VI

Chapter 32: Arrival of the Disruptor

Starlight_Dispersion

Part 1

September 3, 6:20 PM

Even from the narrow alley it was still possible to see the late afternoon sky. It gave off a mystical and mysterious feeling as it was slowly being dyed in orange and purple. Anyone could argue that it was a mundane thing that happens every day, but maybe that's because close to no one actually took their time to watch the event unfold and really think about its meaning.

For that boy, it was always a mesmerizing sight.

"Shouta, stop spacing out and come help me here! We will be in serious trouble this time if you mess up again!"

Being scolded was enough to bring him back to reality and stand up straight while panicking. "Y-yes! Sorry!" Jumping down from the wooden box he had been on made his straight black hair wave and from bangs over his eyes once he landed. The motion he made to dampen the fall got mud on his left knee that was left unprotected by his dirty blue PE shorts, but he paid it no heed and just ran towards the person that had called for him.

She was taking cover at the corner near the entrance of the alley, watching the movement on the street. "Listen, they could show up at any moment now. I'm counting on your ability when the time comes, so pay attention."

But his attention was already elsewhere and the boy heard almost nothing of what she said. Instead, he was completely lost in the sight of her. In his eyes, there was nothing prettier than her curly hair dyed in blue gently dancing with the wind. Or the eyes that shared the same color. Or the soft lips adjourned by her favorite pink lipstick. Or the slender but thin arms that looked so delicate that they could break just by touching. And everything else hidden by her school uniform, forming such tempting lines…

"...ta? Hey, are you listening? Where are you looking at?"

"S-sorry! I wasn't staring! I didn't mean to! Really, I was just trying to concentrate, that's all!"

His lie was so obvious that she couldn't help but sigh and shake her head before placing her hand on her hip and shooting a serious glare at him. "Look, I need you to stay focused this time. If we get this payment, we'll have enough to get rid of all our debts and start over. And yes, I'm including your recent ones."

Hearing this, Shouta looked away in shame instead of celebrating. He could still feel the pain of his bruises from the other day. The girl probably noticed his regret and continued. "I still can't believe that you were caught cheating on the casino… seriously, what were you thinking? They could've killed you if I hadn't gotten there in time."

There was no way he could answer her. His intention was to win and use the money to release them both from the claws of the dark side, but instead he had failed and got charged an absurd amount for cheating, which only made their situation worse. "I'm really sorry for that. I just wanted to help and-"

"I know." She interrupted him in a kinder tone. "But I don't want you to put yourself in danger while I'm not around. We're going to do this together, okay? So promise me you'll never act behind my back again."

"O-okay… I promise."

"Good boy."

She giggled when he blushed and looked away again. That's not it… you don't understand. You don't understand at all, Kumiko. He thought to himself, but there was no time for him to even consider the possibility of trying to explain it to her.

"It's coming. You know what to do, right?"

Shouta could hear it as well. Next to them was one of the quite desolate roads that used to lead outside of Academy City a long time ago when all entrances were the same, but those were almost never used anymore once the new gates were installed, each with its own main usage. Still, a heavy vehicle was steadily approaching, following the path towards the walls.

He gulped once, but that didn't mean he wasn't prepared. From underneath his white shirt, he reached for one of the small containers that were hidden there and took four tiny objects from it, holding them tightly in his right hand.

It would happen at any moment now. The two of them couldn't help but get anxious as the sound grew closer and closer. And when the dark blue armored vehicle finally got in sight…

"Haah!"

Shouta jumped out of the alley and threw what he was holding. Four black dices were sent flying in the air, rotating randomly as he paid close attention to the numbers displayed.

1. 3. 5. 6.

It was as if time slowed down. His eyes traveled back and forth between the dices and the vehicle. Each result had a meaning that only his subconscious could understand. And when he blinked, the trigger was finally pushed. Now!

*Whosh*

The weird noise was caused by the sudden change. Two of the dices were sent to the eleventh dimension ignoring the usual structure of the universe and warped somewhere else. Or rather, they were "replaced" by the thing they found on the other side of the rabbit hole.

