The man with the kukri looked annoyed. Fearing he would stab the kid, the one with the shield took matters into his own hands. But instead of snatching the pups from Lily, he tried to coax her. After all, that was the best way to deal with kids.

"Hey Kid," he said, leaning in. "You might not know this, but those are monsters, not puppies. You shouldn’t be holding them like that. Besides, your parents might not let you keep—"

"They are Lily’s! Big Bro gave them to mommy, and mommy gave them to me," she said, taking a step back into the elevator. "Don’t touch them."

A vein popped in the man’s forehead, but he still maintained his smile.

"Girl, they are direwolves. They are not something a kid like you can handle. Don’t worry, if you’re afraid that your big bro or mommy would scold you, I’ll go talk to them myself. Just give them—"

"Lily said no!"

"Alright, I’ve had it."

The man with the kukri grabbed the white puppy, intending to force it off Lily’s grasp. The puppy yelped in pain as he tried to pull it off by its neck. Lily knew she couldn’t win in terms of strength, so she did the only thing a child could do.

She turned her head and bit down on the back of his hand with every bit of force she could muster. It was the man’s turn to scream in pain. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Argh! You damned bitch!" the man cursed, yanking his hand back.

In his rage, he didn’t think twice and kicked Lily right in the stomach. She felt flying back into the elevator, her head hitting the handrail inside.

"Mommy!" Lily screamed as a blinding pain erupted right above her eyes. "Mommy! It hurts! Big bro Aiden... help..."

Those were her last words before darkness claimed her. As for the men towering above her, their faces went pale when they heard Aiden’s name.

They could never have thought Aiden was the brother she had mentioned.

"Fuck! Run!" the guy with the kukri said, rushing towards the stairs.

However, not even a second had passed when something hit the floor in front of him with a thud accompanied by a shit ton of dust and debris.

"A-Aiden!?" the man screamed in fear, and noticing his attire made him even more scared. "...is that a bedsheet?"

***

A few seconds earlier.

[Tenant: Lily Irwin is being attacked.]

Aiden’s eyes shot open as soon as the system’s voice echoed in his head. He couldn’t care less about his surroundings, he just wrapped the bedsheet around him and ran.

"Oh, you’re up!" Alisha smiled, pointing at the table. "I got some... Aiden? What’s wrong?"

He didn’t bother replying or stopping. His eyes were fixed on the red blinker on his map. The elevator was stuck on the third floor too, waiting for it wasn’t an option. He needed to reach Lily as fast as possible.

"Fuck this."

Without hesitation, he raised his fist and punched the floor with full force. The concrete cracked and broke apart instantly. A large hole appeared under his feet. He dropped down to the next floor and kept punching.

Tenants on different floors woke up startled, thinking someone was bombing the building.

"What the hell is that noise?" one man shouted.

"Is the building collapsing?" a woman cried out in fear.

People looked out of their rooms with scared faces. A few brave ones stepped into the hallway but quickly moved back when they saw the huge holes in the floor.

But a second later, the holes began repairing themselves.

"..."

The tenants had seen so many weird things in the apartment building that a self-repairing floor didn’t surprise them. They just went back into their rooms.

Within seconds, Aiden had arrived on the third floor. By the time he arrived, a crowd had already gathered.

Some had come after hearing a child’s scream, while others had come after hearing the booming noise of the crashing floor, but all of their focus was on the little girl when they got there.

Mostly, they were old folks who didn’t or couldn’t hunt monsters. Hence, they didn’t have weapons on them, or they would have probably attacked the two men already.

"You hurt a child! How could you do that?" one woman shouted.

"She is just a little girl!" another person said.

The two men held their weapons tightly and pointed them at the crowd. No one dared to move closer. They were scared of getting hurt. Just then, Aiden’s voice boomed in the corridor.

"Move!"

The crowd quickly separated and made way for him. He walked past the two men without sparing them a glance, yet as he did, they shivered in fear.

The survivors had seen and heard about all sorts of evolvers and dictators, yet being in Aiden’s presence sent a chill down their spines, one they hadn’t felt before.

Lily was propped against the elevator walls. Blood from the deep gash on her forehead covered her cute face. She had lost some blood, but even then, she was still hugging the two puppies tightly, unwilling to let them go.

Aiden kneeled down and gently lifted her into his arms.

"Bad men tried to take the puppies... Lily did not let them... These are gifts for Mommy... Lily protected them..." she mumbled even in her unconscious state.

Aiden’s heart tightened with rage after listening to her labored voice. He held her small body close and pressed the floor to the Medicare Center.

As the elevator doors were about to close, Aiden saw Marcus appear in the hallway. He looked at Marcus and said only two words.

"Detain them."

His voice was calm, but the two men fell to their feet as if all of their strength had been drained from them.

As for Marcus, even he couldn’t help but grit his teeth in frustration. He had been overseeing the trap placement outside when he heard the loud booms and rushed in, only to see Aiden carrying a bloodied Lily in his arms.

"Bring me some rope," Marcus mumbled. "Now!"