Relaxing again as usual in this hot and dry weekend, Mary stayed at home, taking care of her siblings and mother. After ordering the other villagers to take a break for today, she heads to her room, closing off the windows to deny the hot sunny rays in. After doing so, she turns on her oil lamp with a stick of homemade phosphorus sticks and a flint. Lightning it, she sat by her bed-edge and takes a new tape.

'Next week, I will go hunting again. perhaps maybe visit the nearby villages to see if they have anything to trade in exchange for our goods.' She reminds herself as she pulls out the tape recorder and puts on a new tape. This time the seventh.

"A few more, please tell me more. This one seems to be dated quite a few months after number six, I guess he was busy with his job that he didn't make up any logs after that, until this one." Her curious self said.

---Tape Start---

"Cheers~" William and a few Guardians raised their glass as they were partying in a long private meeting room.

"It is nice to have you, Mr.William. Thank you for visiting us." Miss Shimaya said as she burped softly. "Oops, my bad. That was rather vulgar."

"I want to introduce to you to the other Elders, This is the Lady of the Diseased, Pitch and this beautiful lady over here is The Lady Of The Steel, Járngreipr." Miss Shimaya said as she pulled the two other elders together.

"Hello Cough cough~ You do know I am not really good in crowds but you had to drag me here. I don't want to spread my illness to the poor man here." Pitch said as she drank a glass of water.

"Awww, come on don't think like that, we know you only give your illness if you actually use your abilities, no one gets sick from your illness by just coughing. " Miss Shimaya was rather tipsy, I think she had a little too many drinks on her own.

"Perhaps she is making an excuse so she can stay at home..." Járngreipr said as she gulped the beer steadfast. She really could drink.

"Nice to meet you Mr.William, hope you can get used to us and the other Guardians. Miss Shimaya likes to drink constantly so she will always invite us to her ceremony drinking room." Járngreipr told William.

"Also, Pitch here can't really handle drinks, that's why she will always make an excuse to get home. You know if you can manage to make her drink, her drunken state will make her very energetic." She chuckled out as she winks.

"Please don't do that...You know I will cause problems, just like the last time." Pitch hides her face, a black smoke flown around her eyes and face, it was probably part of her dress or perhaps that's just how her tears work.

"I can't really stay long guys, I got to go for a meeting later with the military generals," William said as he looked at his watch.

They weren't really bothering as they were having a good time, Miss Shimaya was teasing Pitch as Járngreiprand and Avalona were having a drinking competition of who drinks faster.

Pitch took a small peek at William as he just sipped his drink watching the odd crowd.

...

Meanwhile, in the human realm.

"Come on, You suck Sherrinford. You need to have a better angle and shoot at the target, not the bloody sandbag!" Salia was screaming at poor Sherrinford who still do not know how to master her Rifle.

"You know what! Get the fuck up soldier, You are in no deem worthy of using a rifle, you should just go stick to the supports table or worse, join the cleaning crew, heck I am pretty sure they can shoot better than you!" Salia shouted at her as she pulled up her by the collar.

"But Ma'am, I ca~" Sherrinford pleaded but was cut off.

"SHUT UP~, We are done for today, Even the newbie could do perfect bullseyes even with the most horrendous rifle he chose. That is why I gave him a day off!" Salia screamed for the last time before pushing her off the firing zone.

"Cheer up Sherrin, you will manage one day." Chau-Min tried to calm down Sherrinford who currently secretly crying in her head.

"Yeah, One day... that one day is the death day of me." She snickered at Chau-Min before walking away to the back lines not wanting to be seen.

"Hey don't be so negative, chill~," Chau-Min said as she walks away not wanting to be part of Sherrinford's conflict anymore.

Sherrinford excused herself and went back to the dorm's crying on her pillow, which started to get soaking wet.

Chau-Min, for a medic, was able to use her handgun just fine on the 30-metre targets but was a bit slow off at the 50 to 90 range.

"You are doing well with your handgun but why don't you try a Rifle or an SMG?" Salia asked Chau-Min who was always thinking an odd thought out of her.

"I am too short to carry a rifle and an SMG is already too heavy for me. I tried purchasing firearms from a civilian firearms shop but they thought I was a kid so they kicked me out even when I showed my Military ID." Chau-Min replied with a blank expression.

