Ray was happily enjoying his pancake which he bought as takeaway while walking down a narrow alley. "Ah, I really miss the capital. Great food and facilities. Though I'm not sure why I feel that I'm forgetting something. I already settled the deal with those kids, so what exactly am I missing?"

Suddenly, Ray's instincts sent a shiver down his spine as he quickly sidestepped to his left. He had narrowly avoided a lunge from a rapier. He quickly turned around to face an armoured knight dressed in lean armour. Ray couldn't discern the identity of the knight due to the helmet he/she was wearing, but Ray could recognise that he was facing a member of the City Guard from the symbol adorning his breastplate.

Ray continued to take as many bites of his pancake as possible while dodging the flurry of strikes aimed at him, before exclaiming, "I think there's a misunderstanding, I bought this!"

The armoured knight remained silent and suddenly leapt backwards away from him. Ray took the opportunity to finish the last of his pancake before speaking, "Ok, I surrender. Just stop attacking me now, 'kay?"

The knight adopted a stance commonly utilised by fencers and without warning, he launched a fierce stab at Ray. Ray instinctively jumped to the side, knowing that the weapon's actual reach can't hit him, it was the wind that shot like bullets that was dangerous. The knight continued with a barrage of similar jabs which Ray dodged barely before ending with a vertical swing in an upward fashion, creating an air blade.

Ray suddenly turned serious and declared, "Alright. I've given enough chances already." He easily brushed off the air blade with an electric-filled hand and in an instant, he closed the distance between himself and the knight, pushing him against the wall. Ray used his free hand to disarm his assailant by knocking the rapier out of his hands.

He demanded, "Who are you and what do you want? City Guard don't behave like this." A muffled voice responds, "It feels so good having you so close to me. I guess this is the only way I can get your attention, right, Sparky?"

Ray was shocked and immediately released his grip. The knight took off his helmet to reveal a young woman with green hair which flowed down to her shoulders. Ray immediately went down on one knee and said, "Forgive me for my insolence, Princess! I didn't know it was you, Your Highness." The princess replied, "You're excused from all formalities when you're with me alone from now on. Just call me Nikki when we're out in public."

Ray, still kneeling, replied, "Yes…Nikki. Why are you dressed like that and what're you doing here?" Nikki replied, "How long has it been since you were last here at the capital? 3 years ago? During that period of time, through my own merit, I got promoted to become a Captain of the City Guard. I'm not bluffing!" as her face gave a light shade of red.

Ray replied in a panicky tone, "Alright, alright, I believe you! I'm not surprised when it comes to ability because of your expertise in Wind magic. I'm just genuinely surprised that you would choose the path of the military, a rare path for princesses. Not even the Crown Prince is in the military."

Nikki replied confidently, "Well, I didn't want people to spoil me just because I'm the princess of this country. I want to earn the adoration of my people with my own strength. Anyway, enough talking about me, shall we go out together? Just like we've always done as kids?"

Ray's face flushed with bashfulness as he said, "Is it alright like this? Maybe you should put on your helmet…" Nikki pouted, "No way. I don't think there's anything wrong with a princess going out with a Saint. We make a good couple, don't we?" as she locked her arms with Ray's after she had kept her rapier back into its scabbard.

Ray sighed as the pair walked out together into the sunlight, with Nikki firmly grabbing his arm to prevent him from escaping in embarrassment. He finally remembered what he had forgotten to do: Meeting Prin-no, Nikki.

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The dilapidated town in the suburbs of Nirvana was eerily silent. It was much like a ghost town, with the only source of sound the howling winds. To make matters worse, the town was covered by an unusual fog not present anywhere else. People who live near this town would testify that the town was haunted, as adventurers who went to explore it never came back in the end. As the capital had more urgent matters to settle, they couldn't send a proper investigation team to investigate the real cause of the disappearances, which were few by far.

Anyway, the town held little commercial value, so the authorities were not pressed to reclaim it. After all, the town was indiscriminate as criminals who sought shelter there were mysteriously disposed of. As the fog became lighter , it became clear that there were people in the town. All were dressed in black, but only around 20 wore porcelain masks. The rest, who appeared to be of higher rank, numbered to about 8 currently. Suddenly, two more figures appeared out of nowhere, one after the other.

One of the newcomers, who exuded a commanding aura despite his face being concealed by the cloth which covered his mouth, said, "What's our manpower status, Moon?" Moon, whose hood was removed, revealing a face laced with scars and stitches, answered, "Our strength is at 100%, with all 10 executives and 20 men present, Master Shadow."

Shadow scanned the assembled group and muttered to himself, "We have Moon, Gale, Skull, Ivy, Echo, Crimson, Eisen, Violet and Psycho all here." while identifying each of the executives by name. After physically ensuring that all were present, Shadow asked, "Moon, are the SUPERSOLDIER potions ready?"

Moon replied with a tinge of disappointment in his voice, "We only have enough for the men. We expected surplus but Jaeger went ham as everything in his secret base disappeared without a trace, including the man himself." Shadow clenched his fist as everyone could feel his rising anger, which he made no attempt to hide before he calmed down suddenly, saying, "No matter. The executives are strong enough without that potion. Everybody, do you know why the entire Night Wing is gathered here today?"

The crowd in front of him remained silent, as though afraid to give the wrong answer. After all, the man in front of them is their leader, the Master of Night Wing, the mercenary dark guild. This man had killed many without batting an eyelid, a true assassin born and bred.

What made Shadow even scarier was his Enigma Ability that allowed him to bring large groups of people to his current location in the blink of an eye. If that wasn't good enough, he could also teleport to his desired location so long as certain conditions were fulfilled, which is a secret to all except the executives.

Shadow continued, "Today, we're going to fulfil the last, and the most dangerous task to our clients Miran. For the past few months we have been collecting information for them in darkness, but now, we strike at the very heart of our enemies in Nirvania.

Yes, we're going to find the legendary map left behind by General Stormfury's aide, the one who sealed the World Class weapon, [Catastrophe]! Once we get our hands on the map, we can retreat and hand the map over to Miran Z, the Special Operations branch of the Miran Army. They would settle the rest and we can escape to the Northern Wildlands where nobody would bother us."

Violet, a woman with black hair that flowed down below her shoulders who was the executive that appeared together with Shadow, asked, "To gather the entire guild…are our enemies that strong?"

Shadow replied, "The place we're looking through is Zion Academy. Even with Moon's [Stasis] that would keep most of them frozen in place, you can never be certain that the truly strong individuals there wouldn't resist. Not to mention that there are at least 2 Sage tier individuals present there. The old geezer Zilean and the Lightning Saint, Ray. Those 2 would be our greatest obstacles. That's why our pre-ops preparations are important. Psycho, are your minions ready?"

Psycho, who had messy white hair with dark eye bags replied with a disinterested tone, "Yes, I have them in position already. In fact, I also got 2 on standby against the Sylph King any time. Upon your instructions, I would let them loose against that monarch, which is the final part of our deal."

Shadow said, "Excellent. What about you, Violet? Are you done connecting the executives to the men with your ability?" Violet replied calmly, "Yes, I've at least connected the senior executives who are vital to your plans, boss."

Shadow answered, "Good. Minimally, I want Moon, Skull, Psycho and myself to be connected. Looks like we're all set to go. We shall attack Zion Academy at exactly a week from now at midnight sharp. Now, you all are dismissed to make your final preparations. I expect success and nothing less!" The crowd responded in unison, "Yes, Master!" before they dispersed as quickly as they had appeared.