Outside sitting at a table on the church's balcony was Mark, switching between radio frequencies at random trying to get intel on Imperia or TGA matters. He couldn't find any useful information, only small talk between soldiers.

Mikael approached with his hands in his pocket. "Find anything?"

"Nothing but status reports."

"Agggh!" Mikael groaned while taking off his hat and scratching his head "We're sitting ducks! We need to start making our move or it'll be too late. That machine you saw in the factory could be released at any moment and when it does, more people will die."

Mark was similarly anxious. He switched between frequencies one last time and managed to get a distress call from Leo Bandit and another resistance fighter. The static made things hard to hear, the blanks in between the crackling was up to interpretation,

"Imperia... test prototype railgun… destroying everything on the… triad… hurry!"

Afterwards they heard a couple explosions in the background and Leo's final scream before the call was cut leaving blank silence. Mark rose from his seat ready to take action likewise with Mikael. They stopped by Amelia to tell her what happened on the other end of the call and she was onboard to investigate along with Clarette. Sharrion was busy with developing a secret tool for them to use, leaving the matters of getting any kind of data of this prototype railgun to Clarette. She was handed a camera to use to take pictures of said prototype railgun which Sharrion believed to be similar to the magic cannon railgun on the EF-1.

The group hurried to the lower triad, the same desolate town where they encountered Ibuki but further along the path brought them back into the slums formerly occupied by the TGA and now deserted once more and in ruins presumably from the railgun used. The shantytown buildings fell apart like a stack of cards and the taller buildings with a modicum of structure had gaping holes from the cannon's blasts. Clarette took a few pictures of the wreckage while the group split not too far from each other looking for traces of Leo's resistance group or the enemy.

The blasts of magic chard the rusted metal roofs many of the shanty buildings had and left furniture littered in Its path of destruction. Mikael crouched by a small stool blackened at the ends where it was vaporized and looking ahead, he saw where the railgun shot tore through, leaving a hole in on the side of a two story building. Perhaps an apartment from the looks of things when he looked inside and when he walked through to the other side he was startled by a street lamp beside him flickering on. There wasn't anything of interest, only debris left behind, the dust and forgotten memories of people who once struggled to live here and now they were in a better place. Anything was better than living in Imperia's slums and that's a statement anyone can get behind at first glance of this hellhole. Mikael let out a deep breath and turnedーready to reconvene with Seraphim when a dagger shot out from nowhere and pinned his shadow.

He was able to turn his head slightly to see the dagger impaling the neck of his shadow but his body refused to move no matter how hard he struggled. Despite this triad covered under the shadow of the higher ones, the dagger's blade had a pure reflection like sunlight. Mikael could feel magic emitting from it. The fog cleared and made way for two individuals who stopped at a distance from their target. Mikael could see them from the corner of his eye, one in a yellow jumpsuit and the other in Imperia's officer uniform.

"This guy looks different from the rest, think he's in bandit flower, Cynthia?" The sharp eared male in the jumpsuit asked his partner who responded in a bored tone. "Dunno, either way we'll have to kill him, Doza."

Doza lifted the long rifle with two barrels above each other and electricity crackling in between at random intervals. He effortlessly held the thick and heavy weapon, taking steady aim at Mikael. "Might as well use the rest of the energy this thing has left." The electricity grew thick as he pulled the trigger to charge the weapon. Now lightning striking the ground and sky from the barrel, dense energy pulsing so great that Mikael could feel it tingling on his back. When Doza fired a blast of lightning, Mikael had been released from the bind and a split moment to slow time relative to himself. His world turned white and black but even with time slowed, the lightning bullet moved at a moderate pace, nearly hitting Mikael who threw himself to the side to avoid the attack; and time resumed.

"So he dodged it, eh?" Doza rubbed his chin with a glint of interest in his technique. Mikael took this time to draw his pistol whilst on the ground but his shot was swiftly deflected midair from Cynthia's thrown dagger.

"Shit!" Mikael muttered under his breath. Doza's grin grew wide and he took aim once again. "You're pretty good. This compact velocity railgun uses magic to propel small bullet shaped rods. But this magic here isn't used in a conventional way. By mixing wind and lightning I'm able to create a magical reaction that is condensed and used to shoot. Normally by France Grand Magic Theory, lightning would cancel out wind but if they strike each other at a certain angle at a specific moment then they can create a burst, a nuclear-like explosion. That bullet traveled at speeds only few jets can reach, that is, mach 1. The human body can't handle speeds that high without giving something in return." He pointed at Mikael's left arm which was completely limp. He didn't even notice his shoulder had dislocated. "Now then, let's see how much your body can handle..!"