"Well, fine then but try to get a burst or automatically enabled handgun at least, I don't want you ending up blown away." Salia gave her answer as she called another person to enter the firing zone. "Next~"

Chau-Min nods in agreement as she walks away to the nearby bathroom, washing off the dirt from her face.

After some time, they heard a siren started to play. It was really deafening as it was sounded throughout the base.

"Ugh~ What now, are we being infiltrated?"

A gunshot pierced through the ceiling side's window.

"Shit... Gonna get into the cover!" She hid in one of the stalls, summoning Ni-Au and ordering her to get her stuff from her bed.

"CONTACT ALL MILITARY PERSONAL! WE ARE UNDER THREAT, WE ARE UNDER THREA~ AGHHH...." The voice announcer was shouting as she was attacked by one of the Axis Soldier with a Shiv.

In the Military meeting room, the generals were activating all the self-defence machinery and calling for backup from any nearby gates.

...

Back in the Guardian Realm, Miss Shimaya was fully drunk. She was singing softly as she started hiccuping. Her flamed ears are rather strongly lit now and kinda, floozy.

William's glasses started to vibrate. "Huh... What the Fwaghh~?" He pressed a button which was on the white tic tac walkie-talkie thing.

"Yes?" William asked.

It was a loud static with sudden explosion sounds. " Hey Will!~ This is ... Chau, we are being under attack..."

"Huh, what!? I Can't hear you, it's noisy." He excused himself from the room as he asked again.

"What did you say, attacked!?" William asked.

"Just come to the Base! And bring your weapons!" Chau said as she shut down her contacting crystal.

William opened the door. "Sorry girls, I would love to stay but our base is currently under attack."

Pitch nods, she was the only one visibly not drunk. "Ok, Do it fast, I don't want to stay here any longer."

William nods as he draws a circle, he learnt how to use the gate key already. He entered the portal and ended up back in the dorms.

William straps his uniform on and took his HK33, Tanto and his newly purchased weapon, a customized CZ75 that looks similar to a SS Mauser C96. Turning his head due to soft sounds of weeping, he notices Sherrinford who is covering herself with a pillow.

"Hey Sherrinford, you ok?!" He went to her as he pulled off the pillow.

"Leave me alone...I just want to die!" She whimpered out.

"This is not the time to cry, get up! put on your vest! We are being attacked!" William sweet-talked her out of her depressing trance.

"Huh?! Attacked? By who...!?" She was confused.

"I don't know, I received a call by Chau-Min. It is probably the Axis Soldier's trying to recover their teammate."

A sudden bash through the door happened. "HEY SHERRIN! GET READY! Oh, There you are, William." Chau-Min said as an Axis soldier was trying to swing at her with her corrupted guardian weapon.

Chau-Min headshots the soldier with ease and gave a double-tap. Picking up the weapon, she kept it in her pocket.

"Come on William, help me out!" Chau-Min said s she sprinted through the corridor, hiding in a corner.

"If you are going to weep the whole time, then get under the bed and don't get caught ok. If you got problems, just come to me. I will help!" William whispered to Sherrinford, pushing her to get down and under her bed.

William then shuts the door as he sprints towards a few Axis soldiers, pinning them down and stabbing with his blade whilst shooting them with his customized CZ75. "They are here for their man! I am going to the hostage interrogation room. Can you handle it Chau-Min, ANSWER ME!" He summoned out Sae-Yong's blade as he grabs one by the collar and decapitates the clone.

"Yes Yes Go On, I have been here longer than you!" As she was shooting at some of the clones who were trying to attack the staffs as they were keeping cover from the nearby explosions. "Move Move! Get your stuff and MOVE!" She shouted. She was rather short so she could barely be spotted when she hid under small enclosers.

William rolled over from a sudden gunshot which was aimed at him as he took cover. "Come to me!" He dared the clone to come after him, as his lip was bleeding from an accidental bite.

Th clone rushed towards him, eye to eye. She swung at him with a sword she has. He tried taking the shot but it ran out of ammo, so he quickly used his guardian weapon to counter-attack.

"Rawaggh~" The clone grunted at him as she swung from left to right, vice-versa.