Which meant that two other objects had traveled back the same road. And what were those? One would only need to look at the car to figure it out. Both of the left tires were nowhere to be found, and the tiny dices were crushed by the weight of the vehicle as it tilted to the side after losing its support. And the tires?

"Look out!"

Kumiko had to pull the boy out of the way so he wouldn't be ran over by the rubber objects that appeared right in front of him. And even though it was a close call, the people inside the car probably had it much worse as the vehicle flipped over itself multiple times before coming to a stop dozens of meters away.

Darn, why only two of them worked? This thought crossed his mind, but there was no time to regret it now. It was their chance. The two nodded at each other and made a mad dash towards the wreckage.

The damage was severe, but it was an armored vehicle after all. Despite the many bends on the outside, none of the doors nor the trunk broke open. Seeing that, Kumiko struck the trunk with her left hand. "Cover me! I'll handle this!"

They had already considered this scenario and planned for it. Shouta prepared a few more dice. As expected, 4 men in Anti-Skill uniforms and wearing helmets kicked open the doors of the wagon and surrounded them, but by the time that happened, the boy had already taken action.

"Wait, what? When…"

In a blink, the rifle one of them was holding was replaced by a yellow dice. The one holding the weapon was now the boy, who didn't think twice before smashing the trigger.

However, nothing happened. There probably was a safety system stopping it from shooting and he had no idea how to release it. So he did the second best thing that could be done with a gun that size: swing it with as much strength as possible.

The assailants were wearing helmets, but even that wasn't enough to stop the blunt attack from knocking them to the ground. But the boy couldn't count on this trick to work twice.

After the first one was down, the second let go of his own weapon to try and snatch the rifle away from Shouta, while the other two prepared to fire at him. In response, instead of struggling to keep the weapon, the boy pushed it towards the man and kicked him in the knee, making him lose both balance and support at the same time.

Confident that was enough for now, Shouta didn't even cast a glance to see what happened to his foe, and locked his eyes on the 2 remaining men. Unfortunately, they were already smashing the triggers of their rifles. The boy felt a sharp pain on his right arm the moment his feet left the ground to try and backflip behind them. Because of that, he miscalculated the necessary strength to execute the action and ended up landing on top of the left attacker.

With some effort, he managed to turn the mistake into a sloppy dropkick, knocking the weapon out of the person's hand just before landing on his back. The impact forced the air off his lungs, but there was no time to lament the outcome. Before the last one started shooting again, the boy made a swipe movement with his legs and struck his last enemies' ankles, bringing them to the floor with him.

It all took less than 10 seconds. And even though the younger male managed to knock down 4 adults, that was all he could do. Because of their protective equipment, the men could get up and keep fighting, but he was already too hurt.

Still, that was enough.

While all that was happening, Kumiko's hands that were placed on the trunk of the vehicle slowly sunk into the reinforced door as if it was completely liquid. Sweat dropped down her cheeks as she tried to keep her focus and let her limbs go deeper and deeper, trying to reach for something inside.

There! Her palms finally touched a different texture. Urged by the sound of gunshots, she grasped the object and pulled it out as fast as she could. Her arms emerged from the trunk with a few cuts, bringing along a silver suitcase with a District 23 logo on the lower edge.

A wave of excitement almost took over her, but this was not the end goal. They had to take it to safety first, and that was the difficult part. "Shouta, we're leaving! Can you still run?"

Luckily, the boy had been shot in the arm instead of his leg. He flipped over on his knees and took off on a sprint without even needing to answer as the girl followed suit carrying the precious cargo.

Three of the four men broke in pursuit while the remaining one got back into the vehicle and reached for the radio. "Iron Bull to Headquarters! We lost the target! Please send reinforcements immediately! I repeat, send rein-"

"I heard you the first time, yeah…"

This wasn't the voice he was expecting to hear in return. Instead of his companions, this almost bored tone belonged to one of the many supporters of the organization. "Hishigata-san?"

"That's me, yeah. Sorry but I sent everyone else on another task. Even if you ask them for help now, it may take a while for them to get there, yeah."

