Lights off, TV on, and a half eaten bucket of ice cream. A young woman curled in the corner of a long sofa, surrounded by a bunch of colorful pillows. Her eyes were devoid of light, and the trails on her cheeks spoke of the . The scene looked familiar, and Wolf felt bad just from looking at it.

'It's getting worse…'

Almost two weeks had passed, yet his orange-haired teammate had yet to climb back from the depths of despair. Their visit to the Red Oni Club had been nothing if not a series of unexpected events. After receiving an oddly warm welcome from the club's owner, who also happens to be the boss of the local gang, Wolf was then challenged to a public match in an underground arena. Things were going pretty well up to that point, but then the last person they expected to see appeared, and everything went downhill from there.

Kaiser Tigris was the current head of the Tigris family, someone so high in society even leaders of the most powerful nations in the world have to schedule meetings with him instead of the other way around. Seeing someone like that walk into an underground arena only to be punched out of the building a moment later was a truly terrifying experience, then the Ghost showed up.

'I guess we should have expected it…'

Merry had defended Dante, the Cyberpunk, only for his connection to one of the most dangerous villains in the world to be confirmed. To top it off, he made himself an enemy of one of the most powerful people in the world, practically sealing his fate. Having all of that happen to your crush was bound to leave any girl devastated, though wallowing in depression for weeks was a little too much.

As he stood at the entrance to the living room, Wolf could only sigh. He was impacted by what happened as well, but not to this degree, and certainly not for the same reason as his friend. That's because he knew things could only get worse, and he was hoping to spare his friend the agony, or delay it for as long as possible.

"Hey…" Feeling a tap on his leg, Wolf turned around, finding his petite team leader. "I need to talk to you about something."

The way she whispered while pointing behind her told him that she didn't want Merry to hear whatever she had to say. The two of them moved to the training room, and right after, Beatrice used her wind ability to place a sound barrier around them. Wolf was wondering what all the secrecy was about when the team leader decided to drop a bombshell on him.

"You're going back to that club."

He didn't need to ask which club she was referring to.

"This isn't a simple request, Wolf. It came from high up." She said. "They've been trying to get someone close to the Cyberpunk, but it's going nowhere. That's why they're putting us on the case."

"You aren't making much sense right now." Confusion played with his brows. "What's the point of sending me? He already knows I work for the BEO."

Putting aside the risk, one can easily tell there won't be anything to be gained by being so open with whom they sent. Wolf's ears and tail made him the least suitable hero for an undercover mission, and that's without mentioning his history with the guy they were trying to investigate.

"You aren't going alone." Beatrice pursed her lips, averting her gaze. "I'm sending Merry with you." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"... you're kidding, right?"

Wolf wished he had misheard her, but unfortunately, his ears were far better than what most people had.

"Listen, I know how this sounds, but you have to do it." Said Beatrice. "The two of you are the least likely to get killed, and you have a good excuse for wanting to be there."

"Even if you say that…"

Wolf couldn't see the Cyberpunk being so careless that he would let something slip when they were hanging around, assuming they would be allowed to in the first place.

"Is it really worth the risk?" He asked.

"What do you think?" She replied.

"I…"

"I think you know the real reason I'm asking you to do this."

Unable to respond, Wolf just hung his head. Beatrice waited a little before saying the quiet part out loud.

"This might be our only chance to avenge Liliana."

"... Fine, I… I understand…" Heaving a sigh, Wolf scratched the back of his head. "I'll do it."

"Thanks." Beatrice visibly relaxed. "Just… make sure Merry doesn't hear about that last part."

"I don't think we can pull this off if she does."

At the time they were having that discussion, the news of what happened to Crimson Watch had yet to reach Silver Wind. It didn't help that the BEO was far more aggressive in their cover-up.

The main suspect of the heroes' assassination couldn't be more obvious, but the authorities had no evidence to use against him. Not that they needed any. The only reason they were avoiding the active volcano was because they didn't know when it might erupt and how much damage they might suffer when that happens. Because of that, they had to tread carefully, lest they cause an eruption that would burn them all.

~[ ]~

"Hey bo-"

The words stopped on the tip of Oliver's tongue as he watched Inferno's boss enter the building. This was bad. He had seen

him in a bad mood before, but this time, it felt a little different. Was he planning on raising the bar for today's training session?

"You can take a break for today." Contrary to what he had anticipated, the boss walked straight toward the stairs to the second floor. "Just make sure to practice your manifestation."

"Understood!"

Oliver welcomed the chance to rest , but as he wasn't about to waste on it just like that. As much as he enjoyed learning hand to hand combat, he was far more interested in the mystical side of their training.