Chapter Thirty One: Thursday's Shock VI

Following the directions a JP's member had given him, Hibiki entered the room located somewhere in JP's HQ. The room held a similar design to many of the others rooms he had seen. The metal supports and structures glowed golden and bronze in color when the light struck them. It was very spacious and the only prominent object inside was a long table right in the middle of the room with several chairs around it.

"Heeey! Hibiki! Over here!" his best friend called out to him with a wave.

Daichi motioned to the seat beside him, and Hibiki sat down slowly as he got a closer look at the expensive wooden table which was dark in color. Feeling the smoothness of the chair beneath him, Hibiki felt a little daunted. They were just going to eat dinner, so why was he feeling so nervous?

Opposite of him, Daichi's face sported a large grin. "Dude, have you seen this place? I mean, I knew that JP's never holds back, but this is way more than I imagined. I am looking forward to that food!"

Io, who sat in front of Hibiki, hummed in agreement. She was also in a good mood. "I wonder what we'll be eating."

"Good food, that's for sure," Joe supplied to her right, "I was making my way over here – totally not lost or anything – and that was when a heavenly aroma wafted past my nose. Who knew there'd be such a big kitchen in the Diet Building?"

Amidst their carefree conversation, a voice drifted through and caught their attention.

"Hello, everyone," Kazuya greeted before speaking to Hibiki, "Is it okay if I take this seat?"

Hibiki quickly gave his consent and Kazuya sat down on the chair to his right. Atsuro took the next chair beside Kazuya, Naoya sat directly in front of his cousin, and Kaido was in front of Atsuro.

Noticing movement from the corner of his eyes, Hibiki turned to the left and saw that Airi and Hinako had sat together. Jungo and Keita were on the other side of the table, facing the two girls as they sat beside each other. To his far right, Makoto, Fumi and Otome had also arrived. The three sat nearest to the end of the table, and Hibiki guessed that it was the front of the table because there was a sole chair at the very end. Seeing that Yamato was the only one absent, it was most probably his seat.

Watching everyone get settled in, Hibiki realized that everyone had sat in distinct groups. In order, from the back of the table to the front, were the Nagoya and Osaka factions, the Tokyo faction which included Hibiki, Kazuya's group, and lastly JP's.

"Hey, Hibiki," Hinako called out to him as she leaned closer from the other side of Daichi, "Are you going to ask Yamato about Fukuoka?"

Hibiki nodded. Aside from the dinner party, there was still an issue to resolve. "I will."

"Okay, good. We need to know about what's going on and Yamato's the only one with answers," Hinako said before frowning, "But depending on how he reacts… We might have a fight on our hands. Yamato's the kind of guy who'll do anything to achieve his goals, so tread lightly, okay?"

At the sound of footsteps, everyone looked to the only door in the room. Yamato had finally arrived. The moment he appeared, all conversations ceased and they all silently watched him make his way to his seat at the front of the table.

Scanning the faces seated at the table, he spoke but did not sit down, "It would seem that everyone has arrived. I'm sorry to call you all here. I know you're busy."

The participants of the dinner glanced at each other, unsure of what to say.

Yamato continued, "Thanks to all of you, today we defeated Alioth! In celebration, I have had a dinner prepared."

Interrupting his speech, Makoto abruptly stood up from her seat and met Yamato's eyes.

"Chief Hotsuin… A moment, if you'll allow."

"Go ahead, Sako," Yamato consented without a pause.

"Forgive my impertinence, but there is something I must report first."

Hearing the rigid tone in Makoto's voice and observing her tense posture, Yamato frowned in return and crossed his arms as he waited for Makoto to stop beating around the bush. "Yes…?"

"I…" Makoto took a deep breath before meeting the Chief's eyes once again, "I have committed what amounts to treason against JP's. To prevent any more distrust within our organization, I ask that you punish me accordingly."

"Punish you?" Yamato said with a lilt of amusement. Laughter burst from his mouth and almost everyone jolted in alarm. It was their first time hearing Yamato laugh, and it was somewhat unnerving.

Makoto looked at him in bewilderment. "Ch-Chief Hotsuin?"

