Octo of the Bckwing never fully understood what hit her.

  When conflict erupted in Gongsan Port, the Bckwing had swooped in, aiming to requisition "assets" from their Curtis and Eleanor rivals. Those primary missions were accomplished. It should have been easy sailing to handle the stragglers and inflict damage upon the Searcher Association thereafter; despite its overall pointlessness, an opportunity to strike their scrambling enemies had been too tempting to pass up.

  So like wasps to flower, they sent a unit to hunt those personnel for blood and satisfaction; Hexto even accompanied the unit to turn this victory into a rout.

  But things immediately went wrong when the update returned: Massacre Princess had arrived out of nowhere and killed Hexto, then someone managed to sneak past Curtis’ force and torched every ship in the port.

  Terror stripped Octo's control bare in the darkness. The Bckwing commander's eight legs scraped against damp stone and webs, each movement betraying the fear she'd spent years burying. Four arms clutched around her body like a defensive cocoon while her eyes darted side-to-side, night vision searching desperately for hidden assassins. Cold mist leaked from her mandibles with each rapid breath. Death's shadow, a fear she'd thought long conquered, now stalked her every thought.

  A sound pierced the silence. Her legs trembled, each one alive to the slightest vibration. Water dripped from the cavern ceiling, each drop hammering against her heightened senses as the cave walls shuddered around her.

  Without warning, the ceiling cracked. A sphere of Aura burrowed through from above, connecting underground caves to harsh sunlight.

  Light framed Nuan Yulong as she descended through the opening, her presence filling the cave like a descending angel of death. Her lips curled into a child's eager smile at the sight of her prey.

  "Found you."

  Octo's legs moved before her mind could process fear. She scrambled backward, eight legs skittering across stone as her mandibles sprayed poisoned webbing toward Nuan. In the same fluid motion, she scaled the cave wall, every instinct screaming to escape the devastating counterattack she knew would follow.

  The retaliation came in one devastating stroke. Dragon Factor surged through Nuan's frame as Mana coalesced into a massive bde. Her swing carved through the cave wall, chiseling a line so deep into granite it left no room for escape. Octo's arsenal, formidable against lesser foes, meant nothing before an attack too vast to evade.

  Nuan's Aura shredded the poisoned web to nothing. Power rolled off her in waves, crushing stone to powder before obliterating Octo with casual devastation hiding an avanche of force. Death was instant; the spider commander became little more than a crimson smear of blood and broken chitin against the scarred wall.

  But before the Second Bride could savor her victory, sharp cracks raced across the cave walls like lightning. Her stomach dropped at the sound of trickling water. The cave system's walls, connected to the sea, buckled from her AURA BLADE's damage. A torrent of foaming waves burst through the failing wall, tackling the Dragon Scion off her feet.

  As the water swept her away, one thought surfaced through the chaos: she had vastly underestimated her own firepower.

  Saltwater flooded the caves, surging up through the hole she'd descended. The current swept Nuan against the freshly carved rim, where she hauled herself out, coughing brine and colpsing onto solid ground. Harsh sunlight stabbed at her eyes, making rest impossible even as she tried to catch her breath.

  Then blessed shade fell over her as two familiar figures blocked the sun.

  "How'd you find me?" Nuan managed between coughs.

  "You left quite the trail," Ciel said dryly. "Rows of crushed Bckwing troops, not to mention all those destroyed drones."

  "How'd you know it was me?"

  Xia let out a ugh. "Who else could have crushed them like that? Betty would be in tears if she saw what you did to those Magic Tower drones. She actually helped design some of those."

  Still dripping seawater, Nuan pushed herself up from the ground. "So what's next?"

  Ciel produced a handful of antenna-like diodes, his eyes gleaming with poorly concealed satisfaction. "We've got the drones handled. But Curtis' Military Police left us something more interesting."

  "The Military Police?" Nuan's eyes widened. "They're here too?"

  "Yes, and thanks to Xia's knowledge of Curtis' spycraft—"

  "How do you know their methods?" The Second Bride turned to the First, brow furrowed.

  "Standard protocol," Xia held up a cylindrical device. "Every La Louve learns the basics of Military Police security. These tubes self-destruct if tampered with, but each needs a specific code. Fortunately,--” a small smile pyed at her lips-- "I know the master code."

  The Dragon Scion leaned forward. "What did you find?"

  The Grand Marshall unrolled the captured intelligence. "We've got two situations. First, Hunter Westerna suspects Etaceh of smuggling experimental drones through Gongsan Port. That expins the Military Police presence." He paused, his expression darkening. "But the bigger threat is Bck Archangel Bruno. He's here."

