With Irene's help, Ria swept through the Haven, stalking the lower-ranked guards with the Eyes of Shamash. If they were clean, she would quickly move on to the next as they had only a day to cover a few thousand people. Whenever a dirty one was identified, she would quickly sneak into their homes and look for any incriminating evidence. If she found any, she would take it with her, and if too much time was spent with no results, she would just leave.

Since it was a rest day, it was highly likely that most of the guards were resting up at home. If they were not at home, they were simply ignored and marked as a question mark, to be investigated the next day when they returned to work.

After painstakingly going through each of the guards, Ria and Irene had finally determined which ones were clean and which ones were dirty. With that information, they quickly decided which of the moles they should bring along for the investigation. There were a total of two moles in the roughly two hundred-man strong headquarters and another eight more who were stationed in the frontlines.

With only two moles in the headquarters, they decided to bring both of them on the investigation as it was simpler that way.

After returning to Irene's mansion, Ria entered her room and found Inanna sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Feeling better, Inanna?"

"Much better. In hindsight, it was pretty dumb not to realize the problem earlier. Oh, and thanks for the meal you prepared for me earlier, it was nice."

"No problem."

"So, what have you been doing the entire day? You were gone for most of it."

Ria then briefed Inanna on what happened throughout the day and also on the discussion she had with Selene about the awakened and the process of becoming one.

"To think so much happened to our own bodies during our 600-year-long stasis... But according to you and Selene, the trigger could be anything, right? But it will likely only take a small amount of it to awaken, just like Selene. There is really no point in going out of the way to find it. Ah...hopefully, it is useful though."

"Well, we will know when it happens."

With Inanna briefed on the situation, the day continued on uneventfully. Gregson spent the remainder of the day with his family, not knowing when will be the next time he sees them. Irene was busy planning the cover-up operation for the next day, deciding which guards were to be taken with them for the investigation and the steps needed to make the investigation look as legitimate as possible. Thus, she decided that the guards who will participate in the investigation will be those not in the know regarding Ria's situation and the two moles.

Ria got up from her sleep; the time for the operation to evacuate Gregson's family to the FOB had arrived. Ria then contacted Selene, asking for the status of their pickup.

"Selene, how goes the dropship for our extraction?"

"Do not worry, the dropship will leave on your command. It will take around 30 minutes to reach the designated evac point."

"Alright, please do send over the dropship right now."

"Understood, the dropship is leaving now. I will contact you again once it is 10 minutes out. Selene out."

With the dropship now on the way, Ria was now on a time limit. She couldn't dally for long as the dropship could be targeted by Revenants while it is waiting for them. While lesser and greater revenants could not really threaten the dropship as they had no means of ranged attacks apart from chucking rocks at it, some titled classes were dedicated to ranged and tanks and could reasonably shoot the dropship down.

Ria quickly left the mansion and headed towards Gregson's house.

"Inanna, how is it looking over there?" Ria contacted Inanna over the comms device.

"There is nothing here... some scattered groups here and there but shouldn't be an issue. Ah...I wonder if anything interesting will happen... "

"Don't say anything...just stay there and apprise me of any changes. Ria out."

Sigh...

'Selene and Inanna have gotten more free-spirited lately. I wonder if it is because of their recent changes.'

Soon, Ria made it to Gregson's residence and entered. This time there wasn't a feeling of someone watching her, unlike the last time she came here. Waiting for her inside were Irene, Gregson, and his family.

"Ria... I leave them to you, please protect them." Gregson implored, placing his hand on Ria's shoulder.

"Ria, I also ask this of you. I owe Gregson quite a lot from a long time ago, please protect his family."

"Don't worry, I will make sure they won't suffer a single scratch."

"Darling...we will see each other again soon...see you later." Clarissa said her farewells to Gregson and hugged him.

Holt and Clara ran up to their father, and Gregson hugged them in return.

"Father, see you later. I promise I will protect Clara when you are not around."

"I'm sure you would do good, kid." Gregson responded and rubbed Holt's head.

