*Starting Scene*

The noise of gunfire scatter in random intervals at a distance behind the escaping duo with urgency noted on both Ren and Rebecca's face as the two quickly traverse through the long alleyway they entered into. Soon after, the pair find themselves in another street that's totally empty while briefly debating about which way they should go. It doesn't take Ren too long to decide as he dashes to the right with a firm grip retained on Rebecca's hand. "This way!"

Rebecca, still having no real choice, obeys Ren's command while doing her best to keep up with the blue-eyed boy.

As the children run up the separate street, countless cries of dismay and terror echo from where they once were while partially being drowned out by the relentless gunfire. Then, with minimal effort, Bash climbs on top of a building that was behind him when the white-haired leader witnessed Rebecca's escape, having given his orders to finish off the Esdere Spellcaster his men are currently battling a few seconds prior, and faces towards the street Ren's leading Rebecca through as soon as he arrives at the opposite end from where he came. Right after that, the black-eyed individual spots the duo, who are reaching a decent distance from Bash's location, with an upset attitude taking form and firmly shouts, "Rebecca!"

Rebecca turns her head to the left so she can see Bash and is struck with fear. "He's behind us!"

Bash unholsters the revolver towards his right while hurriedly aiming it towards Ren and Rebecca's direction. "Stop! You know how good of a shot I am!"

Rebecca frantically veers her concentration upon Ren as her fear greatly soars. "Ren!"

Ren doesn't respond and merely continues his progression while tightening his grasp on Rebecca's hand to sort of reassure her.

Noting the pair's resilience, Bash's very angry and is about to pull the trigger as the coat-wearing man's eyes intensify while zooming onto Ren. "You filthy maggot!"

Hearing Bash's outburst, Ren swiftly pulls Rebecca ahead of him, startling the blonde, while swinging his body to confront the enemy from over forty meters away with his female companion safely behind him. Simultaneously, the auburn-haired gentleman begins to emit a red magical essence out of his being as the diamond-shaped charm tied to his belt loop glimmers for an instance while thinking, "I have to concentrate!"

Suddenly, Bash unexpectedly finds himself with his gun aimed at his right temple, bewilderment plaguing him, and ducks his head in haste due to already pressing the trigger. Lucky for him, Bash's quick reaction was enough that the bullet misses him while grazing the top of his hat and crashes into the roof's surface as disbelief displays itself on the black-eyed gunner. Then, Bash peers at the gun, staying bent over a tad, with confusion joining and thinks, "The fuck?!" He promptly straightens his posture after remembering Ren and Rebecca as he lowers his hand that's wielding the projectile-shooting weapon while reverting his focus to his targets.

Unfortunately, Bash loses sight of the fleeing duo while not knowing where they went, causing him to grind his teeth out of frustration before loudly cursing to himself with a vertical, downward jerk of his right arm. "Fucking damn it!" The Caucasian human brings his gun up to his face as he gives both it and his right hand an inquisitive look while mumbling, "What in the hell happened...?! One moment I'm pointing you at the brat and then..." Bash instantly recalls the situation with the two Esdere Spellcasters before Ren's arrival and demonstrates some suspicion. "He used his magic... But what is it exactly?"

The gunfire and screams transpiring behind Bash abruptly come to an end prior to all seven Nemesis members involved appearing atop the same roof their leader resides, all radiating a sense of accomplishment. Among them, a bulky, orange-eyed man containing long, spiky, beige hair, who hasn't been introduced yet, arrogantly steps forth with what are best compared to as a Winchester Rifle in his left hand and a Springfield Rifle in the other while both weapons are mounted on each shoulder. "What's the matter, Boss? Can't hold onto ya' girl?" He faintly cackles.

Bash immediately stands sideways with his right foot toward the spiky-haired male, not even a meter dividing the two from each other, as he aims his black revolver at his henchman's forehead while obviously ticked-off and coldly asks, "Did you say something, Billy?"

A nervousness expression overrun's Billy as he takes in a big gulp before responding. "N-No... I was j-just rambling like usual."

Bash gives Billy a sympathetic smile. "I told you about that. You gotta' be careful or your ramblings could accidentally get you killed one day." His eyes narrow with seriousness brimming. "Got it?"

Billy sharply nods while getting a bit fidgety. "Got it, Boss."

