Night Raid.
A notorious assassination group within the Imperial Capital.
If Zank the Beheader only brought pressure and dissatisfaction from above onto Oka—
Then Night Raid…
Well, the higher-ups never really expected the guard to deal with them anyway.
Because they knew:
Every single member of Night Raid—
is an Imperial Arms user.
To fight Imperial Arms users, you either need:
Extremely rare peak-level human warriorsOr… another Imperial Arms user
And Night Raid?
They were among the top-tier Imperial Arms users.
Zank's death—
was most likely caused by one of them.
Combined with prior intel:
Night Raid often carried out assassinations at night in the capital—
making them the primary suspects.
"Search! Search everything!"
"They're strong individually, but if they left the scene, it means they were injured too!"
"We don't need to catch them—just find clues, and the higher-ups will reward us!"
"YES, SIR!"
The guards were afraid.
Not of Oka—
but of Night Raid.
But still—
between:
unknown assassinsand their terrifying captain
They feared Oka more.
Because Night Raid might not kill them—
but Oka definitely would ruin their lives if they failed.
"…Huh? Koro, what's wrong?"
While searching, Seryu noticed her dog-like Imperial Arm—
[Hecatoncheir / Koro] reacting.
"…Wait—Captain!"
Understanding Koro's signal, she immediately reported:
"It smells blood—from that direction!"
"I suspect the target fled that way! Request permission to pursue!"
"…Wait."
Oka hesitated.
Truthfully—
He gave Seryu the Imperial Arm not out of kindness—
but because she was the only test subject who survived and could use it.
Seryu was righteous.
But she trusted Oka completely—
and didn't know his true nature.
To Oka—
she was a valuable asset.
Letting her chase an Imperial Arms user?
Too risky.
"Captain! This is our chance!"
"If they're bleeding, they're injured!"
"I don't want more innocent people dying!"
"…So you won't back down, huh?"
Oka sighed.
He didn't want her to go.
But—
she had a point.
If the enemy was injured—
and Seryu went with Koro—
that's effectively 2 vs 1.
"…Fine."
"But remember one thing."
"Yes, Captain!"
"…Come back alive, Seryu."
Seryu froze—
then smiled brightly.
"Yes, sir! I will complete the mission!"
To her—
this was care from her mentor.
To Oka—
this was risk management.
"Alright! What are you all staring at?! Keep searching!"
"Don't miss anything! Tear this place apart if you have to!"
"Captain!"
A guard rushed over urgently.
"Report from HQ!"
"In the noble district—an entire family has been massacred!"
"…What?!"
Hearing this—
Oka connected everything.
"…Night Raid."
He sneered.
"You're really bold…"
"Operating on multiple fronts in one night…"
"You really don't take the capital's defenses seriously, do you?"