"Très désolé, Grand méchant loup!"
He felt a hand tear open his flesh, pushing the bane of wolves right into his flesh as the inferno spread right into every fiber of his body. His legs unable to hold his weight anymore as he collapsed onto the hard, cold metal floors of the blazing zeppelin.
"Huff and puff and blow me!"
The scorching pain struck deep as the silver tooth tore through his heart, igniting and ramping everything into a thousand degrees. His blood boiled and burned from inside his veins, muscles tearing itself apart, yet... he didn't scream.
There was no curses, no howl of pain, no anger, no fear. All except a big, warm smile as he welcomed the blazing inferno that was slowly consuming him into ash. It was as if he'd awoken to a marvelous dream. A dream he'd long yearned for—so grand and magnificent, he wished he could had shared it with a friend.
For once... and at last,
He was free.
Free from the bondage of an oath and from the iron chains of loyalty and servitude to the Major. For what felt like the first time in an eternity, he was finally able to rest. No longer was he a soldier fighting an endless, grand war spanning across worlds and eternity itself, no longer was he trapped in a nightmare masquerading as a beautiful dream.
Does he hate him? Perhaps… perhaps not. In the end, the Major was a man he respected for his insatiable hunger for war, and his relentless pursuit to fell humanity's ultimate monster.
The spawn of the devil itself, Alucard.
As the consuming blue flames reduced what had once been the Haupstrumführer of Millennium to a long distant fading memory… a final, sincere thought flickered through his dying mind for the one who had ended his legacy
That is a good one, Frenchman… but I think… you could've done better.
He wished that he could laugh a heartly laugh at his final moments, but his throat had been long charred and crumbled away.
So a smile was the best thing the old wolf could do right now.
For the first time in an eternity… the wolf had finally found rest in the embrace of nothingness.
Only pure, pitch-black darkness, a pile of meaningless ashes, and burnt iron dog-tags were left behind in that zeppelin in 1999.
The only memorabilia of a good dog.
Yet... as oblivion took him, it went as swiftly as it came.
Replaced by something foreign yet intimately familiar. New sensations stirred within him and flickered to life—eyes opening from the inky black darkness of the abyss to a glimpse of a far beyond.
Visions? Dreams…?
...Memories.
Memories of a grand war… a cataclysm that razed entire cities and ruined nations…
The night when extinction grazed him.
Amidst the madness of it, he saw… something. Something so ancient, so terrifying, so…
RADIANT.
It turned his moment of death upside down as it came back like spinning boomerang.
Images, thoughts, and dreams came flooding into his dying mind.
A broken tablet sat lifeless, with bullet holes shot with precision and intention.
A gun aimed directly at him as the land stood still and wept.
Two wolves stared each other down. A white-stained black against a black-stained white.'
Neither of the wolves dared to move. To even breathe as they both feared for what will come next. But still, they looked at each other.
One gaze was filled with guilt and sorrow, the other was with forgiveness and acceptance.
Then it all flashed.
Flashes of blinding memories he could not comprehend. Faces of people he'd known and loved, yet could not recall.
He felt himself drifting, flying, and soaring through the cosmos, adrift in a sea filled with stars and angels.
Everything intermingled, connecting itself into a singular grand tapestry of the finite universe he was in, and the infinite world beyond it.
The umbra he so desperately wished to reach.
He raised his hand to grasp infinity, yet infinity slips beyond his fingers.
This is the end, right? His story, the tale of an old dog that had lived far beyond its life-span?
Once more.
One more time.
He raised his hand for the boundless, overstretching veil above.
He wanted to move on, to finish this old tale that had dwelled for far too long.
He had been a perfect soldier, and her final fang and claw against the corruption.
He followed orders like good soldiers do, he fought and protected, and sacrificed many.
So why...?
He screamed and begged for Gaia to embrace him,
hold him tight and never let go, yet the void merely smiled and shook her head.
Landing a soft stroke of his white fur, and a single hug before she released him.
Follow your heart.
The veil shifts.
The umbra danced above him and then… a void of pure white enveloped his non-existent eyelids.
Everything, anything became meaningless in this endless stretch of light. But the captain felt something else was watching in beyond this void. Tugging him, pulling him, and eventually... reaching him like an old friend.
A voice. A whisper.
And the low hum of a train moving through the tracks as the gentle whisper turned into a coherent sentence filled with nostalgia and regret.
