THE EURA STRONGHOLD RAID LEFT ONLY TWO SIDES STANDING.

MANKIND,

AND GOD.

OPERATION ‘GODKILL’.

THE LAST CHANCE TO RETAIN THE WORLD AS IT WAS.

THE FATE OF MANKIND WAS IN THE HANDS OF...

...AN EMPATH.

1 - The Key

“Stay where you are. All of you.” Mukawa commanded. “One attempt to attack us and this kid gets a bullet in his skull.”

“Impossible...how is he here?!” Jian thought, her hand beginning to shake a little. “There should have been no way for him to get his hands on Kaito Kamiki’s son...”

“He was supposed to stay with...”

Jian looked at Rin, and everything made sense. Ichika and the rest looked at her too, most of them surprised by her treacherous act.

“Rin...” Ichika quietly said. Rin looked at her with sadness in her eyes, but her resolve was unshakable, and she did not regret that decision at all.

“I’m sorry.” Rin said. “I had to make this call. I am responsible for this.”

“Huh...never thought you’d be the ones betraying us.” Zawadski said. “Captain...”

“This operation was long in the making.” Zervos said. “I’m sorry. But I could not sit back and idly watch as that madman brings the apocalypse upon us...”

“Wait...what?” Zawadski asked.

“You don’t know?” Zervos asked back, sounding even more confused.

“What, you guys thought we’re doing this for money or as a way to show Kaito a middle finger?” Mukawa commented. “There’s a reason behind everything. And it’s the same reason Otto Richter went to war for.”

“Ah, so this is just a continuation of that war, huh?” Yuuka asked with a smug face. “Captain, how come?”

“No, this is not a war. This is our last attempt to try and kill Kaito Kamiki.” Zervos said. “And to stop him from eradicating every soulless on this planet.”

“...what?!” Zawadski jumped back in surprise. It was the first time he was this shocked in a long, long while.

“What...did you just...say?” Jian asked. She quickly took aim again. “You are lying, aren’t you?!”

“You think we’d go to such lengths over a lie?” Mukawa answered. “Better yet, you think Otto Richter would go to such lengths over a political bluff? There’s no lies here. Kaito Kamiki wants to kill every soulless human being. That has been his intention from the very start.”

“Capturing his son is, what we believe, the only way to lure him in or have any sort of leverage over him.” Rin said.

“There is a special connection between Kaito and his son. More specifically, his adopted son.” Kana said, approaching Mukawa. She played it cool, but the intensity of the situation was getting to her.

“Come on, it’s 2024. No need to judge adoptive families.” Zawadski sighed.

“All of the records, documentation or medical papers regarding Hiroshi Kamiki have been wiped out completely. We have some real talent when it comes to finding information, we couldn’t find anything at all.” Sofia said, joining the scene. “All of them predate to 2022, the year when Hiroshi Kamiki was adopted. And the date...just so happens to be exactly 10 days after the First Global Soul Event.”

“So we asked ourselves, why would Kaito, someone who was too busy becoming the most important person in the world, choose to adopt a son that was in a comatose state at that time?” Mukawa asked.

Jian tried eating up the information, but she was still struck by the news of Kaito’s true intentions. Her mind was a vast battlefield where a predictable conclusion was metamorphosed into a heated war. Should she even care about the soulless?

“There is a special reason Kaito Kamiki got his hands on him.” Mukawa said. He looked at the boy whose mouth was stuffed with cloth and whose hands were tightly tied. He was a soulful, but he couldn’t break through the restraints. The information had him defy his own existence.

“You’re saying that his son...is some type of weapon?” Ichika asked.

“That could be the very case.” Kana said. She pointed her own handgun at Hiroshi. “It’s likely something to do with his power, which is believed to be associated with the Global Soul Events.”

“Mr. Kamiki triggered the Second Global Soul Event, didn’t he?” Zawadski said. “Fucking hell, that should’ve been a giveaway that he’s a little too strong for his own good.”

“There ya go, now you’re catching on.” Mukawa said.

“But even though whatever takes place won’t affect me that much, I gotta ask you one thing.” Zawadski said. “Just to hear your response.”

“Hm?”

“So what?”

Mukawa was caught off guard by that question.

“Like, this is scary and everything, but so what?” Zawadski asked. “How does all of this affect us? Why should we care?”

“Why should you care?!” Mukawa lashed out, barely stopping himself from raising his voice even further. He took a deep breath. “I knew the Heisei were a bunch of hounds, but to think you’d lack basic emotion...”

“Around 98% of the human population is made up of the soulless.” Asami said, finally getting the courage to speak up. “All of them are threatened by s-something they cannot even understand.”

“You really want so many people to die?” Haruki asked.

