Chapter 29

A panel in a floor is pushed upwards, and climbing out of it is Ron. Right behind him, I and four other vampires make our way out from beneath the floor. While the last person puts the panel back in its place, Ron slightly opens the front door and peeks outside. When he only sees an empty street, Ron walks out of the building and the four other vampires follow right behind him.

I was the last to walk into the lifeless street. In the distance, I could hear the sound of fighting and screams, but around me there was nothing. I move my head to the right and see everyone effortlessly making their way up the building. 

I stared at the seemingly impossible task placed before me and I didn't know what to do. I was told nothing while we made our way to the surface, nor did I know where we were going. I let out a sigh before taking a short running start and pushing myself off the ground. Upon making contact with the wall, I used my feet to get somewhat higher. while I stretched out my hand grabbing whatever stuck out of the wall, and slowly made my way up.

On the roof, Ron gave instructions to the other four, finishing everything they nodded their head and split off in different directions. When he turned to me who just arrived he thought for a second. "You're coming with me."

Ready to leave, Ron stops when he sees me stuck in place. "What's wrong?" I didn't say anything except stare into the distance. Ron could see the hesitation in my eyes making him walk towards me. "Do you want to go and make sure friends and family are safe?"

I saw her smile and heard her laughter, Ella's bright atmosphere always pulled me through the day. Whenever I woke up or didn't feel my best, Eiji was there to do the same. As much as I didn't appreciate it back then or wanted to admit it, these two were more than acquaintances to me and they weren't the only ones.

The smell of this sulfurous air and the sight of this crumbling city reminded me of that day. A moment in time I wish I could forget about, but something that could never leave my head. Even to this day, I am still running and don't want to look back, neither do I know when that day will come, but at the very least it should end differently this time. "I don't know if I'll ever see them again." 

"Samuel!" I turned towards Ron and noticed an object flying towards me. I stared at the communicator in my hands. "Be quick about it; We have a mission after all. We can't disappoint the mistress."

My hands shook as I leaned forward, with my gaze on the ground. "I'll be sure to come back." When I got back straight after my bow Ron smiled. "You better not make me regret this decision."

"Of course." Ron showed me his back and began to jump from rooftop to rooftop. Left alone, I turn back in the direction I was previously looking. Without hesitating for another second, I run towards the edge of the roof and jump. 

As I glided through the air, I felt the wind moving through my hair. When I landed on another rooftop, I continued to dash forward. I didn't think while I ran, nor could I stop myself no matter what I saw. Enforcers killing what looked like civilians, civilians killing civilians, bodies exploding. I didn't question my surroundings all I wanted was to reach them in time. 

"How are things going, Renee?" Startled, a woman with pink hair quickly turns to look at the person behind her. "Mam, you are finally here."

"I know, I know there were some things that held me up." The woman who had just arrived tried to clean the blood off her clothes as she held an annoyed expression. "On my way, I cleaned up some of the Abyssal beasts that had somehow entered the city, but then suddenly the civilians I saved attacked me. Anyway, are you going to answer my question?"

"Ah right, everything is holding on I guess, for the east I could not tell you as the signal within the city has been cut off."

"How about the evacuation for the not insane citizens?"

"Reginald had ordered for them to be brought into the underground tunnel system and escape through them; this task was left to one of his captains."

"What about a support request, has anything like that been sent out?" The woman glared at Renee and got the complete picture even though nothing had been said. "Those damn greedy pigs next time I see them I should snap their necks."

Renee gulped knowing that her superior wasn't joking. "Mam, I don't think that's the best idea."

"I know, I know," the woman sighed before continuing to speak. "Leaving that aside where is that fool right now?"

"After leaving evacuations to one of his captains, Reginald and a group of his men left for CCTP to restore the communication signal."

"He should have let me deal with that situation, it would already be back up by now then, and taking care of logistics and planning during a battle is my least favorite thing to do." The woman walked past Renee and glanced down the wall at the hundreds of creatures trying to climb up to her.

 "Mam, I-" The woman stared at all of it with a smile on her face then turned to Renee. "That's why I have you after all. So be a good underling and take care of that, I'll deal with these." Without a second thought, the woman walked over the edge, dropping towards the conglomeration of Abyssal beasts beneath her.

Renee felt like she could burst out in anger, but she calmed down when someone stopped next to her. "What is it?"

"I came to report on the evacuation progress and the situation at the Eastern gate."

"Alright, but this isn't a good place to discuss that follow me." Before leaving, Renee looked down the wall at her superior who wielded a great sword with a single arm. Every time she swung steam spewed out of the large weapon pushing the creatures away from her. Renee took her gaze off the woman knowing well enough she didn't have to worry about her.

