Once the sensation of space warping and distorting ended, I opened my eyes to see the ruins of a city.
The original Eridu. It was where most of the people lived. And where many people died, seeing this place reminded me of the syndicate.
The buildings themselves looked like they were about to fall at any moment; the only difference was that there were no people.
"Man, this is depressing." Bai Yi commented, looking bored as she observed the area. "Think we'll find something here?"
"Most definitely, the mania readings are off the charts, so we'll most likely encounter one of them." Summer said with excitement, typing furiously.
"Pardon me, but I'm curious. You've mentioned them, but never fully explained who they are." Yanagi asked, with Miyabi staring at me.
"Ah, I forgot about that." I chuckled. "Like your world, we have our own version of hollows called the black ring." I said while walking forward.
"Summer mentioned it to us, when too much mania converges to one spot, it causes the area to no longer be habitable, and anyone inside or near it no longer becomes human." She said, and I nodded at her words.
"The people we mentioned from before are researchers who tried to study it." I said, recalling the journey.
"Dreya was one of the researchers studying mania; she wanted to understand how mania worked." I let out a sad sigh.
"However, disaster struck, the black ring soon expanded, causing more and more people to be trapped within it." Soukaku gasped and held Yanagi's hand.
"From the exposure of the mania, you expect her to no longer be human, to be a monster; she became one, but not in the way you think." I said, and sadness appeared in my eyes.
"She became something more than just a sinner, she became an immortal." I closed my eyes at the memory, recalling how she lost her humanity.
"It's a shame, really. She was an intelligent woman; all she wanted to do was to understand, to learn how mania worked." I said, looking at the sky.
"Instead, the mania caused her to change, to hunger for all the knowledge, to discover all the secrets the universe has to offer." I then decided to switch topics; I didn't want to lower morale after the story I just told.
"How is the vest Summer gave you? Any problems?" I asked. Yanagi then looked at her wrist, where the clock was located, counting down the time she had left.
"It's at a stable pace, but I suggest we move forward." She said, but before we could, I noticed Miyabi had stopped. I was about to ask her why.
However, I noticed her ears were twitching. She must have heard something, yet she ran forward before I could ask what she had heard.
"Chief Miyabi, wait!" Yanagi called out, but was ignored. In the end, both section six and our group followed from behind.
Yanagi called out to Miyabi a few more times. Only to be ignored, she rushed forward and soon encountered a few ethereals.
The second she saw them in front of her, she grabbed the handle of her blade, and soon disappeared, only to reappear behind the group.
Her blade was partially drawn, but she soon closed it. Multiple blue slashes soon surrounded the group behind her, and the ethereals soon dissolved.
Seeing the display, Bai Yi whistled at what had just happened. "She's good with that blade; maybe I can ask her if I could borrow it." As she was about to ask, Miyabi only looked at her.
Her grip on the handle increased. "I'm afraid that I must disappoint you; this blade is cursed and has been passed down in my family for generations."
As she spoke, a small black orb appeared beside her. It floated by her side, all the while it was covered in blue flames. The second it seemed, Summer stood before Miyabi.
"Miyabi, my offer is still on the table. Just let me research the sword, and I can improve the qualities." She said, widening her eyes to beg.
"And like I said before, I refuse." Miyabi then walked away, with Section Six in tow. Summer then raised her hand, reaching out to Miyabi.
"But…but… I want to research it." She whispered, watching as Miyabi walked away.
I placed my hand on her head, trying to comfort her after the rejection. "How many times have you asked?"
"Too many to keep track, she even threatened to give all my sweets to Soukaku." Summer then raised her head, and her eyes had the flames of determination burning brightly.
"But I won't give up, I'll discover the secrets of that sword one way or another." I smiled as she declared her desire, but it faded when we heard multiple footsteps.
Looking towards the source, we soon saw multiple people. But they were no longer human; instead, they were corruptors.
Parts of their bodies were still human, while ether crystals grew from their bodies. They groaned and growled as they got closer, shambling towards us.
Miyabi was about to draw her sword to cut them all down, but I stopped her. She glanced at me as to why I did this, but when her eyes met mine, she saw the pain and guilt.
