Chapter 141: The Factions of Japan
"The problem is that we need to decide whether to believe his threat or not!"
"You daft, old man? His power is real! Of course so does his threat!"
"But we don't even know if he's the real Occult Killer or not!"
"Whether he's the real deal or not does not matter. What's more important is whether he'll truly do what he said he would!"
"Of course he's gonna fucking do it! Otherwise we'd be hearing some demands! For money or our tech or whatever!"
"Shut it, you ignorant youngsters! Let us men do the talking!"
"Hey! I've earned my place to be here! I've fought monsters to save your sorry old asses countless times!"
"It was thanks to us that you are able to obtain such power in the first place, you ungrateful brat!"
"You old fools are only here because of money! You know nothing of combat!"
Several men are shouting arguments at each other in the meeting room within Messiah's main headquarters (which used to be Nishino University). The men shouting at each other are members of the Messiah Knights and the members of Nishino board of directors, the executives who financed the creation of the Messiah Knights.
These two factions have always been at odds with each other due to conflicting interests, where the knights genuinely wants to protect Messiah whereas the board of directors cared more about politics above all else. Both sides made mistakes which costs lives in the past though, the knights through reckless decisions and the board of directors through callous and coldhearted decisions, and thus they are at a stalemate in their conflict, neither side has an advantage over the other.
In the case of the Occult Killer's ultimatum, the board of directors elected to doubt his threat and to either ignore it or take the wait and see approach while the Knights fully believed in his threat.
"Isn't there something else we need to discuss here? Like what deal did our so-called Savior made with that guy?" At the sound of the brute Saejima Yuudai's voice, all eyes turned to him… and then towards Akane. Of course he hasn't forgotten her refusal to accept his sexual advances and thus is still sore about it.
"How dare you accuse the Savior, Saejima!"
"You're just sore because she doesn't want to sleep with you!"
"The Savior will never betray us!"
The other knights defended their idol and sent Yuudai threatening glares but he is undeterred by their glares and merely smirked with satisfaction, which didn't last long as he see Akane's expressionless face, not exactly the reaction he wanted.
"Be silent, Saejima-kun. You should not speak out of line." One of the board members defended their champion (political tool) by scolding him, which he ignored.
"I, for one, believe that it is indeed important for us to know what the Occult Killer personally said to her." Said Haitani, the commander of the Messiah Knights, whose opinion has always been professional and unbiased so far, which earned him respect from both the board of directors and the knights.
"Akane-san. We'd like to hear what he said to you." Haitani addressed Akane, which snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Ah… Yes. He said… that letting me live and struggle would be more amusing to him… and he told me to continue struggling to survive for his entertainment." Akane said with haunted eyes.
"That bastard!"
"He won't get away with this!"
"We must hunt him down and kill him!"
"But he was too strong! How are we supposed to kill him!?"
"With Akane-san's power, we can beat him!"
While Akane is grateful that they defended her from Yuudai's accusations, the way they praised her placed more burdens and expectations upon her shoulders. They have seen how much the Occult Killer's power surpassed theirs. How could they think she could match him?
But she cannot say it. Before she knows it, their admiration and idolization of her already became too deep. Anything she says to deny them will never change their minds. They will simply say she is being humble.
"From that message and the threat he made, we can only assume that the Occult Killer doesn't have our best interests at heart and thus I believe we can consider him an enemy." Haitani said whilst eyeing the board of directors, who up until that point refuses to declare the Occult Killer as an enemy of Messiah either out of fear of his power or because they thought he can be bought with money or something.
"What do you propose we do, Commander Haitani? That we send our knights to hunt him down?" One of the board members questioned Haitani.
"No. Sending our knights out is too reckless even without him in the picture. We need to contact other settlements, warn them of this new threat and possibly work together with them to combat this new threat."
"And you think they will listen?"
"Hard to say. But… as coldhearted as this might sound… I believe that they will only take this threat seriously if several settlements fell to the Occult Killer's might, similar to the time we had to work together to fight against the Doomsday Cult." Haitani replied, referencing the time when Messiah reluctantly allied with other settlements to combat the Doomsday Cult, which at that point have destroyed several settlements. They didn't succeed in annihilating the Doomsday Cult but they dealt a devastating blow to the Cult nonetheless, which caused the Doomsday Cult to be not as active as they were before.