Silently sitting in the passenger seats Eiji, Akiyoshi, and Suki Wobbled along with the carriage that sped through a dense forest on an unpaved road. Eiji was the first to speak after they had left the small town. "This whole situation makes my head spin."

Akiyoshi who was stuck in his own thoughts looked at Eiji. "I know what you mean all of this is just hard to believe, but right now we should stay calm and collected we could be ambushed by Abyssal beasts lurking around here."

"Right." Eiji looked down at the pistol in his hands that were shaking. When he lifted his head, he glanced at Suki who had stayed quiet, she was staring outside with a stoic expression. Eiji couldn't understand these two even though they had gone through so much he had never seen them show hesitation or fear.

As a bit more time passed by, the thick tree line to their left disappeared. "We're almost at the southern gate!" As they heard Rena through the open window in the carriage, everyone got straight.

With their gaze outside, they all felt shivers move down their spine when the small hill in front of them disappeared and showed everything behind it. Like a stampede, thousands of Abyssal beasts flocked towards the large metal wall in the distance. 

"Holy shit." Unable to keep his emotions to himself Eiji stared outside with wide-open eyes. Rena held tightly onto the reins as she saw this as well. 

Their slight elevation and the creature's single-minded determination to reach the gate allowed them to proceed unhindered. Rena went through all their options and couldn't see a way they could get through that gate. She waited for the foliage on the right to diminish before turning in that direction.

"Rena moves in an L shape towards the gate!" When she heard these words, Rena stopped her actions and glanced behind her to see Akiyoshi poking out of the carriage. "What are you talking about we-" 

"Look at the front of the gate." Rena found his words strange but still did what he said. "That crazy." Rena couldn't believe what she was seeing. After letting out a sigh, she opened her mouth. "Everyone hold on tight, and when I give the signal jump."

"What did she just say!" Distressed Eiji didn't want to believe they were going to force their way through.

"Natasha!" Rena yelled as loud as she could, attempting to get the woman's attention, but it appeared that she couldn't hear her. 

"Don't worry I'll make sure they know we're coming." She felt Akiyoshi's hand on her shoulder, causing her to glance behind her to see him climbing onto the carriage.

On top of the wall, Renee followed behind a soldier when he told her something absolutely insane. As she stared outside of the city, Renee could see it, a carriage driving at full speed towards the wall, and on it stood a man with a sword on his hip. "Who would-" Renee's words were cut short by a loud sound.

Akiyoshi placed his thumb and index finger in his mouth while energy gathered around his vocal cords. After taking a deep breath, he lets everything out with an extremely loud whistle.

Natasha stomps her feet on the ground and grabs her greatsword with both hands. When she swings the weapon, the air it slices contorts and with a loud bang, wind bursts towards the large group of monsters, causing them to be pushed back.

Natasha glanced to her left and couldn't help but have a big smile appear on her face as she saw the carriage trotting forward. With her gaze upwards, Natasha could see Renee who was looking at this scene with shock written on her face. "Everyone, make sure that carriage reaches the wall, and Renee have someone slightly open the gate so that a human can fit through!"

"Yes, mam!" Quickly responding to her orders all the soldiers began to focus on the quickly approaching carriage. 

"Mam, I don't think-" Renee was wholeheartedly against the idea, but Natasha's voice stopped her.

"Do as I say Renee I don't want to hear anything, but confirmation! We have guests to welcome back home that means there's no time for dilly-dallying got that!"

"Yes, mam."

When he stared down for the carriage at the tide making its way towards them, Akiyoshi could see arrows raging out from the window below him as well as bullets raining down from the wall to assist them. Akiyoshi turned his head to Rena who had just let go of the reins and was preparing her rifle. They nodded at each other in confirmation, Akiyoshi pulled out his Katana and walked to the edge of the roof. He Kicks his foot down, grabbing the attention of the two still inside the carriage. "We've almost arrived at our destination get ready to jump."

"What?!" Eiji's distressed voice rang out of the carriage into Akiyoshi's ears. 

Akiyoshi jumped off the roof and landed on both feet he glanced at the large amount of monsters rushing his way, but he didn't give them much of his attention as he began to run along with the carriage and only took care of the ones that got too close.

"We're going to have to jump any second now get ready." Suki puts her bow back into the pouch after hearing Rena. "3." 

"Wait, wait I don't think I'm ready yet." Eiji sat in the corner of the passenger seat, trembling as he rambled on to himself. "You can do this, I know you can, don't be scared you've been through far worse over the last months it's all going to be alright."

"2." Suki grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to the other side, before opening the door. "1, now!" While holding him, Suki jumped out of the carriage. After rolling over the ground, Suki quickly got back up and helped Eiji as well. "Let's get going!"

Rena was already ahead of them and they didn't waste much time either. As they ran, they could hear the sound of the carriage crashing into the metal wall. 

