Banquet Hall
The orchestra seated at the center of the banquet hall played a moving piece. A tall, dignified man in a long tailcoat moved through the mingling crowd with a smile, stepping in time with the music.
He responded to each compliment from the crowd with a smile, occasionally exchanging a few words with several people, appearing calm and natural.
Crack—
Just then, he heard a faint sound from above his head.
He instinctively looked up at the sky overhead.
At that moment, everyone else in the Banquet Hall seemed to hear a similar sound as well. One or two people raised their heads and looked upward.
A massive crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling of the Banquet Hall. At that moment, the ornate, enormous chandelier was swaying slightly, as though conveying some sort of signal.
Crack—
Then, in the next instant, a fine crack appeared at the chandelier's suspension point. Immediately afterward, intersecting, overlapping cracks spread outward from that point, like blooming flowers unfolding into intricate blossoms.
At that moment, the performance at the center of the Banquet Hall also entered its climax. The music suddenly swelled, drowning out every voice and strange sound.
Amid the impassioned music, the man in the tailcoat turned and looked toward the surrounding walls. Fine cracks were also extending upward from the ground, climbing the walls like vines and spreading along them.
In an incredibly short time, those fine cracks covered the entire wall.
"The building's collapsing!" someone in the crowd cried out.
That cry was like a fuse tossed into a powder keg, instantly igniting the entire venue.
The soaring music drowned out the shrill screams, but panic still spread in every direction like a tide.
Soon, someone shoved open the Banquet Hall doors and charged toward the garden outside.
One