Confused, Dominic, while still warmly smiling, turned toward her from inside the limo. "What are you doing, Ste? We have a schedule to stick to; hurry up now and get in the car. Stop wasting everyone''s time."


    Ste shivered at the sight of her Party Leader''s ''friendly'' smile as she bit her lower lip and averted her shaky eyes. "...I have to use thedies'' room; it''s an emergency…"


    "Just get in the car—" Dominic went to irrefutably retort, yet the other girls, Lexi and Issa, guessing what Ste was talking about, interrupted, saying:


    "There is no harm in letting Ste go her own way for now, Dominic," said Lexi. "She can always catch up to uster."


    Adding something else in, Issa said, "Furthermore, we aren''t scheduled to begin the Gate Raid of thispletely unexplored Gate until six hourster, when the paparazzi and Hunter Association higher-ups arrive."


    Dominic''s expression remained unreadable for a few seconds as he silently considered.


    ck lines clouded his face, and for an instant, the other seemingly amiable B-Rank Hunters in the limo felt the looming threat of death. Yet, it came and went just as fast, with the tension in the air returning to normal.


    "Just don''t let it happen again," he said smilingly before rolling up the tinted window of the limo.


    The limo then drove off into the distance, leaving a troubled and slightly trembling Ste standing by the edge of a busy city road. Even though she had expected her Party Leader to react like he did, it was always increasingly unnerving the more times he acted like that. If not for the voice she just heard speak directly into her head, she never would''ve done something that would make her stand out like that.


    After steadying her uneven breathing and calming her nerves, Ste looked toward a certain alleyway off to the side.


    Approaching the alleyway, she thought about many things. One of which concerned the method that the voice used to speak directly into her mind; she had heard of skills that could produce simr effects, but why would someone like that mess with her and even mention her family heirloom?


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    ''...If what the voice says is true, then he might have a connection with the mysterious force that my grandma used to crazily rave about—the World Tree''s Sanctuary…''


    Meanwhile, Cassius, casually leaning up against a dry brick wall of a restaurant, saw a silhouettee into view. She wore a flowy set of shiny, flowery armor, revealing way more skin than should be necessary for battle armor.


    Her skin was fair, her snowy white hair long and silky, and her figure capable of arousing the desires of many. If one looked close enough, they would even be able to see her two perfectly round and squishy butt cheeks leaving the confines of the short pink shorts she wore underneath her revealing dress.


    It immediately became clear to Cassius that this girl was ufortable while dressed like that, yet she acted in such an unscrupulous manner while on stage. Even yourmon person could tell that she was faking everything, but she was still doing it; why was that?


    As he pondered that very question, the girl in question walked up to this shadowy figure, her eyes emting her weariness. "...Who are you?" she asked, not the least bit resembling the bubbly girl who was dancing around on stage earlier. "And how do you know of this symbol…?"


    Although Ste maintained a cautious approach, she was, after all, a powerful B-Rank Hunter. And considering that she couldn''t feel an ounce of aura from the man in front of her, she unconsciously took an upper-ground advantage. Noticing this, Cassius figured he would do something to fully cement what woulde from this discussion.


    "You," he said cryptically. "Sit down… if you would?" He gestured to a pair of illusory wind chairs that he conjured from thin air. Yet, figuring that this simple request would not be enough to take the lead in the conversation, he stuck up a cloaked finger, then blurred.


    "!!!"


    "You—!" Before Ste had the time to react and cast a spell, that shadowy finger made it less than a centimeter away from her tender throat.


    Sweat beads trickled down her wless skin; she froze in ce, trembling in even grander fashion than when faced with the intimidating aura of Dominic. With him, she knew that he would never actually go too far; however, with the mysterious man standing by her side, she could tell—if she acted, she would die.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Cassius, through his shadowy hood, showed an amused smirk. "Even though your Agility is your worst stat and nearly on the verge of being counted as being in the C-Rank, you were almost able to stop me. Though it is unfortunate…"


    "...What do you mean by that…?" asked Ste, her tone indicating her nervousness. "And how do you know what my stats are at…? The Hunter''s Association doesn''t publicly disclose personal information like that…"


    Answering her first question, Cassius smilingly said, "If I were someone ordinary, then you surely would have thwarted my sudden advance, but what you weren''t aware of is that… I Am Speed."


    Confusion shed past Ste''s dazzling tundra-blue irises. "...You are speed…?" she echoed. "What does that mean?"


    Instead of replying to that follow-up question, Cassius diverted back to the second original question. "I am able to see many things with these eyes thanks to a Skill of mine, and the approximate stats of others just so happen to be one of those things."


    Listening to his perplexing way of answering made Ste even more confused. As a B-Rank Hunter, she was privy to many things, but a Skill like the one this cloaked figure described was not one of those things.


    However, with his energy-coated razor-sharp finger lingering next to her neck, she found it hard to maintain a coherent train of thought, let alone rack her mind for information on any such skills.


    ...


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