Thirty

Sharp, emerald eyes squinted at clouds of dust.

The afternoon began with an explosion as ash and smoke filled the skies above the slums. Rose heard screaming, the pulses of mana flying through the air. Her eyes blinked to a world which looked far worse than when she had left to hunt.

Crumbled buildings, streets being deserted at a pace unbefitting of the slums, and people with weapons and vehicles that held even bigger weapons striding through.

"What the heck is going on. . .?" She took a breath, staring at the world that had suddenly taken a turn for the worst.

There was screaming, a person bumped into her and ran away with blood upon his figure. She grabbed the next, who jolted from her hands and slipped off, and the next person she managed to tug out stopped with a fury.

"You-!" He screamed, blue eyes blaring through her.

"Could you tell me what's happening?" She asked, trying to hold him down.

The sound of explosions rang in her ears, the screams were still endless, and soon she was met by a hand that pushed her back and a voice that yelled as he escaped.

"They're having a turf war you fucker!" The man yelled, running with a pulse pistol in one hand and a short-sword gripped in the other. "If you don't want to die, run away!"

The ground beneath her cracked and she jumped away from a vehicle that passed. Slummers gave way to large wheels rolling upon asphalt and she watched as the behemoth of the motor crushed through any which stood in its way, she watched its plated figure—which all but absorbed the pulses of blue that smacked against it—gleam silver under the sky, and she watched as the muzzle of a large turret—attached to its body—turn as mana rolled over it.

"Motherfucker, where the fuck did he get a tank?!!"

The vroom of the weapon overshadowed that voice. She blinked her eyes, watching a blue beam shoot through the street of the slums, crush through shacks, and pierce through vehicles and combatants that stood no chance against its firepower.

The grounds ahead exploded and Rose ran away to safety.

As she checked the Mana Web, searching for anything relating to the slums of Alos, anything relating to the bloodshed and the voices, she learned of a simple sentence: Paul Walker is taking over the Red District.

She shifted through the memories of Maria but even they only had vague information on the so-called Red District. Looking through the Mana Web some more would likely solve her doubts, but with the blaring around her, and the shaking ground, and the screaming, she didn't have time for such an in-depth research.

Rose stood up. A building was crushed around her and there was rubble mixed with the bodies of the dead. She could still hear the roaring of weapons, and the mana within the air was especially thick—shifting with a palpable shudder. She stepped outside, passing by a crumbling wall of wood and looked to the streets.

The area was mostly deserted at this point. Every shack around had boarded into themselves and the only things still alive on the streets were rolling vehicles carrying men in gear, her dune buggy, and herself.

All she knew was that the slums had destabilized after more than 6 years. The lines of the slums were being redrawn and she wondered if anymore of its leaders would jump at the opportunity. Several people controlled the numerous sections of the slums, if one shakes, the entire foundation should follow suit in time.

'Ugh,' Was her thought of the matter. The next weeks, or maybe even months, were bound to be rocky.

She brought up her pad, moving towards her dune-buggy.

"Elsa, do you have room for me to stay?"

"Don't tell me. . ."

"The turf war encompasses my shack and it's still raging on. I think it's lost."

She might be an homunculus but she certainly did not like the idea of wandering the streets.

"Motherfucker—alright, come over and crash, I'll send directions."

"Thank you."

Rose hopped into her vehicle and rode away. Through rubbles and stones, till actual shacks that were intact, the sound of fighting blared behind her as she circled the outer rim of Alos's Slums.