Hey guys, sorry for the late release, I have been a bit too busy irl and had to take long breaks to complete the parts of the chapters.

Comment down how the chapter was! It gives me motivation. Also, don't forget to give this Fanfic a good REVIEW!! I am hungry for 'em!

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-SR_2027.

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The whole area was secured by no matter what they did, they were not able to find the culprits in the area, causing they to feel anger. They have lost a strong and important person of the town. If the mayor found about this, they would be punished heavily.

Soon, the information regarding the incident quickly spread across the whole town. Wanted posters with two posters were posted alongside the two rebels of the empire, causing chaos in the capital. People started to stay in safer place when night comes.

The name of Shadow and his Aid, a girl with white hair was spread across the whole town.

Rumor said that they were a small group of pair who were very vicious and very blood thirsty that they killed everyone who came in their way. They even killed the Imperial soldiers who tried to protect the citizens.

-

On the other part of the town, Sudou woke up the next and after preparing himself, he walked up to the Ryo's room and just as he before he was about to knock, the door opened as he was met with a surprised but smiling face, making him a bit surprised too.

Scratching his head in awkwardness, Sudou smile and said, "Haha. Good Morning, brother. Let's start our journey. I have some work in Imperial Capital, so the sooner we leave, the better."

This made Ryo smile and reply, "Sure. I was already prepared for the adventure. Hope we reach Imperial City as fast as we can. Haha."

With that, they both soon got their luggage and found a carriage which was going towards the Imperial City. On their way of search, Sudou talked with the locals and got to know about the recent activities and was agitated with how a new group of rebels had emerged. Dismissing the news, he shared the news to Ryo as they boarded the carriage and left the town.

As they were on their way, Sudou began to ask and share his stories of his home and home town with Ryo to pass the time. At that time Ryo learnt how Sudou grew up in a small household with great dreams only to have them crushed by the reality while Sudou learnt how Ryo grew up in a distant village which is very prosper but with the problem of Danger Beasts attaching the people, he decided to move out of his town.

-

The very night that Ryo left with Sudou, the town which was in an tense internal situation faced an catastrophe. The whole town was in ruble as fire raged all around the town. Several thousands of Danger Beasts, from first rank to lower ranks horded in contributing in destroying of the town.

"Shit! Quickly! Get me to a safe place! How the hell did this situation took place!? I was notified that the surrounding was cleared off of the Danger Beasts. How the hell can you fucking explain this situation."

The town mayor, who was an old aged guy screamed on top of his lungs as he was getting escorted to the safer location through an tunnel hidden underneath a part of the town. He was escorted by more than tens of soldiers who were very experienced in fighting.

Just a few minutes ago, the whole situation was calm, although the internal situation was a bit tensed with the death of Nick, the people were doing their jobs normally, but the very night the whole town was turned upside down as the Danger Beasts attacked the town from all the direction.

*Skree!* *Boom*

The whole tunnel shook as the town was raged into ruble, prompting them to run more faster.

As they ran, they suddenly slowed down as they saw something... or someone walking toward them. Although they were not able to see who it was, they were sure that they were able to feel danger.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

Each step the person took, an unusual tension loomed in the air. Slowly slowly a tall figure, clad-ed in black walked out of their shadow, making their instincts scream. They pointed their weapons over to the person who entered their view.

"A person clad in the purest black... I have heard that you have been causing trouble in MY town. Are you the bastard who have caused this!? TELL ME!"

With an red face, the Mayor pointed at the him, causing the person to open his mouth, "He who lurks in shadows to hunt the shadows... I am Shadow."

"You Dare? You dare!? What the hell are you guys looking at!? Go and kill that piece of shit!"

Soldiers rushed over with readied weapon and attacked Ryo who was still walking calmy toward the mayor.

*Swish* *Swish* *Bang*

"Huh?"

The soldiers looked in confusion as Ryo walked pass they, unharmed in anyway, making the Mayor look at the person who was now standing less than a meters away from him.

*Splash*

While the Mayor was confused, all the soldiers who were there were instantly sliced up, making the whole place bloody.

"So you are the mayor? Huh?"

The mayor felt chill run down his spine as he looked at Ryo pointing his sword. Without any hesitation, he started to run away from Ryo, yelling with all his might. Even though he knew that he was going to die, he wanted to give it a try.

"Where do you think you are going?"

Then everything went black for him.

-

"Zzzzz."

As Ryo and Sudou were taking rest after the hard morning lookout, the carriage suddenly started to shake, prompting them to wake up. Sudou yawned as he jumped off the carriage and looked around to find that they have reached the Imperial City.

Although the guards eyed him warily with how he looked like a person from the West and actually wearing a hood over, but Ryo gave them a slight nod and slipped past them, disappearing into the teeming crowds.

As they entered the city, Ryo was amazed by the view in front of him. Looking at the Imperial City, the city was even more magnificent than he had imagined. The streets were broad and bustling with people, horses, and carts. The buildings were tall and ornate, adorned with intricate carvings and colorful tiles. The air was filled with the sounds of music and joy.

Although the streets were filled with life, the roads were very open and only a few pedestrians were walking through the roads.

What was more attractive was that he felt that the Imperial Capital had an unique feeling of mixing all the styles of old and modern things together. Furthermore how his eyes were drawn by what he called a super huge castel built at the heart of the city.

