"Sir," said Haruka. "I've regrouped on the top floor."

  "Julian, sir," said the operator at his side, "the Akanaga Family is breaching into the tenth floor!"

  "The Gearbox has been fully searched," said another, "but no sign of Lazarus."

  "Surveillance cameras are down! Circuits were fried by an electrical overload."

  "No visual on Akira's party!"

  Voices surrounded Julian on all sides. So much to do. So much to think about.

  Akira and Erina were on their way there even as he stood considering their options. Lazarus was unaccounted for—not spotted, certainly not neutralized. The Four Horsemen were gifted another primary Affinity in addition to their own inherent ones. Hers was control over electricity. It was most likely she had knocked out their surveillance systems. They were blinded in their own home.

  Several squads neutralized by the Akanaga Family. Several more disabled by Akira and Erina, and searching for them or Lazarus had been a fruitless endeavor. The predicted outcome didn't come to pass.

  If it was the Akanaga Family alone, it would've been fine. Akira, too, would've been pinned down at some point going up. If Haruka wasn't preoccupied for so long, she would've arrived earlier and certainly eliminated Akira as a threat, saving the resources expended on her. Everything would've been fine.

  Everything, if not for the little witch.

  And of course, there was still Asayuki…

  "I apologize for my performance," said Haruka over the connection.

  "It's not your fault." Darius' voice came through immediately. "I knew Kano's lieutenants would be powerful, but Erina… she's exceptional. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You did well."

  "What's the plan of action now?"

  Julian's red eyes roved across the main screens of the control room. A map of the nation on one screen, showing blinking dots and the raging currents of the wind. A projection of the building they stood in on another screen, markers standing in for their squads and the last known locations of their enemies. Ever-essential readouts on the last screen, monitoring the state of the Lynchpins and readings from Asayuki's location.

  "All squads," said Julian. "Divert remaining resources to blockading the Akanaga Family. Don't let them further in. Infrastructure damage is acceptable to deny them deeper access. We'll cut our losses."

  "Sir, what about Akira?" asked Tanamura at his side.

  "There's no point." Darius beat Julian to the punch. "So this is what it's like on the receiving end, huh? We could throw every person in the building at them, I'm sure they'd still come out on top. I don't want to toss you all into the meat grinder just to buy time."

  "Agreed," said Julian. "I expect they will be here, in this very room, before long."

  A ripple of discomfort passed through the operators. One of them spoke up, "What will we do?"

  Julian looked out over them. Familiar faces, resolute and determined. But most of these men were positioned here, and not on the frontlines, for a reason.

  Much like himself…

  He took a breath. "Mission control, evacuate immediately."

  The outroar was instant. Chairs scraped across the floor as several got to their feet, their voices rising with them.

  "What? How could we?!"

  "We can't turn our backs and walk away from this!"

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Pointless or not, I… we would gladly stay and fight to the—"

  "That's an order!" Julian's harsh bark cut clean through the din. The room quieted. Only the soft beeping of the terminals broke the silence. "Thank you all for your service. We will meet again shortly. Evacuate."

  It took one second longer of hesitation. Julian saw them lower their gazes, and then they began to file out, organized and efficient.

  "As calm as any drill," noted Darius over the comms.

  Julian nodded his assent, though the gunslinger wouldn't see it. As much as he preferred not to think of them as such, the facts of the matter were simple: set pawns to face pawns. Their squads could handle the Akanaga Family without much issue—prevent them from ransacking the offices, and he very much doubted his men would allow themselves to be taken away either. But then there were those who stood head and shoulders above the rest. It wasn't always a matter of raw strength or pure mana capacity. In such terms, Erina and, to some extent, Lazarus were both hardly exceptional for mages of their respective ages.

  But whether it was ingenuity in application of their Affinities, or the nature of those Affinities themselves, the task of neutralizing them could not be left to any number of rank and file units. Not even to their own second-in-command.

