Chapter 30

Rena sprinted through the city streets while keeping her gaze on the tall building that was getting closer. When she arrived Rena stopped in her tracks noticing that nobody was guarding the entrance.

"What's wrong?" Eiji halted next to her and stared at Rena's perplexed expression. 

After a short time, she continues her pace. "No, everything is fine."

Inside the building, the group of four looked around the ground floor. "Are you sure this is the right place, there's no one."

Offended by his words Rena lashed out at Eiji."Why would I bring us to the wrong place, or are you blind and couldn't see the large sign before we entered!"

The annoyance in Rena's voice caused Eiji to mumble the rest to himself."No, but this place gives me the creeps. If this Reginald was here why didn't he put on the lights."

Suki smirked at Eiji's words as she walked next to him. "Don't take her lashing out at you too personally. With everything that is happening, I'm sure she's just on edge."

"I know, it's just that this building sends chills down my spine." Suki understood Eiji's feeling so she placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry too much about it you have us around, but I get what you mean this place feels lifeless." Suki ended it on that note before leaving his side.

Eiji's gaze shifted until it landed on Akiyoshi, who was looking around the room in complete silence.

Everyone squinted their eyes as a bright light suddenly blinded them, they took a moment to adjust before finally turning towards it. Suki stood at the door to the staircase, while holding it open. "Seems like they went up, don't you think?"

Rena stopped next to Suki and shot an annoyed glance up the staircase. "Do you know which floor they might be on?" Rena turned her head towards Eiji, who had just arrived, and let out a deep sigh. "No, this is my first time being here."

"Then are we going to have to check every floor?" Akiyoshi, the last to arrive, glanced at Rena. After a brief moment of contemplation, Rena dismissed the thought with a shake of her head. "With my limited knowledge, I would guess they will be somewhere around the top floors. So let's search from top to bottom."

The group nodded their heads in agreement and began to ascend the long staircase to the top floor. Rena stood in front of the double door, her hand tightly gripping the handles as she glanced behind her. When she saw everyone present, she didn't wait any longer to open them.

A pungent metallic smell assaulted her nostrils, making her recoil in disgust. Yet, all she could see were shattered consoles and scattered mechanical devices on the floor. "They aren't here, let's go down to the next floor." As she spoke Rena's gaze abruptly halted on a motionless figure that she hadn't seen before.

Akiyoshi noticed her odd behavior and quickly grabbed her by the shoulder. "Is there a problem?" 

Disregarding his words, Rena enters the room.

The rest exchanged glances and made the unanimous decision to follow behind her. It was then that the rest picked up on the smell in the air as well. Eiji's gaze followed Rena's, revealing what she was heading towards. "Who's that?"

While going through the dark room Rena wondered who this person in a clockwork uniform could be. When their face became visible Rena stopped. Eiji came dangerously close to bumping into her, as he was right behind her. "What's the matt-" 

"Daniel?" Rena's voice made Eiji stop talking. "Daniel?" Rena moved closer and carefully examined their face once again. "Daniel!?" No matter how many times she called from him he never responded to her words in any way. "Daniel!"

Akiyoshi swiftly raised his head and instinctively reached for his Katana, but he halted when he saw what it was. From within the darkness that enveloped the ceiling, a young boy fell with his hands and feet attached to thin strings.

"Is that thing flying?" The sight of the levitating corpse left Eiji feeling disoriented and overwhelmed. "No, it's held up by strings."

Akiyoshi's words prompted Eiji to give it a better look, yet he remained unable to perceive the strings he spoke of.

While it lowered to the ground Akiyoshi and Suki readied their weapons for what was to come. The body stood on its two feet, its eyes wide open, staring at them intensely. As it bowed towards them, their unease grew when more of these bodies emerged from above.

These bodies started moving their limbs, creating a rhythmic sound as they walked in a circle. Whenever a string was yanked their limbs reacted like how the strings ordered. In the middle of this circle, they could see the young boy who had huddled himself into a ball, while the adults creepily danced around him.

"Daniel." Occupied by the creepy scene in front of him, it was hard for Akiyoshi to tear his eyes away. Akiyoshi turned his head back to Rena who seemed completely out of it. "Rena you need to snap out of it." Not getting an answer he grabs her by the shoulder and shakes it, but to no avail.