“You still didn’t answer. Why should we care?” Zawadski asked, sounding a little more sinister this time. “Every one of us here has plenty of reasons to dislike the soulless. Captain Jian is just one example. I’m sure Yuuka doesn’t really love them too much either, considering how hard she got review bombed during the war. And Ichika and Sakuto over there...I’m sure they hate the soulless if anything.”

“And you?”

“I don’t care.” Zawadski said. “Now, once again, I’ll repeat my question. Why should we care?”

“Because it’s basic human empathy to not want billions of people to die.” Mukawa said. “It is human instinct to try and fight back against a predicament like this.”

“Mukawa.” Jian said. “You are under arrest for treason against the Global Soulful Coalition. Put your weapon down and slowly approach me.”

“I thought I mentioned something about a child dying.” Mukawa said.

“I’m sure we’ll find a way to keep him alive.” Zawadski said, his presence flaring up a little. “We’ve done missions way harder than this.”

Did you know this story is from NovelBin? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“We can’t fight in another war...” Ichika said, trying to hold Sakuto so the latter wouldn’t fall over. “Not now...”

“There is no other time. Kaito is hunting us down.” Sofia said.

“Zawadski, Jian, please...” Zervos said, slowly approaching the two. “Do not take any drastic measures. We can talk this out, we can come to an agreement.”

“Right, an agreement to fight in a war against Mr. Kamiki to save people that we don’t have to care about?” Zawadski asked. “I’ll be fine, but look at them. We took two casualties while raiding the stronghold. Do you know how much pain they’re in? Their friends just died, and you're asking us to go to another war? Against him?!”

“And do you need to know everyone personally?” Mukawa asked. “Do you know how many soulless people we know that we don’t want to die?”

“Then do it yourselves.” Yuuka said. “We won’t rat on you since you conveniently have our old Captain and the medic in your squad, hmph...”

“She’s not wrong, you know? This is your idea, why are you dragging us into this?” Zawadski asked.

“We need your help.” Mukawa said.

“God damn it, Mukawa. I knew it’d come to this.” Haruki sighed. “That’s why I have a much simpler solution.”

He brought the gun closer to Hiroshi’s head.

“Haruki...?”

“Since Kaito has a special connection to him, it’s fair to assume that he needs him alive in order to reach his goal.” Haruki said. “Instead of killing the owner, why not destroy the weapon?”

“I refuse to believe you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, Haruki.” Mukawa said, sounding much more upset. Now, the attention was on the two of them.

“Let’s kill him.” Haruki said. “That way, we will prevent the catastrophe.”

“You’re not killing this kid.” Mukawa objected.

“Why? It’s a guaranteed victory.” Haruki said. “We make a sacrifice. You’re not too alien to that idea, are you?”

“We’re not making any sacrifices.” Mukawa said, pointing the gun at Haruki. “Put the gun down.”

“If he puts the gun down, the Heisei will attack us.” Kana said, continuing to aim hers at the boy.

“Mukawa, you and I both know that this is the best course of action.” Haruki said. “Even if another weapon like him pops up, we will have enough time to fully utilize all of our resources, including Sakuto Hitori.”

“We’re not going to kill this child.” Mukawa said. “I won’t repeat myself. Put the gun down.”

“If we kill him, we will not have to fight Kaito.” Haruki said. “And fighting Kaito effectively guarantees that we will sustain casualties. There is also the possibility of us being defeated.”

“There’s always that possibility.”

“Mukawa, this is a guaranteed victory.” Haruki said.

“...”

“Mukawa, despite being upset with my line of thinking all the time, you keep me around as your right hand. Why’s that?” Haruki asked. “It’s because you know that I’m right. You know that you need someone to argue with you, someone to present the cold and logical solution instead of the righteous and emotionally driven one.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I’m suggesting that if you had half the balls that Otto Richter had, the circumstances would be much better for everyone.”

“No...what are you doing?!” Yumichi yelled, running at them. They all immediately turned their attention to the boy who Rin tried to keep away from the situation, be it by blocking his view or by keeping him distracted. “Don’t kill him!”

Mukawa almost reflexively pointed the gun at him.

“Don’t shoot him!” Ichika pleaded, raising her voice, sounding almost desperate. Despite her extreme exhaustion and her weak presence, it was obvious that if things were to go wrong, she’d respond with full force.

Mukawa understood that too. He took a step back, nodding to Haruki to not shoot under any circumstance.

“What are you doing to him?!” Yumichi yelled. Kana tried to keep him away, she felt that every one of her actions were carefully observed. Not by one immensely powerful soulful, but two...

Sakuto stepped forwards.

He limped, his arm was still missing, his face looked horrid and scarred and his body was full of holes and terrible wounds. The only thing he managed to get so far for himself was a shadowy jaw, which would allow him to at least talk properly.

