"N… no! Mr. Mazen, please hurry up!"
The Presidential Mansion seemed to have been bombed from the inside as the black fumes continued to cover the sky with darkness. Even though they were still a distance away from it, the screams of the people that were caught up in flames reached Van and the others. Nadeen wanted to cover her ears from all the pained noises, but still, she even urged their driver to speed up so that they could help the people in need.
The President, as well as Salim Said and her other adopted siblings, were inside the Presidential Mansion preparing to welcome their foreign guests. Although some of them were System Holders and could have survived the explosion, most of the people inside were still normal humans.
"Mr. Mazen!? Why aren't you driving!?" Once again, Nadeen urged the driver to speed up. The driver, however, instead of stepping on the pedal, stepped on the brakes instead, "W… what are you doing?"
"For the Equalist State of Egypt!"
"W--"
Before Nadeen could even say a word, another bright light drowned her entire view. Everything after that was a bit blurry for her as a weird thunderous noise whistled into her ears. She could feel herself being dragged away, however, she wasn't able to open her eyes as the wind was violently blowing through her face.
But finally, after a few seconds, any sensations that drowned her body disappeared and the only thing that remained was the heat that was coming from the flickers of sunlight that were sipping through the smoke.
"W… what happened?" Nadeen stuttered as she slowly opened her eyes, only to see Van standing in front of her.
"You alright, Nadeen?" Van said as he calmly removed the flesh that was hanging on his shoulders, "Your car is completely destroyed now… how much was it anyway?"
"The… car?" Nadeen was still not quite sure as to what just happened as her eyes still scanned the scenery around her. She could see the car she was in currently in flames. She could also see two people casually coming out of the burning car, making her even more confused than she was before.
"A suicide attack," Charlotte said as she patted out the fires sticking on her clothes, "They are looking more and more like extremists. And here I thought their organization held a deeper meaning."
Artemis, on the other hand, only looked at the burning car letting out a long and deep sigh, "A meaningless death."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Death… suicide?" Nadeen slowly stood up, her eyes still looking at the car, "Mr. Mazen… is dead?"
"Considering I am holding whatever part this is, I assume he's dead," Van said as he continued to remove Mr. Mazen's guts from his body. Charlotte and Artemis seemed fine besides her clothes a little bit burned, so why was he the only one with all the remains of Mr. Mazen?
"I guess he's part of the ESE thing," Van then commented.
"But… Mr. Mazen has been with the family for years," Nadeen's words were still sedated, "I've known him since I was a little. He… he took care of us… why?"
"Probably a spy from the other side, girl. Indoctrination is one tough motherfucker to crack. They've probably been planning this for a very long time and were just looking for a chance to finally execute their plans…
...The better question is, why do it now when there are now two Platinum-rank Explorers roaming around the country? Based on how deep they are inside the government, they should have known of our arrival. Something... is not right here."
"That's impossible…" Nadeen still refused, "Mr. Mazen couldn't have… he couldn't have been a part of the ESE. He's a kind man."
"It's alright, denial is the first part of grief," Charlotte only let out a short sigh before turning her attention towards the Presidential Mansion, "But after you're done, then maybe we should head to your family. Some of them might still be alive."
Hearing Charlotte's words, the look of confusion on Nadeen's face quickly disappeared as she also turned to the Presidential Mansion. And without even saying a word, she rushed to a nearby pedestrian who was riding a two-wheeled vehicle.
"H...hey!" The pedestrian could only scream as Nadeen pushed her away and used his vehicle. He tried to chase her, but alas, his vehicle was too fast. Van, Charlotte, and Artemis only looked at each other momentarily before running to her. Although speed was not Artemis's forte, it would seem that she was still a lot faster than the vehicles of this world.
After just a minute, the group arrived at the scene. There were lots of people running around, some even crawling as their feet were either in flames or were crushed by debris from the explosion. The only ones that seemed fine were obviously the System Holders, who were helping the other normal humans and taking them to safety even as they themselves were bleeding.
"This…" Nadeen once again could not believe what she was seeing, carelessly dropping the vehicle she borrowed as she started walking aimlessly around the place. "Have you seen the President!?"
"Have you seen General Salim!?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"My brothers and sisters, they were supposed to be here, have you seen them!?"
She asked all of the people that were able, but none were really giving her a straight answer as they were busy finding their own people.
"Relax, Nadeen," Charlotte said, "You said your father was with them, they should be fine somewhere. Why don't you focus on helping the other people you can for now?"
