Tina ran out of the ruinous building . Her eyes were shaking with uncertainty .

  Why?

  Why?!

  Whywhywhy?!

  Tina’s emotion manifested as intense confusion .

  Tina wished that this was only a cruel joke laid on her by heaven .

  The familiar voice calling out to her brought her back into reality .

  “Wait!”


  Noah closed the distance between them in seconds .

  “Did you think you can run away just like this? Tina!”


  “—!”


  Tina continued running while biting her own lips .

  It’s only a matter of time before he catches up to her .

  Tina tossed three orbs .

  Buzz buzz buzz

  The orbs had an eye-like structure embedded in them as they flew away .

  “That’s……”


  He recognized the distinct humming sound

  She deployed these things during the sniping incident back then and just now .

  These scouting devices appeared to be very technologically advanced, they flew on an automated basis without any apparent input from Tina . She must be controlling them somehow . These objects are probably the reason behind her insane sniping skills .

  Noah is very convinced that these objects allowed her to snipe with deadly precision over a kilometer .

  “So she used these objects to achieve that level of accuracy, huh?”


  Noah’s question will go unanswered for now .

  The three scout orbs flew towards Noah at neck-breaking speed .

  Noah lifted his pistol, he wanted to gun them down when he saw timer on the orbs . With a few more ticks, the orbs exploded .

  Flames and smoke shrouded Noah . The ensuing wind blew the surrounding rubble and stones away .

  Tina’s haste slowed down but she charged forward nonetheless .

  The game of cat-and-mouse is already over .

  Swish

  Like a meteor streaking across the sky, a figure clad in smoke and flames leaped over Tina .

  Her vision blurred and Noah who was a bit charred from the detonation appeared in her vision .

  Noah stood there with a firm look .

  His look was all it took to inform Tina that she had some explaining to do and no one is going to leave until she fesses up .

  Tina who is already trying hard to escape reality hysterically yelled at him .

  “Get out of my way!”


  Tina took out a knife as she charged at Noah .

  He stood there without taking any action .

  Tina frantically stabbed at Noah with her knife .

  Even when the knife is coming for his head, he continued watching like it’s nothing .

  In that instant, the distance between the two closed .

  Twang

  A knife twirled through the air as it landed somewhere in the ruins .

  “Uguh-”


  Tina’s hand felt numb after having the knife slapped away from her grip . It was like she tried to attack a rock, she staggered backward .

  Clack

  Before Tina can react, a gun was already pointed at her glabella .

  Tina froze up .

  With less than 5 centimeters between the barrel of the gun and her head, she was in no position to continue attacking .

  Not even a cursed child can dodge a bullet fired at such a close range . This applied to conventional firearms .

  Moreover, Noah was holding a modified gun that was custom-made to deal the maximum amount of damage .

  This is the end of the line for her .

  She slumped down after seeing a gun pointed at her, she lost all her strength . She smiled faintly with a ghastly-white expression .

  “As expected, Onii-san is incredible . ”


  Her sentence brought out the question in his mind . He sighed and he looked into her eyes .

  “Why did you try to kill Seitenshi?”


  This is the true question that would determine the relationship between them, the other questions can be left for another time .

  “Because……”


  Tina gave up, her smile was as bitter as they can get .

  “Because it was my master’s order . ”


  “Your master’s order?”


  Noah tightened on the stock of his gun, he looked at Tina who was limp in front of him .

  “Right, I never truly introduced myself to Onii-san . ”


  Like a nocturnal hunter, her expression was sharp in contrast with her attitude during the day .

  “I am an Owl-type initiator, a mechanized fighter, my IP ranking is 98, Tina Sprout . ”


  Her introduction carried a wealth of information within .

  An owl-type initiator, a hybrid mechanized soldier, IP ranking of 98 .

  These told tales about her past .

  Noah reckoned that this fell within estimates for someone who stood in the inhuman top 100 of the ranking .

  He is not too sure about what Hybrid meant but he is very aware of the existence of mechanized soldiers, the result of cruel procedures that jammed Varanium into the human body, a gross body modification project envisioned to create soldiers that can fight against Gastrea . Kagetani is an infamous mechanical soldier .

  She possessed mechanical soldier ability in addition to her powers as a cursed child .

  No wonder she can attain a spot in the top 100 of the IP ranking .

  This also told Noah that he might not be able to get the answer he wants .

  “Onii-san looks like he understands what I am talking about . I tried to kill Seitenshi because my master told me to do it . I can’t divulge who told my master to do this because I am not aware of the material facts . I am only a tool in this affair . ”


  Tina lowered her head and she continued with a hollow voice .

  “Please, Onii-san, kill me . ”


  The scene became silent .

  Speechless, he pulled the trigger after seeing Tina’s vacant look .

  Bang

  The gunshot echoed throughout the sky .