Chapter 16: The Clock is Ticking

Naoya Toudou

Rainy - Early Morning – 14/11/2012(Wednesday) – Toudou Residence, Mikage-Cho
(The day the Great Seal break)

Still half asleep on his bed, Naoya reached for his phone that had been ringing for the third time and answered it. "Hello?"

"NAOYA, WAKE UPPP!"

"HAHHHHH!" Naoya screamed by the sudden shout from Eriko's voice, causing him to jump from his bed. "Oh god, Eriko, it is still 6:50 in the morning! Why did you wake me up so early?! A man need his beauty sleep too you know!"

"Listen to me, Naoya. Last night, Tatsuya, Maya and the others went inside the Seven Sisters High that transformed into clock tower during Dark Hour, but they still haven't returned yet! Yuki went and searched for them after the Dark Hour but she found no trace of them! They're missing, Naoya!"

Naoya stood on his two legs and styled his messy hair, "Come again?"

"J-Just come here! I've already called Nanjo and asked him to come, so you better be here!"

"Alright! Alright! Where?" Naoya asked as he reached for his towel.

"At the police station at Konan."

"I'll be there." Naoya closed his phone and rushed into the bathroom.

Aigis

Foggy – Afternoon – 14/11/2012(Wednesday) – Kirijo Main Facility, Tatsumi Port Island
(The day the Great Seal break)

Every member of Shadow Operative waited patiently inside the meeting room for Mitsuru to bring the result of Tatsuya and Maya's exploration in the clock tower. Akihiko, Ken and Koromaru was not present in the room, but promised to hear the latest news about the search for Minato's body. Aigis and Labrys can even hear the quick heartbeat of every nervous member of the team with their superior sense.

As they lowered their head in anxiousness, Mitsuru walked in with a gloomy expression, which increased the worries of the others. "H-How's the search goin'?" Labrys was the one who broke the long silent.

"…The search had failed." Mitsuru choose to be straightforward. "They have not returned before the Dark Hour ended, which means they were currently still trapped inside the clock tower." There was no reason for her to lie, so she had prepared herself for any reaction from the team.

"Y-You can't be serious, right? What if shadows attack them while they still trapped inside? It's been more than 12 hours!" Junpei was the first to speak up.

"Don't forget that the tower only appeared in Dark Hour. Remember when I was trapped in Tartarus 3 years ago before I joined SEES? For me, it only happened for 10 hours." Fuuka refreshed everyone's memory about what happened to her 3 years ago.

"So that would mean the search is still in progress! They should probably still in the clock tower searching for Minato's body!" Labrys said to cheer the darkening mood.

Aigis remained silent, she didn't know if she felt relieved for Tatsuya and the others or worried that Minato won't made it in time. After a while thought, she spoke, "Mitsuru-san, I have a favor to ask. May I go visit the clock tower at Sumaru City?"

Everyone turned their attention to Aigis. Mitsuru remained silent, taking a moment to decide. "For what purpose? You don't plan to search for him yourself, do you? I have speak to Mr. Nanjo and he agreed to bring his team to find them in the clock tower tonight, don't stress yourself to much." Mitsuru said, as if reading her mind. Aigis lowered her head, searching for another word to speak.

"Let's put our faith in them to search for the body while you and I handle the soul." A male voice was heard from the door. They all turned to see Theodore magically appeared beside the door. "Elizabeth had disappeared from the Sea of Soul, along with Minato's Wild Card. We need you to protect his body before Elizabeth returns the Wild Card to him."

"How did you get in here?!" Junpei shouted.

"Magic~." Theodore proudly said. Aigis sweatdrop when she saw a glimpse of Velvet door outside the room.

Step aside that, everyone became shocked to hear the news about Elizabeth. "What happened to Elizabeth?!" Aigis asked.

