Interlude 1: Meet the Boss

5 men were standing in front of a seat shrouded by darkness, only a small desk visible despite there being a lamp shining above their heads. They all had some visible traces of fight on them, most notably slashing and stabbing wounds here and there. The small room they were in made them look actually bigger than they were in reality.

"Boss..." Said one of them. "We failed to secure the battery."

"What about the tinkerer?" Asked a beautiful, entrancing voice of a woman. Its source was in the seat, shrouded from all light and not even her eyes were visible, but all 5 men felt powerful gaze stare them down.

"She's alive."

"...what did I tell you?" Menacing tone reverberated through the room; the woman was mad. Very, very mad.

"We came to tell you about an intruder."

"Intruder?"

"Yes, there was an intruder. He was an Asian kid, very tall, fighting with a sword."

"..."

"But he... he didn't use the sword in a normal way. He... he danced with it, and even called out somethings that sounded like skills. We couldn't land a hit."

"A dancing swordsman?" She seemed a little surprised.

"Y-Yes... boss, he wasn't a normal person. He seemed crazy. He kept shouting some things and attacking, but those weren't skills. There's something weird about him."

"..."

"He's crazy, and he sided with that tinkerer... He's going to be dangerous."

"What's his name?"

"...we don't know."

Silence filled the room. Admits the serene atmosphere, something could be heard. Sounding in a rhythmic manner, it was dull, but defined sound. A hand stretched from the shadows (oh, and wasn't it a beautiful one), and its somewhat short nail was tapping on wooden surface of the desk. All 5 of them, no, everyone in the organisation knew that this finger would be an instant **** sentence if she pointed it at someone. They felt cold sweat all over their bodies, but didn't move.

"...anything else?" She asked.

"...no, boss."

"...get out. And tell Mobius to come here."

The men quickly went for the door, but were surprised to see a tall, slender man standing right behind them. He wore a nice, clean tuxedo and white shirt. He had little muscle on him, but in a way, he looked intimidating. Especially his eyes, which he for some reason always kept closed. And yet, he didn't fail to turn to each and every one of the men and say:

"No need to. I'm already here."

Passing by him, all 5 henchmen felt cold sweat on their back. Ignoring them leaving far ahead, Mobius closed the door gently and turned to the shadows. His face had wrinkles already, but his short hair (which didn't even start to go bald) was of dark-gray shade, and his mouth almost always was formed in a gentle smile. In fact, he looked like a classy 50 years old gentleman. Well, if it wasn't for a large sniper rifle on his back, he'd be an image of a nice old uncle, or a grandfather.

He took a step forward, standing not far from the desk.

"What to do of them?"

"Make an example." Replied his boss.

"As you wish, Ma'am."

"And go and visit Clairvoyant. I don't know why she's pulling tricks on us, but let her know that this is the last time. Next time she'd better predict the place we'll be burying her."

"It will be done." He replied, his tone unshaken and his smile everlasting.

"And lastly, find out about that man who beat them up. If he is crazy, leave him be. But if he's skilled, try to figure out his skills."

"Yes, Ma'am." Replied Mobius, and then disappeared. Not walked away, just straight up disintegrated into nothingness.

'Fucking hell... Those guys are useless.' Thought the boss as she removed her hand from the desk. This was going to be a painfully long issue, she knew it. The failure in killing that one pesky tinkerer could prove to be a very big hit. Normally, she'd just let the issue go, but this one was dangerous. Clairvoyant clearly said that if she were to live, there would be a lot of problems for them. But then again, was that girl even reliable anymore? The park was supposed to be empty, so what was an intruder doing there?

But she couldn't just attack again. The first strike looked like a robbery to pretty much anyone, but if another one happened soon after, someone was bound to snoop around. No, they already had enough prying eyes around.

In the darkness, the woman was dialing a number on the phone. The darkness around her was a very special one; a A-rank creation that only distorted light the way she wanted it to. It had its ups and downs, but for her the skill was very useful, even if it was packed with one hell of a side effect.

"Send this message to outer rings." She said to the phone. "Reduce activities by half for next two weeks. And send scouts to 11th floor. Find out any valuable information." And then she hung up.

The woman hid the phone and kept on thinking. Did that girl really play them? Or was there something she couldn't predict? Well, she did have S-rank prediction ability, but that didn't mean she was omniscient. But if so, then just how powerful was the person who could go unnoticed by her? No, actually, could such a person even exist? No, it was impossible. It must've been that damnable Clairvoyant trying to outsmart her. But then, some punishment would suffice, and Mobius would make sure the message got across.

An invisible smile entered her lips. Yes, there was no reason to panic. Alive or not, that tinkerer couldn't escape them. Eventually, it'll all be over. The battery wasn't priority in the first place. All that mattered was that girl. Ieva Coull.