Report on the Appearance of the Tomb Raiders across the Terra and a comprehensive analysis of the methods of combating the Illuminati Society in the aspect of excavating Tombs around the World.
Report Written By: Sir Paolo Blandelli, the Diavolo Rosso, Grandmaster of the Knight Order of the Copper-Black Cross and Patriarch of the Blandelli Family
Report is being sent to the: Seven Sisters, Witenagemot, Royal Arsenal, Prague Association...
Since the start of December 2020, most of the Magic Associations have been facing a rather particular threat in the area of the excavation of the Tombs. Many Magic Associations have already noticed that far more Tombs are right now descending and materializing in the world than before.
What's more problematic is the fact that the majority of these Tombs are also more powerful than the ones that have descended in the past, and many are serving as homes to the Divine Beasts or Heretic Gods.
Most of these Tombs are descending in Europe and Asia, though there is also a very high number of them descending in the Middle East. Primarily in areas where humans once built their earliest civilizations.
Many Magic Associations are not increasing their efforts in excavating the Tombs, even despite the dangers that the Tombs are hiding. The appeal of Relic and especially Heirlooms is something that no Mage could resist.
Lately, though, it has been observed that a new "profession" has emerged that we started calling Tomb Raiders. They are specifically trained Agents of the Illuminati Society in dealing with the Tombs, with their sole purpose being infiltration and excavation of the Tombs.
Most of these Tomb Raiders are utilizing the military presence of the United States Military across the world and fast means of transportation to enter the Tombs in foreign countries, excavate them, take Relics, and leave faster than others could arrive.
We speculate that this approach was taken by the Society mainly because of the lack of Tombs in their own landmass. The need for relics and Heirlooms is also prevalent within the Illuminati Society. Due to the limitations of their own myths and legends, they have decided to exploit the situation with other countries.
It has been noted that His Majesty, 7th Campione Tsuchimikado Yakou, is often seen exploring the Tombs together with the Tomb Raiders and obtaining the Relics and other objects for his Magic Association.
This was something that had been noted some time ago, that His Majesty Tsuchimikado Yakou is commonly joining the endeavors of the Illuminati Society and fighting against the mortals, which was still now, only occasionally seen from the Marquise Voban.
Considering the number of Tombs that are descending in the world, it is a clear sign of the Second Coming of the Great Tomb Appearance. The number of Heirlooms that have started appearing in the Tombs is higher than usual, and they have become the primary target for all Magic Associations and Guilds across the globe.
In my personal opinion, the best bet would be creating a more advanced system that would detect Tombs and where they appeared, because we cannot match the speed of the USA when doing so. The latest reports indicate that the United States managed to create a Magitek Device that is monitoring the world and could detect the descent of the Tomb.
Alternatively, we can ask our own Patron, Lord Salvatore Doni, to intervene if we manage to confirm the presence of the Campione in our territory. However, this approach is also highly debatable, because of the dangers that it may or may not include, as it could easily lead to an open clash between Campione.
This could end in several ways, including the death of everyone around the fight between the two Campiones. What is a problematic aspect of the 7th Campione is that he has the mentality of older Mages who won't really leave their warded territories.
Decision to include another Campione in the mix could easily backfire, yet, there are not many plausible solutions to this predicament right now. With the increased appreciation of the Heirlooms in the Tombs and the possibility of attaining the Level of Magic Saint or Magic Lord, the importance of Tombs will only increase in the near future.
At the same time, if the prophecy about the Second Coming of the Great Tomb Appearance is indeed true, it means that something bad will happen on Earth, and the collective consciousness of the world is preparing for the imminent catastrophe.
Another important fact is that the Tombs that contain Heirlooms would be of great importance even to the Campione, which means, in the future, we can await an inevitable clash between the various Campiones for the Tombs.
Among the current actors, we can undoubtedly say that Marquise Voban, Luo Hao, Salvatore Doni, Black Prince Alec, and Tsuchimikado Yakou would fight to the death for the Heirlooms based on their current behavioral patterns.
In regard to Lord Salvatore Doni, it would be most probably only in the case of the sword-type Relic. Other Campiones are no imminent concern in this, as Madam Aisha hadn't shown any interest in Tombs, John Pluto Smith is notoriously very hard to predict, and the 8th Campione Kusanagi Godou denies anything related to the Supernatural even two months after his ascension.
Summary of the report of the "Report on the Appearance of the Tomb Raiders across the Globe and a comprehensive analysis of the methods of combating the Illuminati Society in the aspect of excavating Tombs around the World", written by Sir Paolo Blandelli, the Diavolo Rosso, Grandmaster of the Knight Order of the Copper-Black Cross and Patriarch of the Blandelli Family
***
Outer Dimensional Space, Terra ???
In the ever-shifting void, but not empty, it was saturated with depths layered upon depths, each overlapping and bleeding into one another like translucent veils of light, geometry, and motion.
Shapes within shapes, hypercubes, tesseracts, and impossible polygons... spined and rippled across directions one can't even name. Space here was not linear or flat, but folded and recursive, looping back into itself in infinite variations. Surfaces shimmered like oil on water, reflecting colors unknown to mortal eyes, hues that suggested emotion, memory, even time.
Points of light drift through this space, each one containing entire universes compressed into singularities... flickering, colliding, merging. Gravity bended sideways.
Time moved like breath.
One can see echoes of your own body split across dimensions, some taller, others shadowed, some made of light, or crystal, or thought.
Sound here wasn't heard, it was felt... like chords strummed across the bones of reality, resonating in your thoughts with alien harmonies. It's overwhelming and sublime, an orchestra of math, energy, and abstraction, as if the laws of physics are having a conversation.
Here, Time and Space were non-existent and yet one.
In this space, a young woman in her mid-teens with violet hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears looked at the kaleidoscopic landscape of endless void. Even though this was her preferred form, it wasn't her true form.