"The former residence of the Velvet Room had confirmed that Elizabeth was missing from the Sea of Soul. My master's other assistant is currently searching for the presence of Minato's Wild Card while my sister, Margaret is preparing herself to defend the seal. Please do not worry about Minato's body, my master has speak with Orpheus himself and he stated that they are now closer to his body. While they search for his body, we need you and only you, the successor of his Wild Card to follow us to the Great Seal and protect his soul, tonight, during the Dark Hour." Theodore requested.

There was a moment of silent for Aigis to accept Theodore request, the body shouldn't be her worry right now. Instead, she must focus on protecting Minato's body. "What are you doing, Aigis? Just do it." Yukari said, earning her attention. "You were the one who inherited his power, so you must be the one to save him."

"Yukari…" Aigis widened her eyes upon the realization. What is there to think anymore? Minato was going to come back, and she was the only one among her friend who can save him. She turned to Theodore and slowly nodded her head, "I'll do it tonight."

"Prepare yourself for tonight, Aigis-sama." Theodore bowed before he exited the door. Everyone returned their attention to Aigis.

"Better bring him back, okay Aigis?" Yukari smiled toward her, followed by the others who shot her a smile.

"How about we make a welcome home party for him when he comes back?" Junpei suggested.

"Can we invite the others from Inaba?" Labrys pleaded.

"Are you kidding? Of course we can! We gonna invite those persona users from Sumaru City as well!" Junpei answered.

"We shall leave him to you." Mitsuru gave her a hopeful smile before packed her stuff, "We conclude today's meeting, lets meet again tonight at the dorm before Dark Hour."

Everyone nodded and slowly left their seat, making their way to the door. Aigis took a deep breath to relieve her nervousness and left the room with Labrys.

Naoya Toudou

Cloudy – Morning – Police Department, Konan, Sumaru City

Naoya barged in Katsuya's office to see Nanjo, Eriko, Yukino, Hidehiko and Suou brother's assistant, Shiori including Matsuya and Miyabi were waiting for him inside. "How many people went inside the clock tower other than Tatsuya and Maya?" Naoya asked.

"Katsuya, Ulala, Baofu and some of Tatsuya's friends from high school, Lisa, Eikichi and Jun went inside." Shiori answered with worried tone.

"Mommy, Daddy…" Matsuya cried in Yukino's shoulder as she carried him. "What kind of stupid parents leaved their own child while they go exploring?" Naoya frowned upon Matsuya who cried madly missing for his parent.

"It's my fault, I should've stopped them when they told me to stay." Yukino felt guilty over what happened.

"No use blaming yourself right now, not like they knew they're going to be trapped anyway. Tonight Minato should return, right?" Naoya asked, reminding the others about today's important event. He continued, "What about the public?"

"Consider it done." Nanjo swiftly answered. Naoya raised his eyebrow in amazement. "Rich people can do everything, huh?" Naoya teased.

"We covered their disappearance with an excuse that they went somewhere in other city last night, extending their work. I will take their place to arrange any case before they return for the time being. I marked Jun's attendance as absent in his school form." Shiori stated.

"Suure…because the public will easily believe that two police chief suddenly went away in the middle of the night to Wonderland, except it's in the form of tower." Naoya face palmed.

"Well what choice do we have? The tower only appeared in Dark Hour, we have to wait for tonight if we want to search for them." Hidehiko replied. There was a deadly silence, where nobody was able to give an idea what to do.

"We need to find them tonight." Eriko spoke, "I must tell him about it…"

"Tell him about what?" Yukino turned to Eriko.

"A few days ago, Tatsuya asked me to find anything about some entity called 'Nuclear Chaos', who appeared in his dream before his memory of the 'other side' returned to him. I was supposed to tell him yesterday about what I find, but it was too late." Eriko took out a few printed papers from her bag and showed it to the others.

The expression on their face was almost priceless, except for Naoya who (strangely) was not surprised by what he saw. They took a closer look at the picture and profile of the entity, Matsuya even cried in terror to see such a hideous image on the paper. "YOU. GOT. TO BE. KIDDING. ME." Hidehiko stuttered as he took a few step backward in fear.

