Tareus Dimension...
Though the rumblings and clashes of thunder and lightning dissipated in the realm, it doesn't mean that the one who was causing it was calm. Emperor Darshao, sitting on his large throne with his eyes closed, was just quiet. And to be honest, to the Dark Shadow Defenders who were in the Throne Room, it was a scary type of silence from the Tarean leader.
"Who would've thought those newbies could already summon SeitenOh? How did it all come to this?" Karkino could only grumble in frustration.
"We just didn't anticipate their growth," Orcus calmly answered. "They might be newbies but I can tell that they possess the most powerful Hasureiki among all of their predecessors. There must be some secret behind this that we need to know."
"What we need to focus on is the destruction of the other seals. We'll have an upper hand once we did that," Nemia suggested and tried to approach the emperor but Alvre stopped her. "What's the meaning of this?"
"None of us should approach the Emperor unless we could give him an actual result of defeating those pesky Seitengers!" Alvre growled. "You know that we need those negative emotions to help us break the other Tarean Seals."
"Two of my Triske Monsters have been destroyed by those brats! I need to save face for my humiliation," Siriso entered the conversation.
"I think I have a way to torture those pesky newbies," Nemia said that making the other Defenders' attention focus switch to her.
Nemia only looked to one side of the Throne Room. Soon after, a serpent-like Triske Monster looked like a hybrid of a water serpent and a manta ray to view. And it was cackling.
xxxxxx
"Helen!"
As soon as she stepped out of the bus, it was that voice that greeted Helen. With a travel bag in her left hand and a duffel bag slung to her right shoulder, she looked around to find the source of that voice. Her expression brightened as soon as she saw a familiar face.
It was a woman in her late 20s with bob-cut hair and wearing a business outfit. The woman was waving at Helen as she approached her.
"Minako-san, it's been a while since we saw each other," Helen greeted with a wide smile.
"You're right. It's been a while. A long while, if you ask me. Where have you been for the past two months? I haven't heard from you since then," Asakura Minako ranted as soon as the woman finally stopped in front of her.
The last sentence only made Helen's smile disappear which Minako soon noticed.
"Wait. Did something happen?" Minako continued, a little wary that perhaps, she might have said something that crossed the line.
Helen sighed before speaking. "Professor died two months ago. Makoto-san and I had to take care of a few things aside from the funeral services and the burial, as well."
Minako was speechless. She didn't see that answer coming. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Makoto didn't tell me anything."
"It's okay. Professor told us not to mention anything to others, anyway." Helen smiled once again when she remembered something. "By the way, how did you know I'd be coming here?"
"I received a message from Makoto two days ago. He said that I should help you locate Mizuhashi Hideoki since it's important. He sounded really firm when he sent that message to me."
The younger girl could only sigh at that. "It's not like I'm going to get lost while trying to find him."
"I know you won't get lost. But I'm only making things easier for you. I happen to eat almost every day at the family restaurant that Mizuhashi Hideoki owned. I see him there most of the time since he's one of the cooks and he manages the place."
"He's a restaurant owner now? But Professor said that he's a historian," Helen stated with a frown.
"He was. But ever since his wife died, he decided to retire and start over by opening up a restaurant."
Helen didn't say anything anymore. She just coaxed Minako to accompany her in finding the Mizuhashi mansion. She did this despite so many thoughts running into her mind at the time. But thinking this over and over again won't get her anywhere. Right now, she had to focus on her mission to that place.
All of a sudden, she felt the cylindrical item in her pocket vibrated. It immediately stopped her in her tracks and looked around.
'They're here, as well?' That distressing thought was in her mind before she noticed people frantically running.
"It can't be..."
= = = = = =
The breakfast was going well for the Vessels that time but for some weird reason, only Nanami ate along with them. Amuro went on ahead before the breakfast could even start since he said he had to go to the racing stadium to help out his uncle who managed it.
"Nanami-san, where's Hideoki-san?" Itsuki managed to ask when everyone seemed to be hesitating to do so.
A sigh came out of the woman's mouth before facing the composer. "He has to go to the restaurant for a while to fix some things."
"But what could that be? I've never heard anything about any possible trouble the restaurant was facing yesterday," Eichirou said and the girls nodded in agreement.
"It's not about any trouble, okay? So you don't need to worry. His mind is a little messed up because of the letters he received from an old friend."
"You mean, the letters that were sent here last week?" This time, it was Shuichi who asked that.
Nanami nodded and continued eating. To the others, it was an indication of putting the discussion on hold until breakfast was over. Hesitatingly, the Vessels continued eating their breakfast.
But Eichirou nearly choked while the others were just about to put food in their mouths when they heard a familiar beeping coming from their Celestial Shifters on their wrists. The girls could only exhale exasperatingly.
"You got to be kidding me... A Triske Monster early in the morning?" Misae complained.
When Itsuki looked at his sister Erika, he noticed that she was already checking the location of the attack through her Shifter.
"It's on one of the bus stations near the town border. We need to hurry. Several of the buses there have already exploded. Soon, the fire they created will reach the nearby buildings," Erika stated calmly which only confused the other four Vessels. Erika just tilted her head when she saw this. "What?"
"How can you even say it so calmly, Eri-chan?" Eichirou asked which only made the pianist smile.
"Nothing good will come out if I panic. Besides, it's our job, right? We have to protect everyone, just as the will of our parents and Eichirou-san's mother who protected us that night."
Upon hearing that, Itsuki remembered the dream he just had before he woke up.
"Don't let them die, child... I beg you... Don't let them die or it will end with her... The world will end with her..."
Her... Now he remembered. The woman in his dreams was referring to a certain female individual. But the only female people in the team whose lives were in possible danger were Misae and Erika.
Could it be...?
"Let's go," Shuichi finally said which disrupted the flow of Itsuki's thoughts. "We can't afford to let the damage escalate."
The rest nodded since it was the only answer there was. They could think about other things later. Or at least, Itsuki wanted to think of it that way.
'I need to concentrate. I can't afford to get distracted today.'