"Eight... more than during the last Cycle..."
She muttered as she looked across the Dimensions with her Dimensional Awareness.
"We should have enough to launch the Second Phase... the experiment has already gathered enough information, so we can step forward."
Next to her, a distorted, powerful voice resonated through the space from a gigantic humanoid dressed in black armor and a crowned helmet.
"We should wait for a bit more, Epimetheus. One of them has the potential to break the Limits before the Second Phase. With that, we can ensure that the world won't face extinction once the Second Phase starts."
She said as she observed one of the Campiones among the eight. She noticed something peculiar, because one of them had the drive and potential to break through the S-Rank Parameters, which was something that she purposely limited the Heretic Gods and Campiones to.
Once the first one broke through the Limits, she planned to remove the limit compeltely on all other beings that had potential restricted among the Heretic Gods and Divine Beasts.
Yet, to achieve that...
King of the End would need to be killed and his Divine Essence assimilated by his Godslayer.
Because the King of the End was the final test, the "Final Boss" in Phase One of the Cycle.
Yet...
Unfortunately, for the past several thousand years, among tens of Campiones that were born and figuth, nobody managed to even fight properly the King of the End.
"Are you not fearing that this could backfire on you? Like with the Absolute?"
Pandora looked at her husband with a grin before she answered his question, completely lacking the seriousness befitting the situation.
"Nope!"
Even though she knew that one of their kind, Absolute, was killed by his creations...
Both of them, in fact, knew that the Absolute Being was a cruel and self-centered individual who cared very little for his creations and saw them only as tools for his own entertainment. He also lacked good judgment and was extremely careless.
He created extremely powerful beings out of nowhere just on a whim, and it backfired splendidly on him, as he was, in the end, killed by his own creations. Now, the rest of their kind were preparing to wage war once again for the ownerless Dimension that Absolute Being created for the resources that it contained.
Now this entire Dimension was empty and ready for plucking by their brethren. And right now, they were not the only ones who were operating within this Dimension. Aside from two of them, another of their brethren, known only by his title "The Majesty", was also lurking in the darkness.
And then, there were also former servants of the Absolute Being, Rulers and Monarchs who were still locked in the cofncilt in another part of this Cosmos, and only because Pandora and Epimetheus forbade them to enter the Earth, their conflict didn't reach that place.
That was for the Second Phase.
"Whatever..."
Epimetheus didn't bother to argue with his wife, because he knew it was pointless. They came to the Dimension Created by the Absolute Being for a reason, which was actually Pandora's reason.
He was just tagging along and nothing more.
The other members of their kind would soon be launching their attack on this place when the Dimensional Cracks fully formed, but both he and Pandora were slowing down that event as soon as possible.
If that happened prematurely, then all of their efforts and everything would have gone to waste, so they needed to slow down the formation of the Dimensional Cracks, before the inhabitants of the Dimension would be strong enough not to be instantly decimated by their brethren.
Not to mention, both Pandora and Epimetheus found this world rather interesting.
Because even though it was created by one of their brethren, the world itself evolved past the Absolute Being's control.
Overall.
The creation of beings like Heretic Gods, Tombs, and Divine Beasts that were descending to the world was the ultimate proof of that.
Of the fact that this world has deviated from its natural course.
Originally, they planned a much different course, as humanity would come into contact with Magic only at the thing that they called the Second Phase.
But seeing the deviation of the world, they decided to do something else.
To create their own version of the Monarchs and Rulers that were created by the Absolute Being, but do it in a more gradual and precise way.
And these beings...
Those fed on the death and divinity would then serve as their strongest soldiers in the Outer Wars.
***
Five Days Later, New York City, Manhattan
Five days have passed since Kirari arrived in the United States, and Yakou has spent the past days with her. On the second day, they had rather passionate sex as they spent the whole day fucking, because Kirari was one of hell horny pregnant women.
And he wasn't going easy on her just because she was pregnant, nor did she want it gently. Sex was always great with her, but this time it was far more satisfying because it was also on the mental level now that Yakou experienced the changes of being Campione.
Kirari was rather delighted that he took his frustrations out on her.
Very much.
She promised him that the next time, he could have Miroslava.
Which was something that he was pretty looking for.
Kirari was pretty vocal that she wanted for him to break her totally.
Obviously, the girl in question wasn't going to resist as Kirari's orders within the Clan were absolute... and if she wanted to present her as fucktoy to Campione, then everyone else in the Clan would be delighted to do so.
Many would consider it an honor.
After the five days, Yakou left Charlottesville and went to New York to meet with Eve for dinner, and the next day they would both be attending a meeting in Washington, D.C. about the invasion of former Mexico.
As time passed since the Grey's announcement, Mexico was technically no more. Over the past days, even the remaining governmental bastions fell to the various Warlords and remnants of the Oración Seis.
The capital city of Mexico City fell to the forces of the Los Muerte Cartel led by Hermán Gonzales, who established his new independent country named Murtia. The man was uncannily obsessed with death for some reason...
Nevertheless, after the fall of the capital, the United Mexican States became part of history as new nations rose in it'đ place as the Warlords, one after another, declared their own countries or city-states.
The infighting in the place was very severe, and thousands of people perished every single day, especially in the offensive against Mexico City by Erigor and a whole bunch of Dark Mages who were literally using Magic in front of non-Mages, and the amount of damage control that everyone needed to do was staggering.
Either way...
With this tempo, it was only a matter of time until the entire Supernatural Side of the World would be revealed. Nevertheless, with the advancement in technology, it was only a matter of time until everything would be revealed, and there were actually many who were in favour of the revelation of the entire Magic world to the rest of the world.
The United States had already started integrating the Magitek into its arsenal, as it was the only thing that allowed it to compete against the old and established Magic Associations.
