Location: North. Vologda. On the border of the Capital City, Stoker.
Hello everyone. My name is Reyha, though you can call me anything you want.
Anyways, I work for Teslovik, which is under Bifrost, yet I see no difference.
Though people claim Teslovik is actually an independent organization having people all over the world, being ruled by the supreme general means they are all one.
Still, that's not where I'm going.
Anyways, my mission is to eventually save my little sister from the fate of being the vessel of a deity I have no idea about.
"Reyha? You okay?"
The voice broke through her thoughts prompting her back too.
Reyha blinked, shaking off the haze clouding her focus. Her breath fogged faintly in the icy air.
"Ahh, sorry."
She offered a crooked grin.
"Was lost in thought for a moment. What's up?"
"You… Haah… Look over there."
Sova exhaled softly, almost annoyed. She pointed with a subtle tilt of her chin.
"That's Nanook."
Currently, the entire squad, Sova, Snezhana, Eriri, Reyha, and Deena, was perched atop a crumbling rooftop.
One that overlooked one of the central intersections of Vologda. They were high enough to be hidden.
Reyha had used the climb to quietly ease her tiredness.
The aches still clung to her bones, and the cold weather, despite the jackets, wasn't helping, but certainly manageable now.
Her breathing had evened out; as she followed Sova's line of sight.
There.
One was the initial person Reyha had confronted before, back in the other sector.
Nanook. And…
"Looks like she brought a friend."
Snez muttered, already resting her massive railgun-cannon across the rooftop ledge.
Her optics whirred quietly as she adjusted the scope.
Silver‑white hair adorned with small, rounded hooves‑like ear ornaments.
Wearing a practical yet stylish red and white outfit featuring a short dress, cozy fur trim, and fingerless gloves.
"Snez, why do you have a barrel aimed at them, we're not actually taking them out, are we?"
"Ara, it's simply called, preparing for possible situations."
That sounded suspiciously like something Fenriru would say before setting off an entire city block.
Reyha glanced at Sova for a reality check, only to find her nodding in calm agreement, bow already strung.
'Okay. Even Sova's with Snez on that judgment.'
Thinking that Reyha mentally nodded, gripping her staff too. Agreement it is.
"Well, I don't see why Yulia won't have any other collaborators, this city is huge after all."
"It's not logical to think more than one person would be controlling all the rioters."
While Sova and Eriri continued deducing logics and all, Snez and Reyha couldn't help but frown.
"Is it just me," Reyha muttered, narrowing her eyes, "or are they—"
"No. They're looking at us. They've spotted us."
Snez cut in immediately, and in the moment the words left her mouth—
BANG!
Snezhana didn't hesitate.
Her railgun cannon discharged with a thunderous crack, echoing across like a thunderclap.
A shockwave burst from the muzzle as the shot flew, straight.
Nanook, of course, being who she was, vanished.
Having noticed, it only took her instincts to slip out of the shooting range.
With the projectile narrowly missing, it punched a crater into the pavement below.
"W-Wait, huh!?"
Left in the blast radius, alone, was the girl in red and white.
Silver-white hair fluttered as she dodged, barely managing to avoid the opening attack.
But the second she landed—
BAM.
Three shadows dropped around her. Reyha. Eriri and Snez, all looming above her.
"No way I got ditched…" She seemed to mutter that in disbelief.
But to make matters worse, a certain awakener who was already feeling it all from today's mission walked forward.
With her staff in hand alongside arcs of yellow lightning crawling up her arms—
"See, I've been patient today. So here's the deal: surrender now, and we won't torture you."
With an extremely sweet smile, Reyha smiled as yellow lightning now coursed through her body from her arms.
Being an Awakener, she was the type to grow stronger with each battle and hardship.
Having faced Nanook earlier, she was more than capable of overpowering her now.
The only factor would be experience.
KRTCH—!
"If I were you, I would take heed of what she said."
Eriri, too, with a smile, said that, putting more emphasis on the mace in her hand.
She may be a healer, but she can also throw them hands.
"S-Stop!"
The girl squeaked, both hands flying into the air as she dropped to her knees.
"Don't do anything rash! I surrender! Nanook forced me to follow her! It was join or die!"
TAP–!
As soon as she finished speaking, Sova jumped from the building approaching them.
"I don't trust her… she's way too eager to betray her friends…"
Coming from someone who spent years in the Dark Road as an information broker herself, it wasn't suspicion—it was instinct.
These were the kinds of people who sold out anyone for a breath of safety.
And they never came cheap.
"HEY!!!"
A smaller voice burst out. Deena stormed up from the background, arms waving in outrage.
