Chapter 95 — The Fall of Shinokuni-01
The world snapped back into place.
Brook landed hard.
His boots scraped across stone.
Henry stumbled beside him.
Sera caught herself against a wall.
Crowley remained standing.
Then they looked up.
Shinokuni-01 was burning.
The southern district had become a battlefield.
Abominations poured through the broken Wall while soldiers desperately tried to hold the streets.
Buildings were collapsing.
People were running.
Weapons fired through the smoke.
Brook stared.
"They breached the Wall."
Crowley looked toward the fighting.
"Not just the Wall."
He pointed.
Three more sections were burning.
"They're attacking from inside."
Henry's expression changed.
"How did they get in?"
Crowley looked toward the city.
"Someone opened the gates."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Someone from Shinokuni-01."
A massive roar shook the streets.
Brook turned.
An Abomination crashed through a building.
He immediately drew his sword.
"Let's go."
They ran toward the southern district.
Brook didn't teleport immediately.
There were too many civilians.
Too many people.
One wrong destination could put him directly inside an attack.
So he ran.
A Bloat-like creature charged from the smoke.
Brook slid beneath its claws.
He drove his sword upward.
The blade cut through its throat.
It collapsed behind him.
Another creature lunged.
Brook caught its arm.
He twisted.
The creature slammed into the ground.
Henry finished it with a strike.
"Left!"
Brook turned.
Three fast-biters rushed through the smoke.
Sera raised her hand.
A burst of energy tore across the street.
The first two were thrown aside.
Brook sprinted toward the third.
It snapped its jaws.
Brook ducked.
He drove his fist into its ribs.
The creature staggered.
Brook grabbed its head and slammed it into the wall.
Once.
Twice.
Then kicked it into the street.
Henry finished it.
Brook looked at him.
"Nice."
Henry nodded.
"Keep moving."
They reached the southern gate.
Captain Mercer was dead.
The old Watchmen were gone.
The new soldiers defending the Wall were barely holding on.
Brook looked at the destruction.
"This wasn't random."
Crowley nodded.
"Look."
He pointed toward the ground.
Black markings covered the road.
The same symbol from the underground city.
The circle.
The line through the center.
Brook crouched.
"It's the same symbol."
Sera looked around.
"Veyr."
Brook shook his head.
"No."
He touched the marking.
"It was here before we arrived."
Crowley frowned.
"Then someone inside the city has been preparing this."
Henry looked toward the Wall.
"For how long?"
Brook stood.
"Long enough."
A soldier came running toward them.
"Xcution!"
Brook turned.
"What happened?"
The soldier was bleeding from his forehead.
"The southern command post was attacked."
"By Abominations?"
The soldier shook his head.
"People."
Brook's expression changed.
"Human?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Maybe fifty."
Crowley stepped forward.
"Who were they?"
The soldier swallowed.
"Black coats."
Brook's eyes hardened.
"Elias."
The soldier shook his head.
"They didn't say his name."
"What did they say?"
The soldier looked terrified.
"They kept repeating one thing."
Brook waited.
"The first door is open."
Crowley went completely still.
Brook noticed.
"Crowley."
Crowley looked toward the city.
"We need to reach the central tower."
"Why?"
"Because if I'm right…"
Crowley paused.
"…this attack isn't meant to destroy Shinokuni-01."
Brook frowned.
"Then what's it for?"
Crowley looked at him.
"To open something beneath it."
They moved.
The fighting became heavier as they approached the central district.
Brook marked a rooftop.
He jumped.
A white pulse carried him upward.
He landed on the roof.
From there, he could see the entire city.
Fire.
Smoke.
Abominations.
Soldiers.
And something else.
Black symbols had appeared throughout Shinokuni-01.
Dozens.
Maybe hundreds.
Brook stared.
"They've marked the whole city."
Michael appeared inside his mind.
They're creating a formation.
Brook frowned.
"A formation for what?"
Michael looked across the city.
A gate.
Lucifer smiled.
A very big one.
Brook's expression hardened.
"To Hell?"
Lucifer's smile faded.
No.
Brook looked at him.
Lucifer pointed toward the ground.
Somewhere worse.
Brook swallowed.
"What could be worse than Hell?"
Lucifer's eyes narrowed.
Something Hell itself fears.
Brook looked down at the city.
"That's not reassuring."
Lucifer smiled.
It wasn't supposed to be.
A blast tore through the rooftop.
Brook jumped aside.
The stone beneath him exploded.
A figure emerged from the smoke.
Black coat.
Mask.
Sword.
Brook raised his weapon.
"Who are you?"
The figure didn't answer.
He attacked.
Brook blocked.
The impact forced him backward.
The masked man swung again.
Brook ducked.
The blade passed over his head.
Brook stepped inside the attack.
Elbow.
The masked man blocked.
Knee.
Blocked again.
