Chapter 1: E Between D And F - Shooting Star (6)

The essence of a Hovercar is as a transport vehicle.

To be precise, it was a craft built to transport Undead forces through gaps in demonic beings packs.

So it was sturdy.

Especially the Hovercars produced during the transitional period from the Hunter era to the Necromancer era were unusually durable.

It was common to use ultra-high-strength plastile for the chassis and inscribe energy shield magic circles on the exterior.

That was because, unlike now, each Undead was valued.

Among them, a cargo Hovercar that carried over twenty Death Knights was recorded to have survived even a dragon’s breath.

It could easily withstand missiles meant for giant demonic beings.

Of course.

That is, assuming it was regularly maintained with professional equipment.

“Hng… Tori… What am I supposed to do if you die and leave me alone…”

In a densely overgrown forest.

A Hovercar billowing black smoke was crashed into the base of a massive tree.

On one dented side was written <Victory>, and that part alone shone strangely glossy.

“Come back, Tori… Tori!”

A man wearing a Cow Mask lay face down on the ground sobbing.

He clutched a broken steering wheel and cried out at the top of his lungs.

A Chicken Mask and a Pig Mask patted his back to comfort him.

“Rest in peace…”

“He protected us to the end… Victory was really a good guy…”

Baek Ho clicked his tongue while quietly puffing on a black chalk candle in the shade of a nearby tree.

“What the hell. How many years old is that thing? It’s a miracle it lasted this long.”

At Baek Ho’s words, the Pig Mask and Chicken Mask snapped their heads around.

You couldn’t see their eyes, but anyone could tell they were glaring at Baek Ho.

“What. Did I say something wrong?”

The Pig Mask and Chicken Mask muttered curses under their breath, fortunately out of Baek Ho’s hearing.

“What were those guys muttering just now… And what’s her deal?”

Under Baek Ho’s frowning gaze.

Edeline Nana, eyes brimming with tears, was approaching the Liberation Army trio.

“What am I going to do… It’s all because of me…”

She spoke as she gently patted the Cow Mask’s back.

At that sight, the Pig Mask and Chicken Mask also began making sobbing sounds.

“Victory… sniff…”

“Don’t go… come back…”

They edged closer to Nana, and not noticing their intent, Nana patted them back in the same way.

“I’m truly sorry…”

Edeline Nana’s reaction was because of Baek Ho.

The moment the Hovercar made an emergency landing, Baek Ho analyzed the reason for the attack and came to a conclusion.

’…I didn’t mean to tell her to contact the members.’

Baek Ho trusted the Liberation Army’s abilities.

Military Hovercars are typically fitted with communication tracking blockers, so he assumed the Liberation Army’s Hovercar had one too.

Besides, didn’t the Chicken Mask also give a thumbs up in agreement?

In any case, Baek Ho’s muttering reached Nana’s ears and stirred guilt in her.

“Let’s go.”

Baek Ho said this while putting a new black chalk candle in his mouth.

And no one responded to him.

The four of them huddled together and offered a farewell to the old Hovercar.

“Shall we pray for Victory, who left before us…?”

At Nana’s suggestion, the Liberation Army trio tilted their heads in confusion.

“…Huh?“

“Pray?”

“What the…”

Regardless of their reactions, Nana wiped her tears with her sleeve.

She rose, approached Victory, knelt, and clasped her hands together.

Her lips began to move as if murmuring a prayer.

“My mother in heaven. Today my beloved brother has gone to your side. Receive him in your glorious light, and within that light may he be made whole…”

The Pig, Chicken, and Cow stood stunned, staring at her.

At first, upon hearing ‘prayer’, they thought of one of the Five Gangs: the ‘Fanatics.’

But they relaxed when they realized the prayer contained no words of slaughter or massacre, and the misunderstanding cleared.

That didn’t mean they understood her actions.

Unlike the Hunter era, religion is legally banned now.

Because it could upset the Necromancers.

“What is she.”

Baek Ho was equally puzzled.

Suddenly praying? Reciting the forbidden Light sect’s prayer?

Neither was the case.

