"Where are Gai and the others?"
"They're fine. They've already infiltrated the aircraft."
Tsugumi answered while watching the moving points of light on the map.
Haneda Airport, inside the transport aircraft—
Bang! ×N
Led by Gai, the members of Funeral Parlor advanced through the corridor, shooting down every soldier inside the aircraft before they could react. After stepping over the soldiers' corpses, they pressed themselves against the wall to one side. The door ahead led directly to the cockpit.
Inori crouched nearby and reloaded her pistol. She glanced at the soldiers lying dead behind them. The sight filled her with unease. Perhaps the plan had gone too smoothly.
"...It's too quiet."
She murmured.
"Yeah..."
Gai gave a brief murmur of agreement.
"Will we be all right?"
She asked.
"There's no turning back now. All we can do is carry the plan through to the end."
Gai frowned at the silent cabin behind them and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Oogumo."
Oogumo moved to the door on the other side, attached a block of plastic explosives, then retreated and gave them a hand signal.
"Do it."
Beep—!
Boom!
The cabin door was blown apart in an instant. Once the flames dispersed, they charged into the cockpit together with their guns raised. However—
"—!" ×N
An empty cockpit greeted their eyes. The controls had been set to autopilot, with the control column moving back and forth on its own to adjust the aircraft's course.
"No one's here?!"
"What's going on?!"
Oogumo and Argo instantly went pale. Did that mean they had hijacked an unmanned aircraft? Then what had those soldiers been doing aboard it?
"Damn it!" ×2
The two of them cursed.
"—!"
Gai stared blankly at the flickering display on the control panel. The screen turned black, then several words formed from lines of code appeared—
[Congratulations, Gai Tsutsugami! This is heaven!]
"!"
Inori instantly realized it was a trap.
"Gai! Get out of here!"
She shouted, but it was already too late.
"Gai Tsutsugami!! I'm sending you straight to heaven—!!!!"
Watching Funeral Parlor enter the cockpit through the monitor, Segai burst into loud laughter. With a roar, he seized the handle marked with the genetic emblem and twisted it forcefully clockwise!
Click!
Hum...
The surrounding screens turned red in the next instant, displaying spiral-shaped genes, while some kind of melody began playing from the audio track on the right.
La... la... la...!!
Through the loudspeakers mounted on the tower, the eerily hypnotic music spread across the entirety of Tokyo in that instant!!
Hum—!
The "stone" placed at the top of Tokyo Tower began resonating with the audio, emitting an ominous dark violet glow. The radiance engulfed the entire tower, then fired a beam straight into the heavens. It pierced the clouds, transforming the once-clear sky into something dark and unfathomable in an instant. The phenomenon enveloped all of Tokyo, resembling the end of the world.
La... la... la...!!
The strange audio continued playing in an endless loop. With every repetition, the stone's power intensified.
"Aaaagh!!!"
"No!!"
"What's happening?! Why am I—"
Crack!
The moment the violet light enveloped the streets, countless residents felt pain throughout their bodies. Some even began crystallizing from head to toe. Those who fully crystallized shattered apart, floated into the sky, and were absorbed by the energy above Tokyo Tower.
"It's all right, it's all right... Mommy's here—Aaaaaagh!!!!"
A mother shielded her child behind her, but in the next instant, she crystallized and dissolved before the child's eyes. Despair filled both the city and the sky, accompanied by that mind-ravaging music and the dark, unfathomable atmosphere. It was like hell itself.
"Aaaaaagh!!!"
As expected, Gai was also affected by the stone when he heard the music. Crystals gradually spread across the right side of his face, and his strength left him as he collapsed.
"Gai!"
Inori immediately moved to support him.
"Forget about me! Go! Get to Ward 23 and stop them."
Are we already too late?
He wondered.
"I understand—Ugh!!!"
However, just as Inori tried to draw her blade using the Power of the King, a dull pain struck her head. It felt like interference on a spiritual level, stopping her movements. Unable to endure it, she clutched her head and dropped to her knees.
"What is this...? Memories?"
Fragments of memories stabbed into her mind like silver needles, accompanied by someone's whispering voice. The pain was utterly unbearable, leaving her incapable of doing anything.
"No... Not this song... Stop..."
