DAY 3 – KENSINGTON (PRELUDE)
Dear Readers:
First of all, I have to thank you for your patience. After several months of reconsideration, I had decided to rewrite and reedit the “Inescapable Consequence (神羅万象)” series. Hopefully, I could finish this task as soon as possible. Such that, I could go back and finish up “Lightning Blast & Hail Falls (稲妻と雹落ちる)” and then get started with a new arc “Downpour (土砂降りの雨)”. Although, there will be certain adjustments throughout my previous storyline. But, my writing philosophy has not change at all.
“Life is a game of Reversi. There is no definite good (right) or bad (wrong) among things (humans). It is the choice which you had made that would change the outcome (future).”
Inescapable Consequence (神羅万象) the series is one of my original web novel. It consists of the following arcs:
[1A] Dark Cloud (暗い雲)
[1B] Thunder Strike (雷鳴)
[2A] Lightning Blast (稲妻)
[2B] Hail Falls (雹落ちる)
[3] Downpour (土砂降りの雨)
Regards,
Dssan (Anthony Man)
06:12
Devil’s Sea
Grand Mountains of Brasil Isle
Avalon Castle was built on one of rugged hill of Grand Mountains which located on Brasil Isle in the Devil’s Sea. The castle embodied one of the traditional Ancients architectural fashion known as revivalism. This made the castle was highly stylistic, both externally and internally. The suite of rooms within the castle contained the Throne Hall, Sampo and Ruler’s Suite.
As for the castle’s exterior consisted of several individual structures which were on the top of the cliff ridge. The extended building was furnished with towers, pinnacles and sculptures in which most window openings were following Romanesque style. Its exterior walls were cased with red bricks and the roof cornice were surrounded by demonic statues such as gargoyle.
Throne Hall was situated in the east wing of the castle which occupied three-storey high. The three sides of it were surrounded by colorful arcades with a chandelier was hanging from the ceiling mosaic, and at the back was an apse which was holding the throne on top of the long dark red floor carpet.
Mausoleum of the Kind was situated in the southern courtyard garden of the castle. It was an open pavilion structure which had several rectangular pools amongst the courtyard garden with its well-maintained trees, paths, streams, and flowers beds. It was definitely a pleasant environment for the visitors from the outside world. Inside the six-columned pavilion, there was a three-piece patio furniture set. There were two people who were sitting in the lounge chairs. The person who was in a red tailored suit had spoken out first.
“Some people said that life is like a game of chess; others said that life is a box of chocolate. But for both of us, it is just only a game of Reversi. Everything is already preset and they just are waiting for us. No matter what you are; where you are; when you are; and who you are; You still cannot escape why are you here; your destiny and your fate is just determined by your own choices. Some people made good choices; some people made bad choices. Even some people don’t even need to choose because luck is always with them…
Then, you might think what is luck actually? But you and I already know its answer. That’s the possibility of the chance. Not! Probability. Both of us know math’s doesn’t no work in here. Even this science and that alchemy do not apply in here. Every individual dimension got its individual set of rules and laws. You might think you are pretty damn good in This-world, but unfortunately you are nothing in That-world…
When you are a great king with a lovely queen in This-world; oh sorry, you are just a beggar in That-world or maybe you don’t even exist at all. Human beings with its civilization had been believing in history; believing in culture; believing in religious; believing in their five senses. With their own norms and their own trends, Human beings is one of most astounding species which the One-god had ever created. No matter how difficult it is, they will find a way to survive and to reproduce their own kind…
But for us as Ancients who does exist in every dimension and every world. We don’t need those as our lifetime goal. Because our life span could be forever and ever. Furthermore, we surpassed our own death long time ago, which had even made us more powerful, both physically and mentally. However, what do we really want? I would like to achieve the greatest accomplishments. Such that, on the historians’ records. My reputation will last forever and ever…
Every time I had looked at you. You are just a walking fool who is roaming between dimensions. For those Ancients’ historians, you are Deathmar Schneider the Cruel and I’m Deathmar Schneider the Kind. In the Records of Ancients, you are the Merciless Ruler; and I’m the Merciful Ruler. For myself, this is a joke after all. Since, the days of Deathmar Schneider the Great had gone. Everyone is believing you are just a cold-blooded, selfish, and stupid Ancients’ Ruler. You don’t want to use your real name in public. You even made up an alias name – ‘The Fool’ for others while you can be able to hide your true identity. And this is the funniest story I ever heard…
Although, there was only one Deathmar Schneider the Great in Ancients history and that’s the one who thinks about his people’s needs over him, considers theirs benefits and needs over his own. But for myself, I want to be remembered as Deathmar Schneider the Kind who rules over all of the Seven Dimensions…
So now is the time to make your lifetime decision. Will you against me or assist me?”
