Looking at Adam as he fainted after killing the fake Vampire chimera, Cecilia grew worried and took him in her arms before he fell and was about to hit the ground.
She could feel the Prana raging inside his body and it seemed like some kind of evolution was taking place inside him that would change him at a fundamental level. This worried her deeply. But what worried her more than anything was the carnage she had witnessed on the way to this place.
From the way all those humans possessed by demons had died, she had no doubt that Adam was the one who killed them. And that realization ached her soul.
'My poor little boy. I am sorry that your incompetent mother couldn't come sooner.'
Cecilia endlessly cursed herself inwardly. The armor she was wearing now had surprised her more than a bit. They didn't have this kind of thing 20 years ago. It had allowed her to dramatically increase her physical prowess with only a meager quantity of Prana applied for shielding techniques.
Without the use of this new armor, it would have simply been impossible to use her powers as she did. Even then she had been greatly limited because of her defective heart.
She may have come in time to save him physically, but she did not know about the state of his psyche.
Perhaps it was time to put him in contact with a Psychiatrist. This was the only way she could think of to relieve the mind of her poor son.
Of course, she was not talking about the normal kind but those specialized in hunter related PTSDs.
'It's time to go.'
Hoisting Adam in her arms like a princess, she couldn't help but chuckle while walking away from the scene.
"Grrrr!"
She was stopped in her tracks by a large silver furred wolf blocking her way ahead.
"Back off."
Her voice was calm but cold and commanding. It would have been enough to bring many to their knees but even though Natasha was scared, even though her instincts were screaming at her to flee with her tail between her legs or lay down with her belly up in submission, she did not move and kept her hostility.
The standoff lasted for only a few seconds before a smile graced her lips.
"You should be Natasha. I have heard about you from Adam and now that I am seeing you for myself, I think I like you quite a bit."
She had heard Adam talking about Natasha in the past but it was only now that she was truly able to connect the dots and identify her origins.
"Greet Aleksandra for me, would you? She should still remember what happened between us."
She chuckled darkly at the thought and replied in a plain tone, "Adam is my son."
Natasha was utterly astonished at that remark. But now that she focused, she could indeed smell Adam's scent permeating her. A deep smell that could only permeate from those who were in close contact with him for a long long time.
How could she have imagined that the sickly mom of Adam was such a powerhouse? Just how many secrets did he have? Just how many more would she find out in the future? Her mind became a bit dizzy at that thought.
This time, Natasha only hesitated slightly before taking a few steps back and making way for Cecilia.
"Good. Also, take care of Viktor and bring him home, please. I can't really walk in front of all of them with Adam in my arms like this."
Cecilia nodded to herself and turned to look at Sae or rather Lilith. She knew about her the moment she had laid eyes on her, "I have a non-aggression pact with the witches. Don't make me break that."
"Hahaha."
Lilith simply responded with a hollow laugh. Not only had she taken a great risk to come on this plane, but she ended up with nothing and now a mere mortal was threatening her.
This was truly ridiculous but the most ridiculous thing was that she knew that she had to take this warning seriously.
It was impossible for her true body to land on the mortal world and as long as she could only bring her avatar, then things would be tricky for her in most cases.
"Don't worry. I made a deal with the boy. The girl whose body I am inhabiting right now is alright."
Cecilia ignored her and just walked away. She might have become more tolerant of supernatural creatures after she started raising Adam, but it was a little too much to ask her to be friendly to a demon.
Makoto, who had been standing on the side, opened her mouth many times, trying to say something but in the end, she could only shut up as she received a message in her mind from the woman she tried to communicate with difficulty.
[I will contact Theresa myself when I am ready. Tell her to not bother me or my son for now. As for what happened here? You can say whatever you want to her. I don't care.]
Delivering those words, Cecilia vanished from this place.
------
Back in the middle of the Park, a smile spread on Elysia's face as she observed the sky clear up.
The smile turned into a sad frown when she looked at the corpses strewn about all around outside of the barrier.
They had managed to save around two hundred people. This meant that even after a nigh Calamity class disaster event, only around 300 hundred people died.
Compared to other events of this level. where ten of thousands of people dying could only be seen as a great outcome, one could say that it was a miracle that was worthy of being written in the annals of history.
But for Elysia, the death of even one human was too much for her pure soul to bear. She did not see life as statistics but looked at each of them individually.
This was even worse in the current situation. She could not even pray for their souls to rest in peace since she knew they were all doomed for all eternity due to being possessed by these dastardly demons.
"Cease."
The holy light dimmed and she staggered for a while before she was able to stand up with great difficulty. Her body was completely covered in blood and her complexion was pale as a sheet of paper-- the aftermath of using her Sanctuary.
"Good job you two."
The two hunters were too tired to speak. But she was sincere. She would make sure to reward them later. She knew very well that not everyone was like her. Not everyone would sacrifice their life simply for the satisfaction of saving others.
