Collecting Titles In The Apocalypse

"What happened to those people they sent to the islands?" It was Dante who asked it.

The room's temperature suddenly plummeted by the sudden silence.

'Did I ask something I shouldn't have?' He thought worriedly.

Assistant Kendra's face turned more serious as she responded to his question, "None of them had ever returned yet."

Hearing that, his blood started to palpitate slightly higher than normal. He still summoned a bit of courage to ask another question, albeit he wanted to stop there and dash away from that room. He really didn't want to get involved in this. He knew that learning more about it was like stepping on a landmine, but he still had to press forward.

"R-really? H-how long has it been since they went there?" His words stammered a little.

"More than a year," Miss Kendra's face was so serious.

"Wha—-!"

He quickly covered his mouth and continued asking. Honestly, he felt like he was digging his own grave as he continued asking. The more information he got, the deeper the pit he was digging for himself. His chances of turning back away from this organization were disappearing.

"Are there no reports about their whereabouts? They didn't send rescuers?"

"They did send some rescuers, but all of them also didn't come back. It seems that any tracking devices are not useful inside that place. No one knows what happened to those people but we can only assume a bad end."

He didn't want to hear more than this! He just wanted to run away as soon as possible. But Miss Kendra's mouth continued bringing out information like a remote-controlled car that had lost her control.

"It grows into a big crisis for the neighboring countries as well. It seemed like they touched what they shouldn't have."

He bet he heard that kind of lines somewhere a couple of times already. 'Like opening Pandora's box, isn't it?'

"W-What happened?" Sometimes he hated his curiosity.

"There are some reports about the appearance of some heinous grotesque figures appearing in some populated places."

"Wait, what?" Dante gawked.

Did she say heinous creatures appear in some places?

A freezing temperature descended in the room. He felt like all of a sudden he was ice-bathing at the north pole. Nevermind, it was just him hallucinating. But he did feel a frostbite on his skin after hearing her.

Miss Kendra who was unaware of what he was thinking continued talking. 

"Those demonic creatures from the apocalypse islands are invading the neighbouring territory…"

"What did you say? Do you mean they are declaring a world war against all the countries around them?!" Dante shouted in shock.

"That's right."

"….."

Right after Miss Kendra said that, a noise which was coming from a loud siren could be heard inside the room. Then it was followed by Manager Sai's smartphone ringing.

She picked it and after a short call, she whispered the word, "Code: Yellow."

Dante noticed an ugly expression on their faces. He had no idea what they meant by it, but to their reactions, he had a bad premonition.

"Let's get out. You, come with me," Manager Sai said urgently. Without letting him escape, she dragged him with her.

He wanted to escape but Miss Kendra was on his path as well. He had no other choice but to follow. Honestly, he had a bad feeling. Since there was no room for escaping, he thought it would be better to just go with the flow in this situation. Of course, if by chance he felt something that could endanger his life, he would not think twice to secure his safety first.

After a bit of walking and turns in the hallway, they entered an elevator and then arrived in another room. There displayed a couple of widescreen monitors with some staff monitoring.

"Miss Sai, we have located the abnormalities!" It is located here," a person in a grey suit said directly to Manager Sai as soon as she saw her. She was pointing to a wider monitor displaying what seemed like a digital map.

In the area where she was pointing, there was a blinking yellow dot.

"Have you contacted Agent Black?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Where is she right now?"

"She already received the coordinates. I bet she's heading to the location."

"That's good. Now send the drones to that area."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Dante continued listening to them without making a small noise.

As he observed and listened to them, analyzing their words and understanding, he came to understand a few things.

'Heck! They were up against unordinary beings.'

After a while, one of the staff reported. "Maam, the drones arrived at the designated location!"

"Alright! Activate the lenses!"

"Affirmative!"

One of the wide monitors suddenly displayed a landscape. When Dante watched it closely, he came to realize that it was a place he saw on the television sometime in the past.

"Wait! Isn't that place… in the restricted area?!" He wasn't sure who he was asking, but the question came out of his mouth instinctively.

Manager Sai Grayhams looked at him. "Oh, so you know about it."

"I have read an article about it and I also saw it on television sometime in the past."

He noticed her grinning and he wondered why she did that. Pressing her eyeglasses, she said, "I see. Then it will be easier to discuss it with you."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know the reason why those areas were restricted?"

He immediately sought answers in his mind and then he remembered what he read in the article about it. "Uhm… aren't they using those areas as testing grounds for new nuclear bombs invention?"

"That's what they told the public but do you think that's the real reason?"

He gulped down his saliva and asked. "What do you mean?"

Without replying directly to his question, she looked at the widescreen monitor and shouted. 

"Zoom in the camera!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The staff responded in unison.

"…"

Dante's eyes turned wide and he lost all words. What appeared on the monitor after the display zoomed in was very shocking. Dark gloomy broken buildings and unpopulated streets with all trash and rabbles scattered everywhere. You couldn't sense life in it. It was dilapidated to the very core. The very definition of abandonment and destruction.

But that wasn't the reason why it was so shocking.

In the middle of such a destruction was a being what seemed like a creature that bears the very meaning of the word horror. A humanoid creature with inhuman features, dark bluish skin, horns protruding on its head, a pair of fish-like fins that resembled like wings, and sharp teeth, was like a creepy statue standing on top of a broken skyscraper building.

"What is that thing…?" He asked subconsciously.

Manager Sai spoke. "A demonic tuna."

"…"