Chapter 119: Declaration

Cruiser Lambri, Upper Deck.

A Japanese couple, a man and a woman, walked out of the cabin with terrified expressions, surrounded by soldiers. Lieutenant Colonel Darcy stood at the head of the detachment, his face calm as he led them toward what was effectively their prison—the residence where the Mizuhara couple was being held.

Just as the last soldier stepped out of the cabin, the walkie-talkie at Darcy’s waist suddenly vibrated.

"——Hmm?"

He answered, and the voice that came through the device in the next second caused his pupils to constrict violently.

"...Intelligence error! She’s here..."

Error?! Why was the intelligence wrong?! Who was she?! How did she get here?!

Before these questions could even coalesce in his mind, a more urgent voice on the radio rushed to relay information to Darcy:

"...It’s Manami Mizuhara! She... she’s not just a 'contact'... she’s a Transcendent! She’s broken out of the conference room—"

Darcy’s muscles tensed instantly. He drew his pistol and barked an emergency order:

"Prepare for combat—"

But before the other soldiers could even react, the rivets holding the steel floor plating in the corridor ahead suddenly burst open. In the next instant, a figure whistled out from the shattered floor, vaulting into the air!

The moment she leaped, she flicked the rivets with lethal precision toward the overhead lights. In a heartbeat, the narrow corridor plunged into darkness!

"Fire—"

Before the command could be fully uttered, in the pitch-black corridor, Lieutenant Colonel Darcy—who had been pointing his gun firmly forward—suddenly felt his hand muscles seize. The weapon in his grip felt weightless, and then a gargantuan force clamped onto his throat, rendering him unable to utter another syllable.

...

Tokyo, National Diet Building.

The routine session, which had lasted for several hours, finally reached its conclusion. Most of the assembly members looked relieved, packing up their belongings and preparing to exit the chamber.

The cameras throughout the hall were mostly powered down, and the reporters, having finished their work and questions, were preparing to organize their footage for publication in their respective political sections. Only a few reporters remained, using telephoto lenses to scan the seating area, hoping to capture a moment of awkwardness that might serve as fodder for public gossip or a headline for their papers.

In the backstage area of the Diet, Chise Fusa sat at a desk, carefully annotating the proceedings and discussions he had just witnessed. He faithfully fulfilled his duties as an Administrative Security Secretary for the Cabinet, meticulously recording any assembly members who had displayed unusual behavior.

Just as he was packing his notebook to follow the Prime Minister out, and as the assembly members were preparing to leave—a figure stepped onto the podium and walked slowly to the center.

"——?"

Fusa watched the live panoramic feed on the backstage monitor. The Prime Minister stood on the podium, and the electronic pen in Fusa's hand snapped against the desk without him even realizing it. He stared, stunned and motionless.

...Why was this happening?

He remembered clearly that the agenda did not include the Prime Minister taking the stage.

He was not alone; the assembly members and the journalists scattered throughout the hall were equally bewildered. Then, like sharks catching the scent of blood, many of them grew excited. Countless lenses swiveled toward the Prime Minister. They had a premonition that a major news story was about to break.

Many assembly members exchanged glances. Those with a keen political sense sat back up, their expressions shifting from exhaustion to that of predators.

Facing the eyes below and above, and the array of lenses, the Prime Minister on the podium calmly switched on the microphone.

"The 157th routine session of the National Diet. By tradition, I should not be standing here; the Speaker should be announcing the adjournment, allowing you all to return to your constituencies while the national system continues its steady operation."

He delivered this opening with a gentle smile. However, everyone present—and the millions watching via television and the internet—knew that the next word he spoke would be "but."

"However—"

As expected, he said it.

And then, he delivered a bombshell.

"The reason I have returned to this stage is to announce something to you, the assembly members, and to the citizens of this nation—the existence of the Transcendent; the events related to it; and the wanton assault by the United States upon the lives, happiness, and rights of millions of our citizens in the name of these Transcendent affairs, along with the destruction they have wrought."

Backstage at the National Diet.

Hearing these words through the monitor and the irrepressible gasps of the staff around him, Fusa clenched his fists, feeling cold sweat trickle down his back.

...

On 7dh, a famous Japanese online forum, there was a specialized channel for political discussion.

7dh was a forum where everything was discussed, but its primary user base consisted of hardcore netizens whose lives revolved around pornography, gaming, and anime. For the current, "moe-obsessed" generation of Japanese youth, the fate of the country and so-called politics were of little interest. The channel usually had very low traffic—barely a few dozen posts a day, often failing to reach the volume of discussion found in the Vtuber section of 7dh.

But today was different.

From the moment the Prime Minister spoke those shocking words, the posts in the discussion section began to surge exponentially:

"Transcendent? Transcendent?!!"

"It reminds me of the Meishita-cho incident. Could that be real??"

"My worldview is collapsing..."

"Has that old man gone insane?"

"Did the Japanese leadership collectively lose their minds today? Is the world ending?"

"This kind of rhetoric is definitely going to provoke the U.S. military..."

"Maybe they'll drop another atomic bomb—"

"If so, please drop it on Minato ward. Wipe out the rich and the politicians first."

"To the one above: do you think you'll benefit if the country is annihilated?!!"

"Not really, but at least I'd feel good about it. :)"

"Doesn't matter. Lady Blood Angel will protect us."

...

Yokota Air Base.

John and Robert watched the Prime Minister’s voice pouring from the television, both wearing expressions of gravity bordering on shock. They had turned on the TV the moment they received the news, but even then, what they were hearing exceeded their wildest imagination.

Unlike Robert, John recovered from the shock sooner. He stood up, sleeves fluttering, and pointed angrily at the face on the screen:

"To go public with this—the idiot! The idiot! Could this shitty Prime Minister be any less politically astute!!!"

With that, John hurried out of the conference room. He had a great deal to deal with.

John’s anger wasn't just because the Prime Minister had made this public—turning the "Transcendent" issue, a secret "gentlemen's agreement" among a few nations, into global news. More importantly, the blatant opposition displayed in his words would undoubtedly elevate the conflict to the parliamentary level. This meant that any hope of secretly transporting Manami and that pendant to the United States was ruined. Furthermore, he would likely face scrutiny from his family and his own government regarding his competence. His political future was instantly cast into unprecedented shadow.

John rushed off, but Robert remained seated.

He stared blankly at the television as the Prime Minister’s voice continued to resonate.

"—As you, the assembly members and all citizens know, two tragic incidents occurred not long ago in Meishita-cho and Katsushika ward... Today, I can finally reveal the truth behind them."

"—Those two events were, without a doubt, disasters brought about by the United States' pursuit of the Transcendent. And after causing these disasters, the United States not only refused to repent but exerted every effort to cover them up."

"...Yet, evil cannot prevail over righteousness. Our nation has established contact with the Transcendent known as 'Blood Angel,' who is at the heart of both events. She herself is a Japanese citizen, and she has sworn to fight for the future of Japan..."

"...However, the United States, unrepentant in its malice, abducted another Japanese citizen with Transcendent potential, 'Manami Mizuhara,' just yesterday..."

"...Today, I can no longer tolerate the United States' extortion and boundless greed. We bring this to light, hoping that through the collective will of the assembly, the citizens, and indeed the world, we may claim the fruits of justice..."