The strongest Mages and Knights in the world were standing at the ends of the Human Limit, which was the Magic Saint Level. Most of the full-fledged Saints could cast some Spells with the Nuclear potential, which was their strongest.
It didn't really mean that they could spam those spells like a machine fire, but they could cast them without outside help, only with their very own Magic Power. Meanwhile, the Magisters of Magic and Grand Knights had destructive prowess to destroy entire Towns.
The United States, over the years, develpéped Magitek Weapons that were easily capable of doing the same, and they had tons of those weapons. Before they obtained the patronage of the Campione, it was their trump card and the reason why they were so confident in their power.
"This place is always so overcrowded... how can people even live here?"
Yakou asked Eve as they were stuck in the motorcade, and they were barely moving through as their convoy of several cars hadn't moved for the past ten minutes, as it was stuck in one place.
"We should have taken a helicopter... this time of day is almost most busiest..."
They were heading to sightseeing, one could say, as they had something akin to a date together?
Hard to say.
And unfortunately, they were going by car as Yakou didn't know that the traffic would be this bad.
"What did you expect? The city has like nine citizens? Most of the city is overcrowded... but I guess, still better than some others like the cities in India or China."
Eve commented nonchalantly as she looked through the window, already used to the state of New York. The motorcades like this were pretty much common in New York City, and it was pretty hard to avoid them.
"My miscalculation... well, where exactly are we even heading?"
He asked, as he had practically zero knowledge of New York City, since it was one of the places he had visited only three times in his life, and every single time as a bodyguard for Kirari, so he never really even stepped out of the car or deviated from the planned route.
"Metropolitan Opera to see the play Don Giovanni, then we have scheduled dinner at the Bourbon Steak New York, located at the iconic JW Marriott Essex House, considering your love for steaks and all kinds of beef."
Now, it was Yakou's turn to be surprised, because it seemed that Eve had planned their entire date. She was really precise because she had an itinerary for everything, and she then showed him the times where they were supposed to be and when.
"You were really thoughtful."
He said as she was really thoughtful for their date.
Kirari didn't mind him seeing other women, even romantically, as she had already established herself as the head of his future harem. Mainly because she told him that she had known him the longest, and she already had his child.
Not to mention, she already established the proper hierarchy in the future harem, with her at the top, followed by his other wives that he would have. Below them would be the Concubines, like the more unfortunate Miroslava Honebami, that Kirari planned to give him as a present, and below the Concubines were the Sex Slaves.
In Kirari's vision, Sex Slaves would be like pets from the Hyakkaou Private Academy. They would be without any human rights, basically just glorified cockslaves whose sole purpose would be to pleasure Yakou and his harem members.
For example, Kirari already placed Midari into this category.
He really wondered sometimes what was going on in that pretty silver-haired head of hers.
Still, he had to admit that she really thought it through when crafting her vision of hierarchy and order. Though he decided not to care and simply go with the flow and let things be...
He was sure that Kirari would get along with Marie and Marika when they met. They were from the same dough in many regards, and all three of them were really serious nutcases.
"Obviously. If left to you, then we would once again go read some rusty old Tomes and then talk about the Magic Theory of some long-dead Mage from the 15th Century."
Eve scoffed at that because she knew that the man in front of her was a bookworm who spent most of his time reading books or practicing Magic. Still, she had to admit that he was also an excellent teacher, because he was often teaching even the principles of Magic and Magic Fundamentals of the Hermetic Magic and Onmyōdō.
With the Divine Authority: Mímir's Well, Tsuchimikado Yakou became a literal Knowledge Devourer who was assimilating every piece of knowledge from the Magic Tomes and Grimoires.
Even though the Divine Authority: Mímir's Well could be used only once per day, its capabilities in increasing the user's comprehension were something staggering. Nevertheless, even Yakou himself was aware that everyone had their strong sides and weak ones... courtship was never his strong side.
With Kirari, things were much simpler.
She was the one who took the initiative because she seduced him in the most obvious and straightforward way and told him that she wanted to fuck. Then her idea of "dates" was to go to the casinos to make people cry, which was her favourite pastime with Yakou, just enjoying the workings of fate and arrogance being crushed.
It was much easier... meanwhile, he and Eve had developed some kind of friendship over the course of two months... Eve was someone who required more effort, even though they basically agreed to have a date.
Yakou didn't have a problem telling her that; it was outside of his capabilities to plan an outing that would be satisfactory to her, and much to his surprise, she told him that it was alright and she would handle that aspect.
"I heard that someone was found for the new position of the Head of the Department of Tombs?"
He wisely chose to be silent, as there was no point in arguing with Eve, as it was not really worth it. She was extremely stubborn to the point, with more than enough pride and a sharp tongue; arguing with her is a total waste of time.
"Yes. Julian Miller, someone originally picked up by the Military, was born in Germany, migrated to the United States at ten years old with his parents. He attended Harvard Law School, graduated Summa cum laude, and then worked for the Military as a Legal Advisor and expert in archaeology. Was disocere to have rather good aptitude for Magic and was inducted into the Society."
Eve informed Yakou about this, as he was rather surprised that there was actually a good number of the so-called "grassroots origin" personalities in the highest echelons of the Illuminati Society.
Which was a rather interesting situation.
From the current Knights of the Round Table, 5th Seat Keira Clark, 6th Seat Thomas Andre, and now 8th Seat Julian Miller were of the grassroots origin. And technically speaking, even Dairenji Shidou wasn't originally a member of any prestigious family or Clan.
Yakou knew that he was just a nameless orphan who had a frightening talent for Magic and Onmyōdō, who married into the Dairenji Clan and managed to marry the Clan's Heiress, and with the decline of the Dairenji Clan over time, he somehow became the Clan Head.
"With this, eight Seats should be filled, right?"
Eve nodded as the Illuminati Society had a notorious problem with filling the highest echelons of their Association, because they lacked people who met all the criteria for the positions.
