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...

...

...

*beeeeeeeeep*

"Recording log..."

"Week 1"
"Thursday"
"1130 hrs."
"Basement"
"Cathedral"
"Gargan Forest"

...

...

...

As soon as they finished with the operation briefing, HOTEL 01 suddenly gets a transmission on his radio from the recon support group he assigned prior earlier.

*psssh*

"HOTEL Actual, this is Recon Support Four, now arrived at Site Monclaire. Break: We've eliminated three hostiles wearing black cloaks patrolling approximately a couple of feet away from the target site. How copy so far?" the voice whispered.

Hearing their attacker, HOTEL 01 goes to his operating table where he will be going to monitor the entire operation.

"Copy. What's their identification? Are they from the Followers of Razhiel?" he radioed back, as their outfit also matches the five beast-humans that visit them.

"Erh. Standby. HOTEL Seven, go and check that corpse and see if they are from the Followers of Razhiel.."

In the background, HOTEL 07 checks one of the corpses and inspects it.

"...No sign of matched identification. But there's a black medallion over his neck."

"Same here as well...." another operator checked a corpse until the last one. 

"HOTEL Actual. Negative. They are all clear." 

"Roger. Keep it steady, lads. The task force is on its way."

"Copy..."

...

Harvey, with his two other FOXTROT Operators, and DELTA 01, approach HOTEL 01 on his operating table.

"Are we clear?" asked Harvey. HOTEL 01 then responds with a smile.

"We're SCIPIO, Sir."

"Neat. LET'S GO GO GO!" shouted Harvey. At the same time, HOTEL 01 announces the start of the operation to their radio frequency.

"ALL ELEMENTS, SCIPIO! I SAY AGAIN, SCIPIO!"

With that said, the Task Force Wolves run and exit out to the backside of the Cathedral, and march on their way to Site Montclaire.

"Copy that. Scipio." the pilot of the Cobra helicopter responded as they ascend up in the air and also make their way to the site.

"Ascending to fifteen-hundred A-G-L - holding pattern at Site Montclaire about ten-hundred.

Hearing about the loud noises of the Cobra, the five beast-humans exit out of the main hall and go to where the Cobra is.

"THAT IS ONE OF THE SO-CALLED "HELICOPTERS" RIGHT?! IT IS NOW RUNNING!" Ferma shouted.

"IT IS SO LOUD! THEY TOLD US FROM LAST NIGHT THAT IT WILL BE, BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO BE THIS LOUD!" Troy followed.

As they watch the Cobra ascend, all of them observe the flying vehicle in awe.

"OOHH! I-IT'S FLYING!" Wilma shouted with a big smile on her face.

Moments later, the Cobra is finally out of sight. The five look at each other with confusion and curiousness.

"I-It flew away! Haha!" Ferma followed with also a smile.

"To think that it doesn't need any magic to operate. They are really impressive." Plaire pondered.

"Hm. Something might be happening. Come on. Let's ask Sir Harvey." Desmond ordered them to know what was going on. They then ask the other units about where Harvey is, but they also didn't know. Unbeknownst to them, Operation Hidden Ark is a deeply classified operation. So even both companies didn't know about the ongoing operation.

...

...

They also ask the peasants and the rescued female captives. They also don't know. Until they decide to ask Fruchiel, who was talking with Felicia in the main hall.

"Oh. It's you five." Felicia greeted them. The five beast-humans quickly bow in front of Fruchiel as well.

"Greetings to you too, and your holiness." Desmond greeted.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" the angel asked them.

"Nothing, your holiness. We just want to ask where Sir Harvey might be. One of the "helicopters" suddenly flew towards an unknown location. Is Sir Harvey inside that vehicle?" Desmond followed.

Suddenly, Felicia realizes the potential reason and thinks for a while.

"....But...he promised to call me before the operation.." she murmured. Desmond hears this and asks Felicia.

"Hm? Do you know something, miss Felicia?" 

"Ah! No-Nothing! Haha. " she awkwardly laughed. But his response gets the attention of all of them.