"What!? But are going to lose our-"

"I know what's at stake. Shut up and let me think for a second, yeah." And indeed, it took just a mere second for him to continue. "Mobilizing a Coffin now would be overkill, not to mention the risk. They are still in the testing phase, yeah. So we have no choice. Let's shift our priorities from the Remnant to the Sisters. If your small group manages to get it back, then we go back to the original plan, yeah."

"No, I can't accept that! Our justice might be in danger if anyone else has it!"

"So you better work hard. You know better than I, right? About what DA do to those who fail the 'justice', yeah."

The man could only grit his teeth as cold sweat drenched his body. "Dammit! Those brats will pay for this!"

Part 2

Meanwhile, in a certain hospital in District 7.

Hishiro repeatedly tapped the floor with the sole of his foot in impatience while sitting at the corner of the waiting room. He kept checking the clock at irregular intervals, but that didn't help making the time flow any faster.

He had done that all day.

No matter if it was at home or at school, all he had paid attention to was the time. He knew very well that doing this would just make the wait more painful, but it couldn't be helped. The results of the exams made on Lilly could change everything. He was ready to leave everything he had built this far in his life if another path opened up for him now. It didn't matter if that meant going deeper into the darkness or walking back the path of light. He had lived his life up until now for this very reason.

*sigh*

The sound coming from his mouth was just faint, but still echoed in the empty room, giving the place quite the eerie feeling.

Neither Aleat nor Nayuta were with him today. The boy said he was busy, and the girl… well, they hadn't exchanged words ever since she barged out of the room in the private saloon the day before. She was probably still mad at them, and this was not the time to deal with that.

Finally the door of the room on his left opened and an old man (even though his face looked more like a frog than a man) in white coat stepped out. He seemed surprised by seeing the boy quickly standing up and approaching him. "How is she?"

"Oh, it's good that you're already here. I was about to call you. Come inside. We have a lot to talk about." Accepting the invitation, Hishiro walked past him and inside the room.

Lilly was not there. That was the first thing he noticed, making him smile bitterly at himself. What am I even thinking? He then proceeded to sit on the chair in front of the table. The Doctor sat on the opposite side without paying him much attention and went straight to the computer.

His face didn't give out much confidence right now, contrasting the aura that surrounded him usually. The boy couldn't help but brace himself for the worst until the Doctor finally broke the silence. "To be completely honest with you, I was shocked with the results. I wasn't expecting to see another case like this ever again, or at least not so soon."

"Please… just go straight to the point."

"It's not that easy even if you ask me. But let's see…" Stopping to think, the old man's fingers left the keyboard and he faced the boy directly. "I assume you are well versed with the things that happen in this city, given your connection with Aleat. So let me start by asking this: are you familiar with the term Chemicaloid?"

"I think I might have heard of it somewhere..." Said Hishiro, clenching his eyes trying to remember. "Wasn't it related to the confusion that happened during this years' Research Exhibition Assembly? Something about a new type of Esper development program..."

"Yes and not quite." Replied the doctor with a sigh. "Instead of an Esper development, it was more like artificially created Espers."

"Uh… as in, not being Gemstones? Those are nothing new."

"No. As in, a living being created from scratch, with a structure that seemed to be human but actually being something else entirely."

Shock. There was no way he could hide the raw emotion that took over his face when he heard that. Genetically engineering humans to achieve higher abilities was already to cross a line - and New Pointer had dealt with similar situations in the past - but this was taking madness to a whole new level.

And frankly, Hishiro wouldn't put it past the scientists of this city. But what made a shiver run down his spine wasn't the content of the explanation, but the timing. Why would something so absurd be brought up now when he just needed to hear the results of Lilly's exams?

"I see you already figured where I'm going with this."

"No way..." I knew… Deep down I knew she wasn't the same Lilly I knew. But I… no, that's not even the problem here. Why? Why did it have to be her?

A wave of exhaustion took over the younger boy's body and he sank on the chair. The world seemed to spin on his eyes for a moment before he forced himself to keep the conversation going. "There's… something I don't understand."

"And what is it?"