Power, knowledge, and skill.
Right now, Yakou headed the 13th Department, the Department of Forbidden Arts that had only one sole person.
Him.
His Department within the Society was focusing on research into the Magics and Spells most forbidden.
"Yes, now we lack leaders for the Departments of General Fundamentals, Individual Fundamentals, Magitek, and Phantasmal Beasts... though the Magitek is the one that is the most pressing for the time being."
Right now, both the Department of General Fundamentals and the Department of Individual Fundamentals are falling into the jurisdiction of Dairenji Shidou, who was managing them, as he was the closest person to someone who could lead them.
The General Fundamentals was essentially about researching the fundamental rules of Magic Principles that were common to every branch of Magic worldwide. Be it the Onmyōdō, Hermetic Magic, Daoist Arts, Witchcraft, Sorcery, Druidism, and everything else.
Every single branch of Magic functioned on something called Magical Principles that were common for every branch, and they were considered the basics that every Mage needed to master in their life.
Meanwhile, the Individual Fundamentals was a term used for the more concrete branches of Magic and their study. The Illuminati Society had a rather large diversity in the Magic Branches due to a lot of people in the United States were all over the world.
And many brought their crafts, lore, and branches of Magic to America, which created a very diverse Magical Society in the United States.
"Did you find someone for the position of the Head of the Department of Magitek?"
After being acquainted with the Society and its inner workings, Yakou knew how much importance the Illuminati Society and the United States gave to the Magitek and it'đ deelopement as it was the cornerstone of the entire US.
Unfortunately, the previous head of the Department died around half a year or something due to being caught in the fight between John Pluto Smith and Heretic God that materialized in Nevada.
One of the research facilities of the US Military was destroyed by the Heretic God, and with Professor Clark, who was coincidentally Keira's uncle and the main architect behind the Echelon III System that the US was currently using for global espionage and monitoring the entire world.
"Searching for anyone of similar qualities and loyalty toward the Society is hard... well, if only loyalty were the selling point, there would be plenty of skilled candidates. But the ones that are actually on the level of Edward Clark?"
Eve shook her head in defeat, because finding anyone of similar genius to Edward Clark was a very hard thing. She knew it firsthand because she managed the finances of the Society, and the money that they were investing into the Magitek was staggering.
"We are probably the sole Magic Association that is keeping up with the times..."
Yakou said with a laugh as their car was already nearing their first destination, which was the Metropolitan Opera House located on Broadway at Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Ironically speaking, the Onmyōji Clans were extremely conservative and traditional, even more than most of the Magic Associations and Magic Lineages across the entire world.
Yet, he also understood the immense potential of the Magitek. It was undeniably true that lower-ranked Mages and Knights had basically no way of effectively defending against the overwhelming technological prowess and destructiveness of their weapons.
As he was about to say something, their cars suddenly stopped, and the doors of their Rolls-Royce were opened by one of their bodyguards, who was an Enforcer from the Department of the Sealing Designation Enforcers.
Yakou was wearing a very nice suit that was picked for him by Eve, while she was wearing a beautiful, golden-colored, sleeveless dress for the occasion. They were led to one of the VIP booths in the Metropolitan Opera House under the escort of the Enforcers.
He himself was rather unsuited to this, because usually Yakou was the one who was part of the protection detail, not the person whom the protection detail was protecting. It really felt a weird to him, but he felt that he could get used to it.
Not like the Campione needed any protection, but he guessed that it was important for appearance's sake, as he was one of the Knights of the Round Table and King of the Table, so it would reflect badly on the Society if he was running here and there like he wanted.
Rules.
Something that he actually liked pretty much.
Don Giovanni was an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legend about a libertine as told by playwright Tirso de Molina in his 1630 play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra.
It wasn't the first time that he had seen it, as he had been to the Opera a few times.
As a bodyguard, of course.
One of his clients, Mamyia Marie, who lately has been hiring his services for other purposes, enjoyed going to the Opera, and she didn't like going with a lot of bodyguards; she preferred only one.
The woman was a fresh widow after her husband died earlier this year, leaving her alone with her daughter Marika, as she inherited the entire Mamyia Conglomerate, which is one of the leading technological conglomerates in all of Japan.
Aside from the shady business that they were engaging in, Yakou learned that they were involved in a lot of genetic engineering and experimentation that they carried out in the dark.
Among the other things.
"Come on, the Opera starts in fifteen minutes, and I want to order something to eat."
Obviously, the VIP Booth that Eve reserved had their personal food service, but that was to be expected, as she would not settle for anything less. Yakou only wordlessly followed after her, as the building was being filled by the guests.
Mostly, the people from the higher society and the rich.
Their VIP Booth was very nice and it had a good view on the platofrm where the Opera was being played. They even had their own service in the form of staff, but all people were, of course, screened by the Enforcers before they could enter their room or bring something.
In fact, it wasn't even that rare, because a lot of powerful and influential people had their own security, so the staff of the Metropolitan Opera House was used to occasions like this one.
Yakou and Eve were seated as Eve then dictated the orders for drinks and snacks to the waiter, which he swore were so complicated that he would need eidetic memory to remember every single detail.
And he was pretty sure that she would wreak havoc like an enraged Godzilla in Tokyo, if something was wrong. One thing that he noticed about the Rockefeller Heiress was that she was rather obsessed with the perfection that she expected from everyone else around her.
Surprisingly or not, the staff handled it very well, as they were probably expecting more problematic guests like Eve, who was on the more unreasonable spectrum of things and requirements.
For the next two and a half hours, Yakou and Eve were sitting in silence, watching and listening to the Opera that Eve enjoyed more than he, but it wasn't like he didn't like it. For Yakou, it was a relatively new experience, and he found a certain beauty in it.
Well, it was certainly different than when he needed to guard the target and be on extreme alert in the case of an attack or something.
