THE STRONGHOLD OPERATION.

THE WORLD IS DIVIDED INTO SIX REGIONS, ALL OF WHICH ARE LED BY SOULFULS RESPONSIBLE FOR OVERSEEING, CONTROLLING, AND RESPONDING TO SOULFUL ACTIVITIES AND PHENOMENA IN THEIR ALLOCATED TERRITORIES.

EURA, ASUA, AFRA, LATA, OCEA AND NAJA.

ALL SIX STRONGHOLDS MUST COOPERATE FOR THE SAKE OF ORDER AMONG THE SOULFULS AND THE PREVENTION OF A SOULFUL CATASTROPHE.

2024

THE SECOND GLOBAL SOUL EVENT TAKES PLACE.

KAITO KAMIKI, THE HEAD OF THE NAJA STRONGHOLD, BEGINS THE ASCENSION PROCESS TO CREATE A SOULFUL WORLD.

LADY AIZAWA, THE HEAD OF THE EURA STRONGHOLD, BEGINS THE SERVATA CORDIS PLAN TO CREATE A PERFECT HUMANITY.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT IS INEVITABLE.

1 - The Six (Four) Castles

[NOVEMBER 1ST, 2024]

[UNDISCLOSED LOCATION]

“Let us begin by confirming our presence at this meeting.” The deep and sorrowful voice said, laying the foundation of the difficult conversations that were to follow.

“Head of the Afra stronghold, myself, Mansa Zuma.” Mansa said, raising his hand. “Verifying presence.”

“Head of the Ocea stronghold, Alby Stirrock.”

“Verifying presence.” Alby replied. The usually cheerful soulful had not a grain of energy to expand on celebrations. He wore a dark green jacket with a dundee hat, his face was slightly tan and painted over with a graying beard. His eyes were dark, his right eye being home to a pretty bad scar.

“Head of the Asua stronghold, Sannan Buyantu.”

“Verifying presence.” Sannan replied. He brushed over his goatee, both his hands were scarred courtesy of the soul-bound war. His eyes bore a mysterious darkness, and like his comrades, were enchanted with concern.

“Head of the Lata stronghold, Camela Barbosa.”

“Verifying presence.” Camela replied. She had lightly tan skin and gorgeous dark hair flowing down her shoulders. Her hands felt a little twitchy, her face looked terrified, but her heart was full of determination. The issue was that it’s hard for a squirrel to showcase its courage when squashed between a wolf and an alligator.

“Head of the Naja stronghold, Kaito Kamiki.”

“...”

“Head of the Eura stronghold...”

“There’s no point.” Alby interrupted him. “They’re done with us. They don’t hafta care about us anymore.”

Mansa sighed deeply. He was a dark-skinned man with brown eyes that radiated with a strong sense of justice and responsibility. His outfit swayed more towards the traditional side, the vibrant colors on it reminding him of his home. Among the soulfuls at the table, he was the strongest.

Those colors contrasted greatly with the dark walls of the conference room and the dim lighting. It was easy to build such hideouts theoretically anywhere, and whenever the need arose, one would quickly be dug up and used for a quick meeting between the heads. Everything would be discussed in an orderly manner, documentations would be reviewed, strategies would be discussed and alerts would be handled. Such was the simple yet effective order within the operation.

However, it would all change once a shift in power occurred in the Eura stronghold. While the world was concerned with the elections and the war, the iron lady that ruled the region was impeached.

“So what do you suggest?” Camelia asked. “Eura is lost. Naja is in his hands and he’s playing with his powers like they’re goddamn toys. There’s gotta be a way to convince them to follow protocol.”

“He

is the one who wrote the protocol.” Sannan said. “I’m more than certain he thinks he can just disobey it. As a matter of fact, this whole protocol was written with only his interests in mind.”

“Then why do we follow it?” Camelia asked.

“Because we have no other choice.” Alby said. “Kaito Kamiki was, and still is, the de facto leader of the soulfuls. Forcing him to follow protocol just won’t work. If he doesn’t want to show up to meetings, we can’t convince him.”

“Well, s-screw him!” Camelia raised her voice. A part of her conscience was fearful of even saying that in his address, she thought that he might be listening in, or even right there. “He’s betraying us. I just... I just know it! He doesn’t care about us, he never did!”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Good call, Cammy.” Alby sighed. “Are you gonna tell us that the grass is green next?”

“Screw you too!” Camelia lashed out. “Mansa, what do you think?”

Mansa was silent.

He was processing the information, making up hundreds of scenarios in his mind, all of which had a grim conclusion. He took a deep breath, laid his hands on the table and spoke in his orderly and deep voice.

“Kaito Kamiki has always chased his own purpose. And challenging that purpose would mean challenging both him and the Heisei.”

