Silence.

A day has passed since Rin arrived in Talia city and the mass evacuation was already finished. No one was present anymore. At least, not on the road nor inside building. The city was left completely desert.

Wind passed by unhindered by anyone, making an oddly distinct sound. All sort of small noise could now be heard clearly due to the lack of people, and therefore, the lack of human talk.

Everything pointed at the city being a ghost town.

Fortunately, however, the reality was far from that, and whether they liked it or not there were people bound to stay in the city. Partly to verify that no citizens were left behind by some kind of misfortune and mainly to fulfill their duty.

“Man, it's so quiet.” Someone spoke, looking around himself. “I wouldn't like to patrol here at night.”

We are, of course, talking about Ark's Elite. And in this specific case, there were two of them, fully equipped, and talking about nothing in particular while lazily looking at the deserted city.

“Yeah, I can relate to that.” Someone else answered the previous man. “It's kinda funny don't you think? That we're a little more afraid of an imaginary ghost than an actual monster.”

“Hahaha, now that you say it.”

The two men continued to chat idly while slowly marching ahead to perform their 'patrol'. They were carefree, not thinking in the least that something out of the ordinary would happen. Not today, at the very least.

That was why they didn't remark that they were followed by a certain black-haired girl.

She was just a meter away behind them, drinking a can of fruit juice she obtained from a vending machine. Yet for some reason, the two men didn't sense her presence at all. How?

She was just so quiet. All of her movements were controlled, from the way she marched to her breathing. The girl perfectly matched herself to the men, successfully masking her presence.

And despite that, her motion remained fluid and seemed normal, almost leisurely even. If one didn't know any better, the girl appeared to be the perfect fit for an assassin. If for some reason she decided to attack, surely, no one would see it coming.

Fortunately, after a few more minutes, she turned around and left the two men to discard her juice can with only a sigh of exasperation. Her facial expression indicated her disappointment.

‘No new information, huh.’ Rin said, shoulder slumped after her pseudo-spy-like action. ‘At least, I can control my presence a little more.’

She heaved another sigh after the two men got out of sight and bent her head upward to look at the vast blue sky. She stretched her two hands a little to confirm she was wide awake and to take more of the pleasant breeze that came her way.

A yawn threatened to escape her mouth before someone suddenly talked behind her.

“You have to teach me how to do that,” Winter said, weirdly excited after appearing out of nowhere.

“...Do what?”

“What you did earlier!” She continued, a little too loud for Rin's taste. “Making your presence disappear like that.”

The black-haired girl side glanced at the grey-haired one for a second, seeming to assess the request.

“Well, I won't deny it's a useful trick.” She said, reminiscing a little. “It helped me sneak out of class when it was too boring, and even permitted me to escape the many, many stalk— follower that I had over the years,”

“...That sounds like an eventful life you had there.” Winter couldn't help but comment, her excitement dampening a little.

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“But, you don't need to learn that when you can literally turn invisible yourself.” Rin inquired, her face confronting Winter's. “I really want to know what kind of singularity have this many abilities, Winter. First, you show me the future, and now you use some kind of refraction to make yourself disappear.

“Moreover, just the other day, you used some kind of other power to help me survive that mortal fall....” Rin cited with her hand stretched until a sudden memory came back to her. “Wait, speaking of that fall, what happened—what did you do to that bald man.”

With a load of sweat on her forehead, Winter thanked god to have diverted Rin from her singularity. “O-oh, him,” And with bad acting, she told the girl of the man's current whereabouts.

◇

“Mmmm,” Ursa tilted her head to the side in a questioning way. “So, what do we do with this guy?”

“Just leave him be for now,” Aiden responded while opening the door of a certain fridge. “We'll question him later, so let me procrastinate for a while longer.”

“It's not like I'm against that, but,” Ursa replied, poking a certain shiny bald head. “Every time he wakes up, he becomes really annoying.”

The blonde retracted her hand to continue sipping her favorite can of beer while begging Aiden to find a solution. After all, rendering the bald man unconscious every time he opens his eyes wasn't something she was willing to do any more than necessary.

“...How'd he come here, anyway?” Aiden asked back, not wanting to think of anything complicated.

He took out a single pot of yogurt from the fridge before closing it delicately. He then turned around to find the perfect canopy to sit and eat on. With a smile on his face, he decided on a chair that was placed near a window.

“Beats me.” Ursa stood up and advanced to the canopy that was placed in front of a T.V. “He didn't even bring Rin back with him.”

“I have a better question for you two.” Stone said from the same canopy Ursa wanted to sit on. “Why are we here?”

Aiden and the blonde returned quiet from the question and focused on eating and drinking their respective yogurt and beer. With a 'hop' she sat near Stone with guilty, unfocused eyes.

