Conquest Arc:
Chapter 30: At Dawn
Naoya Toudou
Sandy – Dark Hour – 22/11/2012(Thursday) – Grand Pyramid, Ankh desert
(an hour before Friday of Conquest)
9th floor
"Maki, take out your bow," Naoya said, taking out his sword and clenched it with both hands. Maki aimed right for the shadow behind them, where the sound of footsteps approaching them came from.
"Guys, thank goodness you're here!"
But the one stepping into the light was none other than Ryoji Mochizuki. His breathing was still hard from the look of it. "This place a-MAZE-d me; it took me all my strength just to track you down."
"…" Naoya and Maki sweat-dropped, unimpressed by the pun he gave. Still, they showed a sign of relief, somewhat glad to see him.
"I'm so glad to see you okay, Mochizuki." Maki smiled. Her hands were hurriedly checking his body, almost forgetting that he is a god of death and a persona.
"I'm better than okay! Sorry for making you guys worried about me."
"How did you get here? Didn't Apep eat you already?" Naoya said, scratching his head with his eyebrows bending upwards.
"No, I escaped from his body."
"Why did you remain inside the building yesterday?" Maki asked. Both eyes were intensely glaring at Ryoji. He could hear a clock ticking behind his head like a time limit. Dusting away the thoughts, Ryoji broke the glare and said.
"It's a little hard to explain, so how about we leave it for later?"
"…I guess. Got any idea about this place?"
"No, but I might sense any presence nearby and- Wait a minute, where are the rest?"
Naoya chuckled when he said that, "Now you notice?"
?th floor
"Guys, don't scare me like this," Meanwhile, Hidehiko was still roaming around the same floor, finding his teammates who were no longer with him, "You got me, you got me good. I'm scared right now, so you can come out… wherever you are."
The atmosphere suddenly became very tense and chilling for him, "Damn it, guys! How could you leave me?! Kyaa! What is that sound?!"
After screaming like a girl, Hidehiko heard the sound of water pouring down, like the sound of a waterfall but softer. Panicking, he slowly reached the room which was strangely brighter than the rest.
An indoor waterfall stood tall in front of him. The room was extremely large, as he could not even see the ceiling.
"Where did the water came from?" Hidehiko wondered. There was a pond in the middle, the water was cold and clean and there were many ladders on the walls. Hidehiko sighed, nodding to himself.
"Who cares if I'm alone? I'll get to the top first! Just wait!"
?th floor
"I must have been careless, even though I'm the one who suggested we shouldn't be separated."
Yukino, while observing around the corridor, realized she was separated. Although she wanted to take photos of that around, her camera was useless in Dark Hour.
Creak…
She took a quick step backward when she heard a footstep nearby. As she glanced at the corner of the corridor, she saw a man in the dark standing in front of a single room, facing inside.
'Is that Kazuya?' With slow pacing, Yukino approached the man from behind and took out her small razorblade.
"Don't move," She quickly placed her razorblade around his throat, "Drop your weapon."
"I don't have a weapon, I use the fist. See?" The man with familiar voice showed off his black glove.
"Kido?"
"Yukino, it's me."
When she looked carefully, it was Reiji's pale face staring back at her. Yukino quickly removed her razorblade and her hand that was gripping Reiji's arm. "Don't walk so suspiciously like that. Where're the others?"
"That's my line, I'm lost too," Reiji stepped aside and revealed the room to Yukino, "Anyway, look at this."
The room they entered was the room where Erio slept earlier today. It was left untouched since the resident of this room left. Yukino's eyes searched for any abnormalities inside the room, and her eyes stopped at where Erio's handbag was.
"Reiji, hold this for a sec."
Dropping her equipment on Reiji's arm, Yukino quickly looted the bag and confirmed it. "This is Erio's handbag. The bed was used…Erio was here!"
"But where is she? I thought Eriko is after her."
"I got a bad feeling about this," Yukino said, taking Erio's handbag with her, "We got to find the rest quickly."
?th floor
"Erio!"
Eriko screamed, wandering around searching for her sister. Her legs had almost given up on her after running for about half an hour or so. She didn't care about the time anymore. But it was tiresome, no matter how much she scream, she didn't hear any response.
She searched for every room. From bedroom, reading room, bathroom, bedroom, bedroom-
"!"
She almost twisted her ankle when she glanced at one bedroom. At the end corner behind the bed stood one blood red coffin. It was placed as if to hide it from the door, although she knew the truth of the coffin. She still remembered the effect of Dark Hour from Mitsuru.
