Ryder kept the empty gun in his storage and started shooting with his Special Gun that would produce infinite bullets and didn't need to reload.

He flew back as he saw the masked man jumping through the air on what seemed like steps created from the wind.

"The Thirteenth King is going to enjoy torturing the kid in this battle," One of the five black-robed men chuckled as they saw the Thirteenth King running towards Ryder.

Surprisingly enough, the speed at which the Thirteenth ran was faster than the speed at which Ryder ran away.

"Hahaha, that's what it seems like. I'll give it five minutes before the kid is lying in front of us, begging the Thirteenth King for forgiveness," Another person said.

"I'll give it ten minutes. The kid is persistent and unorthodox. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. In ten minutes, he'll be licking dust off the roof," The third guy said.

"Come on, guys, aren't you underestimating him too much? Stop underestimating the Thirteenth King. In two minutes, the kid will be lying on the ground, groaning in pain," the fourth man also chimed in.

"What do you say?" he asked as he looked at the fifth guy who hasn't chimed in yet.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to underestimate the Thirteenth King, but that guy has been proven to be quite unorthodox. It's better if we just wait and watch. Any number we throw at the moment is just going to be useless since he's not a normal human, and we don't know everything about him," the fifth black-robed man said as he chimed in.

The Twelfth King was also standing silently.

He glanced in the direction of the helicopter that was shooting everything on camera, but he didn't do anything. He had long since covered his face with a mask even before the helicopter got near that place, so he didn't bother with anything.

The five black-clothed men had also covered their faces with masks. The only person who didn't have a mask was Ryder.

****

Shu was sitting in his room, talking to his men about finding out the origin of the bombs and how they were taken inside these high-security places without being detected.

He disconnected the call and placed his focus on the TV that was muted. He didn't hear what the news anchor was saying, but there was a headline about flying humans at the bottom before the scene on the TV was changed. He increased the voice on the TV.

"You can see the live footage from our correspondent at the scene. There, you can see two people flying in the air. This event is taking place just a short distance away from the nearest blast location where the blast occurred."

"Who are these people? How can they fly? Why are they near the blast location, and why are they fighting? We don't know the answer to any of these questions, but the circumstances make us believe that these people did have a hand in what happened here," the news anchor said.

Shu was staring at the TV with great interest. He wasn't sure if it was real or made up.

"They are going to get in so much trouble if they're showing fake footage. I don't think they'll take the risk. This should most probably be true, but how. Who are these guys? I can't see their faces. Get the camera closer, you idiots," Shu muttered as he cursed at the TV.

"We can also see six people standing on top of the nearest building looking at the fight. All of them are wearing masks on their faces that are similar to the mask of one of the flying guys. It makes us believe that they're a part of it as well. It seems like a one on one battle between two people who can fly, but one of them seems to have a big backup."

The news anchor continued her narration of the event, including the buildup of excess hype.

" Can the other six people fly as well? Will they join the fight to help their fellow friend? Keep watching so we can find out together. You're seeing something that hasn't been seen before. The rise of a new era," the Anchor said, hyping it even more.

"Wait! That helicopter! Isn't that mine? Something that Ryder was using?" Shu suddenly exclaimed as he noticed the helicopter on top of the roof; even the focus of the camera was on the six people on the roof.

He stood up in shock.

He picked up the phone and started calling Ryder.

"The number you're trying to reach has been switched off. Please try again later."

As he called, he only heard a computerized message that notified him of the phone being switched off. He called again just to be sure, but the same message was heard again.

He called the number of the pilot who is operating the helicopter. The pilot's phone was also on silent. It was ringing, but there was no sound. Even if there were sound, the pilot wouldn't be able to pick it up since he was tied up.

****

Alice was excitedly waiting for Ryder to return from the birthday celebration so he could take her to the promised dinner, but only Shu came back. Shu told Alice that Ryder couldn't come today since he had to go to an important meeting for business purposes.

Alice was disappointed, but she didn't say anything. She walked back to her room and stayed there. She didn't know anything about the blasts.

It wasn't until now that she found out about the blasts when she checked her phone. She called Ryder's phone, but the phone was turned off.

She hurriedly got off the bed and went downstairs to meet Shu and to get more information about where Ryder went to and if she needed to worry.

As she came downstairs, she saw Shu standing in front of the TV, looking at it with a frown on his face.

"Brother Shu," Alice said as she walked closer.

"Ah, Alice. What are you doing downstairs? Go and have rest," Shu told Alice as he turned back.

"I read about the blasts. I tried calling his phone, but it's off. I don't know why, but can you tell me where his meeting was?" Alice asked Shu with a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry; I talked to him after the blast. He's perfectly fine. He's outside the city. Because our borders are sealed, he can't come back soon enough," Shu lied to Alice.