“Though filled with trials and tribulations, he never lost the light for a single moment…”

It was because of the radiance.

Not the sunlight gleam seen through the Hovercar’s window earlier.

It was a very murky, dim radiance.

Like a glittering black gem.

Or perhaps it’s what darkness looks like when it emits light.

Baek Ho saw the deep blue magic radiating from her heart darken when it met sunlight.

‘What the…’

She looked like an angel descended from the heavens, yet darkness seemed to leak from her body.

It was a disharmony he’d never seen in his life.

Ssshk—

Baek Ho shot a manifested pulse of black magic power at Nana.

Forcibly silenced, she finally snapped out of it and stood up.

Her large pupils trembled wildly.

She had been swept up in emotion and prayed, but afterwards she was overcome with worry.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah… y-yes…”

Baek Ho looked at the Liberation Army trio.

They stood stiffly.

They couldn’t see body magic, so they didn’t notice the glow, but they seemed startled by the act of praying itself.

“They must have seen the Hovercar crash, so the attackers will come this way. I don’t know who they are, but let’s get out of here for now.”

Baek Ho glanced at the warehouse cart carrying Frank.

He hesitated about whether to wake him.

He worried he might faint again if he saw Nana.

Brain shock was the biggest enemy of becoming a Mad eater.

“Goodbye… Victory…”

“I’ll come back… stay well until then…”

The Pig Mask and Chicken Mask led the way, pulling the cart with Frank inside.

“What an asshole…”

The Cow Mask still harbored resentment toward Baek Ho’s attitude.

“So all Necromancers are like that…? No matter how much the boss ordered to treat him well… whose damn son is he anyway?”

They didn’t expect flattery, but ridiculing him was unnecessary.

Honestly, if not for Victory’s toughness, they’d have died the moment the missile shot them down.

The Chicken Mask and Pig Mask tried to calm the Cow Mask down.

“Hey… is the Necromancer temperament something new…?”

“Yeah, I know… he’s not a total sociopath…”

“You know how Necromancers are… let’s just hold our tongues…”

A few steps behind them.

Baek Ho swallowed the rising bile and glanced aside.

Beyond the dense trees a wide green field stretched out.

The way the grass rippled in the wind made him think of a green sea he’d seen in footage.

‘This is ridiculous.’

That such a peaceful-looking place could be ‘hell’ rather than paradise.

The thought that demonic beings could burst out from anywhere made his mouth go bitter.

“I’m sorry… it’s all because of me…”

Nana said this walking beside Baek Ho.

Perhaps from having been seen praying, she seemed more withdrawn than before.

“I told you to contact them. If you think about it, it’s my fault.”

“Still…”

“More importantly, what’s your connection with the Light sect…?”

Nana flinched her shoulders when Baek Ho met her gaze.

“Never mind. What business of mine is it anyway.”

Baek Ho waved his hand dismissively and walked ahead.

Once this was over, they’d have no reason to see each other again.

He didn’t particularly want to be involved.

A room filled with luxurious furniture and a massive aquarium.

A woman with gold-thread inlaid instead of hair and a man in a tracksuit sat facing each other.

They were the head of I_Vu agency and Wataru.

“Sis. So didn’t you tell me I don’t need to be nice to my familiars?”

“Shut up. Before I rip your mouth apart.”

“So how are you going to fetch her? You said she went outside.”

“Didn’t you hear the call? The White Bone Society bastards shot them down. Capturing her will be quick.”

“What if she dies then?”

“Nana’s vessel will never break. The body can be restored afterward.”

“Then no problem. So what did you want to talk about?”

The woman continued with a serious expression.

“I don’t trust the White Bone Society. They’ll use Nana to blackmail us. Put some pressure through Izanami.”

Wataru snorted with laughter.

“Sis, since you started messing with showbiz and money, you’ve lost your fear.”

“…I’m your superior. Watch your manners.“

“There are no manners to keep for a retired commander. If you keep talking nonsense, I’m leaving.”

When Wataru tried to stand, the woman slammed her fist on the desk.

“Do you think the project will be completed without Nana’s help?”

