"Ajie, we're almost there," Yuki said gently to the person with closed eyes behind her. Feeling the elevator rising continuously, she forced a smile. Her other hand tightly gripped a disc—it was the map of the entire city's shelters and her hope for saving Ajie.
In the police station, October ran through the corridors. If he remembered correctly, the station should have a public address system. If so, there would be a broadcast room. Soon, October found it; because of the zombie attack, the room was empty.
October hurried into the broadcast room, quickly pressed a few buttons to turn on the station's speakers, turned the volume to maximum, placed the phone in front of the microphone, and started playing.
The loud singing instantly spread throughout the police station. The police officers who were firing all stopped and looked at the motionless zombies in disbelief.
One brave officer nudged a stopped zombie with his rifle butt, but he didn't expect the zombie to simply fall to the ground, unable to move.
"We're saved!"
No one knew who shouted first, but soon such voices rang out across the police station.
In the crowd, February and March exchanged a look and quietly left amidst the cheers.
Ryusei naturally saw February and March. He wanted to follow, but stopped after taking one step. With a soft sigh, he turned back to find Bun and the others.
The entire police station was in celebration. Officer Frank listened thoughtfully to the music from the broadcast room. Looking at the three who had disappeared from the crowd, his eyes were full of gratitude.
Outside the police station, October and the others drove their vehicle out.
"Brother October, what do we do now?" February asked October in the car.
"It's not over yet. We still need to go to the Rainbow Peak." October's expression was grave. Ever since he heard from that maid that they didn't have much time, he had an uneasy feeling, and it was growing stronger.
March and February also noticed something was wrong with October. March quickly asked, "Brother October, did something happen?"
October shook his head. "I'm not quite sure, but I know that once we get to the Rainbow Peak and find the person who planned this virus, everything will come to light."
Saying this, October sped up the car, racing towards the Rainbow Peak.
"You're finally here." Suit Freak sat with his legs crossed, a faint smile appearing as he looked at Yuki by the door.
Yuki laid Ajie down on the floor and looked at Suit Freak. "I've completed the task. Hurry up and fulfill your promise to bring Ajie back to life!"
"Oh? In that case, hand over the item. I need to see it first."
Suit Freak said as he reached out a hand toward Yuki.
Yuki gritted her teeth; there was no turning back. She handed the disc to him.
Suit Freak immediately broke into a satisfied smile. He turned and inserted the disc into the computer. Soon, a massive map appeared on the large screen behind him. Various regions on the map were marked with numerous red dots—108 in total, representing 108 shelters!
"It really is the map of all the city's shelters." Suit Freak nodded with satisfaction.
"I've already completed the task, and you've verified it. Now, hurry up and restore Ajie," Yuki said with some urgency.
"Oh? Restore?!" As if hearing some incredible joke, the Suit Freak wore a bizarre smile and a somewhat crazed expression. He turned back to look at Yuki, the mockery in his eyes fully exposed.
"You have no more utility value!"
"What? You lied to me?" Yuki looked at the person before her in disbelief. She had betrayed everyone in the city, only to get this result—a lie.
Two lines of tears flowed from her eyes. Yuki cried powerlessly, her tears dripping onto the ground.
"Sigh."
With a helpless sigh, Asagami Fujino appeared before them. She had changed her mind. Why? Because she felt like it. Looking at the weeping Yuki, Asagami Fujino sighed again, closed her eyes, and waved a hand at the Suit Freak.
"Boom!"
The Suit Freak was slammed directly into the wall by an invisible force.
"Who are you?"
Yuki stared blankly at the suddenly appearing and powerful Asagami Fujino.
"Me?" Asagami Fujino opened her eyes and looked at Yuki, thinking for a moment before answering, "Just a passing Kamen Rider."
Borrowing the words of a certain card-printing maniac—though she wasn't a Kamen Rider—it did give Asagami Fujino the idea to get a Kamen Rider Driver to play with. It seemed quite interesting.
"Ah?" An uncomprehending sound came from Yuki's mouth. There were no Kamen Riders in this world, so Yuki naturally had no idea what Asagami Fujino was talking about.
