Raining

[Dawn. Hotel.

Kifestein]

"What the... Ivan... Isn't this a war?" Nea asked.

"Yeah, from the looks of it, I'll say they blew up the bank and the mills? An hour before they got crowded, eh?" Ivan said.

Gunshots and screams echoed through the air. From the 7 story hotel, the pair could witness the city turning into a war zone, filled with chaos. The guards and the masked folks got into a heavy shoot-off as they fired bullets and spells at each other.

"Nea, this is what those guys want," Ivan said. "It's just Kifestein for now. Soon enough, the whole of Zakall, and then the other nations, eventually the entire world, will be engulfed by this pandemonium. And they will do it by removing magic..."

Ivan turned his back to Nea and walked out of the room. "Elisbonear will drown, Atirior will fall, millions will die, there won't be a future! I have to stop it… you said it has nothing to with you, but... *sighs* I'm going to see what I can do."

Thud

A noise resounded, and a presence started following him.

"Do you think you can stop them...?"

Ivan stopped. Still faced away from Nea, he replied with his voice tinged in melancholy. "I... don't know, but I won't stop trying."

"Ivan..." she said. "I'll help you."

Ivan turned towards Nea, only to be met with the most determined face he had seen in his life.

For just a moment, he thought that the dark clouds shifted away, barely enough to bask the girl in front of him in a crimson hue.

Ivan had found his first comrade and his first victim.

Ivan's face first widened in surprise. He then broke into a determined smile himself and nodded to her, as if to match her resolve.

Nea felt a strange hesitation, but she placed her faith in her friend, whom she never felt out of place with.

She let go of her hesitation.

It started raining.

**

I ran through the city with Nea towards the factories in the southern part of the city. Tahiti had heard from Oscar Wilburn of 'Ivan' and Nea's presence in the vault, amongst other details. In return, Oscar developed and did something more with Tahiti's plans.

"This has to be a warning of some sort, right? Most of the places blown up were rather modest," Nea said.

"Yup, I bet that their main goal is getting the administration. If not that, then they will at least blow up the whole factory block. Factories are the antithesis of their ideologies."

"Those places slowly swallow up every bit of freedom you have. Are they actually the good guys here? Hahaha."

"No good guy will blow up things they dislike," I replied. She was joking there. Her intelligence won't just drop suddenly... right? Right?

Kifestein's factories were arranged uniquely. Essentially being a trade hub, most of the cities factories processed volatile material like monster hides. The bigger factories were huddled together in one lane. There was a steel processing plant, a couple of textile factories, and a Dorf Model T assembly line.

In front of the factory lane, masked men and uniformed soldiers fought each other with vigor. The masked group pushed back the uniformed soldiers with their advanced artillery as both sides tried to counter with low-level spells.

"[Grade 3 Earth Spell: Rising Ground]"

The ground below the masked shooters rose. The soldiers followed up with great marksmanship and assaulted the masked group.

The masked group wasn't to be underestimated. They took cover behind the dozens of carts and a few walls, some even hid behind the bodies of their comrades. They then bombarded the soldiers with bullets and offensive spells. Their approach was reckless in this rain-riddled battlefield but worked thanks to their weapons.

"Hey, why do the soldiers look so disorganized? Is there no backup?" Nea asked.

We moved towards the factories, behind the battlefield. The distressed voices of the soldiers reached our ears as we moved closer. "SHIT! This is all because of that Sergei bastard! How can the mayor raise an entire army against his own city?!"

"Sir Sergei has been leading us towards true freedom! Don't oppose us, join us!" A masked man quipped back to the soldier's remark.

A question mark rose from Nea's face after hearing this exchange. I couldn't contain myself and let loose a smile.

The plans I had made with Tahiti were already put into action.

The storm was just starting.