Leon's eyes widened as he saw a beam of light shoot towards the creatures, but they stood still as if it was just a single strand of a broom straw.
They crossed their blades, clashing with the beam and deflecting it to a different angle. Leon noticed a shimmering green liquid oozing out from one of the creatures.
"Is that their blood?!" Leon questioned himself as he scrambled for a stable footing. He refused to flee without witnessing that glorious fight.
All three creatures launched at the aircraft's flailing wings, sending it spiraling to the ground floor.
As soon as it landed, it exploded, rocketing tiny pieces of metal into the atmosphere.
If not for the wall Leon stood behind, his head would have been torn, as a fragment of the wing found its way to where his head was.
The creatures howled like a war cry as flames filled up the air with massive heat, searing Leon's skin.
His mind reeled, his thoughts scattered like debris. Then, he sprinted to the twenty-first floor.
As he got there, he saw a shredded piece of skin lying on the ground like a dirty cloth.
It looked human but wasn't recognizable since all the tangible parts were torn from the skin: the nose, the mouth, and the eyebrow.
Leon approached, knelt, and studied it with a razor focus.
He closed his eyes and whispered, "Show me you aren't dead."
As soon as his voice faded, a chilling wind carried a scrap of cloth from the floor's edge to his feet.
With a careful look, he lifted it, but the fabric disintegrated into ashes and flew as the air blew again.
"I've seen this before… but where?" He tried to remember.
As Leon raised himself, a voice spoke behind him. His heart skipped, breath shallowed, and body shook. Yet his blazing eyes weren't affected—rather, they glowed brighter as he turned.
The face wasn't among the faces he had seen before. But the tone of the voice resounded like someone he had always been with.
The body wasn't recognizable as well, since the figure stood on the shadowy side of the floor—leaving only his face for Leon's gaze.
"Why does this feel… wrong?" Leon was pulled deep into the man's eyes as their gazes locked.
He saw visions: himself, his mother, and his sister. All in one being—crawling beneath Vera. While Jade, Tiger, and some other elite personnel laughed in great pleasure.
Leon snapped his eyes shut. He felt great pain in his eyes even after they got closed.
Before he could open again, the being spoke: "Don't force yourself. You can't do anything about your father's demise. He sealed his own fate."
When he reopened his eyes, the figure had vanished—no trace. Nothing. Leon began searching the corners to see if he could find something.
As he edged towards the collapsed wall—a sheer drop yawning below—the aliens' chittering reached him.
"Wait! Are they coming here?" Leon's heart skipped, pulse spiked. He trembled as he calculated all possible means of escaping without a trace—but all ended with only one solution. Jump.
Time moved like a peregrine falcon escaping death.
The chittering was now heard at the very door leading to the room—and not only that, he could hear blades screeching against the walls.
Leon turned without hesitation and jumped, as he saw three shadows coming in.
His eyes closed as he dropped from the twenty-first floor—his mother's smile, his sister's laughter, his father's last word he spoke, Mr. Lee's encouraging words, and the hooded man's grin all flashing to him like a dying film reel.
The creatures quickly rushed to the edge as they watched Leon fall.
The ground spiraled dust, followed by a massive sound—just as he collided. Everything went silent; even the creatures had sympathy for his lifeless body.
But as they turned, Leon's fingers began moving—starting from his pinky finger. It was brittle at first, but just as his index finger straightened, he coughed.
His legs weren't moving, but his hands were. His vision turned blurry-red as he opened his eyes.
Blood oozed out of his ribs the moment he forced himself to rise, making him scream in pain.
The creatures began descending at a high speed with their blades bleeding fire as soon as they heard his screams.
Leon managed to crawl onto a slightly clean platform that had a strange description carved on it.
What he felt while he crawled on it was like being skinned alive in a cage filled with metal thorns.
His blood began to narrow its path, tracing the carvings one after the other. His eyes glowed the moment the carving got filled completely with his blood.
But just as he managed to scan the surroundings even with blurry red vision, he saw the three creatures moving like cannibals towards him.
Leon's heart raced, his body shaking while sweat pooled up on his skin.
"I'm sorry, Dad." He whispered in sobs. The wind blew, sending dust into the air.
For a split second, he thought the creatures had backed down, but just as he clicked his eyes twice, he saw them moving towards him while they licked their lips.
Leon jolted from eye to eye until they loomed over him. Their blades lifted, shimmering in the moon's gaze—then, they struck.
Just as their blades reached his body, a strange light burst into them, blowing the creatures away.
Not only did it blast the creatures, but it also turned Leon's body skinless.
"I wish I had another chance!" Leon screamed, even with no skin left on his body. His eyes spiraled as he stared at the sky.
A low voice resonated in his head. The tone reminded him of the old woman he'd once helped—carried her basket—but the breeze that followed the voice was something unfamiliar.
"Why… why?" Leon cried in agony. The creatures stood, brushing dust from their bodies as their wounds healed.
They launched towards him again—but this time, they were prepared like hell itself.