"Out of all the people we could have run into, it just had to be you," Alice remarked, her face clearly displaying annoyance. Alice's mood instantly soured when she laid eyes on Jake King, the formidable leader of the Serpent Riders from the Fafnir Faction.

"Well, well, well," Jake said with a smirk on his face, "Alice, that expression on your face only adds to my joy, as I am going to seize this from you."

"You son of a bitch!" Alice shouted as Raika attempted to restrain her. "Release me, Raika!"

"Alice, I implore you to relax!" Raika exclaimed, simultaneously making an effort to soothe Alice and keep her from acting out.

Jake couldn't help but burst into laughter as he pointed at Alice and Raika, exclaiming, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I always knew Border wouldn't be able to control their damn mutt."

Alice, with anger in her voice, yelled, "What the hell are you say to me?"

Jake laughed and playfully flipped Alice off, saying, "You damn mutt, as I said before."

With a glance at Jake, Raika redirected her attention to Alice, her voice laced with a soothing tone, as she entreated, "Alice, if you could just try to calm down and redirect your thoughts towards the mission, it would greatly benefit us all."

With a glance at Raika, Alice is able to regain her composure and sincerely thanks her by saying "Right, thank you, Raika."

"Who is she?" Jake asked, his face unamused, as he looked at Raika.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Raika Narukami, the newest member of the Alice team," Raika stated.

Jake casts his eyes upon Raika and smirks, playfully remarking "Ohhh!"

Raika appeared confused and asked, "What's with that expression?"

With a mischievous smile, Jake introduced himself, saying, "Oh, it's nothing really. Just the name's Jake King, and I happen to be the leader of Serpent Riders from the Fafnir Faction."

"Fafnir," Raika pondered silently in her thoughts, "is that the faction with renowned for its vast collection of Anti-Beast weaponry, state-of-the-art mechanized suits, and formidable robotic mechs."

With a slight laugh, Jake replied, "Hehe! I guess Alice must have filled you in, right?"

"Jake, it's really frustrating how you constantly attempt to steal my kill," Alice said, her voice filled with annoyance.

With a smirk on his face, Jake laughed and said to Alice, "I mean, I can't just let you have all the fun."

Alice, who is on the verge of snapping, exclaimed, "Why are you...?"

In the midst of Alice and Jake's impending fight, Keigo and Katsu made their timely appearance. Raika glanced over at Keigo and Katsu, letting out a sigh before addressing them with a simple greeting, "Hey guys."

"Can you please tell me what happened?" asked Katsu.

Raika pointed directly at Jake while Keigo let out a sigh, saying, "Of course, it's him."

"Oh, so you know him as well," Raika said with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Yes," Katsu nods his head and acknowledges that Jake King holds the position of leader within the Fafnir Faction's World Serpent.

With a sigh, Keigo expressed his frustration, "He's such an asshole."

"It seems that you also don't have any fondness for him," Raika commented.

Keigo expressed his annoyance by shaking his head and remarked, "He always believes he is superior to us."

"I have a neutral opinion of him," stated Katsu.

In the midst of Raika and Jake's argument, three other individuals unexpectedly arrive. Once again, the older girl, who had short red hair, was wearing a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned down to her chest. She paired it with black pants, brown suspenders, black boots, and brown gloves. With her piercing blue eyes, she looked at Jake and Alice and let out a sigh, saying "Again."

"As usual," said the young boy with short blue hair, his blue eyes focused on Alice and Jake, while he was dressed in a black and white battle suit.

The young girl, who had long black hair, was wearing a school uniform for girls along with a black bulletproof vest, black stockings, and a long army jacket. She looked at Jake and Alice with her red eyes and let out a sigh.

"Stop this immediately, Jake and Alice," the red haired woman declared with authority.

"Angela," Jake said as he looked directly at her, bringing an end to the argument with Alice.

Not only does Alice see Angela, but she also decides to stop. "Is it too hard to imagine a day without the two of you fighting?" Angela's disappointment was evident as she crossed her arms and let out a sigh.

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"It is such a pleasure to see you again, Miss Angela," Katsu said with a warm smile on his face.

As Angela spoke, she looked over at Katsu, Keigo, and Raika, and directed her words towards Katsu, asking, "Oh Katsu, how have you been?"

"I have been doing well," Katsu said as he looked at the blue-haired boy and black-haired girl. "It is nice to see you, Vic and Hu Jie." Katsu turned to Raika and smiled, saying, "Raika, I would like you to meet Angela Laguardia, Vic Harrison, and Hu Jie. They are Jake's teammates."

"It nice to meet you but we can chat later." said Angela, in a rush, summoned a wolf spirit with a green wind-like appearance and used it to strike the NightBeast, reminding everyone to concentrate on this specific threat.

As Vic harnessed his powers to create a shroud of shadow mist around himself and those nearby, he confidently stated, "She's absolutely right," before disappearing, leaving everyone astounded. The NightBeast, with its human-like features, is at a disadvantage in the mist, and Vic takes advantage of this to defeat them.

In an epic battle, Hu Jie and Alice unleash a barrage of bullets at the NightBeast, causing a magnificent explosion accompanied by thunder and fire. Thanks to the shadow mist that Vic has created, they are able to leverage this situation to their advantage. Alice and Hu Jie tirelessly unleash a barrage of bullets at The NightBeast, an entity known for its eerily human-like appearance.

