Chapter 665: Soran [5]
Despite the BUA and the Guilds trying to keep the incidents under wraps, the media and reporters still managed to catch a glimpse of what had happened, with several recordings of the incident making their way throughout the entire internet.
News articles began to appear throughout.
Breaking ⎯ [New High-Class Anomaly Emerges in Malia: VILE-2013, "The Butcher"]
Breaking ⎯ [Casualty Numbers Unknown as BUA Maintains Strict Secrecy]
Breaking ⎯ [BUA Declares National Emergency Following Malia Incident]
Breaking ⎯ [Malia Placed Under Total Communications Blackout]
Breaking ⎯ [Satellite Images Reveal Widespread Destruction in Malia. What exactly is happening? From Malovia to Malia. Why has there been a rise in such high-class anomalies? Is the world in crisis?]
The internet was on fire.
⎯What the hell is this? Another one?
⎯Another one? Wtf... Are you kidding me? Did something happen? Why is there another one?
⎯Fuck, should I consider moving from where I am? I have been feeling rather restless as of late. Maybe...
The appearance of another High-Class Anomaly left the public increasingly restless. In response, protests began to erupt in cities around the world, condemning the BUA’s current methods of operation and its continued lack of transparency.
The five great Guilds, alongside all the top Guilds, received backlash.
They, too, came under heavy criticism, especially after the world learned of the situation in Malia. Due to their influence, the Guilds had managed to keep the incident relatively quiet. However, the recent events caused news of what they had done on the island and the chaos they had inflicted upon its people to finally spread, resulting in widespread backlash.
But the extent of the criticism didn’t end there.
It even went as far as reaching specific individuals, with one particular one standing out.
Breaking ⎯ [The Legend Falters: The Mad Crown Suffers His First Failure.]
Breaking ⎯ [The Mad Crown Vanishes Mid-Operation: Was "The Butcher" Too Much for Him?]
Breaking ⎯ [The Rising Comet Begins to Lose Momentum.]
Breaking ⎯ [Were the Lights Too Bright for the Rising Comet?]
The media relentlessly pursued Seth, desperate to uncover what had happened to him in Malia. From what was publicly known, he had vanished in the middle of the operation and was never seen again. Some reports claimed he was responsible for the entire disaster and had died in the process, while others went even further...
Alleging that he was the Butcher himself.
*
BUA Headquarters.
Inside a vast, dimly lit chamber, an oppressive silence settled over a certain room. Several figures sat motionless around a massive obsidian table, their faces hidden beneath shadows and flickering holographic light.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Their attention remained fixed on the projection suspended above the table, displaying every event that had unfolded in Malia in painstaking detail.
From the first spark of conflict to the final devastating moments with the Butcher.
The footage replayed several times, each viewing forcing the silent observers to scrutinize every frame in complete silence, broken only by the low hum of the projector and the faint crackle of shifting images.
The lingering scent of stale coffee, untouched for hours, mingled with the faint metallic tang of the room’s recycled air. Someone shifted in their seat. The leather creaked. The sound echoed across the chamber far louder than it should have, and yet no one turned to look.
At last, the recording came to an abrupt stop.
The final image lingered in the air for a moment before coming to a stop, leaving the room in a silence even heavier than before.
All eyes fell on what remained of the Butcher.
Or to be more precise...
Towards the figure that lay behind the cracked mask.
A suffocating silence took over after that.
It pressed in every direction, growing heavier with each passing second, until a certain voice echoed.
"To think that we weren’t dealing with an anomaly."
His words quietly spread throughout the room as all eyes remained fixed on the figure that lay behind the broken mask. There was no inflection in the voice. No anger, no surprise. Just a calm indifference.
"...Not quite."
A voice interrupted as the hologram shifted to display a certain knife.
"From the analysis, we were no doubt dealing with an anomalous entity. In this case, the anomalous entity was in the form of a knife."
All eyes fell upon the knife displayed on the hologram, its dull blade marred by several cracks and streaked with dried blood. Though it was only an image, everyone present could still feel the lingering bloodlust emanating from the unremarkable weapon.
"Forensics has yet to provide a complete analysis of the blade’s abilities due to the extent of the damage it sustained. From what has been gathered, the damage was not caused by the battle itself, but by an apparent overload of its abilities. We now need to determine what caused it to overload."
"What about the one responsible for this?"
"That’s the issue."
The voice quietly whispered across the room.
"The one behind the mask has been declared brain-dead. It appears that the knife had taken over their mind completely."
The words hung there.
"There is no bringing him back. Even if we attempt something, we will not be able to learn anything from him. I would like to believe this incident was caused by the anomalous item that was discovered, which appears to have corrupted his mind, but that is only a preliminary observation. We’ll only come to the truth later."
"So you’re saying that there’s no chance that we are able to extract any information?"
"No."
The room fell silent once more, all eyes fixed on the knife as the tension in the air grew tighter. Somewhere, deep in the building, a ventilation system cycled on. The faint vibration crept through the obsidian table, just enough to feel against the fingertips of those who rested their hands on its surface.
One of the figures slowly leaned back.
Another exhaled, the breath disappearing into the chamber without a sound to follow.
The silence merely lasted a few moments before someone else spoke.
"Regarding the ones that are missing?"
The question carried a different weight than the others. It felt more authoritative.
"Someone is looking into that."
"For now, all attention is being focused on the knife. We believe that to be the key to uncovering the truth behind the situation. More will be shared as more is found. That will be all for now. Does anyone have any questions?"
The room remained silent.
That seemed to mark the end of the session. After which, the figures began to disappear one after another, the soft hum of the hologram echoing in the background, as eventually there was only one person left.
They did not rise.
They did not speak.
For a long moment, they simply remained seated, their figure swallowed by the shadows that draped the chamber, their face still hidden, their hands resting flat against the cold obsidian surface.
Until⎯
Tap! Tap!
Their finger tapped against the table.
Just before leaving, they shifted their attention away from the knife and towards a different image. Towards the face that lay behind the mask known as the Butcher.
Their gaze lingered.
It lingered for a long, long time.
Right beneath was a single name and title.
[Eugene Kinmen ⎯ Cloud Reverence Guild Team Leader]
The figure stared at the name in silence. The hologram flickered once. Twice. And in the dim, broken light of the chamber, something almost imperceptible passed across the shadow that masked their face.
Then they, too, were gone.
The chamber sat empty.
Only the projection remained, casting its pale light across the obsidian table, the name of a dead Team Leader floating quietly above it.