Although his laughter had died down, they could still hear the mirth in his voice, "Agent Sako, don't tell me you're referring to showing the tamers around Fukuoka."

"Y-Yes, Sir… I was."

Yamato laughed for a second time before speaking, "Let it go. It is a trivial thing, inconsequential in the long run."

Makoto protested, unable to just leave the issue like that, "But… Sir, I disobeyed a direct order."

"Silence!" Yamato commanded harshly. Makoto immediately shut her mouth closed and pressed her lips together to stop any other protests.

"Don't make me repeat myself. It will only confuse them further."

Knowing that the Chief was done talking to her, Makoto sat back down without a word.

Plastering a pleasant smile back on his face, Yamato once again addressed everyone at the table, "My apologies. Let us resume the dinner party."

Hibiki couldn't let Yamato drop the subject so quickly. It was the perfect opportunity to question him, "Why did you keep it a secret?"

"A secret?" Yamato repeated as though he didn't quite agree with such a word, "It wasn't necessary that you knew, so I did not inform you of such matters. But if you want to call it a secret, then I'm not the only one hiding things from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daichi asked, wary of Yamato's answer.

"Perhaps you should ask the one in question himself," Yamato suggested as he took a seat. His eyes slowly strayed to his target, "Kazuya Minegishi… I'm assuming you are the 'King of Bel'?"

As all heads turned towards the named boy with looks of confusion, they saw Kazuya's eyebrows furrow slightly before he gave a resigned smile.

Kazuya spoke softly with sigh, "It seems like the cat's out of the bag, huh?"

"W-what are you talking about, Kazuya?" Airi inquired with apprehension. Not wanting to believe Yamato's accusation, she glared at the Chief as her uncertainty transformed into fury. "You're just trying to trick us! Don't think you can get away by turning the attention away from yourself!"

Yamato looked amused at her words and the corner of his lips curled upwards at the notion that he even needed to escape their inquisition in the first place.

"Yamato's not wrong," Kazuya intervened before he could spit out some degrading words toward the fiery girl and stir up an even bigger uproar.

"Do you mean…" Hibiki's voice trailed off and he waited for Kazuya to elaborate.

Taking a deep breath, Kazuya spoke to truth, "I've been keeping secrets from all of you."

"It's not just Kazuya!" Atsuro jumped to his best friend's defense, "It's the four of us who have been keeping secrets."

He indicated Naoya and Kaido. They were both completely apathetic about the direction the conversation was turning towards.

"Perhaps you should explain yourselves first before we do anything else," Makoto told them, taking control of the situation when Yamato kept silent.

"If you want to tell them everything, then go ahead. We'll abide to whatever decision you make," Naoya said, causing Kazuya to realize that he had unintentionally glanced towards his cousin for reassurance.

Kazuya slowly met everyone's eyes and gauged their expressions. "I'll tell you everything."

Everyone patiently waited for him to start talking, and Kazuya opened his mouth only to close it a second later. Although he had spoken those decisive words, he found himself at a loss. Where should he begin?

An aggravated sigh broke through the silence, and Kazuya looked at his companion. "It's not a big deal," Kaido said roughly, "I'll just explain it, so listen up."

Once he knew that he had everyone's attention, Kaido gave them a quick rundown of the facts. "We come from another world. Kazuya's the Demon Overlord. And the only reason we're here is 'cause we came to kill God."

Silence descended upon the room again, as everyone stared at Kaido in stupefaction.

"Uhh… Sorry, can you run that by me again?" Joe requested with a frown. He must have heard wrong. Did Kaido really say they came from another world? Kazuya's the Demon Overlord? They're going to kill God?

Atsuro could only internally sigh at Kaido's explanation. In the end, it was up to him to kick-start their long overdue explanation.

"Let's start from the beginning," Atsuro began, "The truth is that the four of us – Me, Kazuya, Naoya and Kaido – aren't actually from this world. We travelled here from another world by using a demon's ability."

"Hold up," Daichi interrupted, "Another world…?"

That idea was a little too far-fetched to unconditionally believe it. "Err… Are you sure you didn't hit your head during the battle against Alioth, Atsuro? Maybe Otome should check just in case..."

