XII: World War

September 3, 2023

11:39 AM

"You're kidding me...." Pekora murmured from what they had found out on the news on their television.

"The Resistance Army from around the globe has started their global military operation. Rumors spreading about Russian and Chinese Resistance have already taken over their government, but as of now, we are still confirming the news' legitimacy," The reporter ,stated.

"Clearly, the Russian and Chinese governments were already led by the Resistance in the first place," Botan whispered to herself.

"What are we going to do now?" Kanata pondered with a worried face.

"As of now... I don't know," Pekora looked down, her gloomy face still visible. Uncertainty began to erupt as the global war happened too soon.

The Russian Resistance started their operative against the European countries while the Chinese Resistance made its move against Asian countries. There are still no talks about creating a counter-initiative against the Resistance. This worried Pekora, losing hope of winning the war. Suddenly, Botan's phone rang. A hysterical chuckle bursted out from her after she saw a message from one of her agents.

"Moona," she called her attention while grinning.

"Hmm?"

"We finally broke the code."

--

12:21 PM, Brussels, Belgium

Inside the conference room, the representatives of each country who are part of the European Coalition are having an intense argument with each other.

"If we made a bad move, this conflict might escalate into a nuclear war!" one of the representatives exclaimed.

"We know that, and we are making sure that the worst case scenario won't happen. But, are you really sure that giving them what they want is a good idea?" Another one of them stated.

Intense exchange of words continued inside the room, then suddenly, one of them raised their hand.

"What if we seek help from mages and fantasy creatures?" He suggested.

The entire room that once sounded like a wet market earlier now turned into a library.

"Do you remember the Supernatural War of 1274? The one where us, mankind, almost became extinct because of them. Do you think they're trustworthy?!" One of them yelled at him.

"Oh for Pete's sake, It's almost 900 years since that war happened. We already signed a peace agreement with them-"

"But look at what they're doing! They're teaming up with the Resistance! We should've wiped them off when we had a chanc-"

"You already said earlier that they're teaming up with our enemies. How do we even defeat them with such power that us, humans, can't even imitate?! We only have one chance. We should fight them fire with fire. If they have sorcery, then fight them with sorcery! Look at Japan. They won the civil war with the help of those creatures and are still winning another civil war. Why not do the same?" He insisted.

Everyone talked to each other and looking at their faces, they were agreeing on what he suggested.

"Due to the majority's decision, your suggestion is accepted. We will establish a union for all supernatural creatures and mages around the world. Meeting adjourned," The thud of a wooden gavel after being struck against the sound block declared the end of the discussion.

Walking through the hallway, the guy who made the suggestion was dialing someone through his phone. After the first ring, the person behind the other line answered the call.

"Any good news?" The guy asked from the other line.

"They accepted my request," he was still smiling when he announced the result.

"I should call her right now. Take a rest for the next meeting. You made a great move. Your name will be written in history."

"Thank you, sir. I'm just doing my job," He ended the call.

From the other side of the line, the guy was sitting on his desk, dialing the hopes of the European Coalition. A supernatural being who defied death itself and the representation of immortal life. As he dialed her number, she immediately answered.

"Yes, Minister of German-Austrian Defense?"

"Prepare yourself, Ms. Takanashi."

--

9:11 PM, Osaka Prefecture

With a gust of the wind at the top of a building, there lies Moona and Botan, taking a view on the streets. Earlier on, they received a report from their agent inside the government that the current Minister of Defense will pass through Osaka. Reports showed that they're holding the President as a hostage and they replaced him with a puppet president. The government gave Pekora control over Nagasaki to reduce suspicion of them supporting the Resistance. But the two of them already knew what they're planning and noticed the cracks of their deceitful mask.

Botan settled her sniper on the edge of the building, positioned herself and scoped in the direction where the target would come from. The light of the convoy from a distance affirmed her cue.

"Hey Moona," Botan called Moona's attention, who was still observing the view of the moon.

"Hm?"

"This might be the debut of the first sniper only designed to harness explosive rounds, now used in real-life combat. I named it 'EXR-45," She stated before pulling the trigger. A silenced blast was barely heard, followed by the bullet launched from the muzzle.

The bullet hit the hood of the vehicle in front of the convoy. It didn't penetrate through the metal hood, but it was a feature. The bullet started ringing as a red light appeared in it and began blinking.

"What the hell is that?" the driver said as he noticed a glowing thing in the hood of the truck, only to realize it was an explosive device.

Before he could even react, after 4 rings, the bullet exploded, immediately destroying the truck and setting it on fire.

"Speed up! We're under attack!" another driver reported using a radio of the truck.

They sped up as fast as they could, passing through the burning truck. With their current speed, they're getting closer towards Botan and Moona's location.

"It's been 3 days since the latest Full Moon happened. This power should be enough," Moona spoke as she started floating mid-air.

Sudden warmth was felt after the moon emitted a bright light, overwhelming the coldness of the night.

