As the two made their way down the cold stoned dungeon, their loud footsteps making echoes throughout the corridor the noirette had been wondering something… a sudden realization had come up that she didn't think of before. It was mostly just the panic that came with seeing a bunch of men with their guns pointed.
Why… Why didn't I just blow them up?
As she kept thinking about it, the more she regret following through with this plan!
Dante probably didn't think about such a fact until now either!
Though, as they made their way through, the black haired boy gave out a sigh, he tilted his head back to look at his little friend.
" If you're wondering why I didn't give orders for you to blow everything up…"
He was about to add to his sentence, but Louise couldn't help but think that he actually was just a wizard who could read minds.
" It's because, first of all, I didn't think about it. Second of all… you would have caused more trouble if you did. You can't control the distance or really the strength of your explosions without either making it super powerful or super weak, right? The best you can do is that explosion jump thing. So, what would happen if you tried to blow everything up when these guys clearly have hostages? "
Food for thought for Louise, she didn't think of it like that… curse her blockheadedness. But now that was cleared up…
God, this entire run is awkward! Okay. Small talk time-
" So… Dante, how did you and Lorraine meet? "
The two kept on running without an answer. The only noise made were the footsteps the two created with every foot forward. Of course, Louise was getting a little tired of this awkward silence, and she opened up her mouth to speak as well, just as she did, Dante started to speak immediately.
" Well, what do you want… the short version or the long version? "
What type of question was that…? Well, Louise assumed that there wouldn't be much time before they'd get to the weapon. But she knew Dante, she could feel it like a sixth sense, that he would just brush over everything like it was a joke if she said medium.
Louise put her hand out, looking smug as she replied to the question.
" I want the medium version! "
This was met with a sigh by Dante, who really wanted to do as Louise had thought. Now he had to simplify the long version… it took a while, actually, there was about 30 seconds of silence after Louise had answered his question.
" …Fine, It all has to do with the Legendary Weapon, honestly It's taboo to say its name in this religion. But anyways… "
As the two ran, Dante closed his eyes for a bit, recollecting every event that he could… it felt just like yesterday this all happened…
"I had a friend named Altair, he was the first person I befriended when I got adopted, he and I were pretty good friends too. One day, the place we were living in was attacked. Both of us were taken by human traffickers and were sold off into slavery."
Wow, this is super deep already, geez…
The air felt heavy just by the introduction to his story. Louise felt a great pity towards him… but she couldn't help but admire the perseverance Dante must have had.
" Lorraine bought me off, and I helped her out a bunch. In the end, we found out that the nobility was using Altair as a sacrifice to their god or something, so of course, we tried to save him… of course, it wasn't like we were protagonists or anything and we were too late. "
…What the heck? So that talk about servitude wasn't a joke at all? Or even a religious thing…? Is he actually her slave? Wait a minute… Where the hell were they?
This is something she couldn't imagine happening in the real world, not in the one they live in today… maybe if it were a couple hundred years ago it'd be believable, but right now…? In the modern day? With people against such practices…?
" The weapon we're about to get is what helped us win, and well… get here, get to America, back to you. "
Just like that, the story was over. Louise was speechless and with perfect timing, they had gone to the very edge of the dungeon, a single beam of light shining down on an altar. The altar was shining, the pure gold shining with the single spotlight that had been put on it.
On top there was something dark, a mysterious amalgamation of a void attempting to take the shape of both a spear, a pike, and a broadsword at the same time… Dante had immediately gone to the Altar and grabbed the area that ought to be the hilt.
The two quickly made their way back to where the nuns were praying, right by the stairs… Dante saw that the nuns were now chanting another prayer…
" Alright, finish that prayer and we'll meet up with Lorraine. She should have called the other churches by now. "
Louise soon followed suit, watching as Dante jumped upwards, landing on the thin railings of the stairs and using that as a boost to jump even further up. Of course, Louise wasn't far behind and even surpassed the man with her blast jump ability. Soon, they were back to the battle torn interior of the church.
" This is a mess… We're going to get crushed by boulders or something if we stay in one place! "
The noirette soon walked forward, looking for that silver haired woman. She made another realization once she thought about the situation a bit more.
" Wait- you guys don't have any magic to call the other churches or something? Are you sure you didn't just overlook that? "
Dante looked down at her, a little dumbfounded as he zoned out just by hearing that… a blank face that was attempting to comprehend what was told to it.
" …You're right- "
" You're telling me you just forgot?! "
" Sorry, sorry! We both panicked, I'm sure Lorraine figured it out before we did. "
Both of them felt embarrassed and guilty at the same time, realizing that this situation could have been a lot worse if neither of them panicked. Dante was still looking around, starting to walk forward before the nuns would catch up to them. He had been looking for the silverette but couldn't find them.
She's not here? Maybe she's in the conference room…
" Do you think any of the terrorists had gone inside? "
Louise was asking, she could feel her hand shake due to the anxiety. Sure she could make explosions and such… but it wasn't like she was more durable than any other person out there. Well, that'd be a lie, she's durable, but not invulnerable… a single bullet could most likely take her out like any other human being.
" That bubble should lock off the church to any invaders, but there might be a few inside- "
As Dante said those words, at the end of the hallway, there were terrorists with guns out. They were yelling multiple profanities. Louise immediately extended her hand and made an explosion, blasting the men away, along with the ground, and really the walls around the church. It seemed she knocked them out in one go, without blowing away any limbs… lucky her. She hated gore.
