Mass for the Dead Chapter 15

Crackling World (罅割れく世界) is the fifteenth main story chapter in Mass for the Dead. It was released to the public on March 15, 2022.

Main Summary
"There are those who have confronted the cause of the world's Catastrophe."

Based on the information obtained in the Azerlisia Mountains, while Momonga moves to deal with it, the party returns to E-Rantel, to witness the scene of the Kingdom's forces facing against each other.

Just as the two forces were about to collide, the first prince, Barbro, suddenly vanishes.

――It was just the beginning of the tragedy.

Episode 1: Dissolution
Just as Barbro was about to order his troops to advance against the Royal Army led by King Ramposa III――he vanishes completely. Ramposa III is in disbelief of what just happened as his son was just standing in front of him only a few minutes ago declaring his intent to retake the city for the Kingdom. However all that is left of his son is a stain of blood on the ground. The implications cause Ramposa to crumble at what befallen his son. His grief is brief and he barely manages to utter Barbro's name when he too vanishes from the spot, leaving only a bloodstain behind.

All around their the soldiers of the Kingdom are confused at what just happened. Both their lords have vanished leaving them leaderless. Their concern for their lords soon becomes secondary when something begins to attack the soldiers in the field. One by one groups of soldiers are being targeted by an unseen enemy, leaving lots of blood and yet no bodies. Count Lytton with his guards try to understand the situation. They ascertain that perhaps the attacker is picking them off from in the sky. The count trembling with fear hastily orders his archers to attack. Volleys of arrows are soon shot into the air but they prove useless and Lytton becomes the attacker's latest victim.

Episode 2: Severed City
The sudden vanishing for the king and crown prince is not lost to the protagonist and his companions. Still some distance away from the battlefield they are able to discern the situation but none can believe what they are seeing or rather what they can’t see. Even with the eyesight of the maids, Yuri Alpha and CZ2128 Delta, the identity of the attackers elude them. From their perspective something is picking off the soldiers in the armies, and while the victims seem to be able to see it, nothing is spotted by the Nazarick agents. In fact when the soldiers start shooting at the sky as if defending g against something, there is only empty air. This leads the protagonist to two theories that there is some kind of mental attack on the Kingdom’s soldiers or the enemy cannot be perceived from their current position.

Given the circumstances, Yuri believes that the protagonist should evacuate the area. The protagonist does not have the luxury as he is concerned about the safety of the research kept in the E-Rantel Magic Research Institute. Sophie Noia had stated that the researchers were developing an experiment to synthesize a cure. The prudent thing would be to save that knowledge before it is destroyed else his mission in elucidating the nature of the Incident would be for naught.

Meanwhile in the sewers of the city, Soi is contemplating how she should handle her intruder, to either kill or leave the situation as is. A quake soon interrupts the standstill. Based on the metallic sound, Soi believes that there is a large scale battle taking place on the surface. Enhela Read Gahi on the opposing side, is distracted by a [Message] from a Theocracy soldier, reporting that the two factions of the Kingdom that were about to clash at the outskirts of the city are now facing an unprecedented danger of thousands of soldiers suddenly vanishing, leaving only pools of blood and discarded flesh in their place. The report shocks the Assistant to the Pontiff Maximus, but tries to maintain his calm demeanor, but the details of what is happening do not soothe him. Despite the cause of these disappearances to be unknown, to Enhela it vaguely sounds familiar to what initially happened to a certain fallen country. Soi not knowing he is on a [Message] asks the priest what is wrong, but Enhela declines to elaborate stating that their “bonding” time must come to an end. In an instant he casts a spell that Soi parries, but it is enough for him to make his escape. Soi recovering from the attack is confused by the sudden withdrawal of the intruder, as Enhela seemed prepared to die when he was caught. This informs her that something dire must have arisen for him to escape. Enhela is seen in the streets of E-Rantel. Using his authority he orders all military forces in the city to evacuate and return to the homeland.