When the performance had ended with thunderous applause, both of them headed to the restaurant for dinner. He appreciated that Eve chose a restaurant that was exactly to his taste, because they were serving steaks and beef of the highest quality, which was something that he certainly liked.
Especially the Wagyu.
Which was his favourite.
Within the restaurant, Eve reserved the entire place.
There was literally no one else aside from them.
Her reason?
No distractions.
There were only waiters, personnel, chefs, and Enforcers.
Yakou and Eve were sitting at the single table that was moved to have the best view of the panorama of the night in New York City, as the light was dimmed, and there was even a band playing classical live music.
Everything for the romantic dinner that Eve planned.
"I have to admit, now I feel bad that I let you do all of this planning... shouldn't it be the man's work?"
He said that because he saw that Eve actually put a lot of thought into this entire endeavor.
"While I appreciate the sentiment, I doubt that you can handle it the way that I want, so it's better to leave it to me, as I don't really see it as something that I need."
Eve didn't really care about the fact that she was the one who planned their date and everything, because she had a lot of requirements that needed to be fulfilled, and she was much better at logistics, planning, and everything.
While she really appreciated his words, it wasn't like she minded this entire planning, because it took her no more than twenty minutes of her time to arrange and plan everything.
It was her natural habit; she was very good at this, and for her, it wasn't much trouble. In fact, it was something that she actually enjoyed a lot, so it wasn't a problem for her to do so.
"It's rather nice here..."
Yakou commented as he took a bite of his steak. This was already his second serving, because he ate a lot, actually. After he became Campione, Yakou had little need for physical needs like food and water, because of his overhelming amount of Magical Powers.
Even the Knights and Mages that reached the C-Rank had much lower needs for food and water and other necessities, as their Magic Power was nourishing their bodies and sustaining large parts of their daily existence.
For those who reached the S-Rank, they got rid of this need entirely, as Yakou and other Campiones could sustain their entire existence with their Magic Power alone. For him, food was solely due to habit and also enjoyment.
Obviously, he couldn't get fat or anything for it, because his metabolism could digest practically anything and everything.
"Well, it's one of the luxurious and prominent restaurants in the entire New York City, so these standards of service are only to be expected."
Eve commented casually as she ate her own dish, which was also a steak, but more modest and smaller compared to Yakou, as she was guarding her figure. She needed to look good after all.
"So, do you have any topics for conversations that are not that awkward, or will we talk about politics?"
Yakou said straightforwardly, as Eve then showed a small grin as she took several small cards from her purse.
"I already anticipated this problem... casual talk is an impossible hurdle for me as well. So I appeared this. The conversation cards."
He raised his brow, but he understood that any casual talk or small talk was equally troublesome for both of them, and neither of them wanted to talk about politics, issues related to the Society, or Magic-stuff.
Even someone as insensible as Yakou knew that this was rather a poor topic for a date.
"Really? It sounds like something taken straight away from some random book for children on how to make friends or whatever."
Hearing that, made Eve glare at him pretty hard with a rather unfriendly gaze, but she didn't say anything, as she then mixed her cards and took the first one out.
"Leave those comments to yourself. They are actually practical ways to initiate conversation if people actually don't know what to talk about. And we agreed not to talk about anything related to politics, work, Magic, and Lore. So the first question is..."
Eve commented as she took out the first card. This arrangement that they won't be talking about these topics was something that both of them tacitly agreed on as it was for the best, because most of the time, they were talking about only this.
"Ts... What is the thing that you hate the most?"
Yakou raised his brow when she read the question, but he didn't want to laugh at that, so he just prepared his answer.
"Idiots."
Eve nodded and accepted the answer as something with which she wholeheartedly agreed.
"Incompetence."
She said as it was something that he already knew.
Then she passed the cards to him, as he took one of the pack.
"What are your favourite hobbies?"
Interesting question, as right now, he only knew that Eve liked going to the Operas.
"Watching Opera and criticizing the performance, appreciating Relics and making money."
He chuckled, hearing that, because it was an answer that he already expected from her.
Even though Eve didn't show it, she was rather obsessed with making more money, which was something like the trait of the Rockefellers. Though unfortunately, her brother inherited the unsavory trait of the rich people, which was the young master syndrome and squandering money.
"You are an Appraiser?"
This was something that rather surprised him, because Official Relic Appraisers were rare.
"I obtained my certification when I was like thirteen?... My grandfather was an Official Relic Appraiser, and I picked it up from him as he taught me everything that he knew. He was also the Chief Relic Appraiser for the Illuminati Society before he passed away."
Eve nodded as she explained how she became an Official Relic Appraiser at the age of thirteen, which was a rather impressive achievement. The Official Relic Appraisers were very rare across the world, and not many learned how to appraise Relics properly.
Relic Appraisers were people who knew how to use other Relics, the ones of the Analytical Abilities to figure out the functions, nature, history, and fundamental origin of the other Relics.
And the Official Relic Appraisers were the ones who were accepted and acknowledged by the Magic Association Council.
It was the supernatural world's equivalent of the United Nations, but it was even less.
Most of the time, the Magic Associations only gathered there to issue the certifications for the Mages, Relic Appraisers, Tomb Excavators, and other kinds of Certifications, or to discuss the threats that were threatening the entire world.
Aside from that, the Magic Association Council didn't even function properly. Its headquarters were located in Zürich, and it had, like, five or six employees?
"That's rather impressive. Right now, there are only a hundred twenty Official Relic Appraisers in the world?"
She nodded with a small smile, because hearing praise from Campione was something rare, but Eve was also happy inside that it was Yakou who praised her as a person, not just as a Campione.
Official Relic Appraisers also gave the certifications to the Relic Sellers if the Relic was true, so nobody would try to scam people with fake Relics. Though it wasn't like this didn't happen, because if one went to the underground market, then it wouldn't take even five minutes until some shady guy would try to sell a Heirloom that is absolutely geniue.
