Yo, hope you guys had a good Christmas and a good new years.

Anyways, here's the next chapter for Hero's Conquest. Hope you like it.

Silence

That was all that filled the air between the two most intimidating-looking members of the group.

Agustin and Kujou walked wordlessly through the fields. Agustin gave a small glance at his partner before sighing inwardly at himself.

It was going to be a long trip…

Earlier, after the explosion separated them, Agustin found himself on the ground covered in dust. To be honest, he was disturbed that he managed to get away without a single scratch.

It's not that he's complaining about it. But it seemed pretty weird that he managed to escape without any aftermath. Even a trained hunter like him would've suffered a couple broken bones at least from a freefall like that. But he checked himself, and there wasn't anything wrong. Everything was fine (well, aside from the dust, of course).

Just then, there was the sound of movement nearby. Agustin gripped his weapon tightly and summoned a knife like earlier. After hearing about how it worked, he decided to keep it in easy reach from now on for cases like this. He held his breath, waiting for some sign or signal to begin attacking. However, he just noticed a small sight of a fluttering cape, and slowly relaxed his guard.

"You can come out Kujou. I know that's you…"

The SHSL Warrior revealed himself and wordlessly moved closer to the Hunter while keeping a wary eye.

Well, this would be natural. He didn't really trust Kujou completely either. After all they only met about…a day? Geez, keeping track of the time is difficult in this situation.

After giving a moment to check for any sudden attack, they sat down wordlessly for a long time.

If he were to be more honest, Agustin would've preferred an attack to suddenly happen right now, instead of having an awkward moment pass by peacefully. It wasn't like he hated him, but this was the quiet one. The one who spoke the least in the entire meeting and the battle combined. That made it difficult for him to understand the man's personality.

But whether they wanted to or not, they had to work together, at least until they could find the others and a way out of this mess.

And so it led to the situation they were in right now. Somehow, they both managed to agree to continue walking around to try and meet up with the others. But the tension felt thick and heavy, and it was making things a lot more uncomfortable with each passing step.

"Er…is there something bothering you?"

"…"

"Any ideas about what this Monokuma is thinking?"

"…"

"Do you even want to talk?"

"…"

Agustin was used to being alone most of the time, so talking to someone else was already a bit of a challenge in itself. He wasn't hated or anything, but he chose to keep to himself since it's more efficient to hunt that way. But the feeling he had was about to drive him mad if nothing changed, so he decided to try and improve the situation a bit.

However, Kujou didn't seem like he heard him, and was only keeping his eyes straight ahead as he they walked. Agustin scratched his head awkwardly. He gave up trying to communicate at this point.

They arrived in an area where Agustin felt the presence of living beings moving around. His experience in the field made him pretty sensitive to this kind of stuff, which was ironically perfect for the situation they were in now.

Of course, it didn't mean that he was able to tell whether it was a friend or foe purely from that feeling alone. At most it was just a signal that something, or some things, is there. Kinda like suddenly seeing ripples in a pond. You know something went in, but unless you saw it for yourself, you couldn't tell without getting a close look.

Arming themselves with their tools, Kujou and Agustin cautiously moved closer with Agustin taking the lead. The two of them snuck quietly through the path until the target was right around the corner. There was a splashing sound, which meant that whoever, or whatever, it was apparently using water (presumably) for something, so it was probably distracted.

Holding up his fingers to countdown, Agustin signaled Kujou the timing to rush in.

3…2…1…

They swiftly moved in simultaneously to find…

"AH!"

…a young child.

"Here, you need to pass through this hole in order to get into the shelter…"

After convincing the young boy that they didn't plan on hurting him, he agreed to lead them to a hidden place where more people were hiding.

The boy's appearance was a pale yet fairly sturdy body, wearing dirty casual clothing that looked like they haven't been changed for a long time. The boy was also wearing gloves that were mismatched (the one on the left looked like gardening gloves while the one on the right looked like winter gloves) and was carrying a bucket that was being used to carry the water he was gathering.

Agustin offered to carry the bucket, but surprisingly Kujou was the one who ended up taking it off the boy's hands. Instead, the Agustin was left to make sure that the path was safe to travel across as the boy led them to their destination.

After moving for what felt like maybe an hour or so, they reached a place that seemed to resemble a sort of civilization.

