A few days later, the 25th Zone began to shape up nicely, a majority of the destroyed buildings having been repaired or rebuilt. For the most part, activities surrounding monster outbreaks and Culling weren't prominent, simultaneously giving Sero and the others a moment of relaxation and a sense of unease.

Though Gregor and the others had arrived earlier, the Conqueror seemed to have postponed the meeting until now, for personal reasons no one knew.

As Sero and Amaya filed into the conference room, they found Gregor and the other Janitors already seated around the table, deep in conversation with the heads of the Pentagram along with Elizabeth and her two squad members.

"Nice of you to finally join us," Dante grumbled as Sero walked in. "I only recall granting you one day of break."

"Sorry, sorry, I got caught up in something," Sero muttered, taking a seat. He glanced around the room, noticing that everyone seemed to be on edge. He could feel the weight of their gazes upon him. "Did... something happen?"

"Not at all," Gregor responded with a reassuring smile. "We were just discussing the recent developments in the 24th and 26th Zones." The Conqueror turned to Kit. "If you'll catch everyone up to speed?"

"Right," the Paradox stood up, her mismatched eyes glancing around the room. "As I'm sure you guys know by now, Culling's succeeded in bringing over a Catastrophe to this world. Thanks to the combined efforts of Sero, Duke, Enzo, and Max, the Catastrophe was defeated. That isn't to say we didn't suffer heavy casualties," she added, her voice growing solemn.

Next to him, Sero sensed Amaya shivering. He grasped her hand under the table, comforting her as much as himself.

"As of now, this has been declared one of the worst attacks in the western hemisphere, prompting our government leaders to rely on us to help," Kit continued. "They've promised increased funding for the defense of the remaining zones, and they've assured us that they'll do everything in their power to make sure this doesn't happen again. Of course, they also want to know what went wrong. They want answers."

"What have we told them so far?" Dante asked.

"Just that we were tracking a group of suspicious individuals who might have been involved in the summoning of a Catastrophe," Gregor answered. "Of course, we informed them of Culling's rising activity across both hemispheres, and reassured them that Ascendants were taking action. We didn't mention Sero or any of the others by name, as per our usual protocol."

Sero blinked. "Usual protocol?"

Gregor nodded. "Yes. We've found it best to maintain a certain level of secrecy, even among those we consider allies. It helps to keep the focus on the mission, rather than on any one individual."

"Meaning the world leaders allow us to do things not within the laws in order to maintain balance," Enzo interjected. "If the Boss had name-dropped you, me, Dune, or Max, it'd raise questions from the public."

"It's why we Janitors have an infamous reputation," Dune grinned, his shades reflecting the lights of the conference room. "The government doesn't trust us to keep secrets, but they have no choice. They need us."

"Hey, they need the A.R.E.S. division as well," Jack protested, gesturing to himself. "And we're not exactly shrinking violets. We've done some shady things too, in the name of protecting the balance. But it's not like we're above the law or anything."

"Can we stay on topic here?" Dante interrupted with a sigh, his scar distorted on his face. "We can argue over which of our groups is needed by the government, but at the end of the day, the main threat we all need to focus on is Culling and how to stop them from summoning more Catastrophes. Or worse."

"Agreed," Gregor said, nodding at Dante. "Culling is clearly our greatest enemy. And they're not going to stop," he turned to Kit. "Please continue, my dear."

Kit smiled gratefully. "Culling has proven to be a formidable foe, and they're only going to become more dangerous. Our best course of action is to continue tracking their movements and gathering intelligence on their activities. We also need to find out who or what is driving them. They seem to have access to powerful resources and information that we cannot match." She glanced at Ione. "Which is why we should do the same. We've already made contact with the Silverbloods mercenary branch, who will work with us and send an envoy to keep in touch. Dante and the other Pentagram heads have established alliances with many powerful guilds, while Ione has been helping Elizabeth and I track down the rest of the top 10 S-ranks."

"And how far along are you with that?" Gregor asked.

