Whispers of Lightning: Know

*Rumble!* *Crack!*

The thunder rumbled in Yu’s house with three visitors inside.

Weiss, who had a white flash of lightning atmosphere around him, teleported in front of the two AB Assistants, seized the ring from them and instantly shattered them with his clutch.

…What just happened? I can’t even see him move his legs…

Ravyn was shocked by that unusual movement.

"No one is coming to save you now."

Weiss terrorized Ravyn and Kanji. Their only hope for help was Yu’s ring, which Kanji kept in an envelope to prepare for further lab testing. Unfortunately, it slipped out of Kanji's hand as he fell because of Weiss’s sudden approach. Ravyn drew her air-compressed gun from her right shoe and raised it. But Weiss appeared before her and gripped the gun barrel so tightly that she couldn’t lift her hand up an inch to aim at him. With an indifferent expression on his face, a dangerous man in a tuxedo said.

"This is futile. Don't worry, it will be over soon."

"You sure about that?"

Ravyn kicked up the AB ring that Kanji had dropped onto the ground with her foot to distract Weiss. As Weiss teleported towards the envelop with an AB ring inside, Ravyn swiftly drew her gun and turned to the direction the ring had risen, expecting him to teleport there at the very least. But Weiss disappeared and showed up at her side with a crushed ring in his hand.

"Of course… !!!"

Weiss affirmed and then was surprised when he saw the design of the gun Ravyn was using.

…What she was holding was the First Kiss ?! It's her time already?...

The dead face that seemed like a statue of his was tinged with astonishment.

"You are Laven..Ravyn, I presume."

Weiss relocated himself in front of Ravyn’s face and put both hands above his head with vanishing hostility.

*bang!* *bang!**bang!*

Ravyn ignored those words and fired at Weiss for the chance he gave her, but he was able to warp left and right to dodge those air bullets while standing still. And having a careful look at the girl who's using the gun made him even more confident.

"I deeply apologize for my lack of manners earlier. Shall we talk for a bit, Ms. Ravyn Nipha?"

Weiss bows to the girl.

######

In the AB Intel department room…

Leila and Zen are scrutinizing their jobs diligently, even on holidays.

After some time, Head Charles video calls from the headquarters to greet them.

"…Is Ravyn taking her day off too?"

Charles asked since it's rare to see subordinates in his department take a break during the holidays.

"Yeah, she visited Yu together with Kanji!" / "That's right. She went to see Yu at her house!"

Zen and Leila shouted answers to Charles in sync.

"Okay.. Just so you know, you two can increase the number of processing screens on the Intel Board by dragging your hologram screens and dropping them to your preferred environment."

The head of the department attempted to introduce the built-in function of the device to the newcomers when he saw their eccentric way of working.

"We’re aware of that."

Both of them imparted while moving their fingers on the Intel Board and the toes of each foot on the screen from two AB rings they wore on their index toes like octopuses. The pair’s competitiveness made the goatee Charles laugh with affection.

"Hahaha, it’s good to see that you guys are really active."

"By the way, Mr. Charles, the bombing incidents of the last few months and the current mass abduction of residents throughout the city were carried out by Donkey to slow us down. If we play along at this rate and let them reinforce their invincible army, then it's not long before they take over the whole of Komveena’s central region as their own realm of terror. Don’t you think it’s a good idea to propose to mobilize Airbursts across the country and destroy them all at once?"

Leila asked Charles since he’s been in a closed conference about the Donkey’s matters at the headquarter for a few days now. Her nervousness kept growing after she gave all the information she knew about Donkey while working there, but there wasn’t much movement from AB.

"We’ve tried it before, Ms. Leila. Our Operation Derecho, an all-out Ace-level mission 6 years ago to wipe out the Donkey gang, failed miserably. Our manpower and advanced technology convinced us that we could fight the Lost Wisdom users, but we were wrong. We’ve lost so much that it’s painful to mention. Besides slowing their brain activities, there was nothing else we figured out to deal with those supernatural power bearers. But because of your insider’s information, the effective plans to prevent your worries have been prepared at this meeting here."

Charles drops a hint to Leila about what’s going on with the conference at the headquarters to reassure her.

######

In Yu’s bedroom...

Ravyn, Kanji, and Weiss were still in the same position, looking at each other cautiously.

"What a coincidence and a pleasure to see you today, Ms. Ravyn, the brilliant guitarist who won the Sweet Music Idols contest. I’ve been your big fan since your audition tape, where you showed your angelic voice and the passionate guitar solo. It’s a shame you turned down such a great opportunity..Though today I did not expect to bump into you here, I have some intel that might be worth your time. Wan na hear about it?"

