〘Report Card〙
〘Notoriety Earned: +99〙
〘Notoriety: 132 (D)〙
〘Prisoners Claimed: 4〙
〘Confessions Claimed: 0〙
〘Deaths: 14〙
I looked up from the report on my phone, glancing over at Flynn who rested peacefully upon her bed then set my phone down upon the nightstand. Luciel took her hands from over her body, the gentle green glow slowly fading away and the room dimming once more.
"She's stabilized and healthy. I stopped the eternal bleeding inside her, but she won't be able to fly for a while. Leonidas crippled her..." Luciel said, lowering her head and gently gripping her dress with deep sympathy for Flynn.
Fleur and Effie stood in the back, both of them feeling deep sorrow for Flynn as they watched her sleep on her side, curled on her side. Effie's gaze shifted over to me, sniffling lightly then lowered her head, hiding her face in Looni's soft fur.
I placed my hand upon Flynn's shoulder, her calls from earlier in the day replaying in my mind. Gently, I rolled her onto her back, clearing her face from her strands of hair. "This world has treated you wrong for a while...and your sufferings didn't start until I came along.."
Luciel glanced over at me, listening to my confession to my adoptive sister. Fleur took a deep breath then exhaled softly, gently rubbing her arm and looking away from the scene. Effie continued to hide her face, unable to face me due to what her uncle had done.
"Sometimes...I think that it were better if you hadn't met me. I ruined your life, Flynn...and I wasn't fast enough to save your wings. I couldn't save you back then...and I still fail to do so now," I continued, my voice lowering into regretful whispers, my tears falling upon her face as I stared down at her.
"So why..? Why did you come back for me? I was the reason for your hatred, your pain and grief...so why do you keep coming back?" I asked with a breaking tone, my hand gently caressing her cheek.
Suddenly, Flynn weakly reached up to grab my hand, letting out a wry chuckle and opened her eyes slowly to look up at me. "Baba...you never changed one bit. Even in your pain, I can still see that light that shines so bright inside you.."
"Flynn..." I whispered, sniffling softly and looking up to control my tears.
"You were always slow to anger...but how slow to anger will you continue to be before someone you love gets hurt again? You said it yourself...mercy without backbone won't change anyone, and justice without morals won't fix anything..." Flynn whispered, giving my hand a gentle squeeze and closed her eyes.
"Y'know...Mr. John said something interesting to me before I got here. 'There comes a time where we must sit and be obedient'...or something like that," She said, letting out a soft sigh and shifted uncomfortably due to her damaged wings.
Effie glanced up at the familiar phrase, her gaze locking onto Flynn. "You met Papa..? Where...where is he..?"
Flynn opened her eyes, turning her head over to Effie and smiled at her. She looked back up at the ceiling, remembering the feel of the gentle breeze beside the river and nature's song around her. "St. Goken. At the River of Fideline, preparing to way for Nox.."
I stood up straight at her answer, truly understanding why Leonidas was telling me about St. Goken in earlier conversations. I took my hand off Flynn's cheek and held hers in mine. "Flynn...we will go to St. Goken soon. It's time I finally...sit and be truly obedient to all of Yuvah..."
Flynn locked eyes with me, placing her other hand on top of mine, her thumb gently rubbing against my knuckles. "Good...but first, we have to deal with V.J.I.."
"I'll deal with them...tomorrow it's Day Four. The last day before Total War," I said, giving Flynn a soft smile.
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps...
The lips of a king speak as an oracle, and his mouth does not betray justice...
Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord; all the weights in the bag are of his making...
Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness...
----------------------------
Multiple footsteps hurried through the halls as hordes of Slimes chased after a few students through the Virgo Department, sounds of chaos ensuing all over the building. The news broadcasters hovered over the Virgo Campus, recording the Fall of the Virgos.
I sat upon a bench on the rooftop of the Virgo Department with Scarlet upon my lap, reading a red book with golden trimmings titled Survival Training Vol. 1. Scarlet gasped at the pictures within the book, repeating a few words within it while I watched her with a fatherly smile.
I glanced back down at the page inside the book, sitting back against the bench and hummed softly. 'Survival Training, a book that increases the Life Force of a Monster...but also their Spirit. Even Monsters need to train and survive... Ragnarok, your children are ready...'
