Everyone in the control room was glued to their chair and screen, pressing hard on the keyboard in front of them when the captains swarmed into the place.
No questions were asked as they knew the purpose of their presence.
Data. With three attacks ongoing simultaneously, they needed a clearer view of what was happening.
"Chief, fill us in, there are three attacks going on all at once. What's going on?" Soyo asked.
"Oh, Captain Soyo. You guys will really want to see this," the man said and turned to the screen. "Three attacks happening all at once—West, North, and South—"
"Okay, Chief, we already know that. What we want to know is how they broke that solid gate which has withstood several beast attacks?" Masaiko asked.
"The question isn't 'How,' Cap. The question is 'Who?' Come look at this." The chief turned, tapping on several buttons until a window popped up, revealing Anix, Nero, and Ryuma before the gate was destroyed. "It's your friend."
"I knew he was a monster." Masaiko laughed. "I knew! So now, are we going to kill him or still act all friendly, giving him the human torture treatment?"
"And he came with his friends too."
"And not just any friends, data shows that they're at least Grade S Nephilim," the chief said, looking at the heat output on the screen.
"Why Grade S?" Kazushi asked.
"Well, apparently, they should be above Grade S—what I'm saying is at least one of them is capable of destroying the whole base excluding Ryuma," the chief explained.
"And we know nothing about this Ryuma. The only thing we know is that he can transform," Reiko whispered.
The room went silent, with only the clicking sound of computer keyboards audible. All the captains and the chief stared at the large display screen.
"Man, but doesn't this seem strange?" Kazushi broke the silence, turning to the chief. "Chief, you said at least one of them can destroy the base, then why are they focused on causing commotion at separate wings?"
"You're right," the chief stated. "Maybe they're looking for something—"
"Or they are just decoys. Show me that beast's current location," Masaiko said, receiving a confused look from the chief. "Ryuma, the beast!!"
The chief moved swiftly, pressing some buttons, and a display popped up showing Ryuma taking Hinetsu out and making his way into the medical facility.
"He's after the girl, Lieutenant Saiya," Reiko muttered.
"Lieutenant Saiya? The youngest lieutenant??" Masaiko asked.
"Yes," Reiko answered. "Now I remember, on the day we captured him, he held her in his arms while coming out from the gas. As if he rescued her—I don't know."
"Well, we won't know if we don't go check for ourselves," Masaiko said with a shrug.
"You're right. What's your call, Soyo?" Reiko asked Soyo, who had been quiet since the moment she saw Anix on the display.
She clenched her fist and looked at the screen with sharp eyes. "We don't know anything about Ryuma, but that doesn't mean we will divert all our focus on him. We have two Grade S Nephilim at our necks too. I'll take on that bitch; you send the available Rangers to Ryuma, and the rest of you decide to face any opponent of your choice."
Soyo walked out of the room.
"You think she'll do fine? She's been fixated on getting back at Mayu," Kazushi asked.
Reiko shrugged. "You won't see her fault, you know. She loved Furahashi, after all."
"Y'all drop the sentiment aside. We have some beasts to tame," Masaiko dismissed them.
---
East Wing, Shibuya Base
Anix walked out from a cloud of dust and crumbling buildings as civilians ran helter-skelter.
Panicked screams and shouts could be heard loudly, yet amidst the turmoil, not a single casualty was reported.
Anix appeared before a standing building, making sure no one was inside. She struck it. Her hand created a small crater from which cracks expanded, stretching far before the building shattered and collapsed. In a nutshell, this was the mission Ryuma had assigned them.
"I see you enjoy breaking things," Soyo's voice echoed as she approached Anix, in her hand were two long blades with smooth, sharp edges.
Anix's expression tightened upon seeing her, but she didn't say a word.
"You know, Furahashi's life wasn't all that great after Mia died. He drank himself to death, smoked until he couldn't move a limb. He was in really bad shape. I did all I could for him, but in the end, I wasn't enough. Then you showed up—you… I don't know what you did, but he changed, he just… changed. I was happy to see Furahashi happy, but I had this feeling that you did something, but I kept it under the rug and decided to accept you. Just when I felt comfortable with you, you went and killed him. Why?"
Soyo's eyes teared up.
"Tell me why, Mayu! Furahashi loved you, Seiko loved you like a mother. Why did you have to kill him, Mayu—"
"I have no record of the individual that goes by that name," Anix said calmly.
"Oh, I see. You're just like those mindless beasts after all. Then I'll slay you like your kind."
Soyo kicked forward at blitz speed, appearing before Anix. She swung her blade downwards and was met with an iron-looking shield that formed from Anix's hand.
Soyo was surprised; she didn't know a thing about Anix's powers, after all. But regardless, she pressed harder on the shield until her blade began slicing through like butter.
Anix reverted her hand transformation and backflipped. Soyo continued at Anix, throwing one attack after another at her, which she either dodged or blocked.
"Why aren't you attacking?"
Soyo asked but was met with silence. She looked around the pile of building materials and noticed not a single dead body or injured person. She realized something was off.
"You were a decoy after all," Soyo smirked and kicked forward, crossing her blade and swinging them together at Anix. Anix managed to block it, but the force sent her crashing into multiple buildings.
Screams of civilians who were still hiding in some buildings echoed while Soyo marched casually, closing the gap between them.
Anix didn't care about Soyo. Even if she died at her hands now, she didn't care about that. All she cared about was the command of her current master—that is, the safety of the civilians.
She pulled herself up from the rubble, taking note of the civilians around them. They weren't injured, they were just afraid of what was going on around them.
"Even if you're a decoy, I won't go easy on you. So I suggest you bring out a weapon and fight me squarely."
Soyo stepped back, tightened her grip on her blade, and lunged forward, spinning mid-air. Anix created a shield from her hand, ready to block, when she spotted at the corner of her eye a girl standing in front of a broken building about to collapse on her.
Remembering her master's orders, she retracted the shield and, at supersonic speed, ran at the girl, but it was too late. Rather than pushing the girl away, she came between the falling debris and the girl as it collapsed on her.
Anix stood her ground, shielding the little girl. Blue blood seeped from the side of her mouth. She looked at the girl—long dark hair, pale skin, dark circles beneath her eyes. In her hand were multiple music albums, all by the same artist.
The side of Anix's lips curled into a smile to reassure the girl, but the girl didn't understand and ran away.
"What's your deal, bitch? You even save humans?"
"I'm just following my master's orders…" Anix got up on her feet. She clenched her fist, raising it to her face.
"…
and as of this moment, I have received a new order. 'If you come across a captain, you can do as you please.'"