Small huts and makeshift buildings were built to house groups ranging from two to five people. The ones who seemed to be by themselves only had newspapers or worn out coats to keep themselves warm. Holes were dug through in the walls with various things placed inside, which meant that some people were also trying to live in cave-like structures. The area felt damp and the smell of rust was a bit strong here and there, and there was quite a chill near the ground. The people all wore various types of clothing that looked worn and/or dirty, matching the filth and grime that stuck on their bodies. But the thing that seemed the most troubling was the look of emptiness on several faces, as if all life were suddenly taken away, leaving nothing but an empty shell of what once could have been called human.

Agustin couldn't help but stare at the sight around him. None of this looked natural to him. Last he remembered, the world was well-off enough that there wouldn't have been anything like this unless something REALLY terrible, like maybe an atomic bomb, had went off nearby (Though considering the scenery he saw at the outside, he wouldn't have been surprised if one did go off somewhere).

Him, Kujou, and their guide finally arrived at one of the huts, where the boy welcomed them inside while taking the bucket and trying to rush further in. The two of them ended up sitting in what looked like an attempt at a living room, and glanced around.

The room was filled with a wide assortment of small objects, like gears of various shapes and sizes, rubber tubes, glass fragments, some line that was gathered and wrapped up, and other kinds of random everyday objects. There was no T.V. around, so it seemed that electricity was out of the question, and considering that their guide had to travel to fetch water, they shouldn't trust sanitation either.

"Oh? It seems that little Riki had brought us some guests…"

An elderly man suddenly appeared from the doorway leading further in.

The man was wearing the same kind of raggedy clothing that everyone else in the area wore. But the sleeve that was supposed to cover his left arm had been torn off, exposing his arm along with the small amount of bandages that were wrapped along the upper arm. The other sleeve was fine, but there was nothing underneath, leaving it to flutter along gently as the old man moved around. His skin was slightly tan, and he had a short beard forming around his face, but despite his elderly appearance, he looked rather active.

The old man sat down using a nearby pillow.

"Welcome. This is a small refuge camp that we have built. My name is Bodwin. It is very nice to meet you…"

The two of them gave a slight bow in respect.

"My name is Agustin. And this here is Kujou." The hunter introduced casually. "We're actually looking around for some answers. You mind helping us out?"

"Well, we will do our best, but I'm not sure how well a group like us can help such young and active people like yourselves." Bodwin was stroking his beard gently as he answered.

"Well for starters, we need some answers. Exactly what the hell just happened here? Why does it look like we just went through another damned holocaust or a giant warzone?"

Bodwin began to pour some tea.

"Please sit down and have a drink."

Kujou took the cup and held it underneath his nose. He gave a couple of sniffs and stared at the contents. Agustin could see the hint of disdain from his face, and considering what they saw on the way here, he didn't blame him. The water's purity was rather questionable, but he felt that it would be rude to refuse the old man's offer.

He gave a small sip, and nearly gagged. The tea-part was there, he could tell, but there was also a strong taste of rust and he could've sworn that something else might have been in that water, something that he'd rather not say.

He swallowed the contents in his mouth, and managed to keep himself from making any faces or making a sound. He shifted his eyes to Kujou, who seemed unfazed by the contents. Either that, or he was hiding it well…

"As you can see, our living conditions aren't exactly ideal." The old man spoke with a slight bow in apology. "It feels like it's been about a year since we he had any fresh water or good food to eat. Ever since we were forced out of our homes…"

"You mean…"

"Yes. Those buildings you saw outside used to be homes and workspaces for us all. And not just for the people you saw on the way here. There are many different settlements in many different locations throughout the world. This is actually just one of the many hundreds, possibly thousands, of groups who were forced into hiding…"

"Alright, but you still haven't told me exactly what caused all this…"

"My my, young people nowadays are so impatient…" The old man's was acting like he was frustrated. "But very well. I suppose you really should know the details." He gave a huge sigh as he continued. "The truth is that were forced out of our homes by 5 different students, just like you. They were supposedly called the 'Denizens of Despair'…"

Agustin held his breath. That group that worked with Monokuma came up again. He remembered all too well the danger of encountering just one of them, but that all five of them could wipe out an entire city?

"Sorry, but I find it pretty hard to believe that just 5 students were able to take down an entire city by themselves. I mean that would mean that they had a lot of firepower in their hands…"

"And?"

"Well, wouldn't that mean that the military or something would have made some kind of announcement about that?"

"Why?"

"Well, something like that would probably take some kind of giant bomb or missile, right?"

"Actually, they didn't use bombs or missiles or anything like that. They used something far worse…"

"Worse?"

