After returning to Inaba, the team decided to rest and when Yu fell asleep that night, he ended up having a dream about Yukiko and felt a little bit closer to her. On the next day, which was Saturday, Enforcer notified everyone that the mercenaries themselves were going to be searching for Rise when school was over for the day. Minato found himself going on a shopping trip with Minako again while Yu accepted a lunchtime offer from Saki to hang out in Okina City. Once there, Saki asked Yu about how things were going in school.
"Well, to tell the truth, I have adapted to the area and I am doing quite well. Are exams coming up?" he said.
"They'll be starting on the 19th of July." Saki replied.
"We could study and in fact we probably should study for the exams at some point."
After a bit of talking with her, Yu was able to reach Level 3 in the Social Link and the two of them parted ways when they returned to Inaba. Yu also spent some time with Nanako that evening. On Sunday, Yu decided to check up on the fox while Minato was still at his home, aware that Minako would be coming here. He was wearing a white shirt and had a pair of grey trousers on. Minato heard a knock on the door and opened it to allow Minako inside. Perhaps because of the heat or because the month would soon become July, Minako wore a pink miniskirt and a tank top that was a couple of tints lighter than her skirt while her hair had a pink butterfly-shaped braid in it. He sat down in a couch that was in the living room and Minako sat next to him.
"It's going to be nice when it becomes July." she said to Minato.
"Yeah, and with Rise things might get a little bit easier for us. By the way, you look really cute." he replied.
Minako blushed as she thanked Minato before she asked him flirtatiously, "Say, you want a glimpse?" as she put a hand on her skirt.
"A- alright."
Minako got up and bent forward in front of Minato, exposing her panties. They were the same tint of pink as her top and Minato blushed from seeing them. Once Minako was standing normally a few seconds later, she did nothing when Minato peeked up her skirt just to see her panties a bit longer and actually giggled a bit. Hell, Minako even voluntarily lifted her skirt up to allow Minato to look at her pink panties for a full three minutes. Around noon they were out shopping in Junes while stuff was being done.
Meanwhile at the base, Enforcer was briefed on the progress on researching the core essences by the scientist in charge and that they would be most useful in a laser weapon. "In any case, we should start construction on something that should be able to work during the Dark Hour. How about the Murakumo Cannon? It can work during the Dark Hour, right?" he said.
"Yeah, the Murakumo Cannon works during the Dark Hour as we tested that six months ago." Dmitri said as he came in.
"Should we start heading into Tartarus?"
"Yeah, we should. I'll contact the rest of the squad and then we'll set up a field infirmary and a supply depot inside the entrance."
Upon the Dark Hour arriving on June 26th, the mercenaries along with Fuuka saw Tartarus formed where Yasogami High School stood and entered. The main lobby was large enough to fit both the supply depot and the field infirmary and then Enforcer, Wellington, Tunazu, and Dmitri formed up to enter the main labyrinth. Once inside, it was relatively tough considering that the Shadows were a lot tougher than the ones from inside the Midnight Channel. On the fifth floor, they encountered something interesting: a new Shadow that they had no data on.
This Shadow was not like any others that the mercenaries had fought before. For the first time, the Shadow had a mechanical appearance with a riot gun on its left arm. It growled as it scanned Enforcer and his allies. When his allies attacked it, their shots could not hit the target. It was during that moment while the Dark hour was present in Inaba that something awakened inside Enforcer.
"Promethean Vision!" he yelled.
Yellow light shone from Enforcer's eyes, which were hidden by his helmet, as he looked at the Shadow, the light illuminating what the mercenary could see right now. "I . . . I can see the enemy's weak points." he said as he fired at the Shadow and hit it. Dmitri then finished it off with a few shots from his mini-gun.
Dmitri said to him, "That new power just saved our hides. Now if those Shadows scan us and we can't hit them, we can make use of your vision to be able to attack them normally."
"Yeah. Let's get going and get closer to the top of this dead tower." Enforcer replied.
Everyone grunted in agreement as they continued to the first barrier. Once there, Enforcer used a nearby access point to return to the first floor.
A/N: If you thought the Mercenaries were more badass than the Investigation Team, this chapter reinforces that. For one, the mercenaries regularly fight Shadows that are much higher level than what the Investigation Team faces. Two, when the mercenaries themselves fight Shadows, they do run into trash encounters that can use Shadow Rise's Supreme Insight ability, requiring Enforcer to use his Promethean Vision to counter it. The ability will be explained later, but lastly, the personnel in Ghost Force 969 are trained soldiers, so it's plausible that they would handle Shadows that are simply too powerful for the IT to handle.
Kou's Initial Persona is here, but you probably don't care for it.
Raiju
Description: a creature of Japanese lore that is composed of lightning. It becomes agitated during thunderstorms, but is otherwise harmless and calm.
Arcana: Strength
Current Level: 33
Abilities: Zionga, Mazionga, Lightoma, Spell Gloom, Tarunda, Acid Breath, Power Gloom (LV 34), Elec Break (LV 41), Ziodyne (LV 50), Maziodyne (LV 62), Bolt Storm (LV 78), Jupiter Shock (LV 81)
Elemental Properties: Drain Elec, Void Light, weak to Wind and Dark.
Persona abilities introduced in this chapter: Acid Breath, Bolt Storm, Jupiter Shock
Acid Breath: lowers the Defense and Hit/Evasion of all enemies by 40% for three turns. Cost: 32 SP
Bolt Storm: deals extreme Electrical damage to all enemies. Cost: 48 SP
Jupiter Shock: deals extreme Electrical damage to one enemy. Cost: 32 SP