"See you later, dad!" Clara bids Gregson goodbye.

"You don't see scared, sugar." Gregson smiled and patted her head.

"No, because mommy and brother are with me! Also, you said the nice big sister there will protect us also, so what's there to be scared of!" Clara cheerfully replied.

"Come on, it's not like you guys are gonna be separated forever, it's only temporarily. You guys will likely be back within the month. We are also running on a timer here; our ride isn't gonna wait forever." Ria interrupted.

"Alright, take care of the children, Clarissa."

"Of course."

With their goodbyes said, Ria had Clarissa climb onto her back while she held both children in each hand. Her balance and posture were slightly off as Clarissa was much taller than her, and her arms holding one kid each did not help.

"Clarissa, hang on tight, I can't support you or catch you if you fall off accidentally, as you can see."

"Don't worry about me, I am fine back here."

"Alright, I'm going now." Ria nodded towards Gregson before the four of them disappeared into a mist of butterflies.

With the extra and awkward distribution of weight and balance, Ria took it slower as she traversed the rooftops. But soon the walls of the Haven came into sight, and they would be exiting the city momentarily. Ria then made her way across the walls and onto the bridge that connects the Haven to the buffer city. After she got past the bridge, she went back onto the rooftops to avoid any revenants as they made their way to the evac point.

There was an eerie silence in the air as Ria traversed the rooftops. Normally, there would be sounds of the odd revenant or the shambling of a small horde. But today there was nothing, just silence.

"The dropship is 10 minutes out." Selene's voice alerted over the comms.

"We will be there in 5 minutes, and the dropship is 10 minutes away

. We will have to hunker down for a while once we get there. Stick together, do not run off by yourself for any reason, and always follow my instructions." Clarissa, Holt, and Clara nodded in response to Ria's instructions.

As Ria arrived at the evac point, she unloaded Clarissa, Holt, and Clara off onto the ground.

"Inanna, are you there?!" Ria shouted.

No response.

"Inanna, are you there? Answer me!"

Once again, no response.

'This doesn't bode well...'

Ria quickly turned her body around as she surveyed the surroundings. As she looked around, she spotted an unnatural hole in one of the buildings, like something charged right through the walls. Bits of debris could be seen still falling and settling around the hole. A thin layer of dust lingered in the air near the hole, almost invisible due to the poor lighting.

A warning blared within Ria's head.

"You three quickly run and take cover!" Ria took out one of her backup pistols and forcefully placed it into Clarissa's hand before shoving the three aside, pointing her finger at the doorway of one of the abandoned buildings.

Heeding Ria's warnings, the three immediately ran for the doorway Ria pointed out. No sooner did they leave Ria's side, an explosion occurred from the building beside them, where Ria spotted the hole earlier. Something green then shot out from the hole and crashed into Ria, knocking both of them into the building behind them.

"You three don't stop, I am fine!" Ria shouted at Clarissa and her children.

As the dust around her slightly cleared, she saw that the green object that slammed into her was Inanna. She was quite battered, and in her hands was her exclusive Armament, Shamash. A large great sword of golden and white coloration, its blade burning with bright white flames.

"Inanna, what--"

"Ria! Watch out!" Inanna quickly stood up and held up Shamash in a defensive stance when suddenly a giant shadow pounced onto Inanna, its claws swiping down at her, only to be blocked by Shamash. Wisps of flame and sparks being produced from the clash. What Ria saw was a giant pitch-black dog baring its claws down onto Inanna. It stood roughly 6 meters tall, with a size that matched its height.

Inanna put more strength into Shamash, pushing the giant black dog away. As the black dog was knocked back, its body suddenly grew fainter and fainter before completely vanishing from sight.

"That thing can go invisible, that's how it ambushed me before." Inanna warned.

"Well, it can't hide from me."

Activating her Eyes of Shamash, she looked around and spotted a soul floating in the air without a physical body. Without hesitation, she drew Gehenna and dashed towards the location of the soul, slashing at it. But before her blade could make contact with her target, her instincts flared up again as she felt a gust of wind from her left. She abandoned the slash and immediately teleported backward, a large gash mark suddenly appearing on the ground where she once stood.