The void broke apart in the blink of an eye,
and he found himself sitting quietly on a train moving to nowhere.
A conversation.
…It was all my fault.
My decisions, and everything they caused.
It had come to this for me to finally realize you were right all along.
"It was not your fault."
A beautiful pink-colored sunset bathed the pale blue sky as the train moved onward, seemingly without an end.
He blinked, and suddenly, a woman in a blood-soaked white military uniform was seated in front of him, her face obscured by the golden rays of the setting sun as she opened her crimson-tainted lips.
She was dying. Her life slipping with every syllable yet...
So forgive me for being so bold, but I must ask for your help.
"Say the word and I'll do it. I'm always ready to help my students."
The gentle, melancholic smile on her lips remained.
…Hans-sensei.
You'll forget these words, but it won't matter.
Her voice carried so much pain and hurt as if the weight of the entire world's chaos resting on her shoulders.
But underneath it all, it held a flickering fire of a long forgotten hopes and dreams. Dimmed as it was, yet it was still burning nevertheless.
Dreaming for tomorrow, for the present, the past, and the future.
Hope for everything that exists in this universe,
Yet...
leaving nothing for herself.
Even without your memories, you'll probably make the same decision in the same situation.
Therefore, I believe what matters most are the choices we make, not the experiences we have.
There are choices only you can make.
"...I understand."
Then glimpses of a faded truth of a world he had never known came flooding into his mind. Memories of people he'd never known—or perhaps… would one day meet?
A petite girl with pink hair surrounded by her friends. Carrying the weight of the entire world, and a fleeting dream on her shoulders.
A short-statured, white-haired girl. Worn and exhausted from the endless work.
A club on the verge of disbanding.
Students seeking guidance under the pressure of expulsion because of their failing grades.
A dreaming princess, betrayed and manipulated to the point of insanity.
A forsaken soldier, begging for her enemy to save her family.
A squad of elite soldiers abandoned, and left to be forgotten by the world.
And lastly,
A black-stained wolf who had lost everything.
I've spoken of responsibility before.
I didn't understand it then, but now I do.
Adulthood, responsibility, obligation... and the choices you make that extend beyond those ideals.
I even understand their implications.
Therefore, Sensei…
Sensei. Teacher. He is none of those.
Why?
...You're the only one I can trust.
Only you can free us from this twisted, distorted fate, and find the choices that can lead us to a new reality.
So Sensei... Please…
This… this was not an order, nor a command from his higher-ups.
It was a request. A request he could choose to accept or refuse.
A quiet plea for help.
A simple request from a girl burdened by the weight of her choices.
Sensei. Teacher. He was none of those.
He could reject her.
He could easily stand, walk away, and leave her behind—returning to his everlasting dream, his long-sought rest, and to Gaia herself.
Yet... she pushed him here. Follow... his heart.
The plea still echoed in his mind, as well as the touch of his creator.
The decision was his.
He was in control.
There was nothing and no one to stop him from doing so.
Right?
And yet… something within him urged him towards her. Pushing him to accept her plea. Was it pity? Was it because of her pain? Was it simply because… she simply asked?
The captain sat in silence, lost in the unbroken stillness as the train carried them forward.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Twenty.
Time seemingly came to a halt. Stretching on as it blurred into hours.
Months.
Years.
Centuries.
A Millennia.
And then… he finally gave the mysterious girl his answer.
A single, simple nod.
With that, his world began to melt and fade to white. Everything that was him slowly slipped and ebbed away as if he were vanishing along with the train into nothing, returning back to zero.
In the fleeting moment of panic and confusion, his crimson eyes met her obscured face as she gave a small smile.
Just before everything fades away… her gentle whispers said something before he blinked out of existence.
"I'm sorry for pushing this burden on you.
But I promise, you'll not be alone.
You'll never be alone.
Rinny will help you if I can't.
I hope… you'll forgive me.
Hehe.
See you later... Hans-sensei."
We thirst for the seven wailings.
We bear the koan of Jericho.
The captain was awoken from his slumber with a jolt. Every part of his body ached, feeling like every bone in her body broke. Groaning from his position as he blinked to wipe his drowsiness away, he returned to the present. His thoughts ran wild as he turned his focus to his surroundings, basking in this alien environment.
WHIRR…. WHIRR… WHIRR…
He was… back.
Back in the command bridge of the Major's flagship... Deus Ex Machina.