  Xia and Nuan exchanged sharp looks.

  "Bruno?" Nuan's voice carried an edge of disbelief. "Those Searcher Association agents swore Octo was our biggest concern."

  "They likely wanted to avoid the political fallout of confronting one of Maximus's elite," Ciel said.

  A thunderous explosion cut through their discussion. They turned as one toward the mushroom cloud blooming over the harbor, debris raining through smoke-filled sky.

  Nuan's jaw tightened. "That's Bruno making his move. He'll try to capture those officials for leverage, secure passage out of the port." Her eyes narrowed at Ciel and Xia. "I assume you two are responsible for burning the ships?"

  "Remote-controlled mice-drones," Ciel said with a hint of pride.

  "Semantics," Nuan cut him off, already calcuting distances. "Yi Tong and Su won't st against Bruno. I need to move."

  "I'll handle this one," Xia said, a hint of eagerness breaking through her composed demeanor.

  Nuan's gaze flickered between Xia's barely contained excitement and Ciel's sudden interest in the distant horizon. Her eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

  "Well," Ciel shifted his weight, still avoiding direct eye contact, "someone needed to pnt interference diodes across the port. And I might have mentioned that weapon I've been crafting for her just finished its final treatment."

  Nuan watched Xia practically vibrating with anticipation and sighed.

  ---

  Hikari Seyfert didn't know her reinforcement was coming, and even if she had known it wouldn't change the situation much.

  Things truly took a turn for the worse after the Marshall's Dragon had left for an hour. Everyone was hashing out a deal with Yi Tong.

  "You know we cannot just give you a safe passage back to the North," said the First Prince. "You are here to spy on this nation."

  "Excuse me, milord," Vian's thinly veiled threat whispered in her singing voice. "But you don't want this to smear the retionship between the Yulong Empire and the North, will you?"

  Hikari observed the situation from her seat at the desk. It felt too disturbing to see everyone going back to their business after the smoke and fire of the vessels burning in port. But maybe those reactions should be expected; moaning and compining wouldn't bring back their ticket out of this port, leaving adapt and overcome as the only recourse. She knew Clooney and Vian had sent their men out secretly to find a way to escape this predicament.

  She sighed, doubting these spies would get their way. Things were getting too complicated. Due to Ciel's daredevil method, they had caught everyone completely unaware by arriving so early. Moreover, the burning of the port and the quick elimination of Hexto simply added to the Grand Marshall's momentum, and everyone knew it.

  The hot and humid climate of the sea didn't improve their patience either. Under these circumstances, Hikari could understand why Vian lied about Bruno: she wanted anyway to score a victory for her ego, and deceiving Nuan lent some credence to that.

  Unfortunately for everyone, bruised ego would be the st of their concern as a scream coming from outside shattered the tension.

  "Montgomery is attacking!"

  Light pierced the tent's roof, bringing with it a crushing weight which pressed down on everyone inside. Hikari recognized the sensation immediately: SANCTION. She'd seen Xia use this spell before, which meant she knew what came next.

  "Out of the camp now!" she shouted, already moving. "They'll follow with close combat. Fortify your positions!" She burst from the tent into blinding radiance, only to freeze at the sight before her: the combined forces of Eleanor and the Searcher Association crumbling before armored figures in bck, their defensive line shattering like gss.

  Something about the knights twisted her gut. Their presence felt wrong, like decay given form. Animal growls rumbled beneath their armor, punctuated by the wet sounds of their bck bdes ciming lives.

  One turned its crimson gaze on her. In a single bound, it closed the distance, bde wetted in red whistling down for her head. Hikari fought through SANCTION's suppression, thereby allowing her to counter with an Aura-enhanced punch through gritted teeth. Her fist connected solidly with its chest, sending a ring through the air, and did nothing.

  Refusing to yield, she channeled Bck Mana into her next strike.

  BLACK MAGIC RANK 2: SLAUGHTER

  The spell punched through the knight's torso, but still it came, reaching for her face with metallic fingers. Fear drove her final attack; another bst which took its head clean off. Only then did it sink to its knees, finally dying.

  But that was nothing compared to the greatest entrant of today.

  He came in white armor and bck cape, head shaved clean to gleaming bone. The Archangel carried himself like a gang leader rather than a holy knight, raw menace in every step. His scar-webbed chin split in a predator's grin as he waded through the carnage, bck-armored troops crushing resistance to paste while darkness gathered at his call.

  From the sky above Hikari saw the shadow expanded, preparing to crush them in the waterfall of pressing darkness.

  There was nothing she could do.