Inside the Main Banquet Hall,

Shouts riddled with intense panic and fear instantly filled the air, as the sudden explosion plunged the previously romantic evening into a scene of pure and utter chaos.

CRASH!

The sound of the explosion came from above, bringing with it a shower of ash and smoke as the roof crashed down onto the center of the floor meant for the couple's dance.

The once pristinely decorated overhead chandelier crashed and shattered into splinters which then flew in random directions, eventually causing different degrees of injuries to anyone in its range.

The now vacant roof allowed a gentle stream of silver moonlight to fall across the chaotic scene like a midnight curtain, bringing with it the twinkling of the stars which continued to persist in their beauty and enchanting radiance.

The cloud of smoke from the roof settled over the night sky like a misty veil, acting as a cover for the multiple silhouettes that had appeared around the now-opened roof at some point in time.

The figures of these mysterious assailants were both hazy and blurry, as their characteristics were perfectly obscured by the running cloud of smoke.

One observable detail of theirs was their unique dark vermilion robe, perfectly shrouding their entire body like a light armor of raging anger and blood.

Immediately one of the nobles spotted the unique robe his face instantly contorted in fear, as he pointed towards the roof with a trembling expression,

"Look towards the roof! That vermilion robe... It's the—the battle addicts from Bloody Independence!"

BOOM!

The noble's shout was immediately followed up by another round of explosions, this time coming from the four cardinal points within the estate villa.

The explosion instantly blasted open the inner walls, causing the curtains and other flammable materials to be instantly set ablaze.

Harsh plums of fire and smoke instantly overtook the entire mansion, drowning out the oxygen and causing all of the attendees to scramble away in panic and fear.

One of the overhead figures looked down upon the chaos with a measured gaze. The raging flames and the shouts of panic were perfectly reflected within his dark eyes, and his expression was of one struggling to suppress a heart of burning fury.

He slowly looked up at the moon before smiling in satisfaction, as if relishing the intense smell of ash, blood and smoke with all his heart.

A subordinate to his side walked up to him, his gaze also holding the same intense emotions of rage as his own. "Sir, do we make our move now?"

The man regarded as their leader kept his gaze on the sky, seemingly not pressed with urgency.

"Mmm... I suppose it's time for us to join the festivities." He looked back down at the scene. "We have about 5 minutes to spare, make it count."

"Yes sir!" The figures around him echoed in unison, before swiftly dispersing in different directions, leaving the leader with one person at both his sides.

He continued to stand there in silence, before taking off his hood to reveal a scar-riddled face.

"Now then... How about we see if the blood of a noble is any different to that of a commoner when spilled."

...

At the estate entrance a few moments before the first explosion.

Ne'em was currently walking back from his fifth routine check of the villa when suddenly he felt a vibrating tremor, as he noticed a pile of smoke rise up from the main estate building.

He had barely been able to stabilize himself before another round of explosions went off, causing the walls of the villa to cave in while setting the entire estate building on fire.

Ne'em's eyes behind his frames instantly squinted, as he was suddenly reminded of the warning Aamiya had brought to his notice a few moments prior.

Her revelation had come to pass!

'Damn it'.

Ne'em flung the book he was reading away before scurrying off to the main security post.

'I made sure to diligently patrol the villa for signs of anything unusual and I didn't notice anything until the explosions went off. That can only mean that either there is someone in the assaulting group who is capable of wielding supernatural abilities that can avoid detection or there was help from the inside.

'Damn it, I thought this was supposed to be an easy assignment!'

Ne'em slowly drew closer to the entrance of the main building, where he met the guards in a divided state of shock and confusion.

The sudden explosion seemed to also catch them off guard, as they were just now scurrying to find their way into the main building but were being thoroughly held off by the caved-in walls and columns of fire.

The captain of the security personnel noticed the incoming Ne'em and moved to intercept him, also blocking him from going into the building.

He regarded Ne'em with a scrutinizing gaze, before speaking out in a hoarsely threatening voice.

"Young man, who are you and why are you dressed in our uniform? I know every single member of the officers dispatched to this event today, and yours is an unusual face."

The officers around seemed to grasp the implications of what their captain was saying, causing them to draw their swords with vigilant expressions.

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Ne'em regarded all of this with a sigh, before discarding his disguise which then allowed his mercury-colored hair to smoothly drape down his shoulders.

He then pulled out his academy badge, pointing it to the guard captain while speaking in a formal tone.

"Apprentice Ne'em, freshman of White Helm Academy and member of the Fated Five commission group. We were posted to this event for our first class assignment, and are here to offer our services in this dilemma."

The group of officers were stunned, obviously not expecting a young Apprentice from the famed White Helm Academy to be mixed into their security team.

What was most shocking was the fact that they hadn't even noticed that a stranger was mixed into their group in the first place, causing them to reveal looks of embarrassment.

The captain directed a long gaze at his team, obviously expressing his displeasure. He then turned back to the young Sapphite in front of him, thoroughly inspecting his badge before returning it.

"It's a pleasure, young Apprentice. I'm Captain Edmund from the Estican Police Force and the one in charge of tonight's security. I assume that tip from before came from you?"

Ne'em acknowledged the claim, causing Captain Edmund's gaze to express his curiosity.

'With this young man being a freshman, he, as well as the other members of his group, should be no more than newly advanced Disciples. How come they were able to accurately foresee an event that could only be done by an official Apostle from the path of possibilities?

'Even Lady Joyce who is our official police diviner and Kismet Deacon wasn't able to predict anything going wrong today. Quite peculiar indeed.'

The captain calmly nodded to Ne'em, his expression becoming more comfortable. "What Echelon of Faith are you under?"