"She's one of the bad guys! Why are you sparing her!?"
"I completely agree with the pipsqueak."
Snez added, not taking her sights off Gura.
"The heck you call me!?"
Deena's face twisted in indignation as Reyha simply sighed.
'Kids these days…'
Still…
Never mind her tone, her whining, or her theatrics, Sova herself agreed with what Snezhana had said earlier.
Gura was suspicious. Obvious. Almost too willing to spill secrets.
But. Information was information. She couldn't particularly turn down intel.
Naturally, she planned on taking it with a grain of salt. However, if they prove to be accurate, then…
"Reyha," Sova said without looking. "You're up."
Reyha raised an eyebrow.
Then, with a small shrug, she stepped forward, rolling her shoulders and cracking her knuckles.
Stopping in front of the girl, she pointed to her.
"As we've said before. You speak, we spare you, you lie…"
Reyha didn't need to finish her words; the lightning coursing around her did, making the girl in front nod her head rapidly.
"I—I… I'll tell you everything."
She bowed her head in the snow, which made Snezhana roll her eyes.
"Get up, no one wants to see you grovel."
Hearing that, the girl raised her head, looking at Snez with a faint smile.
"Now then, tell us where Yulia is."
She looked around for a moment before looking straight at Sova.
"Follow me, I'll take you to Yulia."
"""...!"""
The squad jolted in near-perfect unison, everyone except Deena, who blinked like she hadn't registered the implications yet.
Reyha's fingers flexed around her staff.
Eriri glanced at Sova. Sova, to her credit, remained calm, but her eyes narrowed.
Snezhana on the other hand, without a word, had stepped back.
Her hands moved to her side belt, drawing out her terminal.
She switched open the interface, thumb pressed against a single glowing pad: the instant-transmit SOS button.
A silent, encoded signal that would ping the higher-ups.
Only top-level Bifrost command would see it, and they would know exactly what the coordinates meant.
Yulia's location.
Sova, noticing Snez's quick side-glance, gave a short nod.
That was all the confirmation they needed. The net was about to tighten..
"Alright, lead the way then."
Despite knowing better, Eriri cast a few side-glances toward Sova as they walked.
She skipped a step closer, "Nee… are you sure it's smart to just follow her like this?"
Gura led them from several meters ahead, her steps surprisingly sure-footed for someone claiming to be a conscript under duress.
Sova didn't answer immediately.
Instead—
"Reyha," she said. "Close Deena's ears."
"Gotcha."
With a single motion, Reyha appeared behind Deena, smiling, with hands on her ears.
"HEEY!!!"
While that happened, "To answer that? Yes. We follow her. If it leads us to Yulia, it's worth the risk."
She paused. "If not…"
Snezhana added, her voice cold as the snow beneath their boots:
"…we kill her."
Nobody flinched, their expressions were calm as it had usually been.
Even Reyha, who might've, or looked to be the first to object, said nothing.
"Do you think it'll be that easy?"
"That's why we've sent an SOS, in case things don't work out. We would already have the SWAT team monitoring us."
Snezhana then pointed toward the sky. With that, they all agreed with a nod.
It wasn't until that was said that Reyha released her hand from Deena's ears.
Of course, the pint-sized menace kept shouting at her; however, if there was anything Reyha learned in this not-so-short time…
That would be patience.
"By the way, Nanook has talked a lot about you."
Gura, meanwhile, had slowed her pace slightly, just enough to let them close the distance.
Her voice drifted back casually:
"..."
"I heard about how you and your friend saved Niz during the assassination attempt back then… And I heard your friend was from Eastrise."
Eriri, for some reason, felt nothing but bad vibes coming from those words.
She poked Snezhana as though to pass her a message.
Naturally, the arctic fox remained calm, until…
{CAU–HUN!}
A static noise broke through at that moment.
The minute they heard it, everybody paled, and almost immediately—
"It's firing up, everybody, put on your noise canceling headphones now."
Without a moment to waste, from neck pouches, side holsters, back straps…,
everyone pulled their noise-canceling headsets and slammed them over their ears.
However,
"Ahh!!! My headphones."
Snezhana staggered back, clutching at the sides of her head. Everyone turned at once.
"Snez! What's wrong?!"
"A strange transmission signal in my headphones… someone's… talking…. It's Yulia!"
Hearing that, everybody froze in disbelief, and in that moment of weakness—
"Hehehe… HAHAHAHAHA!"
Gura laughed wildly, her voice shrill and triumphant.
A tiny black object tumbled from her mouth and hit the ground with a click. A transmitter.
They knew not to trust her, but it seemed they eventually fell for it even without the chance to get Yulia's location.