〘Day 4 - Begin!〙
〘Event: Roaming Predator〙
〘Event Description: Warning! Warning! The Apex Lion is now active within the Dark Lord Zone! Heroes, quickly! Defeat Leona now or face the fall of a Blessing!〙
〘Event Location: Virgo Campus〙
Moon-li sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror of the women's restroom, gripping the edges of the sink as her mind began to think about the light she saw when I comforted Eun-Song two days ago. She sighed softly to herself and lowered her head, a soft smile forming on her lips.
"Moon-li, are you ready? Ugh, today is going to be a busy day today," Eun-Song said, fixing her hair as she walked out of a stall and toward a mirror to check herself out.
Moon-li looked over at Eun-Song, giving her a warm smile then looked ahead at the mirror again. "Hey...do you still think about that day? Even after Nox took your grief?"
"Of course I do...but it's just I don't feel burdened by it anymore. Why?" Eun-Song asked, glancing over at her best friend.
Moon-li exhaled softly and glanced over at Eun-Song with a light hum. "I'm just curious on how it works is all. You just seem happier now after having Nox hold you."
"Oh shut up! You were crying like a baby too when he hugged you!" Eun-Song retorted, playfully swatting Moon-li's arm feigning annoyance.
"Hey!" Moon-li giggled lively, guarding herself from Eun-Song's playful assault.
The door of the restroom sung open, the late Kisoo's girlfriend, Mi-sung, standing at the entrance and looking at the two girls in front of her. Moon-li and Eun-Song stopped what they were doing, glancing over at Mi-sung and noticed her disheveled appearance.
"Your Council... got my boyfriend killed you bastards!" Mi-sung screamed, stomping her foot against the ground and panted heavily with anger.
Moon-li rose hee brow with confusion, glancing over at Eun-Song then back at Mi-sung. "What..? Kisoo died?"
"Don't play like you don't know you piece of shit!" Mi-sung yelled, charging toward Moon-li and gripped her hair, pushing her against the wall with great force. "You'll pay for what you've done! I swear it, I'll make sure you get sent straight to the Abyss!"
"Get off of me, you crazy brat!" Moon-li grunted, shoving Mi-sung off her and panted, watching as she sunk to her knees in tears.
"Kisoo!! Why..? I told that dumbass to not go after them! Why did she shoot him?!" Mi-sung sobbed, flailing on the ground like a child.
Eun-Song and Moon-li glanced at each other, the two of them feeling bad for the situation but not knowing what all went down. Despite wanting to leave Mi-sung where she was, they picked her up and began to carry her to a safe haven to figure out what happened.
Moon-li sat Mi-sung down in a desk and tied her to the chair, making sure she doesn't get the chance to attack again. She looked over at Eun-Song and watched as she kept watch for any stray monsters that could slip into the classroom.
Moon-li looked back down at Mi-sung, watching as she slowly calmed her nerves. "Park...what happened? You said Kisoo died? When did this happen?"
Mi-sung stared down at the desk in front of her, remembering herself running up to Kisoo's dead body as Chester and Seven made their retreat. "Don't act like you ever cared about him, Pok... You hated him and you still do."
"I mean...sure I never liked the guy, but I wouldn't wish death upon anyone! Mi-sung, I cared about you a lot so just tell me, what happened! Who killed Kisoo?" Moon-li probed, wanting Mi-sung to answer her straight.
Mi-sung sniffled as she slowly looked up at Moon-li with red, tearstruck eyes. She locked eyes with her, clenching her tied hands into tight fists. "Eurydice. She killed him...and you tying me up isn't helping me find that bitch! So untie me now so I can go kill her!"
Eun-Song and Moon-li watched as Mi-sung yelled and struggled within her restraints, crying hysterically over her late boyfriend. Moon-li sighed as she walked behind Mi-sung, crouching down behind her seat and grabbing her wrist then took a pocket knife out of her jacket pocket.
"Sit still so I can cut the ropes...sheesh," Moon-li said with soft sass, waiting for Mi-sung to sit still before proceeding with cutting the ropes.
