Nightfall, within North Pine Forest, Lot 38.
After Thorn Velvet and his rades, along with their subordinates, had emptied their magazines into Lot 38, they charged in at the forefront, intending to quickly eliminate any remaining resistance inside. However, what greeted them was an empty house.
“What the hell is this?!”
Looking at the overturned phonograph in the room and the human-shaped wooden target standing by the table, Thorn Velvet shouted in agitation. The others who had stormed in alongside him were equally stunned—they hadn’t expected this so-called gathering point to be pletely deserted.
“Chad, didn’t you say there was a gathering here? Where’s that Rose Cross Order?”
Standing to the side, another masked figure, Amin, spoke directly to Thorn Velvet. Thorn Velvet, now visibly frustrated, shouted back.
“How the hell should I know?! The intel was solid! We got it straight from those guys… The intel… Damn it! Could it be—”
Muttering to himself, Thorn Velvet suddenly realized something was wrong. But just as the thought struck him, gunfire erupted once more around them.
From the trees beyond Lot 38, from within the undergrowth, figures began emerging—over a dozen of them, clad in identical black trench coats and wearing iron masks. They raised their rifles, uniform in model, and aimed their pitch-black barrels directly at Thorn Velvet, his rades, and their subordinates.
Having successfully lured the cultists into a trap, the Hunters of the Tivian Central Bureau opened fire without mercy. Bullets tore through the air, raining down on Thorn Velvet and his men, both inside and around Lot 38.
In an instant, those who had planned an ambush found themselves ambushed instead. They had no chance to resist—nearly half of their numbers were gunned down immediately, while the rest were forced into cover once they realized what was happening.
Among the Hunters, two figures stood out, dressed in slightly different uniforms. They were the manding officers of this unit.
Watching the cultists suffer heavy casualties in mere moments, one of them muttered, “We were told to lie in wait and let them walk right into the trap. That ‘detective’ planned this down to the last detail—set up the board and left us to make the move.”
“Feels like we’re just pawns in their game,” the other officer remarked.
“Don’t get me wrong, these guys are scum, but that ‘detective’ is playing a dangerous game.”
As the officers conversed, the battle took another turn.
“Damn it… It’s the Black Dogs! This is a Black Dog trap! We fell for it!”
Inside Lot 38, Thorn Velvet gritted his teeth as he stared outside. At this point, he was convinced that this entire situation was orchestrated by the Serenity Bureau—that the so-called Rose Cross Order was just a ruse. They had been deceived.
“Break through! We’re charging out this way!”
On the other side of the room, Amin issued an order, shouting towards a particular direction. He knew that staying pinned down would lead to plete annihilation. Their only option was to fight their way out at all costs.
Responding to Amin’s mand, the remaining Apprentice-rank Beyonders among them—Apprentice-rank Shadow—immediately unsheathed their melee weapons. Their figures blurred as they launched a swift assault on the Hunters’ encirclement. Their speed was extreme, making it difficult for bullets to land.
Three or four Shaders rushed at the Hunters. Had this unit been posed entirely of ordinary men, like the ones from the Igwynt’s Serenity Bureau, they would have been swiftly overwhelmed. However, this was Tivian.
As the Shaders closed in, the front-line shooters swiftly retreated. From behind them, five or six Hunters stepped forward, each wielding standard-issue blades.
They met the ining Shadow Beyonders head-on without fear, engaging in fierce close-quarters bat. The battlefield erupted with flashes of steel, the clash of blades ringing through the air.
These Hunters were no slower or weaker than their opponents—in fact, they, too, were all Apprentice-rank Shadow Beyonders, Shaders just like their foes. Not only could they match their enemies in speed and skill, but they also had superior coordination and equipment. They relentlessly pressed their attackers back, cutting down and wounding several in quick succession.
Tivian’s Hunter Squads were not posed solely of regular soldiers. They also had Beyonders among their ranks—Apprentice-rank Shaders whose strength even surpassed that of the cultists.
Seeing their forces being cut down and their desperate charge faltering, Thorn Velvet and Amin grew increasingly anxious. Without hesitation, they sprinted toward the battlefield, intending to break through the blockade themselves.
But just as they were about to engage, a sharp whistling sound filled the air. Sensing imminent danger, Thorn Velvet and Amin abruptly halted. A powerful gust of wind swept past them, kicking up dirt and debris, carving a deep, gaping scar into the ground right before their feet.
Had they taken one more step, that invisible blade of wind would have sliced them in half.
“It’s a Wind Blade… A manifestation of Shadow elementalization… Aeromancer!”
Muttering under his breath, Thorn Velvet turned his gaze toward the source of the attack. Not far from them stood two Hunter officers in slightly distinct uniforms. One of them held a small stone dagger in his hand—the origin of the deadly wind blade.
“Damn it! Two squad captains?! There are two full Hunter Squads here? Chad, they came fully prepared! We can’t escape on our own—use the trump card! Call for His Lordship’s aid, or none of us will get out alive!”
Realizing the dire situation, Amin’s face turned grim. Thorn Velvet, though reluctant, reached into his coat and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a thick, blood-red liquid.
Without hesitation, he crushed the vial in his hand.
The liquid inside did not spill onto the ground; instead, it instantly vaporized, dispersing into the air.
A strange, metallic scent of blood tinged the atmosphere.
“Well then… now we just have to buy time.”
Tossing the glass shards aside, Thorn Velvet whispered to himself as he turned his gaze back to the battlefield.
…
Royal Crown University, King’s Campus.
Late at night, the Scholarly Society’s gathering point was nearly empty. With the hour approaching midnight and Thorn Velvet having deployed many of his direct subordinates elsewhere, only two or three students remained, absorbed in their books.
Nephthys walked through the gathering place, her figure concealed beneath a large cloak that covered her entire body. She moved slowly toward the deeper part of the facility. Though her attire and demeanor seemed unnatural, no one noticed her—most of the few people present were too engrossed in their reading to pay her any mind.
Steadily, Nephthys passed through the mon area and arrived at the entrance to the webbed corridor. After glancing around to confirm she was alone, she lifted her cloak, allowing Dorothy to slip out from underneath.
“We’ve arrived, Miss Dorothy.”
“Phew… Thanks for the help, Senior Nephthys.”
Dorothy let out a sigh of relief and scanned her surroundings before speaking again.
While Thorn Velvet and the Hunters were busy clashing, she had slipped in unnoticed.
Tonight, Dorothy intended to take advantage of this chaos to delve deeper into the ruins.
And this time… she had to go in person.
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