Mikasa, Mara, and Mika were making their way to the North. Their time of journey wasn't long, though, despite the brief conversations they had on their way and all the inner monologue.

"You know," Mikasa said, her voice carrying easily despite their incredible speed, "I never thought I'd see the day when the Falcon Guild would attack us."

A couple of other guilds from the grassroots level had attempted to attack us, but I can testify to that, 'cause I am always among the team that sprays their blood—me and the other Sen.

But for a guild of a higher status?

"You're right," Mara responded respectfully after Akira finished. "I am more surprised that Master Sung has a brother."

Mikasa smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I was as awestruck as you all. He never mentioned it."

"The question is," Mara added, "what's their endgame here? Two hundred members is a substantial force, but against our entire guild on home territory? It seems like a suicide mission."

"Unless they're not planning to win through conventional means," Mikasa mused, her expression growing darker. "I know for sure they do not plan to win like this, but I do not know what they have cooked up."

Until I realize, I'll follow their tune.

Both their conversation and travelling may seem long, but it just lasted within a minute. They traveled several miles in just seconds.

The journey of the other team was just as brief, even though it seemed long.

Even Mara, who was supposedly the weakest, was moving at a speed that no brown- or orange-marked summoner would have been able to trace with their eyes. The sudden improvement was so perfect that she sometimes forgot she had ever been anything less than what she was now.

"This is the district with the weakest members," Mikasa spoke as the Fan District finally came into their horizon—the tall walls that were partly crumbled now, and the solid structure and sculptures.

"Let's just hope not more than half of the occupants have been wiped out," Mikasa continued, her voice carrying a coldness that made both Mara and Mika's hearts clench.

Vwoom!

Mikasa finally stopped holding back on her speed and made a massive leap into the district, heading for the first Falcon Guild intruder she had detected from a distance.

Her movement was so explosive that it left a small crater where she had been standing, and the wind displacement from her launch ruffled the hair of her two companions.

Mara's mouth fell wide agape, her pride of being able to run side by side with a Sen dissipating.

As she landed on the ground with the reflex of a martial artist, the Falcon Guild member's head turned sharply towards her, along with his familiar—a raccoon beast measuring up to the size of a polar bear. The creature's eyes glowed through the night, and its claws were already stained with blood that clearly wasn't its own.

The summoner himself was a wiry man with partly detached hair, and a smile on his face.

Splash!

They didn't even get a chance to attack before they both fell dead—the Falcon Guild member in a pool of his own blood, the raccoon beast disintegrating into particles that sparkled briefly before disappearing entirely.

At least he died with a smile.

Mikasa had moved so fast that the eye could barely register her motion. One moment she was landing, the next she was standing over two corpses, her hand still extended from the strike that had ended both lives simultaneously.

The blood pooled around her feet, but she didn't seem to notice or care. Her expression remained perfectly calm, as if she had just completed some casual task.

Mara finally caught up just after the rapid extermination, huffing and panting despite her enhanced capabilities. Even with the Luo techniques flowing through her, matching Mikasa's speed without holding back was proving to be a challenge.

"That was... fast," Mara managed between breaths, staring at the handiwork of Mikasa.

It was surprising how the summoner was killed so quickly. No guild would ever recruit a member that wasn't red-marked, which meant all of these Falcon Guild summoners were red-marked, yet the way they were being killed was as if they were ordinary humans.

Even Mara, who was just an ordinary brown-marked summoner—or at least had been ordinary until recently—was starting to feel like she should give it a try and maybe attempt to take down one of them quickly. It appeared so easy when Mikasa made it look effortless.

This intrusion is kill or be killed, so she wasn't going to feel guilty about taking down a couple of intruders.

Looking down at her feet, she noticed she was standing in a pool of blood, and in an alleyway between two buildings close by, she could see several bodies littered on the ground—bodies of Red Eastern Guild members that had been murdered, people who had probably been trying to hide.

Quickly using the recovery flow technique, Mara restored her stamina in an instant. A warm sensation flowed through her body, washing away the fatigue and replacing it with renewed energy.

"You look weak," Mikasa, who had been observing, glared at her with intensity, causing her to gulp. "And strong at the same time."

"Given the presence and aura I can sense from you, you shouldn't have been able to match my speed, but you can, so I can't exactly call you weak," Mikasa continued.

"Let's say you are mysterious. I really like you," Mikasa concluded with a smile.

Vwoom!

She turned and made a powerful leap into the distance, disappearing toward another violent aura presence she had detected.

Did she forget about the fact that I've learned all the techniques of the Luo? Mara tilted her head as she wondered inwardly. It was quite funny—she was being called mysterious when she was actually utilizing techniques that Mikasa's junior member had taught her.

But she quickly shook the thought off. At least Mikasa still viewed her with respect, and in the current situation, that was more important than clearing up any misunderstandings.

"Wait for me!" Mika called out, having finally caught up to them. "I can sense several more presences nearby. Some are definitely Falcon Guild members, but there are also survivors hiding in the buildings."

Closing her eyes, Mara activated the Gamma Sense technique. All it took was a short while before she detected a faint presence from a distance, exuding more violent aura than any other hidden around.

It was clear even through the aura that the person was aggressive.

"That is definitely a Falcon Guild member," she opened her eyes as she made her leaping stance, readying herself to use the Explosive Rush technique.

Just before she could launch herself, Mika quickly grabbed her hand.

"Wait!" she called out urgently. "You might want me close by. I am not exactly a fighter, remember."

"Oh right." Mara slapped her forehead. "How could I have forgotten?"

"There are quite a number of guild members around that are still alive. I can sense their aura even though it is faint," Mika spoke, her voice carrying concern. "You're not too strong, are you?"

"Remember, I know more about you than the others since I have been able to know you even before you got into the Red Eastern Guild as an ally," Mika continued, her tone becoming more serious.

"You appear to be quite different, and I can tell you have evolved quite well, but I would still advise you against fighting. Instead, you should gather all the surviving Red Eastern members and guard them until it is time for evacuation. Mikasa can handle all the killing—you know that."

Mara hesitated for a moment. Part of her wanted to charge into battle and show that she could contribute meaningfully to the fight. But another part—the wiser part—recognized that Mika was right.

"Yeah, yeah, I am just a brown-marked summoner," she said eventually in defeat, though the words felt strange in her mouth given how much she had changed.

The moment she said that, the aura from a distance suddenly flickered out of existence. She was quite puzzled at the quickness of it and knew exactly what could make an aura disappear so quickly with such finality—death.

It must be the work of Mikasa. To think that she was already there was quite surprising, considering she had literally hopped toward the opposite direction just a moment ago.

"Let's hurry," Mara spoke with urgency. "Assist me, and let's gather all the survivors before Mikasa wipes out all the Falcon Guild members around this district."

"I don't want to appear completely useless in this operation."

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