Chapter 10 - Capture

The rest of the night was quiet for the group of seven. The fall from the collapsing building had lowered their exp slightly. With some healing from Sho, they settle in a decaying two-storey building on the edge of the map. It was unknown if anyone, besides them, had survived the crumbling tower. Elysia had checked her satellite scan but there weren't any nearby players.

"He must be hidden underground," said Ana, reloading her gun as she sat on the sandy floor.

"He knew that our satellite scans couldn't read him if he was underground," said Elysia, pinching her nose in frustration.

"He was using our weaknesses," said Kuroyuki, throwing her knife on the closed wooden door, "He knew that Shisho would use Elysia's sight as an advantage. He also knew that we'd think he'll never blow up the building with a squad of his men inside."

"All this for an Arfa Sys," stated Ana, stroking Sho's silver head that was resting on her lap.

"He doesn't just want an Arfa Sys," Shiho said softly, looking at Kei, who avoided her eyes, "He's determined to pay you back on what you did to him."

"RG was in the wrong," said Elysia angrily, "He was caught exploiting the newer players. Using them as live bait to kill high-level mobs. Kei and Kuroyuki freed the players and supported them till they were at a decent level. RG has held a grudge since."

"Is that how that went down? I remember it differently," said a cocky voice at the now open door. RG stood at the entrance of their room, with his hands up in the air in surrender. The whole group swiftly aimed their various weapons at him, ready to fire at him if he moved.

"I am unarmed," he said, in an amusing tone, "But I'd say that shooting me won't stop my men from demolishing this place in two seconds."

"What are you doing?" said Kei. RG said nothing but stepped forward further in the room but before he could take a second step, Kuroyuki threw one of her knives an inch away from his foot. RG looked down at the blade nonchalantly and raised his head with a cunning grin.

"I'm here to steal an Arfa-Sys," he said, looking at Hina, who slipped behind Elysia who aimed her sniper at RG. RG glanced outside, through a broken window and his smile widened. He immediately crouched down and snatched Kuroyuki's blade from the floor. Kei and Shiho both fired their guns at RG but he was swift and dodged the bullets.

At the sound of gunfire, RG's men threw concussion grenades into the chaotic room. RG instantly dived behind a table and covered his ears. In the confusion, the group of seven each were affected by the loud noise and bright flash.

RG, his ears slightly ringing, gripped Kuroyuki's throwing knife and threw it at Kei who just managed to dodge it but yelped in pain as RG punched him in the face. Elysia, who was still affected by the grenade, lunged weakly at RG, who dodged her and smacked her to the ground. He rushed forward, kicking a fallen Elysia in the gut, she cried out in pain. Hina whimpered at the sight of her owner in pain but was slow to react when RG snatched her, his arms wrapped around her waist, locking her against his chest.

"No…" Elysia croaked out as she watched RG take Hina away.

RG left the building, with Hina immobilised in his arms, he ordered his men to storm the building with a stern nod. The group of ten players, charged into the building with their guns raised.

Kei, who recovered from his punch, rushed to the window, seeing RG's men running inside the building. He looked back at the group, who were slowly shaking off the effects of the concussion grenades. Ana stood up first and helped Elysia to her feet, who was sobbing quietly at the loss of her Arfa Sys.

"Shiho, come with me," said Kei, he walked towards the door with his swords at the ready, "They're gonna be coming soon."

"I don't take orders from you!" said Shiho as she raced to Kei with cheeks flushed. Her guns were raised ready to attack anyone in sight.

Kuroyuki helped Ana to seat Elysia down and stood by the door, with her knives at the ready. Ana stood next to Elysia and checked her weapons and ammo in her inventory.

"Are you okay, Elysia-nee?" asked Kuroyuki, glancing at her with a worrying look.

"Yes, but we must get Hina back. We're running out of time," Elysia replied, swallowing her sobs, "Go help Kei. I'll be fine."

Kuroyuki nodded before she headed off to join Kei and Shiho. Outside was a warzone, Shiho unloaded her magazine into three players while Kei moved from player to player, cutting down everyone with his swords. Two knives flew into the foreheads of two of the players, the last player of the trio slowly backed himself into Kuroyuki who had been waiting for him in the shadows and cleanly slit his throat.

Inside the building, Ana told Sho to heal Elysia. With the healing bullet, the pain in her stomach and head dulled. Ana didn't say anything but gave her a sorrowful look. Elysia sobered up and reached for her sniper. She walked slowly out the door, with Ana and Sho following her. Elysia raised her sniper to her shoulder and aimed for a player about to shoot at Kei with his sniper from the opposite building. She fired her shot and the bullet pierced into his temple.

The shot rang loudly, alerting everyone with her presences. Shiho and Kuroyuki quickly finished off the remaining players as Elysia walked further outside. Kei sheathed his photon swords and buckled them to his waist. He walked leisurely to Elysia who lowered her sniper.

"Kei, we have to hurry. We have forty minutes left before the event is over," said Elysia, calmly, "If they convert Hina and we run out of time, they'll keep her forever."

"I know. Don't worry, Ely. We'll get her back," said Kei, "Ana, can you scan for the closest players to us? It'll have to be RG, he couldn't have gotten far. As long as Ely still has her scanner, they haven't converted Hina yet."

Ana nodded and activated her satellite scanner. The players have been thinned down, only a few squadrons remain. There were a small group of players headed direct west of their position. Ahead of them was a relatively large structure labelled as the Dome.

"The Dome, they are heading to a place called the Dome, west of our position," said Ana as she closed her satellite scan.

"That must be where they're converting Hina-chan," stated Kuroyuki.

"Let's go," said Elysia abruptly, breaking into a power walk towards the west. The group glanced at each other, concerned for Elysia's mindset but they soon followed. As they walked with Elysia and Ana leading them, Shiho slipped beside Kei who was walking with Kuroyuki. A thought had passed through her mind, and something about the situation was bugging her.

"How many men do you think RG has left?" asked Shiho, "Most of them should be killed off by now."

"He must be at the end of his limit," stated Kei, "He lost so many of them when he blew up that skyscraper."

"Not to mention, the men he used to buy some time to get away with Hina-chan," Kuroyuki added.

"So, we can expect that he will have a short amount of protection and defence?" asked Shiho, already knowing the answer. Kei stopped walking and looked Shiho dead in her eyes.

"It's a trap."

Shiho nodded, "That's what I'm thinking. He's too clever to just leave us after he took Hina."

"What do you think he's planning, Shisho?" asked Kuroyuki.

"I don't know," Kei answered, looking at the countdown at the button of his screen, "But we need to get there fast."

As they were walking Ana tried to cheer Elysia up, "It wasn't your fault, no one could've done anything in that situation."

"But I should've known better, RG wouldn't have done what he did without a plan," said Elysia, "Now he has a Type-Z in his hands."

"If you know how dangerous RG would be with a Type-Z in his hands then you know how determined we are to get Hina back," said Ana, "We can't let another incident happen like the previous Type-Z."

Elysia responded with a nod. The lack of walking from the three was finally noticed by Elysia, Ana and Sho who were racing back to meet up with them.

"We think RG is setting up a trap for us," answered Shiho, when the three looked at them with questions in their eyes, "He would have known that the attack he left us would be useless against us."

"We'll need to run," said Kei, "We're running out of time and he'll definitely have a trap waiting for us"

"We'll be ready for it," Elysia said confidently, "We are going to get Hina back."