At the party members' hideout in England, Nathan was spaced out as he sat and stared at the ceiling.
"Nathan? Are you alright?" Lilith questioned as she stooped over Nathan and poked his right cheek.
"Ugh, how much longer do we gotta wait for Jack," Nathan asked in a weary tone. "It's been two freaking weeks. At this point...I'm not even scared of being found out by law enforcement."
"Let's just do it ourselves!" Charles suggested. "I'd have more fun that way!"
"Sigh, I know you can't wait. I'm starting to feel the same way too, but it's best if we wait on Jack," Nathan explained. "I've come up with a good plan and Jack's speed would be necessary to start it--"
BANG!
Suddenly, the entrance of the abandoned house flew open which surprised everyone. Their surprise quickly subsided when they realized it was Jack who had entered.
"Tch, what is my speed necessary for, mate?" Jack suddenly inquired. From his demeanor and expression, it didn't seem like Jack was in the best mood. His mood was contrasted with Olivia, who became brightened upon the sight of Jack.
"Oh? Look who decided to come back now," Nathan uttered. "Did you finally murder Amber?"
"I don't want to talk about that, Nathan," Jack responded coldly.
"H-Hey, Jack--"
"I'm not in the mood for this, love," Not letting Olivia finish, Jack interjected. In response, Olivia pouted.
I guess I'll take that as a no. Nathan thought.
"Now that you're here, we can finally complete this stupid mission," Nathan said. "I want to get this done, and go back to the comfort of my own home."
"Yeah, we're completing the mission...today!" Jack declared.
* * *
Going back a few minutes to the Enlightenment Program, Baran and Aiden were lazing on the training grounds. They sat on the stands and stared into the skies. While they lazed about, Ariel, Sariel, and Ivory were sparring.
Suddenly, Kreuger approached them with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, I understand that Aiden's still injured, but won't you get off your lazy ass and train with the rest of your friends?" Kreuger questioned.
"Tsk, can't you just let a guy rest?" Baran retorted.
"So, your instructors gave you a break from normal lectures so you can train and instead of utilizing it properly, you want to rest," Kreuger said. "Do you want to get murdered by Jack or something?"
"Tch, I've been training 24/7!" Baran said.
Hearing them argue, Aiden stood up. Aiden, of course, still possessed the burn scars and near blind eye from the attacks of mafia boss, Amelia Dexter. Although his combat suit hid it, he possessed wounds from his battle against Jack.
"He's right, Baran. We have to utilize the time we've got in every aspect," Aiden chimed in. "Especially with the battle we have to take part in."
"What the...you're going to spar again? But you're so injured?" Baran said. "Why don't you ever want to rest?"
"It's simple, Baran. I want to help Amber wholeheartedly," Aiden responded which raised the eyebrows of Baran and Kreuger.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Baran said. "Do you like her or something?"
Aiden ignored his comment and approached the group to spar with them.
"H-Hey!" Baran yelled. Tch! There's no way, right!?
"How about you follow your friend and get up," Kreuger stated.
"Ugh, fine," Baran reluctantly agreed as he stood up. This is technically Amber's problem, so why are we even stressing ourselves out?
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Sariel, who was sparring currently, noticed something in her peripheral vision. Almost immediately, her eyes widen with utter dumbfoundedness.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Sariel?" Ariel questioned as she then gazed in the same direction as where Sariel was looking. Immediately, Ariel's expression matched Sariel's in bewilderment.
Their shock and surprise were completely warranted, as before them, were Ryzen and Amber.
"Surprise!" Ryzen uttered.
"U-Um, hello, everyone..." With a shy expression, Amber sheepishly greeted.
"Amber!?" Everyone uttered. Immediately, Amber found herself crowded as Ariel, Sariel, and Aiden quickly approached her.
Expecting them to be vexed by her leaving without telling them, Amber held down her head in shame.
"Um, guys...I'm so sorry--"
"Amber! I'm so glad you're back!" Ariel interjected. "We missed you so much!"
Much to Amber's surprise, Sariel and Ariel leaned in for a hug.
"W-Wha?" Amber muttered.
"Y-Yeah...we missed you..." Aiden agreed as his cheeks flushed red at the sight of Amber.
T-They aren't mad? Amber wondered as her facial expression shriveled up. Immediately, tears of joy ran down Amber's face - she never felt more thankful for her friends than now.