Mi-sung sniffled and waited patiently as Moon-li cut her restraints, the cut ropes falling from her wrists onto the ground. She stood up from her seat, rubbing her wrists and averting eye contact with both girls. "Thanks..."
"Yeah, whatever. Now tell us, why are you all even hunting us? What exactly is going on?" Moon-li questioned, crossing her arms as she stared Mi-sung down.
Mi-sung lowered her hands in front of her, looking down and taking a soft inhale before speaking. "Squad IV's Leader, Bethel, she hired us with Tang to hunt down the Council and everyone associated...but I was against it. Kisoo, however, only saw the money.."
"Bethel...that crazy witch. I should've known..." Moon-li sighed, pressing her fingers against her forehead.
"And West? What about him?" Eun-Song asked, holding her arms beneath her chest with suspicion of Squad XII.
Mi-sung nodded with confirmation of Eun-Song's suspicions, looking down at the ground and closed her eyes. Deep inside, she knew the fault of Kisoo's death fell upon him due to Greed, but she didn't want to accept the real reality.
The cries for help outside the classroom intensified as a loud roar shook the very ground they stood upon, the temperature on the floor of the building suddenly rising. Eun-Song hurried toward the window of the classroom door, peeking outside and noticing Leona wandering down the halls.
Leona stopped walking as she noticed Gideon intercepting her path with his reinforced bat, her tail swaying from side to side as she crouched down to strike. "If you value your existence, you'd step aside and allow your Department to fall."
"Ahh, so you can speak. The Apex Lion...so you're the legendary, mythical, Leo Zodiac Deity everyone's afraid of? Just a normal Nemean Lion to me!" Gideon pridefully taunted, charging toward Leona with a downward swing of his bat.
The bat smashed against Leona's head, but snapped in two due to her divine body. Gideon looked at his bat, stepping backwards with a bewildered expression on his face then looked back down at Leona.
Leona growled lowly with a predator's gaze, the flames around her body flaring about as she prepared to battle. "You should've retreated while you had the chance..."
Gideon grunted as he ran off, pressing a button on his earpiece and glanced back as Leona chased him. "I got her on my tail! It's time for you all to act before I get my ass seared!"
"You should really learn to speak softer," A noble man replied, getting off the wall and summoning his tome in his hand.
"Hurry up and get her off my trail then!" Gideon yelled, taking his hand off his earpiece, dashing past the hall his ally was in.
Leona hummed softly as she watched Gideon then stopped in her tracks before crossing the hall, sensing someone waiting for her to pass. She quietly crept backwards, sneaking her way into the hall next to the hall Gideon's partner stood in.
The man looked at his watch, waiting for Leona to arrive looking up at the passway in front of him and sighed, reaching toward his earpiece. Before he could contact Gideon, Leona roared as she charged into the man, tackling him and bashing him through the window.
The man yelled out as he began falling from the seventh floor of the department, noticing Leona standing at the broken window before hitting the ground. Leona scoffed softly at the man, looking over at Gideon down the hall with glowing eyes.
"A simple ambush like that won't work on me... Especially not weak mages like him," Leona said, preparing herself to charge at Gideon once again.
Gideon gulped lightly then ran off once again with Leona giving chase, Gideon pressing his earpiece once again. "Change of plans, the lion caught onto the first trap! Lady Bethel, are the traps Seven planted ready?"
Bethel hummed as she watched her maid clean her legs, looking at the cameras of the Department upon her monitor. She picked up her teacup and took a sip of her herbal tea, closing her eyes. "What traps?~"
Gideon grunted with disbelief as he listened to Bethel's dismissive tone, looking back at Leona and threw down a smoke bomb onto the ground before slipping away from Leona's sight. Leona stopped her chase after seeing the cloud of vision obscuring smoke, turning away from her hunt to focus back on destroying the Virgo Department.
Gideon panted softly inside the janitorial closet, leaning back against a rack of cleaning supplies and pressed his earpiece. "Lady Bethel, what do you mean..? The traps to take down Leona, like we planned!"
Bethel picked up her phone from the nightstand, looking down at the screen with a slick smirk, humming seductively and giggled softly. "Your services are no longer needed, my love. You couldn't even keep Seven and Eurydice under control...so what makes you think I will continue to provide my service.."
