"What is he doing? Is he schizophrenic?" Shizune commented, her crowbar rested on her shoulder, looking back at Ludwig who was still gazing into the darkness encased hallway.
If it's The Consortium, I might have to throw them into a starlit gate and fend them off myself… I don't even think I can take on a thread, let alone a Heart Weaver…
Ludwig slowly backed toward the trio, who are still oblivious to the ordeal. Satoya, who was the most concerned, turned to look at the same dark hallway as Ludwig.
"Do you see anyone?"
Then a shot rang out, with Ludwig shoving Satoya to the side, and deflecting the bullet causing a momentary spark. Ludwig gave the dark hallway a menacing stare, before having a realization.
Ambush from The Compass Treaty?!
The Compass Treaty is the largest organization in the world. An iron alliance formed between all of the 5 Capitals and its 15 countries. The highest echelon is called The Compass Rose. Consisting of 4 members, signifying the 4 cardinal directions, North, West, East, and South. The Compass Rose and the RC have been at horrible tension, with South granting full permission to neutralize any Regulators of the RC if they trespass any TCR (The Compass Rose) property.
Satoya as he was falling into the ground, and saw a split second of sparks being flown out of the sword immediately thought:
Did this guy just deflect a bullet?
Satoya stood back up, feeling a minor bruise on his shoulder. He saw Isaac mimic the act of rolling his sleeves, which he found odd because he is wearing a T-shirt, and Shizune holding her crowbar like a sword. But, how is she holding a crowbar? A crowbar is usually 6-10 pounds, Shizune can barely hold 6 pounds, yet whatever, there's people with firearms trying to open fire on them.
Ludwig swiftly swung his sword toward the unknown darkness, with Satoya hearing a pulsating, almost like an spacial tearing noise erupt from the dark hallway. Before Ludwig had room to breathe, he pointed his sword toward the outside, and through a window, Satoya saw a large gate open almost 200 feet high, with 8 black armored soldiers falling through. A few screamed in horror, and a loud thud and cracking followed after they fell into the ground.
Satoya turned from the window, facing Ludwig who seemed to be still on guard, but he couldn't help but ask, "What the hell was that?"
"Compass Treaty stealth, however, they weren't Regulators and were basic agents."
"Did you have to drop them that high?" Shizune asked, looking back at Ludwig and the splattered TCR agents.
"Efficiency, however, stay on guard, I didn't realize we were on Compass Treaty property."
Ludwig still held out his sword. Despite the fact he took care of them rather instantly, he was quietly relieved that they weren't The Consortium.
An applaud reverberated throughout the hallway, with several lasers pointing at the forehead of Satoya, Isaac, and Shizune.
"Bravo! As expected from the fabled Azure Family escapee!"
Why does everyone keep naming things I have never heard of? Is this what being under rock feels like? It fucking sucks..
A single man walked into the hallway that was lit from the descending sun. The man had glasses covering his eyes, his messy brown hair with a military cap, he was also wearing a uniform that had a compass rose mark on the sleeve. The marking signifies members of The Compass Treaty, the colored direction symbolized the branch with the man himself having East colored. There was also a name tag sewn into the chest, with this man's name being Zykar Ellington, Lieutenant 299.
Satoya also noticed, this man's right arm was replaced by a prosthetic, and this prosthetic looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Is the technology that good? If so, how did he not know about it?
Ludwig made a stark warning, still holding his sword.
"You made a deal with the Jurisdiction Gavel? What a fool.."
"Oh, never seen a Deal maker before.." Shizune said in surprise. Which made Satoya turn toward her in confusion, with her responding "what? I thought it's common sense–Oh right, I forgot, you don't know it, huh?"
"oh shit that's what you meant."
The Jurisdiction Gavel is one of the Ancient Crucibles. The Ancient Crucibles are "outer" deities, with them watching over the world from up above. The Jurisdiction Gavel specifically, acts as an absolute judge, the prosecutor, and the Judgement. Anyone who makes a deal with the Gavel will be marked as a deal maker, these deals can range from simple to near god-like power, at a cost of course...
"So wait?! You made a deal with the Gavel itself!? Are you stupid?!" Satoya exclaimed, completely flabbergasted at the thought of someone willingly making a deal with an Ancient Crucible.
"So what? I got power by making a deal with the Gavel!"
"What an insolent idiot.." Ludwig insulted before Satoya saw him quite literally dash with agility from beside him to see him swing his sword directly at Zykar's head who was standing quite far away from Satoya and the others.