William grabbed her arm and unarmed her with a swing. He then pinned her by a neck lock and pulled her towards one of the empty room. "Oh hey, we are alone now. Want to have some fun?" He was teasing the losing clone who was trying to struggle out as she made eye contact at him by looking up.

He licked his bleeding lip in a very erotic manner then stabs her through the chest with her own knife. "Sorry beauty, I got another girl that I want to hit on." He chuckled as he threw her off, running to the nearby locker room door which had a secret entrance to the other side of the building where the Interrogation Room was located.

Meanwhile, Captain Shanina and a few members of varying echelons were defending the armoury so the clones wouldn't steal their higher grade weapons or Intel.

One of them got cut by the waist. "Ughh~... " She uses her last strength and shoots her attacker in the head as she slowly limped behind Captain Shanina. "Go get yourself healed..." Shanina told her as she helped her out.

The others still continued defending the area.

Sherrinford who stopped crying puts on her uniform slowly as she summoned her guardian weapon, which wasn't really a weapon but a utility tool. It helped to heal anyone's wound in a nearby radius. "Griffon, go help others." She said towards the glowing crystal of hers as it disappeared out of her hand.

William who made it to the interrogation room bashed the door open. A gunshot was heard, he quickly upholstered his CZ75, "Who's there?!" He shouted.

A familiar voice sounded out. "Chill chill you two, come on in William." It was Faltina who was busy trying to reinforce the interrogation glass while making the cuffs of the clone stronger.

"I thought his head got blown for a second." Rose jokes as she reloads her Rifle with a magical ammo box which produces freshly made ammunition.

"Damn, I need a reload ..." William went towards the box and pressed for his main ammunition type. He reloaded his weapons as fast as he could and took some extra clips for later, keeping it into his pocket.

"They are here for the hostage, am I right?" William said as he guarded the door, shooting any clone who passed by. They were very tunnel-visioned so they just ran in a straight line like zombies.

"Yep... But they are too dumb unless it is one of the original Captains or Majors, they are crazily enhanced, they are like some special enemies in video games. They also have their own weapons which are better and more corrupted than the usual cloned ones." Rose said as she lit a smoke for herself.

"This is no time to be smoking!" Silvenna said as she started coughing from the smoke, she was allergic to certain chemicals especially nicotine.

"Yeah yeah, shut up you [email protected]#$%@~" She shouted as she technically ate her cigarette. Silvenna being surprised to be called that word, she deduced that her partner may be a tad racist.

"Can you guys cooperate, hand me the hostage, I know what to do!" William exclaimed.

"Are you sure..?" Faltina asked.

"Yes...." William said.

He gathered all of them excluding Demonia since she was somewhere else and explained the whole plan.

"Are you sure, really really sure that will work out?" Faltina asked.

"Yes, I would attract the attention of their leader and at the same time, you guys have an open space to finish both of them," William said as he pointed towards the hostage who stared at them in a nervous way.

"So, that Bitch dies and you shoot the other Bitch when she is bamboozled, alright?" Rose asks William.

"Yes... Now, let's start!" William grabs the hostage and drags her, shooting anyone who came near him with a deadly plan and broke out of the building, towards the training field. He managed to attract the attention of the current captain of the attacking group. She managed to fall for his trick and chased him to the open field.

Through a secret trapdoor, Rose managed to get onto sight and ready up her rifle. "Shit, it is windy..." She said towards her team.

"Should we have a second opinion...?" Silvenna asked.

"NO! We have to do what was planned. It doesn't matter if the plan fails, William will be the fail-safe. He said so himself. If the Negotiation fails, I will shoot the captain and he will shoot the hostage or vice-versa. But if I fail the shot, He will shoot the captain in those few seconds spared and then we get to keep the hostage simple. The clones can't do anything without their leader. They're dumb as [email protected]#$" As Rose spat out her finished cigarette, she looks into her scope, turning the dial to a perfect zoom.

The Axis Captain was looking at William blood-red into the eye, she aimed her gun at him and shouted out "Give her back~rrgh....".

"Hey calm down, let's negotiate. If I give you her, then you have to stop the fighting now and give up your corrupted guardian this instant. If not, I would shoot you and her, or one of you." William tried to sweet-talk the rotting pale lady in a rather scratched out old uniform. Cute Bra, but it's old and black.

