CRASH!

Plimene struck the table with her fist. Finally, the dreaded baptism of fire had been activated. District 44 was sealed off. The military intended to burn everything inside it.

'I have to stop it somehow. But how?'

Operations already in motion are difficult to halt easily. The fact that the baptism of fire had begun meant approval had come down from above. It was possible because the opposing faction held firm justification.

They were already losing in terms of justification. To prevent that, they too needed elements that would warrant stopping the operation.

-Plimene. Regrettably, there isn't much we can do right now.

The Guardian Council. It was William Sterling speaking.

-Opinions are divided even within our council. While this baptism of fire operation may be excessive, their argument is that extraordinary measures must be taken, even if excessive, to prevent the recurrence of District 17.

"But Councilman! There are innocent people there right now! The number exceeds ten thousand!"

-I know that too. But foreign divine power from outside has been detected. You know how dangerous the erosive power they possess can be. If that's true, the entire city could be in danger.

At least ten thousand people. There could be even more. The city was now thinking of uprooting the foreign divine roots even at the cost of sacrificing them.

It wasn't wrong. Citizens' lives were never light. But when weighing importance, the entire city was more crucial.

If the city disappeared, over a hundred million people would suffer harm.

"For that, the knight is fighting right now! Don't you know? He's the hero who ended the District 17 incident!"

-A manufactured hero. It's not like he did everything alone in there.

Plimene clenched her fist tightly. Her nails dug into her palm and blood dripped down.

-I'm not just sitting idle either. They claim it's for the greater good, but there are suspicious aspects. So show me proper evidence. That this operation is unjust, that there are questionable segments somewhere.

"That's..."

Plimene squeezed her eyes shut then opened them. Right. There was no point in getting angry at William. William, who had become her reliable supporter, was also a councilman who had voted against this operation.

Though he spoke coldly like this, he too was someone who opposed the baptism of fire. Naturally, even now, if given the chance, he intended to halt the operation midway.

"...I understand. I'll find something somehow."

She didn't know what could come out of searching now. But Plimene had no choice but to say that.

-Be careful.

Sterling warned before ending the communication.

-I'll handle things within the council, but others are also watching your movements. The opposing faction is particularly keeping an eye on you.

"Because they know I'm trying to interfere."

-They've staked everything on this operation too. They made a big bet for the financial gains that will follow. So they'll do anything to successfully complete the baptism of fire.

Plimene felt a chill down her spine. So they were preparing to use any means necessary in case she interfered. There was no need to ask what methods those might be. Having climbed to this position, she had seen such sabotage more than anyone.

"...I understand."

-I wish you luck. Other troublesome reports keep coming up. Probably intended to tie me down. This is most effective after all. Phew, that was a long explanation. I'll be going now.

The communication with William Sterling ended. Plimene had to stand still in place for a while.

That was the moment.

-Thud.

Something rolled onto her table.

'This is a communicator?'

It was a communicator she'd never seen before. Plimene looked around. No one could enter her office. But how did this suddenly appear?

Plimene picked up the communicator and put it in her ear.

[Ah, ah. Can you hear me?]

"Who are you?"

[I can't tell you my name. But let me just say I'm someone here to help you.]

Plimene's eyebrow twitched.

"You're helping me?"

[It's natural that you don't believe me. But this is sincere. Um, to speak of deeper sincerity, I want to help not you, but the people fighting in District 44.]

"...Either way, it means our intentions align. The fact that you contacted me like this means you have something to propose?"

[Indeed, impressive. To figure that out in such a short time. Yes, that's correct. But before I tell you, you should leave that place. There are people watching you.]

Plimene stared out the window. She could see shadows moving in places where streetlight didn't reach.

"This place is safe. There's no one who can carelessly touch a high-ranking city government official."

[That would be true normally. But when attention is focused in one place like now, it wouldn't be strange if someone died secretly. Even high-ranking officials of Tirna are just replaceable cogs to someone.]

Though it wounded her pride, she couldn't deny it.

"Even so, I have dedicated guards."

[Can you trust them? Haven't unfamiliar faces recently joined your security team?]

Plimene felt her spine grow cold. She couldn't completely trust the other party's words. But ignoring obvious anxiety factors was even worse.

"...Where should I go?"

[I'll tell you the location.]

After hearing the meeting location, Plimene immediately grabbed her coat and went outside. Her bodyguards naturally followed, but Plimene waved her hand.

"I'm just stopping by a nearby place briefly. Wait here."

When she said that much, the bodyguards exchanged glances and held their positions. Plimene moved toward a path with loose surveillance. It was the route the voice on the communicator had told her. This could be a path leading into a trap, but Plimene decided to trust it once. Considering the other party's abilities, there was no need to use such a troublesome method just to corner her.

What greeted Plimene when she arrived at the gap between buildings, a dark and quiet place, was a gaunt man in a raincoat wearing a crow mask.

"You're the owner of the voice."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Plimene."

"I'm not young enough to be called 'Miss.'"

"That may be so. But I'm not young either, so it should be fine to call you that. More importantly."

The masked man stared at her intently.

"Troublesome tails have followed."

Plimene turned around. She could hear footsteps urgently tracking their traces.

"I came as quietly as possible..."