Mikael kicked himself back to his feet and dove to avoid a shot of lightning, rolling to the side to hide behind a pile of debris. But Doza shot recklessly, shooting the pile of debris and reducing it to nothing with the railgun. Although Mikael was clearly gone from that spot, Doza kept firing then aimed at random places not caring if he hit Mikael or not. He destroyed barrels, wreckage, tables and crates, anything that looked like a place even a rat could hide.

"These guys are gonna kill me!" Mikael winced as the metal box he hid behind shook and trembled with each hit inflicted. It was thick enough to take a few shots but not several. Doza on the other hand noticed the end of the railgun's barrel ignited reddish orange and smoke from repeated fire. "Just a little more!" He fired over and over wasting every shot he had, destroying whole buildings and leaving craters on the ground. Dust started to fill the area. Mikael raised his head with a gasp then jumped out of cover to avoid rubble crashing down.

The railgun made a clicking sound prompting Doza to lower the fuming weapon. Cynthia sweeped her eyes from left to right at the carnage and then shot him a side glance "That was excessive."

"What can I say? Tools like this are meant to be broken." Doza spun his heel, beginning to walk away with his partner soon following. He rubbed his nose, unbothered by his atrocities and spoke out loud "Field successful, the EA(Eminence Arm) is capable of eliminating enemies with a single direct hit. The bullet is able to travel several kilometers and can pierce through multiple reinforced steel walls. We can mass produce these to create an effective force to push Japan out of Imperia's borders. However any soldier equipped with this must go under psychological therapy and take medication to dull emotion to prevent a guilt induced mental breakdown from the carnage caused. Make sure to remind me to write that all down."

"Affirmative." Cynthia responded.

Thenーspringing out from a cardboard box beside a trash card, Mark reached out and grabbed Cynthia by the collar holding his gun pointed at her head. But this was just a figment of his imagination as in actuality Cynthia was the one who held him by the collar holding his socom aimed at him. This manipulation of his perception caused a sharp snap to ring in his head; something akin to a fight or flight reaction. He jabbed his fist under Cynthia's jaw then twisted her arm to make her drop the socom. But she would retaliate after dropping the gun and flipped to twist her arm back. Cynthia countered the grab by sweeping her leg behind Mark's knees to easily lift him up and drop him to the ground. After the impact, Mark rolled to the side just before she kicked with a spike heel. Mid roll his eyesight caught wind of a new face.

"There you are!" Shouted Ibuki who ran in from behind Mark. She had her katana reeled back and swung with a wide slash that Doza stepped in to deflect using his railgun. The weight of it nearly made Ibuki fall back from recoil but she aimed to strike again, this time Doza swung his railgun down at her blade, getting the tip stuck in dirt. She released the sword letting it drop and dashed to the side to avoid a swing of Doza's fist and during her dodge she picked up Mark's pistol.

Ibuki drew a dagger from a back holster to dual wield. Her target was mainly Cynthia, Mark could tell by the fierce glaring in her remaining eye. She was heavily focused on incapacitating Cynthia even if it meant hurting herself more in the process. Mark warned "She's good at CQC."

"I know." Ibuki had been practicing her techniques to finally match her 'rival' who bested her multiple times in combat. But for some reason Cynthia let her live, always sparing her after a win. "I won't easily lose with this, Knife! Gun!" She held the two weapons closely together "Knifegun! Come on!"

Mark's eyes widened noticing the specific fighting style she was using. "That's Midare's technique! Did… did she really teach that to a young girl like this? She's gonna get herself killed." He thought.

Cynthia walked forward drawing a black dagger as she did, holding it in a reverse grip similar to Ibuki "Sure I guess." She said nonchalantly.

Cynthia then rushed forward, baiting Ibuki into a swing with her knife and grabbing her wrist once she did. She tried to punch Ibuki on the nose but her fist was blocked with the pistol which prompted Cynthia to back away a little when she started firing warning shots. But Cynthia's reproach was swift and like a snake, opening with a slash that Ibuki stopped midway by grabbing her wrist but it was what Cynthia wanted, letting her grip loosen on her dagger and having it forcibly knocked out of her hand, it was on instinct any individual with a gun against an unarmed foe would point their gun at said foe. And that Ibuki did, however with one hand holding the gun it was easy for Cynthia to grab the pistol by the slide and angle it away from her body. She struck Ibuki in the face then twisted her wrist around to loosen the grip just enough that she could smack it out of her hand. And like that the battle was over swiftly, ending with Cynthia tossing Ibuki over to eat dirt.