"Erio?"
Nearing the coffin, she placed one hand on the surface of the hard surface. Softly, Eriko closed her eyes and listened carefully inside the coffin.
"Eriko-nee…"
"Erio…"
Finally completed her search, she broke down and wept quietly.
?th floor
Hot pond room
"Woaaaa…"
After breathlessly climbing the ladder, Hidehiko reached a hot pond. It's like the pond was glowing from beneath, it was so clean and warm; it made him want to jump inside right away.
But after a close observation around the pond, Hidehiko could feel his face turning bright red. He looked around, sensing no one was there, and finally approached the dress lying in front of him.
"Ahem, *cough*is anybody there?"
No answer, but the dress definitely belonged to a woman, and there was a smell of someone bathing here. He checked around the surface of the water for anyone to surface, but there was no one.
"The bath smells nice…"
He turned quiet, looking around. The smell was aromatic, almost hypnotizing. He chose to close the distance between him and the water.
"Hmmm, the waters…"
Then, his feet slipped.
17th floor
"So like Yamagishi and that idol, you can 'sense' things?"
Maki asked Ryoji, after walking through floors after floors like mad, searching for the rest of the team.
"Not true. It's an ability that some strong shadows possessed. But it reacts to persona users or those with potentials only."
"Let me get this straight," Naoya turned to Ryoji, "There're two people closing our way-"
"There it is! Reiji, Yukino!"
With the light from the torch slowly dimmed as they move further upwards, only a fragment of the image of two figures could be seen approaching them.
Altar
"What time is it, Takahisa Kandori?"
"Close, Dark Hour is ending soon."
Kazuya and Takahisa Kandori were sitting next to each other on the same long chair, waiting for something. In Kandori's palm was a pair of round stones, and he kept rolling the stones in his hand.
"Giving up on Erio Kirishima already?"
"Hell no, I'm too lazy running around. She can't run away, you know it."
Kandori lifted his head and turned to the smirking Kazuya.
"You injected her with the dose?"
"Not exactly, but the result will be the same. Takaya and that 'babbling red-haired punk' suggested in making it. They tested it on one of 'messiah's friend when Takaya kidnapped her at Tatsumi Port Island. It turned out pretty well. They called it [Limbo Recall] or so I heard from Sudou."
"Impressive…"Kandori nodded, but his eyes carefully observed Kazuya. Kazuya noticed this and stood up before walking away.
"You look uncomfortable around me." The words froze Kazuya on his track. "Does my face make you uneasy?"
Kazuya tilted back with an extremely cold gaze. He ruffled his hair and returned to the chair beside Kandori.
"You still haven't answered my question. After the incident with Chizuru, why did you wish to join the prophecy?"
"I do what I think need to be done."
Silence took over the atmosphere when Kandori started smoking. The mischievous smile on Kazuya's face faded completely.
"You never wanted me to be the one to complete the prophecy, aren't you? You joined because of Naoya and Maki."
Kandori's quietness was smooth as if he completely ignored Kazuya. Showing an irritated expression, he stood up and bended down on Kandori.
"I'll be the one to complete it. You hear me, the vessel of Conquest? That godly power is mine to possess, forever."
"Big word for someone who is not 'himself'," Kandori picked up a small microphone on his left and handed it to Kazuya, "Go on, talk."
19th floor
Hot pond room
"Look at this bath. It's weird, extraordinary." Maki commented upon observing the hot pond room. Then, she saw a female dress not far from the pond. "Who's dress is that?"
"Wait, is there a girl inside?" Ryoji said with a wide smile, "Well, I'll be happy to join-"
Dush!
Maki and Yukino landed their fists on Ryoji's head; now he could see a star circling around his head.
"Open your eyes. That's definitely Erio's dress." Yukino said as she inspected the dress. Soon they checked again. While Maki suspiciously closing to the pond, she saw what appeared to be a pair of glasses belonged to someone they knew too well.
"That's… Hidehiko!" Maki screamed, seeing his glasses floating on the water. "He… Do you think he…"
Without further warning, Naoya dived into the water. The team immediately panicked and worried, because Naoya hasn't resurfaced for a minute already. Then, Naoya surfaced from the water, carrying the unconscious Hidehiko in his arm.
"A little help here, please!" Naoya said, swimming with one hand from the middle of the big pond to the shore. Reiji and Ryoji were the first to reached Hidehiko and took him out from the water, while Naoya was coughing water from his mouth.