"Also known as 'Daemon Sultan', 'Blind Idiot God'… Damn, he was as ugly as Nyarla-chan was." Naoya commented with a disgusted expression.

"Of course he was, he was the primordial creator of universe as well as the ancestor of all Great Old One and Elder God, even Nyarlathotep served him based on mythology." Eriko explained further.

"Do you think… he might be…you know, one of the Four Horsemen?" Hidehiko gave his theory.

"Then we're in a bigger trouble than we thought we have. We could barely handle Nyarlathotep and now the first god of Cthulhu myth himself has personally comes to destroy our world." Nanjo sighed as he took off his glass and wiped his eye upon the image of the so called 'Nuclear Chaos'.

"Forget about this god, we got to save Minato AND Tatsuya with the others from the clock tower. So don't think about this." Naoya said as he snatched the paper from Eriko and savagely torn it apart.

"Naoya, what are doing?!" Yukino screamed as she snatched back the paper from Naoya.

"I'm trying to stop you all from being afraid, because our negative emotion will only fuel his power, like Nyarla-chan. The more we fear, the more he will become powerful like Nyarlathotep." Naoya turned to Eriko, "Don't worry, I'll help print a new one for you."

"Geez, you don't have to do that, at least. I can keep the paper if you want, it took me a whole night to print this thing, you know." Eriko pouted, but Naoya actually found it cute instead of scary.

"Wait, how did you know our negative emotion can fuel his power like Nyarlathotep?" Yukino asked.

"It's just my instinct." Again, Naoya simply answered and continued.

"Well, sleep early everyone, and please, bring your weapon." Naoya grinned as he turned to Miyabi and Matsuya, "Don't sweat it, we're going to find them tonight and you will surely see them tomorrow, okay?"

"Please save my husband, Toudou-san, I don't know what to do without him." Miyabi pleaded with sorrowful expression, sadden by the cries of Matsuya. "*Sigh* What did I just told you? I said we're going to find them." Naoya replied.

"Should we bring Maki and Reiji with us?" Yukino requested.

"I think not, they have a family and children to take care of, unlike you." Naoya teased.

"For your information, my 11 years old son is more mature than you, he was the one refused me to watch after him." Yukino countered to silent him.

"Whoops, sorry, I didn't know. Oh well, see you tonight." Naoya said as he sprinted outside before Yukino could lecture him any further.

Yu Narukami

Sunny – Evening – 14/11/2012(Wednesday) – Junes, Inaba
(The day the Great Seal break)

"What?! Then what are we supposes to do now?" Chie shouted after heard the news about Tatsuya and Maya's disappearance. Currently sitting on their discussion table, the Investigation Team were talking about the news Naoto received from Mitsuru.

"There is nothing we could when our schedule have already been filled with our school." Yukiko said.

"But we can't just leave them like that!" Kanji shouted in disagreement.

"Don't worry, Mr. Toudou and the others will find them at the clock tower tonight, today is the day anyway." Naoto said.

"So it's tonight, huh?" Yosuke remembered today's important event.

"Yeah, tonight Minato Arisato should return, Mitsuru-senpai said it should happen during the Dark Hour." Rise explained.

"Yay! We're going to meet the last hero!" Teddie cheered in joy.

While everyone discussed about tonight's important event, Yu sat quietly in his seat. His mind filled with Izanagi's word about Yomi. It's been more than 2 weeks since Marie had gone missing, and police didn't have a single trace about the kidnapper.

Slowly, Yu rouse from his seat and began to packing his stuff before he turned to his friends. "I need to go now, to check my uncle and bring Nanako to the hospital." Yu said.

"Oh, I heard that your uncle is getting well." Yosuke said, taking progress about Yu's uncle condition.

"Do you need company, senpai?" Rise asked, but Yu politely shook his head as no. "Thank you Rise-chan, but I can handle it myself."

