An Arcanist in Karakura Town 65 (Patreon)

An Arcanist in Karakura Town

Chapter 65

-VB-

2003 May 07.

It was the day that the Korean Peninsula became the Korean Island. 

It started with the appearance of those who the world will call Quincies and Shinigamis. They appeared out of nowhere in Pyeong-yang, North Korea, and began to fight each other to the death. They gave each other no surrender and accepted no surrender from anyone. 

North Koreans were caught in the middle, and though modern weapons did have an effect on their new enemies, they didn’t affect all of them. 

With no footage to analyze, we can only analyze what happened through eyewitness reports.

But eyewitness reports of what happened were far and few between due to what happened next. 

Though it is unclear who authorized it, the North Koreans, in their desperation as they watched their own capital city get turned into rubble by what they saw as westerners (Quincies) and the Japanese (Shinigamis), turned their own nukes upon their soil.

South Korean border cameras and orbital satellites captured what happened. 

The first nuke detonated high above Pyeong-yang, aimed at the Quincies. The second nuke detonated on the ground far away from the city center.

Both were of low kiloton yields and yet were able to halve both sides’ fighters.

Those who survived the nukes were the most powerful of each faction, and their abilities remain the stuff of legends to this day. 

But neither Shinigamis or Quincies were prepared for “the Bombardment.”

Satellite images of the event still confuse analysts and scientists alike, mostly because there was no consistency in the attacks. 

The Bombardment began with a rift west of the city. This rift - estimated to be a hundred meters tall and one point nine kilometers wide - acted as a vacuum, sucking up everything, including seawater. The vacuum created by this attack proved powerful enough to classify the wind strength as a Category 3 hurricane. 

The next part is what confuses people. Multiple detonations simultaneously ripped across the city, none of which were caused by the Quincies and Shinigamis. These detonations all had exotic effects, ranging from changing atmospheric nitrogen into nitroglycerine (which caused chain reactions) to turning flesh into metal or glass. 

Most of these, however, occurred near or in front of the rift, rendering many of the attacks harmless. 

The third wave of the Bombardment turned all flesh caught in the explosions into gray gelatinous monsters bearing some resemblance to popular fantasy creatures called “slimes” but also grotesquely unique in the way their gelatinous body had tentacles, eyes, and mouths. These bombs affected weaker members of each faction - those who survived the nuclear attacks. These affected individuals proved significant enough of a challenge to all sides that interfactional fighting ceased briefly. 

That’s when the fourth and final wave of the Bombardment came and turned Korean Peninsula into the Korean Island. 

One of the Quincies sensed the latest attack and “shunted” it far away from the ruins of Pyeong-yang. 

A minute later, the latest bomb - a singular bomb - detonated over Yangdok, sixty-four kilometers east of Pyeong-yang. 

This bomb detonated with a horizontal radius of one hundred-seventeen kilometers and a vertical radius of two kilometers, highest at the center of the detonation and falling down to a minimum of five hundred meters in height. 

The detonation, which occurred for exactly one minute and nine seconds, cut the Korean Peninsula off the Asian mainland by putting a circular hole that cut out most of North Korea. 

Quincies and Shinigamis each deployed their defenses to survive, though they suffered near total loss regardless. 

The devastation led to the end of the North Korean regime. South Korea quickly moved in, despite the aftereffects of the Bombardment affecting them as well, to take over what remained of North Korea along their border while China moved in to set up a puppet regime in the remains along their border. 

This event also revealed with concrete proof that the supernatural was real, and sparked a new witch hunt to begin across the world. Despite the enthusiasm of many fearful hunters, most supernatural individuals were not found through mundane means. But what few bits of information the world managed to scrounge up showed them the existence of werewolves, vampires, mages, demons, angels, fairies, goblins, rakshasa, dragons, dijinns, and many, many more anomalous creatures and phenomena that could not be explained. Or contained.

On top of that, it was also proven that many government agencies had worked to keep the public from finding out about the supernaturals and the afterlife, leading to many, many trials.

But as for who caused this? 

No one knew and those who knew kept quiet despite repeated demands and pleas from governments and people to just want to know and understand what happened during the Bombardment. 

Quincies and Shinigamis, named only years later, retreated to where they were before, or so the leaked reports submitted to Japan claimed. 

Regardless, the world was no longer a place where humans thought they knew everything. 

And, in secret, many governments, realizing that the situation was no longer under control banded together to form a Foundation…

-VB-

“So where are we?” Tatsuki asked while holding Sai in her arms. Next to her, Orihime held Sora in her arms. I walked slightly in front of Tatsuki, and Wiggly, my super dangerous slime, jiggled along behind us. 

“I don’t know,” I hummed as we walked along the edge of a forest looking down at what looked like a normal modern city. “I mean… I know that this world is safe. Even you should be able to beat up some of the strongest fighters in this world.”

Tatsuki blinked. “Really?”

“Oh oh oh! Does that mean she can become Sentai Hero?!” Orihime asked excitedly, and her excitement made Sora coo.

I chuckled at the thought of it. Tatsuki… certainly got more feminine since I seduced her, but the fist-throwing tomboy was still herself in many ways. The way she went up against a lot of the things that I did certainly wasn’t something I programmed or anything. That was all her. 

So the thought of her becoming some kind of hero with her martial arts and enhanced body? 

Yeah. I could see it happening, which only made it funnier. 

“Oh hell no,” Tatsuki hissed. 

“Come on, you can become a magical girl~!” I egged her on, and Orihime’s excitement started visibly glistening in her eyes. 

Tatsuki sniffed before her face changed into a serious mien. “I want to set up a dojo. Maybe I’ll train the police. Make sure they can actually fight and aren’t assholes.”

“That’s a good idea,” I hummed as I looked forward again. “It’ll definitely have a better impact than doing it all yourself.”

“Aww,” Orihime pouted. 

Tatsuki and I both laughed. 

-VB-

A/N: this is where An Arcanist in Karakura Town ends. Or does it? This is where it SHOULD end. But must it? Just because his stay in Karakura Town has come to an end doesn’t mean his story does. 

Also, if this story does get voted next week, I’ll write a special 2k word chapter with the perspectives of the survivors.