The details of his surroundings were familiar to him, but they were all damaged beyond repair. The eagle on the ground, the chair that the Major had once seated, and the shattered monitors flickering to life, displaying the vast city he had never seen before below the airship.
Then when he gazed outside the windows, his eyes were greeted by a breathtaking sight.
A massive, technologically advanced urban city that seemed to have stretched on to infinity. Then as he looked above, there were strange, thin white rings floating above like it was for protecting the city below. Although the city was covered in buildings and machines, there is still nature to be found. The air was clean, the sun felt warm, and a strange feeling of Elysion washed over him.
This was not London. Not Berlin. Not Argentina.
Nor the dark forest.
This was...
Paradise.
Yet the rising smoke and the faraway explosions smudged the visions of Paradise, like he was right in the early night of Operation Seelöwe II.
Was he still dreaming? Where was he exactly? He was dying a moment ago, burning to cinders, the silver piercing his heart and then…
HER.
Everything about HER felt like a distant dream.
A mirage. An Illusion. A flickering image of a dying mind...
Is he still dreaming?
"!"
Yet sudden headache crashed into his mind, churned every thought as a jumbled, distorted voice rang in his ears. Twisting for what felt like hours until it all came into a coherent sentence confirmed his life.
The Highest Tower, shining with a brilliant light.
Rinny will be waiting for you.
Explosions burst from the zeppelin. Tearing through the armor and its flimsy hulls as it slowly descended down from the heavens.
Down and down… and down she goes.
Not even God could raise it back to the skies.
An angry ball of fire tore through the flagship of Millennium akin to a ravenous beast, sending it spiraling downward. The once-magnificent eagle donned with a twisted sigil of peace had vanished in the wall of flames, echoing the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 which had taken the lives of thirty seven people.
But unlike that tragedy, this time he was the only soul aboard—him and the ghosts that died in the slaughter, in this burning zeppelin responsible for the destruction of London.
It was not his fate to die here.
The girl in white asked for his help, and he intended to give it.
The image of a tall building basked by the light came into view. The tallest building in this strange city that is waiting for him, inches from the position of the flaming zeppelin as it descended. As it closer and closer, the captain crouched, and prepared to leap. Through fire and wreckage, he was about to jump into the unknown city below for someone whom he had known for no less than five minutes.
Yet that was enough for him to lend him his hand. For the girl. For the girl… that felt like he had known for years.
It may have been foolish, but somehow it felt liberating.
The captain broke through the front glass of the zeppelin, and charged through the flames in what seemed to be reckless abandon.
The wolf sprinted, jumped, and finally, leapt down towards the city underneath.
CRASH!
"Ugh, what was that?!" A black-haired elf stumbled in her steps as the loud shockwave exploded through the building, like was struck by thunder.
"It felt like… an explosion!" A white-haired girl exclaimed in surprise as red light flooded into the room, and the staff ran rampant like ants toward the center. Some wore safety gear and carried fire extinguishers.
"Did any of the thugs…?" A tall, black-haired woman asked, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Tch…! Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse!" A purple-haired girl clicked her lips in frustration. Even the chaos that struck the city had come here as well. Nowhere was safe in the chaos that ensues in the DU, she doubts that even Kaiser is safe at this point!
"Not even the GSC is safe..." A blonde elf sprinted clenched her fist. "I'm going first!" She said, following the other white-suited GSC members out of her sense of duty as a field medic while the rest remained glued to the floor, uncertain of what to do next.
"E-Emergency!" One of them shouted, coming from the direction of the dust and ashes, sprinting as fast as she could. "M-Miss Nanagami…! Th- it's…!"
"Calm yourself Ayumu. What is it?"
Rin held the trembling girl as she gathered her thoughts.
"It's- It's…. It's an adult!"
Concrete crumbled to the marble floor as the dust cleared, and footsteps surrounded him. The captain's greatcoat fluttered like leaves in the wind as his figure rose from his position. His fist, raised from the broken tiles beneath him, brought him to attention. Scanning the guns aimed at him, with terrified faces and shaking hands.
"S-Stay right where you are!" One of them shouted, trying to maintain control of the situation.
It wasn't every day they saw an adult crash through their building with a resonating bang, especially one who carries... the strange air around him, emanating like thick fog or sheer strength and terror.
He took a single step, and every student took a step back as cold sweat trickled down their napes.
He clenched his fists, and their guns clicked.