Filthy smiles were plastered on their faces as they occasionally leaned in closer and poked the boy making him squirm. "Stop." a quiet scream came from the kid as he tried to shrug their hand off him. "Stop!" over time strange energy surges came out of the boy and his screams started to become louder.

"Eiji keep Rena safe." Akiyoshi pulled her behind him and he gave the star-struck Rena to Eiji while he and Suki watched this scene with a vigilant gaze. 

"Stop, please stop." His voice became more desperate as he started to use his hands to push them away. With every second that went, the energy that gathered in the boy's body began to go out of control.

"stop!" With his final scream, the boy raised his body and let everything out alongside an unstable energy wave that killed all the adults that had been pestering him for so long. Afterward, the boy's body was lifted back into the darkness above them.

"Did you like the show?" Everyone looked around the room to find the unknown voice before they all stared at the double door that suddenly slammed closed. "Well, not that it matters the real thing is about to start." 

Akiyoshi's heart raced as he heard an unsettling noise behind him, causing him to fixate on Daniel's body, which was contorting in strange ways.

"Looking great Rena." Rena turned her head and locked eyes with an enforcer friend. "Oh, thank you," she said, looking down at her attire and admiring the gorgeous dress she was wearing.

"Today's the big day huh, I'm so excited for Daniel." The beautiful plain stretched out before Rena, and she couldn't help but notice the sea of people, all impeccably dressed in suits and dresses. "Yeah."

The man looked at her with a perplexed expression before eventually shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway Rena it was good seeing you again, I'm going to say hi to a few other people."

"Right, have a nice day." Rena's heart ached as she watched this man walk away. Rena placed her hand against her forehead and immediately felt the scorching heat radiating from it. "Am I getting sick?"

Rena's vision blurred as she stared ahead, her eyes fixated on the flames roaring high into the sky while people scattered in panic. As she shook her head, the disorienting effects faded away, and everything returned to normal. 

After some time passed by, everyone was seated in a chair and watched a woman in a magnificent dress walk down the aisle. With a smile, Daniel looked proudly at his soon-to-be wife, his heart filled with love. In between them was an older man in blue and gold robes who held onto a book.

"Do you Ashley Lanster take Daniel Rokbas as your husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"

"I do." 

The priest smiles warmly and bows respectfully to Ashley. "May Amreth bless your tomorrow and all the days to come." The priest turns to Daniel, acknowledging him with a subtle nod. "Do you Daniel Rokbas take Ashley Lanster as your wife, ..."

When the priest finished speaking Daniel began to open his mouth, but he was stopped by a scream. All the enforcers present stood up in unison and swiftly moved towards the source of the scream.

"A wave! A wave is coming!" Everyone's attention turned to the distressed person running towards them. 

"Everyone, get to the carriages now!" Not wasting any time Daniel shouted at everyone.

"I'll take her with me." Rena sprinted towards the podium, prompting a smile from Daniel upon seeing her. "Take care of her." With sword in hand, Daniel and the other enforcers prepared to intercept the wave until everyone got away from the other enforcers.

Rena led Ashley across the field toward the location where the carriages were parked. "Rena, I can't leave Daniel behind." 

"I understand how you feel, Ashley, but neither of us are in the state to fight at the moment." While looking at her Rena's eyes widened. Rena swiftly moved her aside and delivered a powerful punch to the wolf-like monster. "Are you alright Ashley?"

"Yeah, but what about you?"

"I'm fine, let's continue." As they traversed the field, the two women could hear screams from behind. However, the long skirts on their dresses impeded their movements, making it difficult for them to run at a fast pace.

Rena heard the sound of footsteps trailing them, causing her to push Ashley to the side. When she looked behind her, she saw the claw of an abyssal beast inches towards her head. She tried to move out of its way but its sharp claw scaped over her face.

As it passes her by Rena hastily grabs the hem of her dress and tears it off, feeling more agile she swiftly kicks the abyssal beast that was rushing her back towards her. 

Ashely who got off the ground saw Rena fighting the abyssal beast and quickly did the same thing as her. With her skirt gone, she ran towards Rena to help her out. Together the two dealt with the beast but it wasn't the last. More beasts began to attack them as they tried to continue their pace towards the carriages.

Rena tried to keep up but due to a small mistake, she was forcefully knocked to the ground. Pinned by an abyssal beast Rena tried to free herself but lacked the necessary strength to do so.

