Theo stood at the corner of a hallway, peeking carefully around the bend. Down the long stretch, three Backdoor Collective guards sat at a round table, deep in a card game.

"God damn it! I told you this shit was hiding a 3 of Diamonds, but noooo, you had to be stubborn and play the 2 of Hearts. Now look where it got us," complained the guard with a large mustache, his tone dripping with irritation as he glared at the guard opposite him, who was missing an eyebrow.

The eyebrow-less guard responded calmly, "I didn’t want to cheat by colluding. Rules must be followed."

"Hmph, it’s because you’re always going on about rules that this bastard keeps winning," the mustache guard snapped, pointing at the third guard, who simply chuckled, clearly enjoying the bickering.

Theo turned back to Seren and Javier, both waiting behind him. "If we reveal ourselves blatantly, then all of us will have to provide an ID to those 3 idiots which we don't have" Theo whispered.

Javier's eyes gleamed ominously. "Why don’t we just rush them? We could catch them off guard and finish them in one fellow swoop."

Theo shook his head firmly. "No. That would make too much noise. Just a few meters away from those guards is the room where all of Backdoor Collective’s guards are sleeping. There’s a good chance we will get rushed by all of them if we mess up"

This was a big problem. If the guards in those barracks get the slightest hint of an invasion, whatever survival chance Theo’s group had would go up in smoke.

Seren, deep in thought, asked, "Do you know where they keep their relics?"

Theo frowned, slightly confused. "Yes, just a while back, my connection with the soul puppet I released before entering the building was restored so I had it scout beforehand. But why do wanna know? Do you have a plan in mind?"

Theo’s tone held a hint of respect. Though Seren was young, he’d seen firsthand the sharpness of the boy’s mind. He knew better than to underestimate him.

Seren grinned. "I’ll need your soul puppet’s help for this. After that, leave everything to me."

Theo hesitated for a moment, but his trust in Seren had grown. He gave a small nod, intrigued by whatever the boy was concocting.

…

Seren crouched at the edge of the hallway, peering at the guards who were still engrossed in their card game. Without looking back, he subtly gestured to Theo, who stood behind him. Theo, unsure of what Seren had in mind but trusting him nonetheless, unfocused his eyes, connecting with the soul puppet—a small bird hidden in a vent just behind the guards.

Chirp.

The mustache guard looked up, glancing around. "Hmm, did you guys hear something?"

The third guard smirked, not taking his eyes off his cards. "Heh, trying to distract me so you can sneak in a win?"

The mustache guard scowled but said nothing, resuming the game.

Seren gestured to Theo again, urgency creeping into his movements.

Clank… Chirp Chirp Chirp

The sound of something colliding with metal echoed. This time, all three guards turned their gazes toward the room behind them, their expressions shifting from boredom to curiosity.

“It’s probably just some bird that got in through the vent,” the guard with the missing eyebrow shrugged. The third guard, disinterested, returned to the cards, but the mustached guard went to check it out.

As he opened the door, a small, cute-looking bird caught his eye, staring up at him with wide, bubbly eyes. The mustached guard's heart melted instantly.

“Awwwww, look at this cute little boy!” he exclaimed in a sweet, childlike voice, bending down to pet it.

But just as his hand neared the bird, it transformed from adorable to ferocious, flying up and pecking him squarely on the nose.

“AH! Shit!” he yelped, startled, as he flailed his arms in a frantic attempt to dislodge the persistent creature. The other two guards turned their attention back to him, their laughter ringing through the corridor as they witnessed the comedic chaos unfolding.

“Phft- Bahahah! How can you not even win against a stupid little bird?” the third guard taunted. The missing eyebrow guard chuckled, thoroughly entertained by the scene.

Unknown to all three of them, Seren had set his plan into motion.

He dashed forward down the hallway at full speed, taking advantage of their distraction.

‘Is he trying to catch all three of them off guard and kill them? No! There are too many of them; at least one will notice and escape!’ Theo panicked, fear gripping his heart.

‘I have to stop him somehow!’ But there was nothing he could do.

Seren ran as fast as he could, then abruptly stopped beside a part of the wall inscribed with strange runes that pulsed with a faint light. He lifted his arm and activated his Luminar crystal and Refraction Concept simultaneously. The entire hallway began to distort and ripple as it slowly began to melt away from reality.

…

"You shouldn’t treat it so roughly, or it’ll just come back and peck you more," the guard with the missing eyebrow chuckled, still amused by the scene in front of him.

Just before the illusion solidified, the eyebrowless guard turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of something odd from the corner of his eye.

Theo and Javier's hearts nearly stopped. Instinctively, they yanked their heads back from the corner, hiding behind the wall. Their pulses raced as they waited for the inevitable shout of alarm.