Tsk, I never missed her... With a frown on his face and folded arms, Baran thought.
Meanwhile, Ryzen walked off and was confronted by Kreuger.
"So, you finally decided to bring her back, huh," Kreuger said. "I don't wanna know what made you decide that, but I suppose her training went well?"
"Yup, she's on a much higher level than before," Ryzen responded. "She'll be a valuable asset in eliminating the S-Class criminals, I'm sure."
"...I can tell," Kreuger said. "Amber seems completely different from before."
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to," Ryzen said.
"Huh? What are you--"
Before he could finish, Ryzen disappeared.
"Sigh, it feels like this guy's doing whatever the hell he wants," Kreuger stated as he shifted his gaze to Amber. She was quickly catching up on the time she missed with her friends.
* * *
In the mountains of an unspecified area, Jack was still searching for Amber. It could be how long he was searching for, or how much Jack wanted to murder her, but he possessed a severely unhinged expression that exhuded annoyance on his face.
"Damn it! This is so annoying!" Jack yelled. "Where the hell is this bitch!!!"
"Hey, again Jack," Ryzen greeted as he appeared before him. "Still no luck with finding her, huh?"
"Huh!? It's you!" Jack uttered as he pulled out his durability negator knives. "Where the hell did you put that brat!"
"Oh, by the way, I was lying about hiding her in the mountains!" Ryzen stated, immediately causing Jack's jaw to drop. "Like always, Amber's resting in her military camp...not in some mountains like a darn mountaineer."
"You...no way...You're telling me that I wasted all this time...searching for her?" Jack questioned. "I came here...for nothing?"
"Yup, you're rather easy to trick when you're so obsessed," Ryzen commented. "Thanks for giving her time to prepare--"
Not letting him finish, Jack charged at Ryzen in an attempt to slash him. Of course, this failed as Ryzen moved to another section of the mountain.
"Jeez, calm down. Us fighting would get us nowhere," Ryzen said. "Why don't you use that newfound determination to find where Amber is?"
"...When I'm done dismembering the brat's corpse, I'm coming for you next, mate," Jack declared.
"Good luck with that!" Ryzen said before teleporting away. Jack, who was visibly pissed off by Ryzen, ran off.
* * *
Returning to the Enlightenment Program, the students returned to sparring while Amber sat on the stands and conversed with Kreuger.
"You know, while you were away, I went out of the way to brutally train your friends," Kreuger said in a cocky manner. "They've improved a lot, so you should thank me."
"Hehe, thank you for helping them, Kreuger," Amber responded as she patted his head, much to Kreuger's surprise.
"What the...what are you doing!?" Kreuger loudly questioned.
"Hmm, I'm thanking you, though?" Amber replied.
"I just meant...whatever," Kreuger said in a somewhat flustered tone. Seeing his expression, Amber couldn't help but giggle.
"...So, you think you're strong enough to kill Jack now?" Kreuger asked and Amber immediately became serious.
"...I've gotten stronger, I can tell...but I don't know if it's enough, to be honest," Amber stated. "But...no matter what, I'll kill that demon."
"Well, of course...it's not like you're going to fight him alone," Kreuger said. "In case you forgot, you're not the only one with a grudge against that bastard."
"...I remember. I hope you'll tell me about your story," Amber said. "Just like how I told you mine."
"...One day."
Suddenly, loud sirens were audible throughout the campus which alerted everyone. Of course, this caused everyone to cease their sparring and conversations.
"W-What!?" Amber uttered.
"Hmm...that's not good," Kreuger said.
* * *
Altius and Trixie, who were in an office on the campus, also were alerted by the sirens.
"Tch, what the hell is going on!?" Altius said as he stood up.
"Could be something fun?" Trixie assumed.
BEEP! BEEP!
The blaring noise of a communications device was audible on the desk. Immediately, Trixie grabbed and answered.
"Yyyeellllooo?" Trixie questioned.
"I-It's Jack!" A soldier uttered in a desperate tone. "He's killing us all and going for the Chief! We need backup, quickly!!!"
What!? Jack the Ripper!? Altius thought with a bewildered expression. Why the hell is he going for the Chief!? Shit!
"Oh? That's not good, huh?" Ryzen said as he teleported inside the office, garnering the instructor's attention. It seems the pieces are all in place...the day has come now.