Bash pulls back his gun as it's positioned next to his right cheek with the barrel pointed toward the cloudless sky. "Good. I'm not called The Surging Bullet just 'cause I'm quick-handed with a gun, nor 'cause my older brother Nash holds a similar title. I'm a loose cannon when I wanna' be. That's the main reason."

Ryan walks up to Billy's left and briefly motions the orange-eyed human to step back via his head, which Billy didn't waste time complying. After that, the handsome Nemesis member faces Bash while acting quite laid-back with his left hand rubbing the back of his neck to relieve some tension. "Now you mention it. Where is your brother? Based on his reputation, his help could be majorly appreciated."

Bash turns away from Ryan with disgust rapidly emanating. "Fuck him! That brother of mine is trash! He fucking got his ass beat by some guy years ago and pledge his allegiance to him, completely ditching me! I hope the motherfucker's dead somewhere!" The coat-wearing person holsters the revolver and then reaches for his cowboy hat with his right hand. "Anyway..." Bash grabs the top of his hat while slowly removing it. "Nash isn't like us. He kills people for the general sake of killing and entertainment. Sometimes he'd kill for an ACTUAL good reason, like if someone's annoying." He looks within the inner part of his cowboy hat and sticks his left hand inside to search for something. "If it benefited him, he'd even side with Spellcasters. Me and him always had trouble getting along 'cause of that." Bash soon pulls out a transparent bag that was taped to the hat while holding several black rings with a white zero on the front and comments in an irritated voice, "The way he talked pissed me off too! It's ridiculous that we're brothers! I swear, I must've been adopted!"

The seven Nemesis members slant their heads to the left while a drop of sweat travels down their head's right side as they skeptically utter in unison, "Uh-huh..."

Bash places his cowboy hat back on his head and takes a deep breath with his eyes shut. "Well, not like I can go complain to my PARENTS. They're dead." The black-eyed man directs himself towards his men as he removes the tape stuck on the bag while concentrating on what he's doing. "Not 'cause Spellcasters killed them or anything. I don't want any of you guys thinking that's why I treat Spellcasters the way I do."

Mark, standing at the far left, confidently shakes his head as his Hunting Rifle's strapped to his back. "We know, Bash! No need to explain!"

A fourth Nemesis affiliate, who's eyes are black like Bash's and his hair's in a small-sized Afro style, injects himself into the conversation with a deep tone while stationed at the backside of everyone else since he's the largest, standing around 6'3" in addition to his muscular physique, as he's carrying a black, rounded cannon on his back. "Right! You're our leader and we'll follow you either until our goal's achieved or we're all dead!"

Bash's extremely pleased by what he just heard, having fully taken the tape off, as he opens the transparent bag to fish out all eight rings that resided in it via his right hand and cracks a menacing grin. "Fuck yeah!" The white-haired individual promptly tosses a ring to each henchman, who effortlessly caught them in a different manner, and maintains one for himself while dropping the bag upon the rooftop before putting the ring on his left index finger with his attention on the seven men. "I kept these in my hat since we're men and real men don't wear shit like this, but we'll need them to track down Rebecca!" Bash lifts his left hand into the air to exhibit the black object as he fervently declares while gazing at the ring, "These are The Detector Rings, boys! I got them from some black-haired merchant traveling pass Lotus during our month's stay there! All I had to do was threaten his life and he gave them to me for free!" He lets out a victorious laugh. "I should've killed him anyway, but I'm a charitable man and his ass was weak!"

Having listened to their leader's telling of how he got them, the seven affiliate's wear the rings on their left index finger as well while curiously examining the Magical Items.

While scratching the back of his head via his left hand, the Afro-wearing member checks all over The Detector Ring with a dumb look on his face. "Uh... How does it work, Boss? Did they come with instructions?"

Bash lowers his raised limb with a hint of sympathy and calmly explains, "No, Ed. They're really simple to use." The coat-wearing gentleman stretches his left arm ahead for all of his henchmen to see while tapping on the white zero. "As long as the ring's like this, there are no Spellcasters... But if it turns black, making it pretty much invisible, that means there's at least one Spellcaster nearby. And for us, that's all we ever need to know..." A maniacal demeanor expels from Bash prior to dropping both hands to his sides. "Since it doesn't matter if we gotta' tear the whole joint down! We'll find those filthy Spellcasters and kill them all anyway!"