"Wait!" A voice shouted from behind. More footsteps followed soon after, and a figure came into view, breathless from having run to the centerpoint of chaos.
The wolf stood still. Watching with curious eyes as the pointy eared woman raised her hand.
She had long, flowing black hair and a pair of bright blue eyes, hidden behind thin glasses, completed with a white military uniform and a white handgun to wrap her look.
Yet what caught his attention the most… was the ring floating above her head. Fading from blue to teal and back again.
The captain had only heard whispers of their existence.
He thought they had long forsaken the world.
An… Elohim. An Angel.
The captain steeled himself. His hands hovering above his dual Mausers as he kept his glare on the woman, his blood-red eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
"...Vice President… you should stay back. He looks—no. He feels dangerous." A tall, black-winged angel whispered to the elf.
"...Everyone here is dangerous in their own way." Rin counter argued as she took a step forward.
The menacing adult kept his eyes on her. Waiting for her next move, wondering if she was someone mentioned by the girl in the train.
Rin closed her eyes. Her thoughts returned to the letter SHE had left behind. Her heart was beating a million times per second, it felt like it could practically jump out from her chest.
The adult staring right into her soul waiting for her to make the first contact.
"You'll know him when you see him. You can't mistake him for someone else.
You may think him scary at first but he's a real softie on the inside. He's just shy."
She swallowed a lump in her throat and gathered her courage at the mountain she faced.
"...Did the president send you?"
The captain tilted his head. He waited, he thought, then he raised a finger to her. Pointing without a word.
What does he mean by this? Is he curious? Rin braved herself again.
"...My apologies...I'm Nanagami Rin. Vice President of the General Student Council." She cleared her throat once more and gave him the most confident look she could for the gamble.
"Welcome to Kivotos, Hans-sensei."
The captain finally relaxed. She was his assignment, the target for the strange request. Hans replied with a simple, firm nod—breaking the tension right between them like a hot knife through butter.
Rin allowed herself a large exhale of relief.
"Everyone, put your guns down. This… this is Hans-sensei. Sent directly by the missing President to help us with the crisis."
"But… Vice President…!" One of them tried to protest, only to be silenced abruptly by Rin's death glare.
"Go back to your duties." She said, and in an instant, the whole crowd scattered. Except for the treasurer, two justice seekers, and the Fräulein.
"So, wait... this adult right here could fix all of our problems? Is that what you're saying, Vice President?"
A purple-haired girl, wearing a black blazer, skirt, and covered by a white hoodie, stated her skepticism as her circular black halo floated up and down.
"I share th-" The girl standing next to the purple one cleared her throat as Hans' intense gaze locked into her form.
This one was tall. Not quite as tall as him but tall regardless. She had long black hair and piercing red eyes almost matching his. A black sailor uniform with JUSTICE written on it that failed to hide her… massive assets. A long skirt that splits, revealing her hips and a black garter belt holding her leggings.
Completing her otherworldly look, she had two large, black wings coming from her back, and a crimson halo, shaped like a crosshair.
A diamond in the center and four sharp additional shapes at either of the cardinal directions.
"T-The sentiment. At this point, what can one adult do against the rising numbers of criminals in Kivotos?" Hasumi agreed.
"Mhm. At this rate, ordinary life in Kivotos is a thing of the past." Another girl spoke. This one has long white hair, with what appeared to be a wing protruding from the left side of her head.
Her halo comprises two magenta rings, held together by four arrows.
"And that is not counting the numbers of wounded coming by to our hands. Even the Prefect Team is overwhelmed at this point." The final girl spoke. If not for her pointy ears… Hans really could mistake her as a field nurse in theweltkrieg.
Especially the red and black circular armband tied around her left arm.
"Because he is… he is our key to regain control to the Sanctum Tower." Rin answered, earning wide eye gasps from the four representatives.
"R-Really?! How?!" Yuuka asked.
Rin shook her head. "Classified, sorry." she then turned back to the adult standing right in front of her. "Sorry for handing you the short end of the stick like this, sensei."
Hans eyed Rin curiously as he shook his head.
"Right." Rin cleared her throat. "Yuuka, introduce yourself."
"E-Ehh?! Why me-?!" Yuuka complained. "Shouldn't he introduce himself first?!"
Hans-sensei… is a shy person. He prefers to let actions do the talking."
"Ehh? But...!"
The death glare Rin sent her way was enough to shut her up.
"Yuuka."