"Oh? Are you sure?" the angel asked back with a smug face, with the five beast-humans looking at her as if they already knew something. Because of this, Felicia decides to give up and tells her story.

...

...

"I see. So Sir Harvey and his picked soldiers are now going to get your mother living in the forest. Am I right?" Plaire asked.

"Ye-Yes." Felicia answered.

"If that's the case, you can also ask us for help. We can also get your mother out of there." Troy followed with a confident smile.

"Thank you. But I've already asked Sir Harvey. Maybe next time. Hehe."

But in the midst of this, Fruchiel is striking a thinking pose, seemingly wondering about something is missing. 

"Hm? What's the matter, your holiness?" Ferma noticed and asked the angel.

"Well, Harvey also didn't notify me about this. He also didn't request me about the Null-Casts spell. Which means..."

Also knowing about the Null-Casts spell, the five beast-humans gasp as they also realize something.

"N-Null-Casts? So they aren't really using any magic at all" Plaire gasped.

"THEY MIGHT BE IN DANGER! IS THAT RIGHT?!" Wilma followed.

"W-What do you mean in danger?!" Felicia asked, surprised. Fruchiel also noticed it and quickly orders the five beast-humans to go and assist.

"Quick! For the first time in nearly three decades, my first order will be you five followers to assist Harvey out there!" the angel commanded. The five beast-humans kneel in response.

"YES, YOUR HOLINESS!" as they get up and vanish into the shadows. Felicia looks up and wishes that her mother, Harvey, and all of them will be alright.

...

...

But as time passed by, the five beast-humans can't still find Harvey in the dense forest. They tried following the sounds of the Cobra in the distance. But they only follow its echoes, thinking that the source is exactly there. By the time they catch up to the Site Montclaire, it isn't Harvey they will be going to see, instead, an unknown lone operator, standing firmly facing another unknown man in fancy robes.

...

Rewinding back time when the five beast-humans are still searching for Harvey and his group...

At the Site Monclaire, the two other kidnappers scout around the vicinity by hiding in the shadows. They are on patrol for more than half an hour, until one of them notices a group of six unknown people dressed in woodland camouflage and with strange camouflage rifles in their hands. They are walking slowly toward the site while scanning with their rifles on their surroundings.

"Hey. Look what we have here! Hehe." one of the kidnappers smiled and taps the shoulder of his companion. His companion also then notices the group of unknown people approaching the site.

"Hoh? Seems like we're going to make some corpses today! Hehehe."

The two kidnappers eventually jump out of the shadows and reveal themselves to the unknown group of people for the attack. The six unknown people gasp in shock as they point all their rifles above at the two cloaked kidnappers with poisonous daggers in their hands. 

"Hehe! GOTCHA!" the kidnappers laughed.

But all of the sudden, the two kidnappers fall down on the ground, mysteriously and suddenly tired and weakened for some reason.

"ARGH! WH-WHAT HAPPENED?! WHY AM I TIRED ALL OF A SUDDEN?"

"FUCK! MY BODY FEELS NUMB! I-I CAN'T BREATHE!"

The two kidnappers pant very hard for air. As they continue to struggle with all of their remaining energy, however, another two men in the same woodland camouflage and boonie hats with half-faced balaclavas and goggles covering their entire faces, holstering the same black rifles on their chests. They look down upon them with cold stares.

"TSK! F-FUCK YOU!"

With that said, they soon witnessed a portion of the two men's power. A huge red demon with two goat horns on its head, holding a big spear with two red and long goat horns attached on its tip, appears on both each of the two men looking down at them. You only can see their eyes glowing in orange, and smiles so eerie that you can see their faces were malformed in an absurd way. Suffice it to say, this scene greatly shocks both of the weakened kidnappers on the ground, feeling very hopeless.

"D-D-DEMONS! AAAAAAAAAA- "  *bang**bang*-*bang**bang*

After killing the two kidnappers by putting two bullets in their heads with their suppressed rifles, one of them whispered to the radio on his vest in a low and deep voice. 

