“What in the world happened here…?” (Kaito)

All that laid before me was a wasteland. One minute it was totally dark and chilly and then after a great surge of light and heat spontaneously erupted in the area. The thick smell of ashes and burnt wood permeated in every direction.

I can still make out the mushroom cloud due to the embers of light in the sky. That’s not a good sign at all. My blood ran cold.

Neptune was as distressed as I was. She gripped her sword tightly and refused to leave my side, worry spread across her face.

“Kai-chan, let’s call off the mission. Whoever did this…I fear if they can pull off this level of firepower again in a short time. That would not be a pretty sight.” (Neptune)

I agreed wholeheartedly with Neptune’s opinion and speculative thoughts. I hadn’t felt much surprise for the humorless tone and demeanor coming from her, not in a place like this. The way she kept her cool even now impressed me the most.

But there were more important things to think about. We haven’t ascertained the cause of all this and neither me nor Neptune were great at that. I had to call upon someone.

“Alyssa, come over here. What’s the situation? Are the others safe?” (Kaito)

“I don’t know, but you don’t need to panic. Lilia-san was with them nearby, so that’s one less thing to worry about. Something of this level can’t bring her down nor impede her ability to protect the others. What needs to be done is finding out who did this…and deal with the headache that will come up due to the long-lasting impact of this…” (Alyssa)

“What should we do, Kai-chan? Do you want to find the culprit or retreat?” (Neptune)

Neptune deferred to me to make the decision, perhaps, to treat my role as the leader proper. Coming from her who wasn’t the type to hesitate over anything or put much reliance into others meant she was more shaken than I initially thought.

And what was the right call to make right now?

“…For now, let’s try contacting Lilia-san.” (Kaito)

“A sensible choice. Something that I would’ve done.” (Alyssa)

Alyssa nodded in approval. She then focused her eyes to scan the black dust while I pulled out my phone.

“And is there a possibility this thing is radioactive?” (Kaito)

“All clear. I found no radiation whatsoever.” (Alyssa)

The explosion was clean. It doesn’t seem like the composition of the attack was poisonous to living beings.

I fiddled my phone to life and operated the group chat into voice call. Please pick up quickly, Lilia!

The green border around her icon lit up to my relief as she entered the same call room as me.

“Lilia-san! Oh, thank goodness you picked up! Is everything alright at your end!?” (Kaito)

“A-Ah yes! Operating my phone into voice call for the first time had me flustered for a moment!” (Lilia)

Relief washed over my body from hearing her panicked voice over something so trivial. I calmed my breathing before replying to her.

“It’s been hectic for the last few minutes. From your direction, you were closer to the explosion. What happened over there? Do you want us to come over to you?” (Kaito)

“Yes! Please hurry! Tanjiro-kun and I were right outside the blast radius, but Minato-kun was at the center of it! He doesn’t look good after I retrieved him and he’s barely breathing!” (Lilia)

To my growing horror while listening to Lilia’s desperate voice, one of us got harmed and left at death’s door no less. The others heard the news from my phone being in speaker mode and naturally paled in alarm.

I turned to Alyssa with urgency.

“Take us over to Lilia-san’s spot now!” (Kaito)

Alyssa nodded without a word and wrapped an arm each around mine and Neptune’s midsection. My vision shifted as the area changed from my point of view. We had flickered over to a new location thanks to Alyssa’s teleportation. The only thing in my mind now was Lilia’s figure appearing before me, crouched down on her knees over an unmoving body.

I spared a brief glance at a knocked-out Tanjiro with his mouth wide open and eyes rolled back to be completely white. Good, he’s alive and not in a broken state unlike someone else I haven’t ascertained yet... I’m hoping it’s not that bad.

“Minty……has definitely seen better days.” (Neptune)

I heard the strained voice of Neptune’s filled with anxiety at my side. I internally agreed and cringed at the sight of “Minato.”

What the hell happened to his body!? It’s like a pile of grounded meat that’s burnt black in most places. Some limbs, if you can even recognize them as such anymore, swoll painfully and were obviously broken. Which end was his head even at!? 

