"Oh?" Director Kim muttered, stroking his chin as he watched Lucy smack Shin and the other two girls exiting the trial dungeon, "A secret lovers' quarrel?"
The two stood silently staring at one another as time continued to pass, antagonizing the headmaster as the other teams slowly exited their respective dungeons.
Lucy turned her head, staring at the perspective of the camera before the camera cut off after the final team exited the dungeons.
"W-what's happening?!?" Karina exclaimed, pointing at the static image.
"Eva!" Director Kim called out as the beautiful woman appeared beside him.
"Yes, Director?" She asked, greeting him with a brief curtsy.
"What is going on?" He shouted, pointing at the static noise of the window above the portal.
"There appears to be something disrupting the transmission signal and blocking it." She explained.
"I can see that!" He yelled in frustration, "Do something!"
Eva curtsied again and vanished.
***
"Well?" Shin asked, huffing as he crossed his arms over his chest, "What did you want to talk about?"
"Not yet…" Lucy replied, staring at him blankly for a few minutes until she turned to the camera's position.
An uneasy feeling ran up his spine as he maintained his stoicism, narrowing his eyes as he glared at her, his body remaining still in a defensive posture.
Her eyes briefly illuminated, cutting the camera out, and she turned back to the young man, "Alright, now we can talk."
"What do you want?" Shin asked, reaching above his shoulder as he placed his hand on the hilt of his greatsword.
"You can calm down." Lucy said flatly, raising her hands, revealing her empty palms, "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to warn you…"
"Warn me? Why would you do that?" Shin asked, hesitantly releasing his grip on his greatsword and lowering his arm.
"Because I know who you are." She answered, her gaze narrowed as she stared at him.
"Oh?" Shin exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face as he shrugged, holding his hands up as he asked, "Who am I?"
"Special Agent in-training: Shin no last name. Codenamed Omega. A mysterious orphan that just magically appeared sixteen years ago-"
Shin's eyes narrowed as she spoke, and he cut her off, launching forward as he drew his greatsword and slashed at her.
"Who are you.??" He growled, glaring at her as they locked blades as she blocked his attack.
"You know who I am, Shin!" She said sweetly, a smile spread across her face before her accent quickly turned into a heavy Russian voice, "I'm Lucy!"
"You're NWO?!?" Shin asked incredulously, grunting as he exerted his entire force, flinging her sword upwards.
He rapidly spun and slashed horizontally as the young woman barely had time to react, receiving the brunt of the attack against her shield and sending her crashing into the wall behind her.
She coughed blood as she collapsed to her knee, bracing herself with her hand as she dropped her sword and raised her hands, desperately shouting, "Wait!"
"If you know who I am, then you should know that it's you who should be worried about getting hurt!" Shin growled, dashing forward as he ignored her pleas to stop.
The young man flipped the sword in his hand around, striking Lucy violently in the abdomen, crushing her plate armor and causing her to recoil, spewing more blood from her mouth.
"You're life is in danger!" She shouted at the puddle of blood underneath her as she remained motionless on her hands and knees.
"Threatening me now, huh?" Shin asked, grabbing her long blonde hair and lifting her off the ground as he stared at her bloody visage, "I thought you weren't going to hurt me."
"N-not me…" Lucy groaned, staring at him with sparkling eyes and blood running down her face, "I'm risking my own life to warn you…"
"Why?" The young man asked, releasing her hair as she collapsed, "The WUF and NWO have been enemies for centuries. Explain yourself."
"Okay…" Lucy nodded, sighing heavily as she adjusted her body to lean against the wall.
She pulled a bottle of red liquid from her inventory and drank the entire thing. The health potion immediately took effect as the wounds on her body vanished and a white steam emitted off her body.
"I was sent here to observe the new mysterious agent." Lucy explained, leaning against the wall as she sighed heavily, "We intercepted your orders, and I couldn't let you proceed into the trap."
"Why?" Shin asked, narrowing his gaze as he glared at her.
"Honestly?" Lucy asked, and after the young man nodded, she sighed before shrugging her shoulders, "I don't really know."
"How did you learn my history and mission details?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Really?" She sighed, shaking her head, "You WUF people think your technology is soo advanced and impenetrable; well, guess what? It's not!"
"Is John involved?"
"Of course! Why do you think he's constantly antagonizing you? He just wants to be done with the mission and kill you."
"Fine." Shin said, rolling his eyes and averting his gaze, "What is the warning?"
"So you believe me?" Lucy asked, her eyes brightened as a smile spread across her face.
"Let's say I do-" Shin replied, but before Lucy could explain, a portal forcibly opened before the two and Director Kim entered.
"Oh, thank the heavens!" He exclaimed, rushing over as Eva and the three instructors appeared from the portal and asking, "Is everything alright?"
Lucy remained silent and glanced at Shin, who nodded and smiled at the instructors.
"Yeah!" He turned, pointing behind them, "After the girls exited, our portal disappeared, and we just waited for you all to show up!"
"Yup!" Lucy said in her standard accent, standing up as the two students followed the instructors and Eva out of the portal.
"Hmmm…" Director Kim muttered, stroking his chin as he narrowed his gaze, staring at the crater in the destroyed wall and the small puddle of blood below it.