People say humans use everything available to them for their motives, and what Jack saw in that instant reaffirmed that saying.
"Ethereal revenants," Enak muttered.
"Just what are they up to?" Jack muttered as he scanned the site through his binoculars.
"One thing I can say is that they are making more revenants. Some of those corpses are quite young," Enak said.
"Huh? How can you tell them apart?"
"The ones with the red flames are the new ones. Normally, a revenant is born after the corpse is left in the open for a month or more. Their flames' colours range from green to blue. They gradually all shift to blue flames. Anyways, point being, the red colours are made as a result of Ethereal induction," Enak explained.
"Now what's that?"
"When a corpse is kept in close proximity of an Ethereal Revenant, their revenafication is accelerated. That's what Ethereal induction is."
"Hmm, is there anything else that I should watch out for while dealing with them?"
"As you know, Kana attacks don't work on them. Just know that since the induced ones' bodies are less deteriorated, they are faster, and since their energy requirement is much more than the blue ones, they are more aggressive," Enak answered.
"I see. Well, let's go and see what they are planning."
"Yeah, okay."
Jack jumped up. Enak formed a cloak-like structure that allowed Jack to glide.
"That's handy," Jack praised.
"I know it is," Enak scoffed, and Jack glided to a place where a lot of Ortho Sapiens were gathered in a field near the Ethereal Revenants.
There was a two-storey building there. As Jack landed behind a nearby tree, he changed into the Ortho Sapien suit and went to one of the Ortho Sapiens.
"Hello, comrade," he called out to the man.
"Hello. Did you just come here?"
"Yeah, I got the 'stay vigilant' message, and knowing the way I am, I would've fallen asleep if I was home, so I just came. Anyways, what is the situation?" Jack lied.
"The stage is all set on the second floor. They are just setting up the commands," the officer said, and then he went up and kicked one of the workers as he scolded them to work faster.
Jack was left all alone again, wondering what they were planning. He knew this was another part of their plan of killing the Kratians off the planet, and this would be a wide scheme again. He couldn't protect the people who were away from him, but he would protect those who he could.
Meanwhile, Diana was pacing around the room, thinking about her next course of action. After a few minutes, with a determined look on her face, she tapped her bracelet. As the suit deployed, she heard a voice behind her.
"Now where do you think you are going?" Ethan said, resting his side against the door.
"To help Jack."
"No, you're not. If you get hurt, I will be the guy he kills next after killing the perp. So you are staying here with me."
Diana rolled her eyes. Her anger was clearly visible on her face—after all, she wasn't a coward.
"Says who? The guy who was so scared to leave just because he is scared? I ain't a scaredy cat like you. I am not the kind of woman who will stay in a room for a month like a prey in a cage waiting to be slaughtered. But of course, I don't expect you to understand. He is risking his life for us right now. We risked our lives and travelled hundreds of kilometres just to get to you to recruit you, just to find you too lazy to come out of your comfort zone. So you don't get to tell me what to do!" she thundered, as she sped towards Ethan, her finger pointed at his chest like a dagger.
Ethan retreated back, away from Diana, as she stared daggers into him. As her breath regained its normal rate, he spoke again.
"I know. It's just that I don't want to be a burden to the two of you. I know how much risk you took while coming here. I know how much he has been fighting for the last few days. It's not that I don't want to go with you. I just don't want to be a burden."
Diana simply nodded. She was about to say something when Ethan continued.
"I can't fight. All I can do is information gathering, and I am prepared to do that. That's why I said I will help—and I will. You know how Jack is. If his friends are fighting near him and he is unsure if they can defend themselves, it would sabotage his own fights. I don't want that. Even if I die by getting discovered by next month, I will create something that you will be able to use for information gathering all your lives."
There was silence.
Then there was a surge of movement.
Smack!
The sound of skin hitting skin broke through the silence. Diana had gone ahead and slapped Ethan in the spur of the moment because of her frustration.
"How can you say I don't feel that about myself? Okay, I can fight, a bit, but then I see him, outshining in the fight, fighting like he was born with it. I feel so damn useless I think I am better off waiting for him inside, ready to heal him if anything happens. How can you say that I am not a burden myself? In our last confrontation, if it wasn't for Jack, I would've been shot by the doctor. But I don't let that hold me back. I will keep fighting as I get better—that's the least I can do to pay him back for all he has done for me, by having his back when there is no one for it."
"You say you are okay with dying after this month if you are discovered, but have you thought what toll it would have on Jack?
"I have seen him get so ruthless compared to before, and I don't want to see him lose himself completely. If another one of his close friends dies and he knew he might, but still he wasn't there, I don't think he will be himself anymore.
"Grow up! Stay inside. I and Jack will do the fighting. We never said we were recruiting soldiers—we were always just saving a friend," she said, offering him a weak smile.
"Quite the holy preachin' you did there, lady... I will come with you," Ethan muttered, rubbing his cheek.
"I am so sorry about that. I don't know why I did that," Diana muttered, flustered. "Lemme just heal you back."
"Thanks," Ethan muttered as the pain vanished.
"Don't mention it. Welcome to the gang," she grinned.
Jack, after walking around the place for a while, finally found the operator room. Inside were a few officials. Jack nonchalantly entered the room and greeted the others.
"Now let's see what's going on in here," he muttered as he logged into the main computer.