Suffice to say, I would like to ask for a mosaic filter to be placed over him. This was not pg-13 friendly.

I bit back my nausea to think about how to save him in this state. He was still breathing; I can tell that much with my Sympathy Magic. I was not certain about feeding him a World Tree Fruit when I can’t even find a mouth to feed. That only left one person to rely on.

“Lynn, come out and use your healing breath on him!” (Kaito) 

The soothing figure of Lynn’s white dragon form hovered above Minato. She opened her maw and exhaled a glittering breath that subsumed into Minato. 

The effect was almost immediate. The swelled body was beginning to shrink, and healthy skin was now appearing in place of the parts that were black and bloody. Even the hair which got burned away had returned and in their previously vibrant blue. I can even make out the outline of a human body again.

Oh good, his clothes survived the ordeal too. That would’ve been awkward.

The breathing of the newly restored Minato became calm. Within the next second, he popped his eyes open and bolted his upper body up with sweat pouring from his face.

“I’m alive? Where’d Thanatos go? I thought he was going to take me to Hades at any moment…” (Minato)

Minato shook his head and turned to look at those around him. The teary-eyed Lilia placed a hand over her chest, happy to see his awakening, Alyssa looked upon him with a twitching eye for some reason, Neptune breathed a sigh of relief, and then me who was thankful to find that nothing seemed wrong with him.

His shaken expression and panicking visible eye became calm like it usually was upon seeing me.

“Oh, no wonder I’m still alive. Kaito-san is here.” (Minato)

Convinced of his survival thanks to me, Minato got up to his feet and dusted himself.

“And who said you can be up and about so soon!?” (Kaito)

The sounds of gargling rose from Minato as I shoved a World Tree Fruit right into his mouth.

“Warn me beforehand! I just came back from near-death!” (Minato)

A coughing fit came over him as he spat pieces of the fruit out while swallowing some that remained in his mouth.

“Lynn’s breath can heal fatigue, magic energy, and restore you back to a previous state if exposed long enough. But it’s not a complete recovery like you get from the fruit.” (Kaito)

“I was totally fine from just your pet dragon’s help. You worry too much.” (Minato)

Minato groaned out as new strength washed over him. He cracked his neck to readjust with his body and casted his focus back to me.

“How long was I out for? What has occurred since then?” (Minato)

“It’s been 10 minutes since the incident. As for what, take a look for yourself.” (Kaito)

I gestured to Minato with spread arms. He swept his gaze to the scorched ground and ashen woods minutely. A long pause passed before he gave his tentative reply.

“Since when did we end up in a post-apocalyptic wasteland? I don’t recall Remnant having that kind of setting.” (Minato)

“Uhh… Minty. We’ve not walked upon a different area or changed locations. This is the forest… was the forest we were meant to carry out our field mission.” (Neptune)

Minato shifted his head over to the new voice, then his face froze in a stoic mask like he just encountered a stranger.

“Who’s the new chick?” (Minato)

“That’s Nep-chan. This is her after transforming like she told us on day one in this world.” (Kaito)

“……  Perhaps I was too quick to not dismiss all of this as a dream.” (Minato)

“Okay, enough prancing around. Minato, what do you know about this?” (Alyssa)

Alyssa’s terse voice cut through the air. Her arms were crossed with their grips tight. And I don’t know why, but she has this really scary expression on her face directed at Minato that spooked him.

“Oi, did I do something to piss off your girlfriend? This is bad, I am 100% certain I don’t want to be on any of your girls’ shitlist, so help me out here, Kaito-san!” (Minato)

My kouhai came to my side in a blink of an eye and anxiously whispered to my ear. I was lost as well, but I’m sure Alyssa had a good reason for the change in attitude towards him.

“I’m just as clueless as you are. Well, I trust Alyssa more than I do with you, so if you’re somehow at fault then now is a good time to confess.” (Kaito)

I internally snickered at the betrayed look he shot me. Oh crap, that’s definitely going to show on my face either way.

