NOVEL SIMPLE The Ripper
"Wow..."
That was the only word I could speak of when I entered Novah. An entire city underneath a city, with an artificial day/night cycle... coming from a sphere in the middle of the sky.
Reverie, explain.
That there~ is the corpse of Mu's Sun God, Elmest, encased in a cage that can change the lumen and intensity of the light! All automated and working just fine as intended.
Using the corpse of a god... that is cool.
The whole of Novah is cool, I mean, we had to go down an elevator that can fit a few hundred cars to get down here. The whole underground city in itself is just a treat to my eyes, The City of Darkness looks the closest the the Unsleeping City - New York before Pandora's Sins, with rise complexes, but in Victorian style, giving an industrial vibe to the most modern city on Earth.
They know they are advanced, so they can be whatever style they want.
That, or just Seria's personal taste. She was involved in the creation of this city after all, not to mention, she burned down half of Britain. She burned down half a nation, and I think she would have a sickening pleasure burning down a place that look like the country she despise the most.
But I do have to admit, the industrial era mixed in with the colorful creations that no other country dares to make is amazing.
Our destination is a hotel, just right next to Novah's Vault... where we will meet our collaborators.
"This place is amazing, right?", I heard Jack, "But we won't be sightseeing today, maybe~ after the mission."
"Is that an order?", I questioned her.
"Listen here, Charlotte Corday. I don't know how Arco treats you, but I am not her, I am not an immortal crazy bitch that can do whatever she wants. I may be Jack the Ripper, a serial killer, but at the same time, I am Florence Nightingale, the Angel of Crimea and the Lady of the Lamp, a medic. I follow orders, and I expect you to follow orders too. And yes, that is an order."
I rolled my eyes, "You just have to say it is an order, I don't need your life story."
"Hey, hey! That's rude!", Jack yelled at me.
"I am humanity itself, human is a rude and crude species. I say what I want, I do what I want..."
Certainly, I want to disobey orders...
Sensing the tension rising, Enna spoke up, "By the way, what is this super weapon?"
"Well, that's a classified secret!", Jack replied, "We just know that it's in a box and the object is not round. Something very dangerous in fact."
I mean, there are people who can wipe out the world. Me, Rita, Athen, and Seria as examples. Why are we allowed to roam around freely?
There is also India with the highest number of Gem Holders, about two million the last time I checked. And their mythology, everyone owned a nuke of some kind.
Reverie, what is the superweapon?
Do you wanna spoil the surprise~
Yes.
It's something Imperial Japan received from Nazi Germany, the only Philosopher Stone ever created~
"The Philosopher Stone.", I spoke out loud.
"How did you get that inform—", then Jack realized, "Oh, the Records of Humanity..."
And before she can ask me more, I change the subject, "Do you have any relation with Jack the Ripper of Entrost?"
"Oh! So now you want our life's story!", she sarcastically said.
'Our'?
And she starts explaining, "You see, Jack the Ripper isn't just one person. Currently, there are four people with the name Jack the Ripper. We share the same title due to our operations happening at the same time. Entrost's Jack the Ripper is the Monster of the End and Beginning, Spring Heeled Jack, a fairy of some kind that was stuck between the Industrial Era and the Medieval Era."
"For me, as I said out loud many times before, my Devil is both Florence Nightingale and Jack the Ripper, she was a secret agent at the time the spree of mutilation happened, and she killed ten people during the time of the murder. Heh, talk about irony~", Jack shrugged, "A medic, and the woman who revolutionized the medical industry was an assassin~"
"Does... our Doctor Nightingale know?", I questioned.
"He doesn't know.", Jack said in a stern and dark voice, "He only knows me as Jack the Ripper, and Florence also wants that to remain a secret."
Finding out your ancestor is called Jack the Ripper would be devastating. I can see the reasons.
"Then what about the other two?", I continued.
"One of them is our lovely and amazing leader~ Silla Arco!"
...why am I not surprised?
"The letters 'Dear Boss' and 'Saucy Jacky', she personally wrote them to spook Britain. She has a vendetta against that country, after all", Jack shrugged.
"And the last one is the real Jack the Ripper...", I can feel the insanity coming off her, "Well, I won't go any further than that."
Reverie.
Aha~ well, the real Jack the Ripper is—
Ssshhhh, Reverie... could you be quiet this time? You can't just spoil the fun for our dear.
...Yes... Mom... sorry, Charlotte~
Moving on, we got to the ground floor after a 20-minute elevator ride. And I can see the first sign of the advanced technology Novah boasted about.
A checkpoint station.
Our car got in first, little sphere-shaped drones circled us, scanning for potential weapons...
[Weapon detected - state your business]
"We are the Illuminati Corp., invited by the Prime Minister for the upcoming operation.", Jack responded and slammed a card onto the window.
[Identity - Verified]
[Welcome to Novah, City of The Future]
I let out a low laugh, City of The Future... yet it is stuck in this Victorian Era style. All thanks to Seria...
That woman has a lot of power.
We went to the main road, which was packed full of cars.
"Hey Charlotte.", Athen called me.
"What is it?"
"Our schedule is, tomorrow we will meet up in a private room with the other collaborators, they include the Senior Student of Ataraxia Academy, the Vice Principal, the Mu Action Squad, and the Custodian."
I frowned, "They sent a student? Why?"