Mark turned to Amelia and Clarette who were hiding in the distance with rifles aimed at the ready. He shouted "Take the shot!"

But he was met with the most unexpected reply. "What shot? They're already gone!"

Cynthia and Doza were gone like the wind. Amelia moved her head away from the scope of her rifle and Clarette lowered her camera, both with squinted eyes because Cynthia and Doza just...vanished…?

Mark scanned the area for any traces but nothing was left behind. He moved over to Ibuki lying face down on the ground and shook her to wake up. He had silent anger wishing he had intervened in their battle or fought Cynthia instead due to how much stronger she was. He slightly underestimated her combat abilities, the young girl didn't look fit for the battlefield much like Mikael. The increasing discoveries of children on the battlefield made him feel he had to take matters into his own hands and stop Warui on his own, but Midare's words were deeply embedded in his soul leaving a permanent scar of emotion. Feeling he never wanted to have.

Ibuki sat up uninjured but demoralized deeper than any pitfall. But Mikael had seen better days, leaning on a wall holding his arm knowing what he had to do but not courageous enough to do it. Mark had to fix his arm for him, keeping his arm still then with one swift motion, snapping it back into place making Mikael a groaning mess. The pain lingered throughout his arm and he couldn't do much but twist and turn and punch the ground.

"What happened?" Clarette winced seeing him squirm.

"Dislocated arm. He'll be fine."

The rifle in Amelia's hands vanished into particles. "Why did Cardinal Doza and Cardinal Cynthia attack this place?"

"They attacked the TGA and innocents based here." Ibuki responded. The TGA held back on advancing thanks to Ibuki but as a result, Cynthia took the opportunity to attack and kill the little soldiers that remained by. No one survived. By the time Seraphim and Ibuki arrived in the city it was too late. As for Bandit Flower, it was unclear whether they survived or not. Mark switched to their frequency on his radio and was met by constant static.

"They were cardinals? I can't believe it… they're so strong." Mikael lifted back to his feet with Clarette's assistance.

Amelia tapped her chin "I don't know too much about them. They're a complete mystery. Especially Cynthia who was recruited randomly. Thanks to this attack, both sides are going to be on the offensive. Maybe if we hit Imperia where it hurts, we can stop them from creating more weapons of mass destruction."

The group's roaming thoughts were interrupted when a helicopter affiliated with Imperia flew overhead and towards the direction of the church. They grew anxious, every thought now urging them to hurry back to the church. Amelia was the first to run off but stopped when a helicopter descended in front of her. The door slid open and Jean followed by two soldiers who ran past Amelia stepped out. Her head turned and a loud gasp escaped her breath when the soldiers stuck cuffs around Clarette's wrists and dragged her back to the vehicle. She didn't struggled in their forcefull grip, remaining stoic like Mark would. The winds from the helicopter made Jean's hair majestically flow, the sounds of the propellers too loud for Amelia's group to hear. He waited until the helicopter flew away before speaking calmly with a smirk on his face.

"I have to thank you for safely retrieving the girl for us. Truly!" He clapped slowly "She's just like her brother, a tactical mind. I'm surprised you managed to convince her to stay in this city."

Amelia twisted her nose unable to contain her grievances "Y-you..! What is the meaning of this?!" Her heavy french accent made itself more apparent.

Forde raised an eyebrow "Surely you knew we needed the girl."

Amelia's hand trembled and eye twitched. Aggressively growling just itching to start an unwise fight. Tricked and betrayed like this… She wanted to sink her teeth into his throat and rip his neck out.

"She… she…" Amelia struggled to find the words to use that wouldn't severely damage their relations with the cardinals. Instead of exchanging words, Mark sprung into battle with an opening wide slash with a dagger he picked up earlier.

The attack was easily blocked by a magic barrier Forde put up with one hand. He glared at Mark through the transparent guard "With a reverse grip like that, you won't be able to cut anything." He thrusted his hand forward and pushed Mark back.

"I'm taking you all in for questioning. Drop your weapons and follow me back to HQ and I'll make sure the church's name is untainted." Jean moved his eyes to Mikael and Ibuki "But for you…"

Amelia looked back at Mark looking for what action he'd take but this decision whether to accept Jean's offer or not what Amelia's choice, as a captain and head of Seraphim. Mark closed his eyes and dropped his knife. "..." Amelia dropped a sweat. Her heartbeat deafening the sound of metal tapping the concrete ground. Instinctively her arm rose and conjured up a pistol she used to shoot Jean in the shoulder.

He staggered back from the hit unwounded thanks to his bullet proof padding under his uniform. Raising his hand he gathered flames into a large ball.

