Chapter Six: Buildup
Amon and Haruto returned to the STN-J headquarters first, followed closely by Robin. Karasuma and Doujima entered a few minutes later.
"That was quick," Michael noted. "Maybe this is possible..."
"It is," Amon confirmed. "Not that it matters." He looked at the others. "I trust your targets were all dead or missing as well?"
The others all nodded. They quickly did a tally and Karasuma reported to Michael. "Eight dead. Two unaccounted for."
Michael's eyes widened. "Great. Any idea who's behind their killings?"
"Who else?" Haruto asked. "It was Nasat, obviously."
"Solomon clearly isn't doing their job," Amon noted disapprovingly. "At this rate, Nasat will kill every witch in the city before we can hunt them."
"Then he's doing what we need him to do," Doujima reminded him. "He's preventing Kamiya's plan."
"Or playing right into Kamiya's hands," Karasuma chimed in. "This could either reduce or vastly increase the resolve of his followers."
The STN-J glanced grimly at one another.
"I no longer care for Zaizen's orders," Amon stated firmly. "I'm going after him."
"Amon!" Michael called. "You can't be serious..."
"I'm quite serious," Amon growled. "None of you try to follow me." He glanced at each team member in turn, resting his gaze on Robin. "Nothing will happen to me. Wait for my commands for tomorrow."
With that, Amon headed out.
"What do we do?" Haruto asked no one in particular.
Karasuma sighed. "He (is) team leader. We have to follow his orders."
Robin nodded. "I'm going for a walk. Call me if we decide to go after any of the others."
"Even though we know exactly what we'd find," Michael sighed. He then resumed typing, as Haruto, Karasuma and Doujima took their various seats, leaving Robin to go on her 'walk'.
Only she was walking in Amon's general trajectory.
Within the vast Walled City, a proverbial hotbed of witches and seeds, the lone cloaked figure of Emanuel Nasat waited in his current residence, a warehouse located in an otherwise unpopulated city corner. He had found enough in the warehouse to keep him busy when he wasn't out slaying witches, most notably the rats he had grown accustomed to eating. There were also working rest facilities, so he was able to keep himself relatively clean, despite all his 'dirty work'.
"Nasat! Surrender to us now!"
Nasat glanced around his warehouse, spotting a number of soldiers leveling their weapons at him. A few Solomon hunters were littered amongst the soldiers, wielding Orbo-laden pistols.
"Get down, Emanuel," one of the hunters instructed. "Just come quietly- no one has to be hurt."
"Oh, but someone always does," Nasat told them. "Without pain there is no need for focus... development. Without pain there can be no life."
"He's not going to cooperate!" a soldier declared. "Ready the Orbo!"
"I need not craft to deal with you," Nasat promised. "You are not like me. You do not know true reality."
"Fire!" one of the hunters ordered, and a hail of Orbo-laden bullets flew out at Nasat.
Nasat didn't even use his craft to deflect the attacks. He merely twisted his body, a few inches at a time, and each bullet sailed harmlessly past him, a number striking the various Solomon forces on opposite sides of one another. Nasat himself reached into his cloak and produced two Orbo-laden pistols, leveling them at his adversaries on either side of him.
"True reality is only understood by the devil's heir," Nasat stated to the bemused forces, even as bullets raced around his head. "Only in contest against my brethren can true reality be understood." He now began unloading his own pistols, striking each target with unmatched precision. "Only the child of Satan has the right to live in this place."
Nasat stepped forward, walking over the fallen forms of Solomon's forces, reloading each of his pistols. He flicked out a single strand of his hair and the bodies behind him were engulfed in flame. "You did not compare. You did not understand. You had no right to live."
"You certainly have an interesting viewpoint," came another voice from somewhere in the warehouse. "Albeit an insane one."
Nasat glanced around as the fire grew more intense behind him. "Another of Solomon's lapdogs? You might show yourself. Hiding only prolongs your inevitable death."
Amon smirked from his hiding spot. "Neither of us is going to die today, Nasat. I just came to see how good you were."
"Good enough to be seated at my father's right hand," Nasat growled, leveling his pistols around, searching for his adversary. "Show yourself."
"Okay," came Amon's voice as a large number of gunshots rang through the warehouse. Nasat turned, just in time to dodge three Orbo-laden bullets as they raced past his head.
"Not bad," Nasat noted. "Your use of stealth is quite keen. You might just prove worthy of my attention."
"All people are, really," Amon noted as he clung to the shadows again. "Isn't your plan to kill us all?"
"Only the witches," Nasat corrected. "There is no sport in killing ordinary people. They know not reality like my kin and I. They don't understand the meanings of their lives."
Amon shrugged. "Who are you to judge?" He fired off a round and charged to a new hiding spot, noticing a response from Nasat, as three foreign bullets slammed into his previous position. "Your own perception of reality is rather...skewed."
