With how chaotic the situation was, and with him being fully transformed, Werewolf couldn’t precisely control his strength. Because of that, he was expecting to crush the arm he reached out to grab, even if he didn’t intend to.
Still, even though the force he put into his hand would have been enough to bend the iron bars at the gym, the arm he caught didn’t crack or bend.
His fingers were bent around the entire finger, hiding most of it, but the upper arm and the shoulder it was connected to were visible, and so was the head of whoever that arm belonged to. What looked back at him weren’t the eyes of a person, however.
A demon. Blue skin, sharp, knife like horns, and eyes gleaming with crimson malice. The sight froze Werewolf for a moment, and that was all it took for another one of the demons to attack him from a different direction.
Light flashed through the collection room, but it wasn’t the white light from before. Sunray had used her ability, blinding the attacker and snapping Werewolf from his momentary stasis, getting him back on the move. He swatted the second demon and was about to do the same with the first, but a sharp pain jolted though his arm, forcing him to let go.
The first demon leaped, the dagger in his hand tracing a crimson trail in the air. Before his feet touched the floor, a layer of haze quickly enveloped him, and the next instant he was gone without a trace.
Just as he realized what was happening, a gust of wind blew by then suddenly turned into a violent cyclone. Werewolf found himself in a circle with his other teammates, their backs facing each other. Night Gale was using her powers to create a wind barrier around them, one capable of shredding anyone who might try to force their way through it.
"This doesn’t look good..." White Arrow grumbled.
The four blue demons that attacked them had just disappeared, which hinted at their true identity. They had just survived what could have been their certain death, and knowing that didn’t bode well for their mission.
Holding a hand to her earpiece, Night Gale gritted her teeth.
"Cryonis! Where are you!!?"
The reply came right away.
[Not a great time, Gale.]
"We’re up against Shirogane Sorcerers," She said. "They almost-"
Light erupted from the floor once more, washing over the collection room in an instant and revealing the location of the four demons. They were standing still a short distance away, their blades held at the ready. For the first time, the four heroes were able to get a good look at them, and that shattered the blurry image they had and cleared their first impression.
What they thought were blue faced demons turned out to be black mechanized suits with blue helmets shaped like terrifying demons. Going by the size and thickness of the plating, they appeared to be low level power suits focused on stealth and agility, but the design and the materials, which appeared to be high quality from a single look, told there was more to them than what might seem at first.
If it wasn’t for the white light from a moment ago, they would never have noticed the invisible assassins, and their lives could have reached their end just then and there.
Without knowing about their presence beforehand, there was next to no way to deal with their perfect camouflage Art. That’s what made the Shirogane Sorcerers the most notorious assassins in the world, and their presence alone significantly increased the difficulty of the raid.
Blizzard Force were better equipped to deal with them, which is why they were put in charge of capturing Klaus Stahlwölfe, the man who hired the entire branch of the sorcerer family to work as his bodyguards. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Team Silver Wind ended up being put against them instead. They should have known something would happen after encountering the invisible sorcerers on the mansion’s upper floors, but they failed to account for that, thinking they would be concentrated around the Stahlwölfe scion.
[Sorry to hear that, Gale, but we can’t help you right now.]
[We’ve got another one of the Level 4 Romanos to deal with, and it’s not like there are no assassins around us.]
The background noise told that the other side was in the midst of a very violent clash. Since they were handling Klaus Stahlwölfe, Blizzard Force should have gone to the banquet hall on the other side of the building where he was expected to be. That place should be full of powerful and important people so both sides knew not to make any big moves, but if a fight had broke out, the ice cold team undoubtedly had their hands full trying to contain the damage.
[Sorry but...] The voice replied. [You are on your own.]
With her face twisted in anger, Night Gale seemed like she was about to start yelling, but White Arrow cut her off.
"We will handle things over here." He said. "But we need you to handle something on your side."
"There is a woman with purple hair who just escaped the collection room. I believe she has our relic, and she’s heading in your direction.]
[... Alright, I will handle it.]
The connection ended just like that. Another burst of light washed over the room, revealing the forms of the dreadful demons who had vanished a couple of seconds ago. They hadn’t moved from the same spot, the eeriness of their behavior adding to the fear slowly clawing at the heart of the four heroes.
Night Gale turned to glare at her white clad teammate, demanding an explanation. He already had one prepared, from the looks of it, and he gave her a sinister grin before delivering.
"I don’t want to rely on those cold idiots for anything." White Arrow said. "Let’s deal with these guys and go chase after that woman."
[IMPORTANT: If you enjoy this book, please consider supporting it on P.A.T.R.E.O.N.com/Nomanalive]