"U-ugh…! Fine! N-Nice to meet you sensei. My name is Hayase Yuuka. I'm the treasurer for Millennium's Student council! Y-you must remember that name alright?!" Yuuka exclaimed with confidence and a raised finger, followed by a gesture. A handshake waiting for him to claim.
Yet Hans froze.
Millennium.
That name followed him even here.
"Uhum... s-sensei?"
Hans continued to glare for a moment longer until he finally shook her hand awkwardly.
".."
"Um." The tall one nodded and cleared her throat "My name is Hanekawa Hasumi, the vice president of Trinity General School's Justice Task Force. Nice to meet you, sensei." Hasumi continued and offered her hand, in which Hans accepted.
"I-I guess I'm up." Said the elf with a nervous smile." I'm Hinomiya Chinatsu. I'm... the head for the first aid division for the Gehenna's Prefect Team. Nice to meet you sensei." The elf followed with the handshake, which the captain took as well.
"Hm. I'm Morizuki Suzumi. I'm part of the Trinity's Vigilante Crew. The same school as Hasumi." She spoke with determination as she shook his hand lastly.
Rin adjusted her glasses. "Thank you everyone." She then looked back at Hans.
"Sensei, you're here to serve as the advisor for a club that was formed by the General Student Council president. The Federal Investigation Club: SCHALE. I'll explain what it is later. We have no time to waste."
She reached for her phone and flicked it to life. "And I'll take you there." Then, she punched in something and a hologram of a short, sharp-toothed and pink-haired girl emerged from it in a great surprise for the captain, but not so much to the others. Like this was just another ordinary occurrence for them..
The girl yawned as she chomped down on some chips. She wore the same uniform as Rin albeit a little modified. Her halo was like a ring of stars almost like a crown.
"Momoka, I need a helicopter to take us to SCHALE." Rin asked.
"SCHALE? That's over in the outskirts. Things are kind of crazy over there right now..." Momoka replied with a lazy tone, munching on some chips as she wiped her hands.
Rin blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by 'crazy'?"
"A suspended student escaped from the Corrections Bureau and is wreaking havoc. It's a battlefield over there right now!" Momoka explained further.
"...What?" Rin said in a low voice. Gripping on her phone with a death grip as a frown curled her lips. The stress was clearly radiating from her.
"She rallied all the thugs in the area and are destroying everything in their path to get revenge on the General Student Council. I hear they've even got a Crusader Tank!" Momoka continued, widening her hands dramatically as she grabbed another bag of chips. Rin, meanwhile, continued to tremble in rage.
"Eh. Oh well. The city's already a dump, so I don't think it'll make that much of a difference… ah." Momoka stood up, and put her chips down. Her eyes glinted at the ping flashing on her phone.
"Oh great! The food I ordered is here. I'll talk to you later." She said happily as she ended the call with a smirk. "Bye bye!"
Hans was unamused.
Rin froze. Her face darkened from the incredible rage and stress that had built up since the president's disappearance.
Hans swore her grip could break the device apart and was this close… THIS close to throwing it into a nearby wall. Immediately, to break the tension, Hans placed a hand on her shoulder as Rin flinched with a yelp at the sudden physical embrace.
"S-Sensei?!"
Hans shook his head, and gave it a firm squeeze.
"...Okay.. I'm okay, sensei. I-It's just- minor setback. Thank you." Rin acknowledged before glaring at the four girls who had been listening all this time. Flinching in unison upon the deathly glare.
She has an idea.
"W-What? Why are you staring at us like that?" Yuuka asked nervously, a small bead of sweat visibly rolled down her face.
"It's so reassuring to have such trustworthy academy representatives with us." Rin said, with a sweet smile, horribly hiding the pressuring and terror inducing tone right underneath it.
"H-Huh?"
"You're going to help us. Let's go." Rin said, brokering no arguments. "It's just a few kilometers of walk."
"W-Wait, what?! Where are we going?!" Yuuka asked as Rin began to walk away.
The other girls looked at each other in confusion, then at the adult for an explanation. He met their gaze before following Rin closely behind without a word.
"H-Hey!" Yuuka ran behind them, and the others followed closely with an exasperated sigh.
At that moment… The captain wondered at a thing that had been gnawing right in his chest.
Was this simply his choice to help them, or was it orchestrated by someone else? Whatever it was, he liked the idea he could do something else for a change.
Other than resting eternally.