"Task Force, this is DELTA Sixteen of Recon Support Four. We've eliminated two scouts patrolling Site Montclaire. " he whispered as the other five operators from the HOTELS Group make a security perimeter around the site.

The other operator on his side that also killed one of the kidnappers, DELTA 17 sees DELTAS 18 and 19 who also positioned themselves tens of meters away from the site. The Recon Support Four are tasked to go first to the site in order to secure and relay the status of the site to the task force. Attached to them are also five operators from the DELTAS Group for their given abilities.

...

Hearing the faint suppressed gunfire in the distance, the last kidnapper who was guarding the sleeping mother wonders about what happened outside and exits the cottage. He tries to call for the two of his companions, but to no avail. He also tries looking at them in the shadows around the area. But while doing so, what he spotted was the same eerie demon smiling at him inside the shadows. Immediately, he falls down on the ground with a frozen horrified face, without even realizing what happened. He just lay dead there with two gunshot holes in his head.

...

...

Waking up from faint thumping noises from above, Felicia's mother wakes up and sees a bunch of strange people in woodland boonie hats and attire walk inside her cottage with their rifles drawn. One by one they scan the area until they see her, lying on the ground with both of her hands and legs tied, and her mouth sealed. At first, she was afraid of what they will going to do with her especially since she was nearly abducted by the former kidnappers earlier. But as the two of them crouched down on her, they holstered their rifles back to their chest and checks her status. They cut down the ropes and unseal the cloth on her mouth, with the other one checking her pulse.

"Clear!"

"Clear here!"

"Interior secured!"

"FOXTROT Actual, this is FOXTROT Six. We have a possible White Flower. I say again. Possible White Flower." one of them talked to the radio on his vest. 

"It's now alright, ma'am! How are you feeling? Do you feel anything weird?" he said in a gentle tone.

"Wh-Who are you people?!" she said, still in shock.

"Don't worry! Do you know by the name of Felica C. Rodburg? It's your daughter that asked us to get you out of here!" another of them replied.

"And looks like we've made it in time! FOXTROT Actual is now waiting outside! Come on!" 

Hearing about her daughter, she came back to her senses with hope and joy.

"M-MY DAUGHTER?! IS FELICIA OK?! WHERE IS SHE?!"

"She's alright! We bet that she is very eager to see you right now! Let's go! We're about five mikes out left here!" one of them at the doors replied. As they escort the mother outside of the cottage, the thumping noise became louder, and what the mother sees above was the Cobra helicopter holding a pattern at about fifteen thousand feet above the ground to scan for any targets.

"WHA-WHAT IS THAT THING?!" the mother exclaimed.

"It's a helicopter! They will cover for us!"

Following them behind, the last of the operators finally secured the entire site and continued to escort the mother. 

"Recon Support Four, Task Force Wolves. Clean duty." one of the DELTAS Operators whispered to his radio. The recon team appears out of their covers and approaches the site, replacing the task force that has just headed back toward the Cathedral. Five of them go inside the cottage, while four of them bring the other two corpses of the kidnappers inside in order to safely collect intel on them.

"Recon team, this is REAPER One. Are you guys comfy and sound out there?" the pilot of the Cobra asked on the frequency.

"Cozy and comfy, REAPER One." HOTEL 06 replied back.

"Neat. We're now outbound, R-T-B. See ya guys later at the base."

"Thanks for the overwatch. Have a safe flight with the task force."

The Cobra then leaves its holding pattern out of the site and continues to provide overwatch for the task force as they head back to the Cathedral along with Felicia's mother.

...

...

...

Another half an hour passed by, Count Damillo and the other four nobles, guarded by a group of knights, finally arrived at Site Montclaire, only to see that no one is around, even his hired kidnappers and Felicia's mother. As they go inside the cottage, they all wonder what might just happen.

"Why this place is empty?!" a noble asked himself.

"Is there where we are supposed to get the new package?"

"I-It is!"

"Wa-Wait. Do you think that the knights got lost and guided us into the wrong place?!"

Count Damillo then takes a step, observing the entire place.

"Hmm." the count, seemingly starts to suspect that something isn't right.

