17 - Unwanted attention(1)

"That, that was terrifying." Finn said.

Mase confirmed, "Yes, they were weak, much weaker than the rats, but these creatures were much scarier."

"Uh, guys, we might have a problem." Lele called everyone's attention. "Look under your feets."

The group's attention was drawn to the ground, only to be met with a shocking sight: a significant portion of the wheat field had vanished, revealing a rocky terrain that stretched out for hundreds of meters. The soil was eerily similar to the surface of the moon, reminiscent of photos seen in textbooks.

Albert ordered "We have no time to get the crystals, GET IN THE CAR, NOW!"

The boys quickly complied upon seeing how panicked Albert was. As the engine revved up, he began to explain their situation. "I suspect we just faced a rift outbreak. The government estimated it would take two weeks for the rifts to collapse, but it seems their estimate was overly optimistic."

Mase asked "Still, I don't understand why you are so anxious, we managed to kill them easily enough."

"Moron," everyone was taken aback by the sudden outburst from Albert, who was known for his calm demeanor. It was clear that something serious was at stake for him to show such distress. "Yes, we managed the rift just fine, but how many chances do you think we had to be in the right place at the right time?"

Slowly everyone started to put the pieces together.

"What if hundreds of other rifts broke out around the world and there was no one there to deal with them?"

"Shit, what if a rift collapsed near our home!?" Finn exclaimed.

"That's not the only thing we should be concerned about. The farmer clearly saw us. Even if he doesn't remember our faces due to the trauma he just went through, the terrain has visibly changed. The government will know for a fact that someone living near the area has illegally dealt with a gate. If we're unlucky, we might have been caught on a satellite, and if they check the footage, we could be exposed."

"But won't they be grateful to us for potentially saving hundreds of people?" Lele asked.

"Your ingenuity makes you special, Lele, but my brother is right. Since no one knows what we did, no one will stand up for us. If authorities decide to prosecute us, we won't have a chance of being considered innocent.After all, we committed a crime and there's no denying that."

While they were still in the car, Albert asked them to search for any news related to rift outbreaks. After a few minutes, they found reports of around 8 cases across the world, each causing hundreds or thousands of victims. In some cases, the monsters were still on a rampage while the authorities were waiting for an awakener to take care of them. Though the overall number of outbreaks was relatively low, the head count of victims was devastating. Fortunately, no such reports could be found in Italy.

Lele declared, "Even if I get punish for this, I would do it all over again."

Mase responded, "Well, I wouldn't, but we know that you can't help it."

A few hours later, a man in a state of panic contacted a government bureau dedicated to handling emergencies related to awakeners.

The man on the phone was, shouting "Monsters! Monsters everywhere! It's over!"

"Sir, please calm down. What happened? What is your location?" the government employee tried to get more information.

"My name? What's my name? I don't remember. That's not important right now! Send help to XXX-XXXXXXX-XX," the man replied, still in a state of confusion.

"I can't act without knowing what's going on, sir," the employee said calmly.

"Dreadful beasts came out from a rift! Four youngsters were there, I ran off in hiding. I was so scared that I couldn't bring myself to move for hours," the man explained.

"Hold on, we are sending help soon," the employee assured before ending the call.

"Leader Trevisan, we have a level 3 emergency on our hands!" she exclaimed.

"Level 3? Are you sure? That would mean thousands of people are at risk. Don't tell me...do we have a gate collapse too?"

"I believe so."

A man in his late thirties, known and respected for his strong morals and incorruptibility, stood up from his desk. Roland had been appointed to this troublesome position because he had angered a few politicians colluded with the mafia, who hoped to see him fail and thus remove him from the public eye. As a result, he was made the head of this new department.

"I must go there personally, and Christina, since you verified the report as truthful, you will come with me," Roland stated firmly.

"I will take full responsibility." [Ding] "Mr. Roland, I have good news! I just received a notice from the intelligence department that Kohaku of the Flame is in close proximity."

"Good, send her an official request to join us. We will meet her there to take care of this threat."

"I suggest we travel by helicopter. The man who called me said he was in hiding for a couple of hours."

"A couple of hours? This is really bad. It might have been a massacre," Roland's face turned grim. "There is no time to waste, notify the pilot NOW!"

[Toco Toco Toco]

A helicopter landed in the middle of what should have been a wheat field. The only sign of civilization was a luxurious car parked nearby.A red-haired girl was sprawled on its roof. As Roland stepped out of the helicopter, Kohaku leaped on the ground with remarkable agility and confronted him with a look of anger. "You ordered ME to come here with top priority, yet I arrived before you and the monsters are most likely dead already." she exclaimed, her face distorted in frustration.

Christina rebuked "Bring respect to Mr Trevisani!"

Before things could escalate Kohaku's personal assistant interjected. "I apologize for her behavior. My miss can be a bit hot-headed at times."

"Oh don't worry about it. If the monsters really are dead, that's great news. I found it strange that we didn't receive any further reports about the situation. Miss Kohaku, since you're faster than me, could you check if there are any carcasses left?" Roland said, his tone calm and collected.

Kohaku's expression shifted from anger to smugness as she replied, "Of course I'm faster! Just wait a couple of minutes." With that, she sprinted off at full speed, leaving a trail of flames in her wake.

Her assistant looked at the man in disbelief 'He actually managed to persuade the Miss to do something for him. He really is something.'

After less than five minutes, Kohaku returned with a serious expression. "I can't explain this. You need to see it with your own eyes to understand," she stated.

They followed her silently, bracing themselves for the worst. In the distance, they could see a strange lump in the soil. As they approached, they realized it was a pile of monster corpses.

"I've already closed six rifts, but I've never seen humanoid creatures like these." she added.

Roland's eyes widened as he saw something unusual while examining the corpses. 'This must be the combined effort of multiple people, some of the monsters have been slashed while others pierced through. However, the most shocking thing is…'

Kohaku gazed in shock at several corpses with one thing in common, the way they were killed. The bodies had been destroyed by blunt impacts, with some squashed like bugs, others with their heads cracked open, and some torn apart. She wondered aloud, "What kind of person could do this?" Suddenly, her womanly instincts kicked in, and the image of the boy in the crowd appeared in her mind. Roland noticed a subtle change in her expression.

"Miss, do you perhaps have some clue of who might be responsible?"

"No, not at all." Kohaku replied with a whistle, but it was clear to everyone that she was lying. Her assistant facepalmed in embarrassment, letting out a sigh.

"Very well, we will conduct our own investigation and see if we can uncover any leads." Roland concluded.