Tides Of Protomis CXLVIII
The Holy Order’s Future
A/N: Two chapters this week! These will be shorter ones, as they are jut to tie things up. 150, The last chapter of the arc, will likely be on the longer side.
The smell of rain echoed through the graveyard, hitting the ground, and the umbrellas of those watching. Volker, Mazurus, Saka, Goda, and many others stood In front of the graves of the Holy order Council, only now having the caskets lowered in, and covered. Even as he watched this, Jurugen’s mind drifted to other things.
“What will the future of our order be? Nobody expected that invasion to cause the losses it did, and even now, there was no line of succession put in place for the councilors…. Something needs to be figured out, and sooner than later.” Their situation was by no means a good one. He pushed the saddened mood he was in aside, as he began to walk off.
After he left, Volker’s body almost seemed to move on autopilot, as he said his goodbyes to the other heads of the invasion force, his body seemed to move on autopilot, bringing him to a Maglev. The train itself was surprisingly empty, though he found himself met with attempted conversation from those who were in the station, waiting for their respective routes, asking the same questions he’d asked in the hours before, what would be done with the council having met their end. The relatively quiet, outside from the hum of the train’s movement, continued. Eventually, his holo-phone came out of his pocket, and he dragged his hand across the display, navigating it, until he’d brought up his text messages, and began typing.
“Johann, Moritz. I’ll be back in Salzburg soon, Albrich Station.”
With that, he turned the device off, returning it to his pocket as he closed his eyes. Waiting, and waiting, until the train had finally reached his stop, some time later. As the train stopped, he stood to his feet, and exited as the doors parted, finding the two in front of him. A man of black hair, Johan, placed a hand on his shoulder.
“So, the commander is back from the demon realm.” He said with a smirk. The second, with Azure locks, Moritz, had a similar expression.
“Successful, no less. Heard you even set up a barrier to keep em’ out.” Volker nodded at this.
“That I did. But before all that, let’s get some food, shall we? Been too busy to eat anything big as of late… Is Miller’s still open?” He questioned, as he began walking off. Their walk through the city would eventually bring them to the named restaurant, Miller’s, one that they’d commonly gone to. Volker cut into the Pork Schnitzel, bringing a piece to his mouth, a certain feeling running through his body as he did so.
“It’s been just the rations we could bring for a while now… This is a welcome change, it wasn’t as if we could forage for anything.”
“How long do you think you’re gonna be in town?” Moritz questioned.
“I’ll go see… Her… And most likely, I’ll be back tonight, but I’m going back out to HQ eventually, how have things been here?” Volker question. Johann leaned back into his seat as this question was raised.
“A few demons tried to come in, the first ones were strong, but, after a while of you all being in that realm, they started weakening, and eventually petered out. Who knows how long it Would’ve lasted otherwise.” As Johann spoke, Volker nodded, scooping more of the food into his mouth, until his plate had been cleaned.
“I’m glad to see you’re alright, though, Volker. Wasn’t a lot of information to go around…” Volker nodded.
“It was the same on our side, if it wasn’t anything considered essential. Regardless, I’d best be on my way.” Volker scooted out of the booth they all sat in, waving as he walked toward the counter, doubtlessly to pay for his meal. Elsewhere in the city, the woman known as Franziska Volker eyed the doorway which led to the living room. The fact that her son had returned from his incursion was not unknown to her, after all, even if he hadn’t said anything yet, her meeting with the council made sure that the order would. The echo of jingling keys, and the key sliding into the door’s lock reached her ears, and soon enough, the door swung open, and the woman jumped from her seat, her feet moving fast as she went to meet the youth directly…
They were silent, only exchanging gazes, but even that said a lot. The remorse on her expression, her relief… Even having heard he was safe, she wasn’t confident in him being alive, not with reports alone, but to see her flesh in blood in front of him, still very alive… The woman launched herself forward, wrapping her child into her embrace. Volker’s eyes widened at this, as he nearly stepped back from the sudden contact… Though, ultimately, he decided against it, returning her hug.
“Mother… Perhaps I should have told you I was leaving-” He was silenced, as she placed a finger to his lips.
“No, none of that… I worried for you, dearly, but you were only doing what your father would have, I may not agree with that action, but I… can understand what that means to you.” Yet, it seemed that there was some resentment in Volker’s eyes, for her to only say all this now, and not even an -
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“I’m sorry… Both for what I’ve said about your father over these years, and about your occupation. Especially the amount of danger you’ve been in, seeing just what those creatures can do, what they WILL do, has changed things.” This had Volker in a stunned silence. He didn’t exactly know what he was expecting when he returned to his home, but this wasn’t it. And yet, he could only return his mother’s hug.
“It’s… Alright… But, I think we’d need to discuss this at length, after I return.” Volker stated.
“Return?” The woman questioned.
“The council being dead has created ripple effects.. Some of the chapters on the other continents have begun to make noise. We have to organize those who have come in contact with demonic energy and purified it, as well as those running around unchecked, who may very well become them. Not to mention, the attempts to either seize power and join the council, or supplant it and form their own.” Volker explained. Franziska nodded in acknowledgement, as she stepped back.
