“Half of New York… is gone!?”
Rui stared at Akito with an expression of disbelief. Yuma, who was next to him, felt the same way. To think that this wasteland stretched so far.
“If that’s the case, then it’s probably—”
Akito nodded at Yuma’s words.
“Yeah, the only one who could do something like this is 【Yellow King】. Even 【Red King】 wouldn’t be able to destroy a city this cleanly, I think.”
Yuma swallowed hard. He had defeated many 【King】s before, but 【Yellow King】 felt different from the others.
Of course, it was a monster he had never encountered. He didn’t know any details, but he had a bad feeling.
He had been feeling a strange sensation ever since he arrived in America, as if the 【Black King】 inside him was sounding an alarm.
“Yuma, is something wrong?”
Akito, noticing Yuma’s condition, frowned and asked.
“No, it’s nothing. More importantly, where are we going next?”
Yuma forced a smile, trying not to let his anxiety show.
If he became anxious, it would spread to the other two. He had to avoid that at all costs.
As Yuma and the others were discussing their next move, Rui noticed something flying in the sky.
“That’s…”
What Rui was pointing at, flying in the sky, was a single Drone.
“Looks like it’s for reconnaissance.”
“That means there are people around.”
The Drone hovered for a moment, then flew off towards the west.
“Akito, shouldn’t we chase it? We might find someone,”
Rui said, but Akito shook his index finger from side to side.
“They’ve already spotted us. They’ll probably come to meet us. We can just relax and wait.”
With that, Akito approached the car that Yuma and the others had arrived in and thrust Gae Bolg into the ground. He opened the back door, and lay down inside.
It seemed he intended to wait while sleeping.
“He’s got some nerve, as always.”
As Yuma was dumbfounded, Rui laughed and said, “That’s what’s good about Akito.”
“Well, I guess…”
Yuma agreed, and the two of them returned to the car.
◇◇◇
“It’s been about an hour since we spotted the Drone. No one’s coming,”
Yuma muttered discontentedly from the passenger seat. Rui, who was in the driver’s seat, said, “Doesn’t look like it,” and looked in the rearview mirror.
Yuma turned around and looked out the back window.
Someone was walking towards them from the road behind. A group of three.
Yuma and Rui opened the doors and got out. Akito, awakened by the noise, muttered, “Hmm… what is it?”
Still looking sleepy, Akito got out of the car and shifted his gaze to the people approaching.
Standing before them were three men. One Black man and two White men. They were all dressed casually, but it looked like some kind of work clothes.
At least, they weren’t wearing military uniforms or Seeker uniforms.
Since they were staring at them in silence, Rui spoke up.
“Excuse me. We’re from Japan. Do you guys live here? If you don’t mind, could you tell us what happened?”
In response to Rui’s words in English, the men looked at each other and shrugged.
The Black man smiled and stepped forward.
“From Japan!? I can’t believe there are such crazy guys, but whatever. I’ll take you to our base.”
“Base? What’s a base!? Are there a lot of people there?”
When Akito asked, the Black man turned around and grinned.
“We’re all Seekers. The base is the headquarters of the Seeker Clan ‘Direwolf,’ which controls this whole area.”
◇◇◇
Yuma and the others were in the car, heading back towards the center of the city.
Yuma, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced ahead at the white van driving in front of them. It was the car that the American Seekers had come in.
They were leading the way to their base, which was appreciated, but—
“What, you guys are Seekers too? And you came all the way here for Magic Gems!? That’s amazing. We don’t see many guys with screws that loose, even in America.”
“Well, for us, a trip like this is nothing at all.”
Jack, the Black man in the back seat, and Akito were laughing together. Jack had an afro, was tall, and wore sunglasses.
He looked intimidating, but when you talked to him, he was friendly, and he seemed to get along with Akito.
He had asked to ride in their car, so they let him, but honestly, it was just noisy.
“Hey, can’t you guys be a little quieter? My head is pounding.”
When Yuma turned around and complained, Akito frowned.
“What’s with the noise! We’re having a cultural exchange and communicating. Shut up!”
Brusquely dismissed, Yuma looked forward with a sullen expression. Ignoring Yuma, Akito and Jack continued their conversation, seeming to enjoy themselves.
“You guys came to America by plane, right? But was it okay? Sometimes there are Gold Dragons flying in the sky.”
Akito chuckled and waved his hand lightly at Jack.
“Gold Dragons are nothing. I took care of them in an aerial battle. It was no big deal.”
This time, Jack laughed loudly.
“Hyah hyah hyah! You’re a funny guy. ‘Took care of the Gold Dragon’… I want to say something like that too.”
Jack didn’t seem to believe Akito’s words. Certainly, there weren’t many people who could easily defeat a Gold Dragon, which was one of the strongest monsters.
“Well, if there were any Seekers who could really defeat it, it would probably be the guys from ‘Prometheus’.”
Rui reacted to Jack’s words.
“Eh!? Jack-san, did you just say Prometheus!?”
“Yeah? I did, but what about it?”
“Prometheus is the Seeker Clan that “Flame Emperor Albert” is in, right? We heard that Prometheus was wiped out, but are they still alive!?”
“Wiped out? You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s no way Albert and the others would die. They’re still fighting on the front lines.”
“I see… that’s good.”
Rui gripped the steering wheel again with a look of relief. For Rui, “Flame Emperor Albert” was an admired Seeker.
He had been worried about him ever since he heard about the annihilation.
While they were talking about that, the car approached a huge building. It was a skyscraper in Manhattan.
Jack grinned and opened his mouth.
“This is our base, the ‘Empire State Building’.”