Let's go back in time a few minutes. The sky is starting to turn orange with the sunset. While drinking a can of beer, Vektor's mother notices that Master Noogard has not been present at the party for a few minutes. She decides to go into his house to go to the bathroom, but ends up having to wait for Vektor to leave first:

"S- Sorry, mom, I ate too much... and I couldn't hold it in..."

"Why am I not surprised...? That's okay, we're leaving anyway. Let's go back home as soon as I tell Master Noogard beforehand."

Vektor returns to the party, and his mother hears a noise coming from the kitchen and decides to inspect: it was Master Noogard opening a can of soda. She walks to the kitchen to talk to him:

"What are you doing here alone in the kitchen?"

"You know how it is, still a bit difficult for me to be around so many people. I'm used to living isolated in the middle of the hills. Socializing is really exhausting..."

"If it's so exhausting, why did you throw such a big party?"

"You're the one who gave me that idea!"

"I never said it needed that many people, I just said it needed a lot of food."

"But if I didn't invite people, it would be too weird!"

"In the end, the final result wouldn't depend on that, so if you wanted to invite so many people, that's your problem."

"..."

"Well, we're already planning on going home soon, so if you still want to make that proposal, you better do it now."

"Right..."

"I'll go say goodbye to the Haidora. In the meantime, resolve whatever needs to be resolved."

She then leaves the kitchen and heads down the hallway towards the living room, where the front door of the house is. Her path, however, is blocked by a woman. Black hair, neither long nor short, green eyes.

"You don't look like a guest... Who are you...?"

"Shh..."

"Don't shh me, just tell me who you are!"

Hearing this from the kitchen, Master Noogard speaks from afar:

"What happened there?"

"There's a strange woman here in your hallway, do you know her?"

Vektor's mother's gaze wanders for a split second, but that's enough for the woman to appear just a few inches away from her with a syringe. She instantly tries to defend herself with her martial arts techniques, but her opponent is much faster than her, and she inevitably ends up getting pierced in the arm by the syringe.

Her body then falls unconscious to the floor of the hallway, the sound of the impact echoes all the way to the kitchen. Master Noogard instantly becomes alarmed and rushes to help her:

"Hey! What's goin-"

Master Noogard is unable to finish his line. The soda can in his hand falls to the floor. What he sees paralyzes him, so that not even his vocal cords can function. Not the unconscious body of Vektor's mother, but the person who caused her to faint. The mere presence of this woman is enough to trigger absolute terror in his mind. His mind detaches itself from the world around him and focuses entirely on her face:

"...!!!!"

"That expression... So it really worked. Are you really that terrified of this face? Or are you... just afraid of what this face represents...? Well, rest assured. I'm not really her, so you're safe. However..."

The next instant, the syringe is already piercing Master Noogard's arm.

"This party... is over."

The effect of a Disguise Crystal is undone, revealing that the person pretending to be this woman was actually a mysterious man in a suit, who calmly watches Master Noogard's body fall to the ground and then says:

"Well, now that we've neutralized the biggest threat, all I need to do is teleport these two first and then I'll take care of the rest. But I'll be honest, my role might be the most boring one in the whole mission... I do everything that doesn't involve fighting. Well, I guess even archangels have their favorites..."

In the forest surrounding the Dawn Plateau, Sych uses his telekinetic powers to make long, quick leaps towards his target, who in turn jumps from the top of the plateau, landing at the base without suffering any damage from the impact.

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It doesn't take long for Sych to find himself facing his opponent, a pale, apathetic man with purple hair and eyes. His eyes sparkle like jewels, as if they were the crystallization of the purple flames that exuded from Vektor's eyes in his cursed state.

Sych silently stands guard, until his opponent breaks the silence:

"So it's you... The guardian they were talking about..."

"I'm Sych. Who are you... to have this absurd amount of dark energy?"

"If you don't recognize me, it means you're really incomplete... That makes things easier for me. Well, I don't have much time to have fun, so..."

"...!"

"Let's get this over with...!"

Without wasting a second, the man runs towards Sych, at a speed comparable to that of someone from the Noogard family.

"A frontal charge?! Too fast...!"

The enemy tries to punch Sych, but he manages to react quickly by raising his left hand towards his opponent and using his telekinesis to counterattack just moments before the enemy's fist reaches him.

However, contrary to expectations, all Sych manages to do is immobilize his opponent and interrupt his attack, instead of throwing his body away. Even the man shows a certain level of disappointment:

"Is this the current extent of the power of Origin? Pitiful..."

With just a little more strength, the man easily manages to free himself from the immobilization caused by telekinesis, then opening his fist and grabbing Sych's left arm. He then throws the boy's body towards the plateau.

