If everything went as it did in the past…Then tomorrow morning, within the territory of the North Ocean Branch, two of the future Dawning Six would clash.
The advent of the Great Arrival in the Main Cl.u.s.ter brought about a huge period of chaos. In the original timeline, Head Cameron"s death had further destabilized the Main Cl.u.s.ter, not only allowing the Nightrunners to run unchecked for a long period, but also more easily allowing various new forces to rise in strength.
Six forces, in particular, rose to prominence as the prestige of the Big 3 shook. These 6 teams collectively came to be known as the "Dawning Six." Their rise to fame and fortune was inevitable, like the coming of dawn.
Any single force from the Dawning Six was monstrously powerful and grew to be capable of controlling thousands of Cl.u.s.ters. The leader of each of the Dawning Six went on to become S Rankers in the future, becoming true-blue elites.
However, while the Dawning Six were just now appearing, the older, influential forces did not fall to the wayside outright.
The Purgatory Church would soon gain its first S Ranker, the Nirvana Saint, and spread their influence to a far wider audience, becoming a true major power. As of right now, they had yet to spread their influence much into the territory of any of the Big 3.
The Nightrunner"s Mr. 1 became an S Ranker, turning the Nightrunners into the strongest of the Big 3. As a result, the war between the Nightrunners and the rest of the Main Cl.u.s.ter became only more b.l.o.o.d.y in the future.
The G.o.dfather Organization"s Admiral Cardell became an S Ranker and stabilized the G.o.dfather Organization. While the G.o.dfather Organization no longer needed to be stabilized in this timeline, seeing as Head Cameron was alive and recovered, Admiral Cardell was likely to still develop into an S Ranker.
Micheal wasn"t yet sure how this change would affect the future he knew, but he was ready to adapt to even the slightest changes if needed.
After the Great Arrival settled into the dust and the chaos dimmed down, the period of time in which the Nightrunner"s ma.s.sacre experiments were exposed would come about.
In the end, the Nightrunners were wiped out as almost the entire Cl.u.s.ter declared war on them. The Dawning Six took advantage of this moment to rapidly expand their power base, thanks, in part to the results of that final battle.
The Angels Arcadia never recovered from their losses after helping defeat the Nightrunners, and as a result, collapsed. The G.o.dfather Organization was crippled with the loss of most of its experts and sank in on itself, restricting their activities to focusing purely on charity and the survival of infants and young children.
In this period, two of the Dawning Six, the Arabian Knights and the Dragon Slayer Guild, stepped into that power void.
The Arabian General Asim, leader of the Arabian Knights, grew into an extremely powerful S Ranker and gained a huge amount of influence.
The Wonder King, Vladimir, the ruler of the Dragon Slayer Guild, likewise became an S Ranked warrior that held sway over millions.
The other teams listed under the Dawning Six stepped up as well, but their influence was unable to match up with the power of these two forces. The Arabian Knights and the Dragon Slayer Guild could be considered the leaders of the Dawning Six.
And these two members of the Dawning Six… just so happened to be mortal enemies that waged war on each other several times over the years, turning the First Layer into a raging battlefield. It got so bad that many people preferred to hunt in the much more dangerous ground floor or interiors of skysc.r.a.pers, instead of safely waiting for stray Morenkai to come up.
The multiple wars that broke out ended up costing a huge number of lives and kept the First Layer constantly in a h.e.l.lish state of chaos.
And all of that started because of a chance meeting at the very start of each group"s existence in the Main Cl.u.s.ter.
A meeting that would happen tomorrow.
As these thoughts ran through Micheal"s head, he snapped back to the present. He sighed as he walked over to the edge of the Open Market, looking down from the skysc.r.a.per at the ground below. He could see Morenkai shambling through the streets, tiny figures from this height.
Behind him, the Open Market had been thrown into a state of chaos, with chatter and talk overwhelming business as everyone discussed what was happening. The Main Cl.u.s.ter would really start feeling the effects of the Great Arrival tomorrow. By then, everyone would realize the magnitude of what was happening.
Hundreds of millions of people were about to arrive.
"I need to stop those two groups from meeting." It was a simple fact he went over in his mind.
"And if I can"t stop that…" He frowned, his face a picture of hesitation.
