“Target number acquired.” A human voice said.

Shrouded in the slightly darker shade of the setting sun, four silhouette could be spotted.

“Target location confirmed.” The same voice continued.

A floating screen, showing the names and location of 6 different people, faced them.

“Maximum time limit: the whole night.”

The four figure each remembered the location of their assigned target.

“Failure result in death.”

On cue with these cold words, all of the people disappeared out of sight leaving only the voice behind.

◇

The cold breeze of the night enveloped the area. The presence of people slowly disappeared from the street. ‘Sleeping hour’ or so you might call it. The most younger one as well as the fatigued adult already went to bed. While the remaining one stayed at their respective home, enjoying the peaceful silence.

Among such person was Rin. She was sitting in her living room, light on, scrutinizing a small object. No one apart her was present which further increased her concentration.

Placed in the small table in front of her was the ‘nano-mask' she has bought recently. She had decomposed it entirely to try and comprehend its functioning. Or at least she tried. Unfortunately, even for Rin, it had seemed to be too difficult.

“This is complex.” The girl said grudgingly.

Nanotechnology. A fascinating discovery only found and employed five years ago. Currently, it was still in the phase of experimentation and only a few object can be accessed by the general public.

As such, the nano-mask Rin had acquired was of exceptional value. In fact, it had costed practically all of the girl's personal assets (a really huge amount). Thankfully though, she didn't need to pay any of it as she used Diaz's money card.

“I guess I need a more profound knowledge before comprehending this.”

Rin concluded, reconstructing the mask to its original state. She passed the past two hour studying the thing only to know that she still couldn't understand it. An extremely complicated system was backing the nano object. A system that seemed like foreign language to Rin. Even though she can talk more than 6 different languages right now.

*Sigh*

Mentally tired, the girl leaned against the canopy. She slowly glanced at a nearby clock. 10 p.m.

“Where did Ursa go again?” Exasperated, the girl closed her eyes.

It has been five days since the black market incident, and ever since then the blond woman would always return very, very late at night. Despite it not being her house and that she was just freeloading.

‘Shameless’ described her perfectly. Nevertheless, Rin was already used to it. Not that that meant it was okay.

“Maybe I should kick her out.” The black haired girl thought, seriously pondering about it.

It was at that precise moment that Rin felt it. An immense wave of killing intent directed at her. Her eyes shot open instantly, looking in the direction of the threat.

She couldn't see it. The wall of her house blocked her view. However, she could sense it. Someone was there waiting for her. And that someone wanted to kill her.

◇

On the roof of a certain building, someone was sighing loudly. He had azure colored spiky hair, and was aimlessly looking at the night sky.

Yes, it was Edward Warray.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, criminal (mainly those on unchained's caliber) had way too much free time. So long as they reach a certain quota of money, they generally leaved to do things on their own.

In such case, they would fool around and waste away the money they had gained. Doing things that please them while still making sure to lay low on the radar.

Though, presently, Ed wasn't wasting his money but his time.

“...”

The man didn't say anything and just stayed focused on his thought. He placed his back on the ground making himself comfortable.

Plaguing his mind was the last fight he had against Ark's Elite. Frankly speaking, that fight was a lucky win. He remembered his fight against the rank III Elite on the third floor. He had managed to win yet he didn't feel like he could pull such a feat again.

The elements of surprise, the rising tension, the non-elite bystander inside the building and many other factor had led to the man's victory. Or at least that's what he believed. In fact, were it not for Ursa's timely intervention, he and Rin would have surely lost against the blue haired girl on the second floor.

Edward was a power freak. He was a person that valued strength greatly. That was why he had accepted Aiden's deal. That was why he accepted to be upgraded. In a way, he was similar to Rin.

“...Damn it.” He cursed, clenching his fist upward.

However, even now he felt powerless. Aiden's singularity was a strong one but it wasn't omnipotent. It had many restriction and backlash. And the one Ed hated the most among them was the power limit.

Certainly, he was stronger now than when he was still a normal human, but, in exchange, this became his limit. Ed could never grow stronger than this.

[Your ‘upgraded self’ is your maximum limit. You can't go beyond it.]

A deep frown formed on the man's face. These words represented the fatal difference between him and a true ‘Elite’. And unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it.

“Damn it.” He repeated once more.

The image of a certain girl crossed his mind for a second. For some strange reason, Ed felt like Rin wouldn't have this problem. He hadn't known her that much (nor does he want to) but he knew that she was different from him.

Stopping his train of thought, Edward stood back up. Dusting his clothes off, he glanced at the grand city one last time. Then, he slowly advanced toward the edge of the building, wondering about where to sleep this night.

Sadly, the presence of the person behind him marked the beginning of his sleepless night.

◇

“Hahahahahahaha!” One woman laughed madly inside a certain shop.

Myriad was a big city. Which meant, it, of course, had a nightclub. Many of them, even. And in one of the most particularly big one, was Ursa playing crazy.

