Chapter 79 — The Quiet Before
Morning came too peacefully.
Brook didn't trust it.
He stood outside Xcution headquarters with a cup of coffee he wasn't actually drinking.
Henry walked past him.
"You've been holding that for twenty minutes."
Brook looked down.
The coffee was cold.
"I like cold coffee."
"No, you don't."
Brook shrugged.
Henry took the cup from him.
"You've been weird since we got back."
"I've always been weird."
"More than usual."
Brook smiled.
Henry studied him.
"You going to tell me what happened underground?"
Brook hesitated.
"Eventually."
Henry nodded.
"Okay."
Brook looked at him.
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"You're not going to push?"
Henry smiled.
"I trust you."
Brook looked away.
That somehow made it harder.
Inside, Crowley had spread several maps across the main table.
Sera stood beside him.
Kael was eating while looking over the documents.
Brook and Henry joined them.
Crowley pointed to a marked location.
"Three more settlements have reported missing people."
Kael stopped eating.
"Since when?"
"Since yesterday."
Sera frowned.
"That's too fast."
Crowley nodded.
"The disappearances are moving."
Brook looked at the map.
The locations formed a line.
"Toward the city."
Henry leaned over.
"Shinokuni-01?"
Crowley nodded.
"Exactly."
Brook looked at the markings.
"Who's doing it?"
"We don't know."
Kael stood.
"Then let's find them."
Crowley looked at him.
"That's the plan."
Brook noticed Elias wasn't at the table.
He looked toward the stairs.
"Where's Elias?"
Henry frowned.
"He wasn't there when I woke up."
Crowley didn't react.
Too calmly.
Brook noticed.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
Brook stared at him.
Crowley pointed toward the map.
"Focus."
Brook reluctantly looked back.
But the thought remained.
Where was Elias?
Outside the city, Elias walked through the ruins of an old settlement.
He moved slowly.
A small group of people stood ahead of him.
They weren't soldiers.
They were civilians.
Scared.
One man stepped forward.
"Are you with Xcution?"
Elias nodded.
"I'm here to help."
The man relaxed.
"We thought nobody was coming."
Elias looked around.
"What happened?"
The man pointed toward the forest.
"They came at night."
"Who?"
"We don't know."
"How many?"
"Too many."
Elias looked at the ground.
Footprints.
Large.
But they weren't Abomination tracks.
They were boots.
Human boots.
Elias crouched.
Someone had staged the attack.
He knew it immediately.
He stood.
"Where is everyone else?"
The man's expression changed.
"They took them."
Elias nodded.
"Who?"
The man looked toward the forest.
"The Knights."
Elias froze.
"Knights?"
"Hell Knights."
Elias looked down.
The black emblem in his pocket felt warm.
He whispered:
"So it begins."
The man looked confused.
"What?"
Elias smiled.
"Nothing."
Xcution reached the first settlement before noon.
It looked abandoned.
Brook walked through the main street.
Doors were open.
Food was still on tables.
Clothes hung from lines.
Kael looked around.
"I hate places like this."
Henry nodded.
"Same."
Sera crouched beside a set of footprints.
"People were taken."
Crowley examined the marks.
"Recently."
Brook looked toward the forest.
"Same thing as before."
Crowley nodded.
"Yes."
Brook closed his eyes.
His Sources stirred.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
He focused.
Nothing.
Then—
A faint pulse.
Brook opened his eyes.
"That way."
He pointed toward the eastern road.
Crowley looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"I felt something."
Crowley nodded.
"Then we follow it."
They moved.
The forest was strangely quiet.
No birds.
No insects.
Nothing.
Kael walked beside Brook.
"You think Elias is okay?"
Brook looked at him.
"I don't know."
Kael frowned.
"You've been thinking about him a lot."
Brook smiled faintly.
"He's my friend."
Kael nodded.
"Yeah."
He looked ahead.
"So is he."
Brook glanced at him.
Kael continued:
"Whatever he's hiding, we'll help him."
Brook didn't answer.
That sentence stayed with him.
They found the prisoners just before sunset.
Dozens of people were tied to wooden posts.
Henry rushed forward.
"Everyone stay back!"
Something moved above them.
Brook looked up.
A figure dropped from the trees.
Then another.
Then another.
Black armor.
Red markings.
Hell Knights.
Kael drew his weapon.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Crowley smiled.
"Finally."
The Knights charged.
Xcution met them head-on.
Henry's sword slammed into the first Knight.
Sera unleashed a burst of energy.
Kael ducked beneath a blade and drove his weapon into an armored chest.
Brook teleported.
Flash.
He appeared behind one.
