"Mayor Hubert! You need to see this. It's... urgent."
With a perpetual smile on his face, the older man named Hubert set aside his pen, finishing up the paperwork for the day.
"What is it, Mark?" The mayor glanced at the tablet held in Mark's left arm.
The tablet displayed footage of wandering Eldians, but they were different—an unusual evolution had occurred over the years.
Eldians had transformed into horrible heaps and amalgamations, shaped by clay and metal rather than scraps and dirt.
For people who had lived underground for two years, this phenomenon was unprecedented.
"What should we do about them, Mayor?" Mark asked, clearly worried. They had been attacked not once, but twice this month.
Given these undeniable facts, the mayor couldn't help but empathize with their concerns.
"…"
He stared at Mark for a moment. Despite Mark's bulk, nearly twice his size, he appeared anxious and unreliable.
Yet, Hubert smiled even more, tilting his head as he placed a reassuring hand on Mark's shoulder.
"No need to worry. During those two incidents, were there any casualties?"
"No, Mayor… there have been no casualties so far," Mark replied, nodding his head.
"Then all is well. Call me if any more problems arise; I'll handle it myself." The Mayor patted Mark's shoulder twice.
For such a thing that could raise concerns, Mark took a deep breath, as if relieved, without questioning him at all.
"Thank you for everything, as always, Mayor Hubert," he said with a smile, entrusting everything to the Mayor.
"Good. Make sure to take care of your wife and kids as well. It's best to spend time with them while you can—just a word of advice from an old man like me," Mayor Hubert added to ease Mark's worries.
"I understand. Take care, Mayor." Remembering something important, Mark flinched and bowed his head before closing the door.
—Clink!
…
…
At that moment, silence enveloped the office.
"Sigh…"
The Mayor took a deep breath and stood up from his desk. His old age had indeed been catching up with him.
After countless years, he knew the hundreds of residents who lived here well.
He intended to gather as many people as possible into his underground city after the Cardinal Sky brought their homeland into such a dreadful state.
It was an unprecedented event—a disaster known by many names, one of which was the Day of Judgment.
—The day when humanity was judged for its sins.
For the Mayor, immense fear coursed through him... no,
He was enthralled by the red sky that resembled blood, with the moon cast in pitch black, staring into an endless abyss.
"Haaah…!" he panted, reliving that day in his mind.
On that day, he realized something important…
It was love at first sight.
—Thud!
"Hehehe! Hi, Mayor~!" The kids below his manor were playing and threw a rock that landed on his balcony.
"K-Kids! What on earth are you doing!"
"Hahaha! Catch us if you can!"
"Yeah, yeah, you're too slow~!"
"What—Ugh! You all are going to get a scolding from me once I catch you brats, you hear me?" The caretaker yelled in frustration, covering her face.
Upon seeing the Mayor, the caretaker quickly bowed her head and apologized.
"… I'm truly sorry about this."
Without a hint of judgment, the Mayor smiled, showing nothing but compassion toward his subjects.
"Ranna, the kids are the people of the future; a little mischief wouldn't hurt."
"But, Mayor...!" the caretaker attempted to argue, but found herself unable to contradict him.
"But that's your job—to prevent that, right? Now go before those kids cause any more trouble for others, okay?" Hubert pointed in the direction the children had run off.
"Ah, t-thank you!" Within the next moment, her expression reverted to anger once more before she smiled at the Mayor and waved goodbye.
In the back of Hubert's mind, he recalled the countless names he was fortunate enough to remember:
Amy. Lucas. Ranna.
"Oh, what's this?" A piece of paper was attached to the rock the kids had thrown, wrapped around with a rubber band.
—Fwip…!
On the paper were silhouettes of children expressing their thanks to the Mayor.
—Dear Mayor, thank you for everything you have done. Please come by our store sometimes; we have something prepared for you~!
Tobias. Jacob. Tiara. Lara. Ben.
"Haha! How splendid." The Mayor's smile deepened, ecstatic about how much the children had grown and how his little colony had exceeded his expectations.
Maxwell. Nichola. Mark. Vern. Kalia. Violet. Caesar. Warren. Evan. Garnet.
Feeling satisfied with his leadership and how well he was guiding his people, he gazed at the ceiling.
An artificial sky covered the city, creating the illusion that they were still on the surface.
Clouds loomed overhead, and the sun shone brightly.
They were isolated in a world full of uncertainties, but this much was enough for them.
Due to the Dead Zone, no one knew what was happening outside, as all connections were severed.
Yet… they were grateful—HE was grateful, fulfilled by the way his subjects respected and revered him as their saviour.
Their one and only god of salvation.