"Well, for me, as you probably noticed, it's research of Magic. Then it would probably be training and... well, there isn't a lot because I never had any time to develop some hobbies in my life."
For Yakou, it was rather understandable because he considered his training to be his hobby, and he was never the one to pick up hobbies, as there was no time for things like that.
He usually had very different priorities.
"Now, you will have more time, so I could recommend something like playing golf or something like that."
He grimaced, hearing that, as he couldn't really imagine himself going out and playing golf... even that idea sounded pretty wrong in his head.
"That would look really bad... another question."
They were already waiting for the desserts as the main courses were already finished, and now only the desserts remained.
"What's an accomplishment you're most proud of?"
Eve picked up the question card from the pack, as this was the last one that they had.
"Becoming a Campione would certainly be the one... then it would be most probably surviving and building a stable income, considering all of the things that I operated in the hostile territory."
He answered as if becoming a Campione would be at the top of his list, no matter how he tried to put it. Aside from that, he was certainly proud off that he managed to stay off the radar of the History Compilation Committee and operate right under their noses.
"Under the lamp, there is the greatest darkness, as they say."
He nodded to Eve's statement because it was indeed true. Over the past decades, with the History Compilation Committee being the sole Magic Association of the entire Empire of Japan and having basically unlimited acess to power in the nation, they grew conceited and arrogant in their power.
If not, then he wouldn't have been able to happily operate within Tokyo and other big metropolitan areas. He even managed to strike a very close relationship with the Momobami Clan and Mamiya Conglomerate, for whom he often worked in various shady jobs.
"I would pick becoming an Official Relic Appraiser, covering after the mess that Austin makes pretty often and doubling our family fortune since I started managing the Rockefeller Fund and Rockefeller Bank."
Eve then presented her answers, as all of them were impressive choices. He noticed that she didn't put it in the fact that she became Knight of the Round Table, but he concluded that it was primarily because of her Family's standing within the Illuminati Society.
The major families of the Illuminati Society were the Rockefeller Family, the Faust Family, and the Holton Family, as they had so much influence within the Illuminati Society that they held inheritable seats at the Knights of the Round.
Aside from them, the rest of the Knights of the Round were chosen purely by merit and strength. While it wasn't like the inheritable seats were solely chosen due to their families, as the people who took the Seats also needed to fulfill various requirements and criteria, because it would look pretty bad on them.
After they finished the meal, both of them boarded the cars that were bringing them to their lodgings, mainly to the Rockefeller Centre, where Eve had her own permanent suite, while Yakou was given a suite next to her.
He would spend a night in New York before departing for Washington D.C. tomorrow morning to join the war efforts in the South. The Blazer Corps with Keira Clark would be departing from Washington directly to the border with Mexico.
When they arrived at the Rockefeller Centre, it was already almost midnight, as they actually spent a lot more time at the restaurant than Eve had planned.
"I have to thank you for this entire thing... You really put a lot of thought into this evening, and I don't remember the last time when I had so much a peaceful and nice time."
Yakou said as they stood in the lobby that had only a few suites. The entire floor where they were standing was for the exclusive use of the members of the Rockefeller Family, their VIP guests, or high-ranking members of the organizations under the Rockefeller Family's ownership.
"That's a nice thing to hear, and if you are interested, we can repeat this next time."
He said he stepped forward next to Eve, as the woman in question breathed more heavily, and she tensed a bit when he leaned over and slowly kissed her on the lips. While she was surprised at first, Eve returned the kiss, though he noticed that the heiress was rather unskilled and didn't really know how to do.
It was like when he kissed Kirari for the first time.
But he already expected it, because despite Eve being around 27 or 28, she didn't have any experience with men. Mainly because of very strict family rules, and also because of her own ridiculous standards for the male suitors.
Though he could say that she enjoyed the kiss very much, in fact.
"I..."
When they separated, Eve wanted to say something, but before she mustered her courage to do so, she bolted away like a scared rabbit. Yakou knew that, despite her tough exterior and everything, she was actually a bit shy inside.
He just chuckled as he went to his own suite to sleep.
Meanwhile, he left, Eve was standing behind the closed doors of her own suite, as her heart was beating wildly and she looked down ot the ground in embarrassment.
***
United States of America, Texas, Border between the USA and former Mexico, Several Hours Later, Forward Base of the Mage-Knight Blazer Corps
The Mage-Knight Blazer Corps, under the directive of its General Keira Clark, built their forward base at the borders between the United States of America and what once was Mexico.
Currently, it was the border between the territory of the US and Los Muertos led by Hermán Gonzáles, who was in a war with several of their neighbors. Several thousand troops of the Mage-Knight Blazer Corps were preparing to cross the borders and attack Gonzáles's forces and specifically target the Mages and Knights under his command.
This would also be the first time that they would be putting to the test the first generation of the Magitek Vehicles and weapons that were developed by the Military and Illuminati Society.
They were deploying more than three hundred tanks, aside from the countless other Magitek Vehicles, as the US Military and leadership in the Pentagon decided that they would flex their muscles in this fight.
The downside of the entire thing was that, during the start of the collapse of Mexico, rumors of people with supernatural powers already started circulating across the region as most of the Mages that were fighting in the countless skirmishes didn't really bother to maintain the secrecy.
So, the emergency meeting of the Magic Association Council was called not long ago where it was decided thtat they needed to maintain the secrecy of Magic and due to that, the Magic Assocaitions around the world, would activate a national-level Magic array that would be targetting anyone in the regions of Central America to forget about Magic and Supernatural, if they were not aware of it.
Additionally, albeit reluctantly, Witenagemot and other Magic Associations that decided not to intervene in the efforts of the United States to wage war in Central America, as they deemed maintaining secrecy more important than petty rivalry.