"Maki, how is he?" Reiji said as he pumped Hidehiko's chest a few times. Maki quickly checked his eyes and heart rate and worriedly said.
"He swallowed too much of the water! Someone give him CPR!"
Everyone looked away from Hidehiko and Maki, including Reiji. Maki rolled her eyes and palmed her face. "As a pharmacist, I guess I have to…"
Several inches before her lips and him touched, Hidehiko coughed a lot of water from his mouth; some even hit Maki's face. A single nerve appeared on her forehead, but Yukino calmed her down.
"Haaaahhh… Guys? What are you doing here? Damn, my head hurts…"
"What the hell are you doing in the pond?" Reiji asked half angry, "We could have missed you and left you to drown."
"I slipped. That's all."
"Still, what a unique water, smells funny too…" Reiji tried to dip his hand in the water, but Maki stopped him.
"Don't touch it, don't smell it! It's like the charm effect, but different…"
After dressing the soaked Hidehiko, Maki walked to the pond's side and took out a small pharmacy capsule before dunking it into the water. She took about 200ml of the water and closed it and quickly slid it into her small purse.
"If Erio was here taking a bath, we got a problem. We need to find Erio and Eriko fast," Yukino said, "Let's move."
"Hide, let's go." Reiji lent his right shoulder for Hidehiko to lean on and started walking to the waiting group. Hidehiko had been mumbling as he was half-conscious.
"Hey, you look like a corpse, Kido…"
12th floor
"So you're saying, you rest at the lake after you escaped SEBEC building?" Reiji commented to Ryoji while still holding Hidehiko as they gathered together while searching for the Kirishima twins. "We must have missed you when we entered the pyramid."
"Don't sweat it. Eriko is just ahead."Ryoji replied.
After descending the floors following Ryoji's smell, they finally stopped at one floor and searched for her presence. Naoya was extra quiet after the conversation with Maki and always turned his face away from the rest, walking away by himself.
It was then he felt a presence coming from one room. He could sense it, and he knew why he can. It was one instinct he refused to deny in the prophecy, in this war.
"Eriko!"
The others shifted their attention to Naoya who shouted when he entered a room. They all rushed towards the door, cramping over the narrow corridors and reached the door. They just couldn't believe their eyes.
"Eriko…"
She was kneeling down on the floor in front of a coffin, not noticing her friends until Naoya came tapping on her shoulder. Eriko quickly wiped clean her eyes before standing up.
"Everyone, Ryoji too?"
"Don't go running around like. You're making us worried." Maki said, "Did you found…"
A glance at the coffin immediately made her understood the situation. Ryoji's face saddened, realizing the result of the situation.
"Erio Kirishima isn't immune to Dark Hour due to not being a persona user. She won't return to normal until Dark Hour ends. Since Ankh Pyramid only open in Dark Hour…"
"We can't get out until the next Dark Hour. We're stuck here."
They all remained quiet, reaching the dead end for their mission. They had no idea what could happen in the next 24 hours on the desert. Worse, Apep could be hunting for them right this moment when their guard is low.
*cough* testing… That was clear."
They were startled by the sound of speaker screeching throughout the pyramid. A familiar voice rang their ears.
"Kazuya!" They all screamed.
"Would you look at the time? It's almost the end of Dark Hour. Perhaps you already know, but… you can't get out, at least not with Erio Kirishima. Who knows if you ever escape from here?"
Silence filled the bedroom.
"Tell you what? You must be tired, and sad, and angry. How about you rest first? The ceremony for Conquest will be at dawn, right after the sunrise. I need a break, you need a break. So let's chill. I promise me and my shadows won't attack you until then, I'll even give you a route to leave this desert. But in exchange, give me Erio, will you?"
"Let's chill my ass! You can't have Erio Kirishima, deal with it!" Naoya placed both hands on his waist.
"And please, don't waste your time finding me. You can't. Haha! See you at dawn then."
As the speaker's sound disappeared, so did the darkness that enveloped the room. The torches around the pyramid turned to bright yellow, the deadly smell of corpse disappeared along with the blood stains at every corner of the room. The atmosphere became brighter and calmer as the electricity returned to their phone. Naoya checked the time and date, and his hand clenched into a fist.
Tatsuya Suou
Red Cloudy –Xibalba
"Here again?"
Tatsuya was in Sumaru City, but different from what he remembered. He was wearing his Seven Sisters High uniform, and his body felt thinner. He was standing in front of his former high school. Above the cloud, a gigantic red silhouette could be seen gazing down upon him with his bright yellow eyes.
