ch1-ch20 · 009-ch9

Chapter 9: Gears

After the Aoba Town World Clock closed, an emergency meeting was held at the Hunter Association.

Phones rang incessantly, staff scrambling to respond.

The agenda was, of course, "Regarding the Aoba Town World Clock."

Normally, World Clock annihilation battles force even a group of high-ranked Hunters into a hard struggle — but...

"Something closed a World Clock single-handedly."

The gathered executives stared intently at the combat footage displayed on the hologram.

Recorded there was a waveform of intense energy released immediately after the battle began.

"Judging by the amount of magical power, it's S-Rank or higher output. And with a single attack, it completely erased the monster horde and closed the Clock..."

"Annihilation capability on par with the Descent Arts incidents of the past... no, it could even exceed them."

"The question is who did it."

Almost all combat forces had been deployed to Akayama Town. Aoba Town only had a few retired Hunters — which meant there was a high chance this was the work of a new Awakener.

"This matter is as important and urgent as fortifying Aoba Town itself. We must prioritize identifying and securing this individual to expedite the town's fortification. Re-examine Aoba Town's resident registry and investigate for any matching individuals as a top priority —"

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The testimonies of Aoba Town residents were all over the place.

"Golden light fell from above... and before I knew it, all the monsters were gone."

"I don't know what happened. I was just hiding, and then the World Clock had closed."

"I was too busy running for my life..."

"I don't know, maybe it's my imagination, but I felt like my heart had been saved somehow."

"I think I saw something flying... but the light disappeared so fast, it might have been a hallucination."

The investigators' interviews were making little progress.

"Is there no one who clearly saw its form?"

Records showed that the Awakener in question had used their ability for a mere two seconds. In the midst of panic, could anyone actually remember seeing something that happened in two seconds?

There was no definitive testimony, but the information that "something was flying" came from multiple witnesses.

And then there was one more thing — a large number of items had been anonymously donated. But again, the staff hadn't witnessed the person.

"We have no concrete evidence, but we have no choice but to investigate Aoba Town's detailed examination facility. If there are records of Awakeners, we might find something."

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The detailed examination venue —

Despite the evacuation order, the examination facility was overflowing with townspeople.

The appearance of the World Clock had triggered a surge of Awakeners in Aoba Town. This phenomenon was linked to the human survival instinct, a change comparable to what happened on the day the first World Clock opened.

"Hey! When is it going to be our turn!?"

"My son Awakened yesterday too!"

"We can't keep up with the examinations! This many is unprecedented...!"

A long line stretched through the examination venue, staff scrambling to respond.

Amidst this, an investigator from the Hunter Association appeared at the reception.

"Get me the person in charge."

His strong tone made the female receptionist flinch, but she called out through her intercom.

After a while, a middle-aged man in a white coat appeared.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. How can I help you?"

The investigator crossed his arms and stated with a stern expression.

"I want to see the records of anyone who Awakened before the World Clock opened."

"That's quite sudden. But as you can see from the current situation, the examination facility is under severe strain. Could you give us some time?"

"I'm saying this because we don't have time. Hand over the data now."

The manager sighed quietly and began operating the terminal.

"Understood. However, as you know, Awakener data involves privacy concerns, so normally without proper procedures, disclosure to outside parties —"

"We're Association investigators. Are you trying to withhold information on your own judgment?"

"No, that's not my intention. But as a facility, we must adhere to the rules. Disclosure of personal information requires —"

"Stop with the nitpicking!"

The investigator slammed his fist on the desk, and the surrounding staff gasped. The manager didn't bat an eye, continuing to operate the screen calmly.

"Did any S-Rank or higher Awakeners appear?"

"Please wait a moment..."

Checking the database, the manager replied quietly.

"According to records, there is only one S-Rank Awakener in Aoba Town. Though not recent."

"Then give me that person's name."

The manager turned the displayed screen toward the investigator. The investigator ran his eyes over the screen — but immediately clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"I know this woman. She's not the one."

"Is that so... but there is no further information available at this time."

"What about the data on recent Awakeners?"

The manager paused for a breath before beginning his explanation.

"To be honest, a massive number of registrations have flooded in over a short period, and the data organization hasn't kept up. Additionally, many Awakeners evacuated before undergoing formal examination at the facility —"

"Are you kidding me...! Do you have any motivation at a time like this? Are you people tax thieves?"

The investigator glared at the manager, not hiding his irritation. But the manager continued calmly.

"As you may know, S-Rank skills require immediate registration by the Association. In other words, if such a skill had been detected, we would have registered it here, and it would have been reflected in the Association's database."

The investigator glared at the screen again, but found no notable skills.

"Can you say with certainty that there are no omissions in this data?"

"To be honest, I can't claim it's perfectly managed in this chaos. However, even taking that into account, the possibility that someone without even a skill name registered could be S-Rank is extremely low."

"...Tch."

The investigator, still visibly irritated, exchanged glances with his colleagues.

"...This is troublesome."

The manager quietly watched the investigators and added calmly.

"I'm sorry, but this is all the information we can provide at this time. We're happy to cooperate, but there are limits to what we can handle. I hope you understand."

"Fine. If any suspicious data comes up, report it immediately."

"Understood."

The investigators left the venue in dissatisfaction.

The manager watched their backs, then turned his eyes back to the screen.

"...Well, I certainly hope we haven't overlooked anything."

He muttered, then quietly scrolled through the database.

◇◆◇◆◇

Hunter Association Headquarters

The day after the Aoba Town World Clock closed — a heavy atmosphere filled the conference room at Hunter Association Headquarters.

