Soul Spark

13 - Castrum Dei

“Shit, no signal here.” Sakuto complained, the functionality of his earpiece a bit faulty given his location. “As expected. Let’s get to the surface, we’ll let the rest of the team know what’s up from there.”

“At least we know where the elevator is now.” Ichika said. “Strangely enough, I don’t sense any presences nearby.”

“Could be that they’re too busy dealing with something else. If nothing’s in the way, we better get the fuck out of here, fast.”

Sakuto grabbed the paper with sketches on it, and they all rushed to the second elevator. Quickly pressing on the highest floor available, they waited in anticipation for their escape from the area.

“Interesting...” Sakuto said, continuing to read the paper. “This also mentions how there’s a whole-ass transformation sequence...”

“Umm...where are we going now?” Hiroshi asked.

“To Moscow.” Sakuto replied. “We’re gonna try and find something there.”

The elevator shook.

“What the hell was that?” Ichika exclaimed.

“Probably some combat outside.” Sakuto. “Even more of a reason why we should leave fast-”

Another, significantly louder explosion took place. It shook not just the elevator, but also the ground itself. The lights in the elevator flickered. Yumichi looked around in excitement, and Hiroshi was terrified.

They arrived at the base floor of the HQ, and once the doors were opened, they got the explanations they needed...

Chunks of the building were destroyed, subject to heavy artillery shells striking it. Gunfire surrounded them from all sides, with the voidflames trying their hardest to hold the line from the invaders - the soulless.

“Now, go!” One of the soldiers yelled, preparing to push forward. His comrades, loyally following him, changed positions and, providing cover fire, allowed the leader of their group to clean up a smaller group of voidflames.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Sakuto yelled, before having to quickly shield them from a shell that landed dangerously close. He dispersed the shadow barrier as fast as he could.

“This is bad...”

“Considering the scale of the fight, I assume the building is fully surrounded.”

“The only way out of this is to get to the very top.”

“Everyone, get ready.” Sakuto said. A small pool of shadows formed beneath his feet, as he prepared to lunge himself and his group upwards. But unfortunately for him, he saw something fly in his direction.

“Sakuto! Grenade!!!” Ichika yelled, using an ice blast to knock it away. As much as her protective instincts likely saved the kids, it also revealed to all those present about just what kind of soulfuls were in the area.

A pair of soldiers witnessed it first hand.

“They’re here!” One of them radio’d. “The Heisei’s fighters are-”

He was shot in the head by a voidflame. The same voidflame’s brethren killed the other one, delivering an array of lethal gunshots to the latter’s head. Instead of continuing their advance towards the soulless, they turned their attention to Sakuto.

“Damn it, they’re fucking everywhere!” Sakuto exclaimed. “And how the hell are we supposed to get to the top?”

He shielded everyone with shadow barriers.

The soulless pushed forward more and more. Helicopter rotors could be heard outside, they deployed additional troops to the higher levels. Simultaneously, the abundance of presences signified the large concentration of voidflames in the area.

“Alright...”

“Come on. You got this.” The soldier thought to himself, preparing to approach the building. He narrowly avoided an explosive projectile, even stopping for a bit to appreciate the miracle. Scared, he stood still.

“Hey, Aki, don’t zone out!” His comrade tapped him on his back. Aki quickly recollected himself, continuing the advance. His hands were a little shaky, but he held his rifle with confidence. He volunteered to be there.

He entered through one of the blasted away walls. He carefully checked his perimeter, at times being distracted by the sight of other soldiers fighting. He even saw a few of them get shot on the spot. It made him want to throw up, but he tried his hardest to shake it off and entered deeper into the building.

He aimed his rifle at a voidflame in the distance and fired. It dropped dead instantly. He quickly hid back behind cover, trying to follow the brief combat instructions he had received when signing up. When he peeked again, he saw the force that he knew he shouldn’t provoke.

“Holy shit...there they are, the Heisei...”

“Must be a walk in the park being this strong.”

“Wait...”

“Is that...”

“Sakuto...?” He stared at his old acquaintance. He tried to take aim at him but it was probably just an excuse to try and get a better look at him.

“No, no way that’s him. He looks like someone completely different.”

And at that moment, Sakuto manifested his shadows with enough power to break the ceiling open.

“God damn it, why the fuck aren’t you two bulletproof?” Sakuto asked. “Ichika, raise more ice barriers, we’ll make it in time!”

“Got it!” Ichika said. Two profoundly large ice blasts acted as not only area control to ward off some of the enemies, but also as barriers to secure a safe passage for the kids. Sakuto, using his shadows to quickly manifest a staircase, quickly grabbed the kids by their clothes and sprinted upwards. This update ıs available on NoveIＦire.net

While he expected the second floor to be relatively clear, he couldn’t be any less correct.

The soldiers who had broken into the area quickly took aim at them, and the voidflames, who were already in a gunfight with them, had no difficulty switching targets. They were sprayed with gunfire, and Sakuto's reflexes saved the kids’ lives. Hiding behind shadow barricades, Sakuto captured one of the soldiers’ weapons with a shadow tendril and took it for himself - doing the same for another weapon for Ichika.