"Anyway, don't worry about it. I'll help restore your boyfriend," Asagami Fujino said with a smile as she walked toward Yuki.
"You can restore Ajie?!" Yuki looked at Asagami Fujino excitedly. As for Fujino calling Ajie her boyfriend, that was completely ignored, though given their relationship, it wasn't exactly wrong.
"Of course." Asagami Fujino nodded slightly. A light emerged from her hand and flowed into Ajie's body on the ground. His originally sallow, iron-grey face quickly regained a normal complexion.
"Ajie!" Seeing Ajie recover his original skin tone, Yuki immediately threw herself onto him, shouting excitedly.
Ajie slowly opened his eyes, looking at the tear-streaked Yuki before him with some confusion. "What happened to me? Where is this?"
Ignoring Yuki and Ajie, Asagami Fujino went to the large screen wall on her own and pressed a red button on the control panel.
Turning back, Asagami Fujino's voice made one feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze, but what she said was anything but.
"I've activated the self-destruct sequence. You only have ten minutes left—which is exactly when the sun rises~"
"Eh!"
Yuki and Ajie cried out in surprise simultaneously, not understanding why Asagami Fujino would do such a thing.
Asagami Fujino continued to herself, "Right now, only the zombies at the police station have had their commands blocked, but the rest of the city hasn't. You still have ten minutes to stop it. Are you coming?"
"I'll do it!" Ajie said. He had just completely remembered what happened and understood that only he could stop all of this now.
"Why?!" Yuki asked loudly. In ten minutes, they still had hope of escaping. Why give up?
"Yuki," Ajie said softly, "My dream might not come true, but many others' dreams can continue with my help..."
After saying that, Ajie broke free from Yuki's hand and walked toward the elevator alone.
Yuki stared blankly as the elevator doors slowly closed, and at the final smile Ajie gave her from inside.
"Why! Why!" Yuki cried out in grief, feeling so powerless.
"It's still not too late to break the glass and go up the outside stairs!"
Asagami Fujino, who had been silent, suddenly reminded her. Yuki snapped out of it, hurriedly grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall, smashed the glass, and leaned out. There was indeed a staircase nearby leading straight up. Yuki looked back deeply at the leisurely Asagami Fujino before jumping onto the stairs outside the glass.
After Yuki left, Asagami Fujino looked at the Suit Freak she had slammed into the wall. She used her mental power to restore his memory and wake him up.
"Who on earth are you!" The recovered Suit Freak miserably pried himself out of the wall. Along with his memory recovery, Asagami Fujino had not erased the memories of when he was controlled. The Suit Freak glared at Asagami Fujino, who had caused the current situation, wishing he could kill her.
With a slightly cold smile, Asagami Fujino looked at the Suit Freak and said softly, "You still have the energy to ask? Better run fast; there are only eight minutes left."
"You bastard! Lord Lucifer will not let you off!"
A powerless threat. The Suit Freak also realized he couldn't stay any longer. He ran miserably toward a hidden elevator in the room. Even as the elevator doors closed, he was still shouting hollow words.
"Hehe~ Lucifer? Xuan Yue? Hehe!"
Asagami Fujino chuckled as she walked to the broken window. Ajie's singing from the rooftop spread across the entire city through the equipment. In Fujino's sight, the dark, surging crowds were like machines with their power cut, falling into a crashed state.
The sound of propellers reached her. Asagami Fujino looked up slightly as a helicopter swept across the sky.
"They sure run fast, but this isn't over yet."
Asagami Fujino took out her phone, composed a message, and sent it. Then she composed another one for Ryusei before putting the phone away.
"The fireworks show is about to begin."
In the car, October suddenly felt a vibration from his pocket. It was the phone he had put there. He hurriedly pulled out a hand to check it. It was a message, very short, with only a few words: "The helicopter in the sky."
October immediately looked up. A helicopter was about to fly over them. He looked at February and said, "February, use your ability to bring that helicopter down!"
