Chapter 3: Crisis

Two men, one younger than the other, were sit at the two sides of a desk, in a small and cold room. It was the office of a police station. A detective and his superior were discussing the recent events that were happening in Misaki City.

"We're facing a terrible crisis, detective Takagi Kuro."

"I do understand, sir..." the young man answered his chief in an apologetic tone. He had short dark brown hair and brown eyes and wore glasses. On the desk lied a small notebook containing the profiles of dead people.

"As you can see, this list in front of us is related to the victims of the Berserker murder of 6 months ago." the police superior continued. "All of them were industrialists and corporate owners who had commercial contacts with a particular corporation in the past… You know which one I'm talking about, don't you?"

"Yes sir, the Ryoki Corporation."

"Exactly." The older man furiously beat his fist on the desk. "Furthermore, beside the murderer, Berserker, an enormous armored man with great brute strength wielding a giant blade, there had always been another man on the scene of the crimes: Ryoki Hideki, son of the president of the Ryoki Corporation, Ryoki Goro."

"It seems obvious that the Corporation is involved in this string of murders..."

"Yes, and yet..." The police superior's expression conveyed great frustration, which erupted in another violent impact of the man's fist with the desk. "We're stuck! There isn't enough evidence to confirm the relation between the Berserker Murders and the Corporation! If we don't do something, the people might lose faith in us, and when another accident like this will occur, we won't be able to do anything!"

A moment of silence passed, and then Takagi spoke up.

"Sir, I might have an explanation about the reasons why we can't get to the Corporation..."

"What?"

"But there are people that might be put in danger by revealing this information..."

"Are you trying to hide a secret from me in order to protect a friend, Takagi?" the police superior inquired…

"...Yes." Kuro's head was hung.

"Then talk! Don't hide anything from me anymore! Sadly, I can guarantee very little about whoever you wish to protect, but we need this information! We must ensure the safety of the people of Misaki!"

"I understand, sir...". The detective hesitated a little, but he knew he had no choice. His mind was made up. He had prepared himself…

"Sir… Do you believe in magic?"

"What?"

The superior was quite perplexed with the words his colleague gave him. The detective proceeded to explain.

"Here's what I know, there are many sciences, and we think that we know everything about the world surrounding us, but the truth is, there is a part of the world we do not know anything about… That, sir, is the world of Magecraft, an undiscovered science, pursued by very few people called Mages, which wield magic as they wish in order to pursue their goals..."

"Are you trying to tell me that Berserker might be one of these Mages?"

"Not him. The young man who was always with him, Ryoki Hideki."

Another moment of silence passed. A silence of reflection… Then the superior broke it.

"Normally I wouldn't believe in such stuff, but the events of Berserker almost seem like they were made to make me reconsider this opinion..." The man's hands cupped his chin. "You see, some of our men that came into contact with Berserker and Ryoki were so shocked that they were hospitalized. I couldn't understand why, so I checked into the sanitarium they were recovered in. The words I have heard for most of the time were "Magic" and "Red Thunder"."

"I see..." Kuro was listening carefully.

"Anything else? Of course, this conversation will be highly confidential material." The words spurred the detective to continue his explanation.

"Well, sometimes there's a competition between some of these Wizards called the Holy Grail War, in which the Wizards fight each other in order to win a prize, a mysterious relic called "The Holy Grail", which is said to grant any wish the winner desires. One of the particular traits of this war is that the Wizards taking part in it summon spirits of legendary figures of the past which aid them in battle. Therefore, the competitors of the Holy Grail War are called Masters and the spirits they summon are called Servants."

"Are you saying that Berserker might be a Servant?"

"I'm sure of it, sir. He was related to Ryoki Hideki. He was his Master."

"How can you be so sure? And most importantly, how do you know all of this?" the superior inquired. Hearing those questions, Kuro tensed up and fell silent.

"Is it related to the one you wished to protect by staying silent?"

