Observed

"I will emphasize once more." Gepard took a step forward after hearing no response from Yuuto. "Don't resist and follow us."

A silence overtook them after Gepard allowed Yuuto a couple of seconds to say his piece on the matter. However, despite giving him this time, Yuuto didn't respond and just stared at them silently.

Gepard felt slightly off seeing him act a bit differently from his initial image of him when he first arrived and tightened his grip on his shield. 

Before he could say another word about the crimes he'd been accused of, he noticed that Yuuto was carrying what seemed to be a little girl who leaned limply against his chest.

"...Who is that?" 

Hearing his question, Yuuto didn't respond and just hid Cyrilla's face away from him. He looked past Gepard's shoulder and saw that the guards that reached the 20s continued to grow at a steady pace.

He narrowed his eyes as this was an excessive amount considering the front lines needed guards to help keep the fragmentum monsters at bay.

And here they were trying to arrest just a single person.

"Can I ask a question first?"

Yuuto looked back at Gepard who was silent and he took this as a sign to go forth with his question.

"How did you find me?"

"We received multiple reports that people saw a suspicious person near this area of the zone."

"Standard response."

Gepard didn't seem to be lying since Yuuto could feel it through the tone and fluctuation of his voice. But this made him stumped.

'The way they surrounded me was way too fast and the amount of people here is too many to just be seen banding together after receiving a small report.'

Yuuto had been very vigilant in keeping himself hidden to the point where he stored the drops he'd gotten from the monsters he'd fought to prevent any evidence of a person being there in the first place.

So it was near impossible for someone or even multiple reports stating that they saw him here.

The only thing he would have thought that incited even something close to this was the incident that forced Cyrilla into the state she was in right now.

But that only lasted at most two minutes which was too short for the Silvermane Guards to gather this many people. It was as if they were prepared in advance for him.

Reaching this conclusion, Yuuto narrowed his eyes and raised his vigilance even more than it already was.

'Someone is watching me…'

He didn't know how but the thought of someone or something unknown keeping their eyes on him didn't feel too great.

The hues of silver that circled his body began to increase in size which caused a reaction from Gepard and the guards around him.

"This is your last warning. Don't move a single step." Gepard planted his foot and signaled the people around him to raise their guns in preparation.

Yuuto didn't take his words to mind and an icy mist accompanied the moonlight wrapping around his body. 

"And let me also give you a warning." Yuuto raised his foot and pressed down onto the floor. Causing a wave of dense mist to cover his surroundings.

Getting the info that he wanted, Yuuto's next priority was to get out and think about his next course of action.

"Taking orders is all good and all but be careful of what kind of orders you're taking."

"GO!"

Yuuto's lingering words were followed by the sounds of guns being shot and Gepard's loud shout. He raised his fist and swung downwards causing a small break in the mist covering them.

The wind gradually scattered the mist and the area that Yuuto was previously at was now empty. Leaving no trace of where he went.

Gepard stared at the spot before looking at the area around him for anything that may be of help to him. The guards accompanying him stayed silent and waited for his orders.

–TREMBLE

–TREMBLE

'A surge of monsters… at this time as well…'

Feeling the ground tremble underneath him, Gepard looked north towards the wall that kept the fragmentum monsters at bay and saw black smoke rising in that general direction.

Looking at his troops, Gepard wanted to focus all his attention on the walls that were the line of defense that prevented monsters from overrunning Belobog. 

But the orders he received from the Supreme Guardian stated that capturing the convicts on the wanted list was of utmost priority.

"Be careful of the orders I'm taking…"

Yuuto's lingering words struck a sore spot for him as the waves of monsters were relentless, causing many comrades-in-arms to perish around him. 

Every Silvermane Guard, every person around him was ready to sacrifice themselves. Spill their blood so that Belobog may stand to live another day. But for the past few days made him wonder why they must be so intent on finding these intruders.

Clenching his fist, Gepard turned to the soldiers under him and let out a strong voice.

"Squad one! Find the intruder and communicate to the sentry when you have found him. Squad two! Find the engineers responsible for the barrier and have them repair the device as soon as possible."

Gepards moved forward after seeing the two squads salute and rush towards a corridor to his left. "Everyone else come follow me to the front lines and keep the wave at bay while the barrier is being repaired."

""YES CAPTAIN!!""

The soldiers let out a deafening shout as the coolheaded nature of their captain made them feel at ease, even with the knowledge that a large wave of monsters had caused the trembling from earlier. 

Adjusting his grip on the large shield wrapped around his hand, Gepard recalled the ethos his family always followed for generations.