"Is this the continuation of when I got my alternate memories? But why am I turning younger?"
He looked again at the sky at the red silhouette before he noticed the red light beam torching from the middle of the school. His curiosity forced him to take a step towards the school gate. The moment he placed his hand on the gate, it opened by itself as if it wanted Tatsuya to go inside.
"…I hear voice…"
Tatsuya walked into the school. Since the area was familiar to him, he went straight towards the park at the middle of the school. The temperature increased the closer he was to the center. The moment he reached the backyard was the moment his heart rate increased.
A giant cocoon in crimson red was placed at the center, emitting bright red light towards the monster above. Although it looked like a cocoon, it pumped the light inside like a heart. In front of the cocoon, one man in black suit stood there, staring at the cocoon. Although at first he didn't recognize him, a sparkle from that man's earring made him easily identified.
"Naoya?"
Cloudy - Early morning - 23/11/2012(Friday) – Konan, SumaruCity
(Friday of Conquest)
"Hah!"
Tatsuya woke up in his bed, sweating hard. He saw the alarm hadn't rung yet, and the outside was still cloudy and dark. He turned to his side to see Maya sleeping soundly. Feeling awake, he left the bed and glanced at the window outside.
"…Huh?"
But when he looked outside, he noticed a strange thing.
Naoya Toudou
Before Dawn – Grand Pyramid
"Mmmmm…" Erio Kirishima finally woke up in the small bedroom, surrounded by Naoya and his team. They felt glad, knowing that she was safe as she sound. Eriko was the first to came running when she saw Erio's awake.
"Erio, Erio look at me!" Sitting next to her twin, Eriko checked her condition. The moment she opened her eyes for a few seconds, she screamed.
"Eriko-nee! He's coming, he's coming for me! I don't know where to hide or run! I need to run!"
"Erio, calm down! Look at me! Everyone's here for you, nobody is going to hurt you."
Still in her yesterday dress, Erio observed around the room to see the rest of the team staring at her with worried expression, except Hidehiko who had been staring at the wall for an hour. The moment she saw Naoya, she backed away in fear.
"It was him! Stay away from me!"
"Hey! I'm the real one, not that imposter!" Naoya argued, "I'm the original, see the earring?"
"Go away!"
"…" Naoya sighed. He was too lazy to continue the conversation any longer. So he gave up and landed on the bed not far from her. "*sigh* I can't even sleep."
"Do any of us?" Reiji replied. A dark spot could be seen beneath his eyes, "I didn't sleep since yesterday…"
"…Except Hidehiko." Yukino glanced at Hidehiko who was awake a while ago was now asleep at one of the bed. "That bath made him go mad."
"Hide!" Reiji shouted at the sleeping Hide, angry and tired at the same time, "Don't you dare sleep right now! Wake up!"
"Quiet down, I almost reach the land of Eden…"
"WAKE UP!"
"Ah!" Hidehiko's eyes were darker, his face was paler and less expressive, like a man under hypnotization. "Kido, is that you? Man, what happen to your face? You look ugly- Ah, stop! It hurt!"
"Say that again, you bastard." Reiji locked Hidehiko in his arm, truly angry with a nerve showing on his forehead. Erio and Eriko stared at them without a word, unable to care about others at that moment. Yukino and Maki were at their side, finding themselves in a headache seeing the two. Naoya was the only one who looked relaxed.
"How are we going to bring him and Erio along?" Maki said, turning to Ryoji at the end corner of the room, "Besides, Ryoji still haven't found the Pandora's Box. We still need to find it."
"Actually…" Ryoji said with a calm expression, "I already found it."
…
"EH?!" The entire group shifted to him in disbelief, especially Maki.
"…Is it that time after we fought Apep?" Maki asked. The others nudged closer to hear, except for Hidehiko.
"Will you believe me when I tell you where I found it?" They all nodded. Ryoji coughed a few times and took a deep breath.
"It was inside Apep's body."
"…" Their reactions were a lot different from what he expected.
"When Apep swallowed me that midnight, I found something inside him. I'm not sure what it was, but the energy it emitted was powerful. When I escaped Apep's body, I just had to check again…"
After Midnight - 22/11/2012(Thursday) –SEBEC building
(Two nights ago)
Thanatos realized how deep the building was as he dived into the center hole of the destroyed floors. The absolute darkness at the bottom didn't bother him, but instead a gigantic echo of monster brought chills to his hard skin.
