Kiochi was called out to the war room by his lieutenants.

Apparently, several trucks had been spotted headed towards the school and Kiochi knew that they were sent by the council before Rin or the others even started explaining everything.

“Prioritize defense. Only the lieutenant’s and I will engage in offensive combat. I’m pretty sure they're not sending those S ranked Kynigoi like last time. Those guys were strong, but inexperienced. Someone powerful is coming and I don’t want to take any chances. Mount as many weapons as you can along this side of the building.” Kiochi said as he placed his finger on one of the maps that littered the table in front of him.

Mai, Rin and Johan stood attentively as Kiochi broke down his strategy.

“They’ll be overconfident as they always are and we’ll take advantage of that. Don’t hold back, if they hit you, hit back with four times the force, ok?”

“Yes sir!” His men all said before leaving the room to fetch their equipment.

Kiochi returned to his room and put on his commanders uniform.

It was a pitch black set with red and gold bits here and there, but it’s fancy appearance wasn’t all it had. It was also durable and comfortable.

Kiochi slipped his vest over his head and strapped it on. He grabbed his Nodachi and dashed out of his room and out of the building to find his men organizing themselves according to the strategy he’d laid out.

Their movements were so perfectly coordinated it looked like they’d rehearsed this a hundred time, which was almost true.

But two things had help with their coordination. The first was Kiochi’s team of modified lieutenants. He could telepathically send and receive information from them. This made movement between teams so much easier. The second was the fact that eve had adjusted everyone’s devices to communicate with each other.

Kiochi was then joined by a suited up Mai, who wore black combat gear. Johan and Rin arrived soon after in gear matching Mai’s in appearance.

[Sir, they are here.]

One of Kiochi’s men said telepathically.

‘Then let’s greet them.’ Kiochi broadcasted this thought to all of his modified subordinates, effectively lighting fire’s beneath them.

Three trucks then came into view.

They sped down towards the school and eventually arrived at the gate before coming to a stop.

Several Kynigoi then jumped out of the trucks, including several who looked rather familiar to Kiochi.

One of them was especially familiar. He walked towards the schools gate while opening his arms.

“Kiochi! Come out! I just want to talk to you before this all starts.” The man said.

Kiochi looked at his lieutenant’s and silently ordered them to split up.

Kiochi walked towards the gate, the only weapon he had was his Nodachi and Aethonic abilities, but his opponent didn’t know that.

“Hello Demetri.” Kiochi greeted the man who was famously known as Demetri Lebedev, the Tsar Bomba.

“Hello Kiochi. It’s been a while. Now, as you know, we’ve been sent to kill you, but I’m a man who respects the way of the warrior. So you and I shall have a duel as our men battle it out. Sound good?” Demetri suggested.

Kiochi simply nodded before opening the gate, allowing Demetri to enter.

The two soldiers then silently stared at each other as their men readied themselves for battle.

Demetri’s men all raised their weapons while all the windows of the school were littered with the barrels of guns.

Demetri smiled cockily.

“You know, I must admit. Part of the reason I am here is to avenge my mother.” Demetri said as he unzipped his heavy coat, revealing tens of small devices.

“What? You think I killed her?” Kiochi asked.

“I’m not sure on the specifics, but you were there when the Vestibule was destroyed, so it was either you or your men who took my mother’s life.” Demetri said with a surprisingly calm expression.

“And what if I didn’t kill her?” Kiochi asked.

“Mmm… if you killed her and I kill you, then she is avenged. But if you didn’t kill her and I kill you, then my objective is complete either way.” Demetri said.

“I see.” Kiochi said before lowing his stance.

“Then there are no problems.” Kiochi said just as one of Demetri’s men shot at the school building, effectively signaling the beginning of the battle.

[KLIP SPRINGER mechanism engaged.]

Eve said before Kiochi dashed toward Demetri, who flung several small devices at him.

The small devices blew up, but this had no effect on Kiochi’s already fast self. He unsheathed his Nodachi and in one swing, cleanly cut of Demetri’s head.

Demetri’s body fell over limply before it’s head landed on it.

Kiochi had never really known Demetri that well. From when he first joined the Kynigoi ranks, Kiochi had always heard about how Demetri mercilessly blew up entire military installations with ease, but from what Kiochi had just witnessed, Demetri seemed like a cool and reasonable guy.

Kiochi’s attention then returned to the battlefield. His lieutenants were mercilessly attacking the Kynigoi and in almost no time, they had taken all of them down.

Kiochi walked up to Mai, who was covered in blood.

“I think it’s about time we found Vestibule Beta, no?” Kiochi asked.

“Yeah. We have a few prisoners. They should be able to tell us where the Vestibule is.” Mai said.

“That’s assuming they know where it is in the first place.” Kiochi said.

[I might be able to help with that.]

Eve said.

‘What do you mean?” Kiochi asked.

[Interrogate the remaining Kynigoi, but if their lips are sealed to tightly, I may just have a way to harvest the information forcefully.]

Eve said with rather evil tone.

Kiochi hoped that the Kynigoi would just tell him where the Vestibule was.

The Kynigoi prisoners were taken to one of the unused rooms in the school. There they were tied to three steel chairs and gagged.

