Chapter 10

The massive clash between humans versus machinery continued for a few hours later. The sun is now at its peak as it shines over the hundreds of machine parts that are scattered around the staggering tower that rises high in the sky.

The group seems exhausted at the never-ending barrage of machinery that is coming towards them from the opened triangular door at the bottom of the red tower. They are gasping for air as their bodies show multiple shot wounds, as well as multiple slashes and cut wounds.

"Dammit... How many of these things are there inside of that tower?..." Mirin said as she is gasping for air while holding her sword in a kneeling position.

"There's... still more... to come..." Axel said in exhaustion as he is also on the ground, holding his violet sword. The only one that is still fighting back right now is the guy with a rifle. He keeps on shooting at the machinery, taking them down one by one slowly. However, this doesn't seem to help as more of them are coming from inside the tower than the ones getting downed.

"Is this... our end...?" Fulario asked in a despairing tone as his face showed no signs of the impulse to fight back the endless machinery that is coming from within the tower.

Things seemed to be in a dire situation as all of them are already exhausted and are on the ground. Strangely, at this point and time, a sudden white mist came, limiting their view to about 1 meter ahead of them and completely blinding them from seeing another person as well as blocking any sunlight. The mist had a weird feeling of warmth as well as healing properties which seemed to close most of the open wounds that the group previously had.

Suddenly, a gentle yet terrifying voice can be heard from within the mist, "Be engulfed within the mist. Sweet dreams," the voice said as the group suddenly became sleepy after hearing the voice. Then, from within the mist, one can see an individual with long white hair with a gradient of pink at the end of it. The individual wears a gray shirt with a white long coat that has white fur on its collar as well as gray pants. The individual also has white gloves, and dark green belts that wrap around its mouth and neck. Its eyes are that of pink with a little gradient of white. The individual walks slowly past the group that is on the floor as it walks closer towards the tower, covering the entire area with mist. The mist was so thick that one cannot clearly define whether the individual is male or female.

The individual then raised their hand as suddenly, multiple sharp-pointed weaponry formed out of thin air. The individual then points their hand towards the tower as the weaponry fly at an incredibly high speed, piercing through the machines, and into the tower. Quickly after, the individual then makes a few swiping motions as dozens of giant swords and blades appeared and followed the swiping motion, cutting every single machinery in its path. The individual then grasps their hand as they pull their hand backward before quickly moving forward to make a punching motion. Multiple types of blunt weaponry are floating before quickly flying towards the tower.

Due to the massive impact to the base of the tower, the tower tilts towards the individual and Axel's group as it slowly fell and quickly accelerating. The individual made a single swipe motion as a sudden barrage of hammers pushed the tower to the side, avoiding them to be crushed under it, but destroying the buildings next to them.

The individual took a glance at the sleeping group before looking back at the now shattered and fallen tower as he whispers in a low tone that can only be barely heard saying, "13," before continuing to walk towards the next tower which is a blue tower located not too far from this tower. The mist then slowly fades away as the group finally came back to their senses.

Axel was the first one to woke up as he holds his head with his hand and grunts in pain as he looked around before noticing the white mist that seems to went towards the next tower. He shakes Fulario, Mirin, and Wyatt as they woke up one after another. Not only that, but the other group also seemed to start to wake up one after the other.

Wyatt holds his head with his hand as he looked at Axel who's currently staring at the mist that is heading towards the next tower.

"Hey, Axel. Who and what was that?" Wyatt asked Axel while still being in pain from the headache caused by waking up.

"That voice, and that mist, along with that white and gray attire... There's no mistaking it, that's The White Mist," Axel answered in shock.

"The... White Mist? Who is that?" Wyatt continued to ask again, seeking more information and an answer.

"It's understandable that you and quite possibly Mirin as well don't know about him. We... have only seen him once before, around 9 years ago. Back when there were still the... three of us at Dos Office. We got a request saying that there's a Scavenger Nest at District 8 which is located in the Northwest part of the City. unfortunately, the request never specified what size the Nest is, and turns out, there was multiple large Nest. Even when we're completely ready, we still got wounded badly when we suddenly got engulfed in the same mist that appeared earlier. Not too long after that, we woke up to see that the entire bunch of Nests has been wiped out completely. We then reached out to an Information Office to figure out who, or what that mist was. We discovered that there was somebody, called The White Mist that has been designated by the Head of the City because of his enormous strength and capabilities. But then, he never appeared after the incident that we had, not even once. As if he disappeared into thin air," Fulario explained as he starts to stand up, while following Axel to look at the moving mist.

"Are you guys ok?" the man in tank top asked as he slowly walks over to Axel and his group. His daggers are now within their sheath which is at the left side of his waist.

"Yeah, we're good," Mirin replied as she picks up her sword and stood up.

"We thank you for your assistance, we might have not been able to hold them off for so long if it weren't for you guys," said the woman with the purple hair as she bows down a little, showing her gratitude. She now has her blade whip on her left side of her waist. She offers her hand towards Axel to help him stand up.

Axel took her hand while the guy in the tank top helped Wyatt. Meanwhile, Mirin is already standing up even though she's leaning on her sword to help her.

Then, the woman with purple hair said, "We should introduce ourselves then. Greetings, my name is Olivia, this is Daniel, and this is Kalo. We're from Oriental Office at District 7," she introduces herself, then points at the guy in a tank top before pointing at the guy with a full cloak.

Axel then replied as well, introducing the members of their group, "I see, my name is Axel, this is Mirin, this is Fulario, and this is Wyatt. We're from Dos Office in District 4" he said as he points at each of them respectively.