"Are you sure, I'm free too. Maybe we can go together." Yukiko demanded, red blush began to form on her cheeks. "Yukiko!" Chie shouted in jealousy. But again, Yu shook his head.

Yu departed away from his friends and made his way to the hospital. He thought to himself that maybe he should go to market and buy some fruit for his uncle. Yu changed his direction and made his way to the shopping district.

Yu blinked his eye at what he saw. The Velvet Room was available at the shopping district, but there was no sign of blue butterfly floating above the door like it always have. Now that he thought about it, he never visited the Velvet Room since all this prophecy began to happen. Confirmed that no one was watching, Yu decided to visit the room and slowly opened the door.

Evening – Velvet Room

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, Yu-sama." Igor greeted Yu, currently sitting in the middle of the newly design room. Yu took a moment to observe the surrounding and noticed that Margaret wasn't present. Instead, a woman in a black gown and a man with painting equipment were standing next to Igor. "May I introduce to you my two former assistant, Belladonna and Demon Painter." Igor continued.

"Where's Margaret?" Yu asked confusedly.

"She is currently searching for any trace of her sister, Elizabeth, who went missing a few days ago from the Sea of Soul. However, please don't worry, one of my assistant will find her before the Great Seal break." Igor answered calmly.

"What? …Well, I hope she's alright." Yu said. "How's the Great Seal doing?"

"It is exactly what Orpheus had told you, the power of the Great Seal will be completely drain by tonight's new moon. Minato will be free from the seal by its own, but to return his soul to his body… we can only pray for Tatsuya to find his body before it's too late."

Yu nodded, and slowly walked to the seven chairs before widening his eye. "Wait, why are there's too many chair? I thought one is enough- Oh right, Toudou-san, Tatsuya and Minato are going to be here as well… But, seven?"

"Everything that happened here is a part of your destiny, you will know the reason soon." Igor said as he turned to Demon Painter and grinned.

"Yu Narukami, may I have the Contact Card you having right now?" Demon Painter asked Yu.

"Oh, here." Yu took out the Contact Card from his pocket and handed it to him. Slowly, he observed the card and turned to Igor as he shook his head as a sigh. "It is a pity then." Igor said, his smile dropped, making Yu slightly confused.

"What is it?" Yu asked without a second thought as he sat on the middle chair.

"Your persona, Izanagi, is struggling to reclaim his true consciousness. His true consciousness from the collective unconsciousness is beginning to return to him. Did you overuse the Contact Card?" Demon Painter tried to confirm his situation.

"Ummm…" Yu stuttered nervously when Igor stared passively at him. "…Yes, I did, but only because he somehow refuse to answer my question, like he have a mind of his own- Hold it, what do you mean by Izanagi's true consciousness? I thought you said a persona is a facade of personality of me, which mean that he IS me, the same goes for shadow. How can he have a mind of his own? The same thing happened when we fought Adachi at Port Island."

"Then how do you explain about Izanami and Nyarlathotep being a shadow but have a will of their own?" Igor replied. Yu remained silent, reminded himself that if anyone know the most about persona, it should be Igor.

"Allow me to explain." Igor began to speak again, "It is true that persona and shadow is a facade of one own personality, however, their very original existence was born from collective unconsciousness, and they simply being 'called' by the soul of the reality for different purpose. Their true consciousness however, was separated from their mind and cannot escape from collective unconsciousness." Igor continued.

"My apologies, Yu-sama, but I have been forbid by my master Philemon from using the true name of one source I can only refer as 'butterfly'. Only those who possessed the 'butterfly' may retain their true consciousness and develop their own ego even as a persona or shadow. Izanami, Nyarlathotep and Erebus were among the shadows whose had possessed such power, where their power can be fuel by humanity's heart. But Izanagi, is an extraordinary case."