"Then we shall contact our former allies in Akihabara Settlement." One of the board members, whom Akane noted to be familiar, said. The others agreed with him as they have an amicable relationship with Akihabara. Even Akane has good relationship with the protectors of Akihabara, who happens to style themselves as Mahou Shoujo (Magical Girls). One of them even wanted to dress Akane in a Mahou Shoujo outfit, which she refused due to the outfit being too flamboyant for her.
The meeting is soon concluded with that decision and are scheduled to continue once they received news from other settlements, especially from Akihabara.
"Mari-chan." A middle aged man in black suit called out to a girl wearing blue frilly dress. The girl also has blue hair.
"Hm? What's wrong, Kuzaya-kun?" The girl addressed the man with familiarity despite the huge gap in their ages, though the man also did the same.
"Ahem. We received message from Messiah."
"Ah! Is it from Akane-chan!?"
"It's from their board of directors actually. They delivered… terrible news. They said the Occult Killer has returned and attacked Messiah, turning a dead monster into a giant and then made a declaration that he will destroy every other settlements in Japan, leaving Messiah as the last one to be destroyed."
"The Occult Killer…" The girl called Mari frowned when she heard the name, losing her radiant smile.
"Is he… the real deal… or just another impostor?" Mari asked the man called Kuzaya with a serious face.
"Hard to say… But Messiah seems to think that he is at least a huge threat because their knights felt how powerful he is, which dwarfed every single knights in Messiah combined, Akane included. He could even revive and enlarge a dead monster, putting it under his control, something that surpasses what the Doomsday Cult was capable of. They took this threat seriously, which is… rare of them." Hearing the comparison with the Doomsday Cult sent shivers down Mari's spine. The Doomsday Cult was bad enough back when she fought them together with Akane. And now… someone even more dangerous than they are has appeared?
"I see. Well… whoever he is, he will never break my spirit! I shall protect humanity at all costs!" Declared Mari, regaining her confident smile as she resolved herself for future battles.
"That's what I wanted to hear."
"By the way, have you informed the others yet?"
"Not yet. I was just about to summon them for a meeting."
"So the Mystic Witches will finally reunite after so long! And considering it was Messiah that contacted us, there's a chance that we can meet and work together with Akane-chan again! I'm so excited!" Mari exclaimed in an enthusiastic voice at the thought of meeting her fellow magical girls whom she hasn't met in a long time due to being sent on separate missions.
"Yes. You will finally be together again."
"And you, Kuzaya-kun, have to join us! You are our mascot character after all!" Declared Mari as she pointed her finger to the man.
"Err… I told you that I'm just an old man, not a cute tiny mascot creature."
"You still gave us our magical powers, guided us and worked together with us to protect the world! I'd say you're qualified to be our magical mascot!" Mari declared with a radiant smile that makes the middle aged man unable to refuse.
"Alright. I'll be the mascot… as long as I don't have to wear that costume again." Kuzaya said, recalling the outfit resembling a cat-like creature that they made for him.
"Aww…" Mari-chan attacks with Puppy Eyes!
"Alright alright. I'll wear the damn thing." It was super effective!
"Yaaay!" Mari-chan attacks with happy smile!
"Uooghh…!" It was super effective!
"A-Anyway, I'll send a message when they have gathered. Until then, you have free time."
"Okay! See you later, Kuzaya-kun!" Mari said as she left the man.
…
"Mari-tan too cute! Aghhh….!" Kuzaya gripped his heart as if assaulted by a heart attack, perhaps due to high levels of sugar he just received.
"Are you sure that the Occult Killer has returned?" Said a robed man wearing mask.
"That's what our plant in Messiah said. The old men on the board seem to believe it as well." Said another robed man wearing mask.
"Can we verify it?"
"Bah! Who cares if he has returned or not, or if he's the real deal or not! We should-" The voice of the masked man was cut along with his head.
"I hope no one else forget whom our cult worshipped… what we stand for." Said a hulking man wearing robe and a mask, who sheathes his sword back. The other masked men were silenced as they were too scared to oppose him.
"What do you propose we do, Astaroth-sama?"
"We must contact him and try to draw him to our side. Our last defeat had cost us dearly and we have been in decline for so long afterwards. I'm sure he has descended to the mortal realm once again because he was disappointed in us. We must prove that we are still worthy of being his champions of death." Said the hulking man that they referred to as Astaroth.
