/Let's roll back a little to the night a few hours ago…/

'On top of the Twilight Manor, a cloaked figure watched the chaos below.'

'He was unmoving as if he was a statue, his dark cloak seemed to fuse with the darkness around him.'

'He had a small, translucent crystal ball on his left hand and a small metallic wand on his right hand.

'However, he suddenly moved his head up, his expression might've been hidden by the cloak, but he was definitely surprised by what he saw.'

'A white knight suddenly appeared in the sky. It started to fall, getting faster and faster. Its speed was unnatural as it was clearly accelerating faster than it would have been due to gravity.'

'While he fell, the knight pulled a spear from a dark space that suddenly appeared in the air.'

/Step…/

'The cloaked figure took a step back as if in shock.'

/BAM!/

'The knight fell on the ground, killing the assassin.'

"..."

'The cloaked figure put away its wand, for what he was going to use it was unknown...'

…

'After the events on the ground, the knight suddenly threw a gray ball that exploded in a massive cloud of mist, blocking the cloaked figure's vision.'

'However, he suddenly felt a disturbance in the surrounding magical power, one that he rarely ever felt…'

"..."

Space is being manipulated…

'He soon felt the same thing, this time, it was inside the Loki Familia house… Right below his feet.'

'After a minute, the same thing happened, but this time, he didn't feel anything after.'

"..."

'The cloaked figure couldn't see not feel anything anymore, so it took a step back and disappeared into the shadows.'

"Kuu..."

'Soon after, a dark own flew from the sky into the darkness, as if going after the cloaked figure.'

…

'In the darkness where the flames of the burning manor couldn't reach, a smiling blond-haired figure watched the chaos develop.'

'His eyes were obviously attracted to the sudden appearance of the knight and how it saved Artemis and obstructed the assassins' plans.'

'His expression, however, did not change, instead, he turned around and left with a small smile.'

/At the same time in Babel…/

'A beautiful Silver haired girl with purple eyes gazed at the smoke caused by the fire in the Twilight Manor.'

'She was sitting on an elegant chair as she looked through her glass window with a wine cup in her right hand.'

'Her expression wasn't one of amusement, she seemed annoyed in fact.'

"Not enough… This wasn't enough, barely even." She said

Every time I think a good show is going to happen, he slips away…

"But that is one of his good sides, it would be anticlimactic if it all went according to the expectation..."

Surprise me! Make me witness something unbelievable!

'Her cheeks were red as she let out a captivating smile.'

How far can you go?

'She placed her cup in front of her, looking at Orario through the reflection caused by the wine...'

'Everything was red...'

"The stage wasn't set properly..."

And I can't allow that…

/Step step/

'From the darkness of the room, steps could be heard as someone slowly approached her.'

'It was a 2 Meter tall hunk of a man with two swords on his back.'

'If you took a closer look, you would be able to see dried blood on them…'

'However, the man-made sure to not stain anything at all.'

"How was it Ottar?" She asked

"They all committed suicide, forgive me as I didn't manage to find anything." He replied as he got in one knee

"It's fine, I already got what I wanted. You did a good job."

I couldn't let anyone interfere with the show.

But it seems that now I need some actors...

'Her purple eyes seemed to shine in the darkness…'

…

'During the middle of the night, Orario still shined brightly.'

'However, not many went to sleep tonight…'

'Some could sleep, but others feared the events of today.'

'The workers ran around the place with materials on their backs, running towards the North.'

'Patrols of soldiers ran and checked every alley and abandoned houses…'

'Orario was being thoroughly cleaned.'

…

'Somewhere in the old ruins, a shadow lept out of a Church…'

'The shadow soon disappeared in the night…'

…

/Ploft!/

"Phew… Was this the last one?" Asked a worker as he put a body on top of a bed.

"Yup, with this, all of the terrorist's body's have been cleaned.'' Replied the other worker

"Do we… Just leave them like this? Aren't they going to rot?" Asked the other worker

"That's not our job, Xul. Nevertheless, I heard some detectives will arrive soon and inspect their bodies. So there is no need to dispose of them like we usually do… However, I doubt these people even deserve to be buried." Replied the second worker

"That's a little cruel, in the end, they are just people receiving orders from someone..." Said Xul

"Stop it, before someone hears you... I know and I do understand what you mean, however, this time we don't have the time nor the luxury to sympathize with the villains." Said the second worker

'The two made their way to a door, the only entrance to the stone room.'

"I see… After today, I am not in the mood to go drink… I will be going home first, I bet my wife and the kids are worried." Said Xul as he closed the door and locked it.

