The Crisis World XX

Chap. 119: The Unfinished Concert

We picked up Rainbow Cookies. They had also entered the room where they were waiting backstage.

The concert did start at 7 p.m., but they came at this hour having to do some other things like rehearsal, set the song sequence, rehearsal on a real stage, and more.

It was a very exhausting job I thought. The concert is still a few hours away. I even felt that my duty as a bodyguard was easier because it was only necessary to keep this concert conducive— which might seem like a riots rarely occur at idol concerts like this.

But they have to keep smiling from 7 to the end, keep their dance moves in line, and everything else. "It turns out they're really great, huh?" I murmured, when I saw them currently on stage in training.

"You've said that before" Herlin replied.

"But I still have to say that." Herlin then also looked towards those who had now been at the end of his movement.

The five of them then approached slowly and their movements ended by raising their right hand simultaneously and then pointing upwards as if they were the number one and star of this event.

"Uwaahhhh!!"

"Great! It's great! Rainbow Cookies are great!"

"Scent! Arisu-chan, Ayamy-chan, the fragrant Pecola-chan!"

"Ria-chan and Edna-chan are no less fragrant either, woi!"

"You're right, they all smell good!"

Staff cheers and applause filled the dome when Rainbow Cookies finished training. These guys are really big fans of theirs, huh? No one meets the requirements of Arisu.

Herlin and Oukami then went up on stage while carrying a few bottles of water for them. I looked beside me and realized that Herlin was no longer there.

Arisu, Ayamy, and Pecola picked up a drink brought by Oukami. While Ria and Edna ran towards Herlin and swarmed him, Ria even hugged Herlin first before taking her drink.

"Well! Herlin-chan!" said Ria spirit.

While the hugged Herlin only kept his head slightly away and could do nothing but let it go. "Good job." That was all Herlin could say at this moment.

They seem to have been familiar— or rather Ria and Edna who are interested in Herlin and continue to approach him and invite him to talk. Despite being warned by Arisu not to bother Herlin, they seemed to be indifferent to it.

"How did I look? What good?! Does it look cool?!"

"Yes, you've done your best."

Herlin then stroked the head of Ria who looked happy to be treated like that and responded 'Yey!' out before Ria finally drank the water that Herlin brought. In addition, Herlin also realized that there was one more person watching him.

Edna continued to look at Herlin who was stroking Herlin's head with an envious expression and puffing her cheeks. Of course Herlin realized that. He called out to her with his hand several times and Edna understood Herlin's intentions.

His face immediately turned cheerful and quickly drew closer to Herlin so that it could also be stroked. I looked at Herlin's face from the stage as if I could guess what she was thinking right now.

'Why can it be like this?' It was roughly like that Herlin's face that I could read. Though Ria's age was equivalent and Edna was one year older, but why they became spoiled for her. I don't get it.

"When did they become so familiar?" aamiy asked looking at the rare sight before him.

"Don't know, when they just met around .. I don't know, two hours?" Pecola is also confused. "It's more like an hour and a half." And Arisu justified Pecola's guess. Although they still did not know the cause of the two could be spoiled so on Herlin.

But the three of them seemed to understand one thing about this. Right, this is a good thing. The staff also loved this warm view. I looked behind me and their expressions seemed to feel blessed from seeing that.

But Arisu approached them again so they could rehearse to the next song, and Herlin also stepped off the stage. Gladiresik Rainbow Cookies run smoothly without any significant obstacles and time unknowingly has almost shown at 7 pm.

Viewers have started to enter the dome and regularly sit in their respective rows according to the tickets they bought. The concert will start in half an hour, but there are no empty seats left.

While backstage, the members of Rainbow Cookies have been wearing their costumes and just biding their time to perform. So there was nothing to do for this half an hour other than waiting.

While I was standing guard just below the stage to prevent any anarchists from breaking through the stage. In this place there are me, Ishikawa-san, Akihito-san, and Mei-senpai.

Herlin, Caramel, and Nigiyaka-san stood guard in other places like the hallway to the room waiting for Rainbow Cookies, the entrance, and also the exit. And of course we also got additional people from different security divisions.