Kiochi, Mai and Rin were conducting the Interrogation.

“Ok, I’m only going to ask nicely once. Where is Vestibule Beta?” Kiochi asked the Kynigoi.

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The Kynigoi remained silent.

“Rin.” Kiochi signaled, but just before Rin moved, one of the Kynigoi broke into a chuckle.

“Hehe, is this the kind of treatment you give your former comrades, blood steel?” One of the Kynigoi asked.

“I wish there was another way. Maybe we could have cooperated or talked things out, but you already see me as your enemy and that isn’t going to change. This means I have to treat you as my enemy as well.” Kiochi said as Rin grabbed one of the Kynigoi’s hands and broke one of their fingers.

The Kynigoi let out a loud scream in pain, but remained silent shortly after.

Rin continued to break several parts of that one Kynigoi’s body until they passed out from the pain.

Kiochi looked at the Kynigoi who spoke earlier.

“Is this how you treat your comrades? Do their lives mean nothing to you?” Kiochi asked.

“Tsk! Interesting words coming from someone who just butchered one of his own.” The talkative Kynigoi said.

“But you guys are no longer my comrades, had this situation been flipped, you’d have joyfully tortured me. That plus my regenerative capabilities would mean I’d be in for a hellish experience, now I’ll ask again. Where is the Vestibule?” Kiochi asked.

The two remaining Kynigoi remained silent.

Kiochi silently ordered Mai to torture the Kynigoi to his left.

Mai gave Kiochi a slight nod before kneeling and touching the Kynigoi’s bare feet.

The with a loud crunch, she crushed all of the Kynigoi’s toes.

Then moved to the feet.

This went on until both of the Kynigoi’s legs were completely crushed. The Kynigoi passed out soon after.

Kiochi then looked at the last Kynigoi, who glared daggers at him.

[I’d like to try out my technique now.]

Eve said as she transformed Kiochi’s body into it’s third Kamaitachi form.

Various root like structures shot out of his body and crawled towards the Kynigoi prisoner.

He panicked at the sight of the black roots as they slowly approached him.

“What is this? What are you doing?” The Kynigoi asked but the roots had already made contact with his skin.

The roots then dug into his flesh and made their way up his body.

The Kynigoi let out pained screams as he writhed in pain.

The roots eventually made their way to his head where they bundled up into a black mass that covered the Kynigoi’s head completely.

[Beginning extraction process.]

Eve said.

Jolt.

Kiochi fell to his knees as he was overwhelmed by a large amount of information. He felt everything that the Kynigoi was feeling. His fear, his pain and even his Kynigoi pride. But even had done more than just send emotions, Kiochi saw memories of the Kynigoi’s childhood, his friends and experiences.

Jolt.

Kiochi stepped out of the information wave and returned to reality. He saw a concerned Mai and a curious Rin.

“I know where the Vestibule is.” Kiochi said.

[You’re welcome.]

Eve said proudly.

“Oh? Is that what you did just now?” Rin asked.

“Yeah, I extracted his memories. The Vestibule is in Scotland, under the Ben Nevis mountain.” Kiochi said as his skin returned to it’s normal appearance.

“Ready the men. We leave as soon as possible. I’ll contact Ms. Ross and see if we can get a plane of some sort.” Kiochi before stumbling out of the spare room.

Foreign thoughts belonging to the Kynigoi prisoner were still fresh in his mind, so he decided to sleep them off. He rushed to his room, fell onto his bed and thought about his next move.

Destroying the council would play a large role in the future, so Kiochi had to make sure he did it right. Kiochi dialed a certain number into his phone and raised it to his ear.

[Hello?]

The voice belonging to Andrea Ross said.

“Hey, it’s Kiochi. We just found out where Vestibule beta is.” Kiochi announced.

[Really? That’s great! Well, where is it?]

Andrea asked, her voice filled with excitement.

“Scotland.” Kiochi said hesitantly.

[Mmm…]

Andrea let out a feint hum.

“Do you own any cargo planes or something of the like? I’d like to make a move as soon as possible.” Kiochi asked.

[Oh, I might be able to get you one of those, but you’ll have to go to Tokyo.]

Andrea said.

“That’s not going to be a problem.”

[Good. I’ll let you know once the plane is ready.]

Andrea said before ending the call.

Kiochi was about to let out a sigh before someone opened his door.

The person turned out to be Mai and her face looked rather pale.

“What’s wrong?” Kiochi asked as he got up.

“You need to see this.” Mai said.

Kiochi wondered what was bothering her so much. He followed her into the war room where everyone had gathered.

They all had their eye’s glued on one of the many monitors in the room.

displayed the evening news. Kiochi looked closer and saw a familiar old man with long grey hair and deep black eyes.

Kiochi’s heart sank when he saw the old man had sunken eyes and hollowed out cheeks.

[We’re getting reports from the local police that Yamamoto will indeed be put on trial for allegations that include terrorism, murder and many more. We’re unsure as to why the Japanese government has accused him of such and any evidence has yet to surface.]

The news reporter said while the screen showed real time footage of Yamamoto being led by guards into the police building.

