World's End Harem: The Lustful Messiah

Morning light snuck through the curtains, slowly waking Shin up. 

The defensive perimeter glowed under the soft dawn light, disguising the fear underlying each heartbeat inside of it. Shin lay awake beside Yuna, staring at the ceiling. The plan Akane laid out yesterday replayed in his mind. If World HQ found them, everything could collapse.

Yuna shifted, her fingers brushing his chest. "You got any sleep?" she whispered.

He shook his head. "A few hours, but not enough."

She rested her head back on his shoulder. "We'll get through this. All of us."

Shin closed his eyes, drawing strength from her presence. Then he climbed from bed, putting on clothes he knew might be stained with blood down the road. 

Downstairs, the core team assembled in the war room.

Akane, Reito, Riku, Yuna, Rei, and Misaki. Shin entered last, alert and ready.

Akane tapped at the war room tablet.

"All systems green. Our scheduled extraction convoy leaves in four hours. We'll split into two shifts. Team Alpha with Shin, Reito, and select guards. Team Beta with Riku and the rest." She paused. "By then, if World HQ noticed our activity, they'll think we evacuated. That's when we hit Phase Two: launching the cure prototype to safe zones."

Doctor Yuna studied the map. "Phase Two is our last stand. Once the prototype is in transit, the HQ squad will turn hostile. We need more time."

Reito leaned back, crossing his arms. "Timing is everything. Once I deliver the broadcast footage of the cure's effectiveness in the future, public sentiment shifts our way. That window, right after launch, is key."

Akane added: "That's why we need both of you safe and ready."

Shin rubbed his chin. "We still have that leftover HQ squad member after the skirmish?"

Akane nodded. "She is inside a holding cell. We will take her with us and see if we can get more information out of her somewhere else. If we can't do it, maybe Director Sayuri is able to, etc." 

Misaki stepped forward. "We need final confirmation on bird's-eye feed from our drones. If World HQ repositions troops, we abort. We don't want to become surrounded by them."

Akane tapped the screen. "Sensors show no movement for two hours. We're clear."

Reito gave Shin a glance. "Just another extraction?"

Shin's jaw clenched. "Hopefully."

At the weapons closet, Shin confirmed his gear: SMG, pistol, tactical knives, and gas mask. Reito opted for only a lightweight pistol and comm pack—minimal but efficient.

Shin checked concertedly. "Akane, feed clarification: no combat zones en route?"

She shook her head. "Northern forest route stays secure. But once we're outside the envelope, stay alert."

Riku joined them, outfitted in Kevlar and sidearm. "We're ready."

Outside, vehicle engines hummed quietly: two armored vans, one surveillance SUV, and a helicopter that Akane was able to get through talking with Director Sayuri. Though they had to make it to the helicopter's location first before anything else. Shin took his seat in the lead SUV next to Reito, Akane behind the wheel. Akane inspected the outside perimeter one final time and nodded toward the convoy.

"Proceed on schedule. Stay tight. Over."

The convoy merged into the forest road. Branches scraped the bulletproof windows, but the atmosphere remained silent. Shin kept eyes on the drone feed, voices crackling through the comms.

Midway through the route, Yuna in the rear vehicle tapped in. "Phoenix drone is clear. Satellites' hot zones still inactive. Extraction point ETA—90 minutes."

Shin exhaled sharply. "Copy."

As the convoy sped along, a red flare glowed above the trees upstream. Gunfire erupted from elevated positions. Bullets shattered windows. Guards returned fire, the fight erupting in the forest shadows.

Shin leapt from the SUV with Reito and Riku close behind. SMGs stuttered as they advanced.

Shin called low across the wind: "Suppress! Move to flank left!"

Reito fired calmly while Riku moved through the underbrush. Shin's team returned effective fire, forcing shooters back. A bullet clipped the SUV's fender. Both sides took losses. 

Then came silence.

Shin knelt beside a crouched guard, covering his comm. "Clear?" He got a thumbs-up.

They regrouped by the vehicles. Shin checked the convoy. Vehicles mostly intact, though dented. One guard injured.

Yuna's voice crackled: "HQ feed showing another flare 10 klicks ahead. We're dealing with coordinated squads now."

Shin spoke loudly as he made his way back to the SUV. "Full speed! Hit the accelerator!"

Akane pressed down on the accelerator as the convoy roared forward, trees whizzing by.

The forest thinned near a hidden clearing. Signal lanterns glowed down. A few Japanese UW Branch Helicopters stood in the clearing. Director Sayuri was standing nearby. She smiled as she noticed Shin and everybody else come into view.

Shin exhaled in relief. "This is it."

They unloaded quickly; medics attended to the injured. Reito and Shin walked to the front of the helicopter pad as the sun rose higher in the sky. The girls were escorted into the helicopters. 

Akane joined them. "Everyone aboard?"

Riku responded: "Everyone's loaded."

Director Sayuri approached. "Stay sharp. I'll maintain the intel link with HQ."

Shin lifted his comm gear. "Let's go home and get that cure airborne."

Reito and Shin boarded the remaining helicopter. The rotors roared as the chopper lifted. Below, the convoy was now sitting still and empty, remnants of battle evident. Shin was happy they were now out of it. 

Shin sat next to Reito as the helicopter lifted. The forest canopy fell away beneath them, the rising sun glinting off the rotor blades. The extraction worked, but the ambush showed the fierce lengths World HQ would go to stop them. Each mile away added safety, but they all knew this wasn't the end.

From the window, Shin could glimpse the broken comms node and the dark forest. He turned to Reito. "What do you think their next move is now? They can't come after us too publicly or else the public will know World Headquarters is trying to harm us."

Reito fixed his gaze on the distant horizon. "I don't know. But we're not safe until the cure is in motion, and they know it. The public won't be able to protect us all the time. If we made it public, it could spell out world war between World HQ supporters and the Code Numbers."

Shin's heart thumped. Beyond the extraction line lay the unknown. And as the forest disappeared beneath them, only one certainty remained: their mission to save humanity, and each other, was just the beginning of their problems.

Shin tightened his fist. 

He resolved to take down all the Three Sages no matter what it took. 

Even if he was seen as the villain.