[Cyrene]

Rinig ang bawat yapak ng sapatos ko sa bakanteng pasilyo. Sumasabay sa paggalaw ng katawan ko ang mahaba kong buhok.

Katatapos lang ng meeting. We're now on our way to our squads to meet up at the entrance of the headquarters. I maintained my expressionless face. 

"Ark." May tono at diin kong pagbigkas.

Naramdaman ko ang mabilis na paglapit sa akin ng kanang kamay ko. Nanatili siyang nasa likod ko para hintayin ang susunod kong sasabihin.

I took my gun out of my holster as we walk. Kusang lumaglag ang gintong kadena na nakadikit sa baril ko at nakakonekta sa hintuturong daliri ko at pulso. It looks like a connected ring and bracelet.

"Go get the squad. It's time to hunt."

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Malamig ang simoy ng hangin dito sa labas. Nasa bungad kami ng HQ, we're the first one to come here, wala pa ang ibang squads. I took it as a chance to talk to my team.

I looked at each one of them, and they all looked at me, waiting for me to talk. My team always had my back no matter what, and respected me the most.

Pasimple akong bumuntong-hiniga, ayokong magsabi pa ng mahahabang speech. Instead, I said . . .

"You'll all go back here. 11 out of 11." I looked at them with an expressionless face, but my words were full of emotions.

Nakita ko ang patagong pagkagat sa ibabang labi ng iba, ang iba naman ay napalunok nang malalim. Pero lahat sila, umangat ang tingin sa akin—full of determination. They all saluted.

"Roger, cap!" they said in chorus.

"C-C-C-Captain Cyrene!" Narinig kong pagtawag ng isang pamilyar na boses. Mabilis akong napalingon sa direksyon niya.

I immediately saw familiar faces, together with their squads.

"Sorry, we're a little bit late." Malalim ang boses na bungad ni Captain Rowel.

"Nah, they're just too early." Rimson chuckled.

"We're all here, Captain Cyrene," sambit ni Captain Aurie.

"A total of 84 hunters, including your squad, Captain Cyrene," dagdag ni Captain Jake.

Muling humampas ang hangin kasabay ng pag-angat ng mga mata ko. You may not see them at first. Aside from wearing all black, they all know well how to hide their presence. Coming from an ordinary human without abilities like us, projects, their squads are pretty good.

"Very well." Humarap ako sa kanilang lahat. "Hunters! This mission's threat level is Alpha! Knowing that most of the operation that has threat level Alpha, 78% of them failed . . ."

I looked at them dead in the eye. "But failure is not a part of my vocabulary . . ." I walked. "Still, RESPONSIBILITY is on my first page."

"And all of your lives are mine to shoulder. LISTEN! This is our 'lock rule' for this mission!"

Nanatiling tahimik ang ilang dosenang mga taong kaharap ko, seryosong nakikinig sa mga sinasabi ko. 'Lock rule' is a rule that will never be broken no matter what during this mission . . . and that is . . .

"IF YOU HAPPEN TO FACE A VAMPIRE WITHOUT A CAPTAIN, CO-CAPTAIN, OR SQUAD LEADER, NO MATTER HOW MANY YOU ARE . . . LEAVE. AT. ONCE."

Rinig ko ang pagsinghap ng iilan, nagpakita ng naguguluhang mukha ang iba, habang ang iba ay piniling itago ang ekspresyon pero hindi natatago ang bakas ng pagtataka sa mga mukha nila.

Other than the captains, and my co-captain, Ark, wala ng ibang nakakaalam ng plano na 'yon. It may sound absurd, specially for a mission like this. Bawat hunter sa 'min ay marunong pumatay ng dalawang odinaryong bampira o tatlo sa parehong pagkakataon. Pero sa operation na 'to, hindi ko isusugal ang kaganapang gano'n.

"I'm not underestimating you all, but I'm not willing to risk your lives knowing that there's a possibility that you'll face a pureblood vampire."

"Masasabi ngang iba ang presensya ng isang espesyal na bampira kumpara sa isang normal, pero hindi pa natin kilala ang makakaharap natin ngayon. Ayokong masayang ang buhay niyo sa isang iglap, dahil sa hindi inaasahang pagharap sa isang pureblood."

To not my surprised, no one insisted. Alam kong may iilan pa rin sa kanila na hindi sang-ayon sa lock rule ko, pero pinili na lang nilang manahimik. Hindi dahil alam nilang may punto ako, kung hindi dahil wala silang lakas ng loob para sagutin ako.

"If have no other concerns, let's go." I raised my right hand. "DISPATCH!"

As soon as I lowered my hand, everyone, except the captains, moved from their places. 

"Mauuna na kami, cap!" sambit sa akin ni Ark bago sumabay sa pagkawala ng mga hunters sa paligid kasama ang squad ko.

"And there they go . . ." kumento ni Captain ni Rowel.

"C-C-Captain Cyrene, gano'n pa rin ang plano, hindi po ba?" marahang tanong ni Yuki.

I nodded in response. "Yeah, the plan is still the same. I'm counting on all of you."

Kita ko ang pagmamalaking ngisi ni Rimson, Yuki blushed, Jake nodded—determined, and Aurie and Rowel nodded.

"Let's go, shall we?" tanong sa akin ni Captain Aurie, hinihintay akong mauna para sundan nila.

"Yeah, let's go," ma-awtoridad na sambit ko bago umalis sa pwesto ko sa isang iglap.

Mabilis ang pagkilos naming lahat, para kaming sumasabay sa hangin. Tahimik din ang bawat paggalaw namin.

Walang nagbago sa plano na napag-usapan namin kanina sa meeting. The hunters will move by group, together with a leader, co-captain, or captain. But still, every captain has an exact position where they're supposed to be.

Jake, the newbie, will be at the border of the district. Ito ang pwesto na bihirang may mga bampira, pero pwedeng dumaan ang mga nagbabalak tumakas. It's not like I put him in an easy position because he's a newbie, but I put him there because of his special skill.

Like Yuki who's good with her eyesight, Jake is good with his hearing. Kakailanganin namin 'yon para masigurado naming walang makakatakas na iba. Rimson will go to the North side, Yuki at the South, Aurie to the East, and Rowel at the West side.

While for me . . . I'll go to the heart of the district, the Capital. 

Kung saan nabanggit sa impormasyon na rito nagkukumpulan ang iilang mga nakatataas na bampira, isa sa mga posibilidad na nandito ang pureblood vampire na kailangan naming idespatsya.

I looked straight ahead with a serious face. I'm itching to kill a bloodsucker.

It's hunting time.

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