"…Don't do that, leave it to me. You're just going to make it worse. "
Louise felt ashamed. Was she really that powerless in this situation? This was the worst case scenario for her… she couldn't attack, and she was trapped in a tight space. The only stroke of luck she had was that the walls didn't lead to the outside, but rather empty rooms.
Damn it, where the hell is Lorraine? Why isn't Dante saying anything?
Soon, more terrorists followed, and this time Dante extended his arm, and the black amalgamation soon turned white, and created 3 beams of light towards the men, skewering them before dissipating. Louise felt her stomach churn when she saw the blood seep out as the weapon turned black once more.
The two checked as many rooms as they could while running, bursting through every single one without hesitation, and there was still no sign of the woman. Louise could feel the terror that Dante was feeling. Terror that could turn into an explosive anger if kept unchecked. Especially the conference room,
They kept on running, and soon enough, it seemed that they reached the front. With men standing right across the bubble. It was mostly transparent, save for small translucent squares that floated past the surface.
Lorraine was still nowhere to be found.
Dante had immediately took out his phone and started to call the silverette as well, one could actually see the tiny cracks at the edge of the silver screen due to how hard he was squeezing the small glass device.
" Pick up… Pick up… "
Louise watched as Dante made an expression she couldn't even imagine him making. A look of absolute fear and dread. She couldn't understand it emotionally. All she could do was watch as he slowly descended into a full blown panic attack.
" D-Dante. I'm sure she's fine, Maybe- "
Soon there was a deafening ringing that went through the ears of everyone around. Most people instinctively covered their ears as well. During this, one could even see the shield around the church violently fading away, the nuns had immediately started to kneel and pray as the shield both regained its sturdiness and lost it at the same time. As it flickered, a voice could be heard through a megaphone about twice as loud as a normal one.
" Church of the Three Spirits! Surrender now! We know your involvement in the destruction of our plans! Not only that… "
Suddenly, the megaphone went silent for a bit, before another voice could be heard… a very familiar one, which caused Dante to run near the entrance to confirm that it indeed was who he expected.
" We've lost… Just like that we we're in a checkmate. "
The silhouette of a silverette glistened in the afternoon sun, an ambiguous look of defeat and pain mixed in with the cold blackness that contrasted with her hair of a gun, multiple guns. The nuns looked at each other and at the sight of their leader caught…
That wasn't enough either, bodies had then been flung towards the entrance of the church, multiple nuns who had been shot to death… with the average number of holes in them being 10. Some were missing limbs, some were covered in blood…
Dante dropped his weapon and kneeled. With the nuns doing the same. There really was nothing else to do, not even the weapon of legend could out speed a bullet in point blank range… Did all of their efforts amount to nothing…? Where did they mess up? Were they too lax…?
Louise had still been hiding behind the wall. She noticed that the black blob of a weapon had been cast out of the sight of anyone, since Dante had thrown it to the left. The girl slowly snuck forward, grabbing the hilt of the weapon… and it suddenly transformed to better fit her body type. Dante's eyes darted towards her, he tried to motion for the altar…
Of course, Louise didn't get what he was doing… He tried again, and again, and she wasn't getting it. However, one of the nuns figured that he was trying to do something. She tried to speak but was interrupted by the sound of a megaphone. A member had pulled out an infrared camera… and attempted to see who else was inside, it seemed that there was just those nuns, the man and another person who was hiding… This discovery did spur some discussion but the men digressed and thought it was nothing more than a cowardly nun.
" Destroy your barrier now! If you don't we'll kill your leader! "
The nuns hesitated, but of course, with that slight hesitation, they shot a bullet right on the silverette's foot and put her screams through the megaphone. With this, Dante was about ready to lose it, one could sense the hate and anger, one could sense that he was about ready to burst. Of course, the nuns started to pray and he soon realized that this was his chance. He knelt with the nuns, pretending to pray.
" Louise. Go. To. The. Altar. "
The noirette immediately ran towards the Altar, the men had saw her through the infrared device and confirmed their beliefs, just a cowardly nun. They'll shoot her once they arrive inside. Soon, the man turned away from Louise, trying to find more bodies.
Once she got there, to God's Table she gave a look towards Dante that conveyed.
" What's next? "
" Look down, press the numbers… 1357. "
Louise was confused, but she followed orders and looked down. Before her eyes was a mechanical numpad…
What the? What is this doing here?
She typed in the numbers and immediately a trap door had open, dropping the girl down to a chute. It took quite a while to finally land, she was surrounded by darkness… all she knew was that she was in a rather large chute that was going somewhere.
Soon enough, she landed down on the hard concrete… she looked left and right.
" Am… Am I in the sewers??? "
Of course, that anosmia she could experience due to the putridness of her surroundings confirmed her beliefs. She decided to cover her nose and walk to the left, she was lucky that there was some resemblance of a walkway rather than this place just being straight sewage…
" Great… now how do I get out? "
Of course, she had been walking in complete darkness for a while, her eyes were trying to get adjusted, and slowly the darkness faded just enough so she could tell when there was a turn…
A few minutes later…
She soon found an exit, a wall mounted ladder that had led to a manhole cover which light penetrated. The girl dropped her weapon and soon started to climb, attempting to open up the manhole… She just needed a view of what street she was on…
Of course… once she opened it up, her jaw dropped as she realized that there was a familiar face in the crowd of terrorists that were near her… there had been a giant weapon on the ground, and because of her proximity, she could hear their plans…
" Alright men, we need to transport this to the Aeronautics Domain of Roswell, currently we're holding off against the Roswell Guard there. We'll launch this at the same time as the Nuke in Groom Lake Base. These are by the orders of…
Dr. Summers. "