Kiochi’s mind went blank.

What did they do to him? Kiochi screamed internally. His inner voice was so loud and so visceral that all of his lieutenants heard it.

[Error!]

..

[Kiochi- calm- down!]

Eve tried to calm the infuriated Kiochi but it was useless.

In a moment of panic, Kiochi’s only thought was to rescue Yamamoto. It didn’t matter how, Kiochi just wanted to see the old man smiling again.

Kiochi looked at the monitor. It showed that he was being kept at one of the police stations in Tokyo. The address was given by the news station.

Kiochi walked out of the war room and headed down the short set of stairs into the lobby.

“Where are you going?” Mai asked with everyone following closely behind her.

Kiochi ignored her and activated his Klipspringer mechanism as he exited the building.

“Kiochi, we must focus on destroying the council. It’s what he would want.” David said, but Kiochi continued walking.

Johan dashed towards the entranced Kiochi and grabbed his arm.

“Sir, we must complete our mission in order to insure the future Mr. Saito envisioned comes to be, no?” Johan asked with sincere eye’s.

Mai did the same and grabbed Kiochi’s other arm.

“Please, you must focus on the task ahead of us first. We’ll deal with Mr. Saito’s situation when the time comes.” She pleaded, but Kiochi still silently walked in the direction of Tokyo with his Klipspringer mechanism active.

He was going to jump to Tokyo, whether his comrades held on or not.

[That’s enough!]

Eve said and in an instant, Kiochi’s entire body became unresponsive and he collapsed.

.

..

Yassine knew that Kiochi had a special relationship with Mr. Yamamoto Saito, but he didn’t know that he was willing to sacrifice the mission for him.

Yassine and the others had carried Kiochi into his room, where they gently placed him in his bed.

“Phew!” David said as he stretched out his arms.

“Do you think he’ll be fine?” Mai asked.

“Mmm? Yeah, pretty much. Once he awakens, he’ll realize that he acted too rashly and return his focus to the mission.” David said before the sound of a phone ringing silenced him.

Everyone looked around, but no one’s phones were ringing. David then realized that it was Kiochi’s phone which was ringing.

David picked it up and answered.

“Hello?”

[Dad, is that you? Where’s Kiochi?]

The voice belonging to Andrea Ross asked.

“He… he's asleep. What do you need?” David asked.

[Oh, yes. I prepared a cargo plane for Kiochi and his men. It’ll take off at ten in the morning tomorrow, then it’ll take them somewhere in the north Pacific. There, they’ll parachute onto a research ship that’s on it’s way back to Scotland. Well, it will be. In forty eight hours.]

Andrea said.

“Ok. I’ll tell him once he wakes up.” David said before ending the phone and placing Kiochi’s phone on his bed.

“Come on guys, let’s give him some space. Everyone else, prepare the troops. Andrea said she’d prepared a plane and it’s taking off in the morning.” David said as he left the room.

Everyone besides Mai left the room.

Yassine noticed that’s she was still staring at Kiochi.

“Er- Ms. Hashimoto. Let’s go.” Yassine said, but she didn’t move.

Yassine check the hallway, but everyone was already gone.

Meaning he’d be the one who’d have to convince Mai to leave Kiochi’s side.

Yassine carefully approached her.

“He’ll be fine, you know.” He said.

“I know that. I know he’ll be fine, but think about it. Look at this situation from his perspective. He’s almost indestructible, so all he must very think about is our safety and when he saw Mr. Saito…” Mai stopped herself.

Yassine didn’t know a person like Kiochi could experience emotions like worry or fear, so this situation was puzzling to say the least.

“If what you say is true and Kiochi is always thinking about us, then I think the least we can do is do our best to lessen his worries. Come, let’s end this war.” Yassine said and after a deep sigh, Mai joined him as he left. Leaving Kiochi to rest… or so they thought.

.

..

[Calm down Kiochi!]

Eve desperately yelled.

‘No, let me go!’ Kiochi screamed as he tried fighting himself put of the coma Eve had put him in.

[Not until you calm down!]

She yelled.

‘I don’t need to calm down. I need to save Yamamoto!’ He yelled as he tried pumping ethereal energy into his body, but Eve had completely locked him out of his own body.

[Why won’t you listen to me?]

Eve yelled.

‘I don’t even know what you are! What I do know is that you enhance my physical abilities, so give my body back and let me save my friend!’ Kiochi yelled.

[Is that all I am to you?]

Eve asked, her voice trembling in the void.

‘I-‘ Kiochi realized what he had just said. He didn’t know why, but he was so angry. More angry than he’d ever been. Even as a Kynigoi, in the midst of battle, he’d never experienced such mind numbing rage.

[I see…]

Eve said and Kiochi felt a super surge of energy.

[Disengaging all limiters.]

..

[Ethereal energy regulation set to: Automatic]

..

‘Wait, what are you doing?’ Kiochi asked as he felt his body become his again, but something was different.

[All multipliers set to: automatic]

..

‘Eve, what are you doing?’ Kiochi asked as he felt what felt like a thousand explosions in his chest.

[Bye Kiochi.]

..

[Secondary consciousness or Eve: Disabled.]