Puppets.

…

'Where am I? What is this… what is this place?'

The vessel of the Source of Death began awakening; surroundings turning clearer with every passing second. From where she stood, the floor was some distance away compared to her dangling feet. Tired of this hanging posture, she loosened her wrists from her binds and started falling from her imprisonment.

After prying herself free, she tumbled forward and face-planted flat onto the Tower's floor. Removing her features from ingrained into the platform, Katie observed the environment and started to stand tall. Brushing her hand along the wall beside her, she followed the trail down the straight path and continued walking until she found its end. Fortunately for her, she needn't walk far.

What she expected to be a dead-end was the opposite. Instead of meeting a hardened wall at her path's end, the Tower was completely devoid of such—revealing space's endless starry atmosphere. The universe's limitless nebulas shone onto her face, peering from within the Tower in awe of the universe's beauty.

"So… you're awake," a familiar masculine voice said from behind her.

She didn't bother turning around. The second his hands graced her shoulder's skin, she knew it was Alex. Emerging from the concealing shadows, there the Judge stood, proudly beside her while admiring space.

"Below us is Earth. The tiniest destructive command allows the Tower to fire one blast sinking ever deeper into the planet's core and destroying everything. If that's what you desire, that is…" Alex reminded her.

Katie remained silent. Her turned head faced her tan-skinned mentor, allowing his white eyes to witness the dark azure coloration of her tearful retinas. Notwithstanding her deepest desires, the Detective's daughter was hesitant to destroy the entire world's human population. After all, back on Earth, the people she loved more than anything… How could they live with the aftermath of such a disaster?

"Even after everything that's happened… disregarding what I wish from the bottom of my heart… I can't do this. I've always wanted to protect people, whether they be random innocents or those dear to me. I can't accept an end… where everyone dies!"

Alex knew there was nothing beyond this. Either everyone perished or this putrid cycle would continue for eternity. But as long as their comrades challenged them, Katie would hold doubts. However, the Judge bet that the hatred within his student would surpass her familial bonds and assuredly engulf the entire world. He was sure that she possessed the necessary strength to kill her friends. And so, he fell back on the final contingency he'd planned for the worst-case scenario.

Instead of going ahead and attempting to decimate the world's population manually, a deal-breaking contest will be set in the form of a killing game between Requiem Subjects, Incarnated Spirits, and leftover Incarnated Artifacts.

All Requiem Subjects connected via the Seas of Time would receive this announcement, courtesy of the Requiem Artifact's omnipotent telepathy: "All Requiem Subjects listening to this declaration are thereby marked by Katie Moon. You will be forced into a killing game in Retly on July 22nd, 2026. Meet there after discovering the extent of your abilities and discussing the rules among your allies. Let the games begin. Long live free society."

Alex's transmission was broadcast widely across the entire world. Every surviving Requiem Subject living on the planet would be forced into a battle for the sake of their continued survival. To enact something so horrendous as involving irrelevant civilians was too far. But… those are the same uncaring citizens who turned a blind eye to the way she was treated. Surely, other children were being ignored the same way she was, right? Even so, did that give her the right to play executioner? It wasn't like she could discriminate anyway. With the destructive capabilities, the Tower possessed, collateral damage was unavoidable.

There truly was no solution to this problem. Alex's twisted plan seemed to be the only way. However reluctantly, Katie agreed to her mentor's genocidal orchestration, disregarding the entire race's population. She, like Callum, did that day three years ago, would face her sins… when she saw her cousin again. Until that day came, she'd keep moving forward. That's what she decided—from the bottom of her unrelenting heart.

And so, the killing game began. The game master was anonymous but it wasn't Alex, that was for sure. Each marked player would receive detailed instructions through the Seas in the form of ulterior memories. Unfortunately, the memories were scrambled between each descendant. Luckily, the advanced strategic mind of these false heroes, Azazel Karlo, was able to decipher everything and explain the rules of this twisted game thoroughly.

He started with the following:

"On July 22nd, all marked Requiem Subjects are mandatorily involved with the Requiem Killing Game and will meet in Retly to declare their participation. Doing so will allow you to be bound by strict rules as entering the barrier covering Retly will expose you to Alex's Vita signature. Unfortunately for everyone listening to this, you have no other choice as failure to declare your participation in the Killing will effectively forfeit your life. With that established, allow me to get to the rules… there aren't any. However, every time you kill someone, you earn 25 points. After accumulating enough points, you can spend them to create a rule that will restrict other players. Conscious human Requiem Subjects won't be the other ones participating in the killing, though. Using the Requiem Artifact, Alex will summon lost Incarnated spirits and incarnate lost Artifacts scattered throughout the New World," Detective Karlo thoroughly explained.

"Incarnated spirits? Like Naraku?" Nat asked.