With an already eerie smile on his face, it grew even wider, enveloping his entire expression as he silently uttered the names of his subjects in his mind:
Elaine. Denver. Kevin. Lacey. Angelica. Ellie. Lucy. Maverick. Isaac. Gabriel. Lucas. Harlan. Raymond. Carmel. Beatrice. Elliot. Abigail. Ben. Phillip. Rocco. Jaiden. Parker. Lyra. Lewis. Selena. Vincent. Mckenzie. Joy. Karl. Walfred. Nathan. Sophia. Elena. Zhianne. Kiana. Kaiden. Simon. Lex. George…
Luna and Ray.
Thank you, everyone.
You are all such wonderful, wonderful sacrifices.
=======
—Shlick…!
"…Damnit."
To avoid stepping on the corpses in her path, her gaze remained forward in search of the cultist.
'How could I ever forget such a disgusting stench?'
Every corner of the area was marked by messy patches of red, cleverly arranged so that no matter where she looked, corpses were stacked on top of each other, numbering nearly a thousand.
It felt as if this scene was designed to evoke memories of what happened during the Cardinal Sky when the world fell apart.
No, this wasn't mere speculation; it was a disturbing desire to replicate such an event.
"These Morzen bastards…!" Scarlett cursed, her eyes filled with rage.
"How did I mistake Lady Aria for these lumps of filth?" She gritted her teeth, finding these monsters deplorable in every way.
Taking advantage of the Cardinal Sky, the Morzen Cultists began to move, committing horrendous deeds in the name of their god.
They were like wolves hiding in sheep's clothing, originating from a nation that should have been wiped off the map long ago.
—Vzzzt!
"…!?" Snapping back to her senses, Scarlett sensed something approaching her at the speed of sound.
—RATATATATATA!!!
Seizing the moment, Scarlett swiftly evaded bullets from heavily armed autonomous turrets.
"What…?" Scarlett felt confused, bewildered as to why they had enough firepower to confront the looming threat.
Did they never get a chance to fight back when the Mayor revealed his true colours?
—Clank!
The turrets locked onto her and unleashed a hail of bullets.
To her, time accelerated, and her thoughts raced to an almost superhuman degree.
Aided by two magical abilities,
The bullets flying toward her moved in slow motion, allowing her to dodge each one with minimal movement.
—Ting…! BOOM!
Like a gust of wind, she dismantled the turrets one by one, swinging her sword and slicing through them flawlessly.
Each action was executed with perfect precision.
She narrowly avoided a bullet by lightly tilting her head, consistently evading the projectiles.
With a twist of her arm, she sliced through targets one after another, wielding her greatsword as if it were made of paper.
The mana enveloping her skin deflected any projectiles that were beneath her notice.
Scarlett engaged with the autonomous robots, using their own firepower against them, turning them into meat shields.
As the resistance grew stronger with their increasing numbers, Scarlett refused to waver and was determined to break through the barricade of lead and iron.
—Ving…!!!
Transitioning from defence to offence, her blade sparkled with deafening energy, generating enough force to obliterate everything within a wide radius.
The sparks multiplied, converging together.
They condensed, combined, and merged, forming a singularity...
Until they reached a breaking point and unleashed a massive explosion.
"HAAAH!!!"
—BOOM!!!
The bullets that collided with the explosive aura of Scarlett's slash couldn't withstand its sheer power, obliterating everything in their path.
—Thud!
Scarlett's relentless pursuit continued until a mansion came into view.
Countless defence mechanisms were activated, blocking her path toward her target.
Traps and Landmines intercepted her way—she walked over them.
Shells rained down like a carpet-bombing—she sliced them all.
Explosions were used against her to hinder her progress—she absorbed them.
She was an unstoppable force, driven by one goal:
To cleanse the horrible stench that lingered at the top of the mansion—the Morzen Cultist.
—Crash!
Scarlett leaped through the window and quickly scanned the room for the cultist.
The stench grew even more overpowering, yet the interior of the mansion was immaculate, as if the chaos outside hadn't occurred at all.
Scarlett braced herself for a lengthy search to find the cultist's hiding place, but to her surprise, the cultist stood nonchalantly near a bookshelf, quietly reading a book, completely oblivious to her presence.
"—Haha… so those kids did manage to get help after all," he uttered as he looked at Scarlett.
The man whom the kids called the Mayor appeared fragile at first. However, he was not an older man as the kids had described; he seemed to be in his 40s.
With a single glance, Scarlett understood that behind his facade lay an unquenchable thirst, something she had seen in every cultist she had encountered.
"What have you done?" Scarlett demanded, pointing her blade at the Mayor.
Her voice was calm but filled with killing intent, mirroring the Mayor's.
