"Kaz? Rob? What are you guys doing here?" Braum asked as he found that Kelvin and Niko were already there in the cemetery. They are currently just standing side by side in silence as if thinking about something.

"Zed? What are YOU doing here? aren't you supposed to be investigating with the others?" Niko reflected back the same question.

"I was tracking a trail of dark mana from a new crime scene, which led me to this cemetery. What about you guys?" Braum answered.

"We were investigating earlier crime scenes where the kidnapping incidents happened separately. We also found the same trail as you did and found ourselves together like this. We've been here for only 5 minutes." Kelvin replied.

"That's odd. Could this be a trap? it's too weird of a coincidence that we are here together like this." Braum said with uncertainty.

"I doubt that. I think we just got lucky that the unskilled members of the perpetrators left enough evidence for us to follow. Besides, this evidence itself is impossible to follow without our ARIM device so I don't think they expected us to find this location." Niko stated his opinion on the matter.

"Well, should we just follow the trail again then? this might be a big lead." Braum said.

The group then decided to enter the cemetery. This cemetery was located in the outskirt of Lancester and not a lot of people live here. It's definitely one of the shadier parts of the town. The winter snow covered the cemetery and the gravestones seem unattended with vines covering most of the gravestones. Some of the graves show signs of someone digging it up recently, probably grave robbers. Although invisible, the spirits of the dead bring a sense of dread to the living. Being buried in such an unholy site was a sign of an unfulfilled life full of regret and mistakes.

The trio followed the overlapping trails to a particular large gravestone, larger than this cemetery's average.

"The trail seems to end here. Hmm...Let me turn on the ARIM's translation function so we can read the gravestone." Kelvin said and pressed the ARIM in his ear.

TRANSLATING...

Here Lies

Abel Ethelyn Nero

1534-1600

The founder of the Nero family. A loving father, a wise ruler. May he rest in peace.

"1600...that's over 400 years ago. Abel Ethelyn Nero... who's this? Why does the trail end here?" Braum said confused.

"Let me check the ARIM for anything unusual...There. Each of the letters of the person's name is a button that can be pressed. I think it's some sort of passcode." Kelvin replied.

"Then how do we know what's the code? Anyone got a lead?" Braum asked.

"Hmm...I think the ARIM can analyze the correct code by using its algorithm...Let me see." Niko came up with something.

Analysing "Abel Ethelyn Nero" ...

Analysing Contents...

Analysing Anagram Algorithm...

Finished

Passcode: E T E R N A L B E N Y O L E H

Structuring Into a Sentence...

Eternal Be N'yoleh

"What? 'Eternal Be'? That sounds like our nation's common chant. Could the Militarist be behind this!?" Niko shouted in surprise.

"No. It's not them. The militarist hasn't even existed yet 400 years ago. Those were still the times of the first king. And besides, it's not like we were the only one to create such a phrase. This could be just a coincidence." Kelvin analyzed.

"Well let's not rule anything out yet. I'm more curious about this N'yoleh...could it be their leader or something?" Braum replied.

"Whatever it is I think we should enter the code first," Kelvin muttered.

The group then entered the code by pressing the letters of the dead person's name on the gravestone.

(RUMBLE)

"W-what? step back!" Braum shouted.

A small rumbling sound can be heard and the ground where the gravestone was located can be seen opening up and forming a stone stairway heading towards the darkness below.

"It's a...staircase? I think this might be their base of operation." Braum muttered.

"We have already caused a scene. They probably know we're here. Let's gear up before we enter." Kelvin said.

The group then activated their vibrosword and pulled the safety off the mana handgun. They are on full alert. The group started going down the staircase. The ARIM device highlighted what's in front of them at all times so they can still see in the dark.

The darkness below revealed a dungeon-like labyrinth with intertwining paths. The interior of the labyrinth was formed out of natural rocky materials, forming a cave-like structure. Some hibernating insects hiding from the cold outside can be heard incessantly but even the "calming" sounds of those insects could not get rid the repulsive atmosphere of the dungeon. The group kept walking hoping to find something.

"Man this labyrinth keeps going on and on. I think we're already outside the city." Braum said.

"That's true. Let's just keep going and see what we can find." Kelvin replied.

(Waaaaaaah)

The crying sounds of a child can suddenly be heard.

"That's a child! It could be one of the kidnapped children! The ARIM is detecting it coming from that way!" Braum said in a hurry.

Braum followed one of the paths with the group in search of the child until they meet a dead end. They come across a wooden door standing against their path in the hallway.

"A door? Could this be it?" Braum said.

(Creeeek)

Braum opened the door and took a step inside.

(BANG)

The door suddenly closed shut. Kelvin and Niko were still outside the room, leaving Braum stuck inside.

(BAM BAM BAM)

"Hey!!! Open up!" Braum shouted while banging his hands on the door but there were no answers from the other side.

"Shit. ARIM, detect lifeform." Braum said to his device.

SCANNING...

NO LIFEFORM DETECTED

"What? But this room was the source of the children's sound."

Braum kept walking inside this room. What's odd was that this room just keeps going on and on. It's not even a narrow hallway anymore, it's a space. After looking a while, Braum turned around but found that the door where he originally came from was gone.

"What? Where's the door!?"

Braum started panicking. This situation is just too odd for him to handle.

"HEY! Come out you fucking bastard! I know you're messing with me!" Braum shouted to the empty dark space, hoping that his enemy would come out.

"You.....called?" An enigmatic voice can suddenly be heard from behind Braum.

"What!?" Braum shouted in surprise and turned around.

Braum saw the same masked figure of a smiling face that he saw back in the bandit camp. Its eerie tall figure still gave Braum the creeps.

"You! You're behind this! Where did you take the kidnapped people? What are you going to do with them?" Braum barked.