Strike.
Flash.
Another.
Strike.
The Knight turned.
Brook marked the ground.
Flash.
He appeared beside Henry.
"Left!"
Henry blocked a sword.
"Got it!"
They fought back-to-back.
Brook smiled.
"You're getting better."
"So are you."
A Knight suddenly appeared behind Kael.
Brook saw it.
He teleported.
The Knight's blade stopped inches from Kael's back.
Brook caught the attack with his sword.
The force pushed him backward.
Kael stared.
"Thanks."
Brook grinned.
"Don't make me regret it."
Kael laughed.
Then the Knight kicked Brook across the ground.
He slammed into a tree.
Henry shouted.
"Brook!"
Brook stood.
Blood ran from his mouth.
The Knight charged again.
Brook didn't move.
Michael whispered.
Control.
Brook waited.
The blade came down.
At the final moment—
Flash.
Brook disappeared.
The sword hit the ground.
Brook appeared above the Knight.
He drove his heel into its helmet.
The Knight collapsed.
Brook landed.
The remaining Knights suddenly retreated.
Crowley frowned.
"They're leaving?"
Sera looked around.
"Why?"
Brook noticed something.
A symbol burned into the ground.
The same black emblem.
The Knights hadn't come to kill them.
They had come to measure them.
Brook stared.
"They were testing us."
Crowley looked at him.
"Yes."
One of the rescued civilians approached.
"Thank you."
Henry smiled.
"You're safe now."
The man shook his head.
"No."
Henry frowned.
"What?"
The man looked terrified.
"They weren't trying to take us."
Crowley stepped closer.
"Then why?"
The man pointed toward the forest.
"They wanted us to see them."
Brook's expression hardened.
"See what?"
The man swallowed.
"The Knight."
Kael frowned.
"Which Knight?"
The man whispered:
"Asmodaos."
Silence.
Brook looked at Crowley.
Crowley's expression had changed.
"Did you see him?"
The man nodded.
"Only once."
"Where?"
He pointed deeper into the forest.
"Standing beside a man."
Brook's heart tightened.
"What man?"
The civilian looked at him.
"I don't know his name."
Brook waited.
"But he had your face."
Brook froze.
Henry stepped forward.
"What?"
The man pointed directly at Brook.
"He looked just like you."
Brook's blood ran cold.
Crowley looked toward the forest.
"Impossible."
Brook whispered:
"Elias."
Night fell.
Xcution made camp.
Nobody slept.
Brook sat away from the others.
Henry eventually joined him.
"You think that was Elias?"
Brook stared into the fire.
"I don't know."
"You believe it."
Brook didn't answer.
Henry sighed.
"You don't have to carry this alone."
Brook looked at him.
"I know."
Henry smiled.
"Good."
He stood.
"I'm going to get some sleep."
Brook nodded.
"Night."
Henry walked away.
Brook stared into the fire.
Then he heard footsteps.
He turned.
Elias stood behind him.
Brook immediately stood.
"Elias."
Elias smiled.
"Hey."
Brook stared at him.
"Where have you been?"
"Working."
"Doing what?"
"Trying to find out who's behind the attacks."
Brook studied him.
"Did you find anything?"
Elias nodded.
"A little."
"What?"
Elias sat beside him.
"There's a group operating outside the Walls."
Brook waited.
"They're connected to Hell."
Brook's expression hardened.
"Asmodaos?"
Elias nodded.
Brook watched him carefully.
"How do you know?"
Elias looked into the fire.
"I've seen them before."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Where?"
Elias smiled faintly.
"Places you don't remember."
Brook's heart tightened.
"You're talking about B-00."
Elias looked at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Elias asked:
"Who told you that name?"
Brook hesitated.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
Brook looked at him.
"I found records."
Elias's face became unreadable.
"What records?"
Brook didn't answer.
Elias stared at him.
Then quietly:
"You shouldn't have looked."
Brook's expression hardened.
"Why?"
Elias looked toward the sleeping Xcution members.
"Because some things are better forgotten."
Brook stood.
"I don't agree."
Elias looked up.
"You will."
Brook stared at him.
Then walked away.
Elias watched him disappear.
His hand slowly reached into his coat.
The black emblem glowed.
A voice whispered:
Soon.
Elias closed his eyes.
"Not yet."
The voice answered:
You said that before.
Elias looked toward Brook.
His expression was filled with guilt.
Then it hardened.
"I need more time."
The emblem stopped glowing.
Elias sat alone beneath the night sky.
He had lied to Brook again.
But this time…
he wasn't lying because he was afraid.
He was lying because he had already decided what had to happen next.
End of Chapter 79