Dark Side (2)
After a night full of events, dawn broke over a small city in southern Thailand that had suffered a sudden uproar.
Just a few hours ago, an incident occurred that might have caused the entire city to vanish.
But since they survived, the citizens had to somehow return to their daily lives to maintain what little was left. They moved about their routines as if no commotion had ever happened.
“Hey, did you see that? That night…”
“Of course! Goodness, I thought I was dreaming.”
“I was so shocked I thought a war had started…”
Yet things were not entirely the same as usual.
The tired expressions on their faces were a clear indication of how much they were worrying about the previous day’s events, coupled with the chaotic murmurs among the groups gathered together.
Such reactions were not limited to the locals.
[Midnight commotion. Was it an Awakened One’s ability terror?]
[An angel appears in the skies over Yala, Thailand! What happened there?]
[The beautiful Aurora that protected the city from bombardment. The photo of the angel at the center is drawing public attention…]
[The Thai government—no signs of missile attacks found. Currently presumed to be an Awakened One’s terror. A research team will be dispatched to Yala for further details.]
In this age, videos vividly capturing the situation flooded the internet, capturing public interest.
Terror from powers is common, but incidents of this scale with such grandeur were quite rare.
Who wouldn’t be interested in the tremendous explosions erupting from the high skies and the mysterious being intercepting them like beams of light?
– Watching it on video, the intimidation is no joke. The space distorts every time an explosion occurs?
└ For real;; If that all fell on the city… But why did something like this happen all of a sudden? What’s in that rundown town?
– Is that really an angel? It’s hard to see from this far away.
└ There’s a close-up shot with high magnification. It’s an angel in armor with three pairs of wings.
– That armor looks strangely familiar… Could it be that Heinrich, the saint from that other world?
└ Huh? It really is?
Some figured out that the angel was Heinrich, but they had plans to exploit this event, so they didn’t bother hiding that.
Of course, not many knew why this had happened, how it was progressing, or how it concluded.
“Then allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Frey, the representative of the Burning Flame. Thank you once again for your assistance, Masquerade.”
Excluding the parties involved in the incident gathered here.
The Führer, Frey, who had fainted throughout the battle, bowed politely to express his gratitude.
He faced Heinrich, who was seated as the representative of Masquerade, and Ken, who had joined them from the beginning through their ties with the Burning Flame.
Heinrich smiled gently, receiving her greeting.
“It was merely my duty. Buncheon Society is a foe that we all must face together; it isn’t just an issue for a select few.”
He continued, indicating that the “humans” included those not just from Earth, gazing at Frey with a peculiar look.
“By the way, are you feeling alright? It seems you were deprived of your body for quite a while by that Mimic.”
“Ah, I’m much better now. It’s all thanks to Heinrich. Honestly, I was quite lucky. My unique skill allowed me to endure without completely being absorbed.”
She smiled bitterly, fidgeting with her hands.
Contrary to the imposing image she had maintained as a Führer, her gestures were unexpectedly feminine, like any young lady.
“I never thought that my unique skill, thought to only change my appearance, would have such additional effects.”
“You must not have invested much in your unique skills?”
“…I heard you’re from another world, but you’re quite knowledgeable. I focused on training my Ether instead of unique skills to surpass boundaries. Well, creating a perfect body suitable for training and avoiding gender disputes has proven quite helpful.”
The conversation flowed smoothly since they had just achieved victory against a common enemy.
As Ken intermittently stole glances at Heinrich with discomfort, and An watched Frey with worried eyes, they began to exchange a few words, further lightening the atmosphere.
Until Ken carelessly blurted out a regretful comment.
“By the way, it’s a shame we let that Executioner slip away. We should have handled such a dangerous foe properly when we had the chance.”
Immediately upon finishing that sentence, Frey and An’s expressions noticeably darkened.
It was understandable.
Frey, who had directly confronted him, and An, who had witnessed the battle up close, both knew all too well the terrifying nature of that enemy.
It was clear as day where he would target when he returned, causing worry in various ways.