"Clearly you are a human, then," Nasat noted, disappointed. "One who refuses to accept his role. Witches are meant to inherit this world. And I, the strongest of them, am the only one whose genes must remain in this world. With the death of the witches and the spread of my own existence, the witches will reign, and I will be seated at my father's right hand."
"Your father?" Amon repeated, firing off another trio of bullets, bunkering down as Nasat responded with four bullets of his own, before the STN-J team leader moved to another hiding place. "Who are you talking about? God?"
"Don't insult me," Nasat instructed. "Witches are known as the Devil's Children for a reason. We are his offspring." He glanced around and moved behind one pillar. "The sons of Mastema. The daughters of Beliar. And I, the one who bares his name, in my mortal corruption... the rightful heir of Satan."
Amon quickly put together the anogram of 'Nasat' and the supreme evil creature he referred to as his father. The hunter was quite willing to continue, even is his adversary was clearly insane. "Nasat. Let us see how the child of the devil fares against his hunter."
Nasat smiled. "I'd be happy to."
The two withdrew from their hiding places and stared one another down. After a brief moment of hesitation, the two charged at one another with guns blazing.
Not far from Amon's position, on her rather spastic moped, Robin arrived on the scene, glancing at the warehouse Amon was supposedly within. She dismounted from her ride and walked forward, noticing the utter lack of people, even in an area as desolate as the Walled City.
She silently approached the warehouse, listening intently for any sounds within in. Almost instantly she detected the pattering of feet and the unloading of pistols- Amon was firing on someone, or possibly being fired on himself. She instantly found an entrance and barreled within.
Robin glanced around, hearing gunshots ringing all around. She scanned the various surroundings, searching for someone...
"Robin, get down!" came Amon's voice, just as the STN-J's team leader shot forth, tackling Robin behind a pillar, just as a pair of bullets flew overhead.
"Robin," Nasat noted calmly. "Another target shows her face..."
Amon glared at Robin from their current hiding place. "I told you not to follow me."
"I couldn't help it," Robin admitted. "I was concerned."
Nasat grinned and drew his pistols. "I hate to interrupt this lover's spat, but we are in the middle of something. You will not escape my wrath again."
Robin glared and lifted herself, walking into plain sight of Nasat. Instantly her appearance was met with a hail of Orbo-laden bullets, all of which the young craft-user blocked with a wall of flame, absorbing the various impacts.
"Robin!" Amon called again. "Damnit..." He charged to her side and began firing at Nasat, to see the Solomon operative dodge each attempt with ease. Robin added her own special brand of artillery, as a few torrents of flame shot at Nasat, but without her glasses on at the time she wasn't able to see him clearly, so Nasat was avoiding her attacks easily.
"Good," Nasat laughed. "Embrace the eternal flames, Robin. You'll meet our dear father soon enough."
Robin glared at Nasat, launching a blast of fire towards his face. Despite her less-than-perfect focus, the attack was dead on, but a simple wave of Nasat's power deflected the flames and turned them back towards their proprietor. Amon and Robin leapt to opposite pillars, bunkering down as Nasat fired after them.
"Why did you follow me?" Amon raged at Robin as he re-loaded his pistol. "You should know by now I can take care of myself."
Robin struggled to put her glasses on. "Not against this kind of foe," she replied sternly. "He's too much for any of us on our own."
Amon growled but made no argument. He gave a quick count of his fingers and he and Robin leapt up to face their adversary, to see no one waiting for them.
"Where has he gone?" Robin asked, while Amon silently surveyed the surroundings, before leaping backwards as a burst of flame lit the ground before him. Robin detected the use of the craft just as quickly, and put up a defensive barrier as Nasat unleashed a burst of flame at her.
Nasat approached Robin from behind, keeping up a continuous fiery assault. Amon fired at him with his pistol, but Nasat blocked each attack with his own defensive shield, never ceasing his relentless assault on Robin.
Robin could feel herself growing more strained as she struggled to hold the protective veil. Nasat showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever, locking his cold, gray eyes with Robin's green ones, and he could see he was overpowering her.
"Embrace the flames," Nasat instructed. "You will be seeing a lot of them."
Robin panted as she tried to uphold the veil, sensing herself weakening. Amon could see this too, even as he continued to fire futilely at Nasat.
"Embrace the flames," Nasat repeated.
And Robin fainted, her fiery vail dissipating at last.
"Robin!" Amon called, charging forward and quickly lifting his partner, before charging away, Nasat's flames following him.
Nasat stopped as Amon moved out of range and out of the warehouse. "To show sympathy for a devil... that human may yet be worthy of my attention."
With that, the ex-Solomon operative put out the fires he had started and prepared to resume his hunt.
