The movements of everyone quickly turned sluggish.

That woman! Troy screamed in his mind. With his willpower, he managed to yell, "The woman! Kill her first!"

"Got it." The other esper nodded; despite his slowed-down movements, he managed to immediately close the gap between him and the woman.

However, the woman did not panic; instead, she smiled.

"Not so fast, boy." The man was then kicked towards his companion again. "Without our permission, you won’t be able to touch her."

"Who the fuck cares about your permission!"

The fights between the two sides quickly became heated. At one point, Finneas had managed to get up and was now fighting alongside them.

Since the other side wanted to capture them and not kill them, they felt that they were taking it easy. Their eyes burned at this realization.

To the fact that the opponents could easily kill them if they wanted to hurt their ego so much. Their actions exploded intensely.

A few more minutes later, the sound of ragged breathing echoed. Troy knew they could not escape anymore. His eyes swept his comrades. Finneas and the other two were now almost kneeling on the ground; their injuries were severe.

He was no better. Only Malcom, since he was a guide, and their opponents did not hurt him.

"If you only come with us peacefully..." The man with white pupils shook his head, but there was not a slight trace of regret in his voice.

"Come on, before that woman returns," the woman said after a while.

Troy was reminded by their commander. His hope had been ignited. Based on her words, they were also wary of the commander.

Just as they were about to move in, according to the mission, a howl resounded. Troy’s eyes lit up.

The woman cursed, and the others frowned.

"Gino only gave us a few minutes. That oaf will get his punishment later."

"Why? Cut him some slack. That woman’s troublesome."

As they said, their mission was to capture these people and not kill. That woman appeared troublesome and stubborn.

"Go!"

It was too late, though.

"How dare you?" A howl echoed, followed by that voice. A massive beast appeared. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Tsk. She’s here."

They all sounded pissed and not afraid.

Miche sensed something was amiss; the one she was chasing had no intention to fight her, and so she returned. Her gaze swept to her group.

A growl escaped her mouth.

And her gaze shifted to the opponents that arrived out of nowhere. Were they also here for the town anomaly? He had no recollection of another group like them.

This was hopeless. She could fight against all of them. However... stealing some time to let her group escape should be possible.

She growled again; she jumped and landed in front of her injured group. Without glancing at Troy and the others, she issued a command.

"Escape. I’ll distract them."

"But..."

"No buts. Leave and report what happened."

The opponents merely smiled, listening to them.

"Paula..." Finneas’ despairing voice echoed.

"Save her later." Miche could not say anything; her body quickly expanded and increased in size.

"Wow. She’s so cool."

The giant laughed wildly. "Now, this is the fight I’m waiting for."

The only woman in the team rolled her eyes.

"There’s no time to waste!"

Miche shielded her group.

"Now!"

At her shout, the espers, though injured, focus their mana on their feet. They managed to put some distance from the group.

"No. I am your opponent," Miche growled, her massive body blocking the way.

"Do you think you alone can stop us?" The man with white pupils curiously asked.

She was certainly strong, but with every one of them teaming up against her, she would not be able to last a few more minutes.

"No. But..." Miche opened her mouth and slowly spat out a black marble.

An ominous aura quickly enveloped the area.

For the first time, the group’s face changed.

"Get away!" They shouted, feeling the corrupted aura from that marble.

Miche howled and released the marble, and as it popped, the whole area became shrouded by a corrupted smoke.

"Miche is..."

The group who were running also sensed that ominous aura.

"Don’t look back. Just run!"

Troy shouted at them.

This was a last resort, and they knew once Miche unleashed that weapon, there were only two options for her. Death or... suffering a life no different from hell.

Finneas clenched his fist. While running, he engraved those faces in his mind. He swore... He would take revenge!

"Oh, will you look at that, some stowaways?"

Finneas’s grand plan was forced to end just like that.

Troy’s hope was shattered.

In front of them was an S-class. There was a sword in his back. They knew him too well. Renji Kanzaki.

"You... how..." Troy could not finish any words in disbelief.

Renji released the sword from its scabbard. And in his right hand was a chain.

"This is an important mission. Can’t let anyone escape... or I will die."

Renji’s face turned solemn, and Troy knew... It was over.

The chain wrapping him and the others was the last memory he had before he fell unconscious.

Back in the group, there was heavy breathing and groans that overwhelmed the area.

"Fuck. What’s that?" He grunted and looked at his own arm, which was coiled by ominous black spots. He could feel that this affected his self-healing ability.

It managed to pierce his skin, so... he looked around. And as expected, they were no better either. Only Shiena was safe, at least.

As they recovered from the shock of what happened, they ignored their unusual wounds for a moment. The massive beast, which had shrunk significantly, was surrounded by corrupted smoke.

Her breathing was faint; the effect of what she had done took a toll on her body. Everyone fell silent for a moment. That was extremely unexpected.

They observed the beast and soon realized what it was.

"Curse..."

Their faces quickly turned solemn. None of them was unfamiliar with it. While not the team specifically tasked with this matter, everyone was required to always gather information about it.

"Lunatics. They are using a curse?"

They finally realized why the leader put such importance on this mission that he personally contacted their team.

"Find a way to get her. She is... very important." Gone was the casual smirk of the man with white pupils and hair.

The others nodded with dark expressions.