"Yes sir… A friend of mine, who knows the world of Mages closely enough."

"What's his name?" The detective fell quiet once again, but his superior insisted "Tell me!"

"Kazuki… Aokage Kazuki..." Kuro said, hesitantly.

"Him?" The superior didn't expect such an answer. "If I don't go wrong, he was found in one of the crime scenes heavily injured after an encounter with Berserker, but, strangely, his injuries healed rapidly after we took him to safety..."

"Him, it's him sir! He did tell me about this war. He warned me about the dangers that might have come, but he wasn't prepared to face them..."

"I see..."

"What I'm trying to say is..." Kuro paused for a second, then he said "This might be just the beginning..."

A heavy silence fell. An oppressive silence, filled with fearful anticipation.

"We must move quickly! Takagi! You and your team will investigate for clues about Magecraft and the Masters in all of Misaki! Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Kuro was about to leave, but his superior stopped him. He wanted to ask him something else.

"And another thing. Why did you remain silent for Aokage Kazuki? What risks does he run because of this talk?"

"Well… Mages try to hide themselves as best they can, and if it is found out that someone talked about them or their underworld, that someone might end up..."

"I get it. We might need his assistance, since he seems to know about this Holy Grail War, so we will need him alive, and I'm sure that you wish for his safety as well, so, if you ever end up having to get intelligence from him, be as discreet as possible."

"Sir, yes sir!" Takagi readily replied, before asking a question of his own "And what about Captain Akemi?"

"I've tried to contact him, but he had never answered." his superior answered. "He seems intent to not come back to us… Tomorrow I'll send an agent to his workplace in order to try to convince him to rejoin us..." The officer hung his head apologetically, then he rose it back up "That's all for now. You can go."

At those words, Kuro left the office. He rose his head thoughtfully.

"Kazuki… You always knew about what lies beyond our eyes, what was supposed to be hidden to us…" he muttered to himself. "I've known you for a long time, and I had an insight of your world more than once..."

Just 6 months earlier, he was on the pursuit of Berserker, the mysterious murderer who had painted Misaki red… The murderer disappeared after his team had last encountered him, but the scars he left never healed.

The detective had his mind cast on that abominable case, in which he had lost many colleagues and friends. He knew that the young man with gray hair and gray eyes would be caught in the spiral of events once again very soon.

"Please be careful..."

6 months earlier…

A menacing behemoth was standing before a squad of astounded policemen. He was clad in a golden armor and was wielding an enormous blade. He had already killed many other agents who had tried to stop him.

"It's Berserker!" one of the policemen said, frightened. During the past couple of weeks he had bloodstained Misaki and no one had been able to stop him. Strangely, his partner, a young man, wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Berserker?" Kuro was speaking in the radio "Damn it! Try to hold on! I'll come with backup shortly!"

"Everyone, be careful!" said Akane, who was leading the squad. "His actions are very well coordinated. He must be acting under direct orders..."

"From who?" her colleague asked.

"I don't know… Maybe that young man we're seeing with him most of the time..."

They were interrupted by a savage roar from the brute towering before them, who then charged in their direction, swinging his blade.

"Look out!" shouted the woman as she shoved her companion aside, away from Berserker's spinning sword. She then moved as well on the other side, and the brute hit nothing but thin air. She had put herself against a wall in order to save her colleague, and Berserker was ready to cleave her in two.

"Torikawa-san!" the young man called, fearing for his colleague's life.

When he swung down his blade, the policewoman had moved aside again, but she wasn't any safer. She drew her pistol and fired a well-aimed shot at the brute's head. It didn't flinch. It didn't fall back of one millimeter.

"What? Not even piercing bullets?" she yelled in frustration.

Berserker roared again and charged back to Akane, who managed to narrowly escape his slash. Berserker was ready to slash again, sure to hit her, when he abruptly swung his sword in the air and turned around as if there was something which had just leaped behind him...