“Alright… But you’re staying the night, and I'll be cooking tonight.” Those terms were agreeable as far as he was concerned. The following time in the house was quiet, and yet, different from the usual tense silence that followed after his father died, and Lyle had begun to train him… The void left by his death was not a small one, Morale had fallen by a lot, though the fact that demons could no longer flow into the realm as they did had somewhat counteracted that, and gratefully so. Apparently, the casualties went into the high millions in many places, not to mention the cross-shaped scar that now lined Yamato's land. He could only imagine the public outcry there… It wasn’t as bad as the great crag, at least.
The next morning, Volker had already made his way into the Holy Order HQ, The situation room filled with many troops, most of which were ones he recognized, even if he did not know names, those he’d come back with, many of which had gone from Vukis to Qsetis, From Rasherat to Lumerius, and so on. Saka, Bui, and Ayaka joined him at the front of the room, where a holographic map of the earth, and the Chapters territories were depicted. Saka stepped in front of the other 3, as he began to pace back and forth.
“It’s time that we discuss the situation in its entirety… With our lack of a council, things have begun to break down, and we need to rectify that.. Our Chapter in North Valeoux seeks to break themselves off from the whole, and become a new force for the government’s military, the Holy Lance. Something leads us to believe that Gautheir’s southern papacy has something to do with this… The federation Chapter, in the Chiyessa district, is attempting to form their own council, formed entirely of their own members, and move our center of power. We believe that a Lumeris Class slayer, Micheal Blackwood is the one behind this, he said could be said for our Chapter in Dai Viet… And there is also the last descendant of the Von Klein Dynasty, the former Kaisers of Penzneheim. From what I've heard, he is not acting to take control of the demon realm, but rather, to carve out a returned Penzenheim…” Saka explained.
“Then what can be done? While I don’t want to kill or have to remove talented slayers of the organization, we can’t allow such a thing to pass unpunished.” Bui noted.
“We’ll have to spread out, one by one, with our respective squads, and begin moving against them… We’ll try diplomacy at first, and if all else fails, then we move to combat.” Ayaka responded.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.. Bui, Head to the Dai Viet Chapter, you’d know them better. Ayaka, to the Federation, Saka, handle Gauthier, take who you need… I will handle Axel Von Klein myself.. Meeting Adjourned.” The man turned on his heel, and exited. Continuing to make his way through the halls, nodding at those who saluted him as he walked by, before he reached the main entrance to the building, and the morning sun hit his eyes. Something he ignored as he shot off into the sky, and began his quick flight toward a familiar location. The site of the Delmenford chapter… It was an unassuming, seemingly abandoned industrial building from the earlier modern eras. Not an uncommon sight. Though, he did not get much closer, before his target flew up to meet him. A man of blonde hair, slanted eyes with piercing red orbs. His outfit as well, was no longer that of the holy order, but the traditional Regalia one would expect of a Kaiser.
“You’ve saved me the trouble… Explain yourself.”
“What is there to explain? I am carving out the state I should have ruled before the world war began… If there was ever a time to do it, it’s now.”
“With our troops, and our resources? We do not fight for our personal vices, only to defend against the demonic threat… It has decreased, but it is not gone.”
“We don’t fight for our personal vices? Did you not join the order because Lyle came to you, and you found the opportunity to avenge your father? What else would one call that?”
“That is entirely different, and you know it… I acted to protect this earth, what you are participating in here is no more than a political power grab…”
“You wouldn’t know of my plight, Jurugen Volker… With this power in my hand, how could I not restore my throne? It is simply what I must do…” Volker only shook his head, as he flashed across the sky, knocking the man into the ground with a strike of his fist, and knocking him unconscious… It seemed that he was no longer up to par with his own power, but in this case, that worked in his favor. Now, there was just addressing what the aftermath would be. He had no doubt that his allies would handle the situation in the other rebellious chapters. But to him, there was stil the question of what came after.
…
1 Week Later - Lagrange 1
The rebellious chapters, put down, or negotiated away from combat. And the Headquarters had been moved from a simple building in paris, to a small station in orbit, enough living space and food to support a large amount of the Holy order’s troops, and in many cases, their families. As well as those who would staff the station. and docking infrastructure to allow for quick launches, landing wherever demons were spotted, or born. On this day, the inauguration of the new council would take place as well. The new members consisted of the leaders of the Incursion force, Jurugen Volker, Bui Lai Phuc, Saka Ademola, and Goda Ayaka, who, at the time, were the strongest members of the order. It seemed then, that the holy order would be going nowhere.
Of course, their efforts had more effects than just keeping out demons. Elsewhere, in a lab, the location was unknown. One of the gates utilized by the order had been looking for a more efficient way to transfer data through subspace, effectively faster than light, but requiring such bulky apparatus that were vulnerable to interruption, if this could help out any, in that regard, then they would study it closely…
To Be Continued
つづく