"Well, we would have never believed that we would get attacked by beings called Septentriones if we were told five days ago," Hinako voiced out with reason.

No one could refute her words. She made a good point.

Jungo nodded in agreement. "Anything's possible now."

There were still some doubts amongst them, but Io took the initiative to ask, "What was your world like?"

"It's actually like the exact copy of this world," Atsuro answered, "But I'm pretty sure JP's doesn't exist. And there's no such thing as Septentriones in our world."

"Fascinating," Fumi commented. To the surprise of some, her eyes were wide with curiosity and her face showed no signs of fatigue or boredom for once.

She abruptly stood up from her seat, as her stare bored into Atsuro's skull. "Do you understand what you've done? There have been speculations about worlds other than our own, such as the many-worlds theory and the idea of parallel universes, but no one's ever been able to prove them. You've made a scientific discovery! With the ability to travel between worlds… The possibilities…"

Fumi seemed dazed for a moment before snapping herself back to reality. "I need to start running experiments. What hypotheses should I test? I think there was some leftover equipment somewhere around here…"

With fevered eyes, Fumi glanced back and forth between Kazuya, Atsuro, Naoya and Kaido before resting on Atsuro's face. She took a step forward in his direction, but a forceful tug on her arm pushed her back into her chair.

"What… Otome?" Fumi questioned her intentions. She didn't have time to waste!

"Calm down, okay?" Otome ordered with a stern expression, "You can do your experiments some other time. For now, let's listen to what they have to say."

"Ugh, fine…" Fumi conceded. She had no problems with defying Makoto, but she could never seem to anything against the JP's doctor.

Otome smiled at Atsuro. "Sorry about that. Please continue."

With that bizarre and random scene dealt with, Atsuro spoke again, ignoring the shiver that had gone done his spine just a few minutes ago. "There was a big incident that happened a year ago in our world. Do you remember when we talked about the COMPs yesterday?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

"Demons weren't really common in our world before these COMPs were made. What I mean is that they did exist and they could be summoned through rituals and other methods, but no one really believed in them. It was just your normal, everyday Tokyo life."

"Peaceful days, huh?" Joe commented with a wistful smile before it slipped when his mood turned serious. "Let me guess; demons came popping out of nowhere."

"Right," Atsuro said, "There are two reasons why it became easier to summon demons. The first is that one of the four devas, who are tasked with keeping the barrier up between the human and demon worlds, was killed by the Shomonkai. This leads into the second reason: the Shomonkai is a cult who hired Naoya to develop the summoning program in these COMPs."

"You're making it sound like Naoya helped bring in the demons," Io said perplexed. That impression left a bitter taste on her tongue. "I thought these COMPs were made to fight the demons, just like how Nicaea was given to us to fight the Septentriones."

"Oh! That's…" Atsuro flustered. Glancing at Naoya, he didn't know how to explain that issue to everyone. There was no denying that Naoya had his own reasons for creating the demon summoning program, and they weren't completely well-intentioned.

To Atsuro's relief, Naoya took over to answer Io. "I did have a hand in that. By programming the COMPs, I gave users easier access to demons."

"But why?" Io asked. She couldn't believe her ears. Not only her, but almost everyone in the room couldn't believe that Naoya was the one who allowed demons to cross into the human world. Demons may be useful in fighting the Septentriones, but it was still a fact that they caused a lot of damage and deaths.

"How could you do that?" she questioned. The past couple of days were a nightmare; a horror that no one should have to experience. How could he bring such pain onto others?

"Even if I hadn't created the demon summoning program," Naoya replied calmly, unmoved by her sorrow, "Demons would have appeared in our world regardless. Without Jikokuten, the strongest of the four devas, the barrier between the demon and human worlds would have collapsed on its own. Then a stream of demons would invade the human world, and no one would have the power to stop them."

"With the COMPs," he continued with a smile, "I gave humanity the ability to prevent that catastrophe; I gave them the power to change their fates. So, tell me, were my actions really so bad?"