"Don't." Hearing that one word, she understood. I gave her a sad smile and a nod of gratitude. "Bai Yi, make it quick."
"You got it, chief." She then knelt forward with her hand on the handle of her sword. The next second, her entire body flickered.
She then had her back facing against the mutated ethereals, as if she had never left in the first place.
The next second, multiple purple cuts appeared across their bodies, and they soon fell to the ground.
Their blood began to spread, while the scent of iron began to float through the air. As for how Section Six reacted, Miyabi narrowed her eyes towards Bai Yi.
"Oh, please don't stare at me like that." Bai Yi said, wrapping her arms around her body. "Though, if you pay, I might consider giving you a good time." She teased.
All she received was a cold shoulder, and she walked away ."Well, I give up." She said with a shrug. "Your turn, Eve."
I was confused. What did she mean by that? The only way I was going to receive my answer was by looking at Eve, who looked at me with her neutral face.
"Bai Yi had made a bet, wondering who could make her show emotion, though none of them had any luck." Hearing her answer, I looked at Bai Yi.
"Hey, I'm not the only one who thinks she's a robot." She said, pointing at Harumasa, who looked laid-back.
"What? No way, if anyone thinks like that, it's Soukaku here." He shifted the blame to the blue Oni, who looked at all of us with an innocent look.
"What are you talking about?" We all then looked towards Harumasa, who was now next to Miyabi.
"He reminds me of Che." K.K commented, staring at Harumasa's back.
"You know, I never really thought of that, but he kinda does. Think we can have him leave that Section-six place?" Bai Yi rubbed her hands, and money symbols began to appear in her eyes.
"Not a chance, we're dealing with the police in this world." K.K reminded her.
Bai Yi only sighed at the reminder and began to walk forward. "Well, at least I can vent my frustration here." She said, and soon flickered away.
"Your companions seem… interesting." I turned to Yanagi, who made her way to my side.
"To be honest, they're the most tame of sinners." I replied, recalling the different sinners I had to find and met.
"T-the most tame?" Yanagi asked, for a second, I thought I saw a cloud form above her head.
"I-if I were to ask, which sinners are the most dangerous?" That was a good question; however, our conversation was cut short by the sounds of the ethereals.
"Seems both Miyabi and Bai Yi let a few pass." I said, pulling out both my pistol and knife.
Standing in front of Eve to defend her, however, she placed her hand on my arm. When I looked back, she only smiled at me.
"There is no need. K.K, open it." K.K stood in front of us, opening the box to reveal the large toy inside.
"Eve, don't you have another toy or something?" She asked, watching the bear stand up and flex its claws.
"I'm afraid not. While trapped within the factory, I was not allowed to do anything." She said and waved her hand forward.
"Go." That was all she said to the toy bear, which then rushed forward with one arm raised. As it lowered its arm to strike it, the ethereal reacted.
Raising its arm like blade to block the attack, however, it wasn't enough. The bear thrusted its other arm, piercing the body with ease.
The ethereal screamed in pain from the attack, yet the bear kept pushing the claws deeper.
Until it pierced its back, lifting it and pulling the blade until it ripped the joints apart. After a few seconds, it began to dissolve, signaling its death.
"I-I must say, that is… very impressive." Yanagi said, staring at the bear, which walked towards Eve's side.
I, however, was already used to the toys acting like weapons, and I then continued to push Eve forward.
"Back to what we were talking about, I can send a file, that way you'll be able to identify which sinner to avoid, and how to subdue them." Yanagi nodded and smiled in appreciation at my offer.
As we traveled deeper through the hollow, we saw more mania crystals. However, they weren't fused to the ether crystal.
The mutated staff of white stone was guarding them, and this caught Summer's interest.
"Maybe they want to take the hollow over, make a black ring within it." My eyes widened at the thought, and I turned to my group.
"We go in, now." I said, and all of us rushed past section six, eliminating every corruptor and ethereal that stood in our way.
"Belle, is there a way to contact anyone outside the hollow?" I asked, carefully making sure I didn't hurt Eve.
"I can't, the ether and mania are becoming too dense, jamming the signal." She said, running alongside us.
