After ten minutes into their flight, the liquid LED lights pulsed bright green, the hover jet's energy thrusters weakened, and it began descending to the center of a ruined city.
As it neared the ground, the rubble, the wrecked buildings, everything that could be a trouble dissolved into the ground like they weren't even there, and the ground beneath parted with a faint metallic screech.
A tunnel full of nothing but darkness appeared in the ground, and the hover jet entered it.
A moment later, the metallic doors closed once again, and everything that had disappeared reappeared at their exact location as if they were always there.
The hover jet continued to descend for a minute, and just as it neared the base, the liquid LED lights pulsed a yellow hue.
The energy thrusters once again came to life, the hover jet shot forward, and the dark tunnel lit up around it.
Once it crossed the tunnel, the world brightened, and the hover jet came to a sudden halt.
"Meow~~" Mimi mumbled as she also woke up from her short slumber.
The control room's door slid open, and Erick walked out while stretching his arms.
"Mimi, did you sleep well?" Ruri questioned as she perched Mimi on her left shoulder and took the card key from Erick.
Rudy didn't move an inch from his seat and muttered, "W-Which sanctuary city are we in?"
Ruri ignored his question and walked towards the hover jet's door, and Erick answered after tapping his jacket twice, "We aren't at any sanctuary, we are at a much safer place..."
The spot—his chest—that he had touched rippled; a red ring with a three-headed serpent coiled tail appeared on it.
Rudy's eyes went wide, and his body trembled as he pointed at the logo.
"We are at the headquarters of—"
"S-Shadow Syndicate!" Muttered Rudy.
Erick clapped. "Indeed. Also, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Erick Banson, a member of Shadow Syndicate and Miss Ruri's sidekick."
Rudy listened to him with an extremely grim expression, and Erick said, "Let's go."
"N-No. I don't need your help," Rudy stammered while raising his fist as if he was ready to throw hands with him.
Erick chuckled. "Why are you even doing this? We are already at the headquarters, man, there's nothing you can do but follow what I say..." He swiped his thumb across his neck and added, "Or poof!"
Hearing that, Rudy's expression darkened even further.
He reluctantly stood up from his seat and whispered, "Please, don't hurt me."
Erick shook his head, walked towards the open door, and said before he stepped down, "Don't worry about that."
Rudy followed behind him, and once outside, his gaze fell on various similar or different models of hover jets lined up on the right and towering humanoid war machines — Mecha — stood lined up on the left.
Various syndicate members roamed around them, all wearing black outfits as if any other color were banned.
Ruri stood a few steps away from him.
She had her left wrist beside her ear as she used her haloband — A multifunctional wrist device for calls, data access, and transmission, featuring holographic projection and a smart-touch interface.
"Alright... Yes, we are coming to the interrogation ward." She hung up the call, turned towards them, and said, "Let's go."
Erick nodded, and the two of them began to follow behind her.
"It's gonna hurt a little," Ruri mumbled under her breath, and before Rudy could even react to her enlarging glowing fist, his vision darkened.
A heavy thud echoed throughout the hangar as Rudy fell onto the ground.
Ruri took a final glance at him before she turned and said, "Lift him."
"Meow," Mimi added while bobbing her head.
"W-What?!" Erick stammered, eyes widened in disbelief. "How can someone like me lift this juggernaut??"
"You are an irregular," she muttered and continued on her steps.
Erick looked at Rudy's seemingly unconscious figure and let out a sigh.
He bent down, picked Rudy up by his hand, and followed behind Ruri while grabbing onto him.
Walking past the other members, they made their way from the hangar to the interrogation ward, unaware of the dim red light seeping through Rudy's eyelids that were barely open.
—
A few minutes later, Rudy's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself strapped to a chair with white walls all around him.
A few steps away from him, a lean man sat beyond the white table between them.
'Blonde hair, scared face... Breaker Angelo Terns.'
Rudy looked around in panic and muttered without a stop, "W-Where am I? Why am I here?! Who are you???? What's going on?!?!"
"I am Angelo Terns, and I wish to ask you a few questions," the man said while sliding a halopad – A compact device that generates interactive three-dimensional holograms in midair – towards Rudy.
Rudy looked at the hologram containing information about someone and began reading.
"Rudric Ironwell, male, nineteen years old... threat level - S, not an irregular, presumably dead, threat reason - holds valuable intel on Shadow Syndicate and Moon Weavers... KOS."
Angelo tapped the table and said, "As you can see, he is one we are looking for, but according to enforcer Ruviera Rose, the only person in the vicinity was you... So, tell me, do you know that person?"
Rudy reread the hologram a few more times before he shook his head and mumbled in a low voice, "I-I don't know him..."
"Calm down." Angelo leaned forward and asked, "Do you remember anything strange?"
A thoughtful look appeared on Rudy's face, and he mumbled, "Yes, I do remember one strange thing..."
"Tell me," Angelo stated.
Rudy nodded slightly and said, "It happened after I had finished my trial. A giant silver sword appeared in the sky, and fell to the ground, I think, then the ground shook, and buildings began to fall. I tried to run away from there, but I was too slow..."
"Are you saying that someone attacked Rudric Ironwell?"
Rudy shook his head. "I only saw it because it was so big... I never met or saw the person you are talking about."