Chapter 242 — Aftermath II
5 min read ·
The main Mafia members – Pavel, and others who’d been watching with their own families – all wore expressions mixing shock.
And at the center of it all, sitting in the chair that had become his unofficial throne, was Old Man Mike.
He was the oldest person in the room by two decades at the very least, his weathered face showing every year of hard living in the criminal underworld.
He’d built the largest underground network in the Central Region through decades of careful planning, brutal enforcement, and strategic alliances.
When Damian had arrived and systematically dismantled the old power structures, Mike had been smart enough to recognize genius when he saw it and had offered his allegiance without hesitation.
Now, as the families around him began to panic, as voices rose in fear and desperation, Mike stood up.
Creak
The stand was simple, unhurried and carrying the weight of authority earned through surviving situations that had killed lesser men.
"..."
Silence fell gradually, everyone turning to look at him, seeking guidance from the person who’d been navigating crises since before most of them were born.
"Everyone calm down. Right now. Panicking accomplishes nothing."
His eyes swept across the room.
"Your children are alive. That cube wasn’t designed to kill them immediately – if it was, they would have been torn apart during transit. It was designed to open a portal. Which means wherever they are, they’re still breathing."
He walked to the center of the room, his presence somehow steadying despite the horror of the situation.
"And more importantly, they’re not alone. They have each other. They have their training. They have everything Damian and the rest of us have taught them about survival."
Alessio – who’d been standing silent in the corner – finally spoke up, his voice carrying absolute confidence that seemed almost inappropriate given the circumstances.
"There’s nothing to worry about."
The statement was so absurd, so disconnected from reality, that several people looked at him with genuine anger.
Alessio just smiled – that same calm, certain smile that had defined him since Damian had recruited him months ago.
"Because Master is there."
The simple statement hung in the air.
"Master survived a hostile portal before... Alone. As a D rank student with no preparation and no backup. He fought Giants, killed them, and came back stronger than when he left."
His eyes swept across the room.
"Now he’s C+ rank. He has four teammates trained by the same methods that kept him alive. He has experience, knowledge, and most importantly – he has that mind that refuses to accept defeat no matter how impossible the situation looks."
Alessio’s smile widened slightly.
"If anyone can survive what just happened and bring everyone back safely, it’s him. So no, I’m not worried. I’m confident."
The words were spoken with such absolute certainty that some of the panic in the room eased slightly, people clinging to that confidence like drowning victims grabbing a rope.
Takeshi pulled out his communication device with shaking hands, trying to reach Ariana.
She hadn’t been pulled into the portal – they’d seen her in the viewing stands when the broadcast cut – but she also wasn’t answering.
The call went to voicemail...
He tried again...
Voicemail.
A third time...
Still nothing.
Yuki’s composed facade cracked, tears beginning to fall despite her best efforts to maintain control.
"Something’s wrong..."
****
[Television Broadcast - Resuming]
The screens flickered back to life as backup systems came online, emergency broadcasts taking over from the destroyed primary cameras.
A reporter appeared on screen – a young woman in her twenties, her professional appearance completely destroyed, her makeup running from tears, her hands visibly shaking as she held the microphone.
Her voice came out broken, barely functional.
"I... I’m reporting live from... from the ACC Federation Stadium where... where–"
She couldn’t finish the sentence, her throat closing up, her mind refusing to put into words what she was seeing.
The camera panned across the devastation.
The stadium was destroyed!
Entire sections simply gone, vaporized by the explosion, leaving gaping wounds in the structure that showed sky where stands had been.
Bodies lay everywhere...
So many bodies!
Rescue teams moved through the rubble – professional emergency responders wearing protective gear, their movements efficient despite the horror, their faces showing the kind of trauma that would never fully heal.
Healers worked desperately on the injured, their green Auras flaring as they tried to save lives that were slipping away, their faces showing desperation and exhaustion.
The reporter walked slowly through the destruction, the camera following, showing everything in brutal, unfiltered detail.
"Medical teams are... are trying to... there are just so many–"
Her voice kept breaking, professional training completely overwhelmed by the human reality of mass death.
They passed a section where rescue workers were pulling bodies from collapsed stands, laying them in rows, covering them with whatever fabric could be found.
The rows kept growing!
A man covered in blood and soot stumbled through the rubble, his voice hoarse from screaming.
"SARAH! SARAH WHERE ARE YOU?! PLEASE! SARAH!"
His wife’s name, called over and over into the devastation, hoping for a response that would never come.
Another man sat beside a covered body, his hands resting on the fabric, his voice quiet and broken as he spoke to someone who could no longer hear him.
"You told me we should have stayed home... You told me it was too crowded... Why didn’t I listen?! Why didn’t we just stay home?!"
A woman being treated by healers kept trying to stand despite her injuries, kept trying to move toward a collapsed section.
"My daughter! My daughter is in there! Please! Please let me go! She needs me! SHE NEEDS ME!"
The camera continued moving, showing scene after scene of devastation.
A man covered in blood stumbled through the wreckage, shouting a name over and over.
"MARIA! MARIA, WHERE ARE YOU?! MARIA, PLEASE ANSWER ME!"
His voice was hoarse from screaming, his eyes wild with panic and desperation, his expensive suit torn and burned.
He was clearly Noble – his bearing, his equipment, his Aura pressure all marking him as someone of significant rank and status.
But none of that mattered now!
His wife was missing, possibly dead, and all his power and privilege couldn’t bring her back!