"Wh-What's wrong, Count Damillo?"

Then, as if he has already foreseen it with his instincts, he screams.

"GET DOWN!"

Surprised, all of the nobles and the count duck on the floor. At the same time, a hail of bullets wheezes through the cottage, destroying windows and walls. In the background, you can hear the muffled screams of the knights that were being killed down through the same hail of bullets.

"W-W-WHAT IS GOING ON?! AHHHHH!" the nobles screamed.

"TSK! A POSSIBLE AMBUSH! STAY DOWN AND DON'T STAND UP!" the count angered and warned.

The hail of bullets continues on for a couple more seconds then it halts. After the barrage, they can now hear the groaning and cries of the surviving and injured knights outside.

"WH-WHAT SHOULD WE DO?!"

"Sssh! Be quiet!" the count whispered as he goes to a broken window to slowly peek outside. What he sees are his dead escort knights, with some injured, lying down on the ground with blood coming out of bullet holes in them.

"Fuck!" he quietly cursed. He carefully goes back to the other nobles taking cover on the floor.

"Listen. I need all of you four to get out of here while I fight who's out there!" 

"What?! Are you serious?!"

"Being the only one who has a Phantom Magic here, yes. You four can use your Natural Magic to escape out of here." the count ordered.

Looking at each other and nodding, the four agree to the count and while still afraid, carefully approach the entrance door to escape.

"Now, on three, run to our west. Got it?" the count whispered.

"Y-Yes!" the nobles agreed.

While looking outside, Count Damillo starts to count.

"Alright.1....2...."

...

"Three! GO GO!" 

Immediately, the four nobles rush their way outside back to the forest, back to the border knight base. They successfully managed to go deep into the woods and out of the site, leaving Count Damillo alone to fight their attacker.

But all of that will be worthless later on.

...

...

As the four nobles run with all of their ability deep inside the forest, they stop all of a sudden as they stumble upon a dark passageway covered with tall and thick trees. But, as they were about to walk through, four strange people appear out of the dark passageway, with their hands gripped onto their holstered rifles on their chests. They are four of the five DELTAS Operators who were attached to the Recon Support Four.

"Wh-Who are you people?!" the nobles asked with hostility, but the operators give no response and continues to stare at them with their dark goggles.

"Tsk! Don't get us in our way! TAKE THESE! CRYSTAL-ICE!" a noble screamed as he unleashes spikes of sharp icicles toward the four operators. But all of the sudden, as the icicles were about to strike the four operators, the icicles break and shatter. Seeing this, the other three nobles begin to chant their spells against the four operators.

"DEFENSE MAGIC HUH?! IF THAT'S SO, PENETRATING MAGIC! MOLECULIZED-POISON!" - as little poisonous air molecules appear out of nowhere around the four operators.

"WALL-OF-ORES!" another noble chanted, making a wall made out of hard ores surrounding the operators.

"CRIMSON-FLAMES!" the last noble chanted, as he summons an array of big and red burning flames at the ground below the operators.

"Keke! Now all of them are surely evaporated!" the nobles laughed. But, as soon as they were about to continue their escape, all of their spells vanish in an instant.

"WHA-!"

"HOW CAN THIS BE?!" they all gasped in surprise. They look at the four operators and were shocked that they are still intact and just standing casually with their grips still at their holstered rifles. The four nobles were about to chant again their next spells, but unbeknownst to them, the operators already stole their magical attributes, now rendering the nobles magic-less.

"WOODEN-SPEAR! H-HUH?! WOODEN-SPEAR! WH-WHY IT WON'T SUMMON?!"

"BURST-OF-ACID! BURST-OF-ACID! AAHHHH!" the nobles continued to panicky scream their chants, but their magics won't come out.

In the midst of their panic, one of the operators suddenly speaks in a low and deep voice.

"How convenient. We didn't have to waste precious bullets for this one."

"Hmph. Indeed. What a perfect time we test our "functions"." another operator followed in the same voice.

Then, the same four magic spells that the nobles chanted earlier, suddenly reappear again - but this time, they are now directed to the four nobles.

