The Gray Fox's Luminberg base of operations was busier, now that the task of harvesting the city's magical energies was completed. It was a complete success, had it not been for the incident at Tower 7, where the crime lord's forces took on an unknown by vastly powerful foe.

Winston Norton wasted no time retrieving whatever was recorded of these new enemies. He surmised that they were least likely working for the Empire. It was impossible that they would have not sent more people to exploit the weakness they created upon taking on Tower 7's forces. Two of the three interlopers were caught on the recordings, particularly that lady of light and the warrior of shadow. While the former was unable to properly fend off the attacks of the Gray Fox's most powerful human puppet, her death at the hands of the towering Knight remained inconclusive. Only a radiant explosion was caught before the attached optics on Knight's helm were destroyed.

The new threat in the form of the shapeshifting swordsman was just as dangerous. Not only did it succeed to terminate the Gray Fox's enhanced humans, but also seemed to have little difficulty dealing with Cornelia Sauvant herself. The swordswoman knew how to disengage from a fight when needed.

Waves of the Gray Fox's remaining men were carried through stretchers; the ongoing battle with the regrouped elements of Kriemreich's soldiers was taking its toll. Screeching blasts of the receiving transport cylinders were heard in a constant, rapid rhythm as the uninjured gunmen were reporting in numbers.

Meanwhile, Gerhard re-materialized from one of the ten glass vessels that brought in men from various areas of Luminberg. The goggles he wore had droplets forming at its surface, and his hand shot into the strap, loosening it as he exited the transportation apparatus. Cornelia withdrew from the battle ahead of him, looking at the man while smiling in an attempt to stop a burst of laughter from coming out untimely.

"Looks like you took quite a beating, Master Guild-"

"I am not in a fond mood right now." Gerhard hung his coat and removed his face coverings; goggles bounced off an empty ammunition box.

"All right. Anyway, did you get to do what you said you will?"

"That's part of why I am this way, thank you. I did not expect Master's machinery to take such a toll on my abilities."

"Luminberg is powered by those magical energy things. The Boss' contraptions are made to suck them dry. It did send the city into a dark disaster. Worked as intended, I guess?"

"Yes, and then I received word of Master Norton's force held up and in need of help."

"Rabble from Luminberg's remaining guards?"

"I couldn't see. He was hidden most of the time. He sounded like... like how you say, a raving mad boy."

"You mean you got stalled, by a boy?"

"That brat had much of a fight to offer, and I had little to spare for the Academy after that." Gerhard took off his glove and stared at his palm. A reddish glow appeared in moments.

"You're telling me there was a boy strong enough to be unaffected by the boss' strength-sapper, who took out most of his men plus Norton, and even had more than enough energy to draw you to a stalemate."

Cornelia picked up her mask and goggles from the floor. Small and thin slashes was seen on some areas of her outfit. It was more than enough for Gerhard to quip:

"You seem to have taken a beating too."

"Yes, actually. Pretty good fighter, that one." she unraveled her hair bun, shaking her head thrice right before her red-gold locks rested on her shoulder. "He killed off Sin, and the rest of the former Dragon's Claw warriors. A true monster, whoever or, whatever that thing was."

"You mean, the Master's special warriors?"

"They were specially dead when I caught up with them. Whoever they fought knew where to hit hard. It's not like the Boss' mind-control power juice is widely-known in the empire, is it?"

"I know that this is one of the technologies he has no plans of selling. He claims it to be flawed, at best."

Cornelia pulled out her sword from its sheath; much of the blade suffered chips and nicks. She pushed it back into the scabbard before saying:

"This is the second sword I had to break while on the job. Time to bug the fat master mechanic into forging me another."

"Why not use your actual weapon, rather than rely on the Master's furnaces?"

"It's a trade secret, Gerry." Cornelia approached the magician and sent a faint slap to his forehead. "Unlike you and your fancy hand-waving, I can't exactly go around using my blade repeatedly. You wouldn't want the Imperials crawling all over this place after following that 'crazy woman with a crazy sword'. The old man would have me fired, or killed."

"And when do you intend to use it? Don't tell me all the time you spent cleaning it is nothing more than a hobby of yours."

"Let's just say I'll use it when it's really needed, like when I run into that man-shadow creature again."

"Shadow... creature?"

"Long story. Really. I will not talk to you about it with an empty stomach. I. Am. Starving."

"I'll be right behind you."

"Besides, I am not really happy with how Sin and the rest turned out. I mean, they're not my friends or anything, but they didn't deserve being treated that way by the Boss, and dying for it."

"I..."

"It's all right. Just listening to me is enough." Cornelia turned around and held both of Gerhard's arms. "At least, if anyone heard us, it'll be all on me. Thanks."

"You're... welcome."

Cornelia smiled before turning around to face the pantry and its cupboards up ahead. Gerhard shook his head and followed her to where sandwiches were being served. He heard his stomach groan in agreement. The night turned out to be rough for everyone, and he was mainly glad for being alive even when the mission almost went on the verge of failing.

The thought of Luminberg's Academy was thrust into his head again. He would have to carry out his vengeance for another day.