The delicate breeze of the night once again caressed Rin's skin. However, she didn't appreciate it one bit. The coldness only served to irritate her further.

Her vision glued in front of her, she felt more and more nauseated. She had blood on her hand, literally and figuratively. The sight of Achille's lifeless corpse made her panic even more.

She was suffocating.

‘What is this? What is This!’ Her thought went upside down, unable to remain calm.

Her body soon followed suit, falling on the ground like a broken piece. She moved one of her two shaking hand on her chest at the research of more warmth, but it wasn't nearly enough. Her breathing continued to hasten as a result and she had a panic attack.

She saw her own reality crumbling before her very own eyes, no matter how much she didn't want it to. She saw the blood of the one she had killed without being able to escape.

“No. Nooo!” She screamed, cried but no one was there to listen to her.

She shook her head relentlessly in an attempt to find a way out. Her hand clenched so tightly that blood even emerged from it. Her body moved and tossed around so fiercely, it seemed like she was possessed by a demon.

And yet, nothing.

None of her action made her feel better. She still felt like she would explode at any moment.

She continued to pant even more hastily, threatening her own breakdown. Tears had already poured out of her eyes in an abundant manner. Things were going bad.

Things are bad.

Rin screamed at the top of her lung on the same ground her victim laid unto. She had survived but she didn't feel happy about it. She thought like it would have been better if she just gave up and quietly accepted her death.

Responding to that emotion, her sight shifted to her right hand, where here sword was placed. It felt oddly tempting at this very moment. She lifted it slowly, very slowly and placed it at her neck.

“Right, I can do this,” She pronounced like a broken record. Her eyes filled with insanity, she tightened her hold. “I can...... I can!”

However, she couldn't go through with it. Her trembling hand just couldn't go follow her order.

“...Of course not...” Rin murmured in a trembling voice. “I'm not.... that stupid.”

Her breathing finally calmed down a little. The sword limply fell on the ground with a loud thud.

Regaining a sense of reason, Rin rapidly took her phone from her pocket.

She was in a disarray total and couldn't think straight anymore. That's why, she needed something, someone to help her stabilize . And the first person that came to her mind was—

[You know, why do you have the right to call me at night when you always scold me if I do so?]

—a certain orange haired girl.

“Celia...” Rin responded in a shaky voice.

[...Rin?] Immediately sensing the anomaly, the girl sounded worried. [Are you alright?]

“Please, help me.” The black haired girl pleaded in a desperate tone. “I.... I don't know what to do anymore.”

[W-what are you talking about?] The other girl continued to ask, panicking ever so slightly.

“Please, just... come back.” Unable to respond to the question, Rin barely transmitted.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Confusion first assaulted Celia making her stay silent for a second. However, the desperate plea for help was enough for her to instantly make her decision.

[Okay, I'm coming back!]

◇

Music escalated at an insane degree of noise but, no one seemed to care. In fact, the crowd of people was pleased with it. They were dancing, drinking and doing whatever else a nightclub allowed them to. They were having fun.

No one seemed to care about anything that was happening outside, and just decided to let everything loosed on this not-so-special night. Unfortunately, luck was already out of stock and something banged hard on their little world.

No, not 'something', someone. All the music instantly shut down as a loud breaking noise smashed through the roof and destroyed the system. The frail corps of a girl entered everyone's sight and violently crashed in the middle of the room.

A small cloud of dust rose, accentuating the silhouette of the person. She had a fluffy looking tails and a pair of cute small ears which attracted most of the crowd. However, her next action and words shook off her impression of a small fragile animal.

“I hate that woman!!” Igris shouted, her claw and fang protruded for all to see. “I hate her so much!!”

Her ‘feral beast’ aura soon enveloped the entire area, effectively sending all previous noise to total stillness. Right this moment, the white haired girl became the center of the nightclub. On the contrary, though, she didn't seem to put any of the people present in her eyes at all.

The blond woman called Ursa was plaguing her every thought. She didn't think anyone could go under her skin this much. It was surreal how her impression of the woman got down to ‘sickly insane person’ in just thirty minutes after their first encounter.

“Grrrr!” Growling with anger, she quickly regained her stable footing.

Then, not wanting to test her patience any further, she put all her strength into her feet. “Just you wait!!” She screamed loudly, before leaping into the sky. A vast, bestial shockwave ensued as a result, damaging the ground even more.

She had disappeared without letting to anyone the chance to speak.

◇

*Cough* Crashing a mouthful of blood, Ursa breathed heavily. “She pack quite the punch, doesn't she?” She said, wiping the trail of red lid liquid off her face. “I haven't had this much fun in a while.”

