The Raptures broke through the dust cloud like a wave of iron and death, howling and screeching as they charged.
"Rapi, take the lead—go for the joints!" Ritsuka shouted.
"On it." Rapi steadied her sniper rifle, her expression cold and precise. With a sharp crack, her first shot blasted through a mid-class Rapture's leg joint, causing it to tumble. Another shot pierced its core before it could get back up.
"Neon, right flank, keep it tight!"
"Roger!" Neon ducked behind a broken slab of wall and opened fire with her machine gun. Her bullets sprayed in tight arcs, riddling two lighter Raptures with holes. "Ooooh! This is actually exciting!"
"Marian, support her—precision shots!"
"Got it!" Marian slid into place next to Neon, her rifle glowing. She fired energy rounds that punched through armor like paper. Each shot was measured, clean. "Neon, keep the aggro—I'll clean them up."
"You got it, big sis Marian!"
"I'm not your—never mind."
Meanwhile, Anis chuckled darkly, pulling out a grenade and hurling it straight into the densest cluster of approaching Raptures.
BOOM!
Shrapnel and Rapture parts flew everywhere.
"Oh yeah, that's the stuff. You bastards love swarming? I love explosions."
Ritsuka pulled his futuristic katana from his side—the one he found earlier. The blade shimmered with unstable energy.
Buzz!
[Blade Type: Prototype. Function: Hybrid – Close Combat & Short-Range Burst Fire.]
[Bullet count remaining: 5]
He dashed into the chaos, eyes glowing faintly with AI synchronization. A Rapture lunged at him—he parried with the katana and pulled the trigger. A bullet erupted from the hilt, blowing the Rapture's chest out.
Another one charged—he sidestepped and slashed clean through its neck.
"I'm good at this…" he muttered in disbelief. "...No, I was made for this."
A warning ping hit his mind.
[Incoming from above—Skimmer Unit!]
"Rapi! Cover fire, high right!"
"Already saw it!" A precise shot tore through the flying Rapture's wing, sending it crashing into the pavement where Anis promptly curb-stomped it with a grenade blast.
Neon laughed. "Woo! Team Ritsuka is on fire!"
Ritsuka paused as the last enemy dropped. The battlefield fell quiet, save for the burning carcasses and whirring servos of dead Raptures.
He looked around, confirming everyone was alive.
"Status report!"
Rapi: "Green. Minimal damage."
Marian: "Sustained—one scratch. Nothing vital."
Neon: "Totally fine! Oh, but I did chip a nail."
Anis: "Tired, sweaty, and satisfied. I'd call that a win."
Ritsuka lowered his blade, looking at the smoke rising in the distance.
"Let's finish securing the area. Then we move to the power station."
Neon skipped beside him, smiling brightly. "You really are different, Commander."
Ritsuka blinked. "Different?"
Rapi muttered quietly to herself. "…She's being polite."
Marian stared at Neon like she'd just seen a ghost. "No one is ever this… friendly."
Anis leaned in to Ritsuka and whispered, "What the hell did you do to her, man?"
Ritsuka blinked again. "I… just said hi…"
The team exchanged looks. Marian deadpanned, "We are living in strange times."
After that, they arrived in a Barrier or electricity, as they released that they need to go through to reach for Power station, after a Idea what was made that Ritsuka should just wear Rubber boots, which was then said not by the girls and Shifty, then a plan was made to go to command Center in the city so shifty can tune of the Power, so they made thege way there.
When they made it there, they saw a dozen Rapture, as they were ready to get thege guns out, but Ritsuka stopped them.
Ritsuka looked at Neon as he spoke. "If I do this, don't tell anyone's, actually no one will believe you".
Neon was a bit confused. "Wait what?"
Anis looked at Ritsuka as she spoke. "Oh, you are gonna summon does Shadows people again".
Neon looked at her confused. "Shadow?".
Ritsuka felt his Magic Circets go up, as he closes his hand a sh spoke. "I summond."
Buzz!
[Shadow Servant Summoned"]
There in front then, was summoned a Shadowy figure, as it then laughed a crazy laugh.
"Hahahahhahahaha".
Ritsuka recognised the laughing, plus he didn't need to guess his Shadow Servant. "Edmond Go, and do what you do best".
As the distorted laughter echoed through the air, the girls tensed—except Anis, who just rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that's totally normal…" she muttered.
The shadow thickened into a form—ragged cloak, wild hair, and a maniacal grin that screamed chaos. The figure tipped his phantom hat and bowed theatrically.
"The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès, at your service... Master."
Neon stared in shock. "Wait—wait—what is that?! Who is that?! That's not a Nikke! That's not even human!"