All the preparation, the thumping, the crowds, and all the tension made the time pass quickly and the concert was about to begin.

"Wooah!"

The audience was shocked in awe as the concert lights went out consecutively and vaguely in the darkness they could see five small people running up from the backstage direction.

I could hear the sound of someone breathing softly in front of the mic and along with that, the stage lights that had been extinguished in quick succession this time lit up together coupled with the fireworks beside the stage.

"EVERYTHING, ARE YOU READY?!!"

"YYEEAAAHHH!!"

"Thank you for coming to our concert, and please .... ENJOY SHOW!"

"TOGETHER WITH US ...."

"... Ria Aderia, the sweet little darling of everyone!"

"... Akai Edna, my red beauty will keep you awake!"

"... Oniri Ayamy, don't look at me too long, you know! You will fall in love!"

"... Usagi Pecola, I will give you an experience that you will not be able to get from others!"

"... And the last one is me! Koyomi Arisu, Japan's number one idol!"

"WWWOOOGH!!"

They all introduce themselves to their respective styles and catchphrases. And then they started singing.

The audience was crazed when the first verse of the song began to be sung by Arisu. The music performed also sounded catchy so that the audience to prance because of his tone.

While I who was right in front of the stage could not turn my eyes away. It was my first time to go to a concert like this. But I know why they're dubbed the number one Idol group in Japan.

"Great."

My words sank along with the boisterous crowd of spectators. Maybe those words are stale. But I couldn't stop saying it, even my mouth couldn't stop closing and subconsciously my body was goosebumps in admiration.

"D-RI-SU-CHAN!"

"RIA! RIA! ADERIA!"

Cheers and chants do not stop being echoed by the audience during the song. And after four more minutes had passed that I passed with a sense of awe, the first song had finished.

"UWOOOGH!!"

Their first song ended with a round of applause from the audience. Despite the slight gasps and sweat that started to pour out, the smiles on their faces from the beginning of the song never disappeared.

"ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT SONG?!!!"

"SIIYOW!!"

"Eh? Without a break?" my many.

"That's what characterizes them, the gap between one song with the next song is very short or even there is no pause at all like today. Their longest pause is about five minutes."

"So that's it." I am more and more amazed by that fact. But there's one thing that's awkward. "Wait, who are you?" I just realized he's someone I don't know.

"I? I'm just a volunteer for help in the security division. I am a big fan of them! In the end I managed to be able to volunteer and watch in this close distance!"

Ignoring that, my eyes refocused on the audience in front of me. But for an hour or a session, nothing was too difficult for me. At least the audience is pushing or too excited to fall.

"See you soon in the second session!" said Arisu who then walked backstage along with the others.

One session lasts for an hour, after which they will rest for ten to twenty minutes. After that, they will enter the second session which lasted for two hours and the show ended.

Because of this single concert, therefore no other performers were invited to this event. So in between events, the organizers fill it with games and just share souvenirs for some lucky people.

Return to the Rainbow Cookies members who are currently resting. Most of them do nothing but rest and restore their stamina. Because of the high-intensity song they were singing earlier, it was natural that they were exhausted.

"Filue .... Pretty exhausting too, huh?"

"Yes. I don't know why I'm not as tired as before. I don't believe this, but hell's training to increase stamina is done by having to admit it works."

"I think you're right."

Ayamy and Pecola looked towards Arisu who was wiping her sweat with a small towel. There was not the slightest expression of exhaustion from him even though sweat was indeed plentiful on his face and body.

"What's wrong?"

Arisu who noticed that she was noticed by the two of them then asked. But no one wants to tell you the real answer.

"No, I thought you looked like a demon."

"Yes, I agree."

"You're not insulting me, are you?" said Arisu flat.

"Uwaah! I'm so tired! I want Herlin-chan to be here and give me a drink."

"Ooh! I want to too!"

While the exhausted Ria and Edna still continued to complain and ask for such an unreasonable thing earlier. "She's somewhere else, after all, why are you two getting so close to her, anyway?" ask Arisu.

