“A trap, huh…” Lin Jiu said softly.
“…Yeah.” Ling Ling responded.
She had already guessed it.
Cradle wasn’t stupid enough to leave a Divine Relic in a facility that could be raided at any moment. If they hadn’t moved the Divine Relic, there was only one explanation:
They were doing it on purpose.
They deliberately leaked the intel, deliberately made the Countermeasures Section think this was a chance to seize the Divine Relic. And then they set up an inescapable net here, waiting for the Countermeasures Section’s most elite forces to walk right into it.
And Surtr—he was the one closing the trap.
“…Interesting.”
Ling Ling said that word for the third time.
Lin Jiu sighed.
“Sis.”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve said ‘interesting’ more than three times now.”
“…So?”
“So tonight is definitely going to turn into a mess.”
Ling Ling didn’t deny it.
She put down the binoculars and pulled the black mask from her waist. The matte surface didn’t reflect a shred of moonlight.
“Xiao Jiu.”
“I’m here.”
“Ready?”
Lin Jiu also took out her mask. Her expression was different from the gentle one she usually showed—there was a hint of madness in it.
“I’ve been ready for a long time, sis.”
Ling Ling pressed the mask onto her face.
The black material hugged the contours of her face, leaving only a pair of crimson eyes visible. Under the moonlight, they looked like a pair of crimson comets.
“Remember.” Her voice came from behind the mask, colder than usual. “Don’t get hung up on fighting. The target is the Divine Relic. Grab it and retreat.”
“Understood.”
“Also.”
“Huh?”
Ling Ling turned her head, those crimson eyes looking at her sister.
“Don’t get hurt.”
Lin Jiu was taken aback for a moment.
Then, the slightly mad expression under the mask softened back to its usual gentleness.
“You too, sis.”
Two small, black-clad figures leaped from the top of the abandoned office building, merging silently into the night.
The battle on the ground had already begun.
Artyom and Surtr’s fight was the first to break out.
Flame and Rigid Body clashed, sending shockwaves rippling across the open ground in front of the factory. Every swing of Surtr’s flame sword carved a molten trench several meters long into the ground, while Artyom simply raised his arm and blocked each blow with his forearm covered in Absolute Rigid Body.
Each collision, as the abilities repelled each other, exploded like a bomb between the two.
The shockwaves from the explosions kept pushing back the surrounding combatants, leaving a “death zone” about fifty meters in diameter between them. No one dared to get close—getting near meant being torn apart by the aftershocks.
The joint forces of the Countermeasures Section and the Defense Department were exchanging fire with Cradle’s ambushers. The light of activated abilities flickered across the night sky: fireballs, ice spikes, wind blades, rock spears—attacks of every attribute wove together into a gorgeous, deadly web.
Ishida Sanae was crouched behind an abandoned forklift, firing steadily with her standard-issue ability-powered pistol. Her ability was Aiming Correction, which made her bullets lock onto enemies like an aimbot in an FPS game—a very useful skill in a chaotic battle.
“Three on the left!” someone shouted.
She spun her gun and pulled the trigger three times. The bullets curved subtly through the air, precisely hitting the heads of three Cradle soldiers trying to flank them.
“Mio!” she called without turning her head. “Where are you?”
“Here.”
The voice came from her shadow.
Asakura Minori’s figure slowly rose from Ishida Sanae’s shadow—she was using Mimicry to imitate another Countermeasures Section member’s ability, Shadow Diving. She revealed her true form: her short, ash-gray hair covered in dust, her pale purple eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly.
Mio looked around and said worriedly, “This doesn’t look good. There are at least three times more Cradle operatives here than the intel said. It’s a blatant…”
“Trap.” Ishida Sanae finished her sentence. “We’re being outflanked.”
“Should we retreat?”
“Artyom is still fighting. Without his order, we can’t pull back.”
Asakura Minori bit her lip.
She looked toward the center of the death zone. Artyom and Surtr’s fight had reached a fever pitch. The flame sword strikes came one after another, fiercer each time, and while the Iron Wall’s defense was unbreakable, he was being suppressed and couldn’t counterattack.
Battles between S-ranks were never decided in a short time.
But Cradle could afford to drag things out—they couldn’t.
Because this was Cradle’s territory. No one knew how many more ambushers they had yet to reveal.
Just then—
A mysterious black figure flitted past the edge of everyone’s vision.
Asakura Minori’s head snapped up.
She saw it.
On the roof of the factory, there was a small black figure. She wore a tight black combat suit, a black mask that completely covered her face. The moonlight traced her slender silhouette, and her white hair fluttered gently in the night breeze.
Through the eyeholes of the mask, a pair of crimson eyes.
Those eyes—
Asakura Minori’s pupils contracted.
She had seen those eyes before.
In the Old School Building of Luter Academy.
On the blurred boundary of her memories.
In that blank space she couldn’t recall.
Bai Ye.
“Ishida-senpai!!!” Asakura Minori shouted.
Ishida Sanae followed her gaze and also saw the figure.
But before either of them could react—
The figure on the roof vanished.
Not moving, not jumping—truly “vanished.” Like night swallowed by daylight, soundless, traceless.
“Attention all units!” Ishida Sanae immediately called out on the Countermeasures Section’s communication channel. “Third party intervention! Repeat, third party intervention! Suspected codename: Bai Ye.”
The channel was silent for a second.
Then the Section Chief’s voice rang out: “Confirmed?”
“Confirmed.” Asakura Minori answered first, her voice trembling slightly. “I saw her. Characteristics: white hair, crimson eyes, wearing a black mask. It’s her. It’s definitely her.”
“…Damn it.”
The Section Chief rarely cursed.
“Attention all units, priority change. On the premise of ensuring the safety of the Divine Relic, you are permitted to approach and confirm Bai Ye’s identity. But—”
He paused.
“—do not engage. Repeat, do not engage. We need to know her objective.”
Asakura Minori tightened her grip on her gun.
Do not engage?
But her intuition was telling her—
Bai Ye showing up here definitely wasn’t just to “watch the show.” That bastard had to be here to stir the pot even further.
Thinking this, Mio let out a deep sigh. She wondered if she’d make it back alive tonight. If she’d known today’s mission would be this dangerous, she should have deleted the “study materials” on her computer before leaving the house.