Brook twisted and kicked him across the roof.
The man landed.
Then fired a dark blast.
Brook crossed his arms.
The blast slammed into him.
He was thrown through a wall.
Brook hit the floor inside the building.
He coughed.
Lucifer laughed.
I like him.
Brook stood.
"You like everyone who tries to kill me."
Exactly.
Brook wiped blood from his mouth.
"You're terrible."
And yet you keep me around.
The masked man entered through the broken wall.
Brook raised his sword.
"Fine."
His eyes narrowed.
"Let's see what you've got."
The masked man rushed him.
Brook met him halfway.
Steel collided.
The masked man swung low.
Brook jumped.
He twisted in the air and fired a white blast downward.
The impact drove the man into the floor.
Brook landed.
The man rose.
Brook charged.
He struck the mask.
Crack.
The man staggered.
Brook struck again.
The mask broke.
Brook grabbed the man's collar.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled.
Then he headbutted Brook.
Brook staggered.
The man drove his knee into Brook's stomach.
Brook doubled over.
A black blast hit him point-blank.
He crashed through the rooftop.
Brook fell.
He caught the edge of the building.
His fingers tightened around the stone.
Below him—
the street.
The masked man looked over the edge.
Brook smiled.
"Bad idea."
He marked the wall.
The man suddenly disappeared.
Brook had teleported him.
The masked man reappeared several meters away, confused.
Brook pulled himself up.
"You're not the only one who can surprise people."
The man charged again.
Brook waited.
At the last second—
he stepped aside.
Grabbed the man's arm.
Twisted.
The masked man lost balance.
Brook drove his shoulder into his chest.
They crashed through the rooftop.
Brook landed on top.
His sword was at the man's throat.
"Who sent you?"
The man laughed.
"You already know."
"Elias?"
"No."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"The Maker?"
The man smiled.
"No."
Brook's expression changed.
"Then who?"
The man's eyes turned black.
"The King."
A burst of darkness exploded from his body.
Brook was thrown backward.
When he recovered—
the man was gone.
Brook stood slowly.
"The King?"
Michael appeared.
Aldric.
Brook froze.
"You know him?"
Michael looked serious.
I know of him.
Lucifer smiled.
Now this is getting interesting.
Brook looked at him.
"Who is King Aldric?"
Lucifer's smile widened.
Ask Crowley.
Brook frowned.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Death suddenly appeared.
His eyes were fixed on the city below.
Brook noticed.
"What?"
Death pointed.
Brook looked.
Lifelines.
Thousands.
He could see them.
But something was wrong.
Some were disappearing.
Not dying.
Disappearing.
Brook's chest tightened.
"That's impossible."
Death shook his head.
They are being taken somewhere.
Brook stared.
"Where?"
Death pointed toward the central tower.
Brook immediately jumped from the rooftop.
Crowley, Henry and Sera reached the central tower.
The doors were already open.
They entered.
The building was empty.
Too empty.
Henry looked around.
"Where are the guards?"
Crowley didn't answer.
He walked toward the center of the room.
There was a staircase leading downward.
Sera frowned.
"This is under the tower."
Crowley nodded.
Henry looked at him.
"You knew."
Crowley stared at the staircase.
"I suspected."
Henry's expression hardened.
"Suspected what?"
Crowley looked at them.
"That Shinokuni-01 wasn't built around the city."
He pointed downward.
"It was built around what's beneath it."
Brook landed beside them.
"You're right."
Everyone turned.
Brook walked toward the staircase.
"There's something underneath."
Crowley nodded.
"We need to go down."
Brook looked at him.
"Together."
They descended.
The staircase seemed endless.
The walls were covered in ancient writing.
Brook couldn't read it.
But Crowley could.
He stopped.
Sera looked at him.
"What does it say?"
Crowley read the inscription.
His face went pale.
"What?"
Crowley whispered:
"It says…"
He swallowed.
"…this place was never meant to be a city."
Brook stared.
"Then what was it?"
Crowley looked at the darkness below.
"A prison."
The lights went out.
A voice echoed through the stairwell.
Not the Maker.
Not Veyr.
Not Elias.
A voice Brook had never heard before.
Deep.
Ancient.
And furious.
"WHO OPENED MY DOOR?"
The entire staircase shook.
Brook raised his sword.
Michael appeared.
Lucifer's smile disappeared.
Death stared into the darkness.
Brook whispered:
"Something's down there."
Crowley looked at him.
"Yes."
A second voice echoed from below.
This one familiar.
Elias.
"That's why I told you not to come."
Brook's eyes widened.
"Elias?"
A distant laugh followed.
Then the darkness below them began to glow red.
Crowley whispered:
"Run."
Brook looked at him.
"Why?"
Crowley stared into the darkness.
"Because whatever is down there…"
The stone beneath them cracked.
"…just woke up."
End of Chapter 95