The gathered executives sat in silence, glaring at the data displayed on their respective terminals.

The stern man seated at the center. With chiseled features and razor-sharp eyes, Mineyama — Vice President of the Hunter Association in his mid-forties — slowly opened his mouth.

"...The identity of the entity that closed the Aoba Town World Clock remains unknown."

His words broke the silence, and the conference room stirred.

Mineyama prefaced his statement by noting that evidence collection had been delayed due to the chaos in Aoba Town, then continued.

"Regarding eyewitness accounts as well, since the monsters vanished immediately after the flash of light, no one witnessed the battle. Some reported 'seeing some kind of shadow,' but the shapes and characteristics varied with no consistency, and no such figure appears on surveillance cameras either."

The only information was that an Awakener had done something using light. No, even that was merely imagination and speculation — in reality, nothing was known.

"From an objective perspective, the possibility of it being the world's third 'Descent Arts holder' is high. In that case, this search itself would be meaningless... but there is no definitive evidence to conclude that."

"Descent Arts...!?"

The moment someone muttered quietly, everyone felt the temperature in the conference room drop further.

In the past, two individuals in the world had been confirmed to possess the skill Descent Arts.

One was in England, the other in Thailand.

Existing as a superior version of Summoning Arts, this skill is said to be able to summon entities higher than those called by conventional Summoning Arts — entities close to gods.

Each of the summoned beings possessed the power to "close a gate single-handedly."

One crushed all the monsters, another incinerated every monster along with lightning strikes.

The magical power output measured in those moments was said to far exceed S-Rank.

So why is it all spoken of in the past tense?

Because in every case, the caster was confirmed dead after using Descent Arts.

Not from wounds inflicted by monsters.

Their lives were taken as the price.

Since then, Descent Arts was treated as a final weapon against the Gates, and for the purpose of swift, secret state management and protection, the Association suppressed information about the skill — its very existence was hidden from the general public.

"Looking at all past records, every user of Descent Arts died without exception. If Descent Arts was activated in Aoba Town, it's natural to assume that caster is no longer in this world."

"But..."

One executive hesitantly opened their mouth.

"The caster's body has not yet been found."

"Indeed."

Mineyama stated flatly.

Raising his head, his eyes were stern as he surveyed the conference room.

"Past casters weren't easily found either. The English caster vanished without a trace, leaving only his head behind. The Thai caster reportedly had every part of their body torn off. In both cases, unlike 'summoned beasts that are equals to their caster,' there was no mercy shown to the caster. These are extremely cruel and destructive deities."

The conference room fell silent.

Descent Arts is a skill that takes the caster's life as the price for bringing down a powerful entity. That is precisely why no caster in history has ever survived.

Everyone had no choice but to accept that logic.

"However, Aoba Town was different."

Mineyama continued.

"In the Aoba Town battle, the monsters were annihilated in an instant, but no secondary damage was caused by the descended entity. On the contrary, damage was kept to a minimum."

"Then it's something different from conventional Descent Arts?"

"I can't say that for certain. But if it's not high-risk Descent Arts, and simply an 'S-Rank or higher Hunter' has been born — nothing could be more reassuring."

Once again, the conference room fell silent.

"Vice President. If it wasn't Descent Arts, what do you think caused this?"

"...If we knew that, we wouldn't be racking our brains here right now."

Mineyama exhaled briefly and flicked through the documents.

His gaze landed on the anomalous data observed during the Aoba Town battle.

One executive spoke up.

"Indeed, this energy waveform closely resembles past records of Descent Arts. But past Descent Arts incidents caused rampages and large-scale damage. While the Clocks were closed each time, nearby civilians were indiscriminately killed."

In the particularly gruesome Thai Descent Arts incident, the lightning strikes destroyed thousands of buildings and claimed tens of thousands of lives. Not a few people consider Descent Arts to be synonymous with indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction, rather than a final weapon against World Clocks.

Meanwhile, that didn't happen in Aoba Town. In that case, wouldn't it be more natural to think of it as something different from Descent Arts?

"Without definitive evidence, shouldn't we consider other possibilities?"

"Specifically?" Mineyama prompted, and the executive continued while operating their terminal.

"What about the possibility of external intervention? Foreign Hunters, for instance."

"If someone capable of closing a World Clock single-handedly intervened, they would have some objective. Disappearing without leaving a trace would be unnatural. There are no reports of foreign Hunters being sighted in town at this time."

"...Without definitive evidence of foreign involvement, the possibility is low, then."

The executive said this and fell silent with a troubled expression.

"We have intelligence indicating that a certain country's intelligence department has already begun investigating Aoba Town. We need to act first."

Mineyama's words stirred the conference room once more.

Mineyama continued.

"The number of Awakeners in Aoba Town is too high, and the chaos at the examination facility has made the investigation difficult. But according to records, no new S-Rank class Awakener has been confirmed in the town. There is a possibility that no formal registration was made, but if identifying this Awakener by conventional methods is difficult —"

Mineyama folded his hands again and slowly looked around the room.

Feeling the air in the conference room tense, Mineyama quietly delivered his conclusion.

"Simultaneously with the fortification of Aoba Town, screen the identities of everyone who has recently Awakened. Notify the 'Hunting Dogs.' They are to find this entity — no matter what."

The gears of fate began to turn, quietly.

End of Chapter 1

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That concludes Chapter 1. I'm currently working on the manuscript for a published book, so I'll be writing this in the gaps between that. I'd appreciate your patience.

I'd be happy if you could follow, rate, or leave a review, so please do!