"Yes!" Although he didn't know why Brother October wanted to do this, February quickly executed the order. He used his Seventh Sense to control birds to chase the helicopter. However, due to the rainy weather, they were somewhat difficult to control. October also began to turn the car to chase the helicopter.
"Boom!"
An explosion occurred at the base of the building. The intense firelight seemed to dispel the darkness. The rain gradually stopped, and the dark clouds began to scatter, revealing bright sunlight. The blue sky appeared in the world once again.
"Boom!"
A second explosion. The building shook violently. The singing began to draw to a close.
"Boom!"
A third explosion. The man and woman at the top hugged each other tightly, preparing to welcome the final moment.
"Boom!"
With the final explosion, the embracing couple seemed to have a hallucination, looking incredulously at the red text appearing before them:
"Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly... live?"
"YES/YES"
October's group, who were chasing the helicopter, finally managed to interfere with and shoot it down using February's Seventh Sense.
"What the hell! What bad luck!"
The Suit Freak, who had used a parachute to descend from the helicopter but was unfortunately snagged by a street lamp, struggled desperately to unfasten the parachute.
Suddenly, the parachute burst into flames, and the Suit Freak fell hard to the ground.
"Damn it! Who is it!"
"Black Moon Iron Cavalry! October of Flame!"
October walked up to the Suit Freak with a smile. Beside him, February stepped forward and picked up a black briefcase in front of the Suit Freak.
February opened the briefcase, looked inside, and turned to nod at October. "It's the Gusilan secret data!"
"Go to hell!"
Suddenly, the fallen Suit Freak scrambled up and threw white powder at February.
On the other side, March wanted to step forward to help February but was stopped by October.
"It's fine. That's useless against February."
"I'm right, aren't I?" October looked at the Suit Freak with cold eyes. "This so-called virus has no effect whatsoever on those who have developed the Seventh Sense, am I right?"
Seeing the Suit Freak's shocked expression, October continued, "The reason you Fallen Angels created this disaster is that people immune to the virus also represent those who can withstand the rejection of the element needle. This way, you can more quickly find people who can accept the power of the element needle and become Fallen Angels."
"As for this Gusilan secret, it's probably just a byproduct." Saying this, October raised a hand, and a raging fire ignited upon it. "Alright, we'll take the secret with us. Now it's time to say goodbye—no, it's time to never see you again."
"Hahaha!" The Suit Freak showed no fear facing October's flames, instead bursting into laughter: "You're right, Lord Lucifer sent me to create a disaster, and you guessed the purpose correctly, but—"
The smile on the Suit Freak's face turned frantic: "But you didn't think of this, did you? There's a third objective!"
"A third objective?!" October's ominous premonition grew stronger.
"It's to Lure the Tiger Out of the Mountain!" the Suit Freak said smugly. "To draw the experts of the Black Moon Iron Cavalry and VV Academy here, and then defeat them one by one! Although I don't know why VV Academy didn't send any experts, I believe the twelve Fallen Angels have already begun their slaughter at the Black Moon Iron Cavalry's location! Hahaha!"
"Bastard!" October charged, landing a heavy punch squarely on the Suit Freak's face, sending him flying into the sky.
"Die!"
Blazing flames erupted from October's hands and feet, instantly engulfing the Suit Freak.
"Aaaah, I'll wait for you in hell! Hahahaha!"
Enveloped by the scorching flames, the agonizing Suit Freak still cursed October and the others before turning into ash in October's furious blaze!
Deep within the Sahara Desert, the twelve Fallen Angels and Xuan Yue were advancing toward Black Moon Island.
Deep within Black Moon Island, K, or rather Muir V, had long since detected the twelve Fallen Angels and the others via reconnaissance machines buried in the desert—or perhaps they hadn't even attempted to conceal their arrival.
"Xuan Yue, you truly are a terrifying opponent." Muir V watched the calm expression on Xuan Yue's face on the screen, a stiff smile appearing on his own face, which was almost entirely covered by machinery.
The next moment, Muir V slumped weakly onto the chair, the stiff smile still frozen on his face.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.