Chapter 168: Aftermath of the Battle
It happened all so sudden. One moment the area is as quiet as a ghost town ever since that creature disappeared alongside Lord Claude, and the next moment is total chaos.
A great barrage of explosions in the sky shook the Earth… and shattered the very fabric of reality as well. If I weren't so close to the place where it happened, I would've been able to enjoy it as fireworks. But alas, Lord Claude's magic is far too potent and terrifying up close. Astaroth, Lord Claude's most loyal servant in this land, has already been blown away by the shockwave. Even I am struggling to survive the chaos brought by his terrifying power.
I jump away whenever I sensed a shockwave coming and use my fan to blow away any debris that comes my way. It might sound simple but considering the shockwaves and debris comes from all sides and at random intervals, it is easier said than done. As I said, total chaos.
When the explosions and shockwaves finally subsided, I can finally see the results of the blast.
The city of Akihabara and the lands around it has been vaporized by the sheer might of the shockwaves alone. I didn't know if there are any survivors or not but that is not my concern at the moment.
I gaze at the source of my current anxiety, a great tear in the fabric of reality in the sky… as if the wall separating this world with another dimension that has been shattered. It looks similar to the black abyss where the creature came from but this time there is only pure white on the other side, not pitch black darkness.
And from said tear in reality, two figures fell from the sky, a figure clad in black and another in blue. I rushed towards them immediately and managed to catch them both by blowing a wind with my fan to break their fall, leading to them landing on the ground safely.
"Lord Claude…" I mutter his name as I lay his head on my lap. He's unmasked and unconscious. His hair grayish white unlike his usual blonde, although this is the result of him dying his hair in order to hide his identity. If his hair color is a bit whiter, we would match and I would've teased Lady Sherry about it.
His face is as pale as back when he received attacks from the ghosts of my village. Although I don't see any visible wounds on his body, his magic feels like it's fading. He's even barely breathing.
"Lord Claude…! Please… return to me…!" I plead as my eyes begin to water in desperation.
Just as I was starting to worry about his condition, suddenly his magic surges and skyrockets to unbelievable heights. His eyes opens, flashing blood red eerily with his sclera blackened, making it look demonic. Blackened veins start appearing on his pale face. His body twitches and sparks of both green and dark red energy flashes around his body, occasionally hurting me through close contact alone. But I endure the pain and keep his head on my lap, hoping that whatever is happening to him would subside and that he would return to me… to us…
Eventually his twitching stops and the raging magic in his body calms down as well. The blackened veins are also thankfully gone from his handsome face. He exhales softly before opening his eyes once again, showing a normal pair of blue eyes.
"Lord… Claude…?" I call out to him in a quiet voice as I hold my tears back, hoping that he's still with us.
"Yukime…" He mutters my name.
"Ohh… Lord Claude…! You idiot…!" I could no longer hold my tears, letting the dam burst open. My tears fall down to his tired face.
"Please… don't put yourself in such dangers again…!" I cry and sob like a little girl with both worry and relief that the man I love is still alive.
He responds to my pleas with a smile… no… a grin.
"Heh heh heh…" He chuckles weakly, almost coughing in between his laughter with bloodshot eyes. It gives me an ominous vibe but I ignored it.
"What's so funny, Lord Claude? Is worrying a woman who loves you that funny?" I say with a frown while making eye contact with him. The audacity of this lovely man.
"Heh heh heh… I am… whole again!"
"Lord Claude…?"
"Do you hear me? I am…"
"I hear you the first time, Lord Claude. But… if you're whole again… then why are you crying?" I say as I gaze upon the tears that flows down his cheeks, tears that aren't mine.
"It's… your imagination."
"Really, Lord Claude. My eyes might be blurred by my own tears but… I've been staring at your handsome face for awhile now… and thus of course I would notice your tears."
Really... If you're already like this after taking the life of someone else's little sister, what would happen to you if you truly lose your own sister, Lady Charlotte? I have no doubt that she would've taken a piece of you with her to the grave if that happens… just like how my mother took a piece of me to the grave… and how Gettan took another piece of me even after he…
He does not reply to my words and breaks eye contact with me. He even loses his smile. In turn I take look at the figure in blue that fell with him.
"Little sisters are truly your weakness, huh?" I mutter quietly, to which he would chuckle again.