The Nemesis members immediately release a roar, totally immersed with their leader's charisma, while throwing a fist skyward as some retain their grip on their guns during that show of loyalty.

After seeing that, Bash swings himself back around to confront the street Ren and Rebecca utilized in their escape as a vicious smile overtakes his face. "Music to my ears! We're coming for you, Rebecca!"

*Scene Change*

With the four days it took for their journey to end, Dante and the others reach Esdere as they're sadly welcomed by the sight of recently mutilated, deceased bodies across the street after traversing through the town a little. This profoundly horrifies the lot for about a minute until Dante picks up on a male survivor thanks to hearing his exhausted and pained thoughts as the endangered man's dressed in a country-like attire that many of the fallen Spellcasters have on while sprawled atop his back in front of the bar's entrance. Trying to save as much time as possible, Dante uses Accelerator to suddenly appear on the bloodied guy's right, takes a knee with his left leg and leans towards the dying man while having his left hand planted on the wooden floor that the entrance is compiled of so he can maintain a good balance. "Hey, what happened?! Don't talk! Just think it, okay?!"

Though confused by Dante's request as he strained himself to open his eyes, the severely wounded individual remembers everything that occurred and even mentally tells Dante the truth concerning Nemesis. "H-Humans... T-They did this to us... They h-had guns... Those t-things n-no one r-really know w-who conjured t-them..." He harshly coughs out blood with his eyes closed, his body uncontrollably shaking, and then valiantly continues speaking in his head after barely reopening his eyes, which are almost lifeless at this point. "They c-call t-themselves Nemesis... L-Like, they're t-the n-natural enemy of S-Spellcasters... A-And take complete j-joy in killing u-us... T-They e-even had the a-audacity... To take a-advantage... Of o-our town's k-kind h-hospitality toward a-any v-visitors... A-And s-slowly killed o-one after the o-other... Over the c-course of a... M-Month or so..." The Spellcaster steers his gaze to the deceased with tears accumulating while thinking, "T-That's why... The r-rest of us... F-Finally fought back... Hate f-filling o-our hearts... And c-convincing ourselves t-that... We could b-beat them for w-what we are... Spellcasters... B-But they w-were stronger..."

Ilya, Yuki, Trace and Sano hurriedly join Dante while standing behind the green-eyed gentleman as Ilya worryingly questions, "Dante...?"

Dante instantly raises his right hand with a serious personality. "Shush! I'm hearing his thoughts!" The blonde lowers his hand onto his right knee for leverage.

Ilya, although understanding why Dante hushed her, still couldn't help feeling bad due to not realizing that she needed to be quiet and received such a response from her friend.

The near-death Spellcaster refocuses his eyes upon Dante as he keeps thinking while starting to hallucinate, seeing Dante to be something similar to an angel because of his looks. "P-Please... T-Tell me... A-Am I-I going... T-To heaven... I-If I r-repent for a-all my s-sins n-now...? God w-will have m-mercy on m-me, r-right?"

Dante's face softens with a depressed smile shaping and softly rebuttals, "I'm sorry. It's better I don't honestly answer that. You'll figure it out soon. Thank you for surviving this long and telling me everything you could. Goodbye."

Exactly when Dante finished talking, the Spellcaster's heart stopped while his eyes rolled to the back of his head before shutting and is no longer breathing.

Dante's smile flickers a tad with minor sincerity replacing the depression that ails him. "Well, rest easy, mister." The blonde gets to his feet, extends his hands upward while united to stretch and says in his normal volume, "I'll avenge you and everyone here. It's my mission after all."

Ilya and Yuki, whom are standing between the two male comrades in that precise order from left to right, watch Dante in astonishment as they're unable to utter a single word for the time being.

Meanwhile, Trace tightly clenches his hands into fists without raising them from his sides, intently stares at the floorboards beneath his feet and generates a low growl of frustration as he's towards Ilya's right while thinking, "Shit! If we only looked for someone in Velkry to teleport us here, we would've prevented this!"

Dante, as he continues stretching, casually comments to Trace's thought without looking, "Would've, Could've, Should've. Life's filled with those. Just like it's filled with death." The hoodie-wearing young man peers at the ceiling above him that are also wooden as they're parallel to the floor. "It's gonna' happen to all of us eventually, so let's properly mourn the dead for a minute because they deserve it, and once that minute's done, we'll do them justice."