"H-HOW?! AARGGH!"

"WAIT! PLEASE! AHHHH!"

"LET ME GO! LET ME GOOO!"

The four nobles continued to plead for mercy as the poisonous air, burning flames, and sharp icicles struck them, with the wall of ores surrounding them preventing their escape. But the operators just walk out of the area to rendezvous back with the recon team.

"HOTEL Six, this is DELTA Seventeen. We have four individuals terminated. Consolidating back at Recon Point Nine." the operator whispered to his radio.

"Roger. We already have DELTA Sixteen currently engaging another individual at Site Montclaire. You think that  he needs some backup?" HOTEL 06 replied through the frequency.

But DELTA 17 just "smiles".

"Hm. Roger. Standard operating procedures also indicate that there should be no less than two elements that are engaging the targets."

"Hehe. Not that he really needs us." another operator chuckled.

"Aye. We will just watch them nearby just in case. How copy so far?"

"Erh. Roger. Too confident, aren't we? Be careful or it will bite your asses." HOTEL 06 followed with humor.

"Hehe. Don't worry - "

" - we're confident when we're needed to."

...

...

Meanwhile, back at Site Montclaire...

Count Damillo confronts a single operator with a rifle pointed at him, emerging out of the trees.

"Put your hands up..." the operator warned, but the count chuckled. The count walks through the corpses of the knights on the ground with his arms wide open.

"Splendid work! All these puny knights fall down in an instant! Hahahaha! But - " he stopped as dark shadows envelop him.

" - they are just "puny". HAHAHAHAHA!"

In an instant, just as the operator was about to fire his rifle, the count vanishes into the shadows. The operator scans with his rifle to his surroundings to find the count, but he just hears his voice echoing around. 

"Hahahaha! Let me play with you for a while." the count threatened in the echoes. One by one, quick slashes made out of shadows appear out of nowhere and strike the operator to his limbs and arms.

"Tch." the operator clicked his mouth as he starts firing at the shadows coming at him. He tries to avoid and evade all of these while shooting, but the shadows were too fast for him and they eventually tore his attire and boonie hat.

"HAHAHAHA! That's it! Run! Run!" the count continued laughing.

Minutes passed, and the operator is still struggling with the shadows, which now formed into abnormal creatures, like shadow phantoms, and started attacking him as well. While fighting and evading them, the operator fires to his last mag. Realizing that his last mag is now empty, he switches to his M1911 pistol and continues firing.

"HAHAHAHA! I don't know what kind of weapons you have! But they are no use! Hmm. I think I got a better idea. " the count said. At the same time, the shadow phantoms stop attacking the operator.

"Why won't you join us? We can make better use of your weapons. Hehehe."

Pointing his pistol to the motionless shadow phantoms, the operator suddenly holstered back his pistol and raises his right arm sideways.

"Hm? Is that your response?" the count, confused about what the operator was about to do. What follows is him, looking horrified at the operator as the operator suddenly manifests a long red spear with long goat horns on its tip.

"YO-YOU! HO-HOW THE-!"

After the spear materializes, it's now glowing red, with an ominous and dreadful aura coming out of it.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE THE SPEAR OF VALEFAR?!"

As the operator looks at the motionless shadow phantoms, the operator casually slashes them in an instant, destroying them.

"EEEK! CU-CURSES!" the count screamed in horror as he starts summoning countless shadow phantoms again. But the operator also casually slashes them. In a surprising move, he goes back to his sidearm on his left hand while the spear is on his right. As soon as he points his sidearm at the phantoms, his sidearm begins glowing red the same as his spear. Firing it, they destroy the phantoms as well with ease.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

The shadow phantoms are eliminated with ease as the operator kills them with his casted sidearm and demonic spear when suddenly, he sighs in irritant.

"This is taking long enough. It's time to end this." he whispered to himself.

