Blessed by Night-Chapter 464: Let Me In

Sei had never really considered herself a courageous woman. It was one of her biggest gripes about herself.

Her entire life, she had really only ever let life happen to her instead of taking the reins of control before something unwarranted finally occurred.

In her first marriage, she had just let her husband walk away from her while she cried and begged on the floor pathetically.

When he left, she didn't even consider trying to pursue child support. Or at least hitting him with her car...

Instead, she lowered her head. Told herself that everything that happened was her fault. Maybe it was because she was undesirable. Or maybe it was because her parents were right, and she just had abysmal taste in men.

She swallowed her pride. Went to her parents again, hat in hand, asking to come home.

And they denied her right to her face. Cruelly and coldly.

Her mother called her names that she had never expected to hear from her. She left scars that Sei still had years later.

She ended up working a dead-end job at a restaurant. Luckily, her boss was a kind woman who treated her like the daughter she never had.

That woman left Sei an entire restaurant even though there was no blood shared between them. She encouraged her to pursue nursing and even let her study during work hours.

But Sei couldn't overcome the self-doubt that plagued her personality.

Schooling overwhelmed her, despite her being plenty smart enough to graduate. So, she stopped going. She stopped fighting. And that seemed to be the story of her life.

But Sei, while unused to fighting for herself, was not incapable of summoning her courage on behalf of another, and her daughter was perhaps the greatest recipient of that benefit.

For Serana, Sei could do almost anything without personal fear of failure.

Even if it meant reopening some very uncomfortable wounds.

Security was abuzz around a familiar government building. The men were stationed around the perimeter in units of three.

Unlike American troops, none were cybernetically enhanced, but almost all of them were evolved.

A winter storm appeared to be approaching from the northern horizon.

It had already begun to turn the world of Japan into a muted gray tapestry.

One of the soldiers suddenly looked up as he breathed hot air into his palms.

He could have sworn that high in the sky above the clouds, he could see the beginnings of what looked like something orange hovering over their heads.

With wide eyes, he slowly reached for the communicator on his shoulder.

"You there! State your business!"

As the soldier was about to contact command, he suddenly noticed that some of his squadmates had become agitated by something.

He followed their gazes toward the eastern parking lot where a woman was approaching the building.

She wore a long black winter coat with a deep grey sweater underneath. The lower half of her face was covered with a black scarf that flapped in the fierce breeze around her.

When the woman did not freeze, weapons were drawn.

The woman pulled down her scarf, and the men were gobsmacked. Never before had they laid eyes on such a fantastically beautiful face.

The winds had begun to howl as the winter storm crept closer. Her soft-spoken voice was easily drowned out among the noise.

"I want to see my mother."

When no one acknowledged her request or put their weapons down, she took it to mean that they did not have any intentions of letting her pass.

Her eyes suddenly glowed a serene silver color. The men were already more than prepared for her.

"Open fire!"

Dozens of rifles and pistols were fired in the span of just a single second.

A glow came from the silver-eyed woman's covered neck, and suddenly a mystifying sight occurred.

Seemingly pulled right from the drawings of an anime, a tall, thin man with dark skin appeared directly in front of the woman.

The man had a thick, powerful afro barely restrained by a headband that read #1.

In his hand, he wielded a worn Katana nearly a third of his height.

Sparks flew as the animated warrior drew his sword faster than the bullets could fly.

His movements were quick and precise as he cut through every airborne bullet before it could reach his summoner.

The platoon was baffled.

With ammunition clearly not working, this situation had turned into one that required greater powers.

Some of the men started to put their weapons away and began charging up unique offensive abilities.

But that was when their limbs became like lead and their eyes exhausted.

They fought valiantly, fearing what would happen if they allowed their sudden drowsiness to overtake them.

However, it was a hopeless endeavor.

There was only a ten or twenty-second differential between the affected men.

But once that time passed, the men began dropping like flies with their powers dispersing and their weapons clattering away from their grip.

Sei did not give them nightmares. She did not give them pleasant dreams either.

She planned for this to be a simple conversation. It would require no more than fifteen minutes of her time.

But suddenly, Sei heard the thunderous sound of boots hitting the ground and engines roaring to life.

Drawn out by the gunfire, soldiers poured out of the building in waves. Four infantry fighting vehicles rushed out of the underground garage and surrounded her.

It took less than twenty seconds for almost a hundred men to mobilize.

Sei noticed the apprehensive expression on the face of her dream.

Perhaps he could fight here, but fighting and protecting her was almost out of the question.

"...It's okay. I'm thankful for everything you've done so far." Sei bowed her head to him slightly. "I will take it from here." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The black samurai gave her a look that seemed to ask if she was sure.

She hadn't thought that a dream she created could care this much about her well-being. But then again, what else should she expect from something she took from her husband's mind?

"I'm okay. I promise..." Sei placed her scarf back up to her face.

"I'm done letting other people fight for me."

Mere seconds after the dream disappeared from the land of the living, Sei's eyes glowed once again, and every vehicle, soldier, and weapon within 30 meters was hurled into the air.

The screaming was deafening.

Panic set in among the men as they were grabbed by a powerful telekinetic force they couldn't hope to fight against.

They were sent fifty, seventy, 100, then 150 meters into the air at speeds that exceeded 100 miles an hour.

And then, all at once, their ascent was brought to a swift halt and they were forced to plummet from the sky.