(The next day)

(Tatsumi)

I watched the lieutenant read through the letter that was sent to her by the colonel not too long ago. Ever since Captain Ogre was assassinated by Night Raid a few days ago, Lieutenant Seryu assumed command of our garrison with her younger brother, and most recently, my role model, Colonel Malik, as our commanding officer.

According to the colonel, an infamous executioner has gone insane and escaped the Imperial Prison, running around in the streets at the dead of night and beheading all who crossed paths with him. Colonel Malik's letter also mentions that he will be personally taking command of the forces sent to intercept the criminal.

After reading the colonel's letter, an eager grin spread across Lieutenant Seryu's face and she chuckled darkly with excitement. "Little Bro's been really hard at work over in the Palace these past few days. He's been fighting Evil while spreading Justice in this nation. Now a villain finally shows up and threatens the public and Nii-san himself is coming here to take command." That eager grin of hers looked...off, obsessive and twisted, somehow. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Imperial Guard, we'll be having a true Warrior of Justice come and lead us to slaying this villain called Zanku!" Seryu called out to us in her excitement. "My little brother, Colonel Malik Dekras, will be temporarily assuming command of this garrison and will be leading a number of other garrisons in order to hunt down this villain threatening the Capital, Zanku the Executioner." She explained to us.

The colonel himself is going to leading us and several other garrisons on a massive manhunt for this lunatic wrecking havoc in the streets. I'll get to see the colonel in action!

"Lieutenant, when does Colonel Malik want us to report?" Corporal Neru asked her, voicing our curiosity.

"Brother wants us to show up at the Palace gates by sunset. According to Brother's letter, Zanku always prowls around at night. Therefore, with our combined forces, we're going to flush the villain out! Nii-san has always been a brilliant tactician!" Seryu exclaimed, brimming with pride at her successful surrogate younger brother.

With the 'Black Hand' leading us, this villain won't stand a chance!

-xXx-

(Malik)

Despite how luxurious my position in the Palace appears, it's quite the opposite.

Corrupt officials.

Bureaucracy.

Politics.

And worst of all...paperwork!

Lots and lots of paperwork.

Most of it is menial district by district status reports or lists of travelers who come and go to the Capital and for what business. It was...tedious to say the least. But that was the sacrifice I had to make in order to successfully carry out Justice.

Among the pile of paperwork, a single envelope caught my attention. It was unmarked, giving no sender name, nor subject or address. It was remarkably unremarkable. Curious, I opened it and started reading the contents.

Boss,

The letter began, alerting me that it was from either Kiseki, or one of my agents in Spider's Web.

I've pulled some strings and called upon our information brokers in order to pool together on intelligence regarding the stolen Teigu that Zanku the Executioner had obtained. It's a visual type Teigu called Specter and grants the user limited telepathy as well as four other type of visual abilities. It was originally used in the Imperial Prison for interrogation purposes until Zanku...liberated it from the warden's possession.

We are the heralds of a new Empire. For Spider's Web!

For the new era!

-Kiseki.

Once I finished reading the letter, I tossed Kiseki's report into the fire and leaned against my chair, taking in this new information that my second in command had presented to me. I had to admire Kiseki's ability to gather so much information in only a few hours.

With Chelsea's orders to be my eyes and ears within the Revolutionary Army, I had only Kiseki to act in my stead within Spider's Web since I couldn't take charge of the organization myself due to the scrutiny I receive in my position in government.

Which led me to another thought. What should I do with the information that Kiseki presented to me? I could always tell the garrisons that I'll be leading this evening, but that'll raise some questions about where I got the intel. I could also simply keep the information to myself, yet a lot of guardsmen will die in our manhunt, but I'll look like the big damn hero when I kill the villain and further my fame within the Empire.

My ambition, or the lives of fellow guardsmen. It was an obvious decision. To further my goals, sacrifices must be made. Lives will be lost, but in the end, I'll only benefit from this if I withdraw this information.

My dear sister, your Justice and mine are far from the same. You face the villains head on, leaving only death in your wake. I work from the shadows, and work through others in order to further my ambition. Yet, in the end, Justice prevails.

The shadow of my influence, of Spider's Web's influence, was spread to all corners of the Empire. Yet there was one single organization that remained out of my reach, Night Raid. With Chelsea and a number of other agents within the Revolutionary Army and most of it's branches, as well as countless number of agents within the Empire and even a few ministers, I nearly had complete control over the flow of information within this nation. Every rumor, every whisper, every mission, every operation, I knew about. Yet there was Night Raid, untouched by my network and invisible to me and my agents.

I had a plan to rectify this, but it was rather long term and wouldn't go into effect until after a few months. The requirements for this plan, as heartless as they sounded, was for Night Raid to lose a member or two and make them desperate enough to start recruiting other members. And that's where Chelsea steps in to join the group, giving me access to Night Raid's plans and information.

I will take advantage of this corrupt nation and everyone, be it corrupt or revolutionary, will become my puppet. If knowledge is power, then once Night Raid is infiltrated by Spider's Web, I'll become the most powerful individual in the Empire. And the best thing about it, once I do, it'll be right under that fat bastard's nose.

I'll show them all not to take the 'Black Hand' so lightly!

-xXx-

(Earlier that day)

(Mine)

"Boss, ya sure that letter's safe to open?" Lubbock warned as the Boss held unmarked letter. It gave no sender name, no address, no subject. It was just...blank. It appeared attached to an arrow that imbedded itself on our front door. We could only assume it was delivered overnight while we were all asleep.

"There's only a handful of people who knows the location of our headquarters and only one of them is not affiliated with the Revolutionary Army. I'm sure Malik has his reasons, and I can say with confidence that his attentions aren't ill natured. He hasn't told anyone where we are yet, so I'm sure we can give him the benefit of the doubt." She replied with a wave of her mechanical arm as she opened the letter.

Look behind you Night Raid.

-Kiseki

Confused by the simple obscure message, all of us then turned around to see a cloaked figure standing in front of the two doors leading into our headquarters. A white sphere covered in strange glowing markings and symbols hovered above their palm. A Teigu.

"How did you get in here?! Who are you?!" Leone and I demanded, glaring at the intruder, reaching for our Teigu.

Suddenly, the white orb's symbols changed and glowed pale green and shot out at the two of us as a gust of powerful wind knocked us both off our feet. The cloaked figure simply sighed and took a step forward, their orb jerking back into their hand.

"There is no need to be so alarmed, Night Raid. I am here in the Black Hand's' stead. While he did clarify that the next time you met, you would be his enemies, it's also in his best interest to remain in good relations with you all. For example, my master is willing to share some rather interesting information with you all." A female voice explained while pulling back her cloak to reveal reddish orange eyes and brilliantly dark blue hair that swept to the right side of her forehead and stopped just past her neck. She was only a little older than me in appearance and her skin tone was that of a northerner's: so pale that it's almost white.

"I'll ask again, who are you?" I said as the two of us got back onto our feet. Why would this girl show up instead of Malik? And why did she just refer to him as her 'master'?

The blue haired girl sighed once more and nodded. "I can understand the caution. Let me clarify a few things. First of all, my name is Kiseki and I am the one who sent you that letter. Another thing, I am by no means affiliated with the Empire nor do I wish for Night Raid's destruction. I answer to Malik Dekras and Malik Dekras alone. Due to my boss's situation, he can't afford to risk being seen dealing with Night Raid unless he gets branded a traitor by the Empire." Kiseki said as the white orb dropped into her palm and she placed it inside her cloak.

The six of us all stiffened in anticipation, waiting for the Boss to speak as we all eyed Kiseki suspiciously.