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU-" the count stopped as he suddenly feels a menacing aura behind his back. In the pure black void where he is in, he didn't expect that someone will be with him. As he looks back, however, what he sees was a big demon, portraying an uncensored and twisted face of the Demon Valefar. In his right hand, he is holding the same demonic spear that the operator is holding. The count, horrified, falls down and backs away.

"I-I-IT CAN'T BE! THE DEMONI- " the count stopped again as he realizes the reason behind it. As if the operator was listening, he begins explaining also the reason.

"Yes. Demons naturally lived in other dimensions. So, it's safe to say that they can go whatever dimensions they wanted to go." the operator said as he kills the last shadow phantom. Feeling very hopeless, the count decided to give up and reappear back to the real world.

"I-I give up..." he kneeled in front of the operator.

"That was fast. I thought that it will be longer." the operator said, as he takes away his demonic spear, fading out of existence and his pistol going back to normal and holstered. He takes his plastic cuffs and approaches the count. But hidden beneath his face, the count is preparing for a sneak attack using a materialized shadow knife.

As the operator is about to cuff him, the count then strikes back.

"FUCK YOU!"

But what greeted him next, was a strong pierce through his chest by the same demonic spear by the same Demon Valefar, also laughing behind the operator. 

"Hehehehehe..." the demon laughed with an eerie smile as he removes his spear from the count's chest.

With this, the count lay down on the ground, having his life stolen by the spear, literally and figuratively. The operator then grips his pistol back again and looks at Demon Valefar behind him.

"He's a bit too chavy, don't you think?"

"Hehe. For the likes of him, he will and shall be. Hehehe." the demon followed.

With his last dying breath, Count Damillo asks the operator.

"...wh....who..are..you..?..."

The operator and the demon look at the count and reply at the same time.

"..Non Furantur."
"Hehe! Non Furantur!"

Followed by two pistol shots to the count's head by the operator.

*bang**bang*

With the count now dead, the demon fades away, and the operator radios in.

"Recon team, this is DELTA Sixteen. The last target has been neutralized."

But, witnessing the whole ordeal, the whole operators from the Recon Support Four emerge near him.

"That was quite a show!" one DELTA Operator complimented.

"Glad to have you guys out here!" a HOTEL Operator also complimented.

"We also have other guests watching you. The DELTAS found them observing your fight from the distance."

Appearing behind them, was the five beast-humans who were supposed to help Harvey and his team earlier, but were too late. They greet the operator, somewhat shaken by the events earlier.

"Gr-Greetings, sir." Troy greeted with his legs fidgeting.

"Good job, out there! Really!" Wilma followed, also shaken.

"Hm? Oh. You five must be guests, correct?" DELTA 16 asked.

"Ye-Yes, sir." Plaire replied.

"I see. Followers of Fruchiel, am I right?"

"I-Indeed." Desmond also followed.

"Alright. Don't worry. We won't harm you guys, We are with Sir Harvey. So, be at ease."

With that said, DELTA 16 turns his attention to HOTEL 06.

"So, how's the site disposition? Are the C4s ready?"

"Yep. Thanks for your distraction with that bastard, we've managed to plant the remaining C4s after the intel extraction."

"Neat. Alright. Let's go back. Ready up that dead-man switch."

"Rog'. HOTEL Seven, call it in."

"Task force, this is Recon Support Four. We've finished collecting all the available remaining intel and are now on site disposition. Over." HOTEL 07 said as they all run away from Site Montclaire, and back to the Cathedral.

After running for a couple of minutes, they are now at a safe distance for the C4 explosion.

"Aight. Hit it, HOTEL Six."

"Standby. Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole, FIRING NOW -"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As HOTEL 06 activates the trigger, the whole Site Montclaire explodes and the corpses surrounding it evaporated and burned in an instant.

...

...

...

---

Soul Energy :

[ Level 1 ]

+ Lesser Key Of Sollom

 

Soul Count :

[ 37 ]

+3 Kidnappers
+5 Nobles
+10 Escort Knights

 

Spawn Count:

[ 190 ]

= 100 Infantry Units 

= 70 Special Forces 

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UPCOMING NEXT CHAPTER:

Chapter 17 - Consequences of a Mistake