But there was nothing. Only the muffled sounds of the guards dealing with Theo's soul puppet bird. The silence dragged on, thick and unsettling. Theo and Javier exchanged glances. Slowly, cautiously, they peeked around the corner again.

What they saw left them stunned.

The eyebrowless guard was squinting, looking straight ahead at where Seren stood frozen like a statue, his hands still raised.

The other two guards, having lost interest in the bird that had escaped through the vent, turned back to their colleague. They noticed his intense focus and exchanged puzzled glances.

"Hey, what are you staring at?" the mustached guard asked, rubbing his pecked nose.

The third guard chimed in, "Yeah, you look like you've seen a ghost or something."

The eyebrowless guard didn't respond immediately, his eyes still narrowed as he scrutinized the seemingly empty hallway. Seren remained perfectly still, not daring to move a muscle. Theo and Javier held their breath.

Finally, the eyebrowless guard simply shrugged and turned back to his companions. "It's nothing," he said, his voice carrying a hint of uncertainty. "Must've been a trick of the light or something."

The other two guards looked at each other, shrugged, and resumed their card game.

…

Theo and Javier's minds reeled. ‘What is Seren doing?’ they wondered. From where they stood, it made no sense. The guards were acting like Seren wasn't even there.

Then Seren turned his head slightly, gesturing for them to come over. Apprehension flooded Theo and Javier, but they moved cautiously, their eyes locked on the guards. When they finally reached Seren’s side, the guards remained oblivious, engrossed in their card game.

"H-how did you do this?" Theo whispered, disbelief coloring his voice.

Seren's eyes narrowed with concentration as he whispered back, "I’ll explain later. I can only keep this up for five minutes before my soul energy runs dry. Open that gate while we have time."

His voice was strained, and Theo could tell he was pushing his limits. Seren wasn’t lying this time. As a Lesser Rank 1 Lexarch, he didn’t have the reserves to maintain such a complex illusion for long. The strain of simultaneously manipulating both the Refraction Concept and the Luminar crystal was evident in his tightened features.

Theo didn’t waste a second. He knelt beside the wall, the complex runes glowing faintly under his hands. Pulling out a small artifact resembling a gyroscope, he sat cross-legged, quickly analyzing the Wyrd scripts inscribed on the wall. He had to decipher the gate’s mechanism before time ran out.

Javier, meanwhile, stood next to Seren, his eyes scanning the hallway and making sure to guard him. The guards stayed oblivious to their work.

The seconds ticked away, and the air was thick with tension, each of them aware if they didn’t succeed once the 5 minutes was up, it was game over.

…

"Killing my heart and not even compensating?" A young man in his twenties flashed a mischievous grin at the waitress serving him. His fluffy hair added to the carefree charm in his voice.

She rolled her eyes, though a smile played at her lips. "Please, Dorian. You’ll survive without my heart on a platter."

Leaning back, Dorian let the light catch his brown curls, a spark of feigned disappointment in his blue-green eyes. "But how can I thrive in a world so devoid of beauty? You're the highlight of my day."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

She set down his drink—a perfectly mixed cocktail—and met his gaze. "Flattery will get you everywhere. Just don't expect me to fall for your charm every time you stroll in here."

He chuckled. "That’s the fun of it, isn’t it? The chase, the game. You keep me on my toes, and I love every second."

Dorian was a regular. Once a week, he'd come, order the same cocktail, and flirt with the same waitress. At first, he had only done it as a joke but over time as he continued to do it more, it became clear: he was becoming fond of her, and despite her resistance, she also started looking forward to his visits. This was a little secret that only a few close men to Dorian knew of.

…

Unbeknownst to Dorian, three shadows in the room had their eyes locked on him.

Oliver sat just a few tables away, pretending to sip his drink, while Zane stood at the entrance, making sure no one got in or out. But their focus was elsewhere.

Jace, now wearing a stolen waiter’s uniform, walked down the aisle. His thick beard and tall frame made him look intimidating, but he forced a smile—though it twitched at the edges. Acting wasn't his strength.

‘The plan’s simple,’ Oliver thought, his eyes following Jace’s every step. ‘Get Jace to make physical contact with the manager. Jace can then use the rank 3 unbreakable oath relic to bind the manager and himself together. Although this will seal both of their Mindcores, making them like sitting ducks, this is where I come in. But if Jace can’t make physical contact within 3 seconds of activating the relic…’

Oliver's expression hardened. He knew the risks.

‘...if I don’t make physical contact within 3 seconds of activating the unbreakable oath relic’ Jace’s eyes narrowed.

‘...My Mindcore will be seriously damaged, and in the worst-case scenario, I could suffer permanent brain death!’

Jace knew the stakes. He was taking the most risk out of the three but this was something he had volunteered to do. The bigger the risk, the bigger his share of the reward after.