Igor smirked, which in respond Yu raised his eyebrow. "Izanagi, like the other persona, was simply the other self of you, and your soul was connected as he shared your heart and memory. His true consciousness can only return to him by the power of Contact Card. But his true consciousness is beginning to return to him. You have witnessed such hint when Izanagi communicated with Strife without you using the Contact Card, same goes when you interrogated him using the Contact Card, he begin to act on his own. He will become more and more like Izanami, which I include one of your friends, a shadow with his own ego."

"Teddie…" Yu whispered under his breath and choose to ask Igor further, "In other word, Izanagi have his own memory as persona, just like Teddie have his own memory as a shadow? And they both might have 'butterfly' inside them?"

"Splendid, Yu-sama, but it is incorrect in the case of Teddie to have the 'butterfly'. However, the other question must remain hidden for now. You may ask the rest when all four of you gather here to meet my master." Igor finally said. Demon Painter returned the Contact Card to Yu with a smile, "Take good care of it, because I'm the one who design the cover."

Nodded in respond, Yu rouse from his chair and began to walk to the exit door.

Margaret

Morning – 14/11/2012(Wednesday) – Somewhere in the Sea of Soul
(The day the Great Seal break)

"Do you find her?" Margaret asked Nameless after touring the seemingly endless space for an hour.

"Shhh, you will disturb the souls that live here, and I'm unable to hear her voice for now. It seems that her presence has been 'blocked' by some unknown force." The blindfold man said in a very low tune.

"What about the Wild Card? The fact that Nyarlathotep is searching for it means that it's still with her." Margaret said dissatisfied.

"The Wild Card is beyond my reach. I can only hear the voice of the soul in here, not the power." Nameless replied carefully in hope that it will not break her spirit to continue to find Elizabeth.

Floating side by side, suddenly they heard a faint roar from a distant area of Sea of Soul. "Is that…" Margaret turned to the direction where the voice was.

"Erebus, the 'butterfly' of sorrow." Nameless answered, "Do not panic, the shadow that attack you when you first came to save your sister, Yog-Sothoth, is not present here."

Margaret froze, reminded herself of the huge shadow that attacked her when she first meet the white silhouette, unknown to herself that he was Conquest. "So that is Yog-Sothoth, the shadow that could forcefully destroy the body of Minato Arisato." Margaret said.

"You're trembling." Nameless said when he notice Margaret's hand was trembling.

"It's just that… my sister…" Margaret sadly said, "I will not allow her to replace Minato, but even if I meet her, she will not change her mind for what she had decided."

"Your sister is saving not only Minato, but every soul that return here. Isn't it nicer if you feel proud for her instead of worrying?" Nameless said.

"Of course I'm worried about her, she's my sister. But you're right, I should feel proud, although it's not easy as it seem."

"Take your time, Margaret… Oh, I think I'm sensing something." Nameless suddenly searched for something, gaining Margaret curiosity. "It's faint, but I'm sensing something and… a shadow as well."

"Please lead the way!" Margaret said impatiently.

"…Forgive me, but now it has disappeared." Nameless said again when he realized that he lost track of it, which Margaret sighed heavily in respond.

"You should return to the Velvet Room, you need the strength to defend Minato's soul from Yog-Sothoth tonight. Please allow me to continue my search." Nameless said. Margaret, once again acknowledging his word, nodded in agreed before floated away from him.

Meanwhile, at the same time…

Elizabeth

Morning – 14/11/2012(Wednesday) – Somewhere in distant realm from human world
(The day the Great Seal break)

Ryoji transformed into Thanatos for the fifth time and began to slash the rod-pillar of the cage with his sword. Since the cage was too small for Thanatos to even move his body, Thanatos managed to move only his arm. Poor Elizabeth had to push herself to the corner of the cage to find space for her to breath. But it was still in vain. Thanatos was thrown backward by the sudden electricity and returned to his human form.

"Sorry." Ryoji turned to Elizabeth who crawled toward him.

