Japan, Underground Facilities of the Faith Organization
Inside a hidden underground base over 30 people have gathered, all in formal costumes and with a personal computer each doing their part of work in the Faith Organization.
"Vice president, Antonio, I can confirm the coordinations of two new lands that have appeared."
One of the highest ranking members of the Faith organization, Antonio, removes his black glasses and looks at the computer.
Antonio- Hm.. That explains the sudden earthquakes and shockwaves that devastated the city... Do we have clear images of these lands?
"Yes, sir"
The suboordinate zooms in on different parts of the Underworld and Lingering World. The satelites staring the Underworld don't capture much, as it is not a densely populated land. On the Lingering World's side of things however...
Antonio- Just as we thought... It's them... The Lingerians... State your name and position, follower of God.
???- Kanae Tokiyama, lower informant and satelite analyzer.
Antonio- I'll make sure your accomplishments are rewarded.
Kanae doesn't want recognition so she doesn't respond to Antonio.
Antonio- Speaking of which.
Everyone except Kanae stand up and bow to the man in black suit who enters the room.
All members- Holy be thy name, Zaiaku!
Zaiaku adjusts his black mask and his gloves and slowly approaches Antonio, next to whom sits Kanae on her computer.
Zaiaku- You're the analyzer of the satelites?
Kanae nods.
Zaiaku- Let me see what you've found, miss Kanae. Depending on your finds, you may be promoted one to two ranks and become an executive assistant.
Kanae shouts an uncertain "Yes, sir!" and her heart rate rapidly increases.
Zaiaku goes over a lot of different files, regarding the satelites and other important information to assess the credibility of Kanae's processing and analyzing skills.
Zaiaku- All good, keep up the good work, Kanae. I promote you to... Hold on...
Kanae gulps as she now realizes an unfortunate event that happened after the New World was created. The satelites rebooted due to the shockwave and Kanae's hacks were interrupted...
Zaiaku- Log 1, Log 3, Log 14, Log 15, Log 24. All deleted. What is the meaning of this?
Kanae widens her eyes and makes up an excuse on the spot.
Kanae- The system was overloaded so I had to get rid of unimportant details, Mr Zaiaku.
Zaiaku and Antonio give Kanae a death glare.
Zaiaku- I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. But, no, actually, I don't. I know when someone's lying, ms Kanae. I recognize this look on your eyes very well... Antonio!
Zaiaku orders Antonio to retrieve the logs.
Antonio- Log 1: Dark Essence detected on Minami Ochiai, 43 banchi, 5 go. (Geord's address). Log 14: Dark Essence detected in Blanket High school. Log 24: Dark Essence detected at...
Zaiaku bursts into laughter. For a representative of the church, his laughter sounds more demonic than heartwarming.
"You're fired"
(...)
"You're fired, Kanae Tokiyama! And you know what fired means in the Faith Organization's strict policy..."
Kanae- No, don't do this!
"Zaiaku, please..."
Zaiaku- Avada— Ahem* Everyone, restrain her!
In the blink of an eye, Kanae kicks her desk to confuse everyone, pulls out her gun and aims for the room's power generator, that feeds on natural gas. An explosion violently occurs, knocking out a few members, and the blinding gas it left behind slowly disappears.
As soon as her position is clear again, all members aim their guns at Kanae, but they are hesitant to shoot. The reason is simple. Kanae warns her ex-collegues while pointing her gun against Zaiaku's head.
Kanae- If you move an inch, I'll blow his brains out!
Kanae takes slow and steady steps backwards, thinking about reaching the elevator to escape. Even though she is close to her destination, she underestimates Zaiaku's combat abilities.
Zaiaku finds a slim opportunity to swiftly move out of the pistol's way and apprehend Kanae. Kanae tries to break free from his headlock, by punching him over and over again, but he doesn't let go.
The other members of the Faith Organization aren't sure of what to do. They can't shoot her as it could endanger Zaiaku's life, and they can't apprehend her because she's already being apprehended by him.
