Extension Chapter 34.1: Epilogue

The five girls lay curled beneath quilted blankets, their faces finally peaceful in sleep, nightmares held at bay by the sanctuary's warmth.

"What is your next move?" Baelor asked with softness.

"I don't know. The bandits are a blight on the wards. Corruption with only one solution." A solution that required blood.

"The corruption in this ward has festered for too long. Whilst I would not relish in more death. For those who spread despair there, an exception to be made." Baelor shared Eren's philosophy. Balance only is maintained through extreme action; it was a role he himself undertook. He had to take.

"So, what is the next move?" Eren knew in his mind, it was clear. So was the plan. "Take out the Crimson bandit's heart." Baelor agreed.

"How will you do it?" There were few ways to go about dismantling a powerful organization.

Yet, Eren was stumped. "Any ideas?"

"Yes, many. Taking the head of the snake; allowing the remaining members to scatter. The oldest and most reliable method.

Total annihilation; leaving none standing.

Letting nature take its course, the bandits will eventually be absorbed by a bigger pile of rot. Allowing another organization to take its place. However, we then start with a new enemy with unknown intentions.

Even the law; allow justice to finally act. However, from what you have informed me, the rot has infested deep."

After a few moments, silence had drawn over the room, Eren pondered and Baelor let him. Watching the children rest. There was only one solution to this conundrum. "We can't let any of them live, but we can't have a new guild moving in either."

A slow smile spread across Baelor's lips. "Then allow me to aid. The Silvermane will retake the ward."

"Retake?"

"Yes. Once our guild was one. At the time Reiji Kikuchi was a prominent leader amongst our ranks."

"I assume you are familiar with the siege of Tokyo?"

It was on the top of things for the knights to research, yet despite time on his side the knight was a slow research aid. "No. I've still got a lot more research to do. Give me a shortened version."

"Four years ago, a gate broke open. Allowing monsters of all levels to stream through. Two weeks of fighting and chaos. When the dust finally settled; heroes rose as did the rot. Reiji used our guilds broken skeleton to build a new empire."

"And all I see outside?" Eren mentioned about all the homeless sleeping in shanty's outside.

"The remnants of broken people. Eyes on destruction wrought before their eyes."

'I need to research this stuff properly when I get home.'

"I would start with taking the one you left at the mouth of our home. Show him to Reiji, take his life before his eyes. He will know what it means."

With a final glance at the sleeping girls. Eren departed back up through the tunnels, returning to the surface. There stood two knights; at the foot was Shinya. Arms and legs amputated; bloodied stumps covered with crude cauterization. Mouth cut from ear to ear, barley holding his jaw together.

Eren kept him 'alive' for deserved suffering. Not knowing what to do with the former second in command. Yet Baelor had the idea, use him to send a message.

"Have you suffered enough?" His words cold and cruel. Shinya had blooded ears, deafness to everything. Yet he knew what he said, eyes flooded with fear.

***

Reiji's office:

A whisky in his hand; watching the city, lights shining bright. Rain still pouring heavy, fogging the window. Droplets shattering as they crashed against the glass.

Acceptance: After interviewing with the RFC felt as though everything, he had worked hard to achieve had become undone. Not because of a psychopathic monster, but the monsters that lay within. Everything he stood for; honour, pride, integrity, loyalty. This was nothing like the yakuza of his youth, brutal at times yes, but respectful in their violence and traditions.

'A fool I was.' Taking a sip of his fine whisky.

'That Akiko is quite the firecracker. More balls then half my boys.' Respect to someone so sure and capable.

'Maybe, I just end it all tomorrow... Turn myself in. For all the damage we have done. Surely a cushy deal, minimum time... Immunity for Hiro.' More whisky drowned down. Fuelling his melancholy.

"The right thing. Ha... Those old farts would be rolling over in their graves, seeing me now."

The rain subsided; at last, the dark, grey sky dissipated. Moonlight peeked through the broken clouds, shining its light upon Tokyo.

Azure eyes caught Reiji's. 'Reaper.'

Those eyes bore through the glass windows. By his side a bloodied red mess of a man. "Shinya?" Shocked by the state of the man. Blood soaked at his shoulders; legs severed off just below the kneecaps. Gruesome as he was displayed like a fresh piece of meat.

The reaper presented Shinya to Reiji. Holding him high.

*Swoosh*

In one strike; the body of Shinya fell down several stories. Only the lifeless head, eyes no longer sharp as the intelligent second. Empty, void of everything.

"So, that's how you're going to play it, Reaper?" Lifting his glass up. Watching the monster move back into the shadows. Despite the betrayal, the corruption and the death, Shinya was once his closest friend.

"Perhaps I'll see those old farts soon. To the death!" Tipping his head back; all whisky drowned down his throat. Any thoughts of doing the right thing, gone.