Suki looked to her side and could see Abyssal beasts quickly making their way to her, she moved her hand, putting it inside the pouch but stopped her movements as she saw a Katana easily dispatch all of them.

As they got to the gate, Natasha was keeping the unending wave from making its way inside the walls. Rena was the first to go through and everyone else followed her, lastly, Natasha came back inside the walls as well.

"You can close it!" 

"Yes, mam!" 

As they closed the gate, an Abyssal beast tried to get through, but it closed on it, causing its body to be split in half. "I guess half a monster got inside." When she heard her boss's stupid remark Renee sighed, but then turned her attention to the woman in an enforcer uniform. "What the hell were you thinking Rena, you know how dangerous that was."

"I understand that Renee, but we didn't have much of a choice." Natasha begins to laugh, due to Rena's words. "I didn't know you were someone so daring, I would have put more effort into requiting you than giving you off to that idiot, but you can always start working for me."

"And you stop acting so nonchalantly look at yourself you're full of scares." Natasha could see Renee's worried face, making her pat Renee on the head. "I swore an oath to eradicate every single one of those creatures with my own hands I can't let anyone else take that from me." 

"You stop ly-" Natasha puts her hand in front of Renee's mouth and looks back at Rena with a flustered expression. "So?"

"I don't know if you're trying to compliment me, Natasha, but I have to decline. I quite like my current position."

"Is that so?" Natasha found Rena's answer unsatisfying, causing Natasha to stare at her with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, but I do have something I want to ask." With a raised eyebrow, Natasha waited for Rena to continue. "Where's Daniel?"

The same cold expression stayed on Natasha's face as she answered her. "I don't know." When she heard her, the uneasiness in Rena's eyes intensified. "I see."

"Anyway, now that you're here that idiot of a boss of yours is at CCTP why don't you go help him out so he can take my place here at the wall."

After taking a deep breath, Rena calmed down and nodded her head. "Alright, also thank you for the help, and sorry for causing trouble." With that, Rena and the rest run off.

"Guess she didn't change that much huh." Natasha's words made Renee sigh.

"You haven't forgotten what you had to do, right?" Ignoring the voice behind him the gray-skinned man walks forward. He looked out of a window and stared down at the burning city from up high.

"Don't worry everything is going as planned and I couldn't have done it if it weren't for your little distraction."

"You better not forget the reason you are here."

"The curtains were opened a while ago, and the audience is getting impatient. they demand an end to this lousy puppet show and request the real actors to show up to provide them with an experience they'll never forget and I can't wait any longer either. So as the director, it's my job to make sure this spectacle takes place." the gray-skinned man turned around and looked at a pedestal with a sphere on it. "And I have already set that in motion."

A green glow emitted from the sphere as a woman's voice emerged. "Then I will stop pestering you and make sure that the so pleasant distraction I brought never lets up."

"That would be great." The gray-skinned man smiled while turning his head to someone else in the room. Their eyes glowed a bright red as they stood there still like a statue while showing no emotions. "It seems like you can finally stretch your legs again my little puppet."

With his gaze out the window, the gray-skinned man could see thousands of green strings stretching towards the sky. "I did say I would do what you asked, but I never said this puppet show was going to end."

"Who is for?" Inside a large open room, nine individuals sat around a round table. When these words were spoken, three of them raised their hands. As there were only a few, those who lifted them had a sour expression on their faces.

"I don't see a point in discussing this If we ask any city for help, they'll want appropriate compensation." One man said.

"He's right why should we when this will blow over and Natasha is on the front lines with her there it shouldn't take much longer." another stated.

an older gentleman slammed his hand on the table and glared at everyone in the room. "Are you kidding me, there's a never-ending wave coming down from the abyss and you think it'll disappear any moment!" With his finger pointed to his side, he stared at the man who had recently spoken. "Why don't you go look outside and tell me when this will end!"

With a deep sigh, the older man calms down."Our people are dying, our city is burning, everything we have can be taken away from us any moment, and you want to care more about your assets."

"Sir, major I understand your frustration, but it's a six to three and you are on the losing side your position means nothing here. As well as you have stated, we have lost so much and we can't bear to lose more I hope you can understand." A young man said.

The major clenched his teeth and gave a stern gaze to those who nodded in agreement with his words. The younger man smirks upon seeing this. "besides like he said I'm sure our guard dog can easily deal with this inconvenience and will appear any moment to tell us this problem has disappeared." 

When the man finished his words a loud bang reverberated in everyone's ears. They were blown over by a powerful gust of wind, resulting in a chaotic room. The sound of falling bricks accompanied the entrance of a shadowy figure through a hole in the wall. "He's right you know; this won't take long anymore."

As everyone stared at the man who just spoke, they couldn't help but be unnerved by his deep red eyes and the overwhelming suffocating pressure he exuded.