"You don't have to." Elizabeth replied with a heavy tone.

"Aren't you hungry, being trapped here for a few days?" Ryoji asked.

"I'm not like normal human. I can starve much longer than this." Elizabeth answered, observing the foggy air outside the cage at the same time, "If my calculation is right, it's today."

"We'll not give up yet, our time is running out. We need to be fast." Ryoji said as he shook the metal rod-pillar that trapped them. They have tried to escape for days now, but not a single chance of them can escape. Marie did came visited them once in a while, but only with the purpose to check on them, ignoring Ryoji and Elizabeth's plead to set them free. They didn't even know what hours it is, their only timer was the bright and dark color of the water surround the small island which they presumed as daytime and nighttime.

"…Elizabeth, are you sure you want to do this?" Ryoji asked Elizabeth the same question he asked a few days ago. Elizabeth didn't know what to answer anymore. She felt that this was the only way for Minato to have his happy life back, yet she felt guilty for making this decision without her sister and younger brother's permission. But she had met Philemon before she decided all this, and Philemon personally said that maybe one day she will be free by someone else when she replaced Minato as the Great Seal, maybe a year later, decade later or maybe longer… Philemon's word sounds promising, but of course, lonely must be the only thing she will felt when she hanged herself right in the middle of that giant gate.

Elizabeth shook her head to wake herself from her thought and slowly turned to Ryoji, "This is the only way, Ryoji."

Naoya Toudou

Clear Sky – Late Night – Seven Sisters High entrance, Rengedai, Sumaru City

Naoya had already prepared his sword in its sheath. Standing in front of him were Yukino, Eriko, Nanjo and Hidehiko. They're currently waiting for the clock to struck 12 at midnight. As they all prepared their weapon, Naoya began to give his order.

"Alright, everyone, this is it. Once we get inside, we better return home with Minato's body along with Tatsuya and his gang." Naoya raised his thumb to his back, pointing at the gate of the school.

"Calm down, only a minute left." Yukino checked her watch.

"We gonna bring them back!" Hidehiko said.

"You're right, I need to tell Tatsuya about what I find." Eriko said.

"Save that for later." Nanjo said, checking his watch.

11:59:16…

Yu Narukami

Foggy – Late Night – Dojima Residence, Inaba

"How do you feel, Yosuke?" Yu asked through his phone in his room.

"How? I'm nervous if you ask me, even if we're not the one doing anything. It's now or never. Call me back when everything is over okay?"

"Got it." Yu replied and ended the call. 'Be careful, Margaret, Elizabeth, …Marie…' Yu thought when he glanced at the clock that hanged on the wall.

11:59:23…

Aigis

Cloudy – Late Night – Iwatodai New Dorm, Tatsumi Port Island

As the time approached midnight, not a single person in that dorm was asleep in their bed. Everyone choose to group at the lounge, waiting for the surrounding to change to Dark Hour. Aigis was the most, fully reloading her bullet on both her hand as she knew she must be the one to protect Minato's soul.

"I will bring him back, I promise." Aigis smiled towards the rest of her friends. "You better be, Aigis." Yukari smiled back.

Suddenly, a burst of light appeared next to the exit door, blinding everyone's vision. Everyone reopened their eye to see Theodore was standing next to a blue portal. "We need to go now, Aigis-sama." Theodore said, slightly bowing his head.

"I know, I'm ready." Aigis said and began to walk to the blue portal. Bowing again, Theodore vanished from the lounge as he passed through the portal, but left the portal opened for Aigis.

"This is it." Aigis said, reaching her left hand and passed through the portal as she looked at the clock on the wall.

11:59:31…

Margaret

Late Night – Velvet Room

"I wish you the best, Margaret." Igor wished Margaret luck with Belladonna and Demon Painter as Margaret began to leave the room through a portal.

"Nameless will continue to find your sister and the Wild Card, so please release all your worries and save the 'messiah'." Belladonna said.