Sano, positioned on the other end of Yuki, radiates amazement with both hands gripping Ruyi Jingu Bang while vaguely muttering, "That's deep."

Ilya takes a step toward Dante with concerning dwelling inside her. "Solving killing with killing isn't the only way, Dante!" The hazel-eyed beauty throws her left arm to the side. "That'll just keep creating more death and it'll never end!"

Dante's slightly surprised by Ilya's declaration without deviating his eyes from the ceiling and continues having both hands in the air. "You're really a believer in that, huh, Ilya? So that's why none of the guys you fight die."

Ilya cocks her head to the right as she's temporarily dumbfounded. "What...?"

Dante nonchalantly lowers his arms while parting them and swiftly swings himself to face his four friends with an earnest composition. "Enough talk. It's time for some action." He wholeheartedly chuckles.

*Scene Change*

Ren and Rebecca managed to stow away in an average-sized warehouse located almost at the other end of town and contains many of the oriental decorations Esdere has plastered on, implying this place to be one of the few businesses where the town's people would come to buy replacements for when theirs become worn out, with home appliances mounted on several, elongated shelves as well. Finally, having a moment with no one else around, Ren embraces Rebecca without any warning at all after releasing his hold on the curly-haired girl's right hand while they're somewhat hidden by the darkness that's within the seemingly abandoned structure.

Briefly caught off guard, Rebecca hesitates prior to wrapping her arms around Ren as a delighted behavior takes shape while burying her face into the blue-eyed boy's chest. "Ren! I thought you were dead like all the others in Lotus! I looked for you everywhere when I saw the bodies, but I couldn't find you!"

Ren firmly holds onto Rebecca, his chin now mounted on top of her head, with his eyes closed while overflowing happiness. "A lot of us bailed after seeing how many got murdered by Nemesis. I knew they were dangerous people, but I never imagined humans being so powerful." The auburn-haired boy creates a little separation between himself and Rebecca via both hands placed on the young dame's shoulder as he looks deeply into her sapphire eyes in a caring way. "You gotta' be crazy for getting involved with them."

Mildly offended, Rebecca leans towards Ren a bit as she angrily retorts. "I didn't have a choice! I already told you what happened when we first met! I'm an orphan with nowhere to go! If I don't stay with someone, I can't possibly survive!" The blonde covers her face via both hands and commences to sob.

Ren draws his face closer to Rebecca with determination brimming. "I know, I know! That's why you got me! I'll take care of you, Rebecca!"

Rebecca gradually moves her hands out of the way, her eyes sparkling due to tears and hope resonating, while asking in an unsure tone, "What about your parents?" The teenage girl sniffles with a light hiccup escaping her lips. "I thought they didn't want you around me 'cause of what I am. Humans and Spellcasters can get along, but what we feel towards each other is..." Rebecca trails off with discontent surfacing.

Ren sternly shakes his head as his grasp on Rebecca's shoulders refuse to falter. "I could give two shits about what they want or what anyone thinks! I don't need their help to protect you! Trust me!" The boy mainly dressed in blue notices the diamond locket hanging from Rebecca's neck with curiosity and thinks, "Is that...?" Ren snaps back into the instance both he and Rebecca are in as he fearlessly states while emphasizing his words, "I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU!"

Rebecca, feeling extremely light-headed while her heart beats fast, steadily narrows the tiny gap dividing them with her eyes slowly shutting. "Oh, Ren..."

Ren reciprocates Rebecca's actions and are a measly inch away from kissing as the cropped-haired teen gently utters, "Rebecca..."

Just when their lips were about to meet, numerous gunfire horizontally fly into the warehouse while barely missing Ren and Rebecca, who are clearly startled by the deadly interruption. Then, with quick thinking from Ren, the pair sprint toward Rebecca's left as he yells in an alarmed voice, "This way!"

They evade the projectiles until planting their backs upon the left wall due to it being out of the bullets' firing path while the blue-eyed male's right arm is draped over Rebecca's midsection in the attempt to shield her from any stray bullets and makes eye contact with Rebecca as courage reflects in them. "Wait for my signal, then run like hell wherever you see an opening!"

Worry consumes Rebecca's expression as she loudly shouts to be heard, "No, you can't take them on by yourself!" She glances down at the Colt Gun still strapped to her left hip and then resets her vision onto Ren. "I'll help!"