"Lunar Stalactites," Moona chanted, summoning huge crystals on the road, confining the convoy inside. With their current pace, they collided on the wall of crystals, all of the vehicles clashed with each others' bumpers. Some of the people on board went outside of their wrecked vehicles with injuries on their bodies.

"Shoot another one, Botan," Moona commanded, which Botan did in quick succession. Explosions enveloped them with smoke covering the area. Confined inside the wall of crystals, they didn't have the opportunity to escape the rain of exploding bullets. Each of the bullets either hit them or the vehicles. Their bloodied corpses flew outside the wall due to the shockwave, their bodies were beyond recognition at that point due to damage received.

"Overkill but okay?" Moona uttered, shivering due to the lioness' brutality.

They arrived inside the crystallized wall, ensuring that there were no hostile targets nearby. Botan used her Elytra to land while Moona, who was floating earlier, landed without the use of a portable flight equipment.

With a Kriss Vector on their hand, they walked through the flaming mess. One by one, Botan shot anyone who went outside the burning vehicles, until they reached the target vehicle where the Minister was on board, exactly when Botan cleared her entire magazine.

As they broke the door on the passenger side, they saw the minister, bleeding on his head while having difficulty in breathing. Botan threw him outside the car with a murderous intent, leaving him lying down on the streets. Botan grabbed Moona's gun as she pointed it towards the minister.

"Talk," Botan said in a cold tone.

"Kill... me..." he muttered

"Damn do," She then shot a barrage of bullets on the minister's body, emptying the magazine.

When the minister was confirmed dead, Botan gave the submachine gun back to Moona, "Out of ammo, sorry bro."

"We didn't even get information from him."

"The members of the Resistance have their loyalty towards the organization. There's no point of interrogating them, even if you tortured them."

"So, we just came here to assassinate him?"

"Exactly."

"How brutal," Moona sighed as she undid the crystallized wall

"Not brutal enough," Botan shrugged as they both left the hellish road in a casual way.

"Do you think the witnesses will call us the bad guys?" Moona asked.

"What we did was justified. We're at war, why are you asking that? Expect more than what we did earlier," Botan grabbed a box of cigarettes and a lighter inside her pocket and lit it.

"Should we book a hotel for the night?"

"Good idea."

--

10:11 PM, Aomori Prefecture

"What?! The Minister was assassinated?!" Aqua yelled, slammed her hands onto the wooden table, which startled the rest of the group inside the room.

"According to reports, two people were spotted at the scene, one was the girl you encountered last month," When Choco said the last phrase, Aqua bit her lower lip, frustrated on failing to kill that grey-haired girl. The blue-haired elf beside her looked concerned upon hearing those words. Noticing her clenched fist and busy with her deep thoughts, Marine let out a cough just to catch the elf's attention.

"Who's the other one?" Marine asked.

"Unidentified. But they're both dangerous. Reports showed that the grey-haired girl used some kind of a sniper with an explosive round. We should be careful if we're going outside with a convoy," Choco stated.

"What do we do now?" Mio spoke.

"For now, we should advance on occupying grounds. Tomorrow, we should start our missile attack. You should take a rest now," Aqua declared.

Lying down on their bed, Marine tapped Lamy's shoulder, who was beside her.

"Your shoulders are cold." she said.

"I'm a snow elf. What did you expect?"

"Nothing. So uh, I saw you earlier in the meeting. Do you know that grey haired lioness by any chance?" Marine interrogated.

"Yes.."

"...She was my friend.."

--

September 4, 2023

7:10 AM, Osaka Prefecture

"They're escalating the conflict," Moona muttered, watching the news covering the current event. They occupied a room, wherein Botan was still sleeping beside her.

"The Resistance is currently using their missiles to suppress nearby cities. As of now, civilians are now evacuating towards Kansai Region. Death tolls are increasing as conflict continues," the reporter stated.

Moona's phone rang as Pekora was calling her. She answered it, hearing Pekora's panicking noises from the other line.

"Have you watched the news?" Pekora asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you alright?"

"No need to worry about us. We should stay here for 3 days before we come back to Fukuoka. Stay strong, okay?"

"Okay, Moona. Stay safe," Pekora ended the call.

Walking through the kitchen, Moona made a coffee and took a sip, just to awaken her mind. When she came back to her room, Botan was already checking her phone.

"Any news?" Moona sat beside, still sipping her coffee.

"Satellite reports showed that there's a build-up of ships roaming at the Sea of Japan, 300km near Niigata and Ishikawa Prefectures. And earlier, reports said that they started moving towards Ishikawa. With their top speed, they will arrive tomorrow evening or at dawn the next day. Good thing that the military started building up their defenses on both prefectures," Botan stated, still staring at her phone.

"We should join the battle."

"Can you kill one hundred thousand soldiers?" Botan asked.

"Yes."

"You're hired."