Elsewhere Prince Zanac is in disbelief when the report concerning his father and brother's disappearances arrives from his subordinate. Not only are two members of the royal family missing but many of the Kingdom's soldiers have also vanished in the vicinity of E-Rantel. Princess Renner who is present is distraught at the news and looks to her brother for guidance. The prince manages to get a grip on his nerves as he cannot afford to lose his composure in a crisis such as this else the chain of command of the Kingdom will collapse especially when there are wolves lurking around. Zanac orders his subordinate to give every detail on the situation happening at the site of the disappearances, and to investigate whether the soldiers vanishings were voluntary. So far the servant can only relay that the report stated that soldiers from the Kingdom's armies just disappeared one after another, leaving only behind equipment and sometimes bodies parts. From this the princes guesses that the soldiers were victims of a surprise attack. Right now the identity of the attacker is still unknown and with that a threat to the nearby E-Rantel. Just as he processes these thoughts more information comes in confirming multiple deaths by residents around the perimeter of the city. Shocked Zanac fears that means the fourth wall of the city was breached by invaders, but to his confusion there is no report indicating there was a breach in the city's walls. Not sure if that the deaths were a result of an aerial attack, Zanac demands to get more accurate information as he cannot act accordingly to strengthen his city's defenses. A order goes out to contact the guards all around the city. At the recommendation of his servant a [Message] to the emperor of the Baharuth Empire is also in order to organize a counterattack and coordinate an evacuation. But to the prince's horror, the subordinate finds that he is unable to send a [Message].

There is panic in the streets of E-Rantel as people begin vanishing into thin air. The guards in the city attempt to calm the citizens down. Among them is the Vice Captain, but as soon as he tries to organize some order, he vanishes leaving only a pool of blood in his place. The unnatural vanishing throws everyone who witnesses it into terror and more people begin to flee in all directions. Nemu Emmot is nearly lost in the crowd, but Lizzie Bareare manages to grab her and hold her close. Lizzie seeing Nemu's fear tries to comfort the girl, though the old woman is fearful of her grandson, but believes that he is safer than they are. But Lizzie is soon taken by the unseen enemy, leaving Nemu shocked and confused at what happened to her guardian. Panic in the city is multiplied when Chaos Beasts appear in the heart of the city. A seasoned adventurer surveys the chaos wondering how there could be monsters in the city? Even if the outer walls were breached, it should have taken much longer for them to get to the innermost part of the city. If that had happened an alarm should have been raised. A frighten man approaches the adventurer begging to be saved, only to have the warrior punch the former. Nemu tries to appeal to the adventurer for help, but is kicked away. The adventurer having only come to E-Rantel for security against the Incident now thinks that it is time to leaves and plans to steal some food and supplies to mount an escape. He does not get far as he is spirited away by the unseen enemy leaving only his blood. Nemu alone and surrounded by Chaos Beasts cries in despair, but a volley of arrows kills the monsters before they can touch her. Lukrut Volve with his bow in hand urges Nemu to come with him.

The Nazarick agents have entered the city, now in ruins. Yuri using her fists to plow a way through against the raging monsters. The protagonist studying the scene of Chaos Beasts in the city and finding that the fourth wall intact comes to a chilling conclusion: there is a Crack in the area. But he cannot confirm this as Yuri and CZ report no one appears to be able to know anything now due to the fear and hysteria. Worse the protagonist is unable to contact Solution and worries that the current anomaly also extends to the hidden research institute. He orders everyone to make haste to the site, which Yuri is more than happy to obey as she too is worried about her sister. The battle maid then readies herself to pave a way through the monsters blocking their path. The Nazarick agents are briefly seen by Lukurt in passing, who takes notices of Yuri musing that she seems similar to Narberal. Dyne Woodwonder who is fighting beside him is annoyed that the archer is focusing on something as trivial as that when they are fighting for their lives.