Isn’t it practically impossible to stop him with just the power of the Burning Flame?
“Ah, didn’t I mention it?”
Yet their worries were short-lived.
“The Executioner has been dealt with on our side, so there’s no need for you to worry anymore.”
Heinrich casually stated this, sweeping away all their concerns.
“…Huh? Really?”
“When did that…?”
Everyone, including An, who realized the Phantom’s absence, could only be shocked.
It would be a lie to say they didn’t have some hope, but they certainly had not expected it to be resolved so quickly.
Frey and Ken, who had directly fought the Executioner, shared similar thoughts.
‘So, the full power here wasn’t all of Masquerade’s efforts? Just where have these people been all this time…’
Frey sighed, looking at Heinrich with deeply settled eyes.
A secret organization that included beings like the saint of another world and an angel.
Though it had already been years since she noticed the threat of the Buncheon Society and began her actions, she had never once dreamt such a force existed.
‘…Still, they’re definitely opposing the Buncheon Society right now, so for now, I have no choice but to trust them.’
While it was best to be cautious about fully trusting them, there was no alternative at this moment.
For the sake of those who had believed and followed her until now, she had to take a chance on the option with the highest probability.
With her mind firmly made up, she locked eyes with An beside her and slowly nodded.
Watching the reaction of the group, Heinrich wore a confident smile.
‘This was a clear show of force. For those three to let him slip away is inconceivable.’
Somehow, it had turned into a grand gathering like “Masquerade total assembly!” with the Dark Side avatar dispatched to Earth, but… it wasn’t so bad either.
Given the effort put in, the gains were not negligible.
For the great cause of bringing down the Buncheon Society.
From the perspective of the secret organization Masquerade’s emergency response.
*
Hoo, alright. With this, I can say the objectives for the Southeast Asia dispatch have been fully achieved.
The relationship with the Burning Flame had been established smoothly.
For now, it was still a loose alliance between two independent forces, but that was enough at this time.
Given the significant damage the organization had suffered, they had no choice but to rely on this side for survival.
With time, naturally, a hierarchy would establish itself, and they would become a subordinate force without needing to do much.
‘The Buncheon Society’s Southeast Asia branch…sigh, it’s basically wrapped up since we’ve captured their top ranks.’
Hans, who was dispatched locally, would take charge of that soul-extracting work.
Through that process, we could also gather information on branches with other Transcendent Beings, so we were well over the originally intended goals.
‘The avatars that came to Earth can gradually be sent back one by one.’
As I sat in a massage chair as usual, I closed my eyes and surveyed the avatars remaining on Earth.
The first I called back was High Elf Harris.
Though his helmet and entire outfit were magical equipment with air purifying effects, it still couldn’t suppress the discomfort arising from feeling the nature around him.
‘Sure, I could hold it in, but…there’s no real need to push that hard.’
Harris, who lived in harmony with nature, served as a sort of mental stabilizer for me.
He relieved the stress that inevitably built up while operating multiple avatars and influenced my restful sleep.
Plus, living in an environment where beautiful music was continuously playing all around made him a being that helped just by lounging around.
‘Let’s see, who’s next—’
The first avatar brought to Earth, Hesperon, was still hard at work.
In the interior of the complex data center, supercomputers were fully mobilized, including Titan and “Machina: Callicas,” generating public sentiment heightening awareness of the threat posed by the Buncheon Society related to recent events.
‘Yet… this isn’t as easy as I thought. There was a reason it hadn’t been brought to light all this time.’
Even connected to the currently hot topic event, it hadn’t yielded as swiftly as expected.
After all, to plot world conquest in modern Earth, this level of information warfare was basic.
With the Doctor, who was at the pinnacle of technology, involved, it wouldn’t have been a difficult task.
“I’ve noticed from the time there was no information about them on the internet…they’re remarkably thorough.”
Perhaps there was a modified AI like this on their side.
I felt it necessary to keep a closer lookout on the security of the data center Hesperon was utilising.
To avoid any accidental retracing due to carelessness.