"As soon as they confirmed you'd disappeared, tracking was attached. You must be quite disliked. Or the other party is equally desperate."

Desperate? When they were already proceeding with the baptism of fire, what was there to be desperate about? Before Plimene's question could be resolved, the man spoke.

"It's fine. We have capable people on this side too."

Soon, with a creepy crackling sound, shadows could be seen rippling in the darkness. Though her eyesight wasn't that good, she could tell it was a bundle of giant tentacles.

"This is, the Slithering Sisters?"

"Oh my, you knew. I tried to hide it as much as possible since the perception isn't very good."

"...I've seen it before. I've heard that another district exists in Tirna's underground. That means you're the ruler of the underground world."

"Not quite a ruler. You could say I'm part of it."

Though his words were modest, being able to step forward like this was because his influence was very strong.

-Crunch. Crack. Grrk!

In the distance, along with creepy sounds, screams disappeared as if swallowed by something. And shortly after, Krua approached from the darkness with her hair glowing pale yellow.

"We meet again. Government lady."

Krua said this and stood beside the man, Gaien.

"What's the proposal you want to make to me?"

Time was urgent so Krua went straight to the point.

Gaien took out an object from his pocket. It was a small sphere made of golden color similar to a capsule.

Soon Gaien pressed the groove in the center of the sphere firmly. Blue mana flowed along the traces carved on the sphere's surface, then scattered light into the air.

The light soon took shape, showing a scene of three people having a conversation.

"This is a scene from a meeting of those who secretly led this affair."

Soon the light went out and the artifact stopped working. Gaien rolled the artifact once on his palm then held it out to Plimene.

"With this, can you do it?"

There was no need to ask what she could do. Plimene accepted the artifact.

"What's your reason for going this far?"

"I have a debt."

"To District 44?"

"It's that man you know well. It's a debt I couldn't repay even with my entire life, so I'm trying to help like this. Above all, this is the right thing to do, isn't it?"

These weren't words that should come from the mouth of an underground world ruler who lives ignoring Tirna's laws. But somehow, Plimene felt something similar to Osian from Gaien.

"Even if I have this, I won't be able to use it. Such evidence naturally exerts power when it comes from more legitimate people. That's why I'm giving it to you. I thought you could do it better than anyone."

Plimene acutely felt the weight of the metal sphere in her hand. This was an important key that could turn the situation around.

"Can you do it?"

"That's my specialty."

Plimene chuckled.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The bombardment toward Osian showed no signs of stopping. He couldn't imagine how much gunpowder even larger military bombers would possess.

'They're truly pouring it down to a sickening degree.'

As firepower concentrated toward this side, the bombs falling on District 44 would decrease accordingly. So even if it was annoying, he had no choice but to endure it.

'But I can't keep them tied up like this forever. They're numerous. If they seriously disperse their forces, I can't stop them. In the end, I'm just one individual.'

The liberation forces were also fighting desperately somehow, but the difference in power was still clear. Regardless of how well they fought, they were outclassed from the start.

'Here they come again.'

Due to the relentless pounding, this entire area had transformed to resemble a hellish inferno. He could feel the ground itself completely breaking apart, melting down, and slowly sinking below.

They knew too that the moment they slowed this offensive even slightly, a counterattack would come from the Sun Ring. That's why they were desperately pouring out bombardment. This was a game of chicken to see who would tire first.

'I can't unleash stronger power.'

At Trinity Building, the space was vast and most were trustworthy, skilled comrades, so it didn't matter. But District 44 was different. Greta would be somewhere not far away right now. If he unleashed more of the Sun Ring power, he would end up killing Greta with his own hands.

At that moment, Osian could see that a pure white flash cut through the air and struck the engine section of one airship.

'That's, Lorain?'

The bullet imbued with divine power was from the sniper rifle Lorain favored. Soon new light erupted and aimed for exactly the same spot as before.

THWOOM! PANG! CLANG!

The protective barrier broke through and sparks flew from the airship's outer armor. By then, the escort ships also noticed.

"Ground interception? Where the hell is it from?"

"It's a sniper. But it's just bullets anyway. We can just ignore it."

"At this distance anyway, it's not enough to pierce the escort ship's bottom armor."

But the barrage of bullets continued. And the spot being targeted consecutively was identical to the previously targeted spot without even a 1cm error.

The outer armor's durability gradually decreased, and finally the last bullet penetrated through it. And the bullet precisely targeted the escort ship's engine.

BOOM!

The engine exploded and flames shot up on the escort ship. Escort ships use multiple engines. Just one engine isn't enough to make them crash.

But it was enough to lose balance. The escort ship wobbled and shook, and the bombardment stopped. Another escort ship turned its gun barrel. The target was the location where Lorain, from whom the ground interception had come, was positioned.

"Tch. Their reaction is damn fast. I guess it's because it's my old workplace."

Lorain, who had been watching the scene through the scope, clicked her tongue. Diolan, who had been watching beside her, took off his boots.

"I'll go."

Soon his body was enveloped in jet-black fur and shot up vertically like a spring.

Something like a jet-black whirlwind fiercely cut through the air and moved. The escort ship's command watched the scene blankly.

THUD!

Soon the escort ship shook greatly, and the entire front glass window was completely dyed jet black. Beyond the blackened glass window, a pair of giant golden pupils glared wide open.