"…This power, this darkness…"
Thanatos reached the bottom floor only to find a lake, seemly black due to no light reaching in. He could feel the power from the bottom of the dark lake. Using full force, he dived into the lake to find Apep sleeping.
"Apep, the serpent of darkness."
Hearing Thanatos's call, a pair of yellow eyes opened and greeted Thanatos.
"Thanatos, the vessel of Death, the god of death, the child of Nyx, the former possessor of Archetype of death and the end, thou what is thy wish?"
"I dare you to fight me again!"
"You have a motive behind those words. I am, however, not impressed. Leave."
"I don't think so. I'm going to force you if I had to."
Thanatos VS Apep
"I will not make the same mistake, the vessel of Death…"
Apep hid his presence within the dark lake from the Death's vision. Thanatos realized his mobility was restricted by the underwater pressure, but not to Apep. Within a second, the serpent almost slammed him from behind.
The lake splashed like an explosion from underwater. Thanatos leaped upwards with all his might and escaped the water surface.
Spiral Blade- Like a tendril, only his visible tail was aiming at Thanatos from the side. He evaded sideway, an inch away from being slashed by the sharp tip of the tail. A pair of glowing yellow eyes glared at the small figure from under the water.
"Don't underestimate me, Garudyne!"
Raising his sword high, Thanatos blew a gust of the wind within his blade, aiming for between the serpent's eyes. It was almost as if the lake was splat in two by an invisible sword.
Maragidyne- Thanatos swung his blade 360 degrees and emitted fire to the walls in his surrounding to brighten the area. The place was moistly and extremely dirty, like a ruin underneath the sea. Even the floor was strangely different, as if it was no longer the same building as above.
The moment his eyes averted, a giant head was already closing on him in extreme speed, raging his fang. With his sixth sense, Thanatos dashed backward, thrusting his sword at the upper palate of the mouth and storming his one feet at the bottom fang. Apep roared in pain, shaking his head left and right to remove the death god hanging in his mouth.
Thanatos flipped his leg inside the mouth out and swung his body upwards, taking out the sword just as Apep shut his mouth. Above Apep's head, Thanatos once again stabbed the hard skin and began to fly down, dragging his blade with him.
"Gah!"
1 hand Master- For a moment, the death god disappeared from his vision, leaving only a trail of blood on Apep's skin from the head all the way to his tail in the water. Bleeding hard, Apep returned to the lake, just as Thanatos waiting for him.
Immediately after Apep dived inside, Thanatos jumped out of the water.
Maziodyne- Thanatos launched a high voltage lightning at the water where Apep was. He couldn't hear the scream from the serpent, but he must have at least dealt a big amount of damage on him.
Then he remembered Apep's immunity towards elemental attack.
"What the…?!"
Serpent of Evil- Revealing his full jaws as he emerged from the water, Apep launched his deadly blast from his mouth and aimed right towards him. Caught off guard, Thanatos blocked his face with both hands and his 'coffins' wing to sustain the powerful impact.
During the previous battle, Apep failed to launch this attack, but now he knew the level difference. The sphere of a blast was suppressed, but the shockwave was strong enough to make Thanatos penetrated right through the ceiling of the above floor, and next floor as well. He was extremely lucky to be immune to darkness, or else anyone would be instantly killed by that skill.
Still handling the impact, a long and huge tail caught him in midair and twisted his body. He was sent crashing down with an incredible speed and once again returned to the lake's surface.
Again, the lake shook by the quake of Thanatos being slammed into the water by Apep's tail. He didn't know how much damage he took, but that move made him stunned in shock.
"Death is much more fragile than Evil. Remember those words, child of Nyx."
Evil Bashing- Slowly, Apep revealed his jaws and opened as wide as possible towards the unmoving Thanatos. But Death was more of a trickster than he was. Upon seeing his chance, he swam right into his mouth, allowing himself to be eaten again.
"…"
What seems to be a minute long, Apep felt a thrust at one part of his serpent body. He turned to where the pain is to see his skin was being cut opened by a blade from the inside. It was then he finally understood the god of death's intention, Apep's eyes turned sharp in rage.
"Thanatos!"
Tempest Slash- Thanatos slashed open the skin and escape the body with a sphere object in his right arm.
"My work here is done."
With his momentum charged and sphere ready, Thanatos jumped with all his strength right through the water and ceiling. When he looked back, he saw the face of a mad snake chasing after him with his mouth wide opened.
"RETURN THE BOX!"