“And there he is...” Mukawa thought, a little intimidated. “Still with that scary soul presence.”

He approached him. The two faced each other, and the tension in the atmosphere was thick enough to be cut. Mukawa, looking at the butchered version of Sakuto, wasn’t really surprised to see him like that.

“It’s been a while indeed.” Mukawa said. “Sakuto Hitori.”

“You’ve been there the whole time, haven't you? Meddling with things in the background.” Sakuto said.

“You’re right, I was meddling with things.” Mukawa replied. “I sided with Otto Richter to fight Kaito Kamiki. When he failed, I tried to secure the soul crystal you were in to get you to join my cause.”

“And...?” Sakuto asked.

"And what?” Mukawa said. “You know what my cause is. The decision is yours to make.”

Blood escaped Sakuto’s eye.

“You don’t look like you’re in great condition.” Mukawa said. “I assume the chemistry teacher will treat you despite your threats.”

“Don't kill the boy.” Sakuto said. Hiroshi, who this whole time was silently crying, suddenly felt a sense of hope.

“And why’s that?” Haruki asked.

Sakuto looked at Hiroshi. He remembered the boy getting joked at and kicked in the leg. He saw Oskar in him too, he didn't want him to be someone who'd die on him.

"I don't want...him to die..." Sakuto said, another tear slowly streaming down his face, mixed with the abundant flow of blood. "I don't want him...to..."

“See? You heard the man.” Mukawa proudly told Haruki, who put his gun away. “No killing.”

“Does this mean you’re on our side?” Mukawa asked.

“No more...no more dying...” Sakuto said. More blood squirted out of his eye, his shadow jaw slowly began to dissipate. But before he collapsed, he managed to utter one more sentence.

“Kaito...wasn’t there...during the raid...”

Mukawa looked at the corpses and understood what he meant. Ichika quickly rushed to try and take care of him, but her legs gave up mid way and she collapsed too, her body feeling extremely weakened, almost immobile.

“Big sis!” Yumichi yelled.

“Fuck...” Zawadski said. “Hey, where’s the doctor?!”

“I will only treat them if there is no fighting here!” Rin exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

“There won’t be any fighting.” Ichigo unexpectedly said. The conversations around him and the different soul presences caused him to wake up. He calmly approached the scene. “Please, treat them as fast as possible.”

Rin nodded and rushed to the two dying soldiers. Yumichi ran up as well, and Sofia and Asami joined the process too, they were to transport him to a medical outpost they set up in the nearby town.

“Ichigo Sadamitsu...” Zervos said.

“I...” Ichigo struggled to formulate a sentence. “I heard all of this. I wasn’t quite asleep. I heard these discussions.”

“And? What do you think?” Mukawa asked.

He took a long pause, but his answer was confident.

“I think that there’s absolutely no way we let Mr. Kamiki does what he intends to do.” Ichigo said. He turned around and looked at his comrades. Zawadski was curious, Yuuka was interested, and Jian...was speechless.

“Please, we can’t let that happen.” Ichigo said. “There’s...too many lives. I know you might have had bad experiences with them, but...not all of them are bad. It’s wrong to do something like this just because of a few bad people.”

“I think the issue is a bit deeper, but...yeah. Go on.” Zawadski said.

“I’m going to join your cause.” Ichigo said. “And I will ask everyone else to follow me. Just...please. One of my parents is at risk too. And so many of my friends...”

“Well, damn me. Should’ve just told me from the start that your family is at risk, Ichigo.” Zawadski said.

"I'll help you too, lightbulb." Yuuka said. "Most of my ad revenue is from the soulless anyways..."

“Thank you...” Ichigo said. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Oh come on, this is the least we can do. The Heisei Spearhead is a family too. Come to think of it, it would be pretty exciting to fight someone like Kaito...”

“What do you think, captain?” Ichigo asked Jian.

She was speechless and motionless this whole time. The war still raged on in her mindscape. Images of the village flashed in front of her eyes. But at the same time, maybe spending so much time around someone like Ichigo had its influence on her.

“I...” Jian tried to speak up.

“That is...something that...I have to do in order to pay him back for his kindness, correct?”

“But at the same time, Mr. Kamiki gave me an opportunity...I...”

“I do not know what to do.”

She remained silent.

“I understand it might be a difficult decision.” Ichigo said. “Please think about it.”

“Then it settles that.” Mukawa said. He began untying Hiroshi. “Sorry, kid. Now you know why we did what we did.”

“We’re gonna be living in that town over there.” Mukawa said. “There will be a meeting soon to discuss operation details. Wait for further details, and thank you for siding with humanity.”

Everyone left, and Yuuka and Zawadski had to transport Ausra’s and Oskar’s bodies to the town. The only ones left behind were Hiroshi and Yumichi. Hiroshi was scared.