The night was oddly quiet, the golden vortex shining through a slit from the supermarket's window. If Simon didn't know any better, he'd assume that it was still daytime. However, the only difference was that the halos above were now grey instead of a blinding white.
Neither Simon nor Leo could sleep; both just stared up at the wall. In truth, Simon was more excited than scared. An entity had to have created this world, which likely meant he could take it into his possession.
In fact, from the moment he realized this, he had been set on obtaining its power for himself. He had a goal — everything that was of value to him was merely a means to an end to reach it.
The horde had calmed down significantly; the streets were now painted in blood and drool from the beasts. Some were still eager to fight, but most went into hiding to rest for the coming battles.
Boredom was crawling through Leo's skin; he wasn't used to having absolutely nothing to do.
"Hey, Simon. You got a higher rank than me, why'd you join the bureau so late?"
"I had a couple of arguments with my mom. She wanted me to join the Attack Force and not the Investigation Force. You know how Naomi is." Simon explained with a sigh.
"Really? If anything, I should've joined the Attack Force; my signature is better suited for it than yours."
*Hup!*
Leo jumped down from the aisle sign he was on and began to pace around. He needed something to cure his boredom, even if it was a kids' toy. Eventually, he found a yoyo and began to swing it around whilst searching the store.
Although the smell of the store was absolutely foul from the rotten meat, it annoyed both of them more than it disgusted them. Simon got up from his seat next to a cash register and locked eyes with Leo.
"Clean the store?" They said in unison before nodding their heads in agreement.
Simon handed a pair of gloves to Leo; he always made sure to keep a spare. And together, they began to throw out all of the spoiled food and kept everything canned.
It surprisingly didn't take long; with Leo's Resonance signature, he was able to just throw out entire fridges of rotten meat out the windows. Normally, they would be scared of beasts following the sound or smell, but they would be too busy fighting to care.
"Leo, I'm gonna go check the basement, see if electricity works here."
"It better," Leo chuckled.
Simon couldn't care less for Leo's boredom; he was fine with just staring at the wall. However, if there was something useful in the basement, Leo would likely report to the bureau about it.
Simon couldn't have that, no matter how selfish it was; he needed to have it for himself.
(It's better that way, for both of us. If it's something even as little as a weapon, I'll make sure it doesn't get wasted.) He rationalized his thinking process.
As Simon descended the stairs, the first thing he heard was a sharp hiss.
He snapped his head towards the sound, following it immediately. Whatever it was needed to be killed before it became a problem.
However, when Simon got to the cable, the green snake was wrapped around it, and it was smaller than his fist.
He sighed, pulling his dagger out and gripping it by its neck. He squeezed hard, pulling out all its venom just in case it bit him.
"You dare to touch me, human?!" A deep voice from the snake called out in anger.
The snake began to expand, the sudden movement making Simon jump back and prepare himself. Simon began to calculate the probability of the snake attacking him subconsciously.
[Probability: 0%]
"Zero?!" Simon exclaimed.
Just as it reached his waist, it stopped growing before wrapping around Simon. It was oddly slimy, but it clearly had no intention of fighting, even though its grasp around him was tight.
"...My apologies, I had no idea it was you. You look exactly like your father, Young Master."
Simon's eyes widened just slightly before noticing the familiar ruby glare in the snake's eyes.
"Jör? What are you doing here?"
The snake in front of him wasn't an ordinary snake; it was Jör, an entity known as the goddess of serpents — one of his father's servants.
"Well, I was just wandering the subway before this world suddenly appeared. If I had to admit, I've taken a liking to it, though I do not wish to become the ruler of this earth."
"Good, that would be more problems for me. By the way, what is—"
"Young Master, return to Leo at once; there seems to be a horde of beasts coming this way. I'll still be here when you come back... I'll even do you a favor." She said before returning to her smaller form.
Jör wrapped herself around the cable again, electricity sparking through the building as Simon returned from the basement. On his way up, he took note of the basement and a very important fact...
The basement had no generator.
The first thing that attacked his ears when he finally entered the main floor again was the sounds of roars and cries of bats.
These bats were barely the size of his head; luckily, they were weak enough for him and Leo to deal with, even while sleep-deprived. Simon got there just in time to stop Leo from going outside to deal with them.
"Let them come to us; they'll have less space to fly in here." At the same time he said this, he began to calculate the chances of both of them winning against this horde.
[Probability: 50%]
Fifty was still too low for Simon; he poured his energy out to steadily increase it until it reached one hundred. As the bats came bursting through an already broken window, Simon began to slash at their wings.
Leo, on the other hand, activated his signature, golden dragons wrapped around his limbs as he made sure they didn't fly too high. It was like the two of them were playing a game of ping-pong.
Leo would stop them from flying higher, forcing them to crash into the ground. Simon would rebound off of this, slashing each one until death crept onto them. It didn't take long before they reached the last one.
"Andddd... Bong!"
Leo's signature made everything have a second impact, assuming it was still alive. If not, then the impact wouldn't come out. So when the bat came crashing down into Simon's daggers, they both expected it to be dead.
However, the second impact was still activated, and the bat screeched as it became larger.
Simon arched an eyebrow, but swung more frantically at its stomach. By the time it had reached its full size, it was just slightly larger than Simon.
Leo quickly hurtled down from the roof. He knew Simon's specialty was strength.
He barely managed to block the attack from the bat's claws. The bat left a huge scar on Leo's left shoulder.
Simon was shocked, but he knew better than to just sit there and not take this opportunity while it was recovering.
He threw one of his daggers at the bat's neck, stopping its ear-ring screech.
Leo shifted his momentum, delivering a hook to its jaw. He followed it up with a kick to its ribs.
Simon then stabbed it its eye, and the cycle began to continue.
The bat tried its best to try and block their attacks, but with its vocal cords gone, it had no way to defend itself. It could only sit there choking on its own blood until it dropped dead.
Simon was angry — more at the fact that he would now have to treat Leo's wounds more than he was actually concerned about him. He pushed it down deep into his heart, the body of the beast disappearing into the air.
"Are you okay?" Simon forced himself to ask.
"Don't ask me dumb questions."
Simon swiftly got the first aid kit he had seen whilst cleaning the supermarket, disinfecting Leo's wound. He hissed from time to time from the pain, but still Leo endured it.
(I refuse to give him my ointments, they're for me, not him. It's not like the wound is that big anyway.)
By the time Simon was done treating the wound and wrapping it, daytime had already come again. The hordes of beasts completely ignored the building from there.
They likely thought there was something that was beyond their strength, so they avoided it. However, in Simon's eyes, this was actually better for both of them.
If they moved through the night, there would be fewer encounters with these beasts. Moreover, it would give Simon the secrecy to do whatever he may please at this time.
He knew full well Leo did not like going to sleep in the morning. So he quickly went to sleep after he had wrapped the scar on Leo's shoulder.
Just as he predicted, when he had awakened, Leo was sound asleep next to a couple of canned fruits. There was a note next to him that read "Take the night watch. Haruto will be here in the morning."
"Hehe.." Simon couldn't help but laugh.
He now had the freedom to explore this world more thoroughly — an entire night to search for whatever had created this world.