"Like Azazel and August. Before they regain their Old World consciousness, they listen to whoever summons them into the New World. Originally, that was Naraku within Founder Rivers' body so shared command over the Incarnated spirits. Incarnated Artifacts are tricky because only a select few of them exist. Natalia, Hana, Griffith, even Alex himself—" Ace clarified.

"Do Incarnated spirits include the likes of our old friends? Are we going to be forced into killing them?" Jefferson interjected curiously.

"Unfortunately so. I think the purpose of the Killing is to cull as many civilians as possible. I don't know why, but instead of massacring the entire world like he originally planned, he's falling back on another plan that confines Requiem Subjects and forces them into a genocidal game. By the time the game's said and finished, only the strong will be left standing. Those strong left alive after the initial conflict will be the ones that get to fight Alex and Katie. Depending on whoever's the victor, things might get better or worse," Detective Karlo informed.

"'Failure to declare participation approximately 5 days after being marked results in immediate execution.' Since this is Alex we're talking about, do any of you know if he'll kill all those people if they fail to participate?" Natalia interjected and asked them.

"I don't think so," Kima said.

"Yeah. Alex was never one for useless slaughtering so I'm sure he uses the Artifact for some roundabout way that 'kills' the Subject but just incapacitates them," Ace added.

"Can we take a second and stop..?" June abruptly asked.

Everyone's heads turned toward the white-haired girl. Tears sparkled in her emerald eyes shining under the daytime's sunlight, leading to Kim sliding across the grass and hugging her petite friend. Once the purple-eyed girl's arms slid around June's neck, Ace's sister swatted the ensnaring limbs away.

"THIS IS MADNESS!!" she yelled.

Even Kim behind her was surprised. But there was something June had faced once during her ventures through Evolutionary City. The unparalleled cruelty the Jester's aura emanated so powerfully from behind her—was the tapping against her shoulder his demonic claws or her mind's delusions?

"Are you still deluded by your self-righteous ideology that saving lives is the best way to live for someone like you? If you wish for your friends' continued survival, then suck it up and destroy everything in sight. That's the only way any of us are getting outta this alive," Icarus mercilessly reminded the girl.

Unfortunately for her, that was the undeniable truth. The situation they were forced into was assuredly madness but what more could any of them do? Forced into a corner because of their lineage so they could slaughter innocents they didn't even know… for some reason, despite this game's twisted nature, the predicament felt familiar to the Detective.

"We've always had to trudge through the mud and face unbelievable odds that spell the world's end. Time and time again, the legacy we perpetuate has challenged that threat. Even we've submitted to that unfortunate destiny for quite some time… but the time to end it has come." Detective Karlo stood tall against the grass, clenching his fist with determined blue eyes. "The rest of the world be damned. As long as we save ourselves and rest by each other's sides by the end, that's all that matters to me. What about the rest of you?" he asked everyone else.

Ace rolled his eyes from his seat against the green. After throwing his arm over his uncle's neck, he grinned and leaned closer. As expected, the rest of their comrades raised from their seats following the Detective's initial standing.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're with you, old man. Then again, we can't do anything without you so what else'd you expect?" Ace questioned.

Azazel stifled laughter. "I guess you're right," he replied.

Despite the group's cheering following the unanimous decision to participate in the Killing Game for themselves, some accomplices held visible reservations. Among those hesitant was June—sweat dripping down her white face with crossed arms covering her bust. Ace removed his arm from Karlo's neck, allowing his snowy strands to fall over his radiant eyes.

"Hm?" Azazel looked at the dejected ginger. "What's wrong?" he pried.

Ace's head quickly raised. "Huh? Oh, nothin'. Just gotta talk to my idiot sister," he responded.

Despite his countless reassurances, Ace's cracking voice betrayed him. The Detective watched from the distance as Ace fled to reconvene with his younger sibling.

"Azazel?" called Natalia, inadvertently returning him to reality.

"Huh?" hummed the Detective, looking down upon her shorter build.

"We should start moving out to somewhere secure. Are you ready to start walking?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'll be right behind you," the former Crow assured her.

Natalia nodded at her savior. Catching Kima walk alone from her peripheral, she caught up with her and started strutting alongside her purple-eyed friend.

While everyone returned to the Evolutionary Capital, Azazel was the last one standing on the hill. He turned around completely, peering over his shoulder to stare at the flaming plane—their enemies' scattered corpses. This was all for the sake of saving the world, falsely deluding themselves they were heroes. But even while they were… all they left behind was death and destruction. Even so, was it right to hold their powers responsible? After all, they were human—everyone consciously chooses to do something, good or bad.

Then again, maybe that was a discussion for another time. After all, they had a Killing Game to prepare for. The beginning of the end had finally arrived.

Requiem Killing Game: FINAL Arc. - Start!