“W-well, since Rin has gone on an unknown field trip, isn't it normal for us, her loyal, undying friends, to safeguard her house?” Ursa said as an excuse.

“If we were her friends, we would be searching for her right now.” Stone flatly answered, his eyes focused on the T.V.

“Guh! But that's such a hassl— I mean, we don't even know where she is.”

Fed up, the bulky man refrained from saying ‘we could ask that bald man’, pertinently knowing that it would be pointless. Moreover, he, too, wasn't keen on going to search for Rin.

Ark being on high alert with them was one thing but for some reason, his instinct told him not to do so. Trouble is the only thing that'll come out of it, or so he believed. Plus, their assailant and the culprit for Rin's disappearance was with them, which meant the girl wasn't in any immediate danger. He hoped, at least.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Stone,” Aiden finished his yummy yogurt with a sigh. “You don't have to worry about Rin. My link with her is still intact so she still has access to my upgrade. This also means that she isn't that far away. I'll wager a guess that she's around the vicinity of Talia or something.”

“That's right!” Ursa exclaimed, following up. “She can go back here on her own. And when she does, we'll be welcoming her with a surprise party!”

“Take a page out of Flame's book, will you.” Aiden continued. “Look at the man, he's already sleeping on one of the many, many beds in this house.”

Stone didn't say anything and just looked at the news on the T.V. Naturally he knew Rin could take care of herself and that she's not really one that needs help. Still, he also knew that danger tends to approach those of the underworld. And what happened the last night was clear proof of that.

[...We have now confirmed the complete evacuation of Talia city's citizens...]

And sure enough, that single phrase rang loudly in the ears of the three members of unchained like a warning.

Trouble was going to come, and fate deliberately wished for one of their members to be at its center. They couldn't stay idle anymore. They may be criminals but they weren't as cruel as to leave one of their friends in danger like that.

A team needs to be there for one another. One for all and all for one, or so the saying goes. They, at least, had the honor of respecting that code—

“We didn't hear anything, okay?”

—Or not.

A team that finished mourning the death of a comrade in just one night was bound to be a cruel one. Though in this case, they were lazier than anything.

◇

“...Checkmate.” A little, black-haired girl said in a somewhat, indistinguishable proud manner.

“Guh!” Responding to her was a girl with blue-colored hair arranged in a ponytail. “Why are you so good at this, Raven?”

In the middle of the two females laid a chessboard filled with chess pieces. At one glance, one could see the overwhelming defeat of the white, reminiscing of a kid having fought an adult. And the fun part is that Raven was younger than Lia.

“Training.” The little one briefly answered, still proud of herself.

Lia, on the other side, just let out a sigh of resignation at the difference in strength. No, perhaps, in this case, it was more of a difference in wisdom than anything else. Nevertheless, the taller girl couldn't help but pout.

“Bullying a newby is unfair, you know?” She said, trying to stand her ground.

Raven, however didn't pay it any mind and instead, continued to rearrange the chess pieces on the board. It seemed like she wanted to play more, to Lia's dismay, unfortunately.

And yet, it wasn't like the two different girls knew each other that much. They had only met for the first time around one month or so ago. And their knowledge about the other could be resumed in the vague word of acquaintance.

Lia was sent on the Gram continent by the Holder Family as a backup for the Atlas Family, while Raven was sent by Ark's mainland for a similar reason. In short, it was the wonderful work of coincidence that made the two of them work together.

However, from just the atmosphere they emitted, it was apparent they wouldn't mind being friends. Especially Lia, who despite having a less than favorable introduction to chess, still wanted to play to make Raven happy.

—Or it may be because she doesn't like losing. Who knows.

“...The city is really quiet now, isn't it?” Lia stroke up a conversation while waiting for the game to begin.

The two girls were currently on the rooftop of a small building, enjoying the calm wind caressing their skin.

“It's really hard to imagine something bad is going to happen.” She continued, her hand stretched upward.

The oracle had predicted it, so it would be happening. However, the peaceful vibe that the city gave didn't help anyone understand the gravity of the situation. And that didn't only include Lia and Raven. Every Elite that was dispatched in this town couldn't grasp the dangerousness of the monster that was to come.

“Worrying is...” Raven stared at the blue girl for a moment. “...pointless.”

Lia let out a small chuckle at that. “You're right. If I get nervous now, things will only get worse.”

The older girl decided to only focus on the present time. ‘Whatever happens tomorrow, I'll deal with it then.’ -or so she thought. And believe it or not, right now, she also needed to face a dreadfully skilled chess player. To even hope to win, she couldn't be filled with needless worry.

As the strongest Elite present in the city, Lia and Raven couldn't afford to show weakness. They needed to emit hope to those that'll face the same threat as them.

Because if they lose here, doom will prevail.