"Oh, you know~", Jack answered, "Because Ataraxia teaches the most dangerous of people, Jesus Christ, and the place is like a Pandora's Box on its own! You will fit right in with the insane students they have there!"
"Heh.", Athen scoffed, "Said the crazy surgeon."
"Do you want me to dismember you, Athen?", the Ripper asked with a voice full of bloodlust.
"And I will drag you down to Hell, crazy bitch.", she retorted.
"Try if you can~"
Now, I opened the mirror on the sun visor to watch the drama between the two of them. I frowned once again, Athen was... happy, she is bantering with Jack, and even threats of killing each other seemed to be light-hearted.
Am I a bad person?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Thanks for the confirmation. I rolled my eyes, it was Seria's influence getting to me.
But still... Athen rarely smiles when she's with me... if I make her unhappy, then why does she stick to me? I don't know, I don't understand her at all...
Human is such a complicated creature.
=0=0=
I got into my room, no, mine and Rita's room. Since I am, quote on quote, 'Stress incarnate', responsible for keeping an eye on him.
"You should go for a shower first...", Rita said to me.
I nodded without speaking a word. But before I could go for a shower, I unpacked my suitcases, we still have a lot of things to do.
Laying my gun on the table, I checked the ammo magazine... it was empty.
"Delusion."
And now it's full, all twelve bullets. Having the power to bend reality is pretty convenient.
Hmm... having one magazine isn't enough, even if I can refill it. It takes me five seconds to fill them all backup.
"Delusion.", I swiped my hand, creating another ammo clip.
Placing a magazine into the gun, I aimed it at Rita. Of course, he ducked behind the bed. Good, I have to keep his stress level up.
Then I pressed the release button, letting the magazine go. In combination with Reverie, I pulled the magazine out faster than it slid.
With the accuracy of Survive, I threw the other clip in the air, did a spin for dramatic purposes, and accurately put the new magazine into the gun.
"0,6 seconds.", I whispered. A dramatic improvement.
Hey Reverie, how many magazines with bullets in them can I create?
About ninety million ~
It seems that I need more Reverie goo. Hm, where is the floating trash continent again?
Anyhow, I took my sleeping clothes, which are just plain white shirts and shorts made of cotton.
I will have a shower.
=0=0=
Jack sat down with a quill in her hand, writing down a letter with a beautiful font on it. All the while Athen watches on with a glare.
"Now that we are alone...", Athen spoke up, "I want to ask... why did you choose Charlotte?"
Jack glanced back, "Well, I felt guilty."
To that, Athen just scoffed at the ridiculous excuse of the Ripper, "Don't lie to me, bitch. Do you know how fucking difficult for me to not outright say it to her?! Charlotte... she doesn't deserve this... any of this, sure, she might be a psycho at heart... and taking influence from Silla... she deserves a better life... I wouldn't have joined this... this organization that uses child experiments if it wasn't for her."
Jack put down her pen with a heavy sigh, "She needs to be with us. Babel needs her."
"To be a pawn?! To be like you?!", she lashed out.
Jack closed her eyes for a moment, before speaking, "No... do you even know what happened that day? The day when Andras defeated Tartarus? Did you know it was her birthday? The day when her parents died with her in their arms? Of course, you don't. The first thing she saw was the abyss, then the next thing was her parents dying."
"Athen... before I am a killer, I am a doctor. Before Jack the Ripper, I am Florence Nightingale. I can understand and feel the emotions of everyone around me, that's what makes me viable as the team leader, as the one to bring her back to Babel."
"Hypocrite.", Athen clicked her tongue.
"Of course I am a hypocrite.", she looked at her hands, full of traces of callouses, "I am a medic, yet I kill people. Our whole existence is a contradiction, a hypocrisy. But you know what? I accept that from the moment I became Jack the Ripper."
"I don't trust Issac, I don't trust Silla, I lost trust in people long ago...", the Greek woman wore an expression of nostalgia for a bit, then she blinked, returning to her stoic face, "I ask you again, why did you bring her into this mission, heck, why did you even bring Rita?"
"I guess there's nothing I can hide from you...", Jack sighed, "Beside the fact that we need two of them for their ability to detect trouble. I want to give them some experience in working with professionals... and to make up for what I did to them."
She stared at the ceiling, thinking of an event from the distant past, "For Rita... I killed his entire village, as they are involved in a cult that worships Death and Destruction. I felt his despair, so I took him back to our Canada Branch."
"For Charlotte... well, I took her as a request from Andras. Adam stole her away from me in the number of orphans we took in for our projects, turns out, she was the Gem Holder of the Akashic Records. Listen, I fucked up, I didn't intend for her to experience a torturous childhood that she doesn't even remember."
"That doesn't excuse that you didn't bring her to me.", Athen growled.
"You can kill me if you want to, I fucked up a lot in life, I would gladly die for my sins. But at least let me live to see the end of work, let me regret, or rejoice, at my decisions. You can do that for me, right, Ashen Undead?"
"Of course... since I will personally kill you, in the most painful way possible.", Athen smirked, she walked over to Jack, staring down at her.
Then she punched her in the stomach, making Jack recoiled in pain.
"Fuck... you Greek are monsters...", Jack groaned, "But I do deserve that..."
All the while, Enna watches silently, as if she was not even here.
"So this is what it looks like from your perspective, Holy Spirit.", Enna whispered, quietly munching on her snack.