Yakou, who was heading to the command center of the Mage-Knight Blazer Corps, knew that it was primarily because no other Campione supported their effort. And these people, no matter how many personal grievances they had, knew better than to offend the Magic Association that had an extremely active Campione among them.
Who was supporting practically everything that they were doing.
This gave a lot of breathing room for the Pentagon, as they wouldn't really need to fear and account for the possible sabotage of the foreign Magic Associations. Obviously, this diidn't change anything on the fact, that Witenagemot and the History Compilation Committee were supplying the Warlords with information and other help.
But that was something with which they could work and live.
It was way better than the initial anticipation that they would need to deal with the Magic Saints from the Witenagemot and other Magic Associations that would come here and cause as big losses to the Society and United States as possible.
Right now, preservation of the secrecy of the Magic and Supernatural Side of the World was of paramount importance.
"We will attack in three directions. Targeting the main strongholds of Los Muertia, where most of the Mages under Gonzáles are congregated on our borders."
Keira Clark, as the person who was placed in overall command over the operation, had a briefing with the other Generals from the Army and Air Force and several Admirals connected from a distance.
"The attack needs to be fast and destroy these three targets as soon as possible. If the operation is successful, we have basically a free path straight to Mexico City and approximately half of the former Mexico before we encounter significant resistance in the form of Erigor and his Dark Mages that are cooped up in the middle of the region."
The plan was, of course, more comprehensive than this, but this was only a general briefing as everyone would receive their more concrete orders after the briefing had ended.
"Are there any local forces that we can actually use, or are we counting everyone as hostile?"
One of the Generals asked as Keira actually nodded.
To the first part of the question.
"The President managed to strike a deal with a few former Generals of the Mexican Army who are resisting against the Cartels. Location of their forces would be distributed after the briefing, but collectively they have around seventy thousand troops, not including local militia."
Surprisingly, there were still some loyalists ot the old government, but most of them had already given up restoring the former nation, because there was nothing to restore in the first place.
So, Grey struck a deal with them that they could keep their position and would be inducted into the United States Military after the US took over the southern part of North America, basically the former territory of Mexico.
"They control some of the crucial cities, but without our intervention, they would fall to the infighting and Warlords within a few weeks, and they command a considerable number of troops, and it would be a waste to let them all be killed. We would need some of their manpower in the cleanup operations and maintaining control over the territory."
Grey had already decided that, for the time being, the territories of the former Mexico would become a Special Administrative Region so it could be incorporated into the United States of America as the 52nd State of the Union.
Congress already approved it, albeit the rising tension in the United States due to the war was something that the Grey administration needed to handle with much better care.
"Now, I would like you to give word to His Majesty, who would act as the Overseer of the Operation: Cactusfall."
As Keira said that, the entire briefing room suddenly went dead silent, as everyone who was there was aware of the Campione and what the Campiones represented. They were the supreme rulers of the world and the peak of the entire society.
"Thank you for the attention, ladies and gentlemen. I will keep it short. During this operation, your troops would be fighting on the frontlines against the enemy Dark Mages, and we have confirmed the presence of several Grand Knights and Magisters. My task as the Overseer of the Operation is to act against these types of threats. Thus, you are hereby given an order that if you encounter someone on this level, the best course of action is to engage only when you are confident in the elimination of the target in one shot. Having rampaging Grand Knights acorss the battlefield is the last thing that we need right now."
Everyone present nodded, hearing that. In the briefing room, there were also a lot of other ranks, predominantly Colonels, and here and there some occasional Majors.
"I will be overseeing the entire battlefield through Huginn and Muninn, who will summon me if necessary, and I will deal with the more powerful threats."
The Magitek firepower of the Illuminati Society was enough to kill Grand Knigths and Magisters of Magic, but the downside was, if they missed in their first salvo and gave their enemies a chance to counterattack...
Destruction and death were the only possible outcomes.
"Colonel Hower and his team would accompany His Majesty during the invasion and handle the communication lines and everything regarding to the auxiliary support."
Keira assigned a squad of Colonel Hower to Yakou to act as his support. They would handle the auxiliary aspects of his operations, because even though Yakou would have Huginn and Munnin around the area, it wasn't enough to cover the entire region.
The United States was now operating the Echelon III System to the maximum, so they were able to screen the entire region in the most accurate and precise way imaginable. Keira then started distributing more concrete tasks to the people and deciding on the strategy of the attack.
Yakou only listened to the orders from General of the Mage-Knight Blazer Corps.
When the last order was issued, everyone scrambled off as the attack began in two hours.
***
Los Muerte Fort Mirador, Seventy-two kilometers away from Texas, Republic of Murtia
Fort Mirador was one of the three major forward bases og the Los Muerte, and it housed a rather significant number of Dark Mages and troops of the Murtia. Even when one considered the fact that most of the people were former soldiers of the Cartel, it had a rather uncanny level of discipline among the troops guarding the fort.
Generalissimo Hermán Gonzáles of the Murtia Republic stationed a lot of manpower on the border with the United States because of the impending attack of the United States Military on the former territories of Mexico.
Yet, due to the attack conducted by Erigor and the Dark Mages following him in Mexico City, a considerable part of that manpower was withdrawn several days ago to the capital of the newly established republic to guard the capital.
Still, Fort Mirador boasted something around two hundred Mages and Knights, albeit the majority of them were rather low-ranking ones or foreigners. Primarily the rogue Mages and Knights from Europe and Asia who were persecuted for some crimes or something.
Since the outbreak of the war, a lot of these people have arrived in Mexico to search for opportunities for themselves. While it wasn't anything out of character for people like that, even the big shots in here were surprised by the influx of foreigners who appeared to offer their services or to just carve up some territory for themselves.
Obviously, the Murtia Republic, as the first established nation in the warzone, received the largest influx, and Gonzáles took them in with glee because it meant more firepower against his enemies on all sides.