Looking at the castel, Ryo observed out that the palace itself is built on a hill which towered nearly 200 meters high, surrounded by several white stone walls nearly 50 meters high, dividing the palace into several levels inside and outside, and completely blocking the sight from the outside of the heart of the city where all the nobles resided.

"Amazing. Right?"

Sudou, who was standing by Ryo's side asked, prompting him to nod at him and reply, "Yes, it wonderful."

"Haha. That's great. I hope you 'enjoy' your journey. By the way... I am in a hurry, so can you... Umm..."

"Oh, yeah! I forgot the payment. Haha."

Laughing, Ryo's hand entered his coat and took out a small pouch containing 40 coins. He then placed it in Sudou's hand, who began to count the amount for making sure that he was paid the right amount.

After counting the coins, he looked up and with a smile he said, "Well, we might need to part now. hope you will find the 'fun' you wanted which you even left your hometown for. Oh by the way, there has been a huge need for soldiers in the Imperial City. I advise you to apply for it before it becomes too late."

"Yeah. Thank you for your advise. Hope we see each other again."

With that Sudou disappeared into the crowd, leaving Ryo standing in the crowd. Ryo looked at Sudou's back as he walked away and after seeing him disappearing, he observed the location for an instant and then started to walked through the street, trying to observe and understand the world more better.

Just as he had started to walking the street, he noticed a group of soldiers marching past, their armor gleaming in the sunlight. They were tall and muscular, with stern expressions and sharp weapons at their sides. This made him understand that even the normal soldiers were a few times stronger than the normal human beings from his previous life, a boon of being born in a world filled with war.

Ryo knew that he needed to be careful, as he could easily be mistaken for a spy or a threat to the government. He decided to keep a low profile and observe the city from a distance. Not wanting to gain much attention, Ryo glanced at them for an instant and analyzed their body and walked through the crowds and slipping past them without gaining their attention.

As he walked pass the masses he couldn't help but feel the unease in the air at how the people are living. Even though they act happy, he was clearly able to perceive the true emotions of people. This unsettling feeling of people wearing masks over their face had started to make him feel unease.

He decided to start by asking around, talking to people and gathering information. He learned that the Imperial Capital was ruled by a corrupt government, and that the people were oppressed and mistreated. The government was supported by an organization known as the Jaegers, a group of elite soldiers who acts as Imperial Police Force and were feared by all.

There was an tense sense of unease and tension. The people of the Imperial Capital seemed to be living in constant fear. They whispered to each other, and looked over their shoulders as if someone was always watching them.

As he walked, he noticed a commotion up ahead. A group of people were gathered around a small square, watching something intently, making him tilt his head in curiosity as he started to walked toward the crowd. But as soon as he walked up to the crowd, his expression turned to that of disgust.

In the middle of street, there were several tall wooden cross standing vertically on a stage. But that was not the main thing. The reason for why the crowd had gathered, and that was because, on each of these crosses, there hanged a person.

These people had their hands and legs pinned directly into the cross as their body hanged there through those pins. Furthermore, his eyes fell on several poster hanging on the board, but what attracted his attention the most was the one single poster over the board.

On the poster was the face of a person clad in black whose face was hidden in the shadow of the hood. Beneath it was written 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.' with a 'Shadow' word written with bold letters. This made him smile a bit but his eyes soon looked at the bodies again. 

This scene made Ryo clench his fist and frowned deeply as he looked at the scene. Then taking a deep breath and clenching and unclenching his fist, he walked out of the crowded area and walked away to not waste any more time. He had wasted enough time and he had to complete his set goals quickly before the start of the plot so to gain the puppeteer role from the shadows.

The thought of the set plans made him smile and forget the previous scenes.

It didn't took him long enough for him to find an inn and book a room for his a bit long stay.

-

The night fell as the soldiers guarding the wall started to become a bit bored with how they were guarding a place where no one will dare enter, not of now. The Empire has been standing tall and the Revolutionary Army was still weak with very few powerful members.

*Yawn*

A guard yawned as he sat at the chair on the city wall. It had been a long time since he had started to work on this shift but he just can't get used to this schedule. But before he could react, he felt air flow pass him, making him cation up and look for the cause for the gusts of wind.

'Huh? Was it wind? Yeah. That might be.'

With such thoughts, the guard started to doze off again in his position not knowing what kind of monster he might have let in.

With quick and swift movement, a person clad in black instantly entered the Imperial Capital. Avoiding any bright light, the figure quickly moved through the shadow and quickly reached the inn in which 'Ryo' was living in.

Just as he reached to the window, the window opened and with a quick grab, the person was quickly pulled into the room. With a quick pull, Ryo hugged the person tightly.

"Darling~! Why did it took you soo long!?"

Although one may be confused with two Ryo's, the Ryo who accompanied Sudou to Imperial Capital was none other than Zero Two who disguised herself in Ryo's place as Ryo went ahead for his part of the plan.

Ryo smiled and rubbed Zero Two's head in awkwardness. Although Zero Two was disguised as him, looking at his face hugging his body, it felt a bit weird for him.

Sighing, he kissed Zero Two on cheeks and broke out of the hug as he walked upto the table in the room and took out some books, a huge locker and a small scroll with a small seal over it. On the other side, Zero Two followed Ryo to see what he had bought with him.

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[2500]

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Thank you!

-SR_2027.