"Inori!!"
Gai's heart sank when he saw her condition. He looked ahead and discovered that the aircraft was automatically veering off course, heading straight toward the airport terminal.
"Damn it!!"
There was no doubt they had fallen into a trap—and a lethal one at that. Everything had been arranged in advance, waiting for them to take the bait.
Segai... Keido!
[Aaaaaagh!] ×N
That was not all. From time to time, the agonized screams of Funeral Parlor members being crystallized by the energy came through his earpiece, leaving him momentarily disoriented.
Have they already activated the "stone"?!
Static—
[Do you need my help?]
Still seated on the rooftop, the Shogun looked at the gloomy sky and the devastation below, then activated her earpiece and asked the question.
"Mio... You aren't affected?"
Gai's pupils contracted as he asked in surprise.
[Affected by what? What's happening to all of you? Your aircraft has already veered off course.]
The Shogun asked in confusion.
"...GHQ activated the stone and caused a genetic resonance."
For some reason, Gai felt slightly reassured. He continued speaking.
[How is Inori?]
"She's being affected by the stone's power. She's in terrible pain."
He answered.
[Take care of her.]
Static!
The communication ended as soon as she finished speaking.
I'm leaving this to you, Mio.
Gai breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, she was Funeral Parlor's trump card. At a time like this, they had no choice but to rely on her.
[Gai! Are you all right?!]
Ayase shouted through his earpiece.
"Yeah, I'm not dead yet. You should retreat first. Bring back any of our crystallized comrades."
[What about you?!]
"I still have something to do."
[But—!]
"Ayase, that's an order!"
[—! Understood. Be careful.]
Static...
The communication was cut off.
...
Elsewhere...
After cutting off the communication, the Shogun transformed directly into a bolt of lightning. With a thunderous bang, she shot from the rooftop toward the command tower in Ward 23 like a lightning dragon!
The GHQ personnel inside the command tower were also in terrible condition. Since they had not received Vaccine D, most of them had already begun crystallizing. Screams and sobs filled the space.
"What the hell is this—?!"
Don, GHQ's commanding officer, was the most obvious victim. Half of the blond man's body had already crystallized, leaving him unable even to stand properly.
"Don! What in the world is—"
Static!
An approaching streak of lightning illuminated the area. In the next instant, it smashed through the reinforced glass and crashed into the command room floor like a meteor.
Boom!
Electric currents and brilliant light sent dust and debris flying into the air. At the center stood a violet-haired woman wreathed in thunder.
"Enemy attack!!!" ×N
No one had recovered from the succession of terrifying events. By the time someone finally shouted, it was already too late.
Crackle!
The Shogun swept her empty right hand to the side. A violent electric current tore across the floor, instantly charring the soldiers to her right.
Bang! ×N
She then drew Musou Isshin and transformed into lightning, flashing through the room several times. Each time she passed a soldier, she severed them at the waist. In only a few seconds, the entire room had been cleared.
Only the crystallizing Don, the colonel and the terrified blond woman beside him, his mistress, remained.
"You—!"
The colonel retreated several steps in terror, only to trip over Don behind him. He fell against the wall, his face pale and his expression wretched.
"Eek—No!"
The blond woman crawled across the floor in an undignified panic, desperately trying to flee.
Tap, tap...
The Shogun glanced at the woman trying to escape on the other side. Her puppet arm reached through empty space and seized the woman's legs, dragging her across the floor until she was directly in front of her, then hoisting her upside down.
"No!!!! Please!!!"
The woman screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Silence!"
The Shogun snapped.
"..."
The woman immediately fell quiet.
"What... do you want?"
The colonel glanced at the woman. After confirming that she was unharmed, he breathed a secret sigh of relief. He then straightened slightly, recovering a little of his nerve before speaking.
"Where is the stone?"
She asked bluntly.
"...What... stone?"
He froze.
Whoosh!
Without a word, the Shogun placed her blade against the woman's neck. The meaning was obvious: Keep playing games, and I'll kill her.
"Yan! Save me!"
"Wait—!! It's there! Over there, in the storage case!"
She glanced at the storage case behind him, then released the woman and walked over to it. She forcibly sliced the container open and removed the completely motionless stone.