“Something equivalent to a hydrogen bomb was dropped beside you and Tanjiro-kun. And from Lilia-san’s testimony, she witnessed you being in the center of the explosion. Care to explain why you were the closest to it?” (Alyssa)

Pensive from the question, Minato held his head with one hand in recollection. Well, I don’t blame him for having a hazy memory since he did suffer from the traumatic experience of eating a nuclear blast directly with his face.

“My head isn’t doing so tight after waking up…… speaking of Tanjiro-kun, is he okay?” (Minato)

To distract himself, Minato intuitively glanced around with worry for his partner. His tension loosened from seeing our sword-wielding team member being cradled by Lilia before wincing when she smacked his back to wake him up.

I was reassured by the sight of Tanjiro bolting upwards in a coughing fit. He sputtered like mad from taking in his surroundings, but Lilia was patiently answering him and bringing him up to speed.

“Perhaps I can help with that problem that’s posing so much trouble for you. My specialty is manipulating the mind. Helping you recover from mental fatigue is the least I can do.” (Kaito)

I exerted my Sympathy Magic into healing his mind, soothing the headache churning around inside and removing the blocks that were preventing him from recalling his memory.

Minato blinked at the complete restoration of his state of mind. He felt no exhaustion weighing on his brain, and he can think and comprehend clearly like when he was in his best days.

“This may be the greatest ability you’ve got… and now I know exactly what happened earlier.” (Minato)

A sigh in apology and he was downcast the next. I was wondering why I’m sensing regret from him while Alyssa kept her stern countenance.

Minato flicked his wrist, and a gun was summoned in his grip. Hey, I know this weapon he was holding…

“It was because of the Judgement of Shamash. It can transform into a sword and only shows its true power in that state. When I swung it, that was where the explosion came from.” (Minato)

I was gawking at the apparent power that’s stored inside that thing. I had no idea this thing I won from the gacha could bring upon such destruction. Not like the flavor text elaborated much on its full capabilities.

“Unbelievable… no, I guess I can’t help but believe it. I mean, take a look over there.” (Kaito)

I pointed with my finger to a certain direction and drew everyone’s attention to it.

“That deep valley in the land looks to be the work of a sword from the shape that’s been carved into it. The scar spread further into the mountain range.” (Kaito)

“Holy shit……” (Minato)

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” (Alyssa)

Alyssa spoke in a threatening undertone as she grinded her teeth from every word. I’m beginning to worry for both Alyssa’s growing ire and Minato who was the target of it. He seemed to be sheepish from the mistake he caused and darted his eyes around, not meeting her gaze.

“Uhh…… yeah, I screwed up. I thought I’d be safe from the force I wrought using my fire immunity, but it turns out my Persona ability just isn’t at a high enough level to completely null everything. Smart of Tanjiro-kun to run outside the blast radius, least he wasn’t burned by it. Sorry to worry everyone.” (Minato)

“Do you believe that’s all that you’ve done? You really don’t know what the worst kind of mistake you’ve made tonight.” (Alyssa)

The emotions on Minato’s shifted from remorseful to scared at the blatant fury blazing around Alyssa.

“Because of your blunder, there is no doubt it’ll catch the attention of everyone in the world. We’ll get eyes watching us from now, and who knows who that’ll be. The unexpected show of power on this level will bring untold panic, and panic leads to agitating the Grimm, which means we’ll get our hands full trying to prevent the public from worsening the present!” (Alyssa)

Alyssa popped off and went on to ranting at him for all the consequences that’ll follow from his mistake.

“And unrest in Vale, the closest kingdom to us, could lead to focusing efforts into calming it down. Do you think people can remain in a festive mood so soon from it? The Vale Festival might as well be canceled at this rate! The World Mission will have concluded from then on because the festival will no longer occur!” (Alyssa)

She moved forward and gripped Minato’s collar, lifting him up and shaking him with deafening force. Minato’s vision lost focus from the disorientation and swirls took the place of his eyes.

“And worst of all, the biggest, most unforgivable sin you’ve committed that stands above everything I’ve listed is that you’ve made trouble for Kaito-san! You dare mishandle his gift to you for this crap!? That you’ll make him fail this World Mission after all the resolve he invested in it!?” (Alyssa)

“Okay, I think you’ve conveyed your point across to Minato-kun perfectly! Now please release him!” (Kaito)

I rushed to behind Alyssa and hauled her back to get her to let go of the increasingly dizzied Minato.