Both were aware that their confrontation was an effort to remain civilized—learning in their own ways that aggression often yields no positive outcome.
"Who, me?" the Mayor replied, pointing at himself and feigning ignorance.
This only fueled Scarlett's fury. Without waiting to hear more, she lunged for his neck, putting him in a precarious position.
"Tch, what a disrespectful woman those two have brought in. Luna and Ray, correct?"
"I do not see the reason why I should answer you."
"Very well, it doesn't matter anyway."
The mayor scoffed, genuinely amused by Scarlett's aggressive reaction.
"Fine, all of this was indeed my doing. Is there anything wrong with that?" The Mayor tilted his head, as if he believed this was perfectly normal.
For someone devoid of empathy, it seemed he did not realize he was in the wrong. Scarlett knew what she had to do.
She has to kill him right here, right now.
—Shing…!
Without a shred of hesitation, Scarlett's sword sliced through his neck… and the Mayor's head went flying.
Blood spilled from his neck, revealing a clear distinction between a human and a monster.
His blood wasn't red— but murky black, blood from those who dabbled with Eldritch magic.
"…"
In silence, Scarlett closed her eyes.
The screams of the people they have killed.
Their oblivious yet sacrilegious actions, driven by a feeble mindset, revealed their failure to recognize any wrongdoing.
This mindset needed to be eradicated once and for all, as there was no reasoning with them, not even once.
"You freaks are always like cockroaches." Scarlett spotted a corpse on the ground, pulsating and moving, unaware.
"Ha… haha… HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The man in front of her unveiled his mask, his humanity stripped away as countless eyes sprouted from his body, all focused on Scarlett.
—SHIK...!
Without warning, black spikes erupted from the ground beneath Scarlett's feet.
She jumped and sliced through them with a single swing, only to have countless more spikes appear, filling the room in a deadly thicket.
The blood Mayor Hubert had spilled in the office morphed into numerous spears, laced with substances that would spell game over if an ordinary person touched them.
"Tch!" Scarlett clicked her tongue in frustration.
A few spears managed to bypass her sword and agile movements, but they shattered upon contact with her skin.
Despite her confidence, the Mayor was a tricky opponent—one of the worst matchups for her while wielding a large sword in such a confined space.
"Let's have more fun, shall we?" the Mayor taunted, enjoying the presence of his uninvited guest.
"Ah...! All it took was a mere five hundred humans to achieve such power. Why won't you understand?" His eyes squinted in pleasure as he relished the fading screams and moans of his subjects.
Scarlett realized just how far he was willing to go for such an opportunity.
The reason the Mayor began killing them was after countless years: he aimed to nurture more people in his world, creating a false sanctuary to gather more sacrifices.
'His powers keep growing…' Scarlett thought, annoyed that she hadn't struck a fatal blow fast enough.
"This body is perfect. I wonder if I should take yours, too?" His voice was laced with malice as he looked at her with a disgusting gaze.
"Or perhaps that girl you tried to protect—Aria, was it?" He glared at Scarlett, deliberately provoking her.
Yet, instead of a visceral reaction, Scarlett channelled mana into her sword, causing it to glow as brightly as the sun.
As an experienced veteran, Scarlett had faced many challenges. Her weaknesses had been exploited numerous times by cultists who tried everything to leave her vulnerable.
If she couldn't find his main body, then her plan was simple:
Blow everything up.
"Wait, what are you-"
—BOOOM!!!
…
…
…
—Crumble…
As the smoke cleared after her sword swing, the cultist in front of Scarlett stood there, his head grotesquely reattached to a body that didn't match.
"You… you're a mage, aren't you?" The cultist's laugh faded as a serious expression crossed his face.
"Rot in hell." Scarlett pointed her sword at him, ready to charge.
In a tense standoff, the Mayor loomed above Scarlett, transformed into a much larger figure, his bulk covered in black tattoos, eyes bloodshot red, and hair a tangled gray.
"I, the former leader of the Heresy Inquisitor, Scarlett Penelope, will commence the subjugation of a Morzen Cultist."
The Mayor recoiled in disgust upon realizing that the woman before him was a mage.
Despite being a Morzen Cultist, he hailed from Trestkanian lineage, and his hatred for magic ran deep, even amid his twisted ideals.
"Heresy Inquisitor? How laughable you are, inferior being."
Scarlett tightened her grip on her sword as Hubert's black blood spilled endlessly onto the ground.
"You Demurgian monkeys are all the same," Hubert scoffed, recalling his past as a politician.
With that, both charged at one another, determined to be the one to remain standing.
As their fierce clash continued, the ground began to tremble, awakening something unprecedented.
What transpired in this underground city would forever be known as a tragic incident, devoured without a trace.