“Brother Haiiro?” Kin muttered out softly, unable to comprehend what she was witnessing. The image on the projected screen was unquestionably one that depicted a prison cell and their long-lost brother being tortured. But… Why? And how?

“Is that really… brother Haiiro?!” After a few seconds, Kin’s mental functions came back online. She sprung to her feet and leapt closer towards the screen. Her pale white skin had turned flushed as both her arms and legs were flailing about. Kin didn’t know whether she was over the moon or under the ocean. Was the Grey Otter being tortured really… their brother?

“Wait, Kin! It might be a trap!” Gin quickly held his sister back. “Brother Haiiro has been sealed in the Moon Valley for years now! There’s no way that he could be with the humans!”

“But that’s clearly him!” Kin protested, her eyeballs were on the midst of popping out. “You know how rare Grey Otters are, there’s practically only one of them every hundred thousand years! That’s brother Haiiro for sure!” Losing control over her emotions, the blonde woman gradually morphed from her humanoid shape and back to the Tier 9 Golden Fox that she truly was.

“Calm yourself, Kin! You’re losing control over your metamorphosis!” The silver-haired man quickly grabbed his arms around his sister’s neck, trying his best to calm her down.

But how could she? Kin had just witnessed the brother she loved most dearly being tortured right before her eyes. How could the Golden Fox sit back and relax while the Grey Otter was suffering?

“We can’t rush to conclusions! It may not be him! The Alliance may use a fake as a trap to lure us in!”

The Golden Fox screamed in retort: “How can you know that?! The Alliance have no clue that brother Haiiro exists! Only the both of us, Momo and the Allfather know about brother Haiiro!”

“T-That...” The Silver Monkey had no retort. Kin was right, the existence of the Grey Otter was kept a tight secret. Heck, many people didn’t even know the true identities of Kin and Gin until recently, let alone the enigmatic first brother of the Moon Valley.

“Can you hear them?” Relenting a little, Gin asked his sister for audio confirmation. If they could at least hear the Grey Otter’s voice than maybe, just maybe… The scene before them could be real.

“G-Good idea!” Kin nodded as she pressed her left index finger upon her ear. Space-elements began dancing as the woman concentrated, filling the air with a thick ethereal mist. Watching through the lens of the idol was one thing, but actually tuning in like Kin was doing right now… It took a tremendous toll on the Tier 9 Spirit Beast’s mana.

Kin’s body was shaking, probably due to a mixture of anxiety and excitement. She had longed to see her eldest brother for many years now… and if the Grey Otter was real… They would finally be reunited, fulfilling her most desired dream.

“It’s connected!” Kin exclaimed after a good five seconds, her eyes were sparkling like luminescent lights. The twins stared perked their ears up, listening in as attentively as the could. This was their eldest brother that they were talking about! If it really was brother Haiiro that was being tortured…

SLIIIIIICKKKK!!! SLIIIIIICKKKK!!! SLIIIIIICKKKK!!!

The deafening bursts of the whips tore through the flesh and bones of the Grey Otter who had its movements suspended, sending lumps of decayed flesh flying all over the place.

“Are you willing to talk now?!” The bulky interrogator bellowed out as he landed yet another whip.

“...” The Grey Otter was silent. His head was pointed down, and eyes were basically that of a dead fish. It was as if there wasn’t a mind within the once towering figure. Kin could barely watch the thick pounds of flesh that were sizzling on the floor. Be it her brother or not, such a gruesome scene wasn’t one for the faint-hearted.

“He’s not speaking… He looks lifeless...” Gin observed, careful not to jump to any conclusions.

“Brother Haiiro has been tortured for so long! Of course he would he’s lifeless!” Kin didn’t know it, but her current frame of mind had already connected the Grey Otter to her long-lost brother without confirming the facts.

“We need more evidence! We can’t just-...”

Before the Silver Monkey could retort, the angered torturer’s voice boomed out: “We know about your connection to the Nine Coloured Noble Beasts, Kin the Golden Fox, Gin the Silver Monkey and Momo the Moon Rabbit! We know that they’re your younger siblings!”

“!!!”

The twins both snapped their head right towards the bulky man, gobsmacked that their true identities had been so easily revealed. However, that wasn’t the last of their surprise…

“Those assholes had been attacking our bases for the longest time now! Do you know how many innocent lives have been lost, never to see their families again?” The bailer hollered. “If not for the upper brass, we would have killed you instantly the moment we claimed you from the Moon Rabbit’s abode!”

“!!!”

Everything was coming in place… The Alliance somehow managed to find Haiiro from the Moon Valley and secured him. They were even at the next stage, interrogating the Grey Otter for any information about the Black Masks!