"That—"
"Snez! Cover your ears!"
{My fellow country men!}
"No, Snezhana, listen to me."
{Eastrise was once our staunch ally, but they have lost their way..}
"Yulia is speaking of your deepest desire! The revenge in your heart!"
{They ignored the commitments of the Joint Council and trampled all over our democracy!}
"Have you forgotten what they did to your friend when she returned to Eastrise?"
Those words penetrated deeply into the heart of Snezhana, who twitched under the voices.
"Shut. Your. Mouth…"
Despite that, she couldn't muster much resistance.
To help, Reyha had already jumped into action, swinging her staff; lightning crackling, moving like a whip.
THM–KRAK—!
Yet, Gura twisted low, her boots skidding across the snow-dusted asphalt as the lightning missed by centimeters.
Still, Sova followed up.
With a flick of her fingers, she loosed an arrow.
But Gura, wiser now, had no intention of being caught off guard again.
She moved before it fired, anticipating the shot.
The arrow cut through empty air as Gura landed again, light on her feet.
"They cut her down on the border like a piece of trash."
"SHUT UP!!" Snezhana screamed.
Her voice broke the air like shattered glass.
"Dammit, Snez!" Eriri shouted. "Get a grip!"
{It's our duty to put Eastrise back on the right track. We must…}
VENGEANCE!
{Have our vengeance on Eastrise!}
With those last words, the world went silent. Snezhana stood dazed, her eyes cloudy.
"Vengeance, on Eastrise?"
Everybody stopped. Reyha, who was about to launch an attack again, upon hearing Snez's words, paused.
"Yes, vengeance."
Immediately, Eriri ran up to Snezhana.
"Snez—snap out of it! That's not you! That's her voice in your head!"
Still, Gura continued her laugh, after all, this wasn't normal brainwashing. Hardly.
It is… "A brainwashing power amplified by the power of a relic. The forbidden blue."
Reyha paused. She had heard how powerful these relics were, and one of them could even save her sister.
So, she knew how powerful one could be if it meant controlling minds.
"Didn't realize its true value until now. Haha."
Hearing that ticked Sova off; she drew her bow, firing a shot at Gura, which missed by a large margin.
No, Gura dodged it by a large margin, landing softly on her feet.
"Impressive, your arrow, that is. …Anyway, we're done here. I will be taking Snezhana with me."
"Stay where you are!"
KRACK—!
BAM—!
Naturally, Reyha once attempted to stop Gura, but this time, it was blocked. Not by Gura, but by Snez herself.
Her lightning was neutralized by a bullet. Not ordinary ones, but specially made ones.
"Hahaha…. You're strong, but apparently not strong enough to back it up yet."
"Let's go, Snezhana."
Fission Reactor.
A relic component that uses energy to trigger fission reactions in objects, including emotions, depending on the situation.
As to why it affects human emotion, nobody knows.
Too many mysterious things are happening in this world.
The power of Yulia's speeches came from the emotions replicated and disseminated by the Fission Reactor.
"So, a team is being sent to verify it."
Somewhere within the snowy expanse north of Bifrost HQ—
Standing plainy, perched on the edge of a high-rise in Stoker, perched with no urgency.
Wearing a long, charcoal-gray coat lined for warmth, his black hair tied into a loose ponytail that danced in the wind.
"Your subordinate got brainwashed. Not worried."
The voice was different, coming from the other side of the earphones lodged in his ears.
Luceris tilted his head slightly. Then, he shook his head.
"Hardly. Why would I be?"
"Wow, how inhumane."
The voice replied like that, in a half-joking, half-serious tone.
Not like they even minded in the first place. It was none of their concern.
"Say what you will."
"The reason Yulia hasn't been caught is simply because I want this cat-and-mouse chase to continue."
"I'm giving Niz a chance to finally face her friend. You see… That ice queen of mine has been troubled by this."
He hadn't known Niz for long, but he knew most things.
One of his duties was not to entirely save the world alone.
Rather to guide them to save the world alongside him.
If he did everything, solved everything, destroyed every enemy—
Then, they would never evolve. They would only remain beneath him.
If anything, it was contrary to the will of past humans, and to his, which was made up of the former.
And that was not what they wanted, not what he wanted.
That was why he wasn't making a move.
"Additionally, that girl will stand by my side in the future. Rather, it's the reverse, but who cares."
"I'm not one to rob someone of their growth."
"Like I once did, experience your humanity to the fullest. And when it's time, we'll cross time-and-space to go further beyond."
Cryptically, Luceris pointed to the sky with a finger gun, a smile on his face.