"Li- I mean, that girl… she looks just like someone I knew a long time ago. How is that possible? If it was a clone, it would explain, but..."

"That is something I cannot answer so easily." Regret resounded on his voice as the old man answered. "I don't know the details on how they were made. Actually, I didn't even know there was a third one. The other two were sent to a sister institute outside the city so they could be stabilized."

"Stabilized?"

"Yes, that's intriguing for me as well. The other ones were chemically unstable and would die in a few hours due to a toxin if they didn't take the antidote. But this girl is perfectly fine. In fact, it would help a lot if we could study the blood sample I took to help the others."

"Huh.. y-yeah, sure. Do whatever you want."

"By the way, you mentioned a clone just now, right?" The doctor continued as if Hishiro's opinion on the matter was meaningless. "This is just an hypothesis I came up with now, but you might be right. The reason behind her being different might be because instead of being built up from zero, STUDY could've based her on someone that actually existed as a model, perhaps even copying the DNA data."

Her DNA, huh…

Of course, there was that as well. Lilly's DNA circled many organizations around Academy City. If it was possible to create a Chemicaloid from someone's DNA, it was completely plausible that they had hers available.

"Still… this looks like way too much of a coincidence." Hishiro said it out loud without thinking, but the old man frowned and nodded in agreement.

"I don't like when my patients are exposed to danger, but it looks like you're already involved regardless if you want to or not. So I'll give you a piece of advice I usually wouldn't: If you think it's not a coincidence, then it isn't. She was made for a purpose, and the fact that you were the one to find her out of 2 million people must have a meaning."

That moment, the door opened before Hishiro had a chance to react to those words, and a nurse walked in holding Lilly by hand. "Doctor, we're done. I will leave the sample inside the refrigerator until you are ready to send it."

"Ah, thanks. Good work." The old man replied with a completely different tone, shifting the atmosphere of the room back to normal. "In any case, there seems to be nothing wrong with her right now, and in these adverse circumstances, there's just so much we can do to help. What are you going to do now, boy?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" That moment, Hishiro felt something on his arm. "Ah… right..."

Of course. He was so focused on her origins he forgot the most important issue here: what was he supposed to do with Lilly now? He had proof now that she and the Lilly he knew were completely different on multiple levels. Of course, there was the probability of her DNA being used to create this girl, but he had no evidence of that, and the best way of finding it was to go directly to the source. And with that his search would continue.

That's right. She was less of a clue than what he was expecting, but still a clue nonetheless.

He only had to follow it. This lead could bring him closer than ever to the answer.

"..."

And for that, this girl was unnecessary.

"..."

This girl, tugging his sleeve and looking like a lost puppy, was completely no longer needed.

"Tsk!"

Worse even, she was an insult for the existence that was Eveline Rosenberg.

"... Come. We're leaving."

And yet, he took her by the hand and brought her to the exit. "Thanks for everything. I'll call again if I need anything."

"Sure." Answered the doctor with a gentle smile. He seemed awfully satisfied for some reason.

Dammit, just why the heck must you look so much like her? Those thoughts crossed his mind as he passed through the main entrance. What am I going to do now, he asked… Like I know!? This was never on my plans? Just what am I supposed to do with her!?

"H-hey… mi-mister?" Her soft voice broke his line of thought and he came to a stop. Only now he realized he had been walking randomly while pulling her along with too much force.

"Sorry… I didn't want to hurt you." The boy quickly let go off her hand.

"It's fine..."

Even though they were so similar on the outside, their personalities were nothing alike. And he didn't know if it made him feel better or worse. What's wrong with me? Up until a moment ago I was fine. Why do I feel like something is burning inside me now? I can't possibly be that disappointed by the truth, right?

Hishiro leaned on the wall of a building and took several deep breaths trying to calm himself down. This was not the time to let himself be overwhelmed by these feelings. Now, more than ever, he had to have his head clean and think properly from a neutral perspective.

