*5 Months Ago*

Cries and screams can be heard surrounding the whole castle that is currently set ablaze. Blood spilling around and dead bodies are piling on the ground. At this point, not even the royal guards could protect them all despite their skills. On the ground lies a person with a mission to protect the royal family. As she got up to regain her consciousness, a person came up from behind her to ambush her. With her quick reaction, she summoned a sword from her bare hands and stabbed the enemy on the stomach, killing it instantly. She then walks around the burning castle to find the royal princess.

"Hurry get in here, milady. Make sure the artifact is safe."

She found out that the princess is safe, until a sudden villain made his appearance by shattering the window glass that is already fragile enough. The shadowy villain with his shadow sword walks slowly towards the escaping princess with her family. To buy her some time, she draw out a sword and got into a fighting stance against the villain.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on them!!!!"

"Dark Arts, huh? Just so you know, your race's extinction is my doing. Surprisingly, you people are weaker than I expected, despite manage to destroy my hometown."

"You are wrong! You underestimate our capabilities. You are not even a human, but a demon obsessed with artifacts. And regarding your hometown, you should find our ancestors, not us."

"Indeed, it is not your fault. But the blood you carry is inherited from your ancestor, isn't it? You should have just give up, mortal. You have the guts to stand up against me, so I am not letting you get away that easily!"

The both of them clashes sword among each other. In her weakened state, she is unable to move as quickly as she could. After seeing them escaping from that tight gap, she immediately went lenient on herself. She continued to defend the attacks until at some point she reached a cliff. Seeing the limousine making past through the main gate made her relieved that the princess has made out of the castle along with the artifact. She immediately strikes the villain back in order to disarm it which she did it. As the villain reaches for the sword, she deals a blow straight to his head breaking the helmet at the instant, revealing a man that has nothing but vengeance and bloodlust in his eyes. Knowing that he is at his weakest state, she immediately left him as such, but then he started speaking.

"You will regret it soon enough. When that day comes, you and your allies shall be destroyed. I will destroy your hopes, just like I burn this castle to the grounds."

She immediately left the castle being engulfed into flames. Soon enough, the whole structure crumble down, possibly killing the villain at the spot.

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*Present Moment*

The sky became bright after the rocket had exploded. It is thought that the rocket was hacked by any tech expert from Base Zero, or at least only Kyro thought so. Kyro is relieved after regaining his consciousness from the result of Arcadia. He then head back inside the cave only to find Rilles standing by the control panel, thus assuming that Rilles had hacked the rocket. He found no one else inside and only Rilles.

"Where are the rest? What happened here?"

There is no reply. It is as if Kyro is talking to himself. Rilles is as if he is petrified by something unknown to Kyro, like a statue. But he knows well that this is Rilles standing in front of him and no one else could even copy the looks of Rilles. Rilles then lifted up his finger and points to the direction of the rocket that had just exploded.

"You will find out soon, Kyro. Leads will come by one after another."

Suddenly, Kyro felt like he is falling down into a void. Everything inside the cave crumbled to the grounds as if it is collapsing. The last thing he saw was Rilles getting crushed by a huge rock from the cave and as a result, he woke up from that bad dream. He looked around for awhile while trying to understand what had just happened. A slight headache struck him hard in the head. He opens his phone and looks at the calendar and it indicates February of 2045.

"It has been four years after his death. And I still had no clue how he died. Impossible he committed suicide."

He immediately clenched his fist and smacks it to the bed indicating his regret of unable to save his partner once again and it is all too late. Instead of reminiscing about the past, he got out of his bed and get himself prepared for work. He then headed outside to a nearby coffee shop and got himself a cake and a cup of espresso. Each time he visits the coffee shop he always orders this and nothing much.

"You are early today, Kyro. Let me guess, the usual."

"I have nothing else to order. Besides this is the best. And yeah, I am early."

"Well, thank you for the compliment. Also our cake today is freshly made, and you are the first to try it."

"Special treat, huh. Thank you!"

Kyro felt a slight delight as he felt lucky for coming in earlier than usual. As he took a sip of the espresso, he saw a lady in a white robe approaching the sidewalk and sat there as if she is homeless. Kyro couldn't stand it and immediately head out to talk to the lady for a bit.

"Hey, uh. Are you homeless by any chance? I could help you if you need?"

"Is it because I am sitting here?"

"Well, nobody sits here all this time. Are you perhaps a non-local."

"I am from here. It is just that, I need a safe place. Perhaps you could help suggest me one."