“It’s him! It’s really him!” Kin screamed in delight. She was barely able to contain her excitement as she leapt up in a fit of joy. Why had Kin and Gin stayed in the Black Masks for so long? Wasn’t it because they wanted to save their eldest brother from Momo’s seal? However, now they didn’t have to go through the long way! Their brother was right before their eyes and was ready to be saved at any moment!

“He’s being tortured, we have to save him now!”

“Wait! Kin, we shouldn’t rush into it! We should investigate before acti-...”

SCHLICKKKK!!!

Yet another resonant whip came flying down, tearing out the flesh from the Grey Otter’s bone. Still amid his heated stupor, the jailor cried out: “I can do this all day, so… ARE YOU GOING TO TALK OR NOT?!” Like a madman, the torturer sent out a flurry of attacks right at the Grey Otter’s behind.

“NOOO!!!” Unable to bear it anymore, Kin instantly acted. She turned into a golden ray and before Gin knew it… Kin was gone from his arms. In her place, there was the same golden idol that was used to spy in on the Alliance Headquarters.

“Shit!” Gin spat. The Golden Fox was far too agitated for him to control. Even before he could react, the girl was gone, and there was no feasible way for Gin to chase her down. The only thing that he could do was…

“Fuck it, I’m going to risk it all!!!” Changing into his Silver Monkey form, Gin rushed down to the treasure vault of his Payirci, all while spewing Time-Elements to hurry his pace.

Meanwhile…

Kin reappeared in the exact same dungeon as the image. Her fluffy golden tail swung from left to right, while her paws kept her brilliantly bright torso upright. Such a scene was hard to miss, particularly in a dungeon such as this one. Stunned by the sudden arrival, the jailor stayed his hand as the whip lifelessly fell to the floor. ‘

The Golden Fox’s eyes twinkled as she gazed right at the imprisoned Grey Otter. The image that she saw through her idol’s eyes wasn’t particularly of the best quality, and she couldn’t examine every single detail of the Grey Otter. However, now that she was a few metres away, Kin was absolutely incensed. The injuries that her eldest brother had taken were far more severe than she’d thought.

“You filthy human… GET YOUR HANDS OFF!!!” Kin shrieked. Without even moving a muscle, the muscular man, who was easily over a hundred kilograms, was swept off his feet telekinetically and was sent flying right at the cold, hard walls.

“Brother Haiiro, I’m here to save you!” The Golden Fox flew right at the suspended Grey Otter, ready to break him free of his restraints. Alas…

“HALT!!!” A domineering voice burst forth from the Grey Otter’s body, and Kin instantly turned motionless. To the Spirit Beast, it was as if space itself had turned against her. Nothing worked. From her fingers to even the slightest strand of hair. Everything had been ceased by the power of space and was constricting the Golden Fox like a python.

This sort of dominance… To be capable of holding her in place like that… There was only one class of entities in the world that had that ability…

“S… S… Spirit… S… Saint...”

“That’s right!” The ‘Grey Otter’ quickly turned fuzzy as a whirlpool sucked in its image. Then, a woman wearing an ornate eyemask emerged and flashed the Golden Fox a brilliant smile. The woman didn’t need to remove her disguise for Kin to guess her true identity…

“Saint Atossa…”

“Wow, this little fox knows of me? I’m flattered.” The Spirit Saint of the Mercenary Guild chuckled. “Did you hear that? I’m famous among the Black Masks.”

“Which Spirit Saint isn’t famous in the land?” Another feminine voice echoed out from the shadows. This time, a black-haired woman, who didn’t seem a day above thirty, sashayed out in delight.

“Saint Althea’s right. I’m pretty sure all of the Noble Beasts were forced to remember our names, faces and abilities. So that they could one day kill us as they did with Suhavis...” Saint Thor showed himself as well, bringing the total tally of Spirit Saints in the cell to three. That was basically a fifth of the total Spirit Saint population that mankind had to offer.

“Y-you… tricked… me...” Kin choked.

“Well, we can’t take all the credit,” Saint Althea laughed. “Your schemes and powers weren’t discovered by us after all...” At that moment, the black-haired woman gestured to the side, drawing the Golden Fox’s attention.

A tall, handsome man was leaning at the corner of the chambers, just inches away from where the golden idol once was. His azure eyes were staring right at her like a scientist would his specimens. In his hands, there was a familiar book, one that Kin could have sworn was destroyed in its entirety. However, once she saw that face and that book together, all the pieces fell into the puzzle. It was this man… that led to her current disaster.

And this man… Just so happens to be the most wanted man within the Black Masks.

“Shin Iofiel...”