Neban woke up to someone jumping on the bed. "Papa, papa! Wake up already! Grandma made some breakfast." 

Then he heard another voice say, "You should jump on his chest." 

Neban opened his eyes when he felt his son getting on top of him. Theo bent down to where they were face to face. He gave a wide grin as he looked at his dad. 

"Good morning, Theo." Neban greeted as his voice sounded more profound than before. 

"Morning, papa. Grandma made some food for us. If you did not hurry, Siren said they were going to eat it all." 

Neban glanced over at the other voice he heard, which was Siren. They were sitting on a chair in the room as their form was now a teenager. 

Feeling his gaze, Siren looked over with a sly smirk as they had a plate of food, eating it as they never looked away. 

Neban rolled his eyes at the behavior before sitting up, taking Theo with him. "I'm getting up." 

Theo held Neban's shirt when his dad was getting up. After hearing Neban's words, he let go, Theo got off him before leaving the bed. 

"I will go tell grandma to save you some food!" Theo shouted as he ran out of the room. Siren stood up, giving Neban one last smirk before leaving. 

Neban shook his head, sighing, before running his hand through it. 

It has been a year. 

When the country became divided, Neban chose to stick to his son as he promised. He was able to get a house with his parents and group also living under it. During the year, Neban has not been fighting. 

When they needed hunters to go out and obtain food or get monsters away from their barrier, Neban chose to stay with his son. 

He did not want to see Theo crying again. 

Also, Siren did not want to stay as a weapon because they enjoyed being in their other form at times. So, Neban told everyone the truth about Siren so that they could walk around freely. 

It was not the full truth as he did not mention Siren's connection with Mother, but it was enough for them to know about Siren. 

Life has been a peaceful one, even though Neban did itch to do something. He was bored from being idle, but he did not want to hurt Theo again. 

His parents took to becoming caretakers for everyone, even though the majority were adults. They also felt the need to do something. Wey and Owain became gardeners while Isona was one at first but had to stop when she fell pregnant. 

When she told Neban and Wey the news four months back, Neban had to come out and tell Theo about how he was dating them. 

His son understood while stating that he already had a feeling about them, which Neban felt like Theo was too mature once again. But, his son was ecstatic about having another sibling. 

Even his parents were happy, especially his mom, who would never stop being amazed about Neban giving her grandchildren. 

Neban sighed at their behavior, but he could not help but feel excited too. He loves Theo with all his heart, and he could not wait to give his other child the same love.

Shaking away his thoughts, Neban got out of bed as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. 

He made his way to the dining area, entering as he saw everyone at the table. 

Even though the monsters had half of the country, it was still peaceful to them—especially Neban, who thought that the scene in front of him was warm. 

Isona was rubbing her growing stomach as she spoke with Owain. Wey was filling Theo and Isona's plates before making his. Theo happily talked with Siren. His father was already eating as he flipped through an old newspaper. And his mother made sure there was enough food before sitting down. 

Neban had to hold back from smiling at the scene. 

His mother noticed him first, like usual, as she called him over, "How long are you going to stand there, Hun? Come over." 

The others turned towards him, greeting Neban as he walked over. Wey made space as Neban sat between him and Theo. 

His mother already made his plate as she had the others passing it to him. When Neban grabbed the food, he thanked his mother before greeting the others back. 

They talked as the atmosphere was a nice one. 

"I am getting close to five months; I cannot wait until the baby starts kicking," Isona mentioned, smiling before taking another bite. 

"Oh, I want to be the first to feel the baby!" Theo shouted as he raised his hand, almost falling out of his seat. 

The others laughed at his antics while Siren rolled their eyes. 

'Silly humans, happy over something simple.' Siren complained. 

'You are always complaining about something we do.' Neban replied. Not once did he look at Siren. His gaze was on his food. 

After a year, his and Siren's ability to speak to each other through their minds has grown stronger. 

Siren internally scoffed, 'I can complain if I want to. I still hate how you will not hunt. I want my fill.' 

'I still give you your fill when they bring the monsters back.' 

'Stupid human, it is not the same as hunting for it ourselves.' 

Neban rolled his eyes. 

The group noticed that Neban and Siren had stopped eating as they were sitting still. Both were staring intently at their plates as their faces twitched like they were trying to hold back an expression. 

"Are you two speaking with your minds again?" Owain asked with amusement in his tone when he saw that they were like twitching statues. 

Neban told them that he and Siren could speak to each other through their minds. So, if something happened to him and Siren was with them, he could send a message to Siren, and they could tell the group. 

It was also vice versa. 

"Siren is complaining," Neban answered. 

"And you are snitching." Siren replied. 

The others laughed, enjoying how Neban and Siren would sometimes argue with each other like children. 

"Now, kids," Neban's mother emphasized the word kids, "remember to play nice." She sounded like she was scolding them. But her mouth was twitching, trying to hold back a smile. 

The others continued to laugh with the mother's response adding to the fuel. The group usually spent their mornings in this way. 

And then, after the year of warmth and quiet, today marked the day of everything changing. 

It was small at first as no one was outside since they trusted the barrier not to fall. During the first few months, they would have people guarding the barrier, but after seeing how the monsters cannot come through, they stopped. 

So, at this time, everyone was indoors, enjoying breakfast or sleeping. 

There was a small shake in the barrier that no one noticed since they were indoors. The shake continued, never stopping as the speed was getting faster. 

Suddenly, it stopped as a tiny crack appeared on the shield. 

The barrier is connected to the Warriors no matter how long it stays up. As long as the Warrior is healthy, the dome could live a long life. But if anything happens to the barrier, the Warrior will feel it. 

And if anything happened to the Warrior, the barrier would instantly break. 

Since many Warriors helped build the barrier, they all felt it when the dome had a crack. They did not notice the shaking as it was not a trivial thing, but a crack was not something to ignore. 

The Warriors quickly left their homes, making their way outside as the crack on the barrier began to spread. 

When they stepped outside and to the front of the barrier, they could see more cracks. And that was not the only thing they saw. There at the "entrance" was a weird looking monster that no one has seen before. 

The thing would rush forward, slamming into the barrier as more cracks appeared. 

Monsters used to slam into the barrier to break it, but now, this was the first time that those things succeeded! 

The Warriors, not wanting to alarm the others, quickly went to work. They stepped forward, touching their hands to the barrier as they started to rebuild it. 

The monster noticed that the cracks repaired themselves. It felt anger before bringing its head forward as a ball of light began to form on its forehead. 

The ball built up to a big one before letting it go, soaring to the barrier. Once it hit it, the Warriors flew back, coughing up blood. 

And for the barrier, cracks filled everywhere with accelerated speed. 

The monsters quickly sent out another ball of light before the Warriors could get back up. Once it hit the barrier again, it shattered like broken glass. 

The barrier pieces fell to the ground but never hit it as it would disappear before it did. 

The barrier falling gave a vast reaction as the streets' monsters started running towards the open area. 

The herd caused the grounds to shake, making the rest of the people exit their homes. They were checking what the commotion was. 

When they saw the herd and missing barrier, they knew that the "peaceful" days were gone. 

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