Jace approached the table, eyes locking onto Dorian, the manager. "Sir, may I have a moment?"

Dorian looked up from his chat with the waitress, raising an eyebrow. Jace turned to the waitress. "Callie, go serve the others. I need to speak with the gentleman here."

Though confused, Callie noticed the badge on Jace’s uniform and recognized him as the new staff manager. She then bowed slightly and left hurriedly, although she didn’t forget to wink at Dorian who was smiling lightly at her.

"So, what can I do for you?" Dorian asked, his voice calm as he sized Jace up.

Jace pulled out a pen and some papers and placed them on the table. "Sir, I’ve been informed you’re one of our most loyal customers. We’d like to offer you a special gift."

He gestured toward the papers. "But first, if you’d be so kind, could you fill out this brief survey?"

…

“Done!”

Theo’s voice pitched higher than usual, excitement bubbling over.

The mustache guard glanced up from his cards, suspicion flickering across his face. “Hmm… did you guys hear something?”

The third guard smirked, not bothering to look up. “Your big ears have been hearing ghosts all day.”

The mustache guard scoffed but returned to the game.

A few meters away, Theo had both hands clamped over his mouth, fear flashing in his eyes as he stared at the guards. He didn’t dare breathe.

Seren, Javier, and Theo let out slow, silent sighs of relief.

“Sorry, sorry,” Theo whispered, barely audible. “I got too excited. But I’ve deciphered the scripts. They were easier than I thought.”

Javier’s eyes gleamed. “What’re we waiting for then? Let’s open it.”

Theo nodded as he turned back to the wall and placed both of his hands on it. Then using a bit of his soul power, he activated the Wryd Scripts on the wall as they pulsed with energy. Then a moment later, the wall turned transparent and all 3 of them could see a large hall on the other side lined with shelves that were dozens of meters tall with crates upon crates sitting in the distance. Theo and Javier’s eyes gleaned with greed.

Without hesitation, they leapt through the now-phantom wall. Javier moved ahead, but Theo paused, glancing back. “Seren, hurry. It’ll reset in ten seconds.”

Seren nodded, his hands still raised as he maintained the illusion. He waited a moment longer, then darted through just as the wall solidified behind him. His illusion shattered with a soft ripple in the air.

The eyebrow-less guard frowned, feeling he had noticed something move again from the corner of his eye as he looked up. But the hallway was just as normal, and the secret storage wall was still intact. The guard shrugged, thinking he might have been working too much lately and getting paranoid.

…

"Whoaaaaa…" Theo's exclamation echoed through the hall, his eyes wide with wonder. Theo marveled at the sheer scale of it all, his mind racing to comprehend how the Backdoor Collective had managed to construct something so grand in secret.

He turned to face Seren, whose expression mirrored his own amazement. They had initially estimated the number of relics to be in the hundreds, but as Theo's eyes swept across the hall, he realized the relics could easily be numbered in the thousands.

"Seren, since you've been such a tremendous help on this mission, I think it's time I let you in on a little secret." Theo said, his voice dripped with barely contained glee.

Seren's brow furrowed in confusion at Theo's sudden change, but his ears were peeled. Secrets were always welcome to him.

"As you're well aware, the Ravens isn't exactly what you'd call a lawful organization," Theo continued. "Most of its members are refugees or criminals who stumbled into Glowhaven and found a home with us. But have you ever wondered how we manage to keep such a diverse group of, shall we say, morally flexible individuals in line?"

Seren already knew the answer, of course. In his past lives, he had created and run countless world-class criminal organizations. It could be argued that he was the most experienced person in all of Chimera Vale, possibly even the entire world, when it came to managing the underworld. But he chose to play along, shaking his head in feigned ignorance.

"It's... benefits!" Theo exclaimed.

"The Ravens allows its members to plunder, steal, and snatch resources from rival organizations during missions. As long as you don't get too greedy and leave a fair share for the Ravens, they'll turn a blind eye to you. That's why positions in the punisher and other elite departments are so sought after – they're your best bet for scoring missions like this one."

Seren nodded slowly. Theo was essentially giving him permission to help himself to a few choice relics from their haul. The Ravens would look the other way, as long as he didn't take too much. Of course, even if the Ravens had been stricter about their rules, Seren would have pocketed a few relics anyway. Who could stop him?

"Hey, over here!" a voice called out, interrupting their conversation.

Theo and Seren turned to see Javier waving at them from across the hall.

"Just remember, don't get too greedy, or the captain will have our heads," Theo said before going over to Javier.

Seren’s lips curled into a slight grin as he followed Theo. They wouldn’t have to worry about the captain. Not this time.

"I've checked every corner of this hall," Javier reported as they approached. "We're the only ones here."