"All that happened in the past," Kazuya said. The past should stay as the past. If they stayed stuck living in the past, then they would never get anywhere. "It's thanks to Naoya that we're here today."

When Kazuya met his best friend's eye, Atsuro took that cue to move on to the next topic. There was still a lot that needed to be explained.

"Right, so where I left off… me, Kazuya and Yuzu – another friend of ours – went to Shinjuku to meet up with Naoya. We didn't actually see him at the meet-up, but he had met with Yuzu beforehand and gave us the COMPs. After cracking open the lock on the COMPs, the demon summoning program automatically booted up. That's when we summoned our first demons. They weren't obedient from the start though, because they attacked us the moment they were summoned. We learned that we needed to defeat them in order to form a contract. If they killed us, the demons would be free to roam in the human world."

"You defeated the demons on your own?" Keita questioned with interest. He wondered how he would fare against a demon without one of his own by his side. Kazuya and Atsuro were strong. He kind of wanted to fight them himself to test his strength against theirs.

"Yes," Kazuya replied with a nod.

Atsuro disagreed. "It was Kazuya who saved our lives. He managed to defeat his demon, and then summoned it to defeat ours."

"I really thought you were a goner, Kazuya" he told his best friend.

Hibiki furrowed his eyebrows in puzzlement at Atsuro's words. "What happened?"

"The demon I summoned was an Ogre," Kazuya answered, "It managed to slash me across my waist, but Yuzu healed me with Dia, so I was fine."

They looked at Kazuya in awe. The fact that he managed to defeat a demon without the help of his own demon was amazing. Not only that, but Kazuya had sustained a serious injury. Honestly, it was lucky that the most they've gotten were bruises and scratches.

"After that, we found out that the entire Yamanote Line was barricaded," Kazuya informed them, "We couldn't go home; thousands of people were locked inside this 'Tokyo Lockdown.'"

"You were locked in? But how?" Io asked, "Didn't the government do anything?"

"Ha!" Kaido snorted in mockery, "It was the government who locked us in. They had a bunch of SDF standing guard at every section of the barricade. They didn't let anyone leave; those who tried were given the bullet. 'Not like I expected anything from those pathetic excuses. The government was only the angel's lapdog."

"Angels…?" Jungo repeated.

Kazuya nodded. "Yes. You met them when we fought against Ronaldo, actually."

"Those were angels?" Daichi exclaimed with shock, "I thought they were demons…"

Naoya smiled in amusement at Daichi's misconception. "No. Demons and angels have been enemies since the beginning of time. To be compared – worse still, mistaken – as demons… It's quite an insult to the angels."

Daichi gulped in trepidation. "I won't be struck by God for saying that, will I?"

The mood in the room dropped and Daichi saw the solemn expressions on the four's faces. "…Did I say something wrong?"

There was no doubt in Kazuya's mind that God knew who everyone in this room was. They were already dragged into the war with God because of their interactions with Kazuya, Atsuro, Naoya and Kaido.

"You won't get struck by God," Kazuya promised earnestly, "We won't let Him hurt any of you."

A bit thrown off by the Kazuya's intensity, Daichi could only thank him in perplexity.

Atsuro coughed to get rid of the heavy atmosphere before continuing on with his story. "Anyways, things weren't great in the Lockdown. There were barely enough supplies for everyone. Sure, the government sent us food, but they would drop it down from a helicopter. People literally fought and killed for the food. The strong abused the demon summoning program and the weak were left to die; death by demons, death by angels, and death by humans… The point is we saw a lot of people die in the Lockdown.

"It was God's Ordeal," Kazuya took over, "We had sinned by consorting with demons, or so the angels told us. It was humanity's responsibility to rectify the situation and deal with the demons. We had a deadline of seven days. After seven days had passed, every single person in the Lockdown would be killed."

"No way…" Io muttered. She was horrified. Right now, they were facing a catastrophe of their own. It was worldwide, but at least they had JPs helping them. There was no one who helped Kazuya and the others during their ordeal.

"We got into a lot of battles with demons and other demon tamers, but the strongest enemies were the Bel demons," Atsuro said.

"The Bel who-sit now?" Joe repeated for clarification.

