At Night
The village grew silent, not a single soul in sight. They had no idea what was brewing in Fyrel's mind.
Behind every window, hidden eyes watched the events unfolding outside—peering cautiously, trembling at the thought of an impending riot.
Deep within the dense forest, not far from the village, a bonfire burned. A large group of people had set up camp there.
They chatted cheerfully, and among them was a familiar face—a bespectacled man, the royal advisor of this country.
His name was Ryan XII. He would lead this uprising to reclaim the Angel's Head (Nocturne) from the Prophet's grasp.
"We will move at 10 PM,"
Among them were 20 Rank 5 fighters, two Rank 2s (Mia and Miu, the twins), and one Rank 1 (Soyu). Soyu's role was to guard Ryan, while the others would infiltrate the village.
The tactic Ryan had devised involved forming a Distraction Team of five people. Their task was to draw attention from anyone blocking the path to retrieve Nocturne's head.
Once they had successfully distracted the enemies, the next team—called the Retrieval Team—would move in. Their mission was to take Nocturne's head and escape quickly without engaging in combat.
If something unexpected happened, the final team—known as the Backup Team—would swiftly retrieve the head and bring it to Soyu and Ryan.
The Distraction Team was led by Miu, while the Retrieval Team was commanded by Mia. All strategies had been carefully planned by Ryan, and the chance of failure, as calculated by him, was only 1%.
Ryan held a pocket watch in his hand, waiting for the exact moment—10 PM—before they began The Mission. This mission was called "Return of Nocturne."
The clock struck exactly 10 PM.
"Mission start."
Miu, the leader of the Distraction Team, initiated the operation, stepping out of the forest. Every member of the team possessed combat-ready abilities.
As the village came into view, they split into two groups—one taking the front path and the other flanking from the side.
The village was pitch black, but Miu—gifted with Night Vision—could see perfectly in the dark. Using her skill, she leaped onto one of the village rooftops.
She could also detect human heat signatures, scanning the area to see if anyone was guarding Nocturne's head.
She held her earpiece.
"The path is clear."
Everyone in the forest heard Miu's update loud and clear.
"Now go, Mia… Make sure you bring back that head."
Mia and her Retrieval Team burst forward. Unlike the others, this squad specialized in speed—their legs enhanced for blinding sprinting. Leading them was Mia, the "Gifted of Light's Speed," whose velocity defied physics, allowing her to run atop the wind itself.
In less than a second, they reached the village center. With practiced precision, they seized Nocturne's Head, stuffed it into a black plastic bag, and vanished into the night.
Ryan, who had been waiting for them at the base camp in the forest, felt relieved but also puzzled because it had been too easy.
"Something's not right here..."
All of them returned safely to the forest. There wasn't a single trace of wounds or any sign of a fight between the villagers and Ryan's group.
They did a headcount to ensure no one was left behind before heading back to the kingdom. During the count, Soyu suddenly drew her sword and pointed it toward the group.
"Don't hide anymore. Come out now."
They all glanced at each other, only then realizing that there was someone among them who didn't belong to their group. Miu was the most shocked because her vision couldn't detect any heat from that person.
The figure stepped out from the group and revealed themselves—a short-haired woman who only covered her mouth.
"Who are you?"
Soyu pressed his sword against the woman's neck.
"How did you get into our group, and what's your purpose? And don't even think about lying unless you want your head cut off."
The girl touched Soyu's sword with two fingers and effortlessly pushed it downward. Compared to her, Soyu's strength was like heaven and earth.
"I just wanted to make sure you all didn't cause trouble and kill the villagers."
She casually walked out of the forest and disappeared.
Soyu lowered his sword, his hand trembling as if he had been struggling to hold something heavy.
"Are you okay?" Mia asked.
"Yes… I'm fine. We need to get out of here. That person could easily wipe us all out if we don't leave now."
This was the first time any of them had seen Soyu afraid. Without another word, they quickly left the area and returned to the kingdom.
On the way back, Ryan kept glancing at Soyu, who was lost in thought, clutching her hand.
"You got a problem, Soyu? Just talk to me… we've been friends for a long time."
At first, he hesitated, then he whispered into Ryan's ear.
"I think that woman we saw earlier is the village guardian or a prophet… and she's one of the five strongest people in this world. But that's impossible because those five would never guard a village like this.
His voice dropped lower.
"There's only one unverified Rank 0 unrecognized by any kingdom. The one they call… Ryn Ciu."
Ryan was shocked after hearing Soyu's statement but also felt relieved because, even with 100,000 Rank 1 or lower fighters, she could easily wipe them all out.
"I still can't understand why their prophets just let us go like that if they had someone that powerful..."
---
The Next Morning – Prophet's Office
At the prophet's office in the large house at the center of the village…
Fyrel, who was still fast asleep on the sofa, was abruptly woken up by Hwa bringing his food.
Hwa shook his body, and soon enough, Fyrel woke up, stretching his stiff limbs from sleeping in such an uncomfortable spot.
He opened his eyes and saw Hwa standing in front of him.
"Sorry for sleeping here, Hwa… What time is it now?"
Hwa answered politely,
"It's fine… I'm not sure exactly, but it's already morning."
Fyrel immediately jumped up in a panic and rushed to the window to look outside—
"Fuck… Fuck! The head's gone… Ah, shit! I overslept!"