"I don't doubt it, I will be going home soon, I just need to finish some paperwork, see you tomorrow Xul." Said the second worker

…

'The two made their way through the corridor, parting ways after a while.'

"..."

'At that moment, inside the locked room, the air distorted as someone clad in dark clothes appeared.'

"This place stinks…" Said the man

"Let me just get this over with…" Said the man as he removed the mask and revealed…

'Silver!... Obviously…'

"They said someone was coming… I don't know when, so it's best if I end this quickly."

Better if I leave before they even come, it would be bad to be tracked.

"First, I need to find the strongest."

Normally, the strongest is the one with the higher authority…

'Silver went to a table and saw a bunch of numbers…'

"Number one… Supposedly Level 2… Number 10… Supposedly Level 3… Even some Level 4's..."

I see, they must have classified the people based on their strength during the fight.

They must be waiting for a sage to come and read the hieroglyphics so they can find their names and Levels…

(Sage is someone who can read the Hieroglyphs)

"I found it… Level… 6?! How?... Really, just what is happening?... Let me see... Number 32… Cause of death… Suicide by poisoning?"

'Silver looked to the side, trying to find this man.'

"Just what did he meet to make him choose this?"

Someone so strong... Would he need to live like this?

'Silver went through each bed and finally found his target. It was a small person wearing dark clothes and a broken mask on his face.'

"A Pallum? No… Plums have an average height of 115-125 Cm, this guy is 160 at the very least, he is just small, perhaps a hybrid between a Human and a Pallum... Although there are some guys that are only small."

"To think this guy was a Level 6… I really want to see his stats but questioning comes first."

'Silver hands started to emit neon green light as green wisps of flames appeared from tears in his arms.'

'It looked really painful...'

'And in the darkness, it looked really eerie.'

"Arise, COUGH!… I mean, tell me your secret…"

Tier-3 Plasmid, Whispers of the dead…

Temporarily awakens the target's mind, putting it under my control… The efficiency depends on the integrity of the brain.

And in some cases, the defenses around the mind, however, even if the person has many mind defenses, that is irrelevant after one's death.

At least in most cases...

"Ouch… My head hurts even after one use… Looks like the strength of a Level 1 is not enough to sustain such an ability."

Well... I am not really your average Level 1...

"This guy didn't die too long ago, however, I am quite afraid of the damage caused by the poison."

If his brain was damaged, this may result in a complete failure, although I guess I could check on the Level 4's and 5's.

/GASP!/

'Suddenly, the dead body opened its eyes and gasped for air as if alive.'

'Its two eyes glowed neon green, shining the dark like a lighthouse.'

"I am… alive?" Asked the body

"It depends on your perspective." Said Silver as he touched his chin in wonder

So it's one of these cases…

Sometimes, the target may show a little bit of free will, but that is nothing but a shadow of his former self.

The person… Their true conscience has already left long ago. This guy is nothing but a husk.

I tried using this ability in order to bring the dead back to life, normally, only those who died recently could be revived, but with this ability, I could restart the brain of someone who had died a few hours ago…

I used to think that as long as I could revive someone's brain, then I could revive anyone no matter what happened.

But the result was always… Failure.

This made me realize that something left the body or deteriorated during that period of time…

As such, this experiment was a way for me to try and reach for the soul, however, although it failed, it proved to me that it actually existed.

It's obvious to me that a soul exists now, but for the 'me' in my past life… This experiment was of incredible value. Not to mention how handy such a Plasmid actually was…

I didn't have to convince someone to tell me their secrets, I could just kill them and get it from their corpse… I got a lot of value from this.

"Tell me, who are you?" Asked Silver

"... Why?..."

"Tsk!"

He is… Resisting?... Is it because of the Level difference?

Not really… His brain is naturally resisting my control because some parts of his original memories are telling him to act in this way.

Hm… Is this because of his Level itself, or something from his status like Abnormal Resistance? Perhaps because of his body quality, his memories were more preserved?

Loyalty?

… Stop it me… It's not the time to research.

"Well, you did your best, might as well tell me your name so I don't forget it right?" Said Silver as he improvised.

'The body gazed at Silver with its glowing, hollow eyes.'

(Hollow in the way of lacking emotion)

"... You are right. I am… Leech."

"Only leech?"

"That's the name I was given when my master took me home… 28 years ago."

"..."

That's quite a while ago.

"How old are you?"

"34"

"..."

He is similar to Ottar, but the difference in talent is way too obvious.