The Swords of Darkness stand guarding Nemu as they face a horde of Chaos Beasts. Despite the odds, Peter Mauk tells them not to give up as E-Rantel has survived a demon invasion previously and is sure it will withstand this. Ninya agrees believing that so long as one person is still here they will be okay. Lukrut though to himself does not feel confident of said person, noting him not to be very strong, but admits that the individual never gives up. The archer tries to give a bravado of hoping, telling that they should survive this as his team still has something to do, but he vanishes leaving splashes of blood. The rest of his companions are horrified by the loss of their friend, but they have no time to mourn as Dyne soon is taken. The Chaos Beasts close around them as Peter tries to urge his team forward, but he also vanishes and is followed by Ninya. Nemu is once again left alone to face the oncoming horde when she vanishes.

Episode 3: Decision
The Chaos Beasts continue their rampage through the city, killing any man, woman and child in their path. More citizen also begin vanishing in the chaos. Ian Als Heim watching the city in ruins is silent and grits his teeth at the slaughter. Ian had received orders from Enhela to have the Sunlight Scripture retreat from the city, but as soon as the message finished it was cut and the Chaos Beasts appeared in the center of the city. Though he and his unit received orders from Enhela to retreat, the priest finds himself opposing them. It is clear to him that Enhela had anticipated this situation, hence the orders. Ian knows that he must follow them but his heart aches being unable to help the residents of the city. While the Scripture travels to exit the city, Chaos Beasts are reported to be blocking their way. Ian takes actions and uses his magic to cut them down, but not before the monsters injure one of his men. Ian orders treatment to the injured be applied. They have taken some losses and Ian wonders if the Theocracy forces will even make through the ordeal. Even so he believes that they should allocate their resources to helping the citizens of E-Rantel who are being hunted by the Chaos Beasts. Ian becomes conflicted on whether to escape with his men or save the people. Nigun Grid Luin standing with him, is not blind to Ian's feelings. Ian asks his captain what they should do, and Nigun replies that naturally they follow their orders. Disappointed Ian confirms this, until Nigun states that given the situation they might find it difficult to escape and the Theocracy troops at the front of their convoy may not be able to escape. Thus some will need to stay behind to draw the enemy's attention. Since his unit was charged to guarded E-Rantel, Nigun feels that he needs to do one last mission before they depart. Hearing this Ian realizes that his captain is subtly giving him permission to act and save the citizens and attract the attackers attention unto themselves.

However the biggest threat to the Scripture is not the Chaos Beasts but the invisible enemy that is attacking and this worries Nigun on how they could possibly fight such a foe. All he knows is that what is happening to E-Rantel is eerily similar to the fate of a fallen kingdom. In that incident there were very few corpses in the aftermath, just as what the captain is seeing now and he wonders if maybe that whatever is attacked then is responsible for the present calamity. He gives out orders to his men to take defensive positions to attract the monster to them, warning them to be alert as there may be a Crack in the vicinity. Fighting soon commences, though the priests are getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of opponents. In face of the odds, Nigun reveals a Sealing Crystal and asks his men to buy him some time to activate it. Ian seeing what his leader is planning vows do so and attacks with even greater motivation. Though repelling a pair of Chaos Beasts, he is injured by a stray attack. Two of his subordinates try to assist him, but he tells them to focus on the battle in front of them. Reprieve comes in the form of a great brilliant light that shines from the air. The priests are stunned when they witness the Dominion Authority entering the battlefield. At Nigun's order it uses [Holy Smite] on the area, wiping a mass of monsters. The captain of the Sunlight Scripture then calls his men to press forward as they now have the advantage of being in the prescience of the highest angel and now as the time to show their faith as guardians of mankind. Leading his Nigun, the captain lets out a litany declaring the justness of humanity the the vileness of those that interfere as evil before commanding another area attack.

Further away, Enhela being escorted by his guards is directed to the attention of the back of the convoy where the Dominion Authority is. The official seeing is a bit surprised Nigun would use such a trump card especially now. Doing so in the current situation though is a guarantee that the Scripture will be throwing their lives away. But Enhela guesses that Nigun summoned the angel anyway as he could not bare to abandon the inhabitants of the city. Finding it admirable, he orders the front of the convoy to quickly depart the city so as not to waste the Sunlight Scripture's sacrifice. Privately he tells himself that he cannot afford to die now as he sill needs to fulfill his mission as a man created to guide humanity.

