"Don't tell me that… I'll need to fight you," Hans exclaimed, his mind racing with implications.
Hans had come a long way since his awakening and could now truly be considered a high-ranking awakened. But even then, the thought of trying to fight the woman before him seemed nothing short of suicide. He would be more willing to just give up the ring instead of enduring a trashing from her.
"Oh, come on, I'm not that heartless. Though I heard you fought like a beast in the recent C-Rank gate and even managed to take down the boss monster, you are definitely not at a level to spar with me, well if you insist I'll take up that offer," the woman said with a smirk.
Hans shook his head quickly, signaling he definitely did not want to do that.
"Also, just so you know, you won't be allowed to use any artifacts like you did in the boss raid," she added, catching him off guard.
Hans was surprised by this exclamation.
'Artifacts? Which artifacts? Could she be talking about…'
The scouts sent inside the gate by the three major guilds in order to figure out Hans's
capabilities had reported in incredible detail the events that took place during the fight.
However, the only thing they witnessed was Hans conjuring a massive ice cage.
This was misinterpreted by the guild masters, who had already heard rumors about his physical strength, thinking that it was an artifact rather than a magical spell.
And realizing that this could only mean that the woman before him didn't know of his mage identity, granting him the advantage of being underestimated in their bet.
"I accept," Hans declared.
The smirk on the woman's face widened as she rose from her seat before opening the door and gesturing Hans to follow her.
"Come on, boy, follow me. Let's take you to the test arena," she said, leading the way.
As they passed, the onlookers alternated between staring at the guildmaster and Hans. But when the distance between them and Sophia diminished, they all started sweating from her melting aura, and just like that, the attention directed towards Hans increased even more, wondering how he could remain so leisurely while walking beside her.
"Sh-sh*t man, I feel like I'm about to die from the heat," one bystander muttered.
"Me too, man," another agreed.
"How is that boy even standing on his feet while being so close to her?" someone else marveled.
"He must be a high-ranking awakened!"
Witnessing this spectacle, where even their own guild master appeared to them as a monster, Hans recalled a conversation with Garrison after he had asked the question:
"I'm sorry Mr. Garrison, but why do you call her a crazy woman?"
Making a strange face, Garrison replied, "Are you really asking me because you don't know?!"
But after looking at Hans' genuinely confused face, the bearded man started, "Oh that's right, you are quite new around here. Well then, let me tell you."
"Even if right now it's just a nickname that spread due to her intense aura, there is actually a reason why it was given to her and it is also the information you will have to swear to cover….
______
{Six years ago}…
Among the plethora of guilds rising in Chicago's suburbs and city center, only two stood out the most, both led by C-Rank awakened, both of which were founded less than six months from the start of the catastrophe: the Vortex Guild, and the Rose Guild.
The Vortex guild had a stable economy and was being controlled, and directed by Benjamin, who at the time, could still be considered a middle-aged man and had most of his hair still brown.
The Rose Guild was controlled by the two guild masters, Sophia Lewis and Noah White, which was more based on its sheer fighting power.
All their income stemmed from dungeon raids and the guild boasted two C-Rank awakened, an impressive feat at the time.
During that period even Elijah was a newly promoted B-Rank awakened.
Even if they established a barely decent internal hierarchy, there were close to no feuds between the members since the two powerful guild masters were long-dated friends.
Because of their refined and beautiful fighting style, they gave the name, "ROSE" to the guild.
One fateful Sunday, a D-Rank gate on the outskirts of Chicago reached its time limit, transforming into a breach and unleashing powerful monsters in the grey buildings of the city.
From the D-Rank gate, the monsters that would then become known as Blood Hounds poured into the city, attacked the civilians, and sucked their veins dry of any blood.
When the officials of the Rose Guild arrived at the scene, nearly a hundred victims had already fallen prey to the fearsome canines.
Amidst the chaos, a composed and elegant woman was fighting with one of the wolves that had its fur colored similar to that of her straight red hair.
Though many other members also fought alongside her, as the number of monsters multiplied and the boss of the gate, [Blood Wolf] appeared, they started losing control of the situation.
The woman witnessed some of her friends perish before her eyes, but since it hadn't been the first time, she quickly managed to recover her stance and started fighting again despite exhaustion weighing down heavily upon her.
"Have you contacted the guild?!" Sophia screamed.
In response, another member shouted, "Yes!!! But there's no answer."
"Could they have abandoned us?!" asked another guy.
"Don't say anything stupid like that again!!" the woman scolded.
"They must've come across a tricky situation, keeping these monsters busy!! Just hold on for as long as you can, help will be here soon."
Sophia hoped, she really hoped that someone would arrive to their rescue, but as time passed, there wasn't even a single trace of any incoming aid.
One after the other, her comrades fell lifeless to the ground, leaving behind nothing but a crimson stain that spread on the cold concrete.
In the end, when the boss monster finally succumbed to Sophia's attack, instead of celebrating, she fell to her knees, mourning over the bodies of her now-dead companions.
Only she and one of the two vice guild masters, Albert, who was extremely loyal to her, remained standing.
At that moment, some footsteps started closing on to them and in the distance, Noah White and the other vice guild master could be seen.
Finally seeing someone familiar, Sophia started crying out his name.
"Noah.. Noah, they died," between her tears and sobs, her words were almost inaudible, "They're dead, waaa, it's, it's my fault."
Even if she was now somewhat used to it, witnessing someone she treasured die was not taken easily.
When someone you know exists, and you know their preferences and have shared moments with them, dies, it becomes difficult to realize that they aren't there anymore.
And when most of her friends died, she could do nothing but shatter into pieces, all her dignified aura disappeared, as the face of a regretful kid took its place.
Yet, even amidst her despair, Noah approached, seemingly unworried, and was accompanied by his assistant.
Albert's eyes widened in horror seeing that something amiss in Noah's appearance.
Noah's clothes were completely fine, his body didn't even have a single scratch and the same went for the assistant.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Are you sad about their deaths?" Noah asked, trying to sound empathic.
The realization hit Albert, who in a last-ditch effort tried to scream and warn Sophia of the danger.
"Sophia be caref-"
However, before he could finish, a swift strike almost sliced his torso in half, silencing his warning forever.
Holding the handle of the clear white blade was no one other than Noah, who smirked at the disgusting sight of Albert's body covered in blood.
"Don't be so sad, I'll send you to them before you even notice that they have been gone for long," he taunted, drawing the blade and turning it towards Sophia.
Terrorized, Sophia watched the person whom she thought was her friend holding a sword pointed at her throat.
Her mind went blank and her ears malfunctioned, the only strength she managed to muster was used to whisper as the world around her crumbled.
"Why?"