Shifting over to Ada's point of view, she was being escorted in a sedan by a gang member.
"What time is it now?" Ada asked her driver as she sat comfortably in the backseat.
"It's 12:59 pm, miss." The driver responded. "Is something the matter?"
"No, it's nothing," Ada replied. "I'm just eager to reach my destination as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, we'll reach soon." The driver assured.
Heh, Olivia's supposed to be executed any minute, huh? How unfortunate for her--
BOOM!!!
The explosion caused by Zack happened on the horizon, which frightened Ada and her driver.
"What the hell!?" Ada yelled as she instinctively took cover in the car. Simultaneously, the driver put all his force into pressing the brakes.
What the hell is that explosion? A nuke? Ada thought as she noticed the mushroom cloud expanding.
"There's no way they'd drop a nuke on their own country just to get rid of threats!" The driver assumed. "They can't be this dumb!"
Yeah...that is true... Ada internally agreed. Why do I have a feeling that the developer is at play here...
Suddenly, the driver noticed obstacles and whatnot coming in their direction at high speeds. The resulting airwave carried them.
"Shit...Ma'am! Stay down!" The driver exclaimed as he quickly attempted a U-turn to gain distance. He could only go so far, as the airwave quickly caught up and carried the car like the rest of the obstructions.
* * *
Returning to the current time, Nathan and Charles had just witnessed Jack's departure. Charles noticed a peculiar melancholic expression coming from Nathan.
"What's with the long face?" Charles asked. "Today was pretty exciting! So how could you be sad?"
"Sigh, you wouldn't understand..." Nathan replied.
Damn it...The consequences of this war are hitting me as hard as that explosion... Nathan pondered. How the hell is Lilith supposed to have a normal life now...? She wanted to be a chef so badly...
Speaking of Lilith, so she appeared - specifically, the NPC appeared. He suddenly appeared, holding Zack and the C. Specialist by their shirts. On his back also were the doctor, blacksmith, and Lilith. It was as if he was carrying pieces of luggage on his person.
"Hu-- Lilith!" Nathan exclaimed as his gaze immediately shifted to his long-time friend. Upon seeing him, Lilith immediately jumped off the NPC's back and ran to him. Simultaneously, the NPC freed Zack and the C. Specialist from his grip.
"Hurk...couldn't you...hurk...have removed us from the plane...more gently..." Zack muttered as he made hurling noises as if he was nauseous.
"Well, I tried to be as gentle as I could when we were over cloud level." The NPC responded. The doctor immediately noticed Charles's injuries, which mortified her.
"Jeez, what's with those injuries!?" The doctor questioned as she quickly approached him. "Why can't you guys be more careful with yourselves!?" She scolded as she proceeded to heal him.
"Nathan! I'm so glad you're okay!" Lilith expressed as she went in for a hug, which Nathan happily reciprocated.
"Me too...I'm glad you're okay too..." Nathan responded. Amid their hug, Nathan's gaze turned to the nauseous Zack, and his expression immediately turned to annoyance.
"Hey, Zack..." Nathan called out. "Was that your bright idea of saving Olivia from execution?"
"Uh..."
"What would you've done if you--"
"Ah...god dammit!" A voice loudly uttered, which gained everyone's attention.
"Huh, wait a minute," Nathan said as he let go of Lilith. "Doesn't that sound like..."
* * *
After the airwave finally dispersed, the sedan Ada was in came to rest. Luckily, it was not flipped on its roof, which increased Ada's chances of survival.
"Ouch..." Ada groaned as she lifted herself. Before anything, Ada used her phone's camera to check herself for any visible injuries. Much to her relief, the only thing she noticed was slight bruises on her arms and a very slight cut on her face.
Dammit...my beautiful face! Ada angrily thought. I'm glad I'm alive but my beautiful face...dammit!
She then looked at her chauffeur after confirming her injuries. He wasn't nearly as lucky as his boss, as his heavily bleeding head leaned on the broken steering wheel. Shards of glass from the windshield fell onto his back. He was definitely in no condition to drive anymore.
Tsk...how useless... Ada thought as she opened the car door and disembarked. Observing the landscape, Ada noticed the property destruction, which she immediately guessed the cause to be the explosion.
"Tsk! God dammit!" Ada yelled in frustration. "Are you still going to get in my way, developer!?"
Tsk...I should call Leon and the others to pick me up then...
Deciding on her choice, she began to dial her comrades.
"Hey, party mate..." Amid her dialing, she heard Nathan's sarcastic voice. As she slowly turned to his voice, an onset of panic shrouded over her. She met the cold faces of not only Nathan but also Zack and Lilith, all approaching her. The NPCs surprisingly seemed indifferent.
W-Why are they here!? Ada thought. Why are they still alive!?