'Take responsibility for your choices and the people of Belobog…'

The area that was ridden with soldiers gradually turned empty as the Silvermane Guards rushed towards their respective areas trying to deal with the sudden load of events.

Near a stone wall just a few meters away from that initial area was Yuuto who stared at the spot that Gepard left. His hands which had a hint of blue and gold glowing within them stopped as Yuuto saw no change in Cyrilla's condition.

"I need to drop her somewhere safe first."

Yuuto heard the sounds of guns firing and shouts stemming from the walls that had smoke rising from them.

Getting within a reasonable distance, he saw that loads of fragmentum monsters began to appear from the cracks within the spaces that were corroded with the Stellaron's energy.

He had a strong gut feeling that the chaos would get worse with each second that passed. And it would be unwise to be carrying Cyrilla in the state she was in right now.

He thought of places that he could turn to and one in particular stood out the most.

"Serval should have some space…"

Feeling that this would be a good choice, he crouched down and pushed off the stone wall he was on and zipped through the air trying to reach Serval's workshop once again.

However, as he jumped from each wall, his eyes turned a bright white hue. Sweeping his gaze to find a thing that seemed to constantly keep its eyes on him. 

***

–BOOOM!

–BOOOM!

"The waves are more vicious tonight…"

Near her window, Serval held onto a small cup containing water and glanced north after hearing the sounds of explosions and gunshots ripping through the air.

However, these sounds didn't compare to the tremor she felt just a few minutes ago. To her shock that very tremor caused some books and machines half her size to fall off the shelf.

Honestly, she didn't mind it too much as they could always be repaired whenever she needed to. But what she minded was the people involved in the tremor she felt.

"I hope Geppie and Lynxy are safe…" Serval thought about her brother who was at the forefront of the wall and her younger sister who was out in the deep snow. "There's also that guy and the little girl. I should have told him to leave her behind with me."

Remembering the little girl that accompanied Yuuto, she felt worried that someone like her would be caught up in something dangerous. Or at least be involved in a potential crossfire.

As she wallowed in her thoughts, she heard the sounds of her door being knocked on and stood up to see who it was.

Serval thought it might have been the friends Yuuto talked about but when she opened the door, she was surprised to see Yuuto carrying Cyrilla. And not in the way she would have usually seen her in.

"What happened…?"

"I need to leave her here with you for a bit."

Serval wanted to ask what exactly happened but the atmosphere he gave off felt a bit colder than the one she was used to. She refrained from asking, feeling like it wasn't the best time, and brought him to a spare room that had a bed within it.

Yuuto felt grateful and placed Cyrilla on the bed before looking at Serval who was waiting for him to speak.

"There seems to be an outbreak by the outer wall."

"The outer wall…" Serval frowned after hearing his words. She guessed that would have been the case but hearing it directly made her click her tongue.

"I also felt like the barrier was not working to full capacity so it shouldn't be too long before it breaks…"

"Don't worry, I plan to return and take on some monsters along the way to help lighten the guard's burden." 

"Will you be fine handling that many?" Serval couldn't help but ask since she experienced her share of encounters with waves when she still worked as an engineer.

It was a brutal sight seeing many soldiers covered in blood while trying to keep the walls safe.

Yuuto faintly smiled and shook his head trying to reassure her that it would be fine. "I can handle myself. I just want to request that you watch over Cyrilla while I'm gone."

"You don't need to request something like that." Serval felt like it would be a no-brainer for her to accept something like this.

Yuuto thanked her once again but suddenly snapped his head towards her window as his eyes returned to a white hue. This surprised Serval and saw how he opened her window.

"If you feel like someone watching you, close your windows and avoid exposing yourself to the outside."

He took a single step on the ledge and jumped out of the shop leaving Serval with an eerie warning. "What is that supposed to mean…?"

She watched as he disappeared into a dark corner and closed her window. Serval placed her attention on Cyrilla who was silently sleeping and covered her with a thin blanket.

"Let's hope his friends come soon and help him out…"

***

"Gone again." Yuuto clicked his tongue and made the white sword in his hands disappear.

He stood on the roof of one of the houses located by the edge of the Administration District and felt annoyed by the fact the gaze he felt disappeared without a trace once again.

After concluding that he was being watched, Yuuto's vigilance went up tenfold and he was now in a constant state where he would be sensitive to looks by using [Clarity].

Exposing objects or concepts that are 'veiled'.

This helped him or attempted to help him find the look that was watching him without knowing. But every time he felt a semblance of any source, it would disappear before he could reach it in time.