Ren shakes his head in disagreement and says in a demanding method, "No way! You hate guns just because they remind you of Bash! I won't let you use it! Trust me! I don't plan to die! I gotta' take care of you, right?!"

Rebecca bites her bottom lip, continuing not to be completely convinced, while whimpering right when the shots halted, "I don't know..."

Immediately realizing that the hail of gunfire ceased, Ren and Rebecca veer their focus toward the warehouse's front since that's where the bullets came flying, minuscule pockets of light now shining in the somewhat dark structure's confines, as they wisely refrain from talking in the small hope that Nemesis will merely move on, believing the two are dead. Unfortunately, the duo's fairy tale wish abruptly fades away at the sound of Bash's voice echoing outside while obviously still upset. "Rebecca?! Maggot?! We know you're in their and very much alive! Well, at least we know the Spellcaster is!" The white-haired man laughs proudly.

Ren drops his right arm from Rebecca's torso, maintaining his gaze on the warehouse's entrance, and thinks in a suspecting manner, "How would they know?! Humans can't sense magic!" Something then dawns on the cropped-haired Spellcaster with his eyes widening a lot while thinking, "Unless..." Ren switches his concentration toward his silver/red, diamond-shaped charm as he mentally contemplates, "They have a Magical Item too!"

Bash stands roughly ten meters from the warehouse with both arms crossed, his seven henchmen poised behind him as their weapons are ready to launch another barrage upon the recently damaged structure, while his right eye twitches out of annoyance and is repeatedly tapping his right foot on the street Nemesis impatiently awaits atop of. "Any day now! I suggest you don't take FUCKING an eternity or we'll barge right in, guns a blazing! You'd like that instead?!"

Feeling the pressure, Ren starts walking toward the warehouse's door until being stopped by Rebecca, who presently has a hold of the charm-carrying boy's right hand via both of hers. This causes Ren to lock eyes with Rebecca as exasperation emanates and bluntly asks, "How many times I gotta' tell you to trust me? A thousand?"

Rebecca puts her head down while trying not to cry and vaguely mumbles, "I'm sorry..."

Ren sighs prior to facing Rebecca, places his left hand underneath the sapphire-eyed teen's chin so he can gently lift her head to temporarily look into each other's eyes, removes his hand to grab a hold of Rebecca's locket and smoothly speaks. "We made a promise when we saw this locket at the pawn shop. You remember?"

Rebecca nods as she can't help permit some tears to flow and replies in a cracking whisper, "O-Of course, I remember...! As long as i-it sparkles like y-your charm, we'll be together forever... No-" Her voice breaks, keeping the blonde from completing the sentence while wincing a tad.

Ren finishes the sentence for Rebecca with pure honesty emanating. "No matter what." The blue-eyed human lets go of the silver locket while carefully freeing his right hand from Rebecca's ensnarement. "Don't forget. Watch for my signal." Ren swiftly turns away, not allowing Rebecca the opportunity to restart the dispute, and rushes to the warehouse's door before swinging it open with a bright ray of light engulfing him.

Taken over by alarm as her tears instantly dry up, Rebecca dashes forth to follow Ren, however, halts at the right side of the doorway so she wouldn't be seen and peeks out to investigate the situation. She eventually sees, after her eyesight adjusted to the brilliant light from outside, Ren a few meters ahead of her while also noticing Bash with his fellow Nemesis members, which causes a terrified shiver to travel down her spine, and thinks, "Ren..."

As that thought went through Rebecca's head, Ren steadily takes one step after the other toward his right without taking his eyes off Nemesis while giving off a readied attitude and valiantly talks. "Rebecca's not here! You're wasting your time!"

Bash bats his eyes with skepticism establishing itself. "Really? Now why the hell should I believe that you'd MATURELY tell her to run off by herself and leave you for dead? It can't be you expect to come out of this alive, can it?"

The seven Nemesis affiliates evilly chuckle as their guns slowly chase Ren without considering the charm-wearing boy's movements whatsoever.

Ren retorts to Bash's inquiry while keeping his pacing down to not gain their attention of why he's doing that. "Why not?! You're just humans! If we were wild animals, I'd be at the top of the food chain and you guys under me! The only reason you're even a threat is those guns! Try fighting me without them if you scumbags are so tough!" He demonstrates a cocky grin.

