Chapter 166: Heaven
Why does their name pop up everywhere I go? Do they really have that much influence?
But before Aren could press any further, the volume of the hall began to quiet, attention pulling toward the center of the hall as the music softened and the lights dimmed.
"...Ah, testing. Alright, good."
A figure stepped forward. He carried himself easily; relaxed shoulders, soft steps, and a slight smile that was just thin enough not to feel forced. The man looked around his 50s or 60s, with aging gray hair combed neatly back and an accompanying gray suit to match.
That’s gotta be Director Khan, there’s no missing it...
Two figures followed just half a step behind him.
The first was a grumpy and serious-looking man with messy dark hair. He wore what looked like a black turtle neck inside, layered with a double-breasted beige suit. He let a black trench coat drape over his shoulder to seal the look.
Beside him, a woman with light brown hair tied up in a high ponytail seemed to dress a bit more loosely. She also wore a turtleneck, white this time, but was accompanied by what looked like a jacket lined with black fur at the top and had various utility holsters that ran across her body.
Bodyguards...and they seem like the experienced kind as well. Let’s see...
Aren channeled ether into his eyes, trying to scope out their Grades.
The woman is around Veteran-Grade...and the man...Ascendant-Grade?! What’s such a big shot doing all the way out here?
But before Aren couldn’t afford to linger on the thought for any longer. His eyes were now fixed onto the Director, who had tapped the microphone once before clearing his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Khan began, his voice cutting through the hall. "Thank you all for attending."
The low murmurs across the room had fully quieted now.
"Over the past three years, we’ve worked together to build something meaningful," he continued, hands loosely clasped behind his back. "To provide opportunity where there was none, and to extend a hand to those who needed it most."
A few nods and whispers of approval went up into the air.
"Of course," Khan added lightly, a small smile forming, "none of this would have been possible without your continued support."
"And so, as a token of our...appreciation, we’ve prepared something special for our most valued partners."
That caused the room to stir. Conversations started again as eyes shifted toward one another.
"However," Khan continued, lifting a hand to calm down the crowd, "I’m afraid this particular matter is reserved for our VIP guests. If you would—"
That was when he felt the slight pull on the back of his coat. Aren turned, only to see Miu curling herself up as she pressed her face against him.
"Did...did you hear that?"
"What? Was there something off?"
Miu shook her head, but the amount of trembling in her body had told Aren all he needed to know. Something was clearly bothering her, and it’s not to be ignored.
Aren drove ether into his ears, trying to focus on any sounds that Miu could’ve heard.
It was extremely faint...but he heard it. The low clinking of glass and soft footsteps in the distance.
"What the..." he murmured under his breath.
Miu didn’t respond. Her grip tightened instead, her trembling only growing worse.
He lifted his gaze. At first, there was nothing, just the polished ceiling catching the soft light above. Then... a shadow passed by. For a moment, he almost thought he had imagined it.
But there’s no way...
...Shit! We’re under attack!
SMASH!
Glass shattered as light spilled in from above, only blocked out by the soft shadows that were slowly descending.
White cloth drifted behind them as they came down, the fabric itself catching the wind and light in such a specific angle that it almost resembled wings without ever truly becoming them.
They’re...lowering themselves on metal wires?
Once they got closer, the most uncanny detail came into view. A thin metallic band curved across each of their faces, resting just above the bridge of their noses and wrapping around the sides of their heads.
Halo-shaped and almost like a blindfold, the metal seemed rusted, like something they’d taken from scraps and bent themselves.
Regardless...the venue was thrown into confusion. Someone looked up before pointing into the air.
"...Is that part of the—?"
"We are Heaven."
"By the Decree of our God, we are here to pass on his judgment to you sinners. You, who have forsaken your humanity in exchange for evolution..."
"Are scum of the earth."
Almost immediately after their last words, the group dropped down onto the venue floor. One of them grabbed onto a nearby nobleman and...bit into his neck before tearing it straight out.
His body jerked violently before slumping over entirely, blood flowing out like a river from the wound.
"Ah..."
The voice came out from one of the other noblewomen near Aren, not understanding what she had just seen.
A glass slipped from someone’s hand, shattering uselessly against the floor, before—
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Everything turned into chaos.
People surged backward from the threat all at once, chairs and tables crashing to the ground as guests scrambled over each other in blind panic.
Guests tripped on each other while others shoved past them without looking back. The polished floor was turned red as more blood spilled onto it.
"RUN!"
"GET OUT OF—!"
Yet the killing never stopped. One of the figures managed to catch a feeling guest by the shoulder before yanking them back and snapping his neck clean off.
Another had grabbed one of the noblewomen, driving his entire hand into her stomach before pulling it back out. For a brief second, her body hung there before it slumped over, the gaping hole dyeing the floor crimson.
Shit...what the hell is going on?
Aren had managed to back up into one of the side corners with Miu behind him, his eyes scanning the entire venue, trying to make sense of what’s going on.
Screams still filled the hall, bodies rushing past in every direction, some slipping, some falling, some not getting back up. Yet, what he noticed the most...was that they didn’t try to catch those who had already left.
It wasn’t indiscriminate killing, Aren was sure of that. But who’s to say both him and Miu weren’t on that list of targets?
He lifted out his hand, closing them around the familiar feeling of his dual blades as they materialized into existence.
His eyes tracked one of them as they cut through the crowd. A man tried to push past one of the figures, desperation written all over his face—only to be seized and dropped just as quickly.
Yet as he squinted his eyes, Aren could see the detail they all tried to hide. Faint fractures ran along the figure’s neck, thin jagged lines that spread outward like something had tried to split it open from within.
Aren’s grip tightened slightly around his blades.
...No way. Are these actually—
A memory surfaced in the middle of his thoughts. "Some of them...they’ve started to lose it."
"The other districts aren’t holding back anymore, so why should we?"
...
Ghouls from the other districts, the ones that had turned violent. Are these the ones they were talking about?
Bodies fell and blood spilled, yet not even a single one of them lingered, not a second wasted on what should have been instinct.
There’s no way they could resist such temptations as free blood in front of them, not after what I saw with Shen and the others.
They aren’t here to feed...which means there’s only one other motive for attacking such a gathering like this.
"...Vengeance."
Miu shifted behind him, fingers tightening again as she’d felt the same conclusion settle in.
Yet, Aren couldn’t respond, as one of them was coming straight for the two of them.
He shifted his stance, one foot sliding back as his grip adjusted on the blades. His ether flowed into them, causing one blade to spark with electricity while the other flowed with water.
Yet it didn’t rush toward them, no. It was walking slowly, step by step. The metallic band on the person’s face shone bright as they came to a stop just a few feet away.
Aren realized, from underneath it, she was just a girl.
For a brief moment, the world seemed to narrow to just the two of them. Both stood in place, waiting for the other to move first...to find a justification.
Yet the simple words from the figure caught Aren off guard.
"I...don’t remember you."
"..."
"Leave..."
And just like that, she turned and walked away.
Aren exhaled slowly, but the tension in his body refused to fade. They seemed to be moving with purpose, choosing who lived and who died.
His grip tightened around his blades as his gaze lingered on the path she had taken, before turning back to Miu.
"Come on, let’s go find Stella. She might be in danger."