"What's wrong? You seem like you've seen a ghost." Nathan mockingly asked with a sly smirk. "Are you okay?"
"...Hey guys, I was just surprised to see you here..." Ada responded as she immediately fixed her facial expression. "I'm glad you're okay!"
"Yeah, same here. It would have been unfortunate if you died, Ada."
"Yeah, well, I have to go now," Ada added as she quickly turned around. "I have somewhere to be..."
"No, no, no...you're not going anywhere," Nathan advised. The sound of cocking of a gun was audible, which immediately stopped Ada in her tracks. She slowly turned around to see Nathan holding a pistol and aiming right in her direction. "I've got some questions to ask you."
N-Nathan just...pulled a gun...on me!?
"I've got three questions. One - How the hell did the military know where our base was? Two - Where were you in the war?"
"Uhm..."
"And three - What goal were you looking to accomplish for you to betray Olivia...betray us?"
"...I don't know what you're talking about," Ada responded, feigning ignorance.
"Oh?"
Simultaneously, Jack appeared, along with Olivia, who he carried on his back.
"Hey guys, I'm ba-- Oh my, look who we have here," Jack said as he noticed Ada, held at gunpoint.
Olivia noticed as well, which caused concern to well up inside her.
Olivia's alive!? How the hell--wait...I can use that.
"Olivia, help me, please! Tell Nathan to put away the gun!" Ada pleaded in a sincere tone. "I'm your friend. Help me!"
"D-Don't listen to her, Olivia..." Zack interjected, which slightly annoyed Ada.
Tsk...I should have killed that idiot back at the mansion...
All eyes were on Olivia to see what her decision would be. Olivia seemed conflicted due to her previous 'friendship' with Ada and her current affiliation with everyone else. What cemented her decision, though, was taking one glance at Jack.
Thus, she simply averted her gaze from Ada, which shocked her.
What!? Did that bitch grow a spine all of a sudden or something!?
"Who the hell is this now?" Jack said as he looked at Lilith. Lilith started to panic, not only because Jack the Ripper was here, looking at her, but also because he was drenched with blood. She could tell that he had killed many before this.
The scent of blood filled Lilith's nostrils, immediately inducing a nauseous sensation.
"S-Stay...away..."
"Huh!?" Jack said as he noticed her shocked expression, which immediately excited him. "Haha! Looks like you found yourself on the wrong side of the street, lady!"
Before he could do anything, Zack came in between them.
"S-Stop! She is Lilith, Nathan's girlfriend!" Zack revealed, which shocked the party members.
"Girlfriend?" Jack repeated.
"S-She's not my...girl...friend..." Nathan stuttered as his face was red with embarrassment. "But...don't you dare lay a hand on her, Jack..." His expression immediately became cold, and his tone as well.
She's his girlfriend, huh... Jack pondered as he completely disregarded what Nathan said. Guess, I won't be allowed to kill her now...Or it'll complicate things with me and the developer...
"Oh, my bad! Nice to meet you, love!" Jack added as his expression immediately changed to that of a friendly one. Lilith didn't return his greeting, as she still was afraid of him, although she tried to hide it. She looked over at Nathan, who turned his focus back to Ada.
I wish you didn't have to kill again...but I know this is too personal to stop you...
"Alright, that's enough stalling, Ada...answer my damn questions already..."
There was silence as Ada thought of what to say.
"Fine, you want to know? I was away with my gang, attacking the super soldiers from the other side."
"That still doesn't explain why you sold our location and Olivia out."
"I did it because I know you guys would have been strong enough to kill them all..." Ada replied as she lied through her teeth. "If they send their forces to our base, you all would easily take them out! And that would mean fewer super soldiers to worry about!"
Hearing this, Nathan couldn't help but facepalm, and Zack couldn't help but get triggered.
"Sigh, I hope you realize no one's buying your bullshit, Ada..." Nathan said. "Just tell the damn truth already..."
"You son of a..."
"If we're going to kill her, can't we just do it already, mate?" Jack asked. "She won't tell us anything, so it's just a waste of time."
"...Did you at least gain any info while you were away, doing whatever the hell?" Nathan asked.
"...No."
"Really, Ada?"
"Really."
"When you were voted leader of the group, I knew you weren't worthy." Nathan expressed. "But I at least thought you'd prove me wrong and be a bit useful."
"HOW DARE YOU!" Ada snapped as she had enough of Nathan.
"How dare me? You betrayed us, sold off Olivia, humiliated Zack, and put our lives in danger." Nathan continued. Most importantly, you put Lilith's life in danger! "But if you had at least gotten info or something, you could have said you've done something useful, but you didn't..."
"...Please, don't be mad at me..." Ada replied as she nearly instantly put on a teary-eyed expression. "Aren't we friends? Friends normally forgive each other, right?"
Is this woman trying to manipulate me...