If there were no tangible benefits to following her, people would not listen to her. This was a simple reality she understood long ago.
Not only them. 'His name was Adam, right? What a beautiful name!'
A smile spread on her face as she made her decision. She did not know if he was the one who saved them all, but he still had to get rewarded as well. The courage he had shown in helping them was enough for her to think of rewarding the boy.
The boy had been intriguing and the angel in her seemed restless after observing him.
'What kind of secrets are you hiding?'
------
Theresa Kaminari was having a really bad day today. While she did show a sentiment of relief after seeing the ominous circle vanish, her heart was not feeling light as it was still heavy with the scenery surrounding her.
All around her, one could see hundreds of bodies laying down in a pool of blood and frost covering more than a hundred meters.
Her hand was holding her two guns and she was looking at the sky, wishing she could have a smoke to relieve the stress and anxiety building up inside of her.
Those bastards had been endless. Whenever she tried to enter, ten of them would attack the priest and mages holding down the spread of the magical circle.
Her eyes were ablaze with hatred.
How many people had to die due to those abominable bastards? How many innocent people were used for this sick plan?
'Cultist bastards!'
Theresa took a deep breath and released her aura. A white and icy mist followed her will as if her entire body was made out of the coldest ice in the world.
Remembering the day her life was destroyed made her blood boil with insurmountable rage and hatred. But she knew senseless anger would bring her nothing.
This was her first true mission as a Director. She was supposed to be the shield that protected people from a large event like this.
She had failed them miserably.
For now... All she could do was to make sure that the family of all the dead was taken care of appropriately.
Money could never bring the dead back to life. But it was necessary to still give some semblance of help to their wounded souls. Even if she had to go completely bankrupt due to it.
This was the least she could do.
She sighed once again, "Good job everyone. Time to wrap things up. Today was rough. It will soon become even more hectic. But this is our duty, right?"
"Yes, Madam!"
All the members of the LAPPD saluted her with all the vigor they could muster and even the priests and mages straightened themselves in a show of respect.
What they had witnessed was something beyond the limits of a human. Their eyes shone with unbridled admiration-- as well as a little bit of fear, as they looked at this absurd woman.
Theresa ignored them and began to walk inside the Park. She knew Makoto was alive. She just needed to make sure her protegee didn't lose all her limbs.
"You can go home boy."
Viktor was surprised, "Madame."
"Just go home. Even though you are wearing a disguise, I already received a report about your arrival in LA. Well, mostly about your grandfather."
The only reason no one acted was very simple...
"There is only one reason for that old bastard to come here."
Only one person could make the greatest Blacksmith in the entire world move like this...
"Tell Cecilia that I will see her whenever she is ready."
She could wait. She had already waited for twenty years after all,
"Also tell that gorilla that I am going to shoot her in the head when I see her next."
She may be the little sister, but she still had the right to punish a naughty big sister.
"Finally... Tell her to not come with me if she doesn't have a very good excuse. I hate lies, but I hate sloppy lies even more."
On those words, she entered the park.
------
On that day, many people died. People mourned. The next day, riots spread all throughout America as people asked why the government did not take more appropriate measures to protect the people from heatstroke.
This had been the highest wave of death ever recorded in America due to a mere cause as this one. That too in this day and age.
Pacific Park closed down indefinitely. The cause of death for those people was described as a mass environmental hazard caused by poisonous gases coming from the cracked ground.
People screamed out bullshit like no tomorrow. Some spoke about theories of deep complot, terrorist attacks, and a new biochemical weapon that had gone wrong.
Some spoke about aliens' attacks or magic being involved. But those people were simply ignored and buried in the flow of information.
Like this, things continued to advance. Two days later people were already talking about it less and less.
Four days later, information about making students less indebted when paying for university fees and with lesser interest rates brought away a great part of the attention. One week later, the new album of the rising star, Ariel, managed to hit the top of the charts.
By then, people still talked about the sad events in LA, albeit on lesser margins. The world continued to advance as more and more people who were not directly affected lost interest and focused on entertainment.
This was the sad reality of this world. Even the Veil paled in face of the art of information manipulation that was mastered by those who holds the true power in this world.
As for Adam... Exactly one week later -- He woke up.
(AN: I just realized I made a mix-up and this chapter should have been published before the preceding one. The preceding one was supposed to be the closure of Vol 5. But well it doesn't detract too much so it's good.
Anyway with this, Vol 5 completely ended. Vol 6 is also the last volume of BOOK 1. The main heroine for this Volume will be Shuri. I hope you guys liked Vol 5. It wasn't easy but I think I did a pretty good job.
I would be happy to have your impression.
What did you like
What did you hate?
Was the volume too dark? Not dark enough? Just mildly dark?
Do you want more and a darker volume?
Who is your favorite character and why?
Finally, what do you think of the story from vol 1 to Vol 5? The world-building, character development, the pace, etc. What do you think can be ameliorated?
Your answers will be very helpful to me. Don't hesitate;
