuating a lot of non-combatants.”

  He then stood up, and I saw the determination on his face. My mouth fell open as he stepped toward the command crystal that controlled all the enchantments and smashed it into bits. The world rushed back in as all the enchantments that kept us separate from the rest of the world failed, but so did all the other protections—especially against the dungeon.

  Grandfather turned toward one corner of the room, like he felt an enemy there.

  “I have nothing else to offer you but this. I will make this choice as public as possible. I have so many vows that bind me, yet I can still make this decision, which will show them all that your threat is credible. Will you accept this? Can you do it quickly? And, of course, the more spectacle you can make of my choice to join you, the better.”

  I was completely confused as to what my grandfather was doing. There was nothing there—who was he speaking to? It was like I was looking at a broken man, but then his shoulders relaxed, and a small smile came to his face that immediately warped into a look of pain as I saw vow bands wrapping all around him appear out of nowhere.

  Those were vow bands that would kill anyone who breaks them. And while they did hurt him, I saw them crumbling before they could do any real damage. That meant that whatever vow my grandfather had made, the conditions to get out of them were met, at least to some degree.

  No one takes a vow if they don't have to, but a clan leader does have to take quite a few—ones that bind all of our clans together. Did that just mean that we broke those bonds? That shouldn't be possible.

  “Grandfather, what's happening?”

  He turned to me to answer, but then a communication crystal let out a terrible noise. My grandfather quickly picked it up, and I saw an image of our leader. He was basically the last beastkin alive—not the pale imitations we were. His bear-like face was hard to read, but he seemed incredibly furious. We could also hear the emergency meeting going on in the background through another communication crystal.

  “Pup, what is the meaning of this? And how are you still alive? Whose side did you go on? Doesn’t matter—I will find you and end you.” He stopped speaking when he saw my grandfather’s face. “Explain. Now.”

  I did not expect that, but my grandfather took a deep breath and then spoke.

  “This world is going to end if we don't stop attacking this dungeon. I hope my sacrifice—my betrayal that will never be forgotten—will help you recognize the true threat. I do not know what you have been told, but the small life is the real threat. It will end this world and everyone in it. My clan now belongs to the dungeon, and I hope you understand what this means.”

  There was silence. We also realized that the emergency meeting had gone quiet. Then we heard the voice of one of the most annoying people I know.

  “You see, they are working for the dungeon.”

  I looked down at the communication crystal and realized that it wasn’t the secure one, it was meant for power and that nothing could interfere with its connection. We had been overheard.

  “You have betrayed the beasts. I can offer you no protection. Goodbye,” our leader said. Then he destroyed the communication crystal to the emergency meeting instead of ours.

  “You will be known for this betrayal, pup. Your line will be forever disgraced, at least to the public. You are a true beast kin, putting our lineage and our history above everything. I hope you are wrong, but if you’re not, then keep our histories alive. I will try to do the same. Goodbye.”

  Then the communication crystal cut off.

  A moment later, guards rushed in. “Sir, some sort of symbols are appearing on the ground outside the perimeter.”

  “Don’t mind those. Prepare for battle.”

  My grandfather was about to say something else, but he stopped and looked at the same corner. Then he let out a sigh of relief.

  All of a sudden, I felt twisting, like we were entering a gateway. Our building shook, and I could see cracks all over it, but then it stopped. Immediately, word spread, and we rushed outside to see the sun still in the same location, but our surroundings were different. We were no longer in the city but in someplace else with forests and rivers.

  Some of the buildings had trees coming out of them, like the entire section of the city we controlled was dropped into the middle of the wilderness. I took a deep breath and realized that we were inside the dungeon.

  “Grandfather, what did you do?” I asked him.

  “I made a deal with the dungeon. Hopefully, it will be enough to convince the others to stop attacking this dungeon. And of course, like our leader has always taught, we should never have all our eggs in the same basket.”

  “If this dungeon succeeds in destroying the world, then we will keep our histories alive. If this dungeon shall fall, other clans will keep our histories alive. And of course, in the best-case scenario, both sides will survive, and we will just have a different kind of life than we had before.”