Metal beams tore loose from the construction site.
One after another.
They slammed into the street with deafening crashes.
Concrete dust filled the air.
Glass shattered from nearby buildings.
Liya stared at the chaos unfolding down the block.
"This is bad…"
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Very bad."
The damaged building façade continued breaking apart.
Chunks of concrete fell onto the street.
A large section of scaffolding ripped away completely.
It swung outward like a giant pendulum.
Straight toward the road.
Straight toward them.
"Move!" Ethan shouted.
They ran again.
Their footsteps echoed across the wet pavement.
Behind them—
The scaffolding slammed into the ground with a violent crash.
Cars parked along the street were crushed instantly.
Metal alarms blared loudly.
But the destruction didn't stop.
The falling scaffolding struck a nearby power pole.
The pole snapped in half.
Electric cables whipped through the air.
Sparks exploded against the pavement.
Streetlights flickered violently.
Then—
Boom.
A nearby transformer exploded.
The flash of light lit the entire street.
Power across the block instantly died.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Liya grabbed Ethan's arm again.
"This is spreading!"
He looked around quickly.
The city block had turned into a disaster zone.
Fallen metal.
Broken glass.
Live electrical wires sparking across the ground.
Emergency sirens wailed from every direction now.
Ethan checked the time again.
11:41 PM.
"Nineteen minutes."
Liya's breathing was uneven.
"Every attempt is bigger than the last."
"Yeah."
"And now it's affecting entire blocks."
He looked back toward the collapsing construction site.
Then toward the dark skyline.
"You know what that means."
"What?"
"The final move is probably city-level."
Her eyes widened.
"City level?!"
"If fate wants to guarantee my death…"
"…it might cause something impossible to escape."
The idea made her stomach drop.
"What could be that big?"
Ethan opened his mouth to answer—
Then stopped.
His eyes slowly lifted toward the distance.
"Liya…"
"What?"
He pointed toward the far end of the street.
In the distance…
A tanker truck was approaching the intersection.
It moved slowly through the darkened street.
But something looked wrong.
Very wrong.
The driver was honking repeatedly.
The truck wasn't stopping.
And sparks were flying from beneath its wheels.
Liya felt a chill run through her body.
"Ethan…"
"Yeah."
"That truck looks out of control."
The tanker swerved slightly.
Barely avoiding a wrecked car.
The driver blasted the horn again.
Then the truck slammed into a broken power pole lying across the road.
The impact sent sparks everywhere.
The massive tanker rocked violently.
Ethan's voice dropped.
"…Please tell me that's not a fuel tanker."
Liya looked carefully.
A hazard symbol was painted on the side of the tank.
Her heart sank.
"It is."
The tanker leaned dangerously to one side.
Fuel began leaking onto the street.
Electric cables nearby continued sparking.
The entire road smelled sharply of gasoline.
Ethan slowly stepped backward.
"…That's not good."
Liya grabbed his arm.
"We need to leave. Now."
They turned and began moving away quickly.
Behind them…
The leaking fuel spread across the wet pavement.
A loose electrical cable swung down.
Sparks danced across the ground.
Then—
The spark touched the gasoline.
For a split second…
Nothing happened.
Then the street exploded.
A massive fireball erupted from the tanker truck.
The blast wave thundered across the block.
Flames shot high into the air.
Windows shattered for hundreds of meters.
The shockwave knocked Liya and Ethan forward onto the pavement.
Heat blasted across their backs.
The explosion roared like thunder.
After several seconds…
The fire settled into a massive blaze.
Burning wreckage filled the intersection.
Liya slowly lifted her head.
Her ears rang loudly.
Ethan was beside her, coughing.
"…Okay," he said weakly.
"That was definitely an attempt."
Liya sat up slowly.
Her hands trembled.
"That explosion could have killed dozens of people."
"Yeah."
He looked back toward the burning tanker.
Flames lit the entire street in orange light.
Then he checked his phone again.
11:46 PM.
Fourteen minutes left.
Ethan's expression turned serious.
"You realize something now."
"What?"
"If fate is escalating like this…"
"…the last attempt won't just be big."
He looked at the burning skyline.
"It'll be unavoidable."
Liya's chest tightened.
"And if that happens?"
Ethan looked at her quietly.
"Then the only way to break the loop…"
"…might be to stop running."
The clock tower in the distance chimed once.
And midnight was getting closer. ⏳