A few other patrol teams returned—three with corpses of fallen comrades. The weight of the losses were evident on the faces of many.

The new recruits hadn't even reached a month since arrival, but now, these ones could not live to see the final picture.

Nolan walked out of the Atrium of Founders and spotted Klaus. He walked over to the man and asked where Sylvia and Liana were.

"I'm not sure. I saw her around when the other teams arrived, then she disappeared again. But, they most likely are at Quartz," Klaus replied Nolan.

Nolan nodded and went towards the Quartz-Core Library. It was built around a massive, naturally formed geode of blue quartz that hummed with ambient magic.

The light from the quartz illuminated the endless shelves of scrolls and tactical manuals.

Nolan pushed open the doors and entered. His movements were a takeaway, telling he was in a hurry to do something.

He went straight to the backroom where he knew they most definitely would have been. He knocked on the door gently.

There was a brief silence, which was soon broken by the click of the lock.

The door opened and Sylvia peeked out. "Oh, Nolan. What do you want?"

"A horse," he blatantly said.

Sylvia raised a brow. "What?"

"Where's Liana?" Nolan asked.

"Oh, she's with me. Sorry, if you want to speak with her, you may have to wai—."

"Keep trying to comfort her and you'll waste your time and make her overthink it. Tell her she has a team to lead tomorrow, except if she wants more deaths." Nolan turned, leaving after saying that.

Sylvia's eyes narrowed and she stepped out of the room, shutting the door. "Is that why you came here?"

Nolan replied without looking back, "Came for the horse."

"I did not—"

"Thank you."

… …

Stepping out of the library, Nolan made for the stables. He wouldn't be allowed to take a horse just like that, so he needed to speak with an official, and since Sylvia became one… all he had to do was put it on her name, whether or not he told her.

"Slow down, mister," said the man guarding the stables.

"Head of Patrol's orders. Go ask if you think I'm lying," Nolan said, not stopping.

The guard seeing Nolan walk without stopping made him think it was true and they might be in a hurry.

Nolan walked past the guard and entered the stable, taking out a horse, and in no time, he was riding out of the guild.

Why he was going out? It was simple. He had two reasons for going out: he wanted to go hunt demons on his own and grind Exp, and on the other hand, he mistimed something.

He made his calculations based on earlier lives and forgot that this timeline has been altered and moved forward.

With the accelerated timeline, today was the exact day he timed. Luckily, he remembered just in time right after leaving Elite Loretta's office.

"I hope I aren't too late," Nolan muttered as he rode faster.

… …

An Outer Village.

Cloveland...

"Kill every last one of them."

Cyndy's voice went across the burning greenfields filled with the wet sounds of blades cutting through and the lights that came from ability users, as her team fought against low-grades, D and C-ranked demons.

She turned back to the village about a hundred meters away, spotting members of the Phoenix Guild fighting off the demons that escaped her team.

While everyone else was in the heat of battle, Cyndy had only one thing in her mind. "Boy, I'm hungry. No, I think it's because I'm still awake. Boy, I want to sleep. No, I think it's because I've working all day. Boy, I want to rest," she murmured dramatically putting a hand on her forehead and falling onto the grass.

"Ace Cyndy!" One of the Guardian-ranks yelled in fear.

"I'm alright, you idiot!" she yelled back.

"Oh, okay," he laughed nervously, before turning to the demon that was approaching him with renewed focus.

"Ace Cyndy, Ace Cyndy, Ace Cyndy this, Ace Cyndy that—give me a break, people," she murmured with a pout.

She was staring at the moon when someone called out "Ace Cyndy!" again, but this time she wasn't mad, because she could also sense it.

A D-rank suddenly obstructed her view of the moon, about to attack her. She didn't flinch or blink.

With an effortlessly flick of her wrist, ice erupted from the ground, piercing its head and almost instantly freezing its blood.

Cyndy stared at its face for a while longer before scoffing. "Still the ugliest piece of dog crap I hae ever seen," she muttered rolling out of the way to get a view of the moon.

This was who she was. Never took anything serious.

She hadn't stared at the moon for long when she felt a sharp pain in her chest and she instantly zoned out.

"Do you remember your purpose?"

A soft voice echoed in Cyndy's head.

Her eyes snapped open and she realized she was standing in a quiet pitch black space that contrasted the burning fields and noises of battle.

However, Cyndy knew the voice very well. Her blood ran cold and she remained unmoving in place as sweat started to prickling down her forehead.

"Do you remember our deal?"

The voice spoke again.

"Do not forget your objective."

"Y-y-yes," Cyndy stuttered, barely above a whisper.

"Eliminate the anomaly..."

The voice suddenly dimmed down and disappeared.

…

GASP!

Cyndy jolted up from the grass, clenching her chest, breathing ragged.

"Are you okay, Ace?" said a man, clad in armor with a phoenix design on the chest plate. Hayden—third strongest in the Phoenix Guild.

He extended a hand to Cyndy, and smiled. "Let me help you."

Cyndy took the offer and he helped her get up.

"What happened? I was calling you and you weren't answering," Hayden started.

But, Cyndy was not listening to his words. All she could think of was one sentence that played in her mind like a mantra...

Eliminate the Anomaly.

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