"Heh heh heh… Does it…? We shall see." He mutters something ominous… but this is Lord Claude so I ignored his words just now and just sigh.
"Hush now, Lord Claude. Don't push yourself any further. Just rest." I caress his cheeks and lull him to sleep, with his head still on my lap. He slowly closes his eyes and drifts off to dreamland.
This is not the first time I've seen him becoming so vulnerable… but this is the first time I've seen him sleep. So this is his sleeping face. As charming as I imagined. As I caress his face, my fingers go dangerously close to his inviting lips.
"Don't even think about it." He whispers without opening his eyes.
"Oh ho ho. I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of you while you're asleep." Although the temptation is certainly there.
He does not reply further and from his steady breathing, I can tell he's finally asleep.
Rest well, my Lord Claude. Please lose the paleness so I can lose my anxiousness about you dying in my arms.
"Mari-chan! Where is Mari-chan!?" Shouts a girl in green frilly dress as she searches around the Akihabara survivor shelter for her friend, who went missing since their encounter with the Occult Killer and the eldritch abomination that appears in the outskirts of Akihabara.
Her other friend in red is currently unconscious, which makes her more desperate to confirm the safety of her group's leader despite witnessing how she was stabbed by the Occult Killer. With the condition of her friend in red uncertain and the death of their beloved commander Kuzaya, she is worried that she will be left alone in this shelter, which is why she still clings onto the hope that the person she's looking for is still alive.
After the appearance of the abomination in the sky, Alpha told her to take the unconscious bodies of Akane and Aki to the shelter while she searches for Mari. Then the city was destroyed by the fierce battle between the Occult Killer and said abomination and Alpha returned empty handed.
After escaping Akihabara through their emergency escape tunnel, the survivors of Akihabara were escorted by the very people who sabotaged their efforts during the battle and even killed their commander and faction leader, Kuzaya. The survivors were very angry at the betrayal of their former allies but seeing as they have little choice in the matter, they followed the Messiah agents and found themselves in this shelter. Even Alpha agreed to follow them despite her distrust of them.
The shelter is located in Messiah, the last standing settlement in Japan. Despite everything that happened between them, the Akihabara faction has no choice but to seek help from Messiah and even fulfill Messiah's demands for them to hand over every single technology they developed to defend Akihabara and even agreed to defend Messiah in exchange for a mere crowded shelter with barely any infrastructure.
Akira Nishino of Messiah tried to demand Alpha's blood too but Alpha vehemently refused and all of Akihabara stood with her, even threatening to leave Messiah altogether. Despite their position, Messiah still needs the survivors of Akihabara almost as much as the survivors needed shelter from Messiah. Despite all the time they have for preparations, Messiah cannot possibly defeat the Occult Killer's forces alone. Not to mention losing Alpha means losing not only the fighters of the Akihabara alliance but also losing Godzilla, one of their trump cards.
Being the last settlement standing means the time has come for Messiah to actually face the threat of the Occult Killer. All this time they know they won't be attacked, and thus they have little worry about it… but now they have to, and thus they need all the help they can get. Even the cruel Akira cannot deny this, which made him relent.
But that doesn't mean Akira has given up. Even now he is still counting on his last scheme just so he can finally get the otherworldly elf's precious blood. Said scheme requires the assistance of his own sister.
"I still have my tool… my little sister. She should be able to get that elf. And she has no right to refuse." Mutters Akira as he waits for his sister in a hallway to her room, just like he always did whenever he want s to bother her to try and get her to do his bidding.
"There you are, Akane." He calls out to his sister when he sees her walking in the hallways. He didn't notice the hollow expression on her face, nor does he care.
"Akane. Now is the right time for you to do what you're told. You have the poison dart gun. Go and knock that elf unconscious with it NOW." He says… no… commands his sister, who didn't respond and didn't even bother stopping her steps, completely ignoring his presence just as he ignored her feelings.
"Akane! Are you listening!? If you don't obey me, I will—Gyaaaah!?" Akira stops his words when he sees the ends of her hair suddenly turning blonde. He screams and falls to the floor, pissing himself like a child, trembling in absolute fear as the memory of the Arcadia Massacre, which haunted him too, resurfaces in his mind.
Akane ignores him, walks past him and enters her room. Akira, whose plan failed miserably, can only leave the hallway quietly while still trembling and regretting his past actions, not because he realized that it hurt his sister but because it made him lose his control over her completely.