'It's hard to deal with it, I can't judge where exactly the giant black dog is and where it will attack from.'

"Selene, the LZ is hot, have the dropship standby high in the air." After sending the emergency message to Selene, she teleported backward once again and regrouped with Inanna.

"Inanna, any ideas?"

"Not really. Think Terminus Est can deal with it?"

"No, that attack is ridiculously slow and easily avoided. It is also blocked by physical barriers. It only worked at the siege because it was a relatively open area, and the bridge was constricting their movements."

"Well, didn't think so either. So what do we do? I am fighting completely blind here..."

"We have to fight it here; we can't run. If it is just by ourselves, we probably could. But with Gregson's family here, if we ran and it chased, they are definitely dead."

The soul of the black dog moved; it leapt around using the buildings as footholds before lunging at Ria. As the giant black dog lunged at Ria, it revealed its form once again and came out of stealth. Ria swiped Gehenna at its claws, parrying them. She then quickly followed up and teleported above the Giant black dog, slashing at its back.

Her attack caused a large gash on the back of the Black Dog, revealing a strange metal contraption attached to it, hidden within its thick coat. Gehenna's fire burned on the back of the black dog, causing it to howl in pain.

'What is that? Why is there a metal device attached to what is supposed to be a revenant?'

Inanna then approached from the black dog's flank and leaped upwards before spinning downwards and slamming Shamash on the side of the black dog. The momentum from her spin caused a massive wound to appear on the black dog. The force of the slash also sent the black dog flying backward, its massive body slamming into the building.

"Inanna, there is something weird about this revenant. There is a strange metal contraption attached to it, and its movement feels awkward, like it can't control its body properly or something."

"So should we kill it first, then examine the device later?"

"No, we remove the device first. I want to see what happens, and I have a feeling that if we try to kill it first, it would run away. I will hold it down, Inanna, smash the metal device; it is around its neck."

"Got it!"

A flurry of quick back and forth between the black dog and the two occurred. The two parties followed a set pattern of attack, defending, and retreating. The black dog would attack the girls, but their better coordination would cause the attack to be unsuccessful. The girls would then pursue the black dog and counterattack. After suffering damage, the black dog would then retreat and turn invisible before the pattern would continue.

As the battle ensued, the awkwardness within the black dog's movement became increasingly apparent. It was like someone who was thrust into a new body, wildly different from their own, and then having to operate the body in high-speed combat. The movements of the black dog were simplistic and straightforward, not taking advantage of its physique and abilities effectively.

After the black dog was significantly weakened, Irene dashed directly into the snout of the black dog and swung Shamash in a massive arc, knocking the black dog into another wall, debris falling all over it.

Ria tapped Gehenna on the ground, causing a ripple of light to spread throughout the floor. The black dog got up from the ground and shook the debris off its body. The black dog slowly backed off from Ria and Inanna, preparing itself to flee. Inanna then quickly dashed forward and aimed for the neck, where she could just barely see the strange device attached around its neck. The black dog could easily avoid this attack of hers, but she trusted that Ria would not allow it to do so, letting her strike be true.

"Vines of Condemnation!" Ria commanded, a wave of vines burst from under her and surged towards the black dog.

Surprised by the approaching vines, the black dog could not react in time and got struck by Ria's attack. The vines wrapped tightly around the black dog's limbs and body, holding it firmly in place. The black dog thrashed around, but the grip of the vines was unyielding, refusing to budge a single inch.

Just as the vines bound the black dog, Inanna's attack connected, shattering the metal device with a single strike. With the device destroyed, the black dog collapsed onto the ground like a puppet having its strings cut. Inanna then landed on the back of the black dog and stood there unmoving.

"Inanna, great work." Ria commended as she ran up towards Inanna, the vines still binding the black dog tightly.

But Inanna never responded and still stood atop the black dog without moving.

"Inanna, what's wrong?" Ria asked.

"I think...I think I have awakened."