"Yanagi, how are you guys with the vests?" I asked, firing a shot at a corruptor that was getting too close.
"Soukaku and I can keep going, I can't say anything for Harumasa and the chief." She said, looking at the watch on her wrist.
"I'm fine, though. I'll be taking an extended break after this." Harumasa said, walking back with Miyabi and Bai Yi.
"I can continue, let us proceed." Miyabi said, her eyes showing how serious she is.
"Well, lead the way, Belle." I looked at the bangboo, which gave a confident nod.
"Just make sure to protect me." She said, but unexpectedly the toy bear grabbed the bangboo, offering it to Eve.
"Here, so you don't have to walk." She said with a gentle smile, but Belle, however, wanted to get off.
"Don't bother, she has a strong grip." I said to Belle, smiling at the situation. No matter how much Belle struggled, Eve kept her arms close.
"Fine. Keep going straight, there's a fissure we can use that should take us to the cause of this mess." She said, guiding us towards said fissure.
Once we arrived, the density of both energies was too much, causing the vests to malfunction.
"I don't think we can follow you, it's too much." Harumasa said he was about to replace the hypercube, but the back of the vest opened, and a drone soon began dragging him away.
"Well, at least the safety feature works." Summer said and placed a check mark on one of her papers.
"That's good and all, but we can't- Soukaku!?!" Yanagi shouted, watching as the blue Oni girl giggled in delight.
"Weeeeeeeeeee! Bye bye Nagi!" Soukaku laughed as she was dragged away.
"Well, at least you don't have to worry about your kid." Bai Yi said, catching Yanagi off guard.
"M-m-my k-kid?" She stuttered, blushing at the idea.
"Yeah, you're like the mom of the entire group, isn't Soukaku your kid?" Bai Yi asked, confused at her reaction.
"W-well, I-I never had the thought run through my mind…" She said, while her index fingers bumped against each other.
"Oh… ohhhhhhhhhh, I'm so going to enjoy this." Said Bai Yi, who wore a large grin on her face.
"But we can do this after the mission, so I'll stay quiet, for now." She turned around and walked away, glancing over her shoulder.
Yanagi could only shudder at the stare, but she composed herself and walked forward quickly.
"Bai Yi, stop messing with her." I said, however, she only shrugged with a more subtle smile.
"Okay, I'll behave." She said with a look of annoyance. "For now." She muttered, with a hidden smile.
We soon all crossed the fissure, feeling space twist and distort once again. Only this time, the sound of multiple voices was heard.
Screams of pain, begging, hatred, and despair could be heard. After passing through, I turned and saw both Yanagi and Miyabi kneeling on the floor.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Yanagi repeated, holding her head. All the while, tears fell from her eyes.
As for Miyabi, she was worse for wear. "Mother, I've failed you, I failed my family, I failed the city." Her eyes were hollow, and her sword was on the ground next to her.
I wanted to talk to them, tell them to snap out of it. But something was rushing towards me from the side. I couldn't react fast enough to dodge the object.
In the end, I didn't need to. The toy bear stood in front of me, crossing its arms, blocking what looked like a piece of debris.
"Chief, are you alright?" Eve asked with worry, while K.K brought her closer to my side.
"I'm fine, but I can't say the same for Yanagi and Miyabi." The three of us stared at both of them, who were still under the illusion.
"How are their vests?" I asked Summer, who was already by their side, to check whether the hypercubes were in good condition.
"Not good, they only have half an hour left, and assuming the other one will last the same amount of time, they have an hour at most." Summer replied, watching the blue color fade to grey.
In the end, we were forced to take Miyabi and Yanagi with us. Even though they were in no mood to fight, we could still try to snap them out of the illusion they're in.
"We keep pushing forward. And hope that both of them can come to their senses soon." I said, leading the way to where the first immortal was trapped.
"By the way, chief, you'll never guess who I found while wandering through the outpost." Bai Yi said with a grin on her face.
"Who did you find?" I asked.
[Cliff hanger!!!! The author really took their time to make this right. Though it's a bit jagged around the edges, it's good enough for me. So, who do you think Bai Yi found? Could it be someone from the military side? Or someone who lost their mind? Find out later! Bye bye!!!]