“Besides, you’re being too harsh on him when he recently overcame his precarious condition!” (Kaito)

Alyssa grunted in protest, but relented anyway and loosened her grip on Minato who fell on his feet and shook his head to ease the new headache banging on his brain. I separated the two away from each other a good step before addressing my lover.

“There’s no use crying over spilt milk. We’ll just have to move forward and work to minimize the damage.” (Kaito)

“I understand that…… I just hate to see you fail because of someone else’s fault……” (Alyssa)

I sighed at her grumpy face but knew she meant well. At least she was feeling guilty over her actions just now.

“And I don’t mean to make light of how much you care for me. However, it does make me feel awkward at being used as a reason to unilaterally punish someone who is remorseful.” (Kaito)

To quell the indignation of a blushing Alyssa, I gently caressed her head. I briefly made eye contact with Minato to convey that his punishment has ended here. He nodded gratefully at my consideration.

 A new ring from my phone drew my attention. Looking at the screen in my hand, Doctor had sent a new message. He most likely was aware of the explosion that ripped across the land, but honestly who wasn’t?

[Zero Sanity]: Kaito, there was a huge light in the distance from the kingdom and its size was huge!

[Zero Sanity]: From the direction it came from, it was nearby where your mission took place!

[Singularity Found at the End]: Yeah, I noticed. It was right in my face.

[Zero Sanity]: If you can reply to me like that, that means you're safe. How is everyone else? What’s the situation like!?

[Singularity Found at the End]: We’re fine. I’m aborting the mission and getting everyone back home. I’ll explain once we’ve grouped up again.

[Singularity Found at the End]: Kirschtaria-san went offline before it happened. There’s going to be one hell of a story for him to listen to once he comes back online.

[Singularity Found at the End]: Otherwise, what can I expect to find when returning to Vale?

[Zero Sanity]: Mass panic from the public, Ironwood demanding for his army to be stationed here to up security, and Ozpin preparing huntsmen to respond to the Grimm that will act due to surge of negativity.

I furrowed my eyebrows and pinched the bridge of my nose. Great, Alyssa called it and now we’ve got a lot of trouble unloaded on us. I just hope this won’t overcomplicate it too far that the World Mission will end here.

I turned to everyone to address them all about our next course of action.

“The night is over. Our mission became a bust, there’s no use staying around. We’ll serve more use back at Vale after a long rest. Get your teleportation tools ready, because we’re stopping at our dorm room.” (Kaito)

A chorus of nods answered me, and we set off to return to Vale in an instant.

 

 

 

Afterword:

Raven12345: “Salem will officially make her move much earlier and become a force to consider in the World Mission, the growing tension of the world will spur Grimm further, and the second group chat will intrude in the future… Many difficulties stand across the horizon and in the future. Oh, how many more surprises will I witness from my lovely group chat?”

Serious-senpai: “Hey, narrating seriousness is my job!”

Raven12345: “My group chat, my rules.”

Serious-senpai: “As the owner of the afterword section, I veto that!”

Raven12345: “Tch.”

???: “All of this could’ve been avoided if Minato-kun had known better about the Judgement of Shamash. Speaking of which, who’s the one responsible for writing the flavor text for the weapon? There wasn’t much in it that told of this catastrophe.”

Raven12345: “Oh, that would be me.”

Serious-senpai: “You stinky, crummy admin!”

???: “You stinky, crummy admin!”

Raven12345: “Well~, let’s all stop worrying over that. Like Kaito said, it’s useless to cry over spilt milk.”

???: “One of these days I’ll crush you……”

Raven12345: “Wait, that’s actually a really scary threat!”

???: “Look forward to it. In the meantime, I’ll reread the story by my leisure… hmm, the author has made a revision to the auxiliary section… wait, what’s this? Fourth…Holy… Grail War? A second Servant from each class? Partners? Servants from other worlds?... Isn't it too early to be making plans for the second arc?"