"I promise I'll help you in return..."
"Nice promise, but you can keep it, miss useless."
This piece of shit keeps calling me...a god, useless!!!
"Haha...you see that, guys?" Nathan said as he looked around at everyone while he still held her at gunpoint. "She's so useless the only thing she can do is cry..."
Although tears ran down her eyes, her clenched fists and gritted teeth indicated her visible anger. After taunting her, Nathan returned his gaze to Ada. His cold gaze revealed that he was ready to shoot her, and Ada knew it.
Wait...stop...
"This is what you've always been...A useless woman..." Nathan coldly stated as he slowly squeezed the trigger. As he was about to fire, Jack suddenly pulled Nathan backward, causing Nathan to lose his aim and miss Ada.
"Hu--"
Instantly, a long massive spike passed through at extremely fast speeds. It penetrated multiple buildings, which surprised everyone, especially Ada, who dropped to the ground. If Jack had not acted fast, Nathan would have gotten skewered, which caused him to break out into sweat.
"Nathan!" Lilith called out in obvious concern. Jack looked in the direction where the spike came from. He noticed it was protruding on the ground from a distance, and a woman stood at that point - that woman was Charlotte.
"Tsk...missed," Charlotte said. She proceeded to send another fast-moving, protruding spike at the group. This time, Charles acted quickly, though, as he jumped in the way of the spike.
Adrenaline Doping - Maximum!
His muscle mass quickly increased, and he performed a double downward handle on the spike, breaking it apart.
Wow, that's kinda tough...
Suddenly, Ada was between two men who appeared - Leon and Nolan. Charlotte and Frank also approached them casually.
That ground spike was obviously not normal... Jack thought as he watched the new enemies. I guess these guys have blessings as well...how rare in this country...
"Are you okay, Miss Ada?" Nolan asked as he gently held her hand and pulled her to her feet.
"H-How did...you guys find me?" Ada asked.
"We got called here," Charlotte replied, which confused Ada.
Called here?
"Ah, just when I thought I wouldn't get to kill any more people today!" Jack excitedly interjected. "Then you guys show up! Nice!"
"Haha! You guys seem strong! I hope you'll bring a good fight!" Charles hoped, matching Jack's excitement.
"Do you honestly think we came alone!?" Frank asked, which bewildered them. "Haha! You guys must be fools!"
As if in formation, a large amount of gang members marched up. Some were also on the ruined buildings. Their sheer numbers were in the hundreds.
"...So this must be your gang, huh, Ada..." Nathan asked. "At least you were useful somewhere else..."
That obviously irritated Ada, but her comrades were just as annoyed.
"What the hell did you just say to our Ada!?" Charlotte snapped.
"I'll bust his head open!" Frank added.
"Looks like the guy I messed up somehow survived," Leon said as he looked at Zack. Zack seemed visibly unnerved upon the sight of Leon. "I'll kill him this time."
"Not before I kill all of them first!" Nolan added as he unleashed his red, vibrant, flaming aura. What surprised Nathan and the rest even more was that everyone in the gang was emitting that same aura.
"Crap..." Nathan uttered as he purposely kept Lilith close to protect her.
"I can help you..." Lilith suggested.
"No...this is too dangerous." Nathan declined, much to her displeasure.
"Ah, looks like you guys got a lot of stuff." Jack complimented. "Too bad that won't be enough to kill me!"
And thus, both factions were locked in a standoff.
"Wait a minute, guys! Calm down!" A voice was audible as it interrupted the standoff. The voice was loud and scratchy and gave off an echo as if the person was speaking through a speaker. The voice was also omnidirectional, causing everyone to look everywhere for its source.
The NPCs and party members were especially surprised at the voice.
Wait...that voice sounds familiar... Nathan thought to himself.
"Phew, that got your attention. Good thing I made those speakers in advance." The voice added. "Look to your right, my party. Oh, for Ada's group, look to your left."
Obeying the voice, everyone looked in their respective directions. What they saw was a man in the distance approaching everyone.
The man donned a black dress suit. Inside his jacket was a white dress shirt and a long black tie. Around his neck was a brown fur scarf that reached down to his waste. He also wore black Chelsea boots. There was not a speck of dirt visible on his clothing.
Everything about his clothes gave an air of expensiveness, which everyone noticed.
His facial features were just as clean as his clothing. There were no blemishes whatsoever. His amethyst-purple-colored eyes complemented greatly his jet-black hair, which was kept in a slick-back hairstyle. His features were further enhanced by the charismatic smile he offered to the factions.
"I'm glad. Everyone's all together now." The man said as his voice still echoed throughout the area. Strangely, a feeling of anger came upon Nathan as the man spoke.
That voice...there's no way...
"As the developer, I feel blessed to see this day..."
It's him! The developer!!!