Riali was prepared to toss the black sun, but before he could, a shining arc of light passed through him, cutting him and his shadows in half. His body returned to normal as he started falling.

The black sun also dispersed in thin air as Riali was killed.

​​

Kellian looked in the direction this light came from, only to find Tristan standing on top of the roof with his Katana, which was again back in the sheath.

"This bastard! He dared to fool me!" Even now, his anger wasn't gone as he felt insulted for being fooled.

Kellian couldn't help but smile wryly.

Yaliza also appeared near him, laughing. "He might be impulsive, but he's pretty useful at times."

"I suppose," Kellian let out, smiling.

He stepped closer to the body of Riali that had returned to its old self.

"I guess you shouldn't have fooled that crazy guy," Kellian said as he shook his head.

He started walking back with the body of Riali. As the body of Arne was destroyed, they could only take this one.

Tristan also landed near the two of them.

"Why didn't you two tell me it was a distraction?" he asked Kellian.

"We thought you knew," Kellian casually replied, smiling. "I mean, it was too obvious. We didn't think you would be fooled by it. We thought you wanted to play with the shadow."

"Am I a kid who would play with shadows?" Tristan asked, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, alright. I will tell you next time something like this happens. Let's go now," Kellian said as he continued walking.

Dragging the body of Riali, he stepped inside the Cafe, tossing it before Lucifer and Raia.

"We're done," he told Raia. "As for the second body, it was destroyed in the battle."

"Is that so? Did he use Overdrive?" Raia asked, observing the body of Riali. He could see a few hints of what had happened.

"Yeah, he did. Tristan killed him," Kellian said, giving the credit to Tristan, who deserved it.

"Good Work, Tristan," Raia complimented Tristan.

"This was the least I could do. I just wish I could fight stronger enemies," Tristan replied, glancing at Cassius as he said it.

He really wanted to battle Cassius at least once.

"Don't worry. You'll get your wish fulfilled in a few days," Raia responded.

"Hmm? How?" Tristan asked, stunned. Was it really true? He didn't want to keep his hopes high, only to be disappointed later.

"That's right. We will be going against the APF. In fact, this place will be where we fight. It's an all-out war this time. So you won't have any restrictions. You can go all out!" Raia said.

"Really?" Tristan asked excitedly like a child who had received his favorite birthday gift. Everyone could feel the excitement in his voice.

"Is this true? We are finally attacking them?" Kellian also asked, surprised. Even Yaliza seemed stunned.

He thought they had come here to take Lucifer back. How did the mission change so drastically? He wondered.

"Why would I lie? The other members will soon be here as well. It's the final stand that we must win," Raia answered. "Moreover, we won't be attacking. Instead, we already attacked. Now we just need to wait for them to come."

Lucifer didn't chime in the conversation as he took a sip from the glass of water that was before him. He acted as if he had no hand in the decision of the war.

....

Varant had collected his entire Alpha Squad as he prepared to leave the base. Not a single Alpha Squad member was left behind since he was also interested in ending it.

Lucifer was back, and he was with Raia. Moreover, they also had Ayn! Varant knew he couldn't relax.

He needed to have the mindset of ending it all as Lucifer's existence was a threat, not only to him but to the whole world.

Not only the Alpha Squad, he even took the Beta Squad and the others, leaving only a small number of Variants behind to manage the base.

Tens of helicopters flew in the air from the helipads that were made on top of APF headquarters, all going towards Kensington City.

At the same time, many helicopters flew from the Variant Uprising base in the middle of the Desert, having the same destination as the APF.

They were also prepared for a war that was going to decide the future of this country.

Not a single person knew that all they were doing was playing into the hands of one person who had schemed it all.

....

"So, where do you stay in this city?" Raia suddenly asked Lucifer.

"I've taken over a mansion after killing everyone there," Lucifer answered. "You all can stay there as well."

"That's a good offer, but we need more places if we want to accommodate everyone that's coming," Raia let out, rubbing his chin.

"Kellian, you should go and arrange for enough places for our men that should be coming soon," he told Kellian. "Also, make all the citizens leave the city."

"Make them leave the city? Why?" Lucifer asked, curious.

"I don't want them to interrupt us later. Even though killing them would be faster, that would cause too much destruction in the city. I don't want Varant to be suspicious as he comes," Raia replied as Kellian left.

....

After spending a few hours in the Cafe, Raia left the place and followed Lucifer to go back to the Welling Estate.

As for Kellian and the others, they started telling the citizens to leave the city.

Most of the civilians were already prepared to leave and didn't protest. As for the ones that wanted to stay, even they were intimidated after they saw Kellian kill people before them.

Everyone started packing their bags to leave. Within a day, this city was going to be void of people.

...

"This is your Mansion? Not a bad place to take over. Did you kill the owner too?" Raia asked as he stepped inside the massive mansion of Lucifer.

"I couldn't. He wasn't here when I came. Apparently, he's a businessman that rarely comes here," Lucifer replied, shaking his head.

He sat on the couch. Raia and the others also sat down.

"I guess he was lucky. So, is there anyone in this mansion other than us?" Raia inquired.

Lucifer simply shook his head.

"There's only us. Everyone else is dead," he responded.

" No maids or people to take care of you?" Raia asked, surprised.

"We eat outside," Lucifer answered.

While Raia and Lucifer talked, the others were sitting seemingly bored, especially Alicia.

She seemed more curious about this beautiful mansion than the boring conversation.