"The Bel demons," Naoya clarified, "Beldr, Belial, Jezebel, Belzaboul, and Belberith. They were originally of one entity but were split into many parts after being defeated in battle by God. Each Bel demon holds a piece of the original Bel's power. Only those with the power of Bel are capable of competing for the Throne of Bel. After a victorious battle and by absorbing the defeated Bel demons' power, the victor becomes one step closer to being whole again and reigning supreme over all demons as the King of Bel."

Hibiki glanced at the Chief. Yamato was the one who brought about this long discussion after calling Kazuya the King of Bel. Seeing the hard stare directed at Kazuya, Hibiki felt uncomfortable for him. Even though he was sure that Yamato's stare could bore a hole though somebody's skull, Kazuya didn't even seem to notice it.

"King of Bel…" Otome pondered out loud. She was sure that she had heard that somewhere else before. "That's right!" She exclaimed as her eyes brightened in remembrance, "That demon – Bifrons – called you the King of Bel, Kazuya."

Everyone waited for Kazuya to answer.

"To end the Lockdown, I became the King of Bel," Kazuya explained, "With the power of the King of Bel, I could to stop the wild demons from attacking the people in the Lockdown. With the threat of the demons subdued, the government had no other reason to keep everyone trapped and so they lifted the Lockdown."

"Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen," Kaido interrupted. Annoyance and anger was clear on his face. "God and his bastard angels forced the government to keep the Lockdown and blamed Kazuya for it. They told everyone that the only way to end the Lockdown was to kill Kazuya. We had to deal with a lot of shitheads because of that."

"But didn't you become the King of Bel to save everyone, Kazuya?" Hinako asked, "Are you saying that the people you saved attacked you in return?"

"Can you blame them?" Naoya returned with a question of his own, "Humans have always been gullible. They're easily swept away by their emotions. Besides, who would you believe in more: God or the Demon Overlord?"

Everyone knew the obvious answer to that one. Demons were always the bad guys in stories.

Recounting their entire explanation, Hibiki felt like something was off. "Naoya said that only those with the power of Bel could become the King of Bel," he said, "Kazuya, does that mean you have that power?"

"I do," Kazuya answered simply before he paused and looked at his brother. He wasn't sure if Naoya was fine with talking about their past histories. It was still a sore topic for him. "That explanation is a little more complicated."

They all watched the silent conversation between the two brothers before Makoto spoke up to encourage Kazuya to continue. "Please explain everything."

Breaking eye contact with Naoya, Kazuya hesitantly agreed.

"Do you know the story of Cain and Abel?"

Hibiki's eyes widened. While the Anguished One called him Shining One, Cain and Abel were the names for Naoya and Kazuya.

"I think I know it," Io quietly spoke up when no one else responded, "Cain and Abel from the Holy Bible, right? If I recall… they were the sons of Adam and Eve, who were the first humans God created. Cain was the older brother who cultivated the earth and Abel was the younger brother who tended the sheep."

Fumi sighed. She was familiar with this story. She had only heard it about a hundred times during her stay with her host family when she had gone abroad to study. Fumi continued the story with a bored tone of voice, "God asked for sacrifices from the both of them. Cain gave his crops and Abel sacrificed his lamb. God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice, but not with Cain's. In a fit of jealousy, Cain murdered his brother… or so the story goes."

Those were the events told through God's words, so it wasn't completely accurate, but…

"That's the gist of it," Kazuya said before adding on some more information, "For killing his brother, Cain was punished by God. Every time he dies, Cain would be reincarnated with all of his memories intact. Those who kill Cain would suffer vengeance sevenfold."

It couldn't be a coincidence. The Cain and Abel the Anguished One called Kazuya and Naoya, and the Cain and Abel from the Bible had to have some kind of connection. Hibiki took a guess. "Are you Abel, Kazuya? And is Naoya, Cain?"

"What are you talking about, Hibiki?" Daichi exclaimed, "Isn't that just a story? And even if they were real events, they would have happened like a gajillion years ago! There's no way those people would still be alive today!"