Ne'em adjusted the frames of his glasses before responding. "Echelon of Sapience, sir."

'So an intelligence boost huh? Not really helpful in this situation but a welcomed addition nonetheless.'

Captain Edmund hummed in acknowledgment, before turning back towards the burning building.

The smell of ash and smoke was very persistent in the air, causing Ne'em's gaze to become grave.

'I hope those 3—I mean 4, are safe in there.'

Ne'em surveyed the burning scene while walking up to the captain, the gears in his mind spinning while trying to analyze the nature of the attack.

The assailants moved to attack at the exact time the squad captain was on his scheduled break, perfectly cutting off the security team's access to the main building while stirring up the chaos needed for environmental and individual destabilization in one move.

This would not have been possible if they didn't have access to a wealth of information concerning the guard rotation and estate schematics, as well as receiving additional aid at a pivotal point from the inside.

All of this pointed to this being a meticulously planned assault rather than one for petty reasons like robbery or kidnapping, and it also meant that he and his teammates were currently in grave danger!

'Damnit... Isn't this a bit too extreme for a first assignment?'

Captain Edmund regarded Ne'em with a sudden pat on the back which served to ease his tense expression.

"You must be worried about your teammates who are trapped inside all of the chaos. There are skilled officers undercover among the attendees in the hall, so don't worry too much.

"They will surely be able to hold off any potential attackers until we find a way to break into the building. Right now we have to concentrate on putting out these flames, any thoughts?"

Ne'em observed the structure and size of the ablaze building, before rubbing his chin in contemplation.

He knew that there was nothing he could do for his teammates inside, so his main concern now had to be helping the officers find a way to break in. Emotions like fear and worry wouldn't do much to better the situation, so what he had to do was shelve such emotions while hoping for the success and safety of his teammates.

Ne'em's mercury-colored pupils swept across the entire estate multiple times, which then led to him releasing a long drawn-out sigh.

He couldn't come up with a swift way to breach such a large column of flames and the caved-in walls simultaneously with the tools they currently had on ground.

The only process he could come up with was transferring water from the garden's reservoir to the main entrance, which would at least help them solve the immediate fire problem but would still do nothing to address the issue of the caved-in walls.

Ne'em shared his ideas with Captain Edmund, before getting a sudden epiphany.

"Captain if you don't mind me asking, what Echelon of Faith are you? I'm sure the qualifications to being a police force captain and supervisor of this event would at least be for an Apostolic Deacon, right?"

Captain Edmund slowly nodded.

"Indeed, you are correct. I am an Apostolic Deacon from the Echelon of Ruination, a title officially known as an Arms Deacon."

Ne'em took a second to think about what he was taught in class.

Based on what he knew, the Echelon of Ruination was primarily based on the concepts of fire and war, meaning that there was a high chance that the captain was capable of resisting the flames.

This meant that he only had to think of a way to get through the caved walls, as having an official Apostle in the hall would alleviate a lot of hidden dangers as long as their attacker wasn't anyone too powerful.

Captain Edmund noticed Ne'em thoughtful gaze and could guess what he was thinking.

"Don't think too much, young Apprentice. My abilities are mainly centered around weapon synergy and creation, abilities that would do us no good in the present situation. Even though I do have some form of heat resistance, it is not strong enough to guarantee my survival in such raging hot flames.

"The best we can do right now is slowly put out the fire following that plan of yours. If we can do that on just the front path, I am confident of being able to blast the wall away with my strength alone. That I promise you."

'Seems like the captain's abilities primarily revolve around weapon crafting, utilization of weapons in general and a vast amount of brute strength.

'No wonder it is referred to as Arms Deacon. This would also explain why they have heat instead of total flame resistance, as a weapon craftsman only needs heat resistance to do his job well. This is a lot of valuable information, I'll make sure to inform Damien if we manage to get through tonight.'

All of a sudden, Ne'em felt an abrupt and unexpected chill creep up his spine as if he were a rabbit being observed by the fury of a jungle leopard.

He turned towards Captain Edmund and the other guards at his side, observing as they adopted a much more vigilant stance while clutching the weapons at their waist.

Four blurry figures suddenly flashed in front of them, their mere appearance plunging the immediate surroundings into a suffocating ambiance.

Ne'em struggled to catch his breath, as he could only watch as one of them flashed in front of one of the officers, plunging his dagger deep into his heart as bright crimson blood was spread all across the walkway.

Captain Edmund only managed to push Ne'em aside at the last second, with the latter watching as an arrow fizzled past his cheek, leaving him with a shallow cut that threatened to tear off half of his face.

This all happened in the blink of an eye, leaving Ne'em to only watch as more than half of the officers present were being brutally murdered in cold blood.

The murderous aura of their assailants cast an ethereal shade of red on the night sky, making it look as if the beautiful silver moon had descended into a fit of anger and disarray.

...

Elias and Damien swiftly made their way back into the main hall, trying their possible best to avoid the flames and fallen debris in their way.

The quick succession of the two explosions made the duo realize how dire the current situation was, causing them to simultaneously bolt in the same direction in silent accord.

They knew that they had to move fast as both the survival of their teammates as well as the success of their assignment rested on their ability to scope out the situation while preventing the upcoming assassination.

As they made their way through the smoke-filled corridors, a knife suddenly flew out towards them, moving silently through the smoke but with speeds beyond the human eye.

Elias swiftly noticed the incoming weapon, causing him to lunge toward Damien in an attempt to push him out of its path.

They both narrowly avoided the sudden attack, leaving them to turn towards the flight path of the knife as footsteps sounded out in front of them.

A haunting figure emerged from the smoke, wearing a vermilion robe while twirling a set of small knives in between her fingers.