The man with the scar on his face scratched his head and looked at the small device in his hand.
"The soap opera ends here, you nosy brats."
Pinching it between his thumb and index finger, the tiny transmitter snapped. He glanced back at Allen.
"Sometimes Titan and Shinobi are a real pain in the ass."
A series of uneven beeps sounded from the man's wristwatch. With each beep, the watch emitted a red flash. The man checked it, then looked at Allen.
"A monster just appeared in Zone D-31. Go do your job, hero."
Allen gave a faint smile and started walking as the man called out more information behind him.
"The Federation's calling it Strix Temporalis, Category 3. One of its abilities is stopping time, so it's going to be tricky unless you've got long-range attacks."
"I have something to deal with a temporal-type ability."
When they reached the intersection, the man stopped and watched Allen walking west.
"He's much stronger than he lets on…"
Smiling, the man tapped a button on his watch, making the monster alert disappear. Then he removed his outer clothes, revealing a red outfit underneath, and pulled on his balaclava. Once ready, he pressed the same button and spoke through the watch.
"To all units in Zone D: I just spoke with Allen. He's heading after Strix Temporalis. You know the drill—don't repeat last time's mistake. Anyone who leaves residual information about his fight will be handed over to the Heroic Federation, and you all know what they do there."
His tone was far more commanding than when speaking to Allen. No one dared respond, even after the threat.
After issuing his orders, the man pulled out a grappling hook and fired it toward a nearby rooftop, vanishing between leaps in the same direction Allen had gone.
---
People were running in every direction, turning the streets into pure chaos. Allen could only sigh as he watched them get in each other's way, pushing desperately to be farther away than everyone else.
A shrill screech echoed from a couple of buildings away. A moment later, a massive black wing slammed into the corner of a building, knocking loose a large chunk of it and revealing the face of Strix Temporalis.
Just as its name implied, the creature was a bird with glowing red eyes and a massive white beak. The black feathers on its head shone with a silvery tint under the sun.
Allen didn't focus on the monster. Instead, he tightened his grip around the green crystal stone and sprinted toward the falling piece of the building. In less than two seconds, he reached it and shoved it aside with one hand, redirecting its fall—and then aimed for Strix Temporalis' body.
But before he could even graze it, the monster's eyes glowed, freezing the debris midair.
Allen landed and looked down at a small boy frozen on the ground in terror.
"Go."
The child nodded with watery eyes and scrambled to his feet, running until he vanished among the streets.
"Category 3… not difficult. The problem is its time-stop ability."
Allen looked at the suspended debris—dust particles included—motionless in the air.
The monster screeched and pecked the chunk of building several times, breaking it into smaller pieces. Then it flapped its wings. When its eyes glowed again, the frozen fragments shot toward Allen—though with a green flash, he darted several meters away.
"So it controls time, wind… and it still has a third ability."
Allen reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow crystal, examining it closely.
"If Shinobi doesn't return the staff and the prism, I'll have to go with Plan B."
Strix Temporalis screeched again and flapped its wings, preparing to ascend. The wind currents it generated shook Allen's balance repeatedly until he managed to lift himself into the air, staring back at the monster's glowing red eyes.
"Troublesome."
The green stone in Allen's fist gleamed, lifting his body upward.
"Now we're even. Want to try an aerial fight, bird?"
The monster screeched loudly, almost as if responding to him, and then shot forward like a lance, its beak aiming directly at Allen. Though Strix Temporalis' speed surpassed Allen's, he managed to dodge and kicked the creature's massive neck, using the recoil to propel himself for extra speed.
With another screech, the monster twisted its neck, repeating its assaults—forcing Allen to dodge again and again.
---
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, a man wearing ornate purple armor watched the situation unfold.
"So it was true…? The little knight apprentice finally shows his face?"
A macabre smile stretched across his lips as he pulled out a black stone.
"Let's have some fun… what happens if I give the monster power through the Onyx?"
He fitted the black stone into a slot on the bracelet on his left arm, right next to a purple stone. A purple arc of light formed, shaping into a bow with a black arrow. Pulling the string, the man aimed at the monster's chest and let the arrow fly.
"So… will you use the Topaz again… or will you use a different stone?"
His sinister smile widened as he watched the arrow land in the monster's chest, releasing a dark radiance.
---
Allen kept dodging the creature's assaults. He couldn't counterattack or defend properly without his staff. But everything changed the moment a black ray shot through the monster's chest, making it stiffen in place.
"That was…?"
He had an idea of what it might be—but quickly pushed the thought aside and focused on the monster.
"If it's what I think… things are about to get dangerous."
The monster shrieked as its body expanded, growing larger than before. Its once-black feathers gained a faint blood-red tint, its beak turned purple, and its red eyes went completely white.