The Slayers sit quietly in the truck; only the sounds of the gravel and engine are heard as they’re transported to the Banister ruins.

  Danzo sits with his arms crossed, watching the outside of the truck windows. He didn't have time to collect his medical bag.

  He glances at Gusto and Bertrand across him. Gusto's eyes are constantly looking around as he rechecks his rifle. Danzo is unsure whether he is shaking from the truck or anxiety. Meanwhile, Bertrand is sitting with his arms clasped, impatiently tapping his feet.

  While he waits, Danzo evaluates his rifle and pistol. He checks if the safety is on, the condition of the chamber, trigger, and mode switch. In addition, he checks that the bullets in his magazine clips are seated correctly.

  While checking his weapons, he notices the others frequently peeking at what he is doing while they check theirs, imitating him.

  Although we haven't received official training for these, they still gave us guns?

  His thoughts are interrupted as a gunshot goes off, with a pained scream following, causing the truck to halt. Turning to the commotion, he finds one of the Slayers accidentally fired a live round while checking his weapon, wounding another Slayer's leg.

  Brutus runs up to them and shouts, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!”

  A few minutes later, a medic attends to the soldier's wound, and the trucks continue for an hour before arriving at their destination.

  As they get ready to exit, a Slayer near the door holds the lever, and everyone prepares their rifles.

  “READY UP!” the Slayer shouts.

  Danzo takes his and gently grips it. He feels his blood flow faster and controls his breathing.

  “DEPLOYING IN 3…2…1…”

  The doors swing open, and the Slayers shout as they run through. Danzo hears gunshots and shouting outside, but weirdly, no strange sounds. As he reaches the door, the gunshots die down, and the shouting stops.

  Stepping foot outside, he holds his rifle steady and looks around. He notices the Slayers looking around nervously with their weapons raised, while soldiers from other divisions watch them.

  On top of one of the vehicles, he notices Kira laughing hysterically while Vernon shakes his head in disappointment.

  A false alarm?

  Danzo holsters his weapon, observing his surroundings. In front of them stand damaged buildings and rubble scattered on the streets. He notices claw marks on the buildings, some deeper than others.

  “Do you think they're hiding, Danzo?” Gusto asks.

  Turning around, he sees Gusto and Bertrand standing behind him, both of them with their weapons aimed and frantically looking around.

  “Uh– Hol-hold formation, everyone!” Gilroy shouts. Danzo is unsure why he is giving orders.

  “Stay here, I want to scout the area,” Danzo says.

  Before he can get far, Gilroy shouts, “Private Yamamoto, return to formation immediately!”

  Danzo ignores his orders and continues forward, stepping over a fallen street light.

  “Private Yamamoto, return to formation. That is a direct order!” Gilroy continues shouting.

  Travelling deeper into the ruins, he doesn't encounter any apexers, civilians, or even corpses. He stops before a broken fountain.

  They said this was a hunt and rescue mission in the ruins. I thought I would have found something by now. He looks back toward where he came from. I was impatient. I should have collected a radio or gotten directions.

  Danzo closes his eyes for a brief moment in slight frustration. Honestly, my first mission, and I already made erroneous decisions.

  His reflection is interrupted as he hears movement nearby. He readies his rifle and points it toward the source of movement, his finger resting along the frame.

  “Identify yourself, immediately!” Danzo orders. There is no response.

  “This is your final warning! Identify yourself!” He releases the safety and feels his index finger rest on the trigger.

  “WAIT!” A voice shouts from an alley. Someone walks out with their hands raised. “I-it's me, Danzo! Zeke Erlik.”

  Danzo lowers his weapon as he looks at him. He hasn't seen or heard about him since their first day at the Roost. From appearances, his orange hair is still messy, but he looks weaker than before, more pale.

  “Why were you following me?” Danzo asks.

  “Oh–... Gilroy– I mean captain Gilroy ordered me to uhm– accompany…you…” Zeke answers weakly.

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  “Accompany me?” Danzo repeats as he holsters his weapon. “Why?”

  “Just to make sure you are– uh, alright. He even gave me a–” Zeke frantically grabs the radio on his side and shows it. “A radio! To make sure we are safe!”

  Danzo stares at Zeke for a few seconds; his nervous and weak demeanor is concerning him. Gilroy ordered him to accompany me? Interesting. Maybe he does know how to lead…but… Danzo can't shake off a weird feeling. Something doesn't feel right.

  “Uhmm, Danzo?” Zeke asks.

  “Apologies. I was distracted,” Danzo answers.

  Zeke looks around and asks, “So, uh, what are you doing?”

  Danzo crosses his arms and replies, “I'm investigating the town. We are on a hunt and rescue mission, but there isn't much happening here.”

  “So you went deeper to investigate?”

  “Exactly. I've heard about the continent being dangerous, but for us to enter this deep without resistance?” Danzo looks at the park nearby, a large lake visible from afar.

