“So that’s Victor’s famous little disciple, huh?” Someone murmured.

“The arrogant untamed little firecracker that isn’t afraid of anything.”

“To think she’s so carefree at a time like this... There really is no other way to describe her other than arrogant.”

Zoey was nose deep in her phone without sparing a glance at those around her. Many took that as that she was too good to talk to the rest of them. It also made it difficult to get close to her. For some reason, approaching her made many Grade-C and some Grade-B magjistars nervous and unwilling to stand near her. Despite how unguarded and careless she looked.

“Tch, the standards of magjistars have lowered if you all are nervous about a simple daemon extermination case.” Lenny, an experienced Grade-A magjistar scoffed.

“But don’t you find it concerning the growing numbers of daemons grouping together?” Kara asked, cleaning the surface of her katana with a white cloth.

“I am. Daemons are already a big enough pain by themselves! Them teaming up together is only going to make our jobs even harder!” Timmy complained with his monkey mask hanging on his waist.

“I’m not excited about it either but at least we’ll get to advance quicker as magjistars because of this.” Cassie grinned as she filled up her toy water gun with water.

“Heh. I’m excited as hell about the number of daemons grouping up. More to my collection.” Jacky admired her spiked metal bat drenched in the blood of dozens of daemons.

“Hmph. At least one of you have the right attitude about this.” Lenny gave Jacky an approving glance.

“What I'm worried about is the reason why they’re doing it! This is basically unprecedented, you know?!” Kara explained her concern.

“Why don’t you question them yourself, if you’re so damn worried. It’s not like daemons speak a different language.” Jacky wanted her to shut up, it was ruining her good mood.

“Maybe I will...” Kara muttered.

Joseph didn’t know what to think when he saw Victor’s apprentice. He was assigned in the same wing as her along with a few others but only she captured his attention. None of the others seemed worth acknowledging. His initial impression of her was that she was nothing special like the rest of the people around his age but then, he looked at her more closely.

He briefly debated attacking her just to see if she was just as dangerous as his teacher said but there was no need. At the exact moment, Joseph’s black chains started moving, her eyes glared at him. Joseph didn’t feel fear when he made eye contact with her but he did feel pressured. From that glare, he learned quite a lot about Victor’s apprentice.

One, she wasn’t as dumb as she looked. Two, she was stronger than she looked. And three, if they ended up fighting, he wasn’t sure he would come out on top. But that third fact isn’t something that surprised Joseph considering that his teacher is on the same level as her teacher. Both Victor and Kali are some of the top magjistars of this generation. Joseph and Victor’s apprentice had quite a lot riding on their shoulders for the future.

Joseph wasn’t worried in the slightest. He would simply do what he’s best at and let nothing get in his way. Time would only tell how things would play out for Victor’s apprentice. She’s made a lot of enemies as soon as she stepped foot into the magji world. While Joseph also wasn’t born in the magji world, no one but his teacher and a few of the higher-ups knew this. Everyone knew that Victor’s apprentice was new to the magji community.

If the situation made itself present, Joseph would help her. Joseph temporarily removed his blindfold and stared in Zoey’s direction. From his connate ability, he could tell that Victor’s apprentice wasn’t an evil person but at the same time, she wasn’t a good person. However, she was filled with a mixture of quite a few emotions. Innocence, naivety, lust, joy, anticipation, anger, confusion, nervousness, amusement, craving, wariness, suspicion, awkwardness, excitement, contempt, and pride. All of those centered around her inner self and allowed Joseph to look deeper within Victor’s apprentice and really start to understand Zoey Winters.

It was impossible for him to understand which emotion correlated with what but regardless none of those emotions made him feel wary, afraid, or distrustful of Zoey Winters. She was alone. In a place filled with people, she couldn’t call friends or allies. From what his teacher told him, it was more likely she was surrounded by enemies and potential enemies instead. By taking a brief look at Joseph's surroundings, his eyes could also see everyone that harbored hostile feelings toward Zoey. How many of them would attempt to harm her during this case, was something that he could not predict. Joseph would do his best to prevent any accidents from occurring though. If Victor found out his disciple met her end on a case like this, the OM will not be spared for forcing a Bringer on a high-level case like this. Perhaps if Joseph looked at it a different way, protecting Zoey’s life would be the same as protecting the OM from possible destruction.

“They’re outside! The magjistars are outside!”

“They are coming to kill us!”

“I knew I shouldn’t have teamed up with you all!”

“What is the need to panic for, everyone?” A tuxedo-wearing daemon with grey skin and the elegance of a nobleman snapped his finger and gathered everyone’s attention.

That snap sent a shockwave of magji that silenced most of the daemons in the gymnasium. Some began to shiver, others were unable to speak even if they wanted to, while a few smiled at this demonstration of power. Next to the well-dressed daemon was his polar opposite. A freakish monstrosity rippling with muscle. The abnormal size of his muscles took up a majority of his body, forcing him to walk with his knuckles and his small legs aiding the process.

“As you may have noticed, the Organization of Magjistars have arrived to exterminate us.” He put it blunted and simply. Not all daemons were good at comprehending complex words. “However, we have a secret weapon that they don’t know about, which is why we have nothing to be worried about.” He smiled.

“Secret weapon?”

“Can we beat the magjistars?”

“Where’s the secret weapon!?”

“The secret weapon is right in front of you. Look around.” The fancy daemon gestured to all of them. “You are the secret weapon. All this time, magjistars worked together to kill us and use our hearts as the core of their weapons but now it is our time to fight back as one! The only reason you all fear magjistars is because they forced that fear upon you with their teamwork. But now, we have the same weapon they have.” He laughed.

“TEAMWORK! HELP EACH OTHER!” The muscled daemon shout reverberated throughout the gym, knocking a few of the weaker daemons down to the floor.

“Just as my soft-spoken friend here explained...” The tuxedo daemon picked at his ear. “All you simply need to do is help each other. If you can’t understand that, then let me put it in a simpler manner for you all. The daemon that collects the most hearts without stealing them from another daemon will get this.” The well-dressed daemon pulled out a strange meat-like cube from his pocket.

It continued to beat as if it was still living somehow. At first glance, it simply looked like a beating meat cube but every daemon present knew just how valuable this thing was. A single bite of that delicious-looking thing could elevate them to the next level! They would surpass their current self and grow far stronger than they could ever hope to by feeding on humans.

“Those that tell on those that steal the hard work of other daemons will be rewarded as well. So, do well to work together and kill those magjistars. There is more than enough of them to increase all of your strengths.” He explained. “Good luck.” With a snap, the pressure in the gym lessened and the two walked behind the stage.

As they made it backstage, there were three daemons waiting for them.

“How’d it go?” Poison asked.

“Perfectly.” Polly smiled.

“Let’s get ready to leave then. If we’re too slow, we’ll get caught up in the massacre.” Vio yawned.

“No fighting?” Muscle Brain questioned.

“Not now, my friend. Just wait a little longer, and you’ll have all the fights you want.” Polly kindly explained as he wiped off some dust from his tuxedo.

“Have you already set up the device?” Polly asked.

“Of course.” Poison smirked. “By the time those idiots find it, it’ll already be too late to stop it. We’ll reap our rewards in time. For now, let’s leave.”

“Leave. Base!?” Muscle Brain asked.

“Yes, we’ll be returning to our temporary home.” Poison answered him.

“I hope everything works out...” Trickster shrunk himself and hopped on Muscle Brain’s shoulder as a sudden portal appeared in front of them. The group walked through the portal and disappeared from the abandoned school entirely.