However, his little interaction with his sister didn't go unnoticed.
"Ha ha ha. Looks like your foolish plan failed miserably after all, Akira-dono." Laughs an old man who witnessed the incident through a secret hidden camera installed on the hallway in order to monitor Akira's interactions with his sister.
"When she stayed in Akihabara, I thought this camera would be useless and should be removed in order to erase the evidence of me spying on him. Luckily we haven't removed it so we can witness this glorious moment, don't you think, Dr. Yuuka?" He addresses the brown haired woman in a lab coat behind him who is grinning as she witnesses the downfall of the siblings with him.
"Yes indeed. The suffering of the people responsible for the destruction of Arcadia and the death of my husband is so…. Satisfying to watch. Even if she obeyed him, I've made sure that the poison I made wouldn't work on the elf. His miserable plan is doomed to fail from the start." She replies without losing her grin.
"Whereas I… My plan will not fail. Because I have an actual tangible blackmail material." He says as he turns towards a girl in blue lying on a medical bed beside him, slowly caressing the pale face of said girl. She is given constant dose of sedative through an IV bag to keep her unconscious as he didn't want her to defy him the way Akane defied her brother.
"The agents who managed to find her after all that chaos deserve a raise, don't you think, Miyazaki-sama?"
"Indeed they do."
"But still, do you think he will listen to you, Miyazaki-sama?"
"He will. I'm sure of it."
"But I heard from the witnesses that he stabbed her during the battle."
"Yes, but she's still here. Her heart is still beating and her wound has been healed. He must've healed her. What a good brother he is. Heh heh heh."
"Hmph. If you say so, Miyazaki-sama. I wish you luck on your endeavour." Says the brown haired woman as she leaves the room.
"Heh heh heh. Come to me, Tetsuya. Come back home. Mari and daddy are waiting for you. Come back home for a grand reunion. Together, we shall rule the world." The old man mutters to himself as he waits for the inevitable invasion of Messiah to come, the day he would finally enact his plans against his own son.
Author's Note:
I want to sleep in Yukime's lap too.
TheAbyssWatcher: Damn, Necro goes hard and now he has regained himself, and with that, his full potential. I wonder if Shad could actually match him now, even with his extra dimensional training.
Answer: We shall see how that goes.
Guest: "You're weak." - Claude Normann, probably
"I'm you." - Miyazaki Tetsuya, probably
Okay author you got me. I thought for sure Necro would feel regret about killing a loved one. But nope! He gets high off of it instead. Nice bait and switch. I now fear for Sherry and Charlotte's life expectancy in the near future.
Answer: Heh heh heh. :)
DerTrap: What an incredible finale to the Thanatos plotline. I wonder how much more powerful he will become, after his true rebirth/reincarnation.
Also seems like we are finally coming closer to Necromancer's Domain Expa... I mean "Sanctuary Expansion". Now we just need an epic name for it and a handsign for him to form everytime he casts it, just for style. Maybe something like "Sanctuary Expansion: Hell's Garden" or "Sancturay Expansion: Tartarus of Agony" or "Sancturay Expansion: Malevolent Hellfire" or "Sancturay Expansion: Pandemonium of The Damned".
Also just like last time when he casted Armageddon I listened to "Malevolent Shrine" (2:00 part onwards). This is just way too fitting for Armageddon, at least in my eyes.
watch?vMB-HTGzd2lg
Answer: I recommend listening to ORTs fourth theme from FGO for the last chapter.
TheVirtualPug: Imouto can still imouto. Just become one with other imouto.
Answer: Maybe she will.
ShardL: I'm a happy ending enjoyer, so it feels a bit sickening for me to read this.
Good writing so far tho, feels professional
Will see how the plot thickens
Answer: I make no promises about happy endings, but I still hope you'll enjoy this fic. It's not all doom and gloom.
ShardL: Aright this is peak
Answer: Glad you enjoyed it at least. Also, congratulations on being the 666th review.
Generalliam0529: i didnt comment on the last chapter but so ill do both.
ghidorah fleeing to go do what he dose best is peak. i do still hope goji and his golden rival will show up again in the future tho.
Necromancer is now whole and still no sign of shadow. i must perseirver in my following of lord shadow.
Answer: Godzilla will still appear, but Ghidorah, maybe not.
When will he come back? We shall see.