And with the worst timing possible, his phone rang with that annoying ringtone that crumbled through this fake reality and dragged him into the darkness. Asuka probably had another job for him. At least it was just a message instead of a call, meaning it wasn't that urgent. That gave him a little more time. But seriously, what am I going to do? I can't let Asuka find out about her, let alone Seria. I can't count on Nayuuta or Aleat to take care of her. Should I bring her to Judgment or Anti-Skill? No, it'll be terrible if they start asking questions. I could hide her in my room in District 10, but even though it's safer there, that place is not very healthy for a kid… Is the only option to leave her alone in a Private Salon like the other time? It could raise suspicion, but I can't think of anything else...

He looked at her one more time and caught her staring at restaurant ads spread around the area. "Feeling hungry?"

"Huh?! Not really..." She was obviously lying. But what caught his attention the most was the sense of awkwardness every time she talked to him.

I mean, of course. I'm a complete stranger to her. Not having her trust only made the situation even more difficult, as it was no longer just a matter of finding a safe place for her to stay, even if temporary. If she felt suspicious, who knows what she could do. Running away was probably the less troublesome outcome.

"M-mister… if I am a bother, you can just leave me be. I was fine alone until now..."

The boy could only raise an eyebrow. Did he make it that obvious, or was she just way too perceptive? Or perhaps she wanted to get rid of him? Sighing, he crouched down to her height and talked to her looking directly into her eyes. "First of all, stop that. You were fine because you were lucky. This city is dangerous even for me sometimes. If you don't at least accept that, you're not even close to being ready to wonder out there on your own."

She seemed to be a bit surprised by his attitude and just nodded back blankly before he continued. "Second, if you were a bother, why would I have approached you to begin with?"

"You said… I looked like your friend..."

"I mean, yeah, there's that, but still..." He wasn't expecting her to bring that up now. "A-anyway, this is just a little confusing until we can figure things out. Unless you don't want to stay with me. In that case you're free to go."

Hearing that, the girl looked down and shook her head. "I don't want to be alone again."

"I see. Then it's fine. Though I will need to leave you in that room by yourself for a while."

"N-no, I-"

"It's just for a bit." He cut her with both eyes closed and placed his hand on the top of her head. "I will be back soon, I promise. There's just a small issue I need to solve first."

She still looked a bit sad, but still nodded in agreement. "Good. Let's go then. You can ask for anything to eat when we get there, okay?" The boy stood up and held her hand one more time, making sure to be more gentle this time. "Ah, and one more thing. Stop calling me mister."

"Then… what should I call you?"

"Rik-..." He surprised himself by what he was about to say before cutting his own words short. "Hishiro. Just that is fine."

Part 3

It happened beneath the sky that was starting to get dyed by the twilight.

No ordinary person would notice due to a certain special field that was under effect on some of the side streets of Tokyo that time, but there was a boy running frantically not only on the sidewalks, but on the walls of the buildings and on the top of the light poles as well.

He just ran at impossible speeds trying desperately to avoid the multiple invisible incoming attacks from the countless enemies pursuing him while holding something wrapped in an old cloth between his arms.

Go near Academy City, they said. It'll be safe, they said. Myrin will have to give me a fair reward if I manage to survive through this!

Honestly, none of these pursuers were a big deal. They were all weak by themselves. But as a group, any Golden style cabal can pose a threat, especially if you are outnumbered by them. And this cabal in particular - the Exit of the Evening Dusk - was on a level where they could clash directly with the Dawn-Colored Sunlight.

Still, none of that would matter. The worst of all was the timing.

The boy breathed in as much air as he could and cast a quick spell before putting as much strength on his legs as he possibly could, sending himself upwards above all surrounding buildings and avoiding the next barrage of attacks as his dark gray robes flapped in the wind, hiding almost his whole body beneath them.

However, his main goal was not that.

Once he could see the horizon clearly, he glanced towards the setting sun. "Darn! If only I could keep the peace for more twenty minutes, I would make them regret ever trying to get in my way!"

