Intrusion

—miya! Hey!"

Grim finally heard the woman's voice, but his eyes remained on the investigator, burning with something dangerously close to hatred.

"Call me that name again, and you're dead."

Grim's threat was met with a burst of laughter as the investigator challenged his glare with one of his own - somehow it was just as intimidating, if not more.

"That's funny, Grim - because last time I checked... your the one in chains."

Then, pointedly, he added.

"Or should I say... Danuja."

The smile that crept across his face made Grim's skin crawl. He turned his attention to the woman, burrowing holes into her resolve, causing her to shift in her chair and swallow hard.

"Kill him."

His voice was low and steady, followed by a deliberate silence before he added:

"And I'll let you live."

The woman did her best to concealed the scared little girl inside of herself that wanted to scream and run away. However, the detective within rejected such cowardice.

"Maybe I'll think about it... First, answer my question."

The investigator's grin grew wider and his chin rose to the same level of his ego in response to his partner's loyalty.

In that same moment, Grim tore his skin trying to free his wrists from the steel cuff and found out quickly that cuffs were enchanted with magic, tightening against the raw wounds on his broken skin.

What the hell? Retribution magic.

He looked down, noticing a glow around the cuffs and chain every time he moved, even slightly.

When he brought his gaze back up, the look on the investigator's face told Grim that man knew what he tried to attempt. Hence, the clicking of tongue under mouth from the investigator.

"Don't waste your time. You're going to be those chains for a long time - that is - unless..."

Grim frowned in response to the silence that followed. So did the woman, turning her confused gaze to her partner.

"Am I missing something?" She said.

A second longer and Grim would die from impatience.

"The hell... say it already."

"Unless you jo-"

Before the investigator could finish sentence, a distant tremor shook the building. Grim's eyes never left the investigator's, and vice-versa.

Meanwhile, the interrogation room's walls - pristine, reinforced, untouched - quivered as if something massive had just impacted the facility.

The investigator's eyes flickered toward the ceiling for the briefest second before returning to Grim.

"Stay focused."

He was referring to the woman who nodded in response.

Because she had already noticed it - the faint flicker of the overhead lights, the almost imperceptible shift in air pressure.

Something was coming.

Tensed, the woman chanted a Shamanic incantation - a second later, her grimriore pulsed, its enchanted pages trembling slightly in her grasp.

"That wasn't seismic activity," she murmured. "That was an impact."

The investigator exhaled slowly, sighing in irritation.

"I assumed they'd wait a little longer."

Grim's eyes sharpened.

They?

But before he could process it, the facility's alarms erupted in a piercing wail, bathing the room in flashing red light.

> EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN ENGAGED

> UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED

A voice crackled over the facility's intercom just after.

"This is Captain Hoshizawa! We have a breach - multiple hostile signatures detected! All units, prepare for engagement! And secure the prisoner - dont let him out of you sight until sergeant Arashi and I get to you!"

Grim instantly recognized the voice.

Hiroshi? What the hell is he doing here?

The investigator scowled.

"Tch. Persistent bastards. We expected the Guilds interest in you to lead to some kind of response once they'd found out we had you in custody, but this - whoever is behind this this - have some big balls."

Grim shifted against his restraints, but before he could contend, the interrogation room's door burst open.

A soldier in full SGA combat gear rushed inside, his rifle drawn and breath coming in ragged pants. Worse, his visor was cracked revealing a terrified expression and blood seeping from a gash along his temple.

"Sir! We've been compromised! It's not just a Guild raid, it's a-"

His sentence cut short - because his body suddenly lifted off the ground.

Grim's eyes narrowed.

Mana manipulation.

The soldier convulsed violently as his limbs began snapping unnaturally backward. His spine arched while a grotesque shape twisted beneath his skin as if something else was inside him, wearing his body like a suit.

Then, with a sickening CRACK, his torso imploded, folding inward before his remains splattered against the far wall.

A gust of black mist whirled into the room. And through it, a figure emerged.

Tall and cloaked in shadows, the air around the figure warped, distorting unnaturally as if rejecting the presence of light. His face was obscured, save for the faint glint of a smirking mouth beneath a hood.

Grim's muscles tensed.

That aura… it's human - but... different.

The woman reacted first, her grimriore flaring.

"Shamanic incantation: Suppression—"

She never finished though.

Because the intruder raised a single hand, and the gravity in the room shifted. A pulse of unseen force slammed her to the ground, cutting off her spell mid-cast. Simultaneously, the investigator felt the same force, barely managing to stay stand.

Grim watched as the intruder stepped forward, his voice silk and malice intertwined.

"Now, now. No need to rush," he hissed, referred to the investigator and woman.

His head tilted slightly before turning away, his gaze falling on Grim.

"You're the one they call Grim, aren't you?"

Grim's breath steadied. However, he didn't answer.

The man chuckled.

"No need to be shy. You're quite the hot topic these days." He gestured lazily toward the collapsed woman, his voice a mocking tone. "SGA must want you real bad to be treating you like a prized artifact."

The investigator, despite the pressure weighing down on him, forced himself to speak.

"You shouldn't be here. This facility is heavily secured."

The intruder smiled.

"And yet, here I am."

Then, with a flick of his wrist, the lights in the room shattered - plunging everything into darkness. And Grim felt it - the shift, the opening, the chance.

He was getting out of here.

Grim's vision adjusted instantly, his enhanced senses detecting the slightest shifts in the air. Regardless, the intruder's presence was an abyss, a swirling vortex of mana so dense that even the surrounding space seemed to warp.

Then...

DING!

A familiar chime rang in his mind followed by a message flashing into view.

[SYSTEM ERROR]

[CORRUPTED DATA DETECTED]

[ATTEMPTING TO STABILIZE…]

Grim's pulse quickened.

What the hell is happening to my system?

All of a sudden, the restraints binding his wrists and ankles vibrated slightly, as if reacting to the interference.

What the?

Across the room, the investigator gritted his teeth, his silhouette faintly illuminated by the glow of his grimriore.

"Who sent you?" he demanded with a strained voice.

The intruder chuckled, low and amused.

"Still playing the good soldier, I see."

Grim's fingers twitched.

If I move now… if I break free… I can escape in the this situation.

He knew he had seconds at best. It was now a matter of if he could kill the hooded figure without the system - if it came down to it.

In the interval, the woman on the floor groaned, trying to push herself up. Grim's enhanced eyes notice.

She isn't dead, yet?

Then his gaze found the investigator who was struggling against the mana pressure, but he had experience - he wouldn't go down easily.

A slight grin crept across Grim's face.

I figured as much - damn royal.