THE LAST HOPE

STAY SAFE

The penthouse sat silent at the top of the thirty-second floor, its luxury ruined by the chaos below. Adrian stepped inside with urgency, barely sparing the lavish surroundings a glance before walking straight toward the towering glass wall that overlooked the city. He pressed a hand against the windowpane, cool to the touch, and looked down.

What greeted him was no different from the horror he had witnessed hours ago—only now, it seemed worse. Smoke drifted like tendrils through broken streets, fire flickered in alleys, and the agonizing screams of civilians were muffled by distance but ever present. The Pawns—those twisted, mindless vampires still prowled the ground, chasing people like crazy dogs. He narrowed his eyes, scanning deeper.

Odd. No sign of the mutated beasts from earlier. No towering monsters, no ugly spider-limbed freaks.

“Could they have migrated toward more populated areas?” he muttered.

A noise behind him made him turn. One by one, the Knights entered the penthouse, weapons at ease but eyes sharp, scanning every corner as they moved in formation. The place had been cleared earlier during the sweep—no blood trails, no broken furniture, just an eerie emptiness. Whoever owned the unit had either fled or never made it back.

Alpha 8 was the last to enter, carefully shutting the thick steel door behind him.

“Sir,” he said, stepping forward and presenting a black rectangular device. “The phone you instructed me to retrieve.”

Adrian's eyes lit up with a mixture of relief and guilt.

“Thank you,” he breathed, taking it. “I completely forgot it when we started sweeping.”

The moment the screen lit up, his heart stilled.

Two missed calls. Both from Raina.

His thumb hovered just a second longer than it should have—then he hit the return call. The dial tone was eternal. Each second made the silence more unbearable.

Then—click.

“Brother? Oh my god—Brother, you’re okay!”

The sound of her voice hit him like a gut punch. Raina. His baby sister. Her voice cracked with relief and fear, raw and trembling.

Adrian's voice softened, dropping all command. “I’m here, Raina. I’m so sorry I didn’t answer earlier. I… things got rough. But I’m okay now.” He took a deep breath, pacing slowly away from the window. “Where are you?”

“I’m… still at school,” she answered shakily. “We’re hiding in our classroom. It’s me, Denise, Angela, and a few others.”

Adrian’s grip on the phone tightened. “Is the room secure? Doors locked, windows covered?”

“Yes,” she replied. “We pushed desks and chairs in front of the door. Covered the windows with curtains and posters so they can’t see in…”

He could hear the wavering edge in her voice, the tremble that came from someone too young to be experiencing this kind of fear.

“I’m scared, brother…” she whispered.

Adrian closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the glass, grounding himself. “I know. I know you are. But listen to me—you’ve done everything right. You’re strong, Raina. You’re braver than you think. I’m coming to get you. I promise.”

“What? No—brother, you can’t! The school’s crawling with them! It’s suicide!”

“I’m not going alone,” he said, turning to glance at the Knights behind him—his silent army standing at attention. “I have help. We’ll come for you.”

“But still—it’s too dangerous. What if you get hurt? What if they get you too?”

Adrian let out a slow exhale. He didn’t blame her for being scared. He was too. But he couldn’t let her know that. “If I don’t come for you, what kind of brother would I be?”

There was silence on the other end. Then, softly:

“…Okay. I trust you.”

He smiled, just a little. “That’s my girl. Now listen, how are supplies? Water? Food?”

Raina sounded hesitant. “We only have two bottles of water. And… three bags of snacks. Big ones, but still. There’s ten of us. Seven girls, three boys.”

“Damn,” Adrian muttered under his breath.

“Is that bad?” she asked quietly.

“Not your fault. You did what you could,” he said. “But that won’t last more than a day. You’ll need to ration—share everything equally. I’ll bring supplies with me when I come.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Good. And keep that barricade tight. Stay quiet. Don’t open the door unless you hear two knocks—that’s me. Got it?”

“Got it… be careful, please.”

“I will. Stay safe. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The line went dead.

Adrian lowered the phone and stared at it for a long second, then turned to his Knights.

“As you all heard, my sister and nine others are trapped in a school surrounded by vampires. We’re going after them—but not yet. This place needs to be locked down first. It’ll be our fort.”

Alpha 1 stepped forward and saluted. “Sir, requesting permission to speak.”

“Granted.”

“Summoning more Knights and equipment will draw attention. There are survivors and cameras. It’s unwise to expose your power carelessly. May I suggest summoning a communications expert—someone who can disable this building’s surveillance?”

Adrian nodded. “Good thinking.”

He brought up his system menu and navigated to the shop. Under Communication Knights, he found the option: Cyber Specialist.

Cost: 1,000 gold coins

[Balance After Purchase: 5,078,700 gold coins]

[Confirm Purchase?]

“Confirmed.”

The circle of magic lit the floor like a ring of blue fire. A figure appeared within it—young, confident, with short blonde hair and piercing green eyes. Dressed in fitted black tactical gear, she saluted sharply.

“Sir!”

“You’re a hacker?” Adrian asked without delay.

“Yes, sir.”

“I need the condo’s security system frozen. All footage disabled, nothing gets out.”

The Cyber Specialist surveyed the space. “High-end building. Security feeds are likely centralized in a control room. I can bypass it remotely but I’ll need a high-performance laptop.”

Adrian opened the shop again and purchased the required device. It materialized in his hands—sleek, powerful, top-of-the-line.

She took it, eyes gleaming. “Perfect.”

She dropped to the floor near the central table and began typing furiously. Her fingers moved like lightning, her expression focused. “Initiating access… decrypting protocols… rerouting feeds…”

Minutes passed.

“I’m in,” she finally said. “Security feeds are frozen. Any footage already saved is locked away and unviewable. Live streams have been disabled.”

“Excellent,” Adrian said.

With their digital presence now masked, Adrian summoned what he needed: rations, combat gear, and personnel. The penthouse filled rapidly as magic circles appeared and armored Knights stepped through.

Their new uniforms were sleek, professional—woodland BDUs with black face masks and protective helmets. Each Knight bore weapons suited to their specialties: assault rifles, shotguns, precision sniper rifles, and heavy ordnance.

Another hundred Knights.

Cost: 200,000 gold coins.

As the last soldier arrived, a notification blinked into existence:

[You have two new missions.

1. Secure a permanent fort.

2. Rescue your precious little sister.]

Adrian stared at it. A smirk tugged at his lips.

“Convenient,” he muttered, then looked up and raised his voice. “All Knights—attention!”

The room stiffened as every head turned toward him.

“We’re moving in two phases. First, we turn this condominium into a secure base. Then, we go after my sister. She’s not the only one in that school. We save them all.”

Cheers didn’t erupt. These weren’t men who cheered. But he saw their resolve in how they stood, in how they nodded. Warriors summoned by his will, ready to follow him into the burning maw of hell.

He looked back out the window, to the city that had gone mad.

“Let’s get to work.”