‘Heinrich has been handling external affairs all this time. Now then, what about the remaining ones…’
The neutral mercenary Harley, who walked the line between light and dark.
And the certifiably Dark Side members Hans, Heinz II, and Hela.
*
A space teeming with all manner of negative energies.
Hmm, with this, my work is done.
Heinz, a member of the Dark Side who contributed to capturing the Executioner, wiped his mouth and slowly rose from his seat.
[————!]
He then stepped out of the space where unrecognizable thoughts echoed, into the perfectly isolated outer world.
Unlike the other two avatars, he had little scope for involvement aside from the blood-related tasks, making his job quick.
[Kuhuha! So this is what it feels like to possess divinity, huh? Surprised you held on longer than I expected. Pretty impressive!]
Hmmm~, if I extract this well, I think I could use it? In this regard, it’s no different from vampires. Even across dimensions, there’s some commonalities.
Amid the excited voices of the avatars behind him, Heinz took a deep breath as he exited the artificially created space.
The air from that side just doesn’t suit me, after all.
It would have been nice if I could place other life forms in the ‘Dragon Lair.’
Unlike the other two, who were more familiar with magic, he was solely inclined toward blood, making it unavoidable to feel uneasy.
Nevertheless, having absorbed and analyzed the power within the Executioner’s blood, he was unlikely to return there anytime soon.
Well, I also gained quite a bit during that process.
Was it called the Eternal Great Demon?
Regardless of whether demon blood was of much help to a vampire, having drawn blood from a foe of that caliber benefited the growth of his Pureblood.
Of course, it can’t be compared to what the other two have gained.
While Hela aimed to extract and devour all the feats she had accumulated as a Demon King, and Hans planned to pickle a captured Transcendent Being’s body and soul into puppetry, Heinz came away with just a little power from the blood and some cause-and-effect.
That said, he did drain just enough of the captured Transcendent Beings’ blood to keep them alive.
Having completed his task, he was set to move to “his territory.”
A place in Seoul, South Korea, under his protection.
“Ah, it’s been a while since you’ve been here, Lord!”
“Hmm.”
As he stepped into the office, he nodded back at Jin So-Ran, who welcomed him.
This was a place that single-handedly functioned as the center of the blood alliance.
The building of Heterosys, where Jin So-Ran, who led the organization in lieu of Lord Heinz, worked.
It seems there’s no sign of living as a shadow organization now.
Heinz nodded slowly as he looked around.
The view of this place, where a small building was wholly utilized, was not much different from any other company, except for the overall dimness due to drawn curtains even during the day, and that most of the staff worked at night.
“Still, I’ve been keeping track of reports. It seems like there’s still plenty of work.”
“Hmm, but these days, it’s much better. When Howard Industries officially launched, I genuinely thought we might be in trouble…Having professional management indeed makes a difference.”
She sighed as she recalled the past, shaking her head.
“Right, there’s no need for you to handle everything. The captain just needs to ensure the crew is doing their jobs well. There are plenty of experts and competent talents in various fields.”
“…Hearing that from you, Lord, it really carries weight.”
Jin So-Ran, one of the crew members distinguished during this split, looked at Heinz with a somewhat sullen expression.
She vowed once again to emulate that figure, gathering capable subordinates and offloading tedious tasks.
“It seems there aren’t any immediate issues. Is there anything unusual?”
“Unusual…Oh! The project I reported about last time! We finally finished preparing for that!”
“A project?”
What was that again?
As Heinz ravaged his memory, stroking his chin, Jin So-Ran, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly sparked with excitement and continued.
“It’s a project to improve the perception of vampires.”
A single memory flickered across Heinz’s mind.
While the launch of Howard Industries had lessened the negative sentiment, perceptions of the vampire clan—Blood Alliance, which had engulfed both Korea and Europe’s underworld, weren’t particularly favorable.
So much so that even the voices disparaging its home ground in Korea had been publicly embroidered.
The policy measure assigned with full powers to address that was precisely…
“Entering the entertainment industry!”
It was a project concerning the external policy development spurred by the Blood Alliance’s foray into the entertainment sector.