Although Weiss didn't say that he recognized Ravyn from the First Kiss she held, he knew a thing or two about her. But that didn’t change the fact that Weiss tried to kill Ravyn and her friend a moment ago. Even then, Weiss’s abilities seemed too dangerous for her to act recklessly. So, the girl goes with the flow to buy herself time to think.

"Go ahead."

Little did Ravyn know that what she was about to hear from Weiss would make her nearly leave everything that happened today behind.

"The winner of the big TV show I was following was missing. Of course, I wanted to know why. And when my informant found out and reported the cause to me, I was heartbroken for your loss and knew right away that I would have to come meet you someday. That's because we’ve shared the same goal. The black magic user, Undre Azciel, I know him."

Hearing that name and his power description, Ravyn’s expression became serious.

…Not only did this guy know Undre, he knew that that murderer was the one I’m looking for. He’s even more suspicious now.. And why do I always meet people who act like they know me well? Now I am really irritated…

Ravyn felt that her privacy was a joke after dealing with people involved in Airburst’s missions for some time. Still, she proceeds to focus on what she came here for.

"You seem to know a lot about me. I too would want to know how much you know about that psychopathic killer. But I wonder what Yu has to do with you."

"Tell us where she is!"

Kanji added as he hid behind Ravyn's back, sticking out only his head.

"I’m glad you haven’t rejected me right away. I shall fulfill your request."

Weiss flicked two white-lit fingertips in the direction of both Ravyn and Kanji’s heads.

*flick-zzz*

Suddenly, the image of Yu flashed in their minds. Her arms and legs were cuffed and chained, which emitted an electric shock every time she moved.

"What did you do to Yu?!"

Kanji shouted angrily at the brutal sight he had just seen, but Ravyn stopped him. She, too, would want to go in and take care of that guy if he didn’t have Yu as a hostage. Plus, the Lost Wisdom in Weiss's possession that Ravyn doesn’t recognize yet makes things even less feasible.

"You made the right decision, Ms. Ravyn. Yu tried to interfere with my plan, and that’s what she got. When people have goals to focus on, there will be times when they don’t want to do it or even want to offend anyone. But let’s be real, we can’t always avoid it. You get what I'm saying, right?.."

Weiss teleported to Ravyn's side and whispered to her.

"I was planning to get rid of Undre and it was going pretty well."

"Wait, Ravyn. How can we trust the person who did that to Yu.." *chop*

Kanji turned to Ravyn and interrupted as things were going, but was hit at the nape of the neck with the side of Ravyn’s hand and knocked down. With a little push, Ravyn is unable to suppress her interest in hearing what might bring her closer to her most important target than ever before.

…I’m sorry, Kanji, but I need to know as much about Undre as possible. I’m going to be the one who drags him to jail and punishes him with both of my hands…

An opportunity to get close to the man who killed the mother who raised her was in front of her. This time, Ravyn made sure nothing went wrong.

"Don’t be a nuisance. Originally, my only goal was revenge. I get carried away lately, but our friendship wasn’t necessary for me."

The purple-haired girl coldly replied to Kanji, whose consciousness had faded.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

Weiss applauds briefly.

"Nimble as always, you’re truly Ravyn."

"I'll save my questions about why you pretend to know me for later. Now, what do you want from me?"

Ravyn gets straight to the point.

"Don’t be in a hurry. How about we go somewhere more suitable for us to talk first?"

Weiss inquired.

"Fine, whatever. But know that if you deceive me, be prepared for the consequences."

Ravyn tells Weiss in a firm tone, and he replies with his resolve.

"I guarantee you won’t be disappointed."

It was then that Weiss’s figure pointed his hand up, and teleported himself to pierce the heart of the unconscious brown boy. At that moment, Ravyn, noticing his white aura, quickly pounced to grab her friend, evading the course of the attack just in time.

*swash*

The back of her outer shirt was torn in a line, but no one was hurt.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

Ravyn turned around and asked the attacker.

"Eliminate the things that can cause headaches for us."

Weiss gave the purple-haired girl who was about to leave Kanji here no choice.

"He is my helper. I have to use him."

Ravyn picked up the little boy and took him with her. Weiss spares Kanji since he doesn’t find a boy under his watch a significant threat to him anyway. He rearranged his bow tie on the tuxedo once before a white light manifested in the middle of the room and the three disappeared from the house simultaneously.

*..zzzzzzz-PANG!!*