"No, you give me the girl and I tell my soldiers to stop ....sch Sch..shooting~" She growled as she stared at him in a rather panicked way.

William decided to commence the plan, he made the signal by moving his feet around the mud.

Rose ready, she snickered and took the shot.

However, things took a drastic turn. It was windier for the past few seconds. The wind blew harder, as time slowed, the bullet penetrated the wrong skin, through the skull and out the top.

The sorrowful male who thought he could make a change for the future failed considerably due to a sniper's mistake. It was the cockiness of the sniper which failed to make a proper aim, not the male. His plan would have worked out perfectly if the aim wasn't a few degrees lower than usual.

William shot down accidentally, Rose dropped her Rifle in shock. "No...no...it can't be." Silvenna and Faltina were in shock, covering their mouth from screaming.

Faltina took her walkie-talkie and uttered the words which would sadden most of the people. "Man down, I repeat... man down. Negotiation failed, Fail-safe failed... VIP failed."

As William's mouth protruded a warm metal taste of blood, he saw a light, beaming towards him in those few seconds.

The Axis Captain chuckled and grabbed her hostage soldier, immediately disappearing with a snap of her fingers.

Rose in guilt, dropped down onto the floor. She softly sobbed as she held her urge to vomit. "It is not my fault I swear...it is not my fault." Faltina calmed her down by patting Rose's back.

As the gunfights died down due to the accomplishment of the mission for the Axis side, The clones retreated.

General Ferdunov hearing the news in the room's speaker, she ran to the area of conflict, she took off her hat as she ran towards the area. She shakes her head in disbelief as she bit her lips.

Captain Shanina, Chau-Min and Sherrinford confused of what is happening decided to head to the General, only to end up in shock.

"Who did this, what happened?" General Ferdunov asked as she rubs her forehead.

Captain Shanina and the other two shook their head as they didn't know what happened. They saw their friend's body laying on the ground like a dead corpse. The person that laughed, cry and partied with them during the free times. Even though they only hung out for a few months, it felt as if they knew him for a years.

Faltina and Silvenna got down from the roof, leaving Rose behind. They walked towards the area of conflict, slowly walking in respect. "Rose misfired...A negotiation couldn't work out and the only fail-safe well... is there" Silvenna answered softly.

"Rose...huh...Get her arrested now." General Ferdunov whispered softly.

"But ma'am the wind~ " Faltina was about to tell the General as she was stopped by the General who turned her head with an angry look of a grin.

"Get...Her...Arrested, NOW!" She ordered as she crunched her fist, crushing her hat. "Whether an accident or not, I need a report. How am I going to tell his mother? I promised her that I would treat him as my own son. You do know his mother is an important person yes... she is able enough to sue an entire government due to her past political status." General whispered softly to Chau-min and the other two.

Faltina and Silvenna in guilt, did as they followed and headed back to the roof, cuffing up Rose.

"Falt, Silv, What are you doing?! It is an accident. It was an accident! I swear..." She struggled as she was being put on some cuffs.

"General's orders, it is not our problem anymore, anyone is a suspect whether a friend or teammate," Faltina explained.

"How are we going to treat the body?" Chau-Min asked trying to look away from the corpse as she checks her equipment in the bag.

"He needs to go as quickly as possible to the hospital before even thinking of what to do next, Chau. You're a doctor you should know better." Sherrinford answered.

"Oh, fuck off. Says the person who joined a military yet can't even master a simple rifle for shit."

Captain Shanina looks away, having bare sympathy or feelings. She has already seen countless people die including her friends and family, there was no point shedding another tear.

A static sound could be heard as something was being picked up. 'A recorder, what's this doing here?' A voice sounded. 'Could it be someone recording intel, I should get it to General then, she may know what to do with this. Where's the power button, ah here."

With that, the tape suddenly cuts off.

---Tape Ends---

Mary taken aback, she asks herself. "How did he survive? He got shot severely. Wait, if the crystal was enough to heal my wounds, is resurrection possible? After all, the crystal's energy is really powerful, I presume. That's what Selina said when she told me the story." Looking at the crystal necklace that she was wearing as a gift from NZ, she takes a look at it. 'Is it true?'

"The reason why we're, I am living like this is because of our own fault?"