Among the crowd and the incessant music, she was screaming and dancing. She was as drunk as can be. She probably hadn't any cognitive power anymore.

This was how Ursa spent her night (or perhaps even her day). She had obtained her part of the money from the previous raid, and she wasted them all in this kind of places.

She knew this wasn't a healthy way of life. But, frankly, she couldn't care any less. It was fun and that was enough reason.

Ursa was that kind of person. All of her action wasn't based in determination nor was it in fear. She acted based on fun. If something was fun she would do it. Conversely, if it wasn't, she wouldn't lift a finger.

Of course, sometimes she would be obliged to do, um... things. And in these case, all her effort would be concentrated on making things fun. A most recent example would be the destruction of Ark's HQ.

Because she was bored at that time, she placed makeshift bomb in the building's weakspot. Furthermore, she even went as far as manually destroying the core pillar of the architecture.

She clearly didn't have to do those. She could have found a less destructive solution for the team to escape.

Would that have been fun, though? Nope.

Aiden's lecture about it still rang in her ears. Yet, she didn't regret her action. She was proud of it.

Again, this was how Ursa was. A fun seeking person.

*Blurgh*

And this was the result. The insane blond woman vomited outside the nightclub. Some semblance of reason returned on her, albeit very faintly.

“Where was I again?” Among cough and stuttering, she managed to wonder. “Oh! Right, I need to return to Rin's—”

Stumbling on the ground, her words was cut short. Before long her face slamed on the ground. She tried to stand back up but lacked the strength to. Quickly giving up, she just laid on the ground. She was tired and lazy.

“Miss, are you alright?” A sudden unknown voice asked.

Seeing an opportunity in it, she raised her hand and called. “Not at all. Please help me!” She said in an overly dramatic tone.

A second later, the owner of the voice appeared on her view. It was a girl around her late teen. However, before she could see the person's other feature, her eyes glued on the head. Specifically, on the two things that protruded from it.

Cat ears.

‘Am I hallucinating?’ She questioned in her mind.

In that instant, alarm bell suddenly rang in her head. Without warning, she immediately leaped a meter away from the girl. An action that proved to be the right one as the ground she was previously on was cracked with a punch.

Her mind sobered lightly from the ensuing noise.

Trying to be serious, she asked a question,

“Who are yo—*blurgh*”

And vomited right after.

◇

In the dark scenery of the night, one particular place was irregularly bright. It was an isolated area, where no people usually wandered off. Fire ran wild on it, chasing after someone.

“Seriously, this is not like you, Flame!” Aiden shouted, dodging the burning red things targeted at him. “Suddenly wanting me to fight you. What happened!?”

Flame didn't respond and continued his attack. For the past two weeks, the red haired man had spent all his time training. Increasing the reach, the intensity and the destructiveness of his fire.

“Don't tell me you're mulling over your defeat!” Aiden added, still having some leeway.

“Shut up!!” Flame cursed loudly. It pissed him off that the man had hit the bullseye.

That's right. Ever since his encounter with the black haired girl named Raven, he hadn't stopped being frustrated. He had lost after all. But more than that, he could still remember the dreadfulness of the girl's darkness.

In front her, his flame didn't shine enough. They couldn't burn her. In fact, they were the one being engulfed.

In all his life, Flame hadn't felt this humiliated before. Raven's power was so far above his even though he was the older one. His prided fire couldn't contend against her vast shadows.

That was why, he swore to take his revenge. He would increase his strength and take that girl's life with his own hand.

“I will melt you to death!!” He declared in a determined tone.

“... I'm not the target of those words, right?” Aiden asked in a slightly worried tone.

Flame's singularity increased in intensity and the surrounding temperature began to increase. Even from afar, someone could still feel it.

And currently, that particular someone was Stone. He was sitting in a nearby bench with his eyes closed. Don't be tricked, however, because he wasn't asleep. In fact, he was surveying the whole area.

It was already dark so, logically, he didn't use his eyes. He had focused in his other four sense to increase his detection ability.

Of course, as said earlier, there wasn't any person present besides the three of them. Though, one could never be too cautious. Plus, with how much Aiden and Flame were shouting, someone might actually show up.

And if that were to happen and they were to be reported, ‘unchained’ would once again be on the run, flying away from the police and, evidently, Ark's Elite. It would be very annoying.

Be that as it may, however, Stone knew that their hideout would be discovered sooner or later. Nevertheless, he still preferred it to be the latter.

“!” The big man's eyes suddenly shot open. “Aiden.” He called out to his boss.

Stone had picked the presence of someone. That information didn't need to be transmitted by words as the two other man immediately stopped fighting.

It wasn't before long that they felt the approaching presence too. And unfortunately for them, it wasn't just some passerby.

It was a killer.

◇

“Mission start.”

A human voice declared in an unknown place.