Beyond the woods, a great concrete wall with vines covered its faded white paint. The wall was 5000 metres high and it touched the cloud crossing above it. No end could be seen from either the left or the right side. Birds flew above it, crossing the battlements above. A gate in between the border was guarded by a hundred roaming soldiers in green uniform carrying rifles.
The truck containing the seven great heroes stopped by the security small white concrete hut with hexagonal prism blue zinc roof as the metal bar blocked the road. A soldier inside the hut slid the mirror glass open and snarled.
"Who are you, old man? Only the authorities can enter this stronghold," the soldier scowled at the truck driver.
"I was ordered to deliver these- uh- heroes by the VSO," the driver hesitated.
"Do you have genuine permission to follow the order?"
"Ara, we come here for a tour, a word from Ryuuchiro-chan," Nobara interrupted as she crawled onto the driver's lap.
The driver fixed his glasses with the tip of his index finger and gulped empty air. His face turned red seeing her fat bum almost touched his chest. She persuaded the guard to let them pass with a flirty pose and voice. She bent her body and pressed her shoulders inward, showing off the sexy curve line of her breasts. The guard's face turned red and was defeated by her sexiness. He obeyed her and the metal rod elevated 90 degrees upward then the truck drove in.
The truck parked in front of the cuboid building which was attached to the wall without switching off the engine. The driver got out of the truck and opened the doors of the huge metal container outward. The male sentinels stepped out of the container one by one. Benditto waited near the door and took Era's hand and helped her to jump from the container. Victoria lent him her hand and he grabbed her by her body and lifted her to the lower ground. The driver closed the doors and returned to the driver's seat.
"Hey," Nobara greeted him with one of her elbows resting on the steering wheel.
"Arrgghhhh! Ta-Tat-Tachibana-dono, y-y-you startled me," he hesitated.
Nobara smiled and saw Benditto staring at her from afar. She removed the driver's head and put it on his head then kissed his upper lips. She jumped out from the truck and waved at him with the back of her hand without giving him a stare.
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"I won't let the great heroes enter the fortress!! None of us humans can enter the fortress, you're violating the law! It's punishable by death to enter! We won't let the guardians of the world die-" the lieutenant paused.
"We won't die, I promise you. We will return once everything is settled, plus-" Nobara took a white envelope from Yuu's snout and placed it on his table. "This stamp may remind you of something, I've been receiving this letter without knowing the sender. Ryuuchiro ordered me to show this to you, lieutenant and he was the one who sent us here."
"The vampire royal seal. This is Impossible," the lieutenant gasped in surprise, "allow me to read the content."
Nobara spreaded her hands outward as a gesture of guaranteeing his request. The lieutenant briskly pulled the folded white paper inside the envelope and unfolded it. He widened his eyes by what was written; it was written in Old Latin, the vampire's main language, and every letter was written with black ink. He felt relieved that he was able to read and understand the vampire's language. He folded the paper and put it back into the letter.
"Tachibana-sama, no matter what happens to any of you, it will be my responsibility to keep you safe. Let my soldiers accompany you along the journey, it's too risky," he cried with great worries.
"No worries, lieutenant. You're risking their life, I may disappoint you but we don't need company. I came here to ask for your permission to let us in and lend us a truck," Nobara said with a bright smile.
The lieutenant clasped his hands and thought for a while. He ordered her to give him some time to think. Nobara looked down on Yuu and shrugged. Yuu stuck his tongue out and wagged his tail quickly. The lieutenant terminated in front of his table and immediately permitted the sentinels to enter.
The enormous dark grey metal door of the gate slowly lifted up, its cracking rusted sound got louder as it moved further upward. Soldiers aligned in a huge arch, surrounding the sentinel's truck to ride with rifles aiming to the gate assuring none of the vampire came out from the fortress. The lieutenant saluted the sentinel before they continued their journey into the fortress. Nobara hugged the lieutenant as if he was her father.
"Be careful, if any of you are dead, I'll sacrifice myself to slay the vampire," the lieutenant held her tightly.
"No worries, we won't die. That's a promise," she replied.
She ran into the container of the truck and Hayabusa closed the metal doors and locked them. Hayabusa jogged to the driver's seat and jumped into the truck. The lieutenant shouted a few lines for a farewell to the sentinels then 24 soldiers in a line aimed their rifle to the gate and each of them simultaneously fired 24 bullets. Hayabusa drove the truck ahead then the gate closed again. The lieutenant saluted and Nobara stuck her hand out from the gap and showed him a thumbs up gesture.
The sentinels set their eyes outside through the gap on the wall of the metal container and watched the dilapidated devastated buildings scattered everywhere with thick bushes and vines grew on them. It has been two decades since the city was conquered by the vampire. It looked as if an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 struck the whole ruined city.
Hayabusa couldn't control himself from looking at the mesmerising scenery outside so he kept releasing his hands off the steering wheel, making the truck move like a slithering snake. Benditto smacked the back of his head and grabbed the steering wheel without changing seats. Adalbert shook his head and ordered Hayabusa to be replaced. Hayabusa braked the truck and jumped out. He unlocked the door and opened it. He turned back as he heard indistinct children's voices, squeaking and singing merrily.
He could hear the voices with his lion ears but he was uncertain about their whereabouts. Adalbert jumped from the container and watched his perplexed face, trying to search for something. They realised that his ears were moving; he heard something that they couldn't hear.
"What is it?" Era asked nervously.
"I heard children's voices, they're further away from here," he replied.
Yuu could also hear them but more vividly and distinctly than Hayabusa did. He jumped and hopped on Nobara's laps. He barked loudly, trying to guide her something. Nobara slapped his snout and ordered him to speak.
"The children's voices! I hear it too, they're 100 metres ahead in a- a village," he spoke.
The other sentinels gasped as they heard the little dog speak. Nobara nodded and ordered Adalbert to drive further. As the truck moved, they set their eyes outside, looking for any village or living survivors. Benditto glared outside with his sharp yellow eyes. Adalbert immediately braked the car, making the sentinels bounced up and fell randomly on the cold metal floor. Victoria snarled and screamed at his ears.
Adalbert dashed out of the truck and jogged to the bonnet of the truck. A brunette little girl in a ragged black robe sat in front of the car, sweating and trembling and was numbed. Her cheek was covered with black tattoo which followed the pattern of her inner veins. Adalbert lifted her up and patted her head, persuading her to calm down.
"What's wrong, little girl? Calm down, breathe slowly and tell us. You're safe now, don't worry" Adalbert asked.
She pointed her fat index finger to the left. Adalbert looked ahead and saw a huge monster with its veins glowed purple roaming inside a building. The little girl began to cry. Nobara jumped out from the driver's seat and jogged to Adalbert.
"Nii-san, nee-san," the girl cried.
Adalbert hugged tighter and tried to calm her down. He asked Nobara about the monster. Hayabusa explained to the other confused sentinels about the monster.
"I never thought that they're still alive. The monster, it's a mutated animal as the side effect of the injected viruses from two decades ago. They only obey vampires, let's go, we need to keep going,"
They locked their eyes at the dilapidated laying building as they heard the sound of the vague monster shrieking loudly and black fluids sprayed all over the building. The truck shook as two figures jumped onto the container of the truck, staring down at Adalbert and Nobara.