“Why, because she’s an irregular? Hey sis, maybe you’ve forgotten since you retired, but there are a couple of irregulars with similar abilities in the Grave. Just bring them for a moment.”

“Do you think they compare…? You don’t know anything…”

She furrowed her wrinkled brow and continued.

“Edeline Nana is special.”

“Special how? Oh, she dances well, I guess.”

“Nana is…”

The woman took a pause and then spoke.

“She’s the daughter of Mother Selena.”

“What are you talking about… Wait. Selena? The saint?”

Wataru shut his mouth tight.

Because he suddenly thought Nana’s face resembled the saint’s.

He immediately pulled up a photo of Mother Selena on his Smartbone.

She looked so similar he wondered how he’d never noticed.

“This is insane…”

Mother Selena.

A figure mentioned in every history book in the city, unforgettable to any cadet at the academy.

She was the last saint of the Light sect and one of the first Awakened who became Undead.

Several decades ago.

The year Underheaven was completed and the selected people’s relocation was finished.

On the day crowds were waiting by the gate hoping to get into the remaining spots.

A refugee column was once ambushed by a demonic beings legion.

In that horrific scene of slaughter.

A small portal opened at the gate and a woman walked out.

Black straight hair, a blood-soaked cleric’s robe.

Iron shackles on her neck and ankles.

Mother Selena knelt before the demonic beings legion and began to pray.

A photo of that day was printed in academy textbooks and shocked cadets.

An Awakened who sacrificed her life to save refugees.

The academy showed her final moments and said this:

‘Even important figures must sometimes be abandoned. Remember that your own life matters more than a beloved familiar.’

‘Professor, you said she gave up a high-performance Reaper for the refugees. Why?’

‘Not for the refugees. If things had gone wrong, the gate sealing would have been delayed and demonic beings could have entered the city.’

Recalling the academy’s lesson, Wataru raised his voice.

“Wait, how could the saint have a daughter?”

“Back then the Necromancers were even crazier than now. Creating a daughter from a corpse’s genes? Ridiculous. There was a time when scavenging battlefields for bodies was trendy.”

“True… there were no related laws back then…”

Wataru bounced his leg nervously.

“Where did you get something like that?”

“Bought it on the black market. Spent all my retirement money.”

“Ha… whether the bastard who made it or the one who sold it… So you absolutely need that saint’s daughter, or rather the saint’s replica, for this project?”

“Yes. Even if you find similar abilities, their output would be weak compared to Nana. It probably wouldn’t work as intended.”

Wataru swallowed hard.

“Okay, bring her here. If we involve Izanami it’ll get complicated, so we’ll use the White Bone Society as is, and I’ll handle the threats.”

“You should’ve said so sooner.”

“But.”

Wataru’s expression changed.

He showed a sly grin.

“Let Izanami research Nana.”

“…Are you crazy? Even I couldn’t do that.“

“We’ll use her well and return her. We deserve to keep at least this much for helping.”

“……“

She wanted to blow Wataru’s head off on the spot.

But from the moment she decided to speak, she had steeled herself.

If she was going to be completely robbed of it, she’d rather have it dissected.

“What are you hesitating about?”

“……“

“Sis, there’s not much time until the Commander-in-Chief election. In two days Masamune will present the Beowulf project to the elders.”

“So?”

“What if the elders are satisfied and they seat Masamune as Commander-in-Chief?”

“……“

“That’s it, damn it. Hades? Yeomra? Seven corporations can go to hell. Izanami becomes number one. You can spend your retirement in peace. Isn’t that why you joined the project in the first place?”

Wataru turned his head to the side.

“It’s time to stop taking care of those kids.”

Inside the tank filled with black magic power.

Three I_Vu members, excluding Nana, were trapped unconscious.

They had been captured by Wataru after trying to ask the company for help upon hearing Nana’s situation.

“Ah sis. Do you know who she went out with? She couldn’t have escaped the city alone.”

“I think… it’s the rebels. They’re probably trying to use Nana for propaganda.”

“Makes sense. What about that former enforcer who helped her escape? He was captured, right?”