"But--"
"H… help me!"
Before Nadeen could finish what she was going to say, a cry started to drown her ears. She looked at Charlotte for a few moments before nodding her head and rushing towards the one asking for help.
"Should we be doing something?" Van then asked Charlotte.
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"...Why me?" Van could not help but blink a couple of times as he noticed that it wasn't only Charlotte looking at him, but also Artemis.
"You've been a leader before, what do you think we should do?" Charlotte then crossed her arms, seemingly adamant no to do anything until Van says something.
"A leader? But that was just an accident!" Van reasoned.
"Then we can just go, Evans," this time, it was Artemis that spoke to him, "Our goal goes beyond the problems of this small country. An Olympian awaits for you somewhere through the Seraph's gate, we can just ignore the cries of these people."
"The god has a point," Charlotte added, "We spent weeks in Africa because I was in charge and chose to follow their laws, I am clearly not leader material," Charlotte then chuckled as the screams of the people continued to permit through the air.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"..." Van looked back and forth between the two as his mind was filled with different kinds of thoughts. But after a few seconds, he shook his head, "...Then let's not waste any time."
"Oh? We're really abandoning these people?"
"Let's not waste any more time and let's help them," Van said before a streak of golden lightning emerged from his eyes.
"Ho," Charlotte could not help but let out a slight breath as her eyes followed Van, "I guess that'll do."
"It seems Evans is a righteous person," Artemis walked closer to Charlotte, "As expected of Hermes's son."
"Him? Righteous?" Charlotte could not help but burst out in laughter from Artemis's words, "Stick to him long enough and you would probably know what he's really thinking."
"...And what's that?"
"He probably just wants the people of this country to owe him."
"...Is it truly like that?"
"He was made to be like that," Charlotte said before she started walking towards a huge rubble and lifting it, "I don't know what his mother was planning in letting him turn out like that if he's supposed to save the world or whatnot, but seeing as every one of you gods are batshit crazy, I don't really want to know now."
"Hm," Artemis only squinted her eyes before raising her hand. And as soon as she did so, numerous giant debris were lifted into the air by thick roots, along with the people that were buried underneath all the rubble.
With the help of the three, everyone still alive outside of the still burning mansion seemed to have been rescued swiftly.
"T… thank you very much!" An old woman touched Van's hand, the tears on her face showed no signs of stopping.
Van, on the other hand, only nodded as he approached Nadeen, who seemed to still be searching for someone.
"They… they're not here. I can't find them!" Nadeen said as soon as she saw Van, "Are they still inside!?"
"It's alright, girl," Charlotte also approached the crying Nadeen.
"It's not alright, why are all of you so calm!?"
"They're still alive."
"How can you be so sure!?"
"Because they're coming up now."
"Wha--"
Before Nadeen could even continue her words, the ground beneath them trembled. And slowly, after a few seconds, the ground near them opened up. And from it, several people emerged completely unscathed, except for one.
"Bro… President Ishaq… what happened to mother!?"
"...She took the brunt of the explosion head-on to protect all of us."
Salim Said was currently kneeling on the ground, being supported by his numerous sons and daughters. Unlike the smooth skin that adorned his body when Van and the other met him earlier, there were several cracks on it. His skin was falling apart, revealing his true wrinkled exterior that completely showed everything that he went through.
"Couldn't you have also done something!? You're also a System Holder!" Nadeen quickly pushed President Ishaq away as she rushed to Salim, "M… mother! Heal her, quick!"
"I am! But her organs are all messed up!" One of Nadeen's brothers shouted.
"You're not doing enough!" Another child of Salim interjected.
"Would you shut up!? You're not even a System Holder to understand the extent of mother's damage!"
"What was that!?"
"Enough shouting at each other!" Salim then pushed all his children away before all of them could start to argue with one another.
"You… you shouldn't be moving, mother!"
"I know my body's condition more than all of you! Worry about the other people!" Salim said as a throne of earth emerged from the ground to sit himself up.
"But--"
"That was an order!"
"Y… yes, mother!" Most of Salim's children quickly dispersed as they started assisting the other people. The only ones that remained were the President, Nadeen, and some few others that were still assessing the situation. However, as soon as the majority of his children were gone, the expression on Salim's face turned cold.
"What have you done?" Salim then hovered towards President Ishaq.
"W… what do you mean, mother?"
"It's you…
...you did this."