There was no time for him to complain over it now. The boy felt a shiver and looked down to find that the Dusk Exit was preparing something way beyond what they had done until now. An all 4 elements attack? Trying to cancel out their minor arcana with my major arcana might be too much of a risk. My best option now is to…

He shifted his position in mid air and took aim at the city sealed by walls. "Sorry, master Hamapep. Looks like I will be giving you a little more trouble!" Saying that, he flipped a tarot card between his index and middle fingers while unwrapping the item he had been carrying until now.

"I'm not supposed to use it this way, but here goes nothing!" With a light purple flash surrounding him and the item, they were both launched into Academy City like bullets of a burst pistol.

Unfortunately for him, this meant that he would probably be separated from what he had to protect, but they couldn't possibly pursue him after this. Inside Academy City, only Aleister himself would pose a threat, and all he had to do was to wait until the sun was completely gone. Afterwards everything would shift back his way.

…

Or would it?

Inside the transparent tube, the human felt it instantly.

It was here inside Academy City.

He had not planned for it, but that thing had come back to him.

There was not even a second of hesitation. The enemy had made a mistake, and he would not let that chance slip away. "It's me. I need you here right now, Tsuchimikado Motoharu."

Between the Lines

At the same time, in the port of the city of Bremerhaven, Northern Germany.

It was too late into dusk for anyone to be working on the shore, and the cold breeze blowing from the north sea kept anyone away from the area. In other words, it was the perfect moment for a large scale operation without grabbing any unwanted attention.

Still, some arrangements with the government and the landowners were probably made beforehand for it to work. One after the other, massive ships docked and released parts of their cargos there before heading back northwest or into the continent via the River Weser.

It was a ridiculous amount of containers being stacked, but for the personnel there it wasn't a problem. Unlike the crew within the ships, they didn't need to use any machinery to handle them. The gray robbed people used the strong flow of power coming from the ley lines that ran alongside the large river to align and transport the resources that never seemed to cease coming.

"Seems like everything is going according to schedule. Separate the fraction meant to be sent to the mansion and prepare to deploy it as soon as possible. The rest must be re-labeled and sent to Austria so it can be spread out to all our bases."

"Yes, lord Myrin."

The exchange was quick and straight to the point. Myrin gave orders while standing near shore and looking into the black horizon, and the information was efficiently passed through all the layers of command, making the operation swift and with no room for failure. Even those who were not directly members of the Golden Sages and only worked on the field for the money or magical research support from the organization followed the rules without question.

It was almost scary to look at how flawlessly they all worked. As if they were machines instead of humans with their own will. For a moment, the man glanced down at the tarot card on his hand with a melancholic look on his face.

VII - The Chariot.

The meaning of that card was graved upon his soul, his magic name, and now, on the minds of all of the present people - though only temporarily.

"Onii-sama?" He was dragged back from his thoughts into reality by the innocent voice of his sister that faced him with worry. However, her mood improved instantly the moment he smiled at her, bringing out her usual self. "Bon-Jour!"

"I see… the last ship was French, huh. You still need to work on your pronunciation. And it's way too early to be saying good morning, don't you think?"

"Really? I thought it was okay since we are not going to sleep anyway..."

That was one of her quirks. Whenever she heard people talking in different languages for enough time, she ended up using words she picked up in her day to day life. Some found it to be annoying, but it actually helped her learn those languages on the long run - which was a necessity given her position within the Sages.

Behind her was Rázval, all covered up by the robes unlike the other two. He might be feeling sleepy because he didn't say a single word to Myrin even after the man turned around and the three of them started walking side by side towards the center of the port.

"So, Lillian."

"I found them. It's just as you said, onii-sama."

"And when are they planning to attack?"

"Sooner rather than later, I assume. Waiting any longer would make their infiltration pointless, right?"

"Hmmmmm… I wonder..." The older brother placed his hand on his chin and dived deep into his thoughts, as always, before asking further. "Still, I do not want to risk it. Where are they? It may be worth it to strike first."

"Their leader is among the group following us right now."

Hearing that, Rázval and Myrin stopped and turned around, placing themselves between Lilian and said group. There were about ten of them, wearing the same gray robes as everyone else, and following them step by step without raising any suspicion. Even now, they continued walking despite their targets having stopped.

Both parties acted instantly when they got close enough, causing a blast that sent everyone skidding backwards.

