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***

"W-what did you do to me?! What is happening?" ( Ichika )

Ichika continued asking her father about what he had done to her and her friends. Kenji wasn't sure how to respond to his daughter since he was the one who put Ichika under a sleeping effect.

"Ichika, you aren't thinking straight! That monster over there has been brainwashing you and us this whole time. He is not your friend nor is he someone we can trust." ( Kenji )

He looked at his own daughter as he was trying to protect himself from any sudden attack.

"Brainwash? What are you talking about!? Hatsuko never did anything like that! In the last weeks that I spent with him, I could feel that he was a nice person! How did you come up with something like that?!" ( Ichika )

"You stupid daughter! Just stay here and don’t go near him!" ( Kenji )

"What?! Why are you acting like thi--" ( Ichika )

She was on the verge of crying as she continued asking her father.

"--You really want answers?! Look at him! He is killing everyone in this city! He is a monster that wanted to destroy everything!!" ( Kenji )

Kenji’s voice cracked a little as he was trying to show his daughter what was happening.

"No, he’s not like this! You must have done something!" ( Ichika )

But Ichika refused to believe that her father’s words were actually true. She believed in the person she fell in love with. But that kind of answer didn't make Kenji happy, making him slap his own daughter with the back of his hand.

"Hyaa!" ( Ichika )

Ichika was still a bit tired from suddenly waking, causing her to fall on her knees from her father’s slap.

"WAKE UP! THAT MONSTER IS MESSING WITH YOUR BRAIN!" ( Kenji )

While Kenji was trying to control his own daughter and make her believe that his words were the truth, the sky was getting even darker than before, polluting the air inside with burned human flesh.

"Father… How could you!" ( Ichika )

Her eyes started tearing up from the way her father was acting. It made her feel confused because her father has never hit Ichika up until now. To her it felt like he was completely a different person.

...

The ground was filled with dead bodies and it was hard to walk around. But that didn't stop A.F from moving forward. While taking each step, the dead bodies started burning to ashes, opening a straight line for A.F to walk into. Within 1,000 meters there barely was any sign of alive humans, leaving the most skilled hunters of the city barely standing.

Kenji looked at how A.F was moving forward as he was preparing to fight at any moment. Kenji was the strongest human in this city, making him admired by all of the citizens. But right now, he was nothing else but a small man who was afraid to even take one step forward. His hands couldn't hold more than one of his swords, making his body really heavy from even taking deep breaths.

Was fighting that monster an option for him?

No.

Was running away from there an option for him?

No…

He already knew that there was no escape from the destruction which Hatsuko was bringing upon this city and all of its citizens. With each step A.F took, the more he could feel that his time was running out.

Until… A.F finally turned his head around and looked at Kenji.

"HEEEEEEEK!!!!!!" ( Kenji )

Just from staring at its face, Kenji fell down into his knees as tears were sliding out of his eyes in fear. From underneath Kenji’s feet, green spikes came out that could pierce any kind of thing.

"AGHHH!!!" ( Kenji )

The strongest man of this city was easily killed as he had already lost his mind. But as he was losing consciousness, he looked at Hatsuko. Then he realised that… that thing over there wasn't a human, but neither a monster…

What he saw in his last few seconds... was the view of a being that surpassed everything that existed in this world.

"Ha...tsuko…" ( Ichika )

She tried reaching her hand towards him, not knowing that what might happen next, was going to cost her life. But before the spikes could reach Ichika, a white blur rescued her from A.F. It was a white haired girl with two different eye colors.

Not noticing that her father was dead, Ichika kept looking at Shiro, wondering who she was and why she felt safe with her. Shiro used to play with Ichika a lot when she was in her cat form, that's why Ichika trusted her without knowing that the person she was being saved was actually Shiro.

"Who are you?" ( Ichika )

Ichika asked her. But instead of responding, Shiro smiled warmly, letting her know that everything was going to be fine.

Shiro let Ichika back into her feat somewhere far from A.F.

"Okay, so this is everyone?" ( Akemi )

Akemi looked at everyone in here.

"What's going on?!" ( Chloe )

"What happened to the city?!" ( Hina )

Both of them were confused and scared at the same time. It wasn't long before they had woken up from the sleeping effect. But thanks to Shiro, they managed to stay alive.

"ughh, you humans ask so many questions. This will explain everything." ( Akemi )

With a snap of her fingers, a white orb appeared in front of every single girl in this group.

"Huh? It’s floating?" ( Chloe )

"You know what’s going on?" ( Ichika )

"Akemi, what happened?" ( Hina )

The three girls kept asking while Shiro and the twin sisters were quietly standing by.

"Stop with the questions. If you touch the memory orb in front of you, you’ll understand everything that has happened until now." ( Akmei )

They didn't seem to have any other choice than to do as Akemi said to them. Anyone wouldn't know what to think if they suddenly woke up and found half of the city was destroyed.

...

All of the girls slightly touched the orb that Akemi made for them. And as Akemi explained before, all of the information that Akemi had about this situation was transferred to everyone in this group.

Chloe was standing still for a bit after knowing what was happening in this city.

"How could there be such a misunderstanding… that's just cruel." ( Chloe )

Ichika started crying as she continued holding the orb until it disappeared to dust.

"N-no… this was my father’s plan the whole time… Why did he do that? Why did he put his whole family under his sleeping pills? And now because of him, everything is being destroyed." ( Ichika )

One of the mistakes that Kenji had maken was that he did most of his plans without a care that Akemi was nearby. He would have never thought that Akemi would be half conscious.

Even though Chloe barely knew Ichika, she couldn't just watch her cry like that. She went by her side and hugged her really tight.

"Hic, e-even Hatsuko is suffering right now. Hic..." ( Ichika )

Ichika felt Chloe’s warmth and kindness which made her burst into tears.

"It’s ok, we’re going to bring him back." ( Chloe )

"B-but, how? I have seen his strength before, and he could kill any of us with a single hit." ( Hina )

Chloe looked at Hina after letting go of Ichika.

"You are... Hina, right?" ( Chloe )

"Yes, why?" ( Hina )

"I saw you from the memory orb, you have been living with him for quite some time." ( Chloe )

"He was the only person who let me live in his house for some time. So I'm in debt to him…" ( Hina )

"I’m in debt to him as well. If it wasn't for Hatsuko, I wouldn't be here right now. He may be cold sometimes, but he can also be a very sweet person at the same time. That's what made me fall in love with him." ( Chloe )

Hina looked a bit surprised from Chloe’s confession.

"Okay, before you go into your mating season, I have to go and stop Hatsuko." ( Akemi )

Everyone looked at Akemi a bit worried.

"We’re going with you! I may look like this but I am a trained assassin!" ( Chloe )

"That's right, we can’t just let you go alone!" ( Hina )

"M-me too!" ( Ichika )

Other than Shiro, no one else knew that Akemi was actually a dragon in the Human form. That's why she decided to show her dragon wings and her aura.

"I was told by Hatsuko to not tell anyone, but I guess I make this is an exception." ( Akemi )

Akemi gave everyone another memory orb showing them how she met Hatsuko and how she was actually a massive dragon.

"I… can’t believe this…" ( Hina )

"A real dragon…" ( Chloe )

They couldn’t believe that, right in front of them was a dragon in a human form, but on the other hand that explained why she acted like that.

"That's why I want you to leave this to me." ( Akemi )

"But aren't you still recovering from a wound?" ( Hina )

"That won’t be a problem anymore now that I have found a piece of the artifact." ( Akemi )

She said as she pointed her finger towards Chloe’s necklace.

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