"But that confirms that I was being watched but when did this start? From the time I reached the surface? Or did it go back to my time in the Underworld..."

Yuuto felt like he should have been more wary but it had already happened which was something he couldn't change. All he could do now was to be careful and do what he could do at the moment.

"Thankfully whatever watching me seems to be a bit scared whenever I react to its gaze."

Recalling how the look would disappear or even move further away whenever he caught it, Yuuto could guess that it didn't want to risk any chance of being exposed.

Yuuto closed his eyes and a prismatic light covered his body which caused his senses to reach a heightened state.

"I should have explored [Clarity] in more detail next time." 

Other than its usual uses where he unveils the dark mist covering certain objects or perceiving energies that are usually invisible to the naked eye.

Using [Clarity] to enhance his sensory stimuli and expand how his sense perceives things, would enable him to detect subtle changes that may have gone unnoticed before.

It took a bit of energy to keep it in a constant state but it was manageable thanks to his efforts in filling his Stellaron up.

Opening his eyes, he continued to make his way towards the area where various cries and explosions happened. 

Yuuto summoned his sword after wrapping himself in the moonlight and descended into the harsh blizzard outside the confines of Belobog. 

He had told Serval that he would help reduce the burden that the soldiers would experience but there was one other reason he decided to go towards Belobog's northern border.

"The gaze feels stronger now."

The feeling of not one but numerous eyes watching him made his skin crawl but this was a good chance to expose or at least figure out the general direction of where this look came from.

Walking through the blizzard, he could feel the sharp shards of ice slicing his skin so Yuuto released the barrier function of [Mother's Embrace] to protect him while he navigated through the dense storm.

"Everyone! Move back and cover!!"

"Quick!!"

A few meters away from him, Yuuto heard the sounds of a few Silvermane Guards clashing with some monsters. He waited until they reached a certain distance before letting out a deep breath.

Gripping onto his sword he sprinted towards the monsters that amounted to six and traced the air in front of him.

Planting his left foot and using it as a base, Yuuto twisted his body and consecutively sliced the heads of two. While this happened, he willed the lines he created to rush towards another two.

Once the lines touched the monsters, they wrapped around their torsos and a deep gash dug into their icy exterior. Making countless grooves and rapidly breaking their bodies down.

The last two noticed that their allies were suddenly attacked and turned to see what was the source but they were unable to move when they felt a spike pierce their chest and a sharp blade dig into their throats.

"Those guards left pretty fast."

Yuuto waved his hand and a wave of mist condensed into spikes that impaled some more monsters that caught wind of him.

He continued to kill off more of the monsters as it wasn't too hard to do so but the quantity in which they came made it a slight challenge.

After doing this a couple of more times, Yuuto eventually reached a broken-down structure that grew in size the more he came closer. Walking for a while longer, he reached a wall that exposed an empty street covered in monsters.

The streets continued to circle before finally showing a large city that had countless broken-down buildings.

"This should be the area where Alisa Rand fought the Antimatter Legion 700 years ago."

Being seen as Belobog's former northern border that protected them from the invasion hundreds of years ago. But faced with the relentless force, it eventually turned into a zone where the Silvermane Guards had to abandon. 

Yuuto thought about this location and felt like it would be a bit too dangerous to go in by himself and felt like it would be best to wait for the others.

Turning around he rushed towards a point that he felt was a good direction to determine more on the gaze he felt. But feeling a sudden shift in the winds around him, Yuuto turned around and struck his sword in front of him.

A long spear that was taller than him dug into his stomach but failed to fully penetrate as a blue and gold light blocked it from going through. 

He felt a large amount of energy drain from his body after seeing the spear block a fatal attack. But the force behind the spear caused him to fly backward into the hard snow.

Yuuto navigated himself through the air to try and land carefully before focusing his attention on what threw this spear.

A blonde woman with long hair and deep purple eyes stared at Yuuto coldly while she waved two spears that were taller than herself.

"What the hell? What's Cocolia doing here…"

Yuuto stood back up and looked at the woman who shouldn't be here right now but after staring at her for a bit, he noticed that she was slightly transparent.

As if she was an image that was left behind.

"No, this one is not the real thing. It's an echo."

Yuuto checked his surroundings and noticed that no monsters heard their clash which made him feel slightly better.

[Intruder, you will be judged.]

"What is with you guys and judging me so much?"

Hearing Cocolia's echo, Yuuto mumbled to himself and raised his sword, feeling the enviable fight that was about to happen.

***

Apparently my most used unit in the entire year was Fu Xuan which I felt was understandable since she's my sustain. But I felt like Kafka should have overtaken her.