  “I-I agree. Even when those gunshots went off, nothing happened.” Zeke's nervous demeanor fades slightly as he thinks. “I haven't studied live apexers before, but all reports agree that they run toward noise and give different howls depending on the situation. Yet I haven't heard one so far.”

  Danzo raises an eyebrow as he listens to his observations.

  “Even then, this would be a perfect breeding ground for apexers, possibly able to host minuses.” Zeke thinks aloud. He notices Danzo staring at him, and his previous mannerisms return. “I'm sorry! I– uh I…I tend to…” Zeke bows apologetically and frantically, ashamed of his behaviour.

  “Minuses?” Danzo repeats as he looks at the ruins. Although the houses are damaged in various ways, many are still in a condition to provide shelter, and the nearby lake is a good source of water.

  Interesting… I completely overlooked that.

  “Your observations are sound,” Danzo answers. “But do you think maybe they already had breeding grounds nearby or some sort of home, ruling out the need to use the ruins as a home. Maybe territorial disputes?”

  Zeke looks up slowly and asks, “Are– are you asking me?”

  Danzo nods.

  Zeke fixes his posture and continues, “Well, that does make sense and isn't impossible, but if you ask me, I would slightly, uhm–... disagree?”

  “Go on,” Danzo says.

  Zeke makes weird movements and wipes the sweat on his forehead. “Well, from studies like Bardoo and Weng, they noted that apexers are open to taking over different habitats if they find it better than their current one, regardless of distance.”

  “And the territorial dispute possibility?”

  “It was discovered to be more common for them to join together than fight over it,” Zeke answers, but after he finishes, he frantically says, “But, that's just conjectur– I mean what I read! I could be wrong.”

  Danzo crosses his arms again and closes his eyes in thought. The empty ruins are bothering him. He opens his eyes and turns to the lakes. “Banister is also far from other settlements or bases, if I remember. Making this even stranger.”

  “Do you…think there's more here?” Zeke asks, slowly approaching Danzo.

  “Yes,” Danzo answers as he begins to walk toward the lake. Maybe the apexers used the lake to drink from. “Come with me, I want to check something.”

  “Uh, yes– I mean, aren't we going back to the others?” Zeke asks as he catches up with him.

  “No. Being in a large group like that will only make investigating this difficult.”

  “R-right…” Zeke weakly answers as he looks around.

  While they walk toward the river, a call comes from Zeke's radio, “Private Erlik. Report your status over, over.”

  “Captain Morvel, this is Private Erlik! We are fine, over.”

  “We? I'm assuming you came in contact with Danzo. Don't forget the mission. Morvel out.”

  “Ask him for a sitrep,” Danzo tells Zeke.

  “A sitrep?” Zeke repeats, to which Danzo nods. Zeke nervously holds the radio and asks, “I– apologies, Captain, I also wanted to ask for a– ummm… sit…rep?”

  “Over,” Danzo tells Zeke.

  “Oh, over!”

  The radio sounds again, and Gilroy responds, “Captains don't take orders from Privates, Zeke. Just do your job, over.”

  The call cuts, and Zeke looks at his radio in disappointment.

  “No matter, we will continue,” Danzo says.

  “Right…”

  The two enter the desolate Park and observe their surroundings. Similar to the ruins, no signs of movement besides the wind. The benches and lamps are surprisingly undamaged. The grass and trees are healthy, and the playgrounds appear untouched. It's as if the park wasn’t here during the destruction of Banister. He looks around, but the surrounding banks are untouched.

  Strange… Danzo takes out his rifle and fires a round into the bench; the gunshot echoes throughout the park.

  “Huh?! Did you see something?!” Zeke shouts in surprise, clumsily readying his weapon.

  Danzo stares at the bullet hole left in the bench. “I was curious if this was real.”

  “I'm sorry?”

  Danzo holsters the rifle and looks around. “This whole area is undamaged compared to the town. You'd expect something to stand out, but there's nothing.”

  Zeke lowers his weapon and looks around. “You're right… But what about the walls?” He points at the wall separating the park from the town. “They are– hmmmm…” Zeke's demeanor changes as he walks toward the damaged wall. Danzo follows quietly.

  Zeke goes on one knee and points at a hole and follows along the wall. “Interesting… I think whatever attacked Banister was surveying the town.”

  Danzo raises an eyebrow before asking, “Explain.”

  Zeke points at the hole. “This hole is too small for an apexer to climb through, including fodder class adolescents. What's more, the damaged bricks are on this side; if this was from the attack, the damage would be more random, but this is controlled.”

  Danzo looks at the hole and the bricks lying beside it. Zeke's observations line up with what he sees. “It could have been erosion or from some children playing.”

  “No, Danzo. Look closer at the bricks.” Zeke points at scratches, then toward the grass. “Also, look at the soil, the apexer must have returned here multiple times as it began forming a path.”

  Danzo follows where Zeke's hand is pointing to find patches of dirt forming a path in the grass.

  “Do apexers usually study their prey like this?” Danzo asks.

  Zeke stands up and crosses his arms. “From what I read, no…”