"What do I do?" He couldn"t just leave them alone. The historical records hadn"t specified what exactly caused the enmity between the two groups, only that it started right here. If he let whatever happened happen… history would go on to repeat itself.
Neither group was really evil. They were like rival powers or nations that went to war over a shared mutual enmity, something along those lines, from what he could tell. Their rivalry was centered around controlling territory as well as whatever happened on this date. Without knowing all the specifics, it was hard to know what to do.
No one but the leaders.h.i.+p of each force knew of why they bitterly hated each other.
"If I can"t stop them from meeting, what other options do I have?" He repeated the thought as he shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. He rubbed at his eyes, a cool breeze brus.h.i.+ng against his no-longer-masked face.
"Do I just kill them all? I"m not even sure I could achieve that." The thought was cold-blooded and cruel, but Micheal was struggling to find a solution. He felt his stomach twist at the thought.
He had nothing against killing evil people. But these two teams weren"t evil, and had even played a big part in helping defeat the Nightrunners. Still, their actions in the future caused many deaths and a great deal of misery, even if their intentions weren"t evil.
Almost all of the Nightrunner Numbers had been willing partic.i.p.ants in their Nest feeding program. They were more than willing to sacrifice others, and as such, Micheal fully intended to wipe them out as soon as possible.
Here though… Micheal struggled with his conscience, once again. With Number 14 and Leila, the two had actively committed crimes and clearly were in the wrong, even trying to kill him.
If it became apparent that neither of these forces were clearly in the wrong, however... Micheal wasn"t sure what he would do.
"Whatever. I will do what I have to do. I"ll make it work after I figure out why they hate each other." Finally, he forced himself to reach a conclusion, his sheer determination flattening any opposition.
He nodded stiffly, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng darkly as he turned away from the edge of the skysc.r.a.per. He maneuvered through the thronging crowd in the Open Market, eavesdropping but finding nothing of interest. He sighed again as he walked away,
"I hope you two are alright over there, Sophia and s.h.i.+n." A smile appeared as he thought of the duo,
"I"m sure they"ll get along well."
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Far to the north of Micheal, on the rooftop of a certain skysc.r.a.per…
"Take another step, woman, and I"ll kill you here and now." s.h.i.+n"s voice echoed out into the air as he held up a slim, black handgun, pointing it across the rooftop at a figure just a dozen meters away.
s.h.i.+n was dressed in a set of slim black pants, with a black graphic t-s.h.i.+rt on with the image of a skull plastered on the front. He had a black coat on over that, with a few chains that dripped down from its pockets, giving him a rather punk look. His bright blond hair was spiked back and up, completing his image.
"You-you… YOU! How dare you!" Sophia"s eyes blazed with fury as she held her sword aloft, warm flames drifting along the blade. Her entire body trembled in genuine rage as she glared at s.h.i.+n.
She was no longer wearing her fake-Emissary mask. She was now dressed in a tight black skirt and a comfortable white dress s.h.i.+rt, giving her a rather cla.s.sy appearance, as if she was trying to make a good first impression. She even had put on a pair of prim earrings.
All of that effort seemed lost now, however, as her face was flushed red, glaring across the roof at s.h.i.+n.
"Do you- I came- did you even listen-" Sophia sputtered in anger, unable to come up with a coherent response.
BANG
s.h.i.+n shot a bullet at her.
The bullet remained normal size and cut through the air instantly, far faster than Sophia could react.
Right before it reached her, the bracelet Sophia wore flashed, its powers activated. The bullet immediately pinged off the magical barrier that Sophia had thanks to her Defensive Artifact, deflecting most normal long-range weaponry.
"Oh?" s.h.i.+n donned a surprised look.
"Not bad, old lady! I guess long-range combat doesn"t work on you!" s.h.i.+n shrugged.
Sophia simply glared at him, her jaw dropped.
"Micheal"s friend… just tried to shoot me?"
"Oh well. Close-range it is! Come and get me!" With those last words, s.h.i.+n spun around and dashed inside one of the building"s rooftop entry sheds, disappearing from sight.
"You-you!" Sophia"s fists quivered as she abruptly shot forward, her Wind Sweeper Ability activating as she used it to greatly boost her speed.
"Get back here!"
.