“Mr. Joker, what did you say?”
Mr. Joker glanced up at The Fool and asked again.
“The Fool, I was asking you. Will you against me or assist me in this Reversi War?”
While, The Fool was looking at the Reversi game board that was on a table in front of him.
“Oh, you mean the board game or else?”
“After all these years, you had never change a bit. So, I will take this as a NO…”
The Fool nodded in agreement and left the courtyard garden.
<<< === === >>>
Soon after, The Fool had left the castle. A man dressed in a camouflage clothing had come over to Mr. Joker and said.
“Our master, what is your order?”
“Mr. Conquest, notify Crazy Seventy-Eight; the game had begun.”
“Yes, our master.”
“By the way, Mr. Conquest.”
“Our master?”
“You and your squad are ready?”
“Our master, we will take care of those unfinished business.”
“Then, you shall in charge of Suits Armors from now on.”
“Our master, it will be our honor to serve in this war.”
Mr. Joker waved at Mr. Conquest in dismissal. He glanced at the Reversi game board boldly.
“All the pieces are here. Nobody knows who will win this game until the end-game. The rules are set. I had already moved, and now it’s your turn… Soon, we’ll see who is Othello and who is Lago!”
A moment later, Mr. Joker glanced over his shoulder. He saw six shadowy figures were standing behind him.
“So, you guys had arrived?”
One of the shadowy figures immediately answered.
“Our master, sorry about our delay.”
“No worries. I know that was a short notice. But you guys still make it in time.”
“It would be our honors to serve under your flag.”
“How were the persuaders doing?”
“Our apology, it is pretty hard to convince some of the Kings and Generals at this moment.”
“As I expected.”
“Some of them are very stubborn, and some of them are only look into their own interest.”
“If they cannot be assimilated, then annihilate them instead.”
“As your wish, our master.”
Those six shadowy figures bowed, then disappeared.
<<< === === >>>
07:03
Shadow City's Western District
Horsemen’s Stronghold (Metropolitan International Airport)
The previous emergency crisis center had been gone. Instead, it got renamed as Horsemen’s Stronghold, which was controlled by Killer Incorporation from This-world (This Inc.). It was the barracks of the army of undead and also the hives of demonic creatures. Although, there was still some humans lived in there. But those humans were working for the Secret Societies, which were the cooperative partner of Killer Incorporation from This-world.
In the morning, several cargo planes of the Secret Societies had landed onto the runway of the stronghold. Most of their cargos were life supplies for the humans. Others were military weaponry such as handguns, machine guns, rifles, grenades, mortars, anti-tank/aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles and artillery. Furthermore, it even got a group of aircrafts with several bombers which had stationed on the stronghold’s runway.
Most of the weaponry were stationed at the southern apron. But for the four divisions of Suits Armor, they were stationed at the northern apron with the barracks and hives. Those four divisions were named as Spades, Hearts, Cubs and Diamonds. Each division had nine infantry units, which were numbered from ‘02’ to ‘10’. Furthermore, it also contained a separate elite squad. This included Ace, King, Queen and Jack as the four units of this commando squad.
On the other hand, the terminal building had become as the living quarters for the humans who were working for the Secret Societies. The Secret Societies was a global organization which founded by Humans from This-world. These ideologists were sharing with a common goal, which was contradictory to human rights. Since, the Secret Societies believed in supremacy of the upper-class and with inequality of life. Such that, these ideologists were pushing the ‘Modern Evolution’ campaign in order to genocide the other social classes. In order to secure their future social status, they had joined forces with Killer Incorporation from This-world.
Inside the control tower, Mr. Devil and Ms. Fortitude were preparing the invasion plan with the help of the newcomers. Two men and a woman were sitting along at the conference table. A man in a camouflage clothing had spoken out.
“Our master’s order is slash-and-burn.”
Mr. Devil and Ms. Fortitude looked at him and replied.
“Mr. Conquest, we understand that. However, we still need six more hours in order to go out with our full strength.”
Mr. Conquest nodded and continued.
“Then, the three of us will be the herald for this attack, and this is our duties to finish off where you guys had left off.”
When Ms. Fortitude narrowed her eyes. A woman who wore a light blue silk kaftan suddenly spoke.
“Ms. Fortitude, as you can see. We are here because our master wants to speed up the process. So, if you have any personal issue please let it out now.”
Soon after, Mr. Devil stared down Ms. Fortitude. Then, she spoke softly.
“Oh, sorry. Ms. War. You misunderstand me. I just got something into my eyes lately.”
“Ms. Fortitude, if so, then it is my mistake. I apologize what I just said.”