"And who is your kind master?"

"Kind?... He isn't kind… But he is certainly understanding, he gives us jobs fitted to our skillset and tries his best to support us."

"Such a person must be famous, what is his name?"

"... It's… Forget it…"

"..."

Is that the vestige of his loyalty? Decades of indoctrination must be paying off…

I will ask him other things first and push him for a name later.

"Then tell me, why did you come to Orario?"

"To finish the Great task."

"Wow, such a task must be phenomenal. How were you planning on finishing it?"

It's best if I don't ask direct questions, experience has taught me to avoid sensible topics at the start.

'The body seemed to smile.'

"It was the perfect plan, for weeks, months, we waited for the perfect opportunity. And after a long time, it came."

"Everything was in the right place, at the right time."

"We divided into groups and got into action, one group waited at the Loki Familia home, another waited in the path from the Dungeon to the Manor, and the last one was in charge of communication and securing our retreat..."

"Wait… There was one more group, the Boss group… I didn't know what he was supposed to do, Big Boss is always so mysterious… I still owe him a drink…"

'The body seemed sad, but it soon returned to its poker expression as if this never happened.'

"I was part of the group on the path, I had a great idea, I knew I was strong, so I could definitely accomplish my task alone, so I had the others hide."

"Huh, I didn't imagine you to be so good! Tell me, what were you supposed to do?" Asked Silver is a fake surprise tone

"I was tasked with defeating the Sword Princess, and taking her blood."

"?!"

Dafuq?

"Why her blood?" Asked Silver

"To finish the Great task."

"..."

I really want to ask what is this Great task…

"Did you do it?"

"Yes, unfortunately, she was stronger than I imagined, and I had to use the emergency plan."

"I took the berserk blood medicine and gave the collected blood to my subordinate. I fought bravely as I bought time for him and the others to flee… I am awesome…" Said the body with a full bloody smile

'It looked incredibly eerie…'

"What is this berserk blood medicine?" Asked Silver

"I don't know much about it, I only know that it can increase our stats temporarily, but it causes death if taken in excess…"

"I took multiple at once in order to heal my injuries and hold the Loki Familia… A fatal amount."

"A glorious way to die." Complimented Silver

Best to lick his ass a little…

'The body seemed to agree, but it soon returned to its poker expression.'

No reactions? Tsk…

"Tell me, why attack the Loki and Artemis Familias?"

"To make the Great task easier to accomplish."

"How?"

"Removing the Loki Familia was just a recent plan, its objective was to clean the stage a little and cause unrest in Orario, chaos would ease our movements and operation."

"Same thing goes for the Artemis Familia. Recently, they started to act like the police force of Orario, and we can't let another Astraea Familia, rise."

"..."

I see… Time for the big question.

"What was this Great task ?"

"... I can't tell you, I swore!"

Sigh…

"Hm"

He has a strange mark on his neck… I noticed some of them have this mark… Is that a way for them to recognize each other?

Plan B.

"Here, I also have the mark!"

'Silver showed a mark on his neck, it looked like a small box with an open lid, something like smoke seemed to be oozing from within…'

"Are you a brother? How could you have forgotten about the Great task?!"

'The body seemed incredibly angry, to the point that it lifted its hands, but its body was too broken to move.'

"..."

I need to be careful next time, if this was the body of someone else, I might've been hit.

This guy's body has been destroyed by the poison and the side effects of the drug…

If he was at his optimal state, I might've been punched by a Level 6… One whose body is rid of its brain limitations…

"I hit my head and forgot! Now I can't even contact the support group!" Said Silver in grief

'The body looked at Silver with its poker expression.'

"How could this be?! To think this would happen… Alright, let me remind you…"

"..."

Phew…

Thankfully, the mental capacities of the mind are severely decreased, otherwise, this wouldn't be possible…

/Splurt!/

'Suddenly! Blood started to leave the body's nose and ears!'

"?!"

Shit… The time limit… So soon?

Obviously, using Plasmids to awaken a brain was never a gentle task, damage would be caused after extensive use…

But that is, after extensive use… I barely used it for a few minutes…

Sigh… This world is ruthless, even this got downgraded…

"... The… Great task… Is to break through the chains that hold us in place… In order to do that… we need… To rebuild the ancient treasure…" Said the body

"And what do you need to recreate it?"

"... I don't know much… Only that it needs two items… One of them is outside of Orario, being chased by… The secondary corps… I was part… Of the First corps… Tasked with retrieving… The blood of Aria."

"?!"

