Haruo landed on the ground lightly; Heavy smoke filled the air around him, and many civilians were dying at the hands of terrorists left and right. His expression remained firm, whilst he observed his surroundings more carefully.
He diverted his gaze toward the window that he exited from and gave a nod to Leo. After receiving his signal, he followed after him and dropped from the building.
One by one, they all dropped until finally—Isaac, while carrying Rocky—left the building entirely.
One of the terrorist raised their weapons at Haruo, but he barely acknowledged their attack. Just when he was about to make contact, his center of gravity failed him and slid off to the side.
His top half had been cut cleanly by Ena and slid under his own weight. His blood excessively flooded below their feet, slowly spreading everywhere.
After dealing with him, Haruo carefully and steadily led them as he walked. The division watched as civilians were slaughtered around them.
Leo's eyes illuminated in the orange hue, his expression more serious than it had ever been.
No one could see them, but they could. He watched a lady getting harassed by a man in the distance. He gritted his teeth, pointing his index finger toward him before the man burst into flames.
Ena also followed her lead and made many of the terrorists have their blood slowly leak out of every part of their bodies. Clenching her fist on the handle of her blades.
Rocky closed his eyes while he covered his ears. Deafening explosions destroyed one of his eardrums, and his hands shivered; trying to fight the urge to make it fall limp.
"Aren't you going to help them!? You said that you were going to help!"
Haruo discontinued on his tracks before turning to look over his shoulder. Rocky and Haruo's eyes met, and just as they did, Rocky felt his lungs giving out.
"We agreed that we'd help you, not them. And if I remembered correctly, you were talking to a man who had a similar cloak to the terrorists."
Rocky's eyes collected dust from the nearby debris. Yet he didn't blink or step away from his gaze; he felt that his life was endangered despite knowing he wasn't going to hurt him.
"So you're just going to let them die!? You might not have been in place for too long, but it's still a place where people can live their lives!"
He diverted his attention to each member, trying to find some bit of sympathy or empathy, but they looked away as he did.
He was helpless, realizing this, he could only bite his lip until it bled.
Haruo continued forward, but as he turned his head forward, he saw a blade inches away from his face. Theodor grabbed Haruo by his shoulder and deflected it before it could land.
The entire division was alarmed and took a glance at who threw it. A familiar build stood in front of them, his eyes as sharp as when they first met.
It was the man in the cloak; He saw through the illusion that Leo had made. Ena charged forward, her speed sung through the air, placing her blade next to his neck.
The man easily dodged, ducking under, making his cloak flail backward, revealing his face to the division. His hair was as dark as obsidian, while his amethyst eyes reflected the sun that enhanced his glare toward Ena.
He was still in his early twenties, about twenty-four or twenty-five
Their eyes met for a moment, studying each other and anticipating their next movement.
The man placed his hand on the ground while he steadily shifted his weight to his lower half. Ena reacted quickly and prepared an attack that could stop his kick.
Her blade tore a small part of his cargo pants, but before her blade could make contact with his skin, his body shot up towards her.
She managed to dodge just in time before they could crash. The man charged his blade and shot it toward Ena; Her body was still faced to the ground there wasn't enough time for her to dodge.
The sound of metal colliding was heard through the neighborhood.
Ena blocked the attack by grabbing the hidden blades in her clothes and pressing her own blade flatly, allowing her to distribute the force through her whole body and not just her palm.
She also had her other hand planted on the ground to keep her balance when she received the attack.
Haruo and Theodor jumped in, covering both his flanks. The man held his blade more firmly, pushing his blade on Ena's, allowing him to redirect his weight forward like he was pole vaulting.
Not a second later, he was teleported back to his original position. He couldn't dodge this time; their blades struck him, but not in any near vital points. He flexed his body as much as he could to avoid any real injury.
Tentacles made of blood got a hold of the man, and the man's eyes lit up slightly. The tentacles then returned to a liquid state and dropped to the ground.
He grabbed the handle of Theodor's spear despite its metal still being lodged inside him. He forcibly took it off while simultaneously hitting Theodor in his abdomen using the end of the handle.
Haruo stepped back without removing his blade from the man's side before kicking it in the handle to drive the blade deeper into his flesh. He continued by sending a punch to his face.
Before the man could block it, he faded from his vision and reappeared below him, preparing for an uppercut. The force knocked the man flying into the roof of a building.
He stood up, his mouth leaking with blood. He wiped it off before he held on to one of his wounds to keep it from severely bleeding. The man gave a disdainful look as he vanished into thin air.
Haruo took a careful glance, then turned his head to the other three.
"Did you do that?" He asked.
"Haha, yeah! he really thought you were going to punch him." Leo chuckled. "Though maybe you should've punched him so he wouldn't have escaped."
Haruo sighed. "I didn't think he'd just disappear like that. Let's relocate, it's not safe here while that bastard is near."
The division continued forward. Ena carefully darted through the area the man had previously; she scoffed before continuing with division.
***
For about the rest of the day, reinforcements arrived and drove off most of the terrorists, while some were either killed in cold blood or arrested and taken into custody by the royal guards.
News spread barely even twenty minutes after the intrusion; most of the city had already heard. Many people ran to the entertainment section and tried to find their families who worked there.