Contrary to Daichi's thoughts, Kazuya acknowledged Hibiki's assumption. "Naoya is Cain, but it's more precise to say that I'm one of Abel's incarnations. By becoming the King of Bel, you can say that I'm the closest to being the true Abel in both mind and soul."

"And… uh… what does that mean exactly?" Daichi inquired.

"Abel's original soul contained the power of Bel. As an incarnation of Abel, I have a piece of his soul inside of me. This was why I was eligible for the Throne of Bel. As I absorbed power from the other Bel demons, Abel's essence inside of me grew stronger. In fact, I remembered my life as Abel when I became the King of Bel."

"According to the story, Cain killed Abel," Makoto stated. Hesitance flashed across her face. "Does that mean you…?"

Now Kazuya was the one who felt uncomfortable. Not even Atsuro had asked him about that. He had just accepted that Kazuya had another set of memories and left it at that. He didn't pry because in the end, Kazuya was still Kazuya, and he was fine with whatever decision his best friend made.

"Yes," Kazuya admitted, "I do remember getting killed by my brother."

"Seriously?" Airi said, incredulous, "Like the pain and emotions, too? How can you still be fine?"

"And, no offense Naoya," Daichi spoke, "But you're Cain. So basically, you killed Kazuya once before, right? Are you okay with that, Kazuya?"

"Naoya is my family, my brother," Kazuya answered with a tone of finality, "I've never blamed nor hated him for killing me."

None of them knew what dying felt like, so they couldn't really understand Kazuya's feelings. They were stunned into silence by the protectiveness Kazuya held for Naoya.

"Ha…" Naoya let out a breath of air. With a smile that was softer than usual, he spoke, "Let's move on. There's still the most important part of the explanation; the reason why we're here in this world."

"And what is this reason?" Yamato demanded with his arms crossed. His participation in the discussion surprised many. It had been a long time since Yamato had spoken, so they had almost forgotten that he was still in the room.

"It's simple: To kill God."

"You're going to kill God…!?" Makoto exclaimed with bewilderment. She wasn't the only one who felt that way. "Why would this God of yours even be in our world?"

Kazuya replied as he was the most knowledgeable on that subject, "We told you before that God tried to kill me by using the people in the Lockdown. In the end, we managed to convince them that we were on their side, and so they all turned their backs on God. To truly end the Lockdown, we needed to get rid of God's influence in the human world. We fought against Metatron, the voice of God and second to God Himself. After we defeated him, God gave up on humanity and the Lockdown ended."

"But the battle against God wasn't finished," Kazuya continued, "As the King of Bel, I was God's natural enemy, so I left for the Demon World with Black Frost – a demon and one of my companions – to wage a war against Him. I don't know how long the fight lasted since the demon world has no concept of time, but in the final moments of the battle, God fled to this world. After making preparations, we followed Him here… which concludes our explanation."

Although it was the end of their long confession, there was still something that didn't sit well with the others.

As the official spokesperson, Hibiki posed their question, "I thought that only demons could survive in the demon world, so how can you go there, Kazuya?"

"Have you already forgotten?" Naoya responded, "Kazuya is no longer human. He is the King of Bel."

Seeing that some were still confused, Kaido spelt it out for them, "He's the fricken' Demon Overlord!"

"Are you saying…?" Io frowned. Surely she had gotten the wrong conclusion.

Joe laughed nervously, "That was a nice joke you said. Err… It was a joke, right?"

"I didn't see anything wrong when I checked Kazuya's health during the physical examination," Otome said with a puzzled expression.

"So Kazuya's a demon," Keita stated bluntly.

"B-but what about the horns and the wings?" Daichi asked. "You don't exactly look like a demon, Kazuya."

Naoya could only sigh in exasperation. He had gotten enough of that reaction from Atsuro and Commander Fushimi when Kazuya first awakened as the King of Bel. He was not going to repeat himself again.

"Yeah," Atsuro grinned, "I thought that Kazuya would start growing horns or something at the beginning, too."

"Kazuya," Jungo said resolutely, "You're still my friend. It doesn't matter what you are; human, demon…"

He paused when his eyes trailed upwards, noticing Kazuya's unique headphones. "… Or cat."