After his body flies in a nearly straight trajectory, Sych collides with the cliff of the Dawn Plateau, with an impact so strong and sudden that it causes him to slowly lose consciousness.

With his body lying on the ground, Sych decides to look up at the sky as his vision begins to blur.

"I just hope everyone at the party is okay..."

As he slowly closes his eyes, he sees the silhouette of something flying in the sky. He blacks out completely as he thinks that it was just a bird...

Vektor continues talking to Yuko and Mitsuko normally. Suddenly, his attention is diverted from the conversation as he starts looking at the sky. Yuko starts to find it strange that he is seemingly looking at nothing:

"What's wrong, Vektor? Are you okay?"

"I am, but... Can any of you tell me what's that over there?"

Vektor points to what appears to be a strange bird flying through the sky. Mitsuko, however, is just as confused as he is:

"I have no idea what it is, but it seems to be coming our way..."

The three of them observe that the supposed bird is much larger than imagined. After getting close enough, the creature begins to lower its altitude while drastically accelerating. Vektor remains silent, watching the creature grow in perspective as it approaches, while its silhouette becomes more recognizable with each passing second. At the exact moment he finally recognizes the creature, Vektor's eyes widen in astonishment:

"...!! Everyone, stand back!!"

The three apprentices jump away just before the creature crash-lands on the surface. If they had waited a few more seconds, they would have probably died instantly. The impact of the landing is enough to raise a cloud of dust around the creature.

As the dust settles, the three find themselves facing a lizard monster with bird-like wings and claws, about 3 meters tall. Vektor can't believe in his own eyes:

"That's... one of the creatures I faced when I was cursed! What is it doing here?!"

The monster begins to position itself to attack, but Kder doesn't give it time, advancing towards it, however its claws are resistant enough to serve as a sword and shield, allowing it to face the swordsman without being at a disadvantage.

Kder remains firm in his offensive, warning the apprentices:

"I'll hold him here! Please take this chance and escape immediately!"

Without question, Vektor prepares to run.

"Right! Stay alert, Kder, that one is strong."

"You don't need to worry about me, my priority is to protect everyone here. Now, run!"

The three apprentices run away, but without them noticing, a second monster identical to the first appears in the air, ready to capture Yuko with its claws. When Vektor realizes, both the girl and the monster are too far out of his reach.

"It's too late...! There's no time to react!"

Just as the monster's claws are about to grab Yuko by the arms, a small shadow cloud materializes next to the creature. Mitsuko manages to teleport herself there, so that her body remains suspended in the air. However, her body does not lose its posture, and is already in attack stance. In a split second, the girl manages to land a flying kick on the monster, which ends up being knocked out, allowing Yuko to get away from it.

After falling to the ground, the monster gets up completely unharmed. Without much idea of what to do, Vektor approaches and positions himself for combat. Mitsuko decides to do the same while saying:

"Yuko, run to your parents and protect them with an ice shield."

"B- But what about you guys?"

"We'll find a way to fight this thing. Go now, before they get into danger too!"

"R- Right! Be careful, you two!"

Yuko runs out of the monster's reach while Vektor and Mitsuko protect her, and then heads to her parents, who are near the balcony, away from all the chaos. When the Haidora family reunites, both master and apprentice join forces after the girl summarizes the situation as quickly as possible.

Vektor and Mitsuko manage to hold their own against the second monster, but they can't see any way to actually win the fight. Without any weapons at their disposal, the two must rely entirely on their hand-to-hand fighting skills. Mitsuko, however, has the advantage because she can use her powers in combat and ensure more accurate strikes.

Yuko and her mother attempt to form a thick ice globe with the entire family inside. However, before they even have time to form a secure barrier, a third monster suddenly appears and destroys the barrier with its claws. The three apprentices are simultaneously shocked by the sudden occurrence, and those seconds of distraction are enough to open a breach in their defenses.

While Vektor and Mitsuko are knocked out by a single, powerful attack from the second monster, the third's attack knocks out the defenseless Yuko even more easily. Before they have time to try to rescue their own daughter, Yuko's parents are captured by the third monster, which uses its four limbs to grab each of them by the arms.

Yuko despairs when she sees her parents at the mercy of the mysterious creature:

"No!! Papa! Mama!"

The third monster quickly takes flight to about 10 meters high, high enough to give it a reason not to be attacked, as Yuko's parents are now its hostages, who will fall if the monster is attacked.

As he stands up, Vektor watches the third monster fly away, following its trajectory with his eyes.

"(It's flying to... the Dawn Plateau...?)"