"You see this? This is the magic that TGA fears. An ever growing rose with thorns yet they believe we are monsters." Forde pointed at the group "Banned spell; aggress flamme!"

The ball of fire slowly moved towards the group. Mikael used his accelerate ability to grab Ibuki and quickly move out of the fireball's range. Amelia grew her wings and grabbed Mark, flying upwards to avoid the explosive blast of the fireball.

"Not bad for a vampire! But there are lots of banned spells the world keeps secret. Lightning wire!" Forde shot up a wire made of blue lightning that wrapped around Amelia's leg. The wire shocked her and he pulled down the vampire with incredible strength, causing her to crash onto the ground, dropping Mark from her grasp.

He turned around to see Mark and Amelia pick themselves up. The flames burning behind him creating a monstrous sight, "Do you now see the future of an all magic world? Destruction and terror everywhere! The beauty of the world will be destroyed by humanity's hands if we allow the TGA to win. So please, give up."

Amelia retorted "The world Warui wants is full of conflict. I want to see flowers grow on old battlefields, not more corpses."

"I guess this betrayal makes Seraphim a group of fallen angels. What was I expecting… a vampire would never understand." Forde sighed while shaking his head.

Mark had one weapon left in his arsenal, the dual pistols Clarette had brought with her. He still didn't know how they operated and using them in a do or die situation was foolish. He wasn't one for taking chances but his luck this time around was high. "..?!" Through some unknown means, from the magazine slot two blades extended downwards. It was awkward holding two gun with a blade like sword and turning it upside down didn't elevate that feeling either; He dropped one of the pistols for now. Nonetheless it was what he had to work with. He ran forward and came to a skidding halt, having to jump over a fireball Forde shot out. He waited for Forde to shoot out a lightning wire then pulled out his trump card. A sharp idea he got after analyzing Chronos.

Gathering magic around his feet so that when the lightning wire struck, it created a brief magic barrier for him to hop off into a flip.

"He double jumped?!" Jean exclaimed, just as surprised as everyone else. Mark landed behind the painter and dashed closer to slash. Jean unsheathed his combat dagger to clash with Mark's blade, parrying and knocked one pistol out of Mark's hands then aimed for a thrust. Mark grabbed Forde's arm stopping the dagger from plunging his chest by mere inches and the two were locked in a struggle. "You don't even know what you're fighting for." Jean said.

Mark replied with a weak answer "To stop you."

Jean's eye twitched as he used all his strength trying to stab Mark. "Creation comes from destruction. It's only fate."

Mark's hand trembled holding back Forde's arm full of hatred. "It's not fate." He quickly pushed back and slammed his fist under Jean's jaw making the man stumble back and lean on the wall for support. Mark picked up Jean's dropped dagger and held it to his throat. "Fate doesn't exist in battle."

"Heh only a fated individual like you can say that. But… an individual alone cannot change his fate." Forde paused, feeling the blood drip from his mouth to the ground, his cracked jaw starting to affect him. "Mark… there's something I didn't tell you about my tale."

Mark furrowed his brow, intrigued but kept his dagger aimed.

"When I returned to Imperia… my family and friends all hated me for that choice. I tried to explain to them how much more important they meant to me but yet they still complained. Why would you return?! Why did you throw your entire career away for us?" Forde lowered his eyelids.

"From there I found out how selfish this world was. Everyone is focused on destroying what's there."

He outstretched his arms "I want you to finish me off Mark. So that I may be reborn into the new world just as you!"

Mark lowered his dagger then swiped his arm to the right tossing it. "I won't. Now get out of our way." He turned away unable to look at the pathetic artist any longer.

Forde closed his eyes, smiling ever so slightly. Although he wouldn't be killed and reborn into the new world, he would at least live to see Mark bring upon real change. For years he had faked his happiness for others, looking for someone other than himself who wanted to create something for the future. And so he saw, in his mind… the painting of Clarette. A blonde woman with the beauty of white lilies..?

No… when he opened his eyes, blurred vision and darkened, he saw Amelia the last memory he would ever have.

Amelia slowly pulled out the bladed pistol from Jean's chest. His body falling limb to the ground in a small puddle of blood. She stepped away and slowly turned to glance at the look at the despair and darkened shadow over Mark's face. Not again, not another death again. Brave soldiers didn't have to die, men with dreams and were simply fighting to protect. Even though they were the enemy, Mark still couldn't help but feel immense guilt, dread, and existentialism from killing.

Mark pushed Amelia to the wall. He balled his hand into a fist that trembled with anger and couldn't bring himself to punch her for some reason. "Why… why…" was all he could say….