“Come on. We try the same strategy to cross to the next floor.” Sakuto said. “You ready?”

“Ready!” Ichika said. She prepared to conjure the ice, but something got in the way. She heard the sound of multiple metallic objects rolling towards them, and while she did the right move to brace for impact, those weren’t explosives.

“These are...”

“Smoke grenades?”

“Shit! You two, grab onto me!” Sakuto said, trying to grab a hold of the kids. But scarily enough, they weren’t where they were supposed to be. “Hey! Yumichi! Where the hell are you two?!”

Immediately, gunfire was flying in from almost all directions.

“I’m here!” He heard Yumichi’s cry a little further away from him. Either his fear, or his quick decision making made him lay down on the floor. While Sakuto was absorbing bullets like a sponge, he was at least avoiding most of it.

“Then get towards me! Here, I’ll flare up my presence!” Sakuto yelled, doing just that. Ichika, hearing and sensing that, did that too. Sakuto made his way through the smoke, on his way, stumbling upon soldiers who he quickly killed and voidflames whom he decapitated even quicker.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from NovelFire. Please report it.

He finally found Yumichi, and there was a corpse laying on top of him. He saw that Yumichi was holding onto a rifle.

“Yumichi...did you...?”

“This guy tried to kill me!” Yumichi said in anger. The building shook again. “Where’s...where’s big sis?”

“I’m right here.” Ichika said, approaching them as she held onto Hiroshi. “We need to get up, fast.”

“Then get as close to me as you can.” Sakuto said.

“I’ll deal with this using the Jackal doctrine.”

He summoned a large, sharp shadow tentacle and swept the area - killing everything that was unfortunate enough to be caught in its way. The broken walls were no longer strong enough to fully support the building, it shook more - both from Sakuto’s attacks and the onslaught of bombardment.

“All of this would’ve been child’s play if we didn’t have to worry about protecting Yumichi and Hiroshi so much...but then again, we’re the only ones who can keep them safe like this.”

He destroyed the ceiling again, and this time, wrapping a shadow string around everyone, attached everyone to himself and flung himself upwards. He did so multiple times until he was about halfway through the building. But before he could do it again...

He looked out of the glass panes surrounding the area, and found himself being stared at by an attack helicopter.

“Falcon twelve, confirming soulful targets.” The pilot relayed.

“Engage.”

“Engaging targets.” The pilot confirmed.

“Shit!” Sakuto quickly broke the strings apart and focused almost all of his shadows to manifest a barrier in front of him. What followed suit was the raw power of the industrial military complex.

The restless spray of the machine gun destroyed the glass and applied more and more force onto the barrier. The stream of rockets mercilessly annihilated any and all obstacles in the way, delivering explosive impact that risked breaking the building and the group’s footing completely. What was worse, however, is that voidflames were preparing to flank them, but at least Ichika could hold the line.

“Damn it, do something about that thing!” Ichika said, feeling not only the intensity of the bombardment and the gradual weakening of the floor and even the ceiling, but also major tremors, shaking the building like a pile of jelly.

Sakuto focused for a second.

“If I can just take the gunner out...”

“Then get ready!” Sakuto yelled. A small, almost unnoticeable tendril slowly crawled through the ground, eventually reaching the shattered windows behind which the chopper was putting in the work. Sakuto poked a tiny hole in his barrier to look, he did end up catching a few bullets with his face but they did nothing.

“Targets not absorbing damage.” The pilot relayed. “Requesting additional firepower.”

“Additional firepower is already on its way. Keep the target in the designated location.”

“Understood.”

But by the time the comms were relayed, the gunman found himself with a sharp shadow tentacle in his throat. A second later, his head was sliced off. For just a few seconds, the gunfire stopped. Sakuto popped out of the tendril and quickly got rid of the pilot too, tossing his and the gunman’s bodies overboard.

“Fuck...”

“No. I’ve seen these things in mil-sims. I have a general idea on how to control this thing. It’s a temporary means anyway...”

Ichika, surrounding herself with frozen barriers, looked at Sakuto. He signaled to her to get on board. Carefully, he tried bringing the chopper closer to the window, but decided not to risk it.

“Piloting this thing in real life is way more complicated...”

Ichika led the group to the helicopter. She built an ice bridge and, holding the kids’ hands, quickly guided them to the chopper. In fact, Hiroshi almost slipped on the ice. They crammed themselves into the cockpit.

“Come on. Let’s get out-”

Bullets started striking the chopper.

Sakuto tried to pull the chopper upwards and side to side, but the controls were proving strangely difficult to handle. It took him a few dozen seconds extra to figure out how to fly it away. At that time, the chopper was starting to accumulate damage.

“Ichika, take care of the problems on the ground.” Sakuto said, flying the chopper away.

“Wait, can I? Please please please!!!” Yumichi said with the joy of a billion suns. “Can I take the gunner seat?”