"Yes. I only caught a glimpse of it, but they were using some peculiar kind of object that we've never really seen before…"

The Hunter was starting to get a bad feeling.

"Er…what kind of objects?"

"Well, it looked like it was pitch-black with strange light moving through it, and it looked metallic, almost like something from those science-fiction movies..."

"Something like this?" he held up his tool to show Bodwin who glanced at it.

"Yes, something like that…WHAAAAAAAAAA?!"

The old man's scream was so loud Agustin flinched.

"How did…what is…you….YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!"

"N-No…We aren't…"

"KALIN! TAKE JEM AND RUN AWAY! YOU MUST WARN THE OTHERS!"

"Wait, this is a misunderstanding. You see…"

"YOU FIENDS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOOD KIDS, BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT YOU WERE IN LEAGUE WITH THE OTHERS, AREN'T YOU!"

"If you'd just listen…"

"I WON'T LET YOU BRING HARM TO THESE KIDS NOR ANYONE ELSE IN THIS VILLAGE! YOU'LL HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME IF YOU WANT THEM!"

The misunderstanding continued for a while.

"I'm sorry that you kids had to see me act in such a way…"

The matter was eventually cleared up, and Agustin sighed in relief. Kujou was just sitting there, acting like nothing happened. How nice it must be to act ignorant so casually…

"But I must admit, that tool of yours looks remarkably familiar to the weapons that those other kids were using to destroy our homes."

"I'm guessing you don't know anything about it?" Since he never used a specific name, it was most likely that Bodwin never really knew what these things were called in the first place.

"Sorry. No clue." The old man shrugged. "All I know is that they are very dangerous when in the wrong hands. I'd recommend keeping them hidden from the others, in case there might be another misunderstanding like the one earlier."

"Good idea…" Changing it back into its more dormant form, Agustin hid his tool away inside his belt.

"Now then, as I was saying, these things are quite dangerous. Just five of those managed to destroy an entire city and then some. But there were also people who seemed to have decided to follow these 'Denizens of Despair'."

"The people in those weird masks? We saw them before…"

"Then you know that they aren't exactly in their right mind. They might have become monsters in the body of humans, or maybe they are actually humans who have unleashed the monsters inside. Regardless, they all decided to have accepted the idea of despair into their minds, and are now desperate to serve the 'Denizens of Despair' however they can."

"So basically, they're crazy, mindless, drones…"

"Well if you put it that way…"

Agustin yawned. His body started to feel a bit heavy from the exhaustion catching up to him.

"Well it has been a long day…" he thought to himself.

"You seem rather tired," the one-armed man deduced. "I think it'll be best if you would stay over for the night."

"Thanks. I think we'll take you up on that offer…"

After the two were shown into an open room with a few blankets for bedding and warmth, Agustin wrapped himself up, ignoring the small stench he could make out from the worn fabric, and slowly closed his eyes. The last thing he saw was Kujou sitting against a wall with his eyes closed and nothing but the cloak to keep him warm.

The hunter's last conscious thoughts were towards himself, wondering if the others were okay, and whether the warrior was really fine sleeping the way he was.

"..ke up…."

*Groan*

"Wa…up I…."

*Groan*

"I said wake up Hunter."

Agustin slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He stretched his arms and rubbed his arms, which felt strangely sore.

"Ugh, I feel like I've been sleeping on something hard…"

"Nice deduction, hunter. Now wake up and look around…"

Agustin didn't appreciate the roughness in Kujou's tone, but that last comment woke him up as he started to get a grasp of his surroundings.

The room was suddenly covered in bricks and wet spots, which seemed to have come from water that was dripping from the ceiling. There were no windows or openings to look outside, but there was one large opening which was sealed by sturdy iron bars which were preventing anything from going out or coming in. The atmosphere felt fairly damp and musty, and the smell was so bad that the blanket was starting to smell like a flower compared to what he was smelling now.

"Oh crap…"

"Yeah, the whole thing was a trap…"

The two of them were stuck in a prison.

Yup. Our two heroes have now been stuck in jail for their crimes of "no speaking" and "being dangerous" (joking, of course).

But in the end, all of the heroes are gonna die anyways, so what does it matter, right? Well okay, if you want *mocking tone* HOPE *mocking tone ends* then not EVERYONE is gonna die.

Now then, I'm not sure when I'll update, but I'll try to post when I can.

As always, reviews and questions and whatever else are encouraged, but completely optional.