"Yes, I will hold him as long as I need until Nameless find my sister and return the Wild Card back to Minato." Margaret said determinedly and entered the portal before disappearing.

11:59:42…

Elizabeth

Late Night – Somewhere in distant realm from human world

"Hey." A female voice was heard from outside the cage. Ryoji and Elizabeth turned to see Marie suddenly appeared, holding a paper written with ancient Japanese word on it. "Stay back." Marie said.

Slowly, Marie putted the paper on one of the rod pillar of the cage and began to mumble something. In a blink of an eye, the cage collapsed into dust, which made Ryoji sneezed by the sudden dust that covered his body. "Ryoji, we're free!" Elizabeth happily said, cleaning the dust that covered her dress.

"Thank you for changing your mind, Izanami-chan." Ryoji thanked her but asked, "But why?"

"…Don't misunderstand. I want Yu to win his battle with my master, Strife. If what you said was true that I can make my own decision, then this is the least I could do." Marie turned to the calm water and pointed at one of the spot in the water, "The water is nothing but illusion,you will see a staircase lead to a door to escape from here. The rest is up to you."

"You're not coming with us?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, this is the path I choose. If lord Strife finds out, Yu and his friends might be targeted in order to find me. So leave me here, go!" Marie ordered as she raised both hand in the air. Suddenly, the calm water surround the small island began to disappear along with the fog, revealing anew scenery before Elizabeth and Ryoji.

Yomi

They weren't on a small island, first of all, they were actually on the top of one of a small but tall hill. The green grass has turned into soil- ground. Surround the hill was filled with old skeleton and mindless shadow who wandered the area. They looked downward to see that a long red stair was attached from the top of the hill to the small red shrine at the bottom of the hill and the landscape was filled with abandoned house and shrine like an old Japanese village. They observed closely other part of the place and noticed a gigantic castle with old Japanese style miles away from their location. There was no cloud or star in the sky, or rather, there was NOTHING on the sky, nothing but pitch black.

"Where are we?" Ryoji asked.

"You're now in my land of dead, Yomi. I will order my people to open the path for you. Hurry!" Marie ordered. Realizing that the time was running out, Elizabeth and Ryoji sprinted to the stair.

After a moment to walk down the stair, Elizabeth and Ryoji reached the end of the stair that connected to the back of the small shrine. Carefully, they opened the front door of the shrine and ran through the muddy landscape and old house filled with blood and bones. An army of Yomi, Yomotsu-Ikusa swamped them to block their exit, forcing Ryoji to turn into Thanatos to defend Elizabeth who's harmless without her book.

However, they were saved by an eerie scream from across the gigantic castle. They turned to the castle to see Izanami in her shadow form flew toward the castle. All the Yomotsu-Ikusa began to walk away from them and proceeded toward the castle. "Let's go!" Elizabeth shouted as she ran to the giant shrine entrance that can be seen from their location.

11:59:52…

"Come on, everybody, let's fight some shadow tonight!" Naoya grinned as he pushed open the gate.

11:59:53…

"It will be decided tonight." Yu said as he looked at the clock.

11:59:54…

"Wish me luck." Aigis turned to her friends and sank herself into the portal and disappeared.

11:59:55…

"Come, Yog-Sothoth, let us rip the 'messiah' soul apart!" Nyarlathotep screamed from across the Sea of Soul. "Show them the power of 'black butterfly'!"

11:59:56…

3…2…1…

?

Dark Hour – 14/11/2012(Wednesday) – Behind the Great Seal
(The Great Seal… has break)

"…Elizabeth, where are you?" The blue haired Messiah said as he observed the white space that started to break apart like a glass shattering into millions of piece.

A/N: Mystery about Nuclear Chaos has grown closer to be solve, so relax. About Yomi, the landscape is just my imagination about the land of dead, so if you can't describe it well, then I'm sorry.

Good news for all my reader, Minato is coming back next chapter! So please stay with me!