As Raika and Keigo prepared to face the NightBeast, they harnessed the full potential of their powers. Raika summoned bolts of thunder, crackling with electrifying energy, while Keigo conjured icy winds that formed sharp shards of ice. With a swift and accurate throw, Keigo launched a knife infused with his ice power towards the NightBeast. As the blade pierced through the creature's tough hide, an intense cold enveloped its body, causing it to freeze in place.

Seizing the opportunity, Angela and Jake, renowned for their incredible strength, leaped forward. Angela's fists, fueled by her immense power, pounded into the frozen NightBeast, shattering its icy shell and sending shards flying in all directions. Simultaneously, Jake's punches, enhanced by his own thunderous abilities, struck the NightBeast with a resounding force, cracking its frozen form and weakening its defenses.

Together, the combined powers of Thunder and Ice, and the unwavering determination of Raika, Keigo, Angela, and Jake, brought the NightBeast to its knees. As the creature crumbled under the relentless assault, their teamwork prevailed, proving that even the most formidable opponents could be overcome when united in a common cause.

Vic and Katsu work together to defeat additional NightBeasts, with Katsu utilizing his aura and unleashing a fierce blaze from his kanata known as the "Violent Flame Slash!" With this powerful attack, Katsu successfully strikes down the NightBeast with flames.

As more NightBeasts continue to appear, Alice's frustration grows, and she lets out an exasperated groan, exclaiming, "They just keep coming!"

"Oh! You think," said Hu Jie with a serious look on her face. "Now Shut up and keep firing at them."

As Alice and Hu Jie relentlessly fired their high-powered energy blasters at the NightBeasts, their shots were perfectly synchronized with Raika and Vic's swift and precise strikes. The NightBeasts, towering and ferocious, were no match for their combined onslaught. With each shot and strike, the NightBeasts stumbled backward, their monstrous forms gradually weakening. The intense battle raged on, the team's determination fueling their every move. The air crackled with energy as Alice and Hu Jie's blasters unleashed beams of pure destructive power, while Raika and Vic's lightning-fast movements and razor-sharp weapons sliced through the NightBeasts' defenses with deadly accuracy. Together, they formed an unstoppable force, working in perfect harmony to bring down their formidable adversaries.

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Shortly thereafter, they dealt with the NightBeast, which resembled a human. Angela reached into her pocket and retrieved her phone, dialing the number for Fafnir base. She proceeded to inform them that the mission had been successfully completed. While the rest of the group was unwinding and taking it easy, Raika unexpectedly noticed someone nearby, which prompted her to call out, "Hey!"

The person ran off as Raika followed the person, "Hey, stop!" The person ran faster as Raika started to run faster to catch the person. After finally catching up with the person, Raika discovers they have disappeared, leading her to the abandoned research factory.

Raika rubs the back of her head in pain, saying "Owch!' While walking through the factory, Raika notices papers concerning the dark rebirth project. While engrossed in reading the papers, Raika felt a gentle touch on her shoulder, and to her surprise, someone was calling her name.

Filled with panic, Raika raised her sword and pointed it at the person in front of her. As the turnabout progressed, it became clear that Katsu was the one with his hand up in the air. "Katsu!" Raika let out a sigh of relief as she sheathed her sword. "You gave me a fright," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

"Sorry, Raika," Katsu said with a smile, his gaze fixed on her. "Everybody was searching for you."

"I see," Raika said with a sigh, sheathing her sword. "I discovered something."

Raika hands over the document and Katsu is shocked as he reads the title, "The Dark Rebirth Project."

As Katsu read the names on the paper, a greater shock filled him than before, "These are the names of the individuals who went missing ten years ago."

"Oh my god," Raika uttered.

Katsu urged, "We have to take Kyosuke right away."

"Right," Raika acknowledged.

As Katsu and Raika were strolling around, attempting to find their way out, they felt a hand on their shoulders and heard someone say, "What are you guys up to?"

In a sudden and unexpected twist, Katsu and Raika perform a backward jump followed by a swift turn, only to find out that the person before them is Alice.

"Alice, don't you dare scare us like that!" Katsu's voice boomed with anger, his face turning red with fury.

Alice admitted her mistake by saying "my bad."

"No worries," Raika sighed, "just avoid doing that."

Keigo, Jake, Angela, Vic, and Hu Jie were all there, and Keigo added, "Of course she would say that."

Alice chuckled while crossing her arms and asked, "So, what brings you here?"

"You see, I was in pursuit of someone, but then I ended up here and that's when Katsu and I stumbled upon these papers," Raika recounted, presenting Alice with the list of names of people who had disappeared.

Alice's eyes widened with terror as she stared at it, her heart pounding in her chest at the sight of "The Dark Rebirth Project!?"

"Alice, are you okay?" Raika asked with a trembling voice, her eyes wide with concern.

Alice's hands trembled as she vigorously shook her head, her smile a desperate attempt to conceal her inner turmoil. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it," she pleaded, her voice tinged with desperation.

Raika and Katsu lock eyes with each other while Jake lets out a sigh and asks, "Are you absolutely certain that you're feeling alright?"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Alice's voice boomed with fury, her face flushed red, fists clenched tightly as she unleashed her pent-up rage.

Shocked faces turned into scowls as Alice's explosive outburst ignited a fiery anger within everyone, their fists clenched in frustration. Vic let out a heavy sigh as he looked at Alice and said, "Alice, it's clear that you possess some knowledge regarding the Dark Rebirth Project."

Alice let out a heavy sigh, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. "I suppose it's time I share with you the details of the Dark Rebirth Project."