"But Astaroth-dono. We don't even know if this "Occult Killer" is who he claims to be. We must proceed with caution!" Said a man who, in contrast to everyone else besides the ones sitting beside him, wore suits instead of cultist robes and masks. Said person is part of businessmen and rich people, investors who financed the cult's magical research so they can not only be spared from the cult's wrath but also gain some profit in the form of spoils of war.
In a sense, they are similar to Messiah's board of directors and due to the Doomsday Cult's defeat against the coalition forces, of which Messiah and Akihabara factions were part of, they have gained more political influence within the Doomsday Cult after many veteran cultists perished in war.
"What do you suggest we do then, old man?" Astaroth addressed the man in suit with a glare. He is one of the surviving veteran cultist and one of its founding members, and thus his influence is what kept the Doomsday Cult from being controlled entirely by the investors.
"I suggest we watch and wait before we make decisions recklessly. This man could be dangerous for all we know." The man suggested, which did not amuse Astaroth.
"You mean you feared that he is a psychopath like me and my fallen friends?"
"N-No! I-I did not say such thing, Astaroth-sama!"
"I know you viewed us cultists as nothing but psychopaths. While I do admit that I AM a psychopath, I hope that you do not forget whom you chose to side with. Whom you serve." Astaroth reminded the man.
"How rude! You wouldn't go as far as you have if not for our money!"
"I seem to recall you lot begging us to spare you and for our protection from the monsters. After my friends fell in battle, you've become arrogant, haven't you?" Astaroth remarked whilst unleashing his magical aura, which put pressure even on non Awakeners such as the investors.
"Hiiiiyyy! P-Please forgive us, Astaroth-dono!" The investors kneeled and begged for forgiveness, just like the way they did when they first offered to finance the Cult.
"It's good that you know your place and remember that you chose to side with us. Now then. Let us prepare for a new dawn! All hail the Occult Killer! The Supreme Lord of Death!"
"""All hail the Occult Killer! The Supreme Lord of Death!""" Shouted the cultists in unison as they bowed before a statue of a winged grim reaper.
Author's Note:
Long time no see. I was busy last week so I haven't been able to release any chapters. Night shift on weekends sucks. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the dynamic between the factions of Japan.
Maxplayz21: funny chapter and I love the trolling that Claude did and I hope that cid pov will be in next chapter
Answer: Cid POV will come… soon. How soon? I cannot say. All I'm gonna say is that I want it to be a surprise.
Guest: Mmm! Throwing shades at cryptocurrency and AI generated content. Delicious.
Anyways, wouldn't it be a crazy twist if his Earth sister is not only alive, but in possession of his diary. And the diary inspired her to join or maybe even founded the Doomsday Cult. After all, unless the diary is really lost, the only people to know where he lives and thus, gain access to it are his family and Akane.
Answer: Yeah. Wouldn't it be crazy?
borregodillon9: Lol funny chapter
Answer: Glad you liked it.
DerTrap: Why wouldn't I be surprised if Tetsuya(maybe Cid too) turns out to be a certified r/piratefolk, r/jujutsufolk, r/okbuddy... User before he got reincarnated?
Also about TheVirtualPug's Review, an interesting idea would be for when he gets confronted with it after Alpha deduced the truth it would be interesting if Necromancer also tries to scan her mind, like he did with Akane. But compared to Akane he would have to distract Alpha's mind with something else. So he then creates a mental "world" that would show Necromancer sitting on a throne, but Claude is there as well. Who is completely immobilized by heavy chains in a very pathetic state, to show Alpha that Claude is basically powerless and Necromancer has always been in full control. He could maybe even tell Alpha that Claude actually tried to save her, back when she was a child and the state that Claude is now in is his punishment due to Alpha escape. Making it Alpha's goal to save Claude as it could be the only way to truly defeat Necromancer. But she sadly fails to realize that all of this is just a distraction, so that Necromancer could enter Alpha's memories and mind.
Answer: Perhaps. I'll consider it but I sort of have a different plan for that. We'll leave it up to future me.
A-Yellow-Lizard: Oh, man, that's sad. Claude's family is interesting so I'd love to see where that goes.
Answer: You'll see more of them soon.