Cassandra made her way among the crowd as if she was an idol of the old times, back when the news would be filled with celebrity gossip instead of government propaganda, walking in between her mesmerized fans. People stared at her with admiration in their eyes and some of the most daring even attempted to speak to her, but they were quickly met by an icy glare.

"I see you made it, midget." Cassandra scoffed.

"I'm glad you're alright too Cassie" Luna said impassibly.

"You know I hate that name, geez! Anyways, I'm Heavenly Sword now." Cassandra said.

"That is... uh... too long..." Luna said in a stutter.

"Speak properly would you!? Why did I even bother coming here?" She said as she gazed at her sister's companions. "Hey you! do I know you?"

"I- Uh... ah... I take the anthropology course with you." Uriel said after flinching.

"For the love of... Huf! is the stutter contagious or what? I see you made new friends and they're just like you, that's good. Now come with me, Luna." With that, both sisters left Uriel, Sam, the geeky student and Medusa and headed towards the colonel who was already waiting for them.

The reason why she was called by the colonel was because he suspected that Cassandra might be the VIP mister Flanagan was talking about, but Uriel didn't even bother trying to take a guess because he was still in a daze.

Cassandra wasn't just pretty, she was a force of nature and, if before meeting her in person he already had a good opinion of her, now he was starstruck.

"Uh, Uriel, are you still there?" Medusa said hovering a hand in front of him but he was unresponsive and the rest of the group chuckled.

The trip back to the city was safe and comfortable, the flight assistants made sure to hand over hot beverages to students and soldiers alike, they also provided snacks too to go along with the drinks, something that Uriel in particular really appreciated.

'Nothing tastes better than free food!' he heaved a content sigh after eating his full.

After landing, everyone was taken to the military base near the middle of the city, it was large, but not nearly as impressive as the zeppelin owned by the Mapple corporation.

"Before you head home we need to debrief our soldiers, which is why we need you to stay inside the premises until we're finished. It's usually a quick process, but because of what happened I think it's better if you stay and rest for today" Colonel Windfire's words were greeted with joy by everyone, most of them didn't have the chance to sleep or rest during their ordeal and even the uncomfortable accommodations at the barracks were better than spending one more minute awake.

It could have seemed like a nice thing the army did out of consideration for the students, especially the weaker ones who could barely stand on their feet, but the reason behind it was so they could come up with an official statement to keep the masses in check.

There was no hiding it, the mission was a complete and utter failure, but as much as the higher echelons in the army loved to put the blame on the lower ranking officers this time it was impossible.

Everything that happened was completely out of their control. They were used to have a few casualties here and there, but never a slaughter of this magnitude.

The presence of stronger cryptids near the lost city, which was usually a safe zone with but a few weak beasts, could only be explained by the presence of the titanic beast. No one could have foreseen it and there was no protocol in the army for such eventuality. Every soldier performed their duty, it was just that no one saw it coming until it was too late.

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That morning Uriel woke up as if he had just blinked, they were given but a couple hours of sleep but that was better than nothing. His muscles were sore, his mind was dizzy and there were bruises and scratches all over his body. There was, however, some good news for him and he only noticed it when he took a shower which, by the way, was cold too.

He was still as skinny as before, but his muscles were a bit more toned and defined. It wasn't that big of a change, at least not as noticeable as Medusa growing taller or Luna's change in hair color, but he felt a bit more agile and strong too.

'I can't believe that my trait is useless, I always thought I'd get a crappy trait but now I'm not so sure. I can feel it in my bones, this... energy...' his thoughts were a mess, but there wasn't enough time for him to waste idly.

There was a speech he needed to attend to and there were several soldiers present hurrying everyone up with screams and pushes to make sure they made it in time. The only ones allowed to stay behind were those who didn't acquire a trait, in fact, they were forbidden to go.

The ones who did have a trait, ascended and evolved alike, were taken to the auditorium, it was a simple open space built in concrete which possessed a nice acoustic.

"Dear students, no, that's not it..." Colonel Windfire made a dramatic pause he rehearsed just a few minutes before standing up in front of everyone. "Fellow ascended and evolved citizens, because that is the correct way to address you now, I stand before you..."

Uriel made his best effort to stay focused on the colonel's speech, but as soon as the propaganda started his mind drifted. There was no space inside his mind for useless information and he was still drowsy and tired.

His tired expression, his distracted demeanor and his carefree attitude, all changed the minute Cassandra was invited to stand besides the colonel.

"This is Sword, the only one among the aspirants to acquire a Heavenly rank trait and I'm glad to announce that she will be joining the army ranks."

Uriel's attention was drawn towards the apparently emotionless girl in front of everyone thinking that maybe she would introduce herself, but she quickly stepped out and left the scene leaving him disappointed.

'What am I thinking, Tina just broke up with me, I shouldn't be acting like this." He softly slapped his cheeks to regain focus.

"As you all know..." Colonel Windfire continued his boring speech, but now he had Uriel's full attention. "We had many victims this year. I would like to tell you that something like this has never happened before, but it's time for you to awaken. You are not kids anymore and your days of being sheltered end today.

"Year after year, after the first incursion you may have heard about the army forcefully drafting the strongest students... I'm sorry to say this, but that's not the truth. Even if we wanted to forcefully draft students, we would be left with reluctant soldiers who wouldn't perform their duties, no, that's not it. Those students weren't forcefully drafted and taken out of the city to a training facility, the sad truth behind that is... they're all dead."

The students reacted just like kids who were told Santa doesn't exist. They couldn't believe his words, but there was no trace of his usual kind smile nor did he squint his eyes. Colonel Windfire was dead serious.

"You may be wondering how could something like that be the truth, how come none of you knew about it. It's only to protect you, to protect your childhood... your innocence. If this was the old times, some of you may still be in highschool and your only worry would be which career path to choose, but those days are over, times are difficult and you've been deemed worthy of acquiring a trait. That's a responsibility as much as it is a privilege, from now on you're all considered adults and proper citizens of our beautiful country."

He proceeded to explain how they were forbidden to share this information with people inside the city, remarking the fact that it was considered a capital offense, and the only ones who would be notified about the deceased students would be the closest relatives.

Finally Uriel understood why everyone's mood turned grim whenever the army announced the drafting of young students, why they wouldn't let kids acquire traits in spite of it being a 'safe' process, why so many people joined the army despite the pay being so low and also, why lieutenant Dragonfang acted so strange in front of them.

Humanity was actually fighting a losing war.

'Maybe Sam's theory isn't so crazy after all... maybe there are entire cities being wiped...' He thought back on the lost city he briefly saw during his incursion.

Among the students, there were those that seemed shocked after the grim revelation made by the colonel, but there were also those who didn't bat an eye, as if they had known it from before.

Most of those students were, precisely, the rich ones.

'Just how unfair is this society that only the ones with enough money are allowed to know the truth of what happens behind the scenes? it's as if even if the world was to end, they would still keep everyone in the dark just so they kept doing their jobs. They still need their drivers, maids, plumbers... janitors.' His very own thought was a revelation, it was like opening his eyes, like waking up.

'No way, this can't be it... could it be... Did the world already end!?' Uriel's eye twitched and he inadvertently took a step back. 'this is... the world after the world ended. We are a lost civilization!'