"Oh?" Theo's eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. "I half expected to find you already elbow-deep in the crates, helping yourself to the good stuff."

Javier sneered. "Hmph. I have at least that much decency, you know."

"Alright, alright," Theo said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. "Let's crack open some of these crates and see what kind of relics they've been hoarding."

With Seren's help, Javier pulled out a particularly heavy crate from beneath one of the lower shelves. It landed on the floor with a resounding thud.

"Whew," Javier exhaled, wiping his brow. "There's got to be at least 30 or 40 relics in there, plus a ton of artifacts to boot."

Theo crouched down, his eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement. Slowly, he began to open the crate as Javier and Seren leaned in, their anticipation rising.

…

"Here, I've completed the survey," Dorian said, handing the stack of papers to Jace, who had been waiting patiently.

Jace accepted the survey, making a show of flipping through the pages and nodding approvingly. Oliver watched from nearby, his anxiety mounting as the moment of truth drew near.

"Thank you for taking the time to fill this out, sir," Jace said professionally. "I'll be sure to have your gift ready the next time you visit." With practiced ease, he extended his hand for a handshake.

Dorian glanced at the outstretched hand, his expression unreadable. For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, he simply stared, saying nothing.

Sweat began to bead on the back of Jace's neck as he maintained his professional smile. 'Does he suspect something?'.

Finally, Dorian stood up, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Thank you, I look forward to my next visit."

As Dorian's hand moved to meet Jace's, time seemed to slow. Jace's heart pounded in his chest as he poured his soul energy into the Rank 3 Unbreakable Oath Relic. This was a special relic, it activates without any energy leakage that might alert the other party of its use.

Oliver tensed, his own relics primed and ready to launch a devastating attack the moment Jace made contact.

...

“...What?”

Theo's expression now was one of utter confusion as he stared into the open crate before him. Instead of the treasure trove of relics and artifacts they had expected, the crate was filled with nothing but bricks and rubble.

Seren and Javier wore identical looks of disbelief.

Javier sprang into action, racing from shelf to shelf, yanking down crates and prying them open. Each landed with a heavy thud, and each revealed the same disappointing contents.

"Empty," Javier said, his voice a mix of bewilderment and growing anger. "They're all empty!"

Theo's mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. "Could there be more halls like this that we missed?" he muttered to himself. "No, that can't be right. I had my soul puppet thoroughly check all the vents. This was the only place where the relics could have been hidden."

Still unsure of what to make of their discovery, Theo pulled out his chatterbeast.

Plick Pluck

"Ronan, this is Theo," he said into the hamster-like chatterbeast. "We've made it to the relic storage area, but... there's nothing here."

After a moment of tense silence, Ronan's voice came through. "Did you check everywhere else?"

"Yes, we did," Theo replied. "This was the only place where the relics could have been hidden. Is it possible we're too late? Could they have already shipped everything to the Black Hand?"

After contemplating for a bit, Ronan replied. "It's... possible. Stand by for now. Oliver's group should be wrapping up the manager's capture soon."

As Theo and Ronan conversed, Seren stood to the side, his eyes closed in deep concentration, a frown etched on his face. His mind raced back through the events of the day – the fight with the two men outside the Collective's shop, the easy deciphering of the Wryd Scripts, the odd placement of this hidden hall, and... the chance encounter with the supervisor.

A memory then surfaced:

<<<

The supervisor had whispered to Seren, "No need to thank me. You've done a lot for us, so the manager thought it'd be a great idea to give you guys a present after this mission."

<>

Seren's eyes flew open as the pieces suddenly fell into place. With lightning speed, he snatched the chatterbeast from Theo's hand and shouted into it, "Stop them! We've been had! The information about the shipment happening today was false – this whole thing is a trap!"

Boom!

The wall from which Seren and the team had came through blew up. Just seconds later, countless steps could be heard as an army rushed into the hall.

Atop his perch on the spire, Ronan's expression turned grave. He had been suspicious of this mission before, but Seren's outburst confirmed his worst fears.

...

In that moment, Jace's hand was mere inches from clasping the manager's.

Oliver, who had been watching intently, heard the frantic yell emanate from the chatterbeast in his pocket. His heart seemed to stop as he leaped from his seat, crying out in panic, "Jace, stop! The manager is a fake! It's all a trap!"

"Huh? Wha-" Jace began, turning towards Oliver in confusion. Mid-sentence, his gaze snapped back to the manager standing before him. The man's face had transformed, now bearing an eerie unsettling smile.

Before Jace could react, the manager seized his hand in an iron grip. In that instant-

Crackle!

A bolt of searing lightning shot through Jace's body, emanating from the point of contact.

"ARGHAAAAAAAAA!" Jace's agonized scream filled the air.

The trap had been sprung, and now it was too late to turn back.