Kazuya unconsciously tilted his head to the side slightly in bemusement, and an image of his cat Cookies appeared in Jungo's mind.

"What the hell, Jungo!?" Airi shouted in exasperation, "Where did that even come from!?"

"You're full of surprises, aren't you, Kazuya?" Fumi said, ignoring Airi and Jungo's usual interaction pattern. A sly smile spread across her face. "I really want open you up to see how you work."

Daichi gulped in fear and scooted a little farther away from her despite the large distance that already existed between them.

"But I won't," Fumi added on before anyone actually took her seriously, "I quite like you Kazuya. I think I'd miss you if you were gone."

Kazuya smiled before a thought crossed his mind, causing his smile to falter. Perhaps he should notify them now, so that they could prepare themselves before that time came?

"About that…" Kazuya spoke carefully, "I don't think we'll be staying here for much longer."

"What do you mean?" Makoto asked with a frown.

"Well, our goal is to kill God," Atsuro answered, picking up on his best friend's intention, "We won't have any other reason to stay here when that's done."

"But we'll make sure that the issue in this world is resolved first before leaving," Kazuya reassured them, "We won't leave you all to fend for yourselves."

"That's not what matters," Hibiki told him, to which Kazuya looked surprised at. "Are you really leaving when everything's over?"

"Well, I am." Kaido responded first, "As great as this world is, I've got some business to take care of in the other world."

"It's as Kaido says," Kazuya replied to Hibiki's question, "This isn't our world. Our home is in the other world. We have friends and family waiting for us to return."

"I don't want you guys to go!" Airi blurted out. Small tears formed at the corner of her eyes due to her mounting sadness and frustrations.

"Ai…" Hinako said sadly, "It's not right of us to stop them from going home."

"I know that, stupid Hina!" Airi yelled as she glared at her closest friend, "It's just that, we've been through so much together. Leaving so soon, It… It just feels so unfair…"

No one could offer words of consolation. Many felt the same way as Airi, and even Kazuya and Atsuro held some reluctance to leave their new friends.

Yamato watched the heartfelt scene and glanced at the faces that looked like they were mourning a dead friend. "How trivial," he commented, causing everyone to look at him.

Airi's eyes blazed in anger. "What did you say!?"

"Their departure is an event in the future," Yamato replied coldly, "At this moment; we need to focus on the present situation."

"We understand that," Hinako said with a slight frown, "But Kazuya, Atsuro, Naoya and Kaido have done so much for us. They fought the Septentriones together with us. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Of course it meant something for Yamato. The four of them were strong individuals. They would have thrived in his ideal world. Not only that, but Kazuya was one of the only people who wasn't fazed by his objective personality or his harsh words. Kazuya understood the actions he made, but he was also unafraid to share his opinions, even if they went against Yamato's. The Chief felt an invisible weight pressing down on his chest. He was disappointed, but he was also…

"Fine! if it doesn't matter to you, then why don't you fess up?" Airi interrupted his thoughts. "Don't think I forgot for a second that you have some secrets of your own!"

Daichi groaned. He had actually forgotten about that. And here he thought they could call it a night. They haven't even eaten anything yet. Wasn't this supposed to be a dinner party?

"Very well," Yamato complied without protest. He could figure out his emotions some other time. "I'll tell you everything."

"Really?" Hinako was dubious of Yamato's quick response. "I didn't think you'd agree that easily."

"And what do I have to gain to hide such matters from you?" he countered, "Listen: The chief culprit behind the fall of this world is a being called Polaris."

"Who the hell is that?" Keita asked just as Io posed her own question.

"Why is she doing all this?"

"She thinks that humanity goes against the order she envisions," Yamato answered, disregarding the simultaneous timing of the questions. "So she is attempting to destroy mankind. Those Septentriones are only her pawns."

"Then we should go beat her right now!" Jungo spoke out loudly. If Polaris was the mastermind, then defeating her would put an end to everything.

"Impossible," Yamato refuted swiftly, "Polaris sees-all and knows-all. Killing her is rather farfetched."