"Admittedly, not that far," Kit smiled wryly. "We've only managed to contact number 9- Aedan, which leaves the last six's whereabouts unknown. Although, you'd think that Ione or I would be able to find Hyerin..."

"Perhaps," Ione said, glancing at Kit. "But as you know, Hyerin is known for her... unique methods. It's hard to track someone who can hide in plain sight."

"I don't think she even means to hide in plain sight..."

"Focus," Dante tiredly repeated.

"Sorry. Anyway, to conclude this meeting, the last important thing that needs to be done now is to make contact with the Five Serpents," Kit continued. "They are one of the most elusive mercenary branches in the world, specializing in covert operations that I'm sure even the Janitors might have trouble dealing with."

"Is that a challenge?" Enzo raised an eyebrow, prompting Gregor to smack him in the back of the head.

"No, no, we're just stating facts," Kit clarified. "It's not a challenge per se. We simply need to reach out to them for their expertise and possibly request their aid in dealing with Culling. However, as you might imagine, contacting them isn't as easy as sending them an email. It's a delicate process that requires careful consideration."

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"We pretty much need to find any of the five leaders of the branch," Dune chuckled wryly. "The lower-ranked members don't know where they are, and they receive their orders from the leaders through highly secure channels."

"Well, what about Tarako?" Gregor quietly asked.

The room seemed to shiver from the name. Sero got the impression that whoever Tarako was, he was extremely influential and powerful.

"Last I heard of him, the Dragon King literally jumped into an active volcano, his last words being 'I want to see if I can bench-press the world'," Dune awkwardly answered.

Sero didn't expect to hear such an absurd story, but it seemed to fit the picture of an elusive and powerful figure like Tarako. "Hey, who's this Tarako guy, and why does he sound absolutely unhinged?" He quietly whispered to Amaya.

"Tarako Han, the Dragon King, is the number one S-Rank Ascendant in the world. His strength is unmatched, and at one point he quite literally fought against the other nine S-Ranks- all by himself, and won." Amaya whispered back, her voice filled with a mixture of awe and fear. "He's known to be extremely carefree and self-indulgent, doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants. In the eyes of the government, he's a threat and a menace, but to us, he's a problematic man-child. I mean, he hasn't done anything evil, he's just so ridiculously powerful that nothing seems to bother him."

"Well, it's good to know we're dealing with someone who's at least approachable." Sero said with a hint of sarcasm. "So, do we have any leads on where to find him?"

"If you were following along earlier," Dante raised his voice, interrupting Sero's and Amaya's conversation. "Tarako was last seen jumping into an active volcano south of the 25th Zone."

"That's a very general location," Maximillian said with a hint of annoyance. "I mean, it's like saying he was last seen on Earth. We need something more specific."

"With that, I think it's time we laid out our tentative plan," Kaizo finally spoke next, adjusting his glasses. "While we focus on searching for more allies, the other half of our forces are constantly hunting down traces of Culling activity, learning that individuals called Pillars act as focal points for the cult to gather and coordinate. Once we've found one of those Pillars, we plan to strike, crippling their operations in the process."

Sero clenched his jaw, tightening his grip on Amaya's hand. He had faced these Pillars before, killing Thaddeus and revealing Malek to be one.

"Against many protests, we've decided to make Sero the central key of hunting down these Pillars," Kaizo continued, shocking Sero out of his thoughts. "He's had the most experience with them, and has even... defeated one, crippling a part of their operations."

"That's not entirely true," Sero interjected. "I was just lucky that time. There's no telling how things will turn out next time."

"Are you saying you don't want to be a part of this?" Dante asked him, his eyes glowing neon green. "I thought you, of all people, would've jumped at the chance to hunt down the people who've caused you misery."

"I..." Sero hesitated, glancing at Amaya, then Elizabeth. "Er, yeah, I do."

"Then it's settled," Dante said, giving him a hard stare. "You're in."

