Satoya blinked, and widened his eyes. There stood the very cold, black trench coat wearing man, Ludwig Azure in front of the Man in the blue music note tuxedo.
Ludwig unsheathed his sword, cleaving in a crescent motion, slicing the Man open through the chest.
"You!?" The Man demanded as he coughed up a fatal amount of crimson.
The Man fell back, blood splattering in front of him, as well as splattering onto Ludwig himself. The tear in space was still there, with a curious man peeking through.
What– Where did he come from? Is he the one ripping space itself like it's a portal? And who is that gold and dark purpled eyed man peering through that rift?
Ludwig lightly swung his sword down, effortlessly clearing the blood off the sword.. Wait I don't think that's how liquid works, but y'know what? Whatever, Satoya is on the verge of death.
He turned, those very dark eyes that made Satoya feel completely insignificant gazing down on him.
Ludwig sheathed his sword, and let out a loud, annoyed, disappointed sigh. Before he mumbled what Satoya heard to be,
"They just let anyone join the RC huh?"
Oh I'm sorry Mr. Badass, not my fault I'm less than 10 hours new into being a Regulator!
"Ludwig, c'mon, it ain't that serious." The man with the gold and dark purple eyes walked into the scene through the rift.
He radiated an alien feeling. Satoya had an indescribable feeling that this person isn't human at all.
At least he looks nicer..
The man approached Satoya, and held out his hand, which Satoya reluctantly accepted, getting back on his feet, although he was still wobbly and quite dizzy on his feet — probably because he got punched by a guy who threw someone like a ragdoll across the mall.
Upon closer look, despite his vision becoming more blurred, noticed how 'out of worldly' the man's eyes were, and he also noticed a label in the man's suit where his chest was, labelled "Elite rank 16."
"Allow me to introduce myself.. how did it go again?.. Oh right, Regulators Committee Elite rank 16, Rin Satomura."
The man introduced himself as Rin, behind him, Satoya obviously felt the piercing gaze of Ludwig who was glaring at him down, but Satoya couldn't tell if he was frustrated, disappointed, confused? Wait, no definitely disappointed.
Now that I think about it, why do I feel better? It's like my injuries rewinded? My jaw feels perfectly fine..
"Seems odd, Ludwig was right, a truth seeker lacking a Verity." Rin mumbled curiously. He started analyzing Satoya up and down.
"Am I gonna, like, die? Because I don't have one?"
"Oh no, probably." Rin shrugged, both of his hands were in his pocket. He was quite unsure, a typical truth seeker is capable of using their Verity instinctively, although training is recommended for practicality. So it was extremely strange for Satoya to be completely lacking one.
"Probably!?"
Rin laughed, pushing the case of a missing Verity to the back of his head. He turned toward Ludwig, who was still standing, glaring at Satoya as if a wrong move would cost Satoya his life.
"Hey! Where the hell were you guys when we were getting absolutely annihilated!" Rayna shouted angrily, still clutching onto the military knife she bought not even an hour ago.
Edward also arrived, but stopped in the middle of his tracks upon reading the label on Rin's suit. He stood there in shock, contemplating if he should explode in content, or stay silent. Edward was always a Regulator fanboy, inside his room at his home, there's a couple of posters of motivational words that are plastered above a person adorned in expensive clothing. The RC has a total of 7 ranks. Those ranks being C, B, A, S, Semi-Elite, Elite, and Requiem. Anyone above the Semi elite rank level are essentially celebrities. Despite contrary belief, elite ranks are more popular than Requiem ranks.
"I-is that–" Edward paused as he felt someone clutching onto his shoulder intensely, almost feeling as if his shoulders were gonna pop off. Beside him, was Isaac, who had a hand on his stomach, specifically where the now dead man smashed his knee into.
"Oh looks like everyone else is getting back up." Rin happily pointed out, peering around.
"Would've preferred if I was the one to receive that contract, been hunting that Alsaia bastard, Sullivan for a week now.." Ludwig commented bitterly.
"That guy's name was Sullivan?! What kind of fantasy king name is that?" Shizune exclaimed, not really caring about the ominous ripped open rift where Ludwig and Rin arrived from. She was mainly focusing on the name Sullivan, a name often reserved for noblemen of the 1st Capital's Eskalitain country during a couple millenia back, but is also commonly used for a name of a king in video games, especially the games Satoya played not so long ago back home.
There was a brief silence in the mall. Some medical personnel arrived to transport the injured and deceased out, while a couple police also arrived to close down the mall.
"So.. What's a Verity? You guys seem like experienced Regulators…" Satoya asked abruptly.
Rin paused, staring at Satoya with a raised eyebrow. He was also smiling but Satoya was unsure whether he was disappointed, or was happy to answer.
"A Verity is a direct representation of one's personal Elusive Solace, which usually grants them powers as a byproduct."
Ok great, what the hell is an Elusive Solace, now I gotta awkwardly ask "what is an Elusive Solace" like I'm stupid.
"Ya might wanna explain what an Elusive Solace is to him, he's quite frankly pretty stupid when it comes to common knowledge.." Shizune asked with a smug expression, she was also slightly raising her hand when she said that.
Rin made a sigh of disbelief, not understanding how a person this unaware of the world around, or well, at least within them is still alive. But he still responded out of the goodness of his heart. "An Elusive Solace is an phenomenon that takes the form of a dreamscape, which only occurs once maybe twice in a lifetime. When you reach the center—the very heart of the Elusive Solace—you're met with a question, an unsolvable one, that makes you search for that truth.. That's why people who managed reach their Elusive Solace are called Truth Seekers."
Suddenly, a loud ringtone sounded that echoed throughout the mall. With Rin taking out his phone, answering the phone call. "Oh I had a contract? Whoops." Followed by him somewhat urgently sprinting into the gate.
"Ludwig, watch over them, I got to do something in Maehwa." Rin said as the spacial tear closed.
Great .. I'm stuck with this guy again.. Mr Cold Edgelord lone wolf..