Cross' Second Pupil

Chapter 19: Crisis of the General

"You use that to fly again, Lavi..." Leenalee says.

Then Lavi pops out of the pile with a huge smile on his face. Alice comes out as well.

"I'm not going to ride something like that for a while..." Alice thought.

"Ahahaha... my bad! You all right, Alice?" Lavi says and Alice nods. "This thing is really convenient, but its damn hard to break! But it feels real good, right Allen?" No answer from Allen. "Allen...?" Lavi calls.

Then something emerges behind Lavi from the rubble and has a dark aura. Lavi turns around to see Bookman with a scary aura with Allen unconscious on Bookman's head and Lavi goes white.

"You damn brats...!" Bookman snarls.

"Alle...!?" Lavi calls but stops as he feels Bookman's wrath.

In a carriage

Lavi and Allen are sitting in the carriage in Seiza (a form of a punishment). Alice is excuse from the punishment by Bookman. Alice and Leenalee sit beside the two Seiza Exorcists, while Bookman and Komui sit on the opposite side of them. Timcampy rests on Alice's head.

"Now then, let's talk about the mission." Komui says. "Okay, you two?" He says to Lavi and Allen

"Yes..." They replies.

"A few days ago..." Komui begins. "A General was murdered." Everyone's eyes widen. "The one assassinated was General Kevin Yeager. Even though he was the eldest of the Five Generals, he was always the type to fight on the front lines."

"What happened to him...!?" Leenalee asks as she covers her mouth from shock.

"He was found in Belgium, nailed backwards to a cross. The words 'God Hunt' was carved onto his back."

"'God Hunt'...!?" Allen and Alice say together.

"Komui, does that mean the Innocence–!?" Lavi guesses.

"Looks like it. The General was involved in a search for people who are compatible with Innocence. He carried a variety of Innocence with him. General Yeager had eight of them in his possession." Komui explains. "Including the one powering the General's own Anti-Akuma Weapon, nine were stolen in total."

"Nine..." Alice thought.

"He was crucified and suffered from multiple fatal wounds. On the verge of dying... he kept singing until he took his last breath."

~General Yeager's death~

"The Millennium Count... is searching... Searching for the precious heart... It wasn't me... next who'll it be..." General Yeager sings.

"'The Millennium Count'?" Lavi says confuse.

"Looks like it's the Earl's nickname..." Alice tells Lavi.

"The Noah that Leenalee, Allen, and Alice encountered called him that too." Komui adds.

"Komui-san." Alice calls and Komui looks at her. "What is the 'precious Heart'."

Komui closes his eyes.

"One out of 109 Innocence that we're searching for. The core of all Innocence, it's called 'The Heart'." Komui explains. "It is the root of all the power of Innocence, and can return all Innocence to nothingness. Is we have it in our possession, it will be the first time that we can gain the power to stop the end. That is the Earl's target." He finishes.

"And where it that Innocence?" Allen asks.

"Dunno." Komui answers.

"Huh?"

"Actually it's very annoying. The cube had nothing in it about what kind of Innocence it is, nothing about signs or distinctions, nothing~~~ No matter how brilliant I am, there aren't just any clues! It's a real problem, you know. I'm really busy too. These ancients should consider that and at least write a hint in there... They're so stingy. You know, we've already tried to get Helva to look at the Innocence in our possession, and considered it from many angles... It may even be that we've already collected it, or maybe someone might have been its Apostle already..." Komui says. "The Generals is the only victim. The Earl probably thinks that of all the Innocence compatible person there are, there is a good chance that 'The Heart' resides in people with the most power. The appearance of the Akuma, and now Noah's Family and the heightened military strength, are all probably because of that." He explains. "The Exorcist Generals have become their targets. That is probably the meaning of the message as well. It is very likely that the same message was sent to the other Exorcists too."

"At any rate, the Apostle for that Innocence would almost certainly have as much strength as a General..." Lavi says.

"Still, a simultaneous assault by Noah's family and the Akuma would be too much, even for a General..." Komui concludes. "Exorcists from all over are being recalled and divided into four groups, The mission this time is to guard to Generals. You lot will guard General Cross."

Allen's and Alice's eyes widen at Komui's orders.