Nobody moved, nobody spoke, nobody even drew breath. They just stared, frozen in place. Kensin still held Silva's mangled corpse by the neck. Her blood seeped down her face, onto his arm.

Alant's jaw was to the floor. He was kneeling, holding his chest. "D...Dead..? Is Silva... dead..?"

"We cannot worry about that now.." Lock stated, holding back his emotions. He had somewhat recovered as well. "The focus must be put on escaping with our own lives."

Kensin released his grip, causing Silva's body to hit the floor with a thud. After staring at what he had done for a moment, he focused his attention on the rest of Proel. He disappeared yet again leaving a bit of black mist behind. The black mist this time though.. grew larger as time passed, eventually turning into a duplicate of Kensin. The actual Kensin reappeared and grabbed Tigal, Human Hunter, and Flowe before teleporting away.

"Damn bastard.." With his broken bones and all, Alant pulled himself up. His face was soaked with tears. "You killed one of our members..!" He cried. "You killed her.. and think I'll let you take Tigal and Human Hunter too?! No.. no damn way!!"

With urgency, Lock grabbed Alant's shoulder. "ALANT! YOU MUST CALM DOWN OR ELSE OUR ENTIRE TEAM WILL END UP IN THE SAME POSITION!!"

"I don't care right now!!" Alant responded. "It's because of people like him that I became a Human Hunter!! I did it so that those who I care about would stop getting killed! If I make it so they're the only ones alive, there won't be anything to worry about.. but.. it still happened. People in my life are still dying..! And if I don't kill this guy right here and right now, it'll happen to you too Lock!"

Out of nowhere, the duplicate Kensin was in front of Alant. Mist surrounded the duplicate's entire body. He swung his fist full force at Alant seemingly in an attempt to kill him.

Instead, his arm slammed into something that seemed impenetrable. Setianal had returned, holding Faed's unconscious body in one arm.

"I should have anticipated that you would come to us." He began. "Your strength certainly did not disappoint. Though it has already reconstructed itself, you were able to remove my hand, and even managed to kill one of our members. But the show is over. Even without knowing exactly how strong the Assassin Corps is, I doubt even the third ranked member is able to defeat me."

Kensin made an indescribable and eerie noise. He slid backward, and lifted his hand toward Setianal, then releasing an astonishingly large constant burst of black mist.

Not affected, Setianal partially slipped something out from a slit in his armor. Whatever it was.. negated everything Kensin was currently doing, completely obliterating the mist as well as the duplicate.

"And there we go, the result I expected."

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Everything began to settle down.

"Setianal.. what the hell.. where were you?" Alant tugged on his arm from behind, teeth clenched.

"Where was I? I needed to make for certain that no other Assassin Corps members were nearby. If that was the case, they could have killed any one of us who tried to run away."

"Run away..? You really think any of us would do that..?"

"Of course. When up against an unbeatable opponent, retreating and becoming strong enough to take out that opponent later down the line is the only logical thing to do."

"Yeah, maybe.. maybe if we even had the chance. He was so damn fast that anyone who tried to leave would've been killed before they even reached the elevator. Hell, most of us are almost at that point anyway, but at least we're still alive. We're still alive.. unlike S-..Silva."

Pulling away from Alant, Setianel gently set Faed down. "I was also able to retrieve Faed from another one of the copies. Though I did defeat one of them in here, I'm fairly certain that the duplicates are significantly weaker than the actual third ranked member."

Lock took a step forward. His face and body were slightly damaged, and due to his robe being torn to bits, he removed it. "Setianal, if you were examining the outside area, then how exactly do you know that was the third rank?"

After a pause, Setianal glanced back. "I have audio capturing devices placed throughout our headquarters, and overheard Flowe mention it. Do you believe that I may be a trader, Lock?"

Another pause occurred.

"No, of course not. It was simple curiosity."

Faed coughed, and it echoed through Proel's damaged base. Racing to her side, Lock held her head. ".. never have I been more glad to hear a cough." he said, holding back tears.

Setianal scanned the area with his eyes. While the damage was substantial and significant, the base was still recognizable. "Thankfully, our base of operations was not completely wiped out. We'll be able to repair it soon enough." he said. "But now that the Assassin Corps knows where it's located, remaining here would be difficult.. unless they're eliminated." After grabbing a few items and placing them in his armor, Setianal prepared to depart. "Alant, Lock, and Faed, if you're conscious.. your mission for now will be to infiltrate the Assassin Corps headquarters, assuming that's where they took everyone, and retrieve our comrades. If you survive, together we'll develop a plan to wipe them out completely. Meet me at Aurora's temple with whoever escapes alive."

"So you won't be helping then.. again." Alant spit blood on the floor. His fists tightened.

"Is there a problem with that Alant? My assistance would only hinder your potential to improve. You'd never reach the level of any member of the Corps. Even Flowe, the former sixteenth ranked member, defeated you and Lock simultaneously."

"There is a problem with that, because now's not the time for training Setianal. Half of Proel is at risk of being killed."

"Then I suggest you act quickly. If you're truly worthy of Proel, you'll figure out a way. Believe me... I took you in for a reason. You won't fail" Following that statement, Setianal left.

"Took me in for a reason..? Silva must not have been as important then.. huh?"

"Alant." Lock said, still holding Faed. "You must calm yourself. As devastating as Silva's death may be, you cannot let it change you to this degree. The Alant I know is optimistic about everything without exception. He believes there is always a way to achieve success. Most predominantly though, he lifts the spirits of everyone when tragedy strikes."

A drop of blood from Alant's blades dripped to the surface.

"I can't let it change me? No.. Lock. A change is exactly what I need. For my entire life people have died around me. Everyone I've ever cared for has turned into a corpse sooner or later. Enough is enough, being optimistic is stupid when I'm always wrong."

"You still have a living family surrounding you Alant. I'm still alive, Faed is. Tigal, and now Human Hunter and Flowe if you consider them allies. I don't intend on allowing any of their deaths to arrive anytime soon."

"Neither did I.. but death is something that I've learned is impossible to prevent Lock. It's just a matter of time until I'm alone again. So I've decided, once we save everyone, I'm leaving Proel."

A shattered light reflected against Lock's glasses as he sat there for a moment.

"You aren't thinking normally right now Alant, you're grieving. Give it time and I assure you, your optimism will return."

"Nahh." Alant hauled himself toward the somehow still working elevator. "I'm not kidding with ya Lock. The cycle ends here."

"I'm still speaking with you.. stop."

"Oh yeah, and you've changed too.. Lock." With that statement, Alant left.

Lock sat alone with an unconscious Faed in the middle of Proel's massacred base. He stared at the ground, noticing there was smeared cupcake frosting. He looked at it for quite some time.

He screamed.