“Madness.” Alby said. “We can’t scratch the Heisei, especially when they have that new fancy weapon of theirs. The soulful that killed Otto Richter.”

“Otto was a good man.” Sannan said. “A very good man. We should have let the Adler Group take control of Naja. Should’ve gutted Kaito when we had just awakened as a soulful.”

“Is that a regret I hear?” Alby asked.

“It's a concern that you hear, Alby.” Sannan replied. “We have no way of stopping Kaito Kamiki. We’re thankful we even got intel on what he’s doing thanks to that rogue soulful.”

“He’s a madman. I mean, really, erasing every non-soulful... and all we can do is sit back and watch. Watch as he kills people who he doesn’t even know.” Camelia vented.

“There is a way.” Mansa said, breaking the tension.

“Hm?”

“We fight fire with fire.” Mansa explained. “You may not like it, but there is only one faction that is capable of taking the GSC down.”

“No.” Camelia said. “Just... no.”

“You somehow mentioned a freak even worse than Kaito himself.” Alby said. “We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. We’re not gonna punch ourselves with a rock so that... actually... Yeah, that metaphor doesn’t really work. But you get the point.”

“There is tension between Eura and Naja.” Mansa said. “Aizawa’s forces are strong, and she herself is an absolute monster. A perfect counterweight to the GSC. What we need to do right now is to observe their conflict closely.”

“Sitting back and watching.” Alby sighed.

“We watch while they wreak havoc and decide our future... talk about humiliation.” Sannan said.

“That won’t work.” Camelia said.

“Why’s that?”

“Kaito Kamiki is the wielder of some divine bullshit, correct?” Camelia said. “His goals involve the usage of his soul expression with pinpoint accuracy and knowing things that no one else can or should know about. You’d think in his situation he’d challenge Aizawa?”

“Please elaborate.” Mansa said, his expression glued to the dark gray hexagon-shaped table with two empty seats. A lone drop of sweat ran down his neck.

“The Heisei will be tasked with Eura’s destruction, and Kaito Kamiki will avoid the fight.” Camelia elaborated. “Which means he might come down to us at any moment... and do whatever he wants to us.”

“God fucking damn it!” Alby said, hitting the table with his fist, cracking it a little. “No matter how you spin it.”

“Mansa, what should we do?” Sannan asked.

“Yeah, spit what’s on your mind.” Alby said.

“Mansa...?”

But Mansa was still silent. His head even hurt a little from all the nasty thoughts he had to process, topped with a sense of impending doom and the acceptance of powerlessness before an indestructible foe. The hexagon that he spent the last two years strengthening was merely an ant, caught between the dance of two elephants.

He took a deep breath, cracking his knuckles, and slowly stood up. He felt a little dizzy from getting up so fast.

“Kaito Kamiki himself had this saying.” Mansa said, angry at himself for repeating the words that were uttered out of Kaito’s mouth, and even angrier for finding wisdom and meaning in them, and even more for choosing it as a strategy of survival against Kaito himself.

“When faced with a thunderstorm, there is no point in worrying yourself over getting your clothes wet. The priority becomes protecting yourself against the thunder.” Mansa said. “As much as it’s pathetic, we must take those words to heart and follow suit.”

He expected the others to erupt in rage, but they simply did not say anything. They fell silent in acceptance.

“We must prepare to fight against Kaito Kamiki.” Mansa said. “Our only hope of survival is that the war between Eura and Naja causes one side to perish and another to be weakened to the point of subjugation. But even in that scenario, we must be strong and brave enough to fight a war.”

“And how do you imagine that? You’re a wise man, right, Mansa?” Alby asked. “How do you imagine fighting him? Or her?”

“I haven’t the slightest clue.” Mansa said. “Perhaps we could contact the rogue about it. He has already helped us by informing us of many things. I can sense that he wants Kaito to suffer as much as possible.”

“I’d rather leave Kaito alive than Aizawa.” Sannan said.

“We have no choice on that matter, unfortunately.” Mansa said.

“We have no choice on whether or not we get to live either...”

“I’m declaring this meeting concluded.” Mansa said. “I will get in touch with the rogue and we will establish a direct and secure line of communication.”

“You sure? I heard Kaito wants to hunt him down pretty badly.” Alby said.

“Would you rather die by doing nothing, or die by doing something?” Mansa asked. He himself had a hard time picking the second option, but he had no other way.

“So be it.” Alby stood up. “Neither of the devils should be allowed to live, and if we die fighting... well, at least we won’t get to see the shit they do.” He said with a light chuckle. Mansa nodded his head in respect and approval.

“Then it is settled.” Mansa said. “I will contact Mukawa.”