"You backstabbing little shit..! What are you getting at? You're tucking tail and running away?" Gideon argued, slamming his fist against the wall with frustration.
"Tucking tail..? Hm, no. Unlike you brutes, I actually have a brain in my head and know when I'm fighting a losing battle. Besides, I just wanted to see what siding with my actual true love would feel like," Bethel sneered, giggling softly then let out her usual royal laugh.
Gideon growled lowly with thinning patience, listening to Bethel's annoying laughter and yelled as he began trashing the closet from Bethel's betrayal. He let out a roar as he punched a hole through the wall, the rubble crumbling onto the floor.
"Good luck, Gideon... against the Dark Lord's wrath. After all, it was you who suggested I expand my bounty," Bethel said, closing her phone before Gideon could reply then sat back in her seat and looked over at Eurydice and Seven. "My loves..~ I had fun playing villain, but it gets so stressful.."
"I already had that feeling and it costed us," Seven said, pushing up his glasses and looking over at Eurydice.
Eurydice shuddered softly and closed her eyes, clenching her hands into fists then gulped lightly. "That little stunt you pulled...it almost got you killed as well, Seven. Next time...think before you act, Specs."
Seven nodded and closed his eyes, sighing softly and fixing his glasses upon his face. "Got it.."
Bethel stared at each camera feed with reverence, humming a soft tune as she watched my monsters wreak havoc upon the department. "Look at that...so hauntingly beautiful... They always say that a Dark Lord's Zone is like their inner domain..."
"A Domain where their worst fears and pains are projected out onto others. What could my love fear..? Destruction..? Loss..? He's so confusing it makes me fall in love with him all over again," Bethel moaned softly, her gaze shifting over to the roof's camera feed.
Eurydice and Seven watched Bethel carefully, Eurydice reaching inside her long coat for her silenced pistol, but Seven placed his hand upon her wrist, lowering his head and stopping her from making a drastic decisions. Eurydice took her hand out of her pocket, standing up from her seat and huffed softly.
"I'm getting some air. This room reeks of... delusion," Eurydice said, leaving Bethel's room and swung the door closed.
Bethel continued to watch me from the cameras, not hearing a word spoken from Eurydice and Seven. She tilted her head to the side, gently scratching her leg as her body began to heat up.
"One day...you'll be mine, Noxie..~ All mine.." Bethel whispered to herself, biting her bottom lip gently and giggled softly.
I continued sitting on the roof, watching as Scarlet played around with one of my butterflies, the two of us taking a break from reading. I looked around my surroundings, taking in the sights one last time before the inevitable fall of the campus.
I took my phone out of my pocket, tapping on the screen and seeing Peter had texted me with some news. I clicked on his message opening it and reading through it then turned off my screen, a soft smirk forming on my face.
"Papa! Papa! Mama's coming!" Scarlet giggled with glee, running over toward me and hopped up on my lap.
I smiled at Scarlet then looked up, watching as Luciel approached me. I sat back upon the bench, noticing her carrying a few books with her. "Coming to join the peace before judgement arrives?"
Luciel sat down beside me then rubbed Scarlet's hair and leaned against me, setting the books down beside her with a warm smile. "Mmm...more or less. Flynn's doing better and is out there helping Peter, Ava, and Andrew on their end. Are you sure you're okay with this route?"
I looked down at Luciel due to her question, wrapping my arm around her and looked back up at the sky. "Let's put it like this...A King is set upon a crossroads after being trampled on for his mercy and is given two choices. Continue to allow others to stomp on you, or rise up and reset order within his kingdom."
"People are used to a set system, but the system's broken. The Kingdom is broken...I know this won't end here at the Institution. But...it's about the finish that matters. After all...My plan isn't to bring forth destruction, but if destruction is what it takes to bring change then so be it," I finished, leaning into Luciel and kissed her forehead.
Luciel giggled softly at my affection and hummed, a bright smile spreading across her lips. "I suppose that makes sense..~"
The two of us chuckled together then began to prepare ourselves to read with Scarlet together, Luciel picking up a nice picture book for Scarlet to read. I sat back and allowed Luciel to take the parental lead, allowing her to do whatever it took to keep Scarlet's humanity.