“Oh, don’t worry. By the way, do you guys need any help from us?”
A man with a black mask, who dressed in a faux-leather vest answered.
“Ms. Fortitude, we will bring the Suits Armors with us.”
“Ah… Umm… Mr. Famine… About that part...”
Mr. Conquest eyed Mr. Devil demurely and said.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t a request. It is the order from our master.”
“I see. We don’t have any problem at all. We just want to know how many you guys need.”
Ms. War frowned.
“Mr. Devil, that will be depend on your invasion plan. But I will say we need at least three divisions of them.”
“I see, Ms. War.”
Soon after, Ms. Fire, Ms. Chariot and Mr. World had entered the conference room. Mr. Devil’s eyes gleamed and said.
“Comrades of Killer Incorporation, let’s begin the debriefing. Definitely this time, we will take back Town of Kensington.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
<<< === === >>>
Soon after, Ms. Angel and her team had retreated to their rendezvous point. They had received a very important order from their master. The order from their master was to go to Town of Kensington as soon as possible. Although, the Underdogs had no idea what would happen in Town of Kensington. But that was an order from their beloved master. So, they left there at once. And before sunrise, they had arrived at the first crossroad of the town.
Ms. Angel stared into the distance and said.
“Sigh… Finally, we had arrived.”
Mr. Tower brightened.
“Yeah. I can go to sleep now. Sleepy emoji…”
Ms. Judgement looked over her shoulder and saw Ms. Justice was stared at someone.
“Ms. Justice, are you okay?”
Ms. Justice were watching the bystander from the edge of her vision.
“Sis., I’m fine.”
All of a sudden, that bystander smirked. Then, he was slowly walking towards Ms. Angel and others. Meanwhile, Ms. Angel glanced at the same bystander and asked.
“Who are you?”
That bystander replied with a smile.
“Ms. Angel, and others… Welcome to Town of Kensington! I’m Mr. Juggler, and I’m your local guide.”
Mr. Tower glanced over Mr. Juggler.
“Huh? This means no rest at all? Sad emoji…”
<<< === === >>>
08:22
Town of Kensington
Downtown District
Shortly after, the citizens of Shadow City had discovered that their Mayor had deceived people into thinking the Metropolitan International Airport was the emergency crisis center. Several hundred thousand of Humans had travelled tens of miles and found Town of Kensington was their safe haven. Furthermore, the World Federation had stepped into this crisis. They established temporary settlement and provided food aid and water supplies for the temporary settlement. However, due to the lockdown of the airport. World Federation could not be able to handle this crisis alone, especially when there was a war coming up. Most people were concerning about their safety, since there was no law and order within the town lately. Such that, it would plunge the town into chaos. And that was why World Federation turned to Killer Incorporation from That-world (That Inc.) and seeking for their support.
Although, World Federation had deployed a small group of military personnel with its ambassador to the town. However, these troops could not possible to fully defense the town once the attackers had advance. Such that, their strategy of defense was a defense in depth approach. Nevertheless, the lack of manpower still existed within. Therefore, World Federation was trying to enlist as many of military volunteers in order to resolve the problem.
In front of the town hall, there was a tent which was used as the register station for the military volunteer service. Although, there were least a hundred thousand of people within the town premise. However, the registration line up was short. It was only about two thousand people who were willing to fight for the mankind. Meanwhile, the Ambassador and the Colonel from World Federation was walking around the town and trying to convince more people to join the defense forces.
“Colonel, we are in a bad situation. How many man and woman you got?”
“Ambassador, for my regiment. It is only around four thousand men and women. Most of them are infantry soldiers.”
“Umm… And how is the volunteer service doing?”
“Currently, only around two thousand had be enlisted.”
“Umm… What about our weaponry?”
“Currently, we got limited supply of ammunition. We had stationed a tank at the main crossroad check point and several other armored vehicles were patrolling near the outskirt of town.”
The Ambassador sighed about the situation.
“Sigh… This is a difficult time for us.”
“Ambassador, I understood.”
The Ambassador glanced at the bystanders around the town.
“Colonel, how much food and water supplies we had?”
“For this amount of people, we can only last for two days maximum.”
The Ambassador sighed about the situation once again.
“Our next shipment of supplies will be three days later.”
“I understood most of our transports got halt at the border of this country. It seems this country wants to conceal the truth.”
“Sigh… They don’t realize this is not one national internal affair. It is a global crisis which could lead to our extermination.”
The Colonel sketched a salute.
“Ambassador, my regiment and I will fight to the last man.”
The Ambassador looked into the Colonel’s eyes without any doubt.
“I believe in you and your troops. And I’m hoping to bring down the casualties to its minimums.”