"But Kazuya said that he was going to kill the God of his world! If he can do it, then we can defeat this Polaris, too!" Airi argued.

"You forget that their crisis only affected those in Tokyo. What we're dealing with is a worldwide catastrophe!" Yamato rebuked as his voice grew louder in volume. He closed his eyes briefly to gather his fraying patience. "Even if we were able to defeat her, what would become of this world? Do you think mankind can carry on as before in this ruined devastated world?"

No one said a word. They knew full well of the damage the demons and the Septentriones caused. There was also the black scar to consider. If they defeated Polaris, would it disappear? Would everything that was consumed by the black scar come back?

Hibiki broke the silence. "What do you plan on doing?"

Yamato smiled at him before addressing everyone at the table, "It's simple. I shall rebuild this world anew."

"Come again?" Keita said. This day was getting a little too weird for him. Demons and Septentriones were nothing compared to what he learned today. "Rebuild the what?"

"Precisely as it sounds. I will revive this world under a new order." Yamato crossed his arms as a frown formed on his face. "The old system that's been in place until now will no longer be required. Only the wise, the informed, and the powerful are worthy of life! The dregs are not."

Everyone stared at Yamato with incredulity.

"I hereby declare my intention: to create a world wholly based on merit!"

Io struggled to find the words to express her thoughts. "Revive the world… But how?"

"A world based on merit?" Joe contemplated the idea. He frowned. "Sounds pretty out there to me."

"I won't force anyone to follow me," Yamato said as he watched everyone's uneasy expressions, "Even if I must go alone, I will carry out my goals."

It was Yamato, so Hibiki had no doubt that he could do exactly as he said he would. But even if Yamato knew how to achieve this goal, Hibiki did not. "How do you plan on remaking the world?"

"You plan on using Polaris," Kazuya stated before Yamato could reply to Hibiki, "Am I right?"

Yamato smiled, impressed by his knowledge. "So you know, Kazuya? You're much more informed than I thought."

"The Anguished One gave me enough hints to figure it out."

His mood souring at the mention of that man, Yamato's lips curled in disgust. "So it was him."

"How is Yamato going to use Polaris?" Hibiki asked. The answer to his question wasn't as informative as he thought it would be.

"Polaris is the being in control of this world," Naoya elucidated, "Just as there is a God of our world, Polaris is comparable to the god of this world."

"The Anguished One told me that the path to Polaris will open once all the Septentriones are defeated," Kazuya enlightened everyone.

Makoto looked at Yamato. "Chief Hotsuin, is what Kazuya saying correct?"

"It is. By defeating all the Septentriones, an audience with Polaris is granted. It is with her power that I will remake this world."

As everyone mulled over Yamato's words, the door opened loudly and several JPs members entered the room with plates of food in each hand. A plate was promptly placed in front of each of them, except for Yamato. Once dinner was distributed, the JP's members left as quickly as they had come.

Everyone noticed that Yamato did not have any food in front of him. They looked at him in puzzlement. There was no way that the JP's members forgot to give food to their very own Chief, right?

Abruptly, Yamato stood up from his chair with a pleasant smile on his face. "Enjoy your meal everyone. And think things over carefully…"

With those final words, he swiftly walked out through the doors behind him without a second glance back. When the doors slammed shut, only silence was left.

"Let's eat," Kazuya suggested in the awkward silence as he clapped his hands together.

Mutters of "thanks for the food" erupted from around the table, and everyone picked up their knives and forks.

Even though they no longer had an appetite, they forced themselves to eat. They would need to energy for what was to come.

A/N: Finally, everyone knows about Kazuya, Naoya, Atsuro and Kaido. How many of you thought they would get revealed like this? Do you think that the reactions and responses from everyone were realistic?

(1) I don't know if anyone noticed while reading this chapter, but I did not intentionally try to promote my other story "Many-Worlds Theory." It just fit well with Fumi's line that I added it.

(2) "Let's eat" and "thanks for the food" while they bring their hands together is the Japanese custom of "itadakimasu."

I was going to end Thursday with this chapter, but I realised that there are still a lot of important scenes that happen after the dinner. So, there might be one more chapter for Thursday coming next.