Amon and Haruto returned to the STN-J headquarters first, followed closely by Robin. Karasuma and Doujima entered a few minutes later.
"That was quick," Michael noted. "Maybe this is possible..."
"It is," Amon confirmed. "Not that it matters." He looked at the others. "I trust your targets were all dead or missing as well?"
The others all nodded. They quickly did a tally and Karasuma reported to Michael. "Eight dead. Two unaccounted for."
Michael's eyes widened. "Great. Any idea who's behind their killings?"
"Who else?" Haruto asked. "It was Nasat, obviously."
"Solomon clearly isn't doing their job," Amon noted disapprovingly. "At this rate, Nasat will kill every witch in the city before we can hunt them."
"Then he's doing what we need him to do," Doujima reminded him. "He's preventing Kamiya's plan."
"Or playing right into Kamiya's hands," Karasuma chimed in. "This could either reduce or vastly increase the resolve of his followers."
The STN-J glanced grimly at one another.
"I no longer care for Zaizen's orders," Amon stated firmly. "I'm going after him."
"Amon!" Michael called. "You can't be serious..."
"I'm quite serious," Amon growled. "None of you try to follow me." He glanced at each team member in turn, resting his gaze on Robin. "Nothing will happen to me. Wait for my commands for tomorrow."
With that, Amon headed out.
"What do we do?" Haruto asked no one in particular.
Karasuma sighed. "He (is) team leader. We have to follow his orders."
Robin nodded. "I'm going for a walk. Call me if we decide to go after any of the others."
"Even though we know exactly what we'd find," Michael sighed. He then resumed typing, as Haruto, Karasuma and Doujima took their various seats, leaving Robin to go on her 'walk'.
Only she was walking in Amon's general trajectory.
Within the vast Walled City, a proverbial hotbed of witches and seeds, the lone cloaked figure of Emanuel Nasat waited in his current residence, a warehouse located in an otherwise unpopulated city corner. He had found enough in the warehouse to keep him busy when he wasn't out slaying witches, most notably the rats he had grown accustomed to eating. There were also working rest facilities, so he was able to keep himself relatively clean, despite all his 'dirty work'.
"Nasat! Surrender to us now!"
Nasat glanced around his warehouse, spotting a number of soldiers leveling their weapons at him. A few Solomon hunters were littered amongst the soldiers, wielding Orbo-laden pistols.
"Get down, Emanuel," one of the hunters instructed. "Just come quietly- no one has to be hurt."
"Oh, but someone always does," Nasat told them. "Without pain there is no need for focus... development. Without pain there can be no life."
"He's not going to cooperate!" a soldier declared. "Ready the Orbo!"
"I need not craft to deal with you," Nasat promised. "You are not like me. You do not know true reality."
"Fire!" one of the hunters ordered, and a hail of Orbo-laden bullets flew out at Nasat.
Nasat didn't even use his craft to deflect the attacks. He merely twisted his body, a few inches at a time, and each bullet sailed harmlessly past him, a number striking the various Solomon forces on opposite sides of one another. Nasat himself reached into his cloak and produced two Orbo-laden pistols, leveling them at his adversaries on either side of him.
"True reality is only understood by the devil's heir," Nasat stated to the bemused forces, even as bullets raced around his head. "Only in contest against my brethren can true reality be understood." He now began unloading his own pistols, striking each target with unmatched precision. "Only the child of Satan has the right to live in this place."
Nasat stepped forward, walking over the fallen forms of Solomon's forces, reloading each of his pistols. He flicked out a single strand of his hair and the bodies behind him were engulfed in flame. "You did not compare. You did not understand. You had no right to live."
"You certainly have an interesting viewpoint," came another voice from somewhere in the warehouse. "Albeit an insane one."
Nasat glanced around as the fire grew more intense behind him. "Another of Solomon's lapdogs? You might show yourself. Hiding only prolongs your inevitable death."
Amon smirked from his hiding spot. "Neither of us is going to die today, Nasat. I just came to see how good you were."
"Good enough to be seated at my father's right hand," Nasat growled, leveling his pistols around, searching for his adversary. "Show yourself."
"Okay," came Amon's voice as a large number of gunshots rang through the warehouse. Nasat turned, just in time to dodge three Orbo-laden bullets as they raced past his head.
"Not bad," Nasat noted. "Your use of stealth is quite keen. You might just prove worthy of my attention."
"All people are, really," Amon noted as he clung to the shadows again. "Isn't your plan to kill us all?"
"Only the witches," Nasat corrected. "There is no sport in killing ordinary people. They know not reality like my kin and I. They don't understand the meanings of their lives."
Amon shrugged. "Who are you to judge?" He fired off a round and charged to a new hiding spot, noticing a response from Nasat, as three foreign bullets slammed into his previous position. "Your own perception of reality is rather...skewed."