"Hoh, so you DID notice us?" Said the shorter figure among them, ripping off the robes and revealing a rather shocking image. "Good. This would be really boring if you didn't!"

'Just a kid' would be the word to describe her, but that description would've fallen short. That blue eyed blond little girl in a white dress holding a wooden wand was no ordinary person in the world of magic. "Leivinia Birdway. We have been waiting for you."

"Yes, I was looking forward to meeting you too, Wyvern siblings. And you too, mister Gregory Serafin."

The battle had already begun.

Just by that exchange, Myrin and Levinia were not only measuring each other, but their cabals as well. Their information network has kept each other informed for a while now, and many preparations were made behind the curtains leading to this moment (even though Lillian and Rázval had only just found out about that).

And it was the time for the first check.

Suddenly, many others that were either hiding or disguised among the men working took their place at Birdway's side, outnumbering the amount of people in the port that would fight for the other 3, which brought a mocking grin to the girl's face. "It would be for the best if you gave up now. There's no way your puny rouge group stands a chance against us. But if you insist on resisting, I will teach you why no Cabal dares to provoke us. Maybe then you will learn to not try biting more than you can chew!"

The leaders of the opposing faction were silent for a brief moment before Lillian ended up letting out a chuckle. "Can you believe this child, onii-sama? She doesn't seem to understand the situation she is in right now."

"Sorry to disappoint, little Birdway." Said Rázval, finally breaking his silence. "But you have lost the moment you decided to step on this facility."

"Really now?" Levinia retorted without feeling intimidated. "What are you and this pathetic army going to do?"

"They are unnecessary. The three of us are more than enough." After Myrin said that, he and his sister took out their tarot cards while Rázval lit up his left hand in green flames. Almost instantly, the pressure balance in the area shifted completely to the opposite side. "That is the sole reason we came to watch over this operation personally."

"After all, your antiquated Golden Style has nothing over our new System!" Lillian shouted, clearly enjoying herself and anticipating the carnage that was about to come. "We are going to show you why we, the Trinity Golden Crown, are the most powerful magicians in the world!"

The Down-Colored Sunlight and the Golden Sages of the Next Aeon.

One was the remnant of the legendary cabal that changed the way the world used magic over a century ago.

The other was a denial of such cabal, intending to destroy everything from its foundation and replace it with what they built.

The clash between these two titans could very much change the course of history, and there was nothing that could stop this battle from happening.

Hello again! It's been quite a while!

Before anything else, I guess I should explain why it took me so long to release this chapter, but it's actually a number of different factors that led me to taking a break from writing. First of all, I got burnt out from the Index series as a whole for the first time ever when I finished reading the final chapter of NT. Then I also felt like I was losing my grip on Hishiro's character and this led me to writer's block, as this is something I cannot fail at this point of the story. And there's also the fact that this year has been chaos all around. Still, like I said many times in the past, I'm not going to leave this unfinished. Even if I disappear for a while, trust me when I say I will be back.

And saying that, I'm really surprised at how many people have been reading the story even in my absence. I was expecting to find a wasteland here but nope. I really thank you all for that, it really means a lot for me (though a few more reviews would make my life a tad bit happier ;) no pressure). I could even say that that's what drove me to write it all in a single sit today.

As for the story, there isn't much to say in this chapter. I gave the dice cassino boy and the "carrier" Myrin mentioned last time a proper introduction, but I won't talk much about them until further on. Also, a battle between the two Golden Cabals will make the Between the Lines this arc way more action filled than the last ones. I hope you all like it!

Replies:

Guest: 2. That's a perfect idea! Why didn't I think that? I'll see if I can fit that in here, but no promises.

3. Ah don't worry. It's just that you're always fixing my mistakes, I had to make that joke. Thought you're right, I guess it's time I look for a proofreader...

Finally, I'll be coming back to my former peace as soon as I can, but I'll be taking it easy for now. I don't want to burn myself out again so soon. I hope you can understand and enjoy this chapter for now.

Again, thank you all for your support and remember to stay safe out there. See you all next time!