Unfortunately, even though they behaved themselves for a bit, unless someone had absolute power, it wouldn't be possible to suppress all of these people long-term. While Hermán Gonzáles was one of the stronger Grand Knights, he wasn't on the level where he could suppress the jhundress of Dark Mages.
So many were already becoming rather bored, which would be rather bad luck for the local civilian population.
"Hey Jang, what's that?"
One of the Dark Mages that were on guard duty at Fort Mirador asked his colleague, who was a foreigner from Korea, as they looked at the horizon.
"Bird... a Raven perhaps?"
The man named Jang was from South Korea, where he was a highly wanted criminal for carrying out illegal research on the Necromancy Magic as he attempted to artificially create a Heirloom Relic from a Necromancy-type Relic by sacrificing living souls to the thing so he could become a Magic Saint.
He was rather unfortunate in that regard, before he was discovered and, after a huge fight with the local Magic Association, forced to flee. However, he arrived in Southern America, where he met with local Dark Mages and became one of the Generals of Murtia due to his strength.
He was basically a Pseudo Grand Knight, as most of his strength stemmed from the Relic that he was using, and at the same time, the Relic also had enormous side effects.
"It seems to be watching us..."
The man who posed the question asked rather hesitantly as he noticed a huge black raven in the sky that was circling above the Fort Mirador as if it was carrying out reconnaissance.
"Ignore it... Probably only something searching for food or a carcass to eat. This place is not the cleanest. There are a lot of scavengers around here."
Jang, who was basically something like the overall commander of the Fort Mirador, stated because even though the discipline in this place was rather uncanny for the bunch of murderers, terrorists, and hitmen to behave like this.
Initially, though, it didn't affect the state of the entire thing, which looked half like a military installation and half like a crib of a drug dealer.
As Jang was about to leave to check on the other places around the Fort Mirador, suddenly the entire area where he was standing collapsed in an enormous explosion as flying projectiles hit it.
Instantly, everyone started screaming and shouting, clear evidence that they were attacked as a large chunk of the Fort was destroyed in a split second, and several hundred people were killed in a split second.
As he looked down at the entrance to the Fort, he noticed a man standing there.
It was a man clad in something like a military uniform, but very reminiscent of the military uniforms of Imperial Japan, albeit more luxurious, wearing a black cap with Kaballah Symbols and his pitch-black hair tied in a braid.
In his hands, he gripped a spear, and Jang, like every single other Mage, could feel overhelming Magic Power radiating from the man like a shining sun.
Jang was the first one to recognize it.
Because he saw it before.
That overhelming power that shook the entire continent and could turn entire nations into ash.
The Supreme Kings of the Magic World.
The Devil Kings.
The God Slayers.
Campione.
In a split second, Jang instantly decided to escape from this place as soon as possible.
Unfortunately for him, it was too late, as before he could cast even a single spell, he suddenly froze in his tracks as he looked down, where the tip of a spear was sticking out from his stomach.
***
Fort Mirador was the place that Yakou personally chose to attack because it actually housed the largest number of the Mages, and it also had one Grand Knight. A notorious Dark Mage from South Korea, Jang Il-Han.
Someone whose infamy reached most of Asia and Siberia...
Yet, in front of the might of Campione, his status oasGrand Knight was literally nothing as he was killed within a few moments before he could blink.
Obviously, Yakou wasn't here alone, because as soon as he activated his newest Divine Authority of Piedra Del Sol: Solar Calendar Stone, the troops of the Mage-KnightBlazer Corps launched their full-scale assault on the troops inside the Fort Mirador and its surrounding area.
Even though Yakou used the Divine Authority of Piedra Del Sol: Solar Calendar Stone to destroy a large chunk of the Fort and managed to kill several hundred people, he specifically controlled the power of the Divine Authority, or else the entire Fort Mirador would have been pulverized to rubble.
At the same time, when he was choosing where to attack, he chose the area from where he sensed most of the Magical Signatures, as he wanted to lower the number of the Mages as much as possible.
And of course...
To kill the Grand Knight in charge of this fort.
Everything happened too fast for anyone even to register what was happening, as Yakou didn't stop his attack and continued attacking the other, weaker Mages and Knights. When the troops from the Mage-Knight Blazer Corps arrived with the heavy artillery and vehicles, the entire battle was a bloodbath.
Already weakened and half-destroyed, Fort Mirador had no way to defend against the Mage-Knight Blazer Corps as most of the defender's Mages and Knights perished at the hands of the Campione.
This was also one of the few occasions when the Campione participated in the mortal battles, as they usually refrained from doing so.
Because they were terror on the battlefield.
The only one among the current Campiones doing something like that was Marquise Voban because he behaved like a true tyrant. The other Campiones disdain things like this because they find it beneath their status.
This was the common mentality among the Campiones.
But for Yakou, things like social norms or anything like that were something that he didn't believe in and considered as useless.
Pride?
Even more so.
Now, everyone who looked at the battlefield realized the terror of the Campione, because the said Campione that was attacking the Mages and Knights, was casually strolling through the battlefield.
Spells from the Mages and Knights fell on him, but he shrugged them off like nothing, as there was no result from them. With their Magic Resistance towards Magic in general and complete Magic Resistance toward all Mortal Magic, he could simply ignore all of the Spells that the Mages were hurling at him.
This was also the first time that he was using the Magic Resistance against a large number of Mages and Knights.
Seeing the result, Yakou fully realized how powerful the Campiones actually were compared against ordinary mortal mages and Knights. Everything they had done was totally useless against the Magic Resistance, which was negating everything.
Unless someone had Divine Magic or Magic with Divine Properties, Magic was useless against a Campione.
With Yakou's help, the entire Fort Mirador fell to the US within not even half an hour of the start, when, following the Mage-Knight Blazer Corps, standart troops from the US Army started flooding the place and clearing the battlefield.