"It's the first time I've had a bodyguard my age and her face is also very pretty like a doll! Can we recruit him into the sixth member, Arisu-senpai?" ria Pinta.

"Don't ask for the impossible." Arisu gently hit Ria's head which then reacted 'foul' and made everyone laugh.

While they were resting and joking, outside the room Nigiyaka-san was guarding the room so that no one would barge into it.

Suddenly a man brought a tote containing several bottles of energy drinks that were deliberately prepared for members of Rainbow Cookies.

"Excuse me, where can I put it?"

"Yes, you can put it there."

"Good."

After that brief interaction, the man had left quietly past Nigiyaka-san. But at a glance Nigiyaka-san had a chance to look at him more thoroughly. Although he was not sure, but there was something that bothered his mind when he saw that person.

"Have I met him before?" little Nigiyaka-san said.

But again he did not care about it and brought the energy drink inside. While the man took out the phone from his pocket when he was far enough away from the hallway.

"Everything is ready."

"Good."

"But I still can't believe that Nimis is here, it means there's a possibility that the others are here as well."

"Yes." Yeah." Lennova this time was among the crowd of spectators. He also goes undercover because he is the brain of the plan this time. Lennova then found something interesting. "I saw it too. Black Rain, huh? What are they doing here?"

"I doubt they know our plan."

"You're right, maybe it's just a coincidence. Keep it running according to plan."

"I understand."

They also ended their conversation. Lennova then stood up and walked closer to the stage but was still mixed with the rest of the audience.

"All right." This time he was in his position. About 10 meters from the stage and the distance is quite safe and difficult to see—more his body is also small. "It's my turn now."

The short break that Rainbow Cookies took was over and they went back up on stage. The atmosphere was also similar to the first session and the audience was already impatient to listen to their Idol chants again.

And the atmosphere was exactly like in the first session. Arisu who starts and greets the audience, the lights also turn on simultaneously, and so on. But this time there will be a difference.

At first Lennova threw a folding knife which she did horizontally towards one of the volunteer bodyguards. He took it and secured it because it was a dangerous item.

After it was still to the same person, Lennova this time threw a playing card and fell right in front of her.

"Card?" The bodyguard was confused because suddenly a card was thrown at him. "??!!" But a moment later the light in his eyes faded and the control of his body did not belong to him anymore.

Card Control's.

It was an ability possessed by Lennova that made someone who had power under her could be controlled at will by Lennova.

Strangely, he began to walk towards the stage through the stairs that had been prepared. And of course there are others who are aware of his strange gestures—coincidence who realize it is me.

Eh? Why did that freak get on stage? What he thinks. But when I looked at him more closely, there was something in his hands that was extremely dangerous and he was after one of them.

My distance with her was too far away that I did not have time to chase after her, so all I could do was yell to tell Arisu.

"Rise! Watch out!"

"??!!"

"L!!!" That person pointed his folding knife towards Ria's stomach which could only be shocked and too late to dodge.

Ria's eyes widened and a second later she closed her eyes because she did not want to see what would happen to her. But there was something he heard when his eyes were closed.

Zwuush...

When Ria opened her eyes, it turned out that there was already Arisu holding her back and making the person who wanted to stab her bounce.

"Are you okay?" ask Arisu.

"Thank you, Senpai."

Time suddenly stopped turning. The silence due to the song suddenly stopped and the audience was still confused by what happened.

When they think the situation is conducive, but the reality is wrong. Because that was only the beginning of a disaster in that place. Suddenly one spectator was acting strangely which was then followed by another audience.

Their behavior is very strange with an aggressive attitude like wanting to protect something. And they all mention a sentence that is constantly repeated. "Protect Rainbow Cookies. Protect Rainbow Cookies. Protect Rainbow Cookies." They all kept repeating those words as if influenced and holding on to the command.

"W-what happened?" arisu.

While outside the dome, on the roof of a building. Some people noticed that the chaos was about to begin.

"It finally started, yes" Astaroth said.

Seriate