Ritsuka smiled faintly. "You'll get used to it."
Rapi narrowed her eyes, scanning Edmond. "That… presence. He's not a Rapture. Not even a normal machine."
"Nope," Ritsuka said calmly. "He's a Servant. A Shadow of the Heroic Spirits from human history. Edmond, clear the Raptures out of this sector."
"With pleasure." Edmond grinned, then exploded forward in a blur of darkness and fury.
One Rapture raised its weapon—only for Edmond to appear behind it, his flames and Lighting slashing through its metal like paper. It didn't even have time to fall before he vanished again.
"One for betrayal…" slash!
"…two for vengeance…" stab!
"…and three for my lost freedom!" boom!
Within seconds, half the Raptures were down, the rest trying desperately to scan the threat they couldn't even see. They fired wildly, but Edmond danced through shadows like a ghost. His laughter echoed like a hymn of wrath.
Neon's mouth dropped. "Okay, this is insane. He's like… some kind of living nightmare!"
"Yup," Anis said, smirking. "And that's the tame one."
Ritsuka watched as Edmond raised his hand, a dark aura coiling around him.
"Wait," Ritsuka called out. "Leave one intact—we need its core data. Shifty will use it to access the city's grid."
Edmond stopped mid-slash, his blade inches from the Rapture's core. With a theatrical sigh, he leaned in close and whispered:
"You're lucky my Master has a plan. Otherwise, you'd be the next verse in my requiem."
He kicked the barely-functioning Rapture over to the group like discarded trash.
Shifty's hologram popped up on Rapi's comm.
"Good. I'm jacking into the remains now… okay… scanning… bypassing encryption… accessing substation…"
Buzz!
[Command Node Hacked – Barrier Deactivation in Progress]
"Just give me a few minutes, and the electricity blocking the power station route will go down."
Neon turned to Ritsuka, still stunned. "You… how many of these 'Servants' can you summon?"
Ritsuka simply said, "Enough."
Marian muttered under her breath, "That was terrifying… but also effective. You really are something else, Commander."
As Edmond chuckled and melted back into shadow, the others regrouped.
The battlefield was eerily silent now.
Rapi looked at Ritsuka and asked, "What's next?"
Ritsuka glanced toward the city's skyline, toward the direction of the power station.
"Once the barrier's down, we move out. Be ready—this was just the start."
Back across the Dimensional Veil – Chaldea Command Room
The soft hum of monitors filled the air, along with Da Vinci's rapid typing as data scrolled across her screens. Edmond stood behind her, arms crossed, his normally unruly grin gone—replaced by a rare look of quiet seriousness.
"It happened again," he said, his voice more grounded than usual. "Third time today."
Da Vinci's fingers paused on the keys.
She turned to look at him, her brows furrowed. "That confirms it then… Ritsuka's alive." She leaned back in her chair with a deep exhale. "Only he can summon you from beyond our current dimension. But… where the hell is he?"
Edmond's eyes narrowed, his gaze distant.
"Wherever he is, it's fractured," he said. "There's darkness. Not the kind I call home—something deeper. Layered. Buried beneath hope and machine."
Da Vinci tapped her pen on her lips thoughtfully. "Hmm… 'hope and machine'. That sounds like world we should know but we don't?".
"damm it," Edmond replied. "But if he doesn't summon me like before. It's not a command. It's instinct… survival. He needs me."
The doors to the control room hissed open as Romani and Mash entered, tension thick in the air.
"Is it true?" Mash asked. **"Another summon?"
Da Vinci nodded. "He's still fighting. Somewhere across that multiverse. He's reaching out the only way he can."
Romani rubbed his forehead. "Three times… that much magic used in one day without a Command Seal link? His body must be at its limit."
Da Vinci whispered, almost to herself, "Hang in there, Ritsuka… just give us something more. A signal, a pulse, anything. We'll find you."
Mash clenched her fists. "We have to."
Edmond turned away from the group, his figure blending into the shadows cast by the monitors.
"If he calls again… I'll answer. Every time. Until the end."
Back with Ritsuka, they arrived in the command room, as they came in.
Shifty spoke, as her Holographic Image popped up. "We have arrived at the Command Center".
Rapi then spoke. "Commander, give me combiLink".
Ritsuka just blinked. "What is that?".
Shifty explained to him what it was. "It is a device used to control all types of Machines on Surfaces; see that little Protrusion on your Mobile, yeah that one, pull it out, and you will have it".
Ritsuka does and he pulls out a and it was 1 meter long line. "So where do I plug it in".