Ursa couldn't help but smile as she heard the loud curse of her opponent. She found it a little cute even with so much anger behind it. In fact, she considered everything the white girl did to be cute.

“I think I've fallen in love.” She expressed in a joyful manner.

Rarely had she ever liked someone this much. From the amazingly fluffy tail to the tiny adorable fox ears, Ursa had been completely charmed. Adding to that the surprisingly fierce nature and the abnormally powerful power, she just couldn't resist.

“Alright!” The blond woman slapped her own cheek and steeled her resolve. “I'm gonna do my best!”

With a fierce determination, she had decided to ask the girl to be her lov— maybe not, I don't want to be rejected instantly. —to be her friend. Only for now at least.

“I'm going to slowly make my way from friend to best friend and then finally—” A creepy laugh escaped from her mouth as she began to fantasize. “—To master!!” Inadvertently, a new trail of blood flowed on her face, but this time, it was from her nose.

Anyone who could see her right now, would vehemently avoid approaching her. She was way too shady. Plus, her words and voice were too unsettling to be normal. Ursa, however, couldn't care less about what other people thought of her and continued her.... lewd phantasm.

“—hm?” She was, however, regrettably obliged to stop when her instinct picked something. It wasn't in her vicinity of course, and it wasn't even a danger per se. It was, instead, in the direction of Rin's house.

“My sixth sense is telling me that Rin is...” Ursa thought while fooling around a little. “Crying? Maybe I should go see her.”

With a curious expression, she carefully looked at her friend's direction. She knew Rin was a strong girl, and that's exactly why she was surprised to sense a sign of distress from there.

Ursa wasn't stupid. She may do incomprehensible and rash things at times, and she may also act without thinking on others but she wasn't (completely) stupid. She knew something was happening.

Igris had come to kill her out of nowhere (which she was grateful about by the way), so it wasn't impossible that the other member of unchained were attacked as well. The problem is, few should be aware that Rin had became one of their member at this point in time.

She should be fine, unless some kind of powerful organization was the perpetrator. In which case, things would get more complicated.

“Be that as it may, though,” Ursa returned her gaze in front of her, feeling an angry girl approaching. “My date with little fox comes first!”

On cue with her statement, the soil she was looking at violently exploded. Igris had landed into it with incredible strength.

“I'm going to kill you!!” The beastwoman shouted the same reply yet again.

“Come! I'm ready whenever you are, little fox.” Ursa responded, always with her joyful smile. “But first, can you tell me your name?”

◇

“You know, I'd seen a fair share of crazy things in this line of work.” Aiden spoke with a dumbfounded expression. “And I can assure you, this ought to be the craziest one of them.”

His back was facing his current opponent, showing his lack of caution. Nevertheless, it wasn't unwarranted. The sight in his vision was so unreal, he couldn't help putting all his attention to it.

Fortunately, the bald man seemed to have the decency to wait for him. Of course it wasn't out of goodwill or of respect, he too, although not as much as Aiden, was a little amazed by the scene. He had expected something big to back him up, but not this big.

“How the heck are you controlling that thing?” Aiden asked, genuinely wanting an answer. “Don't tell me that's your singularity?”

The thing the two of them were looking at was an abomination. A literal monster that easily measured five times their own height. It didn't have any horn nor any wings but it wasn't any less terrifying.

It's disgusting yellow teeth was displayed for all to see, making one imagine the foul smell it must had. It's big, massive and muscular body made one shudder out of revulsion and out of fear.

The thing, obviously, didn't present itself, however, a name had already resounded inside all the people present. An orc. A creature told in all manner inside fictions, games and novel book. Though, if the description in those were to be taken as the standard, this one was two times more terrifying than normal.

“Unfortunately, it isn't.” The bald man responded to the question. “I'm not the one controlling that thing.”

Aiden remained silent in his observation. Evidently, that kind of answer wasn't satisfying in the least. So, in an attempt to find out more, he further focused his attention on the creature, and most importantly, its surrounding. Yet, he couldn't find what he was searching for.

There was no ‘Rift’. He couldn't even find any sign of one having appeared somewhere.

‘From where did that monster come from, then?’ Aiden's confusion increased.

Nevertheless, time was up. He couldn't ignore the bald man any more than this. Moreover, he couldn't waste the one on one opportunity that Stone and Flame had given him. At this very moment, they were the one that maintained the orc in check.

Aiden believed in them, of course, but it couldn't hurt if he came to their help a little sooner.

“Well, let's get this over with quickly.” He said with arrogance, finally turning around to face his opponent.

He crackled his hand into a fist and smiled, waiting patiently before moving into motion. The bald man did the same, not losing an inch in term of arrogance.

A shockwave rapidly ensued, signaling the beginning of their fight.