“You want to-”

“He has already killed once.” Sakuto interrupted Ichika. “Yumichi, you and your big sis will take care of ground targets. Do uhh...do you even know how to use this thing?”

“Of course I do!” Yumichi yelled, quickly forcing himself on the gunner seat. And a second later, the chopper’s weaponry started butchering the soldiers and voidflames on the ground, ripping them to pieces. Ichika didn’t even have to aid them with anything.

“Alright, now for the- oh fuck...”

A warning began beeping on one of the screens.

“What is that?!” Hiroshi asked, scared.

“It’s a missile. Don’t worry, if it’s a heat-seeker, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Sakuto said, releasing the chopper’s flares. A few seconds later, its tail and parts of its body were struck hard.

“Oh wow, that was not a heat seeker.” Sakuto said. “Everyone, hang on!”

Sakuto unleashed a large pool of shadows around him. The quickly broke the chopper apart, as the rest of its body was ignited and destroyed. They caught Ichika, Yumichi and Hiroshi like a net, with Sakuto hovering in the air for a little bit with a pair of miniature wings. The net quickly transformed into a dragon, the same one they used to fly to Tokyo in the first place, and it flew away at full speed. Ichika quickly took aim.

“Soul Interpretation: Cluster!”

She fired multiple, much larger frozen cluster bombs - all of them dealing heavy, often lethal damage to the soldiers trying to take aim at them. It gave them enough time to escape. The last thing Ichika saw was an air strike destroying the HQ, and the building almost entirely collapsing...

And they could all take a breath.

“Got there at the worst fucking time.” Sakuto said, tapping his earpiece again. “Captain Jian?”

“Did you manage to get the information?” Jian asked from the other end.

“We did. We confirmed that the soul crystal will work.” Sakuto said. “And that under no circumstance must Kaito come into contact with his son. That’s how he’ll reach an extent of power even higher than what he has now...which I have no idea how that’s even possible.”

“That means it is what will likely allow him to fulfil his goal.” Jian replied. “Where are you headed right now?”

“Moscow. Going to snatch a crystal.” Sakuto said. “How’s the situation on your end?”

“We found out where the resistance efforts are.” Jian explained. “They’re in Frankfurt. They’re pleading for all soulless and soulfuls to aid their cause of survival.”

“So those are the assholes that ambushed us...” Sakuto grunted. “I’d be careful around them. They were paying special attention to trying to incapacitate us.”

“Understood.”

“We’ll get into contact later.” Sakuto said, terminating the call. “Fuck...” He took a deep breath. “I thought this would be way easier...”

“Sakuto, look...” Ichika said, observing Hiroshi.

“What the- hey, Hiroshi...do you even know how many times you’ve been shot?!”

“What? Ah, so...” Hiroshi said, suddenly panicking. “I thought those were just rubble hitting me, it hurt pretty badly.”

“Good. So you’re at least slightly bulletproof.” Sakuto sighed in relief. “I can’t think of anything we can do for you right now, so you’ll have to wait a bit. We’re not stopping until Moscow.”

“Sakuto, you think he’s going through an awakening?” Ichika asked. “What happened in the archive area...”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what the hell is up with the kid, nor do I know what type of special powers he might possess.” Sakuto said. “I’m just glad he can survive better.”

They gained speed, continuing their crusade...

[FRANKFURT]

“Sir, the Heisei’s operatives in Tokyo have escaped.” The lieutenant said, entering the command center.

“That was to be expected. I assume those were their strongest forces, since they went to the headquarters themselves.” The general sighed, slowly caressing his black beard.

“But we are closely monitoring the soulfuls currently in Paris. They made their way there through taking control of high-speed railways that are still functional.” The lieutenant continued. “Is it safe to assume that their destination is...here?”

“Perhaps it is.” The general said. “Their motives are unknown, but we must be prepared for the worst case scenario.”

“Speaking of the worst case scenario...”

“Do we have any information on Kaito Kamiki’s location?”

“Sightings of him were reported in Northern Africa, close to the Mediterranean coast.” The lieutenant answered. “But...there have been a few of our sources that claim he’s also currently in Mainland Europe.”

“That means he’s either chasing the Heisei, or us.” The general sighed. “Whatever the case is, our operation will be retained. Continue the observations.”

“Understood, General Heidrich.”

Heidrich nodded, watching the lieutenant leave, was lost deep in thought. While his advisors and brothers in command were arguing with one another, he, burdened with fighting divinity, had many concerns lingering around his soul.

“The Heisei...if they have not been converted into vile beasts, they will at least be possible to reason with.”

“But if Kaito Kamiki arrives here...”

“There will be no opportunity for negotiation.”

“...”

“Otto, If I knew that this was what you were trying to stop...”

“I wouldn’t abstain from participating in your rightful yet twisted plan. In fact, I’d let myself and all of my men be sacrificed.”

Tracking Kaito was a correct decision.

Kaito, with his fangs sharpened, was flying across Europe. Thanks to the noise made by the Heisei’s original Spearhead, he decided to see to it that they are hunted down first. He soared beneath the pitch black sky, his luminescence spelling terror on any beneath him