"I DON'T THINK SO."
Thanatos raised his sword as the blade charged with blood red and blackness.
Ultimate Skill…
With one swing downward, Thanatos destroyed Apep into dusts, all the way back towards the lake, the massive sword eating everything it touched. Apep's scream echoed the building as he fell deep into the darkness at the bottom. Thanatos couldn't see the sunlight, but he knew he was closing in towards the warmth of the scorching sun.
"The box is never a part of the prophecy, Thanatos… Someone blinded you…"
Just a while, he heard Apep's voice warned him about something, but he choose to ignore it.
Sunny - Early Morning –Grand Pyramid
"…so… that's it."
Ryoji concluded his story to Naoya and his group, except for Hidehiko. Maki was the one with deepest thought, thinking about the sphere supposedly related to her.
"Don't waste two pages for the flashback. Cut to the chase, what time is it?"
"It's… close to 5." Maki answered Naoya, "We should get ready. Let's go to the top floor."
"I… I'm not bringing Erio." Eriko insisted, seeing how terrified her sister was by the recent event.
"Good, cause I'm not bringing him too." Reiji pointed at Hidehiko who was clapping at the wall like a retard. "Maki, how serious is he?"
"I'm not sure if the right word is 'serious', but…" Maki whispered in Reiji's ear, "If Hidehiko is becoming like this, Erio will too, soon enough."
"So let's leave those two to Eriko while we take down Kandori and Kazuya," Yukino said, waiting at the doorstep, "What are we waiting for?"
"Eriko." Naoya nodded. Eriko nodded in return.
"I understand."
"Then let's go."
The remaining members dashed towards the top floor.
Tatsuya Suou
Sumaru City
"What is that spiral?"
Not far from the city, the cloud was forming a spiral from the far away town. There's only one place where the spiral could be collected. That morning suddenly felt colder than winter and the glass's color changed to white, as if a huge storm was coming.
"Is it from Mikage-Cho?"
Aigis
Cloudy – Iwatodai New Dorm, Tatsumi Port Island
Aigis was still accompanying Labrys in her room after the attack from Arcana Devil last Dark Hour. Labrys was still asleep when Aigis who was sleeping next to her woke up to the sound of the door being opened. She glanced to see Yukari walking into the room in her nightgown.
"Hey, Aigis. Can't sleep?" Yukari said with dark eyes.
"Are you alright, Yukari-san?" Aigis asked in concern. The brunette gave a slight nod on Aigis's answer.
"I... had this weird dream lately, like I'm in a dark 's someone there, but I don't remembered… Forget it, why haven't you sleep yet?"
"Yukari, I can't. Today feels odd."
"Figures. Maybe it will rain."
Yukari walked to the window and slid open the curtain to see outside. All of a sudden, her face turned pale.
"Yukari?"
"Aigis, look at that."
Aigis could only stand speechless to see the cloudy moving away in a single direction in high speed.
"So this is…" Aigis said.
Yu Narukami
Rainy – Dojima Residence, Inaba
"…the first Friday."
Yu mumbled upon stepping outside his house. 'Hopefully there won't be flood.' Yu thought, after seeing a pool of water in the middle of the road that being overwhelmed by the gushing rain that starting to fall.
Yu opened his black umbrella as he turned to Nanako at the doorstep, "Nanako, I'll be home late today. And don't go outside, if you need anything, just text me."
"Okay, big bro! Daddy is coming home tomorrow too!" Nanako squeaked, "Stay safe, big bro!"
"You too, Nanako."
And so he ran through the rain and headed for the school. Lucky for him, the sudden growth of 'forest' in the town could give him an extra shelter. However, the mist made it dangerous and cold, very cold. Underneath a green tree near the shrine, Yu managed to look at the above cloud, but it seemed the sun decided to hide itself.
Naoya Toudou
Before Dawn - Altar, Grand Pyramid, Ankh Desert
20th floor
"Open up, Kazuya!"
The remaining five arrived at the giant door at the highest floor. At Naoya's presence, the stone door opened wide, and the first thing they saw a wicked smile of a man smirking at them.
"Welcome to the ceremony."
The sunlight enshrined the altar where he stood. At that dawn, the first rider of the Four Horsemen revealed himself to the world.
A/N: Feels good posting this chapter since Conquest will descend on the next chapter. Now, what should I say…
…Well, nothing, this chapter is only a preparation for Conquest to take his time for his epic entrance. The next chapter will be late as usual, so I hope my readers can be patient.