Nearly five thousand were presumed dead, and the majority were heavily injured. Hundreds of thousands worth of property damage after the terrorist attack.
Many cried, and some were enraged, complaining about how the security and the safety of people weren't maintained properly. Slowly, people started to agree on their remarks, which started a protest near the entrance of the section.
The division, on the other hand, followed Rocky to his apartment. It took longer than anticipated; it took about three hours to get there, longer than when they had to go to the entertainment section.
And to no surprise, it also looked run down.
Many people ran past them on their way, so many to the point even Rocky was getting pushed aside by their shoulders as they passed. But the division really thought about it; they easily dodged all of them.
They followed him to a flight of stairs on the 5th floor. Then he paused, his face lining up with the door; they had finally made it.
They welcomed themselves and studied his home. The siblings and Leo felt foreign in such a small house. The walls were narrow, smaller than the halls they had in their manor.
Designs were plain and had no intricate designs, with multiple pieces of the furniture being plastic and cramped all over the place. They spotted many stains where most people wouldn't, due to their being average.
But these three had never been in place like this. Yes, they might've gone camping a few times and slept in an airship, but camping is a necessity and skill most nobles achieve.
While Ren's airship wasn't exactly as fancy as a manor, the rooms were spacious and clean like a five-star hotel would be.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
Ena said after taking off both of her shoes. Isaac, however, tilted his head—wondering what Ena meant by her comment.
"Oh, sorry, you guys must be hungry. I'll cook up some instant noodles real quick."
Rocky swiftly made his way to the kitchen, which was next to the entrance. He searched through his four cabinets that hung on the top, searching for a pack or some in a cup.
"Oh, make yourself at home while I prepare."
The semi-pures studied everything left to right; they had never seen so much furniture cramped into a singular space. A sofa was moved near the wall while a table was in front of it.
Parallel to the sofa was a TV on the other side, placed on top of a TV cabinet. Haruo sat on it while pressing the remote.
"People still use television these days? Not to mention it's not even the newer versions."
Ena sat next to Haruo while he changed the channel. The trio was still in awe of the place and was still standing, while Isaac sat on the floor with his feet under the table.
"You guys should really sit down. We've been walking for hours."
Isaac reminded, tapping on the floor, gesturing for the three to sit and rest. It had been a long day, many things had occurred, and it had been day one since the mission had commenced.
They even had to fight; most of them never expected an accident to take place, especially started fighting immediately. They had expected that in five days or so, they would start to get to the chaotic part.
But they learned that, despite being an easy mission in the long run, there is bound to be an accident or an event that can't be anticipated, no matter what. So they dropped their shoulders a bit and took a quiet breath to themselves.
Theodor sat beside Isaac, while Tatiana sat beside Ena, with Leo following her side.
Just as they let go of their stiffness, Rocky joined the division with six cups of instant noodles in a tray. He handed one of them to each. They then transferred themselves to the floor next to Isaac and Theodor.
But as Rocky began counting properly, he realized he hadn't made one of himself. He scratched the back of his head before he let out a sigh.
"I forgot to make one for myself."
"You can have mine if you want. I'm cool with not eating dinner."
Isaac said, sliding his cup on the table.
"No, I can't. You're my guests, so it wouldn't be polite if I didn't give you food. But if you really insist, I could just do this."
He grabbed Isaac's cup and placed both of his palms on each side. Slowly, the cup began to stretch unnaturally, splitting into two.
His palms were separated and occupied by two cups; he slid one back to Isaac.
"I thought you had no ability?" Isaac said, asking for confirmation.
"Well, yeah, I don't have one. I'm just using a skill of mine, it's the same one I use in my tricks."
"How come you aren't famous then? By now, you could do many things with that skill as a magician."
"It's really exhausting, it takes a lot of mental imagery and precision—not to mention mana consumption. So I only use it on cards and tiny objects most of the time."
Time had passed, and all of them had eaten their fill; each of them was assigned rooms again.
Haruo was outside the balcony, just outside the living room. The scenery there gave him a lot of places to view, despite being limited.
The window slid open behind him, before the person closed it as they exited. They went by Haruo's side and absorbed the scenery presented.
"It's late, you should sleep; there's going to be work tomorrow. Or is there something you want to know, Ena?"
He turned his head to her eyes; her eyes showed vulnerability while still being firm.
"Do you not trust me?"
Haruo sighed. He already knew where the conversation was headed, only by hearing those words.
"I might be a sore to be with, but I'm not dumb or unreliable. So why aren't you telling me our true objective yet!?"
She didn't raise her voice, yet it felt powerful. During their time together, this was the first time he felt resolution from her without her yelling it.
"Sure, I'm a mess when it comes to things, but I take things seriously when needed!"
"If I had to choose who to trust first in the entire division, it'd be you. Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"
Her brows furrowed.
"Then why!? Why aren't you telling me!''
"What about you? Do you trust me?"
"Wha—" She was about to say something, but saw his serious expression. "Yes, I do, that's a given..."
"Then just know I'm keeping it a secret for your own sake."
Haruo didn't hesitate when he said that statement; she knew fighting it would be pointless and remained quiet.
Haruo slid the window open and entered back in the apartment.
Ena clenched her fist as she saw him walking away.
"Liar."