"Here". Rapi said
After that, the electrical barrier was stopped and they managed to go there, they arrived in the city, fought a free Rapture, learn Neon's love of Big Explosion, and went to the Power station
Shifty Holographic Image then came. "Location of Power station confirmed, you can all go in"
Anis then spoke. "Consider that place could be full with Rapture, I don't think we should be going through the front door, even With Commander's weird Shadow power things"
Marian then spoke. "I second that, there is no fate worse for Nikke than to be Rapture Food, or will more like used as Parts to them".
Ritsuka looked at Shifty as he spoke. "Does that place even function?".
Shifty nods as the counties. "Reports say it resumed operation not long ago, even do nobody knows why or how".
Ritsuka just spoke hearing that last part. "Instead that is the start of every horror movie ever".
Anis just spoke. "You could tell me twice, we sent a few squads before us, but um they were surrounded by hordes of Repture and got destroyed".
Ritsuka just sighed as he spoke in his mind. "Great, they want me dead".
Shifty then spoke in awareness of Ritsuka's internal Thoughts. "Putting away maybe Singh of Survivers a power station like this is great significance; a power station of this size can run the Ark for 2 weeks".
Rapi then spoke. "In other words, this Operation is of the utmost importance"
Anis sighed as she spoke. "Not important enough to send more than 4 Nikke and a Commander".
Marian looked as she spoke. "Enough of your scaring the Commander
Anis rolled her eyes as she spoke. "Just saying, we are being put in meet grinders".
Rapi looked at her as she spoke. "Anis, enough. Are you planning to Bow out of this Mission?".
"What? No, I am not". She said defensibly.
"Then I suggest You Think before you Speak". Rapi said.
Ritsuka sighed as he stepped between the two girls, and Neon then spoke. "But how do we go in".
Rapi then answers her. "By Destroying the Rapture guarding the power station".
Neon glasses sines as and spoke. "I like this idea, let's charge".
Anis scope as she spoke. "That is now your choice to make, Right Commander".
Rapi looked at Ritsuka as she spoke. "Will Commander, do you wish to continue".
Ritsuka looked as he spoke. "Yes, but we are not going Guns blazing, I rather not trade life, we sneak in"
Shifty then spoke. "Sneak, in will, there does seem to be a route".
"Show us the way Shifty". Ritsuka said, adjusting his hat.
Ritsuka and Mariam follow Shift then Neon, and Rapi, but Anis just stood there for a few seconds.
"I'd rather not trade life, huh?". She repeated Ritsuka's words to hee self.
As Ritsuka, Marian, Neon, and Rapi began moving quietly through the broken urban alleyways following Shifty's projected map, the heavy atmosphere clung to the group. The crumbled buildings cast long shadows under the flickering neon signs still struggling to stay alive from the Power Station's mysterious reactivation.
Behind them, Anis finally began to walk, her face contemplative.
"I'd rather not trade life, huh?" she whispered again, softer this time—almost as if testing the weight of the words.
She adjusted her rifle and jogged lightly to catch up, her expression unreadable.
Meanwhile, in the makeshift corridor of collapsed buildings…
Shifty's voice buzzed through Ritsuka's earpiece.
"Commander, the Power Station has three entry points. Two are heavily guarded by Raptures. The third is an emergency maintenance route—it's narrow, cramped, and was likely overlooked."
"Sounds perfect." Ritsuka muttered. "What's the catch?"
"It's submerged," Shifty replied casually. "It runs under the coolant reservoir. Waterproof suits are being prepared in your inventory storage. Should keep you alive. Mostly."
Neon perked up. "Wait, swimming under a coolant tank to sneak in a haunted Power Station? Ritsuka, I like your plans more every day."
Rapi side-eyed her. "This is not a joke, Neon. One mistake in there, and the coolant could cause permanent nerve damage."
"Yup. And that's why it's gonna be fun!"
Ritsuka, while checking the newly loaded wetsuits from Shifty's delivery system, took a breath and gave his orders.
"Alright, team. Suit up. We enter quiet. In and out. If things go sideways… you follow fallback protocol and retreat. No heroics. That's an order."
Marian placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Understood, Commander. But you're not alone either. We've got your back."
One by one, they suited up and approached the submerged tunnel's entrance, hidden beneath a collapsed service bridge—its entrance blinking faint red as Shifty remotely unlocked it.
Back at the rear, Anis looked at the dark tunnel, then at Ritsuka.
She scoffed with a grin. "Alright, Mr. No-Trading-Lives. Let's see if you can keep that promise."
With that, they descended into the submerged dark, the quiet gurgle of coolant the only sound greeting them.
To be continued
Hope people like this Ch and give me power stones and enjoy