Not Ais, but Aria?!

Ais' mother and wife of the hero from a thousand years ago… The problem is that few if not no one know that Ais is actually their daughter…

Even I would find it difficult to believe if I haven't watched the Original...

Shit! That wasn't something anyone was supposed to know! Just who are these fuckers?

"How do I meet with the leader? Or at least communicate with him?"

"I… Don't know… The base is… A secret only the Boss knows… There are... Several relay agents... Scattered around the place... They are the only ones that can... Connect you with the master."

"..."

That isn't bad... However, I need more information...

"How can I find the others? I need to regroup!"

If I cant contact the leader, then I need to find someone else that can!

Just shit! What sort of maniac doesn't allow their own Level 6's subordinates to know their location? Does he have trust issues?

Or is there some sort of special procedures?

"Impossible… The safehouses… Were already abandoned before the operation started… The safe path would have been shown to us by the support corps after our respective missions had been finished."

"..."

So until they finished their missions… They weren't allowed to retreat?

How brutal… But this is a problem… It seems I can't intercept them… Not that I could anyway. I will leave that to Orario's forces.

"Can you tell me where you were stationed before you came to Orario?"

"That was several years ago… I have been staying in Orario for at least 4 years, our HQ changes location every few years or so."

Fuck.

"Who is your Boss? I mean, Big Bro…"

"Big Bro?... You mean… Dolos?... He was a cruel man…"

'It ended there.'

"I meant, in terms of appearance."

"... He was tall... Not very tall… He had a scar under his nose… And smelly feet…"

"..."

Thank you… For the almost useless information.

"What are the name of your Master and the Familia you are under?"

"... My master name?... He is a good person… His hair was green and…"

/Crack!/

"As if something snapped, his two eyes exploded as blood gushed out from inside, like a red waterfall."

"So close… It took so long to prepare him mentally but he snapped at the critical time…"

If only I could find his Boss…

But that guy is most likely Level 6… It's too dangerous.

Level 7?... Impossible, such a powerhouse wouldn't be unknown… It's impossible… Right?

'Silver looked through each person on the morgue, but couldn't find one person that matched the description of the man called Dolos.'

'He didn't have the time to check the man's stats, nor did he have time to use his power on the others.'

'So after cleaning all evidence, he left like a shadow…'

'Just a few minutes before a group of robed priestesses entered the morgue…'

'They found that the eyes of one of the deceased were missing and found it strange, however, that is history for another day.'

…

'The sun shined, starting yet another day in Orario.'

'Yesterday's night was tough, however, the people of Orario move on.'

'This event will be talked about for months to come, together with its consequences…'

/Tremble Tremble/

"Awww"

'Silver awakened to his alarm clock as always.'

"What a nice sleep…"

'Although the feeling of staying in bed was relaxing, he had work to do.'

'He tried getting up, but there was something stopping him from advancing…'

"ZZZzzz"

'It was Hestia sleeping on top of him, she had somehow moved there.'

"Now you are making things difficult for me…"

'Carefully, Silver used telekinesis to move Hestia and went to take a shower.'

'However, by the time he arrived in the bathroom, he noticed a big problem…'

"Shit, I can't aim when it's like this…"

'Silver had a bon… Morning wood…'

"Come on… How long are you going to remain like this? I need to take a piss."

Using my powers to make my Boner disappear seems too forced…

Wait… Was I with a boner by the time I woke up?

'Silver remembered Hestia on top of him…'

'And he couldn't help becoming harder…'

"... Shit."

…

'At the same time, in the other room, Hestia sneakily opened her eyes.'

"... Did he leave?"

"Phew…"

How embarrassing, he almost caught me…

That hard thing… Was that?…

'Hestia shook her head in denial as she placed her hands on her cheeks…'

It can't be… It's way too big…

'She remained in bed for a little while longer, trying to get rid of that strange feeling in her tummy…'

…

'Half an hour later after eating breakfast, Hestia finished updating Silver's stats.'

'This was a habit of theirs, every day in the morning they would do an update, even if Silver didn't do anything significant on the previous day.'

"... Sigh, every time I look at these stats, I can't help but feel as if I am dreaming." Said Hestia as she passed the information into a sheet of paper

"They are bound to get even higher, I only took a month to get to this point, might as well push for higher values, not like I lack time." Replied Silver

"You are right, however, there is no need for you to push yourself so much if that's the case." Replied Hestia

"... The moment I stop is the moment I retire."

'Hestia rolled her eyes as she gave him the paper.'

.

.

.