Kyro took out his smartphone and go to the maps application. He pointed out a homeless shelter towards the lady in hopes that she would actually go there.

"Azalea Home for the Homeless. It isn't far from here. Just go down this road until you meet a fifth intersection, turn left and you should see a big building."

She smiles a little and immediately thanked Kyro for the assistance. But then she started staring at Kyro in the eyes with full attention.

"You got regrets, don't you? I can see it in your eyes. You are desperate for answer. And I sense betrayal a betrayal. Perhaps you doubt your friends, they might have done something, but you need answer

As soon as she said that, she left. Kyro tried to stop her, but couldn't as she is already far away. Kyro wonders what is even she talking about. Without thinking too much, Kyro went back over to his cake and enjoys his breakfast. A waitress went over to Kyro's table and asked questions regarding his recent encounter.

"Kyro, do you know that lady?"

"No, no idea at all. She just suddenly appeared. And she looks homeless. Somehow."

"Kyro, it is best you be careful around people like her. I don't know but I felt like she had some sort of a negative aura from the way she communicates to you. It is like, she is carrying something heinous."

"Well, I am around and I am not allowing that to occur. Perhaps you might be overthinking. Just relax."

Kyro calms the waitress down after informing him about the feeling she felt. Kyro will always keep his defenses up no matter what and he assumes that she is just a homeless person that requires help. As soon as he is done with his breakfast, he thanked the barista and the waitress for their kind services and head over to Base Zero headquarters. As soon as he reaches there, he tags his attendance and head over to his desk to start his day. Before he could even touch the chair to drag it out from the desk, he is called over by a colleague of his.

"Hey, Kyro. General called you in earlier. He asked you to meet him in the office."

Kyro felt annoyed. Since it is the general's order, he had to abide by it otherwise he might get into a huge trouble. He left his desk to abide by such order. As soon as he arrives, the general greets him like he had never seen Kyro in years.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Kyro. My reliable agent. How has it been?"

"We just met yesterday. I need to know why you need to see me."

General Raz went over to his laptop and show him an announcement poster.

"Dinner? What is all this?"

"Great you asked about it? We are going to have a dinner at a nearby restaurant just among the higher ranks. I need your help to redesign the poster, and I need to upload it into the higher ranks group."

Kyro held two fingers onto his eyebrows pinching them together as a sign of disappointment.

"You called me, just for that? Perhaps you could ask someone else. I am not interested."

Raz then puts his hand onto Kyro's shoulder to halt his movement for a second. Kyro knew at that moment that it is bad news, but he remained calm despite the tension.

"Kyro. That is only one of the reason. You haven't heard the other reason."

Kyro is surprised as that gesture Raz did is supposed to be a threat, instead a new offer came up and Kyro is doubtful whether it is a serious thing or not.

"Take a look at this photograph. Look closely and tell me what you could analyze from here."

The picture shows some sort of a royal family in an event. Perhaps a congratulatory event that is unknown of its purpose.

"A royal family gathering, I suppose."

"Exactly. But that is not all. The princess from the royal family is expected to visit Azalea City to look at its development. I need you to be the bodyguard for this event."

Kyro smirks as he realized he finally got a job after quite sometime. Rather than doing paperwork, he rather venture outside and accomplish missions. But then...

"General. With all due respect, I am done protecting people. I failed everytime. No matter what I have done, they will always die in my hands."

Raz got up from his chair and attempts to persuade Kyro with his best.

"Kyro, the last time we did a mission, I am the leader. And what is the outcome. They remained alive till the end. Except for the two of them, which they betrayed us. Look here. The outcome maybe different this time. I trust you with all I have, Kyro. Assume this is for redemption for all this time."

Kyro thought for awhile on what Raz had said. The event Raz mentioned happened four years ago in an attempt to stop Arcadia's attack on Azalea City. The event ended up Rilles and Vulcan being betrayed and the story is twisted by Raz. Kyro remains oblivious about the situation as he is not informed about Vulcan and Rilles. He thought for quite some time and finally accepted the mission in order to change his dark fate. He does this for the sake of changing his fate.

"I will do it. When will this begin? And can I have the photo?"

"Alright. Tomorrow at 10am. And yes you can have the photo."

Kyro graciously accepted the photo and took it back to his desk. The reason he took the photo is to not analyze the target, but to analyze the person behind the princess. What appears is a woman that looks rather familiar to what he had encountered this morning. The woman is dressed in a royal dress while holding a martini glass with her face facing slightly to the camera.

"Isn't that girl-"