Sero felt Amaya's hand squeeze his, and he caught her questioning gaze. Truth to be told, had this been discussed earlier, Sero would've immediately been on board and tried to set off at once. But, with things developing between him and Amaya, he strangely found himself reluctant to leave her side. It was a feeling that was both foreign and familiar at the same time. He knew he was being selfish, but he couldn't help it.

Gregor nodded, acknowledging his new role in the hunt for Pillars. "Good. The sooner we find them and put an end to their activities, the better. Now, about these other matters..." He looked around the table, eyes lingering on Elizabeth. "What's the status of A.R.E.S.? Any new developments we should know about?"

"Well, given our technology, we've tried working with the members of the Five Serpents to help track down their leaders in order to convince them to help us, but... frankly, we've had little luck. They're practically phantoms. We've also been looking into any leads on the whereabouts of the remaining S-ranks, but so far, nothing substantial." Elizabeth paused, taking a sip of her tea before continuing. "However, we have managed to set up a few meetings with other mercenary branches to discuss possible collaborations and information sharing. We're hopeful that something will come of that."

Dante leaned forward, his expression interested. "And what about your efforts to develop new weapons or enhance existing ones? Anything promising there?"

Elizabeth smiled weakly. "Compared to you Ascendants, the strength of regular humans really can't compare. Of course, the A.R.E.S. units we wear just might let us fight on par with at most maybe a B-rank, but other than that, there's nothing new on our side. At least, nothing that works right now."

"And what about you, Sero?" Dante asked, switching his focus over to him. "Any ideas on how to bring down the Pillars?"

Sero blinked. "N-not really. I'm not even sure where to start, to be completely honest."

"Don't worry about that," Kaizo assured. "We've been gathering intel on where the Pillars of Culling might be hiding, but we're not exactly confident in our abilities to take them out without a small army. Of course, we've heard that you took down Thaddeus and fought Grodley Malek at the same time, so please help us determine what we need to prepare beforehand."

Sero clenched his jaw. He understood the subtext of Kaizo's words, that the Archivist was asking if Sero would be enough to take out the Pillars himself, given that there was a possibility of the alliance not having enough people to help.

"Yeah... I'll do my best."

----------------------------------------

The meeting continued for a while, and eventually Sero needed a break, excusing himself. Amaya glanced up at him with a curious glance, but he shook his head, silently telling her he wanted to be alone for the moment.

Outside the conference room, Sero took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on him. He knew that he couldn't just let the Pillars of Culling continue their plans. He had to do something. But what? He wasn't sure where to even begin.

"Aphiel... if you're listening, is there anything I can do right now?" Sero whispered to himself, finding it weird that he was actually praying to his goddess for hope.

For a moment, there was no response from her in his thoughts. Sero sighed and sat down on a nearby bench.

"Champion?"

His head jerked up at Aphiel's voice. The goddess had manifested her form in front of him, glancing at him with a worried look.

"H-Hey," Sero stammered. "I wasn't expecting you to answer."

"Well, I was not expecting you to actually pray to me."

"I... I wasn't, really. I just..." Sero sighed, feeling embarrassed. "I'm just at a loss, Aphiel. I don't know what to do about the Pillars. I don't know how to find them, or how to stop them. And with everything else going on... I feel like I'm letting everyone down."

Aphiel's emerald eyes studied him silently before the goddess stepped closer to him.

"Champion, while I do not know everything about you, I have seen your rapid growth and progress. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that you will find a way no matter what. Possibly not the best way, but a way regardless."

Sero frowned at her words, feeling like they weren't enough. He wanted a concrete plan, something to guide him. But Aphiel continued, "For now, focus on gathering information about the Pillars and their whereabouts. Trust in your allies and their abilities, and do not be afraid to ask for help when you need it."

She paused, her emerald eyes boring into his own. "And, Sero? Do not be too hard on yourself. You are not letting anyone down. You are doing the best you can, and that is all anyone can ask of you."

Her words seemed to settle something in him. He took a deep breath and nodded, feeling a little more at ease. "Thank you, Aphiel. I'll do my best."