"Oho...Hehe. Well first off, let me congratulate you on finding this location. We predicted that you would have found this site sooner or later but this was sooner than we expected...We had to use our low-ranking members to plant evidence deliberately but it seemed they gave out TOO many evidence...I'll have to educate them later. " The masked figure replied.

"Who are you, people! Who's "we"?" Braum shouted to ask.

"Now...hehe you don't expect me to go on a monologue that reveals crucial information like some sort of cheap novel, would you? I'm just going to give you a warning...we want to be in good terms with you since you are quite powerful so we don't want to kill you right away. That would be a waste wouldn't it?" The masked figure said.

'They're serious. I still have to find a way to dig out information' Braum thought.

"Now why would we be in good terms with someone we don't even know their identity? Tell me who you people are and your reason for kidnapping the children and maybe we would consider joining the cause." Braum said trying to convince the masked man.

"Hehe, I see what you're trying to do...Oh well, it'd be too boring if there are no obstacles anyway. My name is Vastel. I belong in an...order that wants to bring forth...salvation for humanity. We are taking these people as...let's just say tributes." Vastel said.

"Heh. that's pretty vague. What do you mean by salvation? Why are you taking these people!?" Braum asked again.

"That's enough information now...you'll have to figure out everything later yourself...I'm just giving you a warning not to be an obstacle to us if you don't want to face dire consequences. Let me show you something so you'll understand...heh maybe not understand but you'll feel something alright.. ha...ha...ha" Vastel said and waved his hand.

"What are you doing!?" Braum was surprised on Vastel's sudden action.

The floor below Braum started disappearing and he fell into the abyss below.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

Braum fell for what seems to be an eternity before stopping.

Braum was now floating. A human figure appeared in front of him.

"Dad...?" Braum recognized that figure to be his stepfather, Ahad Uno.

"Boy...."

"Dad! you're alive!?"

"Boy..."

Ahad Uno's figure started melting. Braum was now falling again.

"AAAAAAAH"

He kept falling until he suddenly...stopped. He was back in Yakana, in the middle of a crowded street.

"Huh? Was everything a dream?" Braum said confused.

He kept walking on the sidewalk with no direction, just walking. He saw people going about their daily lives and flying vehicles zooming around the street. Suddenly, an earthquake can be felt.

"AAAAAAAHHHH! a Kaiju!" A person shouted.

A humongous kaiju appeared. Its size towered over the tall skyscrapers of the city. The Kaiju had four arms, a disgusting blob face and tentacles coming out of its chest.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

The Kaiju started to destroy everything in sight. There was no sign of help coming. No military. No mechs. Nothing. Just endless destruction.

'Shit! I have to get out of here!' Braum thought and started running.

Braum was running with the crowd of people looking for somewhere safe. Suddenly, a group of masked individuals with black uniforms start to hinder their path.

"What? it's them!" Braum said out loud.

"AAAAAAHHH! Not me please!!!" A person shouted.

The masked figure started to slaughter the people in the crowd indiscriminately. Their hands are replaced by long tentacles that constrict, strangle, and throw people around until their death.

'Shit!' Braum said in his mind and started running in the opposite direction.

Suddenly, a tentacle from one of the masked figure grabbed him and threw him out into the sky above.

"What??"

Braum was flying into the air, heading towards the mouth of the Kaiju.

'Oh fuck, I'm going to be eaten!'

Braum entered the mouth of the beast and was eaten. There was silence.

Braum was currently floating in the same space as before. He was half awake from the shock. Suddenly, a gargantuan eye appeared in front of him.

"What the fuck! It's an eye!"

The eye had a red pupil and the rest of its features resemble a human's eye albeit very, very big. Braum's size was like a small insect in front of it.

"(UNINTELLIGIBLE)"

The eye in front of him started to speak in a broken, hideous voice in an unknown language that Braum can't make out.

"W-what?" Braum said in confusion.

"N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH" The creature started to repeatedly say that same word over and over again. But the volume was so loud that Braum had to cover his ears.

"Make it stop! STOP! STOP!!" Braum shouted.

"N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH N'YOLEH"

"AAAAAAAHHH!!!!"

Braum's mind was slipping. Everything he just saw and heard eroded his mind.

Without warning, a force pulled Braum away from the creature.

'Don't worry. You're safe' A soothing, beautiful female voice can be heard by Braum.

'Who!?' Braum said in his mind.

'You're safe.' The female voice said again.

As Braum was being pulled, he saw a shadow of the creature. The eye of the creature was just a small part. The full figure of the creature was so grotesque, Braum couldn't quite begin to even describe what the creature looked like. And even after being pulled far away, Braum haven't seen the entire figure of the creature, showing how truly cosmically huge it is.

Braum was pulled towards a door of light. He entered the light and found himself in the stairway where he first entered.

"W-w-what? Am I back? The entrance is closed..." Braum said.

The entrance was truly closed. Braum started to rub the entrance and the entrance suddenly started to open up.

"It's opening!" Braum muttered.

"Prince Braum!!!! You're safe!" A female voice can be heard. The female figure ran up to Braum and hugged him.

It was Urada. Her face was full of worry. With her, Grant, Kelvin, Niko, and Rudy were there with a face of worry as well.

"Stef! Don't say his name!" Kelvin reprimanded Urada.

"I'm sorry! I was so worried!" Urada apologized.

"W-what happened? Why is everyone here?" Braum asked with a face of confusion.

"Zed...when you entered the staircase...the entrance suddenly closed. We couldn't enter. You were there alone for 6 hours! What happened!?" Kelvin said in worry.

"I...was alone...? But you and Niko were there...huh...." Braum said and then collapsed.

"Prince Braum!!!" Urada shouted and said Braum's real name accidentally again.