Just before passing out from the headlock, however, Kanae shouts the loudest she's ever had before, pushes herself and Zaiaku towards a bookcase with glass coverage and smashes into it. Most of the glass pieces injure Zaiaku and he loses the ability to headlock her.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Then, Kanae punches him one last time, this time straight into his face and renders him unconscious. She then uses his passed out body as a shield to get to the elevator safely.
Some members stay back and aim with their pistols, whereas others rush to Kanae's location to capture her.
In the end, Kanae manages to get to the elevator, but after throwing away Zaiaku's unconscious body, she is shot in the leg just before the door closes.
Kanae repeatedly presses the button 0 and the elevator moves from floor -50 up towards the surface.
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One of the lucky houses to endure both the earthquake and the shockwave from the New World's creation is the one Geord lives in. As an additive measure of protection, Geord, Samei and Ikki are currently staying in his hidden sturdy basement. Geord tells them to wait the disaster out, before going back to the surface and evaluate the damage.
Besides, they're in no rush, as adequet supplies of food and beds are all found in the basement. As a result, the whole first day, they spend in the basement.
The next morning, however, they decide to abandon their hiding spot.
Geord- Alright, everybowdy, I sensed no afterquakes so I believe it's safe to proceed. Follow me.
Samei- Okay, let's go up carefully, Ikki.
Ikki nods and Samei tightly holds his hand while ascending the marble stairs. When they reach the top of the stairs, they encounter a bookcase that they need to move forward to get into the house. Although the bookcase is still there, there's no need to push it in order to get back in. It has already fallen.
Geord- What a mess...
They are all startled by the state they find the house in. It's as if a burglar turned everything upside down and even worse than that. Geord's iconic cheap TV, his old telephone with unpaid bills, the signature kitchen table where all meetings were held in the past, they're all gone.
To see the bright sight of things, it could have been way worse. At least the place is still standing and no serious damage has been noticed on the structure.
But it doesn't mean the others take it lightly. They are sad to see Geord sigh so desperately.
Samei- Geord...
Ikki- We're sorry...
Out of nowhere Geord changes expression and smiles.
Geord- This? It's nothing! We're gonna fix that, no worries. What matters is that we're all safe!
Geord knows that he can't afford the repairment cost, but he represses his sad feelings and tries to focus on the positive things. The only thing he wants at the moment is not to make the others sad. Even though he's not wealthy, he'd do that at all costs...
Geord wipes his barely formed, supressed tears and cleans up some of the mess in the living room with the help of the siblings. Now the couch is somewhat safe to sit on and they all do so to relax a bit...
Ikki's looking outside the window and notices that quite a few other houses are in the same or in even worse state than Geord's. The only beautiful thing in such a sad sight is the early sunrise. The first sunrise of the New World. Ah, yes... It sooths the hearts of the injured. It gives hope to the despairing.
*I sigh*
*Our New World sure is beautiful, Blanc, Ket...*
Ikki- At least the sunrise is breathtaking...
Samei / Geord- Yeah...
Ten minutes later, still no words come out of their mouths. They are all lost in thought, still trying to accept the surreal situation they have found themselves in. They want to believe this is all a dream, but unfortunately it isn't. I feel sorry for them. Especially sorry because the worst has yet to come...
With his hand pressing against his chin, Ikki is glued to the window. For the longest time, he's been expressionless. But at that moment, he sees something that makes his eyes glimmer with hope.
Ikki- Guys, guys! A rescue team just passed by our house!
Samei- Rescue team? Where?!
Ikki- They all ran pretty fast. I think they're heading to our location.
Geord- Wait, they all? For how many people are we talking about.
Ikki- Fifteen, I believe? I don't know, but they all wore the same elegant black costume.
The rescue team suddenly knocks on the door to which Ikki goes over to answer.
Samei processes the last piece of information and widens her eyes.
Samei- Ikki! Don't answer!
Samei was a tad late.
???- ON THE FLOOR, ALL OF YOU!
Fourteen armed individuals with masks covering their faces wearing identical black suits fill the room and surround them. Geord and Samei immediately recognize those suits. In the past, Samei had killed a lot of those guys and Geord had been imprisoned by them. They are members of the Faith Organization...