"Clearly you are a human, then," Nasat noted, disappointed. "One who refuses to accept his role. Witches are meant to inherit this world. And I, the strongest of them, am the only one whose genes must remain in this world. With the death of the witches and the spread of my own existence, the witches will reign, and I will be seated at my father's right hand."
"Your father?" Amon repeated, firing off another trio of bullets, bunkering down as Nasat responded with four bullets of his own, before the STN-J team leader moved to another hiding place. "Who are you talking about? God?"
"Don't insult me," Nasat instructed. "Witches are known as the Devil's Children for a reason. We are his offspring." He glanced around and moved behind one pillar. "The sons of Mastema. The daughters of Beliar. And I, the one who bares his name, in my mortal corruption... the rightful heir of Satan."
Amon quickly put together the anogram of 'Nasat' and the supreme evil creature he referred to as his father. The hunter was quite willing to continue, even is his adversary was clearly insane. "Nasat. Let us see how the child of the devil fares against his hunter."
Nasat smiled. "I'd be happy to."
The two withdrew from their hiding places and stared one another down. After a brief moment of hesitation, the two charged at one another with guns blazing.
Not far from Amon's position, on her rather spastic moped, Robin arrived on the scene, glancing at the warehouse Amon was supposedly within. She dismounted from her ride and walked forward, noticing the utter lack of people, even in an area as desolate as the Walled City.
She silently approached the warehouse, listening intently for any sounds within in. Almost instantly she detected the pattering of feet and the unloading of pistols- Amon was firing on someone, or possibly being fired on himself. She instantly found an entrance and barreled within.
Robin glanced around, hearing gunshots ringing all around. She scanned the various surroundings, searching for someone...
"Robin, get down!" came Amon's voice, just as the STN-J's team leader shot forth, tackling Robin behind a pillar, just as a pair of bullets flew overhead.
"Robin," Nasat noted calmly. "Another target shows her face..."
Amon glared at Robin from their current hiding place. "I told you not to follow me."
"I couldn't help it," Robin admitted. "I was concerned."
Nasat grinned and drew his pistols. "I hate to interrupt this lover's spat, but we are in the middle of something. You will not escape my wrath again."
Robin glared and lifted herself, walking into plain sight of Nasat. Instantly her appearance was met with a hail of Orbo-laden bullets, all of which the young craft-user blocked with a wall of flame, absorbing the various impacts.
"Robin!" Amon called again. "Damnit..." He charged to her side and began firing at Nasat, to see the Solomon operative dodge each attempt with ease. Robin added her own special brand of artillery, as a few torrents of flame shot at Nasat, but without her glasses on at the time she wasn't able to see him clearly, so Nasat was avoiding her attacks easily.
"Good," Nasat laughed. "Embrace the eternal flames, Robin. You'll meet our dear father soon enough."
Robin glared at Nasat, launching a blast of fire towards his face. Despite her less-than-perfect focus, the attack was dead on, but a simple wave of Nasat's power deflected the flames and turned them back towards their proprietor. Amon and Robin leapt to opposite pillars, bunkering down as Nasat fired after them.
"Why did you follow me?" Amon raged at Robin as he re-loaded his pistol. "You should know by now I can take care of myself."
Robin struggled to put her glasses on. "Not against this kind of foe," she replied sternly. "He's too much for any of us on our own."
Amon growled but made no argument. He gave a quick count of his fingers and he and Robin leapt up to face their adversary, to see no one waiting for them.
"Where has he gone?" Robin asked, while Amon silently surveyed the surroundings, before leaping backwards as a burst of flame lit the ground before him. Robin detected the use of the craft just as quickly, and put up a defensive barrier as Nasat unleashed a burst of flame at her.
Nasat approached Robin from behind, keeping up a continuous fiery assault. Amon fired at him with his pistol, but Nasat blocked each attack with his own defensive shield, never ceasing his relentless assault on Robin.
Robin could feel herself growing more strained as she struggled to hold the protective veil. Nasat showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever, locking his cold, gray eyes with Robin's green ones, and he could see he was overpowering her.
"Embrace the flames," Nasat instructed. "You will be seeing a lot of them."
Robin panted as she tried to uphold the veil, sensing herself weakening. Amon could see this too, even as he continued to fire futilely at Nasat.
"Embrace the flames," Nasat repeated.
And Robin fainted, her fiery vail dissipating at last.
"Robin!" Amon called, charging forward and quickly lifting his partner, before charging away, Nasat's flames following him.
Nasat stopped as Amon moved out of range and out of the warehouse. "To show sympathy for a devil... that human may yet be worthy of my attention."
With that, the ex-Solomon operative put out the fires he had started and prepared to resume his hunt.