Chapter 15

"We can't wait any longer for the other squads, we need to start our next mission instead" the lieutenant colonel said once Narumi and Shinoa squad were assembled at the meeting place. We had been the only two squads to make it back in time, except for one more group led by a woman a bit older than myself. However, her squad was in bad shape. Some dead, the others wounded, so it would be only Narumi, Shinoa and Guren squad on this mission. Not going to lie, doing a mission together with the lieutenant colonel was intimidating, especially considering the other members of my new squad were still seen as newbies on the battlefield. "What's the mission?" Yu asks, taking my attention away from my thought. "The nine squads assigned to the three nobles in the city hall were annihilated, the vampires are holding twenty five of them hostage." Guren explains.I was not the only one inhaling sharply at that. I knew nobles were strong but how could only three of them have overpowered nine squads! Whoever the vampires are in the city hall they must be insanely powerful. "We definitely need those people for future missions. Therefor our objective is to kill those three nobles and rescue our comrades." Guren continued. The brunette woman from the other squad wiped angrily at her face, trying to hide her tears. She must have known those soldiers personally. "Please lieutenant Colonel, please let me go aswel. I'd like to assist." She tried arguing."Not a chance. I need you to stay here and tell the other squads about this mission. I'm counting on you." Relieved to be of some sort of assistance the woman nodded excitedly. "Yes sir!" She answered."Sir?" I said. Guren turned to me. "Apologies for questioning you, but how are we supposed to beat three nobles who wiped out nine squads with only us?" I questioned. I knew the same fear had been in everyone's mind, only I was the one brave enough to actually voice my concerns."Don't underestimate your own or your comrades power. We'll assess the situation first and then discuss how to best proceed from there on. Now if that is all, let's go!" Guren answered, leaving no space for further concerns.

Once we made it to a suitable spot for observation of the city hall, Guren took out his spy glas. Whatever he saw he was not happy with it. "They crucified the other soldiers" he informed, continuing to look around the perimeter of the city hall. "They are obviously expecting us. Let's see, we'll snipe from here to see how they react, just to test the water. This is essentially only a decoy mission to keep the enemy distracted for as long as possible." Guren murmured."What!" Yu shouted, clearly annoyed by that information. And he was not alone in that."Our main unit in Shibuya need time to get to Shinjuku, which is why we need to keep the vampires attention for as long as possible here in Nagoya. But don't mistake this for a useless mission. This noble extermination mission is part of phase one in the whole plan. But the main objective right now is to keep them distracted." He answered, but before he could elaborate more his white haired squad member and sniper, Shinya Hiragi, jumped in."Which is why we're going to see how the enemies react to a little expert sniping. If they attack in force, we'll run. But if we see an opening we'll try to save the hostages." Guren continued where Shinya left off, "best case scenario, we'll kill the nobles too."Shinya gave Guren a knowing look, "you know it never goes that well." He summoned his sniper gun and motioned towards Yoichi. "Come with me Yoichi, we're up." "Right" Yoichi said and summoned his bow. "Everyone get into position! Be ready to attack or flee." Narumi informed his squad. Shinoa doing the same, "we're prepared right?" "Yeah!" We answered. However I had this tingling sensation in my stomach that something was off, but I couldn't put my finger on what.Yoichi suddenly gasps. I turn to look at him in concern. He is looking through the scope of his weapon. "I have eyes on a vampire! It's a noble! His back is to me, I don't think he has noticed us yet." He informs us. "Then take the damn shot, now!" Guren shouts urgently. Taking a deep breath he readies an arrow and releases it. I look as the normal arrow turns green and then into a black and green bird, flying straight towards the city hall. It hits its mark, a massive hole is blown into the building. But to everyone's surprise three figures emerge from the smoke. I squint my eyes but I can't see who these nobles are, but one thing is for sure, none of them are dead."Sir, I failed to hit my target" Yoichi informs as he looks at Shinya. Shinya on the other hand keeps his eyes on the building, a troubled look on his face. "Ordinarily, even a noble wouldn't be able to dodge a shot like that. Which means..." "...that this guy must be an extremely powerful vampire." Guren finishes Shinya's thought. "It makes sense now that nine elite squads were wiped out. We wouldn't stand a chance." Guren goes on.Yoichi pipes in at that moment, "He's right, I recognize this guy. We've faced him before." All our attention turns to Yoichi. My stomach drops. Please don't let it be him, please don't let it be Crowley. Sadly my silent prayers went unanswered.With a troubling expression he informs us of that I didn't want to know. "He's the vampire we fought when we were headed to Shinjuku. He's with his comrades."A wave of ice washes over me at this piece of information. Crowley was here. The places he bit me started tingling slightly. His words from our last encounter echoing in my head over and over again."-I promised myself you would be mine..."