In an alley, Yuri is busy fighting through the Chaos Beasts and protecting her charges but the numbers are endless. CZ assists by locating a path with fewer enemies. The group notice residents of the city fleeing only to be cut down by the chasing Chaos Beasts. The violence is spreading dangerously close to the area where the E-Rantel Magic Research Institute is located and the protagonist is becoming worried that they may get there too late. Communications with the institute is still down as reported by Slimeko, but the group believes that Soi stationed at the facility will keep everyone safe from the Chaos Beasts. The only troubling thing is the case of the vanishing people. It clearly the work of some kind of invisible perpetrator, though surprisingly despite the damage to the city, the attacker leaves behind very few corpses. There is only one instance where something like this ever happened, which was seen in the ruins of Kalinsha.

Suddenly a Crack erupts in front of the party to their utter shock and a silhouette of a tentacle monsters crosses the threshold and into the alley before vanishing. After the light of the Crack dims, two more Cracks explode into existence simultaneously. A mass of people begin running towards the party, but before they reach the group the frenzied humans begin disappearing. The protagonist is dumbstruck at what he is seeing as the people are just vanishing in a blink of an eye. It becomes obvious to the party that there is something invisible attacking the people and it directly in front of them. CZ lays down cover fire with her firearm at the seemingly empty space in front of them, but she can't tell if she is making any impacts. Yuri claims to have briefly seen a huge shadow before is disappeared. As more humans are winked out of existence by the unknown entity, fear grows into the homunculus as he suspects the entity might be the creator of the Cracks and also the cause of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's collapse. If it is here now, then chances of winning as slim. Deciding to retreat from the alley rather than fight, the protagonist orders his people to run. Just a man is plucked out of existence before their eyes, Yuri sees vaguely of the monster briefly. It attacks her but manages to evade its grasp. From what she can tell the entity is not an ethereal existence but a physical one and thus can be harmed, the only problem is that they cannot see it. Based on the description, the protagonist finally knows what they are facing, another monster of the same species that was found in the Northern Cave where he rescued Gazef Stronoff. Only that this type seems to be much more deadly that its predecessor. The party's attention is drawn away from the unseen threat to the light in the distance. There appears to be a flock of angels converging around an even greater one, but they are slowly being winked out of existence, np doubt by the same invisible threat. The invisible monster had chosen to ignore them to attack the summons which gives the party the opportunity to move.

At the site of where the Sunlight Scripture is battling, the Dominion of Authority is smiting the Chaos Beasts under the direction of Nigun. Its power is marveled by the watching members of the Scripture. Their glorious praise do not last as the angels in the air begin to disappear. Realizing that the invisible enemy is in their midst, Nigun tries to have the summons comb the area to locate it. The Dominion Authority begins to smite the area, but it is soon grabbed by the entity and vanishes. The loss of their most powerful angel throws the priests into despair and join the angel's fate, being taken one by one. Nigun shocked by the defeat of his angel, takes notice when the protagonist's part rushes past them. Confused as to why the hero did not stop, the captain initially believes that the Territory Guardian is escaping, but corrects himself when he notices the lack of fear on the individual's face. Inspired by the brave attitude of the protagonist, Nigun rallies his men as even though they lost their trump card they are still alive. So long as they are alive they will fulfill their mission, protecting humanity as members of the Sun Scripture. The remaining priests find themselves boosted in morale by the speech, and a few dare their attacker to come at them. It complies taking several. Ian knows that the end is soon coming, muses sadly that there won't be a corpse left for him to be revived, but is content to accept his death. The members of the Scripture are picked off until only Nigun and Ian are left. By luck Nigun dodges the enemy's attempt to grab him, and manages to get a brief glimpse at its form. However at the distance where he is and the creature, Nigun knows it will be impossible to avoid. Before the monster takes him, Ian rushes to put himself in front of his captain who is taken and a crash is then echoed.

Episode 4: Calling Out
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Episode 5: Invasion
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Episode 6: A Moment
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Episode 7: Release
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