“Melody, what do you think about this attack?”

“The Soul Eaters? I think it’s… strange. Why would a horde appear without our knowing of it?”

“I had that exact thought. There must be a mastermind behind this attack if these creatures appeared without our knowing. Soul Eaters would not just ‘appear’ out of nowhere, no matter how intelligent they are.”

“But what does the mastermind want?”

That’s the question I’d like answered.

“What if I told you, Raizo, leader of Grand Order?”

A cloaked man appears like a ghost floating through the ground into the room. His emergence into this room takes Melody and me by surprise. And the aura he’s emitting is threateningly spread out.

“Who are you?”

“There’s no need for any tension to exist between us, Raizo. I come here in peace.”

“So you say, but here you are, an uninvited guest, threatening my aid and me with your menacing aura. Are you the mastermind behind this attack?”

“Maybe I am. Maybe I am not. Who can say?”

I slam my hands on the desk and push myself up and out of my chair. “I will not play games with you. If you do not answer my question, I will assume you are a hostile force and deal with you most appropriately.”

“Hmm… Maybe I should have switched targets with Joker,” he mumbles. “Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?”

“What are you—”

“Oh, nothing. I enjoy speaking to myself. It’s a habit I’ll never rid myself of. Anyway, as I said, I came here in peace. However, I am in an enemy organisation. Why would I not show any hostility to protect myself?”

An enemy organisation? Is he a part of the Illuminati? Or is he a member of that organisation?

“Can you recall your horde of Soul Eaters?” asks Melody, unfazed by his threats.

“Sorry, but who are you?”

Melody taps on the tablet she’s holding, and several guns unveil themselves from the ceilings, walls, and floor, pointing at the cloaked assailant. “I am Raizo’s secretary. I also have full authority over all weapons in this building. So, I would tread carefully if I were you.”

“Well, well. In all honesty, I expected to find resistance from Raizo, but not some nobody woman with no realisation of where she belongs.”

“Enough! You appeared unannounced, and you insulted my secretary. Whoever you may be, I will give you three seconds to disappear. Or else…”

“Well, it seems ‘peace’ is no longer on the table.”

“One.”

“Since I never introduced myself, let me enlighten you.”

“Two.”

“I am Necromancer, a member of—”

“Three.” On the third count, I leapt forward, using my Thunder Magic as a coat to enhance my speed, and punched him through my office doors. “Melody, take his corpse and dispose—”

“My, my. You pack quite the punch, Raizo.”

What? He’s still alive? But I’m sure my punch connected.

Melody tugs onto my shirt and says, with a look of horror, “Sir, it’s Callisto…”

When she said those words, I could feel Callisto’s magic leak through the cracks of this structure. “There’s another presence.”

“That would be my partner, Joker,” says Necromancer, walking into the room again. “He loves playing with his prey, so your subordinate should be fine. That is if he can satisfy Joker.”

“Thunder Magic: Bane of Thunder.” A magic circle appears above Necromancer and fires multiple thunderbolts at him. The electricity generated from all those attacks will kill any human being. “This is the end of your shenanigans.”

As the thunderbolts fry him, his cries grow dim until nothing sounds. His charred body falls with a thump.

“Melody, take his body out of here.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Are you sure you want to do that, Young Lady?”

“Wha—” Necromancer’s charred body… His dead body rises. “How did you…?”

“Survive? Do you believe in the concept of immortality?”

Immortality? That is not something that a human should possess. Unless…

“You are not human.”

“Correct. I am undead. A moving corpse. That means your attacks will not kill me. But I would like to ask that you not attack me again. Though I am undead, I can still feel pain. Being struck with thunder is not an ideal torture.”

Impossible. Undead are supposed to exist in the underworld only. For someone like him, who can summon a horde of Soul Eaters, to roam in Leagard disregards what my organisation seeks to attain. And it’s not him alone. His partner, Joker. That witch, Elisabeth Faith. The dragon, Haruki Ryu. All these monsters are threats I swore to dispose of to protect Leagard. Yet here they are, swarming this realm like it’s their backyard.

“I’ve had enough of this.”

“S-Sir?”

“Thunder Magic: Lightning Armour.” A thick coat of mana wraps my body like a suit of armour. I raise my arm, and in my hand, a bolt appears. “Thunder Magic: Zeus’ Bolt.” I draw my arm back and tighten my grip on the bolt of thunder before I jerk my arm forward and let go of it. “Die,” I say as the bolt flies, breaking through the sound barrier upon release. The sonic boom shakes the room, and gusts of wind blow the loose pages through the air. The thunderbolt strikes Necromancer through the heart and sends him flying through multiple walls.

A crowd of Grand Order members has gathered around in the main hall, and I follow the trail of holes to reach them. I search the centre of the crowd, but Necromancer is no longer there. What remains is my thunderbolt and the cloak he was wearing.

“Did he escape? From that?”

Necromancer is a crafty foe. I assume his magic involves spatial transfer—something akin to Summoning Magic. And he must have a large mana reserve to summon thousands of Soul Eaters. If the other members of his organisation are equal, or more powerful than him, then…

“Melody, have Callisto return to HQ. We have a problem on our hands.”

“What about the Soul Eaters?”

“I have faith in… Wait, why are Haruki and Louisa’s mana diminishing at such a fast rate? What’s happening over there?”