For her side, a foot kicked the creature off her and a hand helped her back up. "Thank you, Ashley."

"We should postpone giving our gratitude until we find a way out of this situation." Rena nodded at Ashley's words as she looked at the beasts surrounding them.

Both getting in the same combat stance the two women fend off the hoard that was rushing them down. Finding an opening Ashley grabs Rena's hand and pulls her along. "Let's get out of here together."

Just when they got out of the encirclement Rena could feel claws dig into her back. "AAHHHHHH!" As Ashley turned around, a look of shock appeared on her face. 

With agility, Ashley swiftly punched the abyssal beast off Rena. When Rena felt two hands touch the wound on her back she grunted in pain. "I'm so sorry I, I." Ashley couldn't get the words out of her mouth due to the stress of the situation.

"Ashley, stop worrying about me and look around us." Ashley took a deep breath and regained her composure.

"What do we do, Rena?"

"Just remember enforcer training in situations where armed enforcers are around and running is only an option that comes through sheer luck we can only buy time." With their back against each other, the two waited for the creatures to make the first move.

Rena made an effort to defend herself, but her wound made it difficult for her to continue. Ashley noticed this and started assisting Rena, but as more and more came at the same time, it became hard for her to take care of herself, even without counting Rena in the equation. Making a decision, Ashley pushes Rena aside and courageously confronts the full force of their attack.

Rena's entire body ached as she lay on the ground, her vision blurred. When she turned her head to that side she could see a woman on the ground next to her, with their eyes wide open and blood seemed to be coming from their neck. 

"No! No!" Coming into vision was a man who cut down all the abyssal beats around her. The man embraced the woman, but she remained still. After some time, the man laid her back on the ground. Standing up, the man looked at her on the ground. he could see Rena was still breathing, but before he could act his head snapped upwards and looked at the horizon.

Moving quickly he picks up the corpses of abyssal beasts and lays them around and on her. Without saying anything he runs in the opposite direction of the carriages before Rena loses consciousness and everything turns black.

Rena opened her eyes and immediately heard the sound of swords clashing. "You're finally awake." She glanced in Eiji's direction, she noticed the worried expression on his face. "What's going on?" 

Before getting an answer, Rena could see Akiyoshi crash into a wall. Her eyes wander until they land on the creature that had launched Akiyoshi such a great distance. 

'This is your fault!' She trembled as she stared at the swollen figure before her, while voices echoed in her mind. 'You're a weakling!' the figure had an elegant long sword in one hand and in the other was a custom-made pistol. Rena's eyes dilated as she struggled to make out the face hidden within the lump of flesh. 'If only you were the one to die!'

"Daniel?"

I sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me until I reached the edge of the expansive forest. It was there that I beheld a vast, empty plain and a town. As I looked at the ruined town, a feeling of sadness overwhelmed me. I wanted to dash in its direction, but my ears picked up on something. 

Quickly getting up a tree I could hear leaves being crushed underfoot. From my vantage point, I saw two people wearing white and gold clothes making their way towards the town. As I glared at them, a sense of familiarity washed over me.

Both of them turned their heads and stared at the tree where I was perched. I remained motionless, hiding from their view until I could hear them moving again. When I looked back, I saw them walking confidently across the field, accompanied by eight others wearing similar outfits.

I chose to keep my distance and waited for them to reach town before me. While I hid in the tree I tried to understand why someone would come to this town. They must know Pilantrop is under attack, yet they came here. 

To get out of the city, I had to climb all the way up the large metal wall and get into the forest without being spotted by the massive amount of monsters, which wasn't easy. It was difficult to believe that a group of humans could do the same, especially considering their behavior, which doesn't resemble that of a rescue team sent by the city.

Are they friend or foe I couldn't come up with a conclusion. I shook my head and let go of my worries. When I lost sight of their silhouettes, I descended down the tree. Quickly making my way over the plains, I snuck into town.

sneakily making my way around, I could see them gathering around the center of the town. Now that I gave them a good look a surge of anger built up in my body and I remembered who they were. They were there on the day that Valentine died.

The man with ginger hair and beard glanced around, and it felt like his eyes locked with mine. Crouched behind the rubble, I anxiously wondered if he had caught sight of me. Without hearing their approach, I began to turn my body to see what they were doing, but as I lifted my head, I caught sight of the ginger-haired man's piercing green eyes fixed on me.