  The Equalizers would have to do this themselves.

  Pale green fog gathered at his hands as he strode away from the command terminals. A bulky sniper rifle set itself firmly into his grip as he set out, and stepped out through the back exit after his men.

  "…on three, okay?" came a muffled young woman's voice. "One, THREE!"

  The doors under the main screens were blown off their hinges, smashing into the terminals in front of them. Akira came in as a whirling orange blur, knives between her fingers and ready to fly at the first person she saw. Erina was right behind her, a burst of glowing butterflies scattering as she leveled two fingers ready to fire.

  But nobody was there to greet them. Mission control, intended to house upwards of fifty operators, was completely devoid of life besides themselves.

  Akira didn't lower her guard. "Scan it."

  Erina obliged. "No signatures returned. It really is empty…?"

  Akira tossed her knives aside with a clatter. Hands in her pockets, she sauntered through the empty control room, golden eyes passing over the terminals. Surprisingly, all of them were logged out. "Looks like nobody's home. Lazzy said they'd all be holed up in here."

  Erina tapped her butterfly clip, a faint frown on her face.

  "How's that connection going?" said Akira.

  Erina tried opening the line to her mother, but… "No response. She's not picking up, or something is interfering with the connection. I can't reach her."

  Akira reached the back of the tall room. Each row of computers was raised higher than the last, ending in the elevated station that was surely intended for the leader and his direct subordinates. She looked out over the room one more time from this perspective.

  "Got me all worked up for nothing," she grumbled. "Move it, Erina. Punk's gotta be right on ahead of here."

  "Yes, sir." Erina hurried after Akira. Before following her through the back exit, Erina did the same and turned back. Everything was neat and orderly. All of the computers were still on. There were no upturned chairs. She even spotted mugs of coffee, warm steam still rising from them. It looked for all the world as if the room had been in use mere minutes ago, and all its occupants simply vanished into thin air.

  Those green eyes slid upwards to the main screens of the control room. She hadn't seen them on the way in. A projection of the building, numbers she couldn't glean the meaning of…

  And a map of Tokyo, with one blinking red dot…

  Erina pushed it out of her mind, and stepped out to follow Akira.

  She nearly bumped into her back. Akira had stopped.

  "Akira? What is… it…?" Erina trailed off as she looked up and around.

  Right on the other side of the exit was a truly immense space. Erina quickly estimated the floor space as easily quadruple that of what they saw on the outside. Although, "floor space" was something of a misnomer. For all the floor she saw, there was just as much empty space. A thick, sturdy bridge of ceramic stretched forward before them, splitting and branching and winding through the great space.

  If they had previously walked through a gearbox, they now stood in a clock tower. Gargantuan brass gears hummed a deep, bassy tone as they rotated, each one spanning huge portions of the open space. Dim light streamed through tall frosted glass windows, pale rays shining and poking through the teeth of the massive gears as they moved.

  "Less cramped than the floors down there," said Akira. "But those gears block line of sight a whole lot. Give this place a scan."

  Erina did so. "…Nobody."

  "Fuck me, will ya?" muttered Akira. "The longer I go without someone shooting at me, the more strung up I'm getting. Get on with it!"

  They walked through the clockwork tower, navigating the ceramic walkways. The stairs were open and exposed, with not a single rail in sight. Every step she took, Erina felt like she was teetering precariously on the brink of a very long fall. Even if she knew full well she had every means to catch herself if she did fall, that lizard brain fear of heights wasn't so easy for her to shrug off completely.

  And all the while, there wasn't a single soul in sight.

  Eventually, they found the way forward. One wide set of steps led up out of the clockwork tower, walls closing in on its sides as they ascended. A distant light awaited at the end of the stairs, tall and vertical—a crack between two tall doors, left partially open. As they neared, Erina suddenly felt as if she was crossing a moat before a castle.

  She swallowed. Side by side, they marched up the final threshold, toward the ultimate opponent.