“I understood.”
“Ambassador, I suspect that the Secret Societies is also behind this.”
“As expected. Otherwise, this crisis won’t be concealed by the government of this country.”
“In that case, should we escalate it?”
“In my opinion, what we can do at this point is quite limited. The Committee of World Federation has a dispute within itself. It seems those Representatives had decided the matter beforehand.”
“You mean the Secret Societies had already infiltrated the community of World Federation.”
“It seems so. Nevertheless, we must focus on our current issue.”
“I understood.”
“By the way, how are the citizens?”
“Since yesterday, most of them had claimed down and settled in the corresponding shelters. The wasn’t any riot over the night and the town seemed kind of peaceful.”
“Umm… Maybe, it is because of them.”
“Probably, yes.”
“Where are they now?”
“They are at the tea house.”
“Although, they don’t want to be in charge of the defense. But we should have paid a visit and give thanks to them. Since, the three of them are protecting the town in their own way.”
The Colonel nodded in agreement.
<<< === === >>>
There was a free-standing tea house in the downtown district of Town of Kensington. It was surrounded by a small garden with a path leading to the tea room. The tea room had no furniture and its windows are small and covered with Shoji. There was a sunken hearth located in the middle with the Tatami around it as the room’s floor. Its architectural space was intentionally for the simple and rustic style. The free-standing tea house was original owned by one of people who lived in the town. But during the crisis period, the owner had left the town and fled to the airport. Since it was abandoned by its owner, Ms. Wheel of Fortune and her crews had moved in temporarily and used it as their command center.
In the afternoon, there were only Ms. Wheel of Fortune, Ms. Angel, and Mr. Tower were sitting inside the tea house, while Mr. Juggler, Ms. Judgement, and Ms. Justice had gone into the town.
“Ms. WF, where is Servant?”
“Ms. Angel, she is on the roof of the town hall.”
“Huh? Why is she there?”
Ms. Wheel of Fortune tapped Ms. Angel shoulder and replied.
“Oh, Servant had told me. You are just too noisy in here. Servant needs a quiet place to compute.”
Ms. Angel looked into Ms. Wheel of Fortune’s eyes.
“Is she serious? Am I that noisy?”
Mr. Tower glanced over Ms. Angel and a soft laugh escaped his throat. Then, she just gave him a blank look and kept asking.
“Is this a joke? Are you guys serious? Am I that noisy? Ms. WF, please tell me.”
Soon after, Ms. Wheel of Fortune darted a glance at Ms. Angel. There were two persons were standing outside at the Shoji sliding doors.
“Hello, I’m the Ambassador of World Federation and the person with me is the Colonel of World Federation. May we come in?”
Ms. Wheel of Fortune smiled on both of the visitors.
“Sure. Please come in.”
Both of them had bowed and said.
“We were being grateful for your help.”
Ms. Wheel of Fortune smiled at both of them.
“There is no need for that… As some said, desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“Thank you for saving these people in this town.”
Ms. Wheel of Fortune replied them with a smile while Ms. Angel narrowed her eyes.
“Do you have something on your mind?”
The Ambassador bowed down and said.
“Please, we need your help!”
Ms. Wheel of Fortune kept a straight face and asked.
“Why?”
The Colonel bowed and said.
“Both of us are suspecting that the Secret Societies is behind the scene, and we believe that…”
Ms. Angel interrupted the conversation.
“World Federation should have enough resources to handle the issue. Furthermore, the Committee should already have a resolution plan. Am I right?”
The Ambassador’s forehead furrowed.
“As far as I know, the Committee does not have one and will not have one. Since, this country had concealed this crisis. So, for most of the outsiders. This crisis is just only an outbreak. Furthermore, there is a dispute within the Committee. Although, World Federation send us to here in order to resolve this crisis. However, with our limited manpower and supplies. I believed, we won’t be able to last more than two days.”
Ms. Wheel of Fortune pondered for a while.
“Umm…”
The Ambassador was fighting back tears.
“Right now, we are not speaking for the World Federation… We are asking for your help simply because of we are also part of the human race.”
Ms. Wheel of Fortune turned to Ms. Angel and Mr. Tower. They nodded in agreement.
“We understood… However, I’m not the decision marker in here. I will relay your message to Servant. We will get back to you as soon as Servant had made up her mind.”
When Ms. Wheel of Fortune had given her answer, the Ambassador and Colonel were crestfallen.
“Then, we will be looking forward to your reply.”
Suddenly, an emergency siren had sounded. It was the from the World Federation’s command post, which was located near the town hall. Meanwhile, Ms. Wheel of Fortune had received a message from Servant.
“The invasion has begun!”