The building had two floors, big enough to house two hundred and fifty men comfortably. The Ortho Sapiens were working on a fence around the place, which was reported completed a few minutes after Jack entered the officer room.
It was 10 PM, the sheer number of mind-controlled people was insane. Jack was at a loss for words, and Enak said he would need a lot more details to pinpoint the exact method used.
"The venue is complete, loading the revenants now. All officers to the gate—we have 15 more minutes before the program starts." An announcement rang through the halls of the buildings.
Jack looked out of the window. A truck was parked near the fence door. The Ortho Sapiens were dragging out revenants from the truck and taking them inside the building.
Jack looked into the CCTV display. The rooms were modified: a second layer of wall that was made of sliding doors was arranged over the walls, leaving a gap where the officers filled the revenants into.
"Just how much blood are these humans gonna take? If they don't want us here, would've left," Enak said.
"It's not the humans, it's just some tumours to the society. The new Kratian leaders aren't as assertive as Gramps. Why didn't you oppose him leaving the leaders group?" Jack said.
"He hates power struggles. It was what took away our planet—his father—from him, and he wasn't prepared to get into it again, especially when he started a new family here," Enak said. "But I hope he hadn't. So much blood has been spilt. Where is the government? Where are the Kratian warriors? Where are the Kratian leaders?"
"Best guess—mind-controlled."
"Fair. I don't know anyone or anything that can do mind control to this extent. And I feel like I'm missing a part of my memory. I feel something is missing, but I don't know what," Enak muttered.
"Well, no blood shall be spilt here. I will make sure of it," Jack muttered. He went out to each floor and removed the power supply to the sliding doors after the revenants were loaded in.
"Stay there like the beasts you have become," he said, and then went to position himself amongst other guards.
A few minutes later, people started to crowd in. The venue shined with a variety of colourful lights.
And suddenly a holographic screen shot up on every floor of the venue.
A man walked into the frame and started addressing the crowd.
"Hello, my fellow Kratians. I am the current head of the family that used to be called the Eyes of the Kratians back at Creta. I appear here today to talk about a pressing matter."
The crowd fell silent.
"Is this true?" Jack asked Enak.
"Those eyes... it must be," Enak replied.
Jack looked at the man's eyes. The pupils were in the shape of a shard, and the retina shined with blood red.
"I see," Jack said as his eyes narrowed.
"Exactly forty days ago, a bus that had Kratians was attacked by the Ortho Sapien people. They had planted a suicide bomber in a van that was further loaded with explosives. They hit the bus, and all the people riding went missing."
The crowd responded with whispers of sorrows.
"And it really is to grieve that a month later they were all found turned into revenants and were cast out as a horde in an inhabited region. But with the combined efforts of the Kratians and humans, we managed to get the situation under control. Today, as per our tradition, we will free the troubled souls of these revenants forty days after their deaths."
"Isn't he a Kratian?" Jack muttered to his nearby officer.
"He is. He is one of the chairs, actually. His brigade recruited me," the officer whispered.
"But why is he working with us? I mean, we do hunt his kin."
"You are right. I was curious too once about it as well and poked my head around it. They say he didn't want Kratians to live here, and go find another planet, but they didn't listen. But those are rumours—I don't know," the officer said, and then straightened up as he felt the gaze of his superior who had noticed the disturbance.
They looked back onto the screen.
"Today, what I have with me here are the very ethereal revenants that were taken into custody successfully. As our ritual, we will be collecting your Kana energy in the spheres that will now appear in front of you as tributes to them. Please pour your Kana energy into them as we complete the salvation ritual."
The host on the screen clapped. The curtains behind him gave way and revealed a hundred ethereal revenants, encased in bulletproof glass. As soon as they appeared, the floor also split up, and a lot of spheres made out of Kadestone came up.
"We will stab the revenants with Kadestone rods, and they will draw out their Kana energy, gradually converting them back to normal corpses. Then we will cremate them," the host said.
Several rods began to stab through the revenants. They didn't feel pain, yet imagine being tortured even after death. The Kratians that had gathered formed circles around the spheres, waiting for their cue to start sending energy.
When the flames of the revenants had vanished away, the host commanded:
"Hands on the sphere," he ordered.
Everyone obliged.
"Get ready," the officer beside Jack hissed.
The corpses were now lowered out of the chambers and then laid upon a large platform.
"We will now cremate them. Please pass your energy into the spheres," the guest announced.
The crowd obliged, and as they passed the energy, the corpses were lit on fire. Then the transmission stopped when nothing but ash was remaining.
"Alright, move out when the revenant doors open," the brigade leader said.
Jack clicked his gun. This one fight wasn't offense alone—he could save lives, at least the hundreds of them that gathered there.
He had to reduce as much danger as he could.
Bang!
He took the shot. The bullet pierced through the head of the leader, and as everyone reacted, Enak coated Jack.
"Alright, young lord, show me what you can do to protect your citizens," Enak said smugly, as Jack shot people with his left hand and wielded Kazekiri effectively in his right, clearing the officers— as many as he could before the revenants were freed.
He had just dealt with 10 out of the 70–80 officers gathered there when the doors opened, accompanied by screams and shrieks.
Jack jumped out into the main hall, and the scene he saw was pure despair.
"Just how much are you gonna fall?" he muttered.