Geord, Samei, and Ikki follow their orders. They kneel and put their hands behind their backs.
(1) ???- You are Geord Finnegan, the only man who survived the Pursuit and escaped, correct?
Geord has no choice but to utter a hesitant "yes."
Another masked member comes forth and continues talking.
(2) ???- You're the Faith Organization's worst enemy. You, who faked your own death and even conceiled a being that controls the Dark Essence for months.
The man aims his handgun at Geord. Geord gulps and his heart almost escapes his body from anxiety.
???- Today, God will bring judgement upon you, Geord. This is the end of the line for you. Farewell. (Sayonara)
Samei/Ikki- Noooooooo!!!
The sound of a gun being fired along with fast paced footsteps can be heard.
"Ugh..."
The man who was was aiming at Geord has now a bullet hole in his head and drops down dead.
Samei- It's... It's Yonuro's Mom!
Kanae- Just in time!
The target of all the masked members is now Kanae Tokiyama. They all avert their eyes from Ikki, Samei and Geord and focus on taking down Kanae.
What a dreadful mistake...
Kanae headlocks one member, just like she was headlocked by Zaiaku earlier, and uses them as a shield to block the incoming bullets. That makes room for her unmarked allies to do their part.
Geord- Ahhhhhhhh!
Samei- Remember your training, Ikki!
Ikki- Let's beat them up!
Geord punches the most beefy member out of all, and knocks him out with a single punch in the diaphragm. Samei takes the fallen man's gun and shoots 3 members down in a flash, all on her own. Ikki acknowledges his weakness in fighting with a gun, so he deals with his enemies with high kicks aimed at their heads.
And for the final touch, Kanae hits the last member with an elbow strike and renders them unconscious.
Due to their high protection gear, nobody died from this scirmish, but all the enemies have been taken care of. All lie unconscious on the floor.
Geord- Kanae, I don't know what to say... Thank you...
Kanae- We're both "criminals" now, Geord. It's only natural that we help each other in the face of our common enemy.
Ikki and Samei regain some hope, after seeing Kanae genuinly smile.
Kanae- Hehe—
(3) ???- Clear vision of the target. Commencing fire.
Usin house ruins as coverage, with a sniper rifle aimed and ready, the 15th member of the unit fires two shots. The one breaks the glass window, and the second one pierces Kanae's chest.
Geord- KANAE!!!!
Ikki- SHIT!
Ikki grabs a gun from the floor and rushes to the window. He carefully aims and lands two consecutive shots on the enemy.
With heavy injuries, the woman who just shot Kanae, drops down dead, a few seconds after her attempt to retreat.
Geord- Samei! The bandages in the kitchen!
Samei- I know, but they're all caught up inside the debris!
Geord- FUCK! Kanae! Hold on!
Geord removes his jacket and presses it against her lethal wound.
Kanae- It's okay, Geord...
Geord- No! It's not okay, Kanae! Yonuro's waiting for you! You can't give up now!
Kanae- As long as you're alive, I don't have to worry about Yonuro.
Geord- That's... Nonesense!
Kanae- But it's the truth. You were a much better parenting figure than I could ever hope to be. I was not worthy of being her mother...
Geord- D-Don't say that!
Kanae- Please, Geord. Take care of her while I'm gone...
Geord- Kanae, you idiooot! (baka!)
Geord starts crying out loud. Samei and Ikki soon follow. They cry and cry. Kanae stops breathing and her last thread of life vanishes. Kanae Tokiyama is... dead......
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???- *rist? ac*rist?
Yonuro- Sachrist? Is everything alright?
Sachrist opens his firmly closed eyes, looks at the time and says.
Sachrist- Everything's okay. It's nothing to worry about. Let's proceed with the plan, shall we?
Ramael firmly nods, Aniik follows with a simple nod and Yonuro ends it with an uncertain, hesitant one. Yonuro feels that somthing is amiss. That something is off. She can't tell what it is but something doesn't add up...
Nevertheless, Yonuro shakes her head and tries to clear her pessimistic thoughts. There's no time to waste. They have to gather their forces and prepare for battle. The ultimate war of the worlds is near... Yonuro, ready yourself...