Holding back aggravation, Bash sneers with his right hand planted on the holster pertaining to that side, as if he's contemplating when to draw his weapon, and remarks condescendingly, "Boy, dying by our HANDS would be much worse." The black-eyed leader scoffs while sneakily gripping onto the revolver's handle. "So quit the big talk and turn Rebecca back over to me. I might actually let you live if you're lucky."

Ren, having steered clear of the warehouse, positions himself on the street's end leading back into town as his tenacity doesn't waver. "How many times I gotta' tell you?! She isn't here!"

Bash's patience can't sustain itself much longer with the Nemesis leader abruptly bringing his weapon out thanks to a strong jerk of his right hand and counters in an intimidating voice, "And I'm gonna' call you out on your bullshit and tell you exactly why!" He snickers knowingly. "I know Rebecca all too well, boy! She's incapable of self-preservation! That girl was moments from death when I found her, practically thrown out of her hometown for being an eyesore, and helplessly waited for someone to save her!" Bash shrugs his shoulders with maliciousness arising. "This, of course, came from a town that sheltered both humans and Spellcasters!" The coat-endowed man behavior shifts back to being kind of serious. "It was called Namora. I say WAS CALLED 'cause we took care of it and everyone inside it, whether they were Spellcaster or not."

Ren's eyes widen as he's mortified by Bash's words, unintentionally losing the valor and resilience he's fronted so far.

Bash unexpectedly faces towards the warehouse after extending both arms in the form of a cross without relaxing his grip on the black revolver in his right hand and powerfully shouts while a crazed expression forms, "You hear me, Rebecca! You know I wouldn't kill my kind for no good reason! What does that tell you?!" The white-haired person navigates his hands atop his chest, bends his posture a little and keeps his sight on the warehouse. "There's nothing I wouldn't do to have you back by my side! You know why?! 'Cause I fell in love with you! Seeing you in that fragile, innocent, luscious state made me rock hard and that's underselling it! You can't imagine how hard I was!"

Rebecca's head pulls back out of being baffled while remaining where she's been for the past few minutes as another whimper is released.

Following that, Bash continues speaking without any change to his personality, however, returns his arms to their previously extended position. "Rebecca! Ignoring your age and some measly bad aspects, you're my dream girl! Come back to me, become a woman that I can be completely proud to call mine and bare my children in the foreseeable future!"

In the meantime, Ren becomes disgusted with his magic quickly generated and shouts in an upset tone, "No way! Rebecca-" The teen suddenly stops his sentence cold, witnessing Bash's gaze veer toward him as murderous intent resonates within them while making his deranged attitude vanish.

Then, Bash turns himself toward Ren while dropping his arms, his men adjusting themselves to stay at their leader's backside with their guns still locked on the target, before raising his revolver forward to join the other Nemesis members as he utters solemnly, "Maggots don't talk. Let's fix that."

Sensing that Bash's about to fire, Ren digs his feet into the earthly street and prepares himself for the black-eyed male's gun to fire while thinking, "Concentrate...!" Terror immediately envelops Ren's face as he realizes that a large quantity suddenly are hurling towards him after multiple gunfire resounded.

Barely watching the guns held by the seven Nemesis affiliates kick back with shells expelling from the back for a few of them, Rebecca gasps in fear and is desperately trying not to scream out while her hands hold onto the doorway's right edge.

Concurrently, although very surprised since he recklessly expected only Bash to fire, who didn't even fire his revolver, Ren reacts by expelling his red-colored magic in a small wave as it traverses most of the area. Once that transpires, the rapidly advancing bullets' course switches without making any sort of turn and heads back to their owners. This shocks the seven henchmen while using quick maneuvering to dodge the speedy projectiles as none suffer any hits.

Bash, having also evaded the bullets with more ease than his associates, retains his solemn composition as he thinks, "So it wasn't just me going nuts or something..." He pulls the trigger of his gun, sending a lone bullet straight at Ren's face.

Urgency establishes itself on Ren's demeanor prior to the shot reaching his face and then somehow reverts its trajectory toward Bash. Unfortunately, the auburn-haired boy didn't realize that it was all a ploy while abruptly struck by a bullet on his left shoulder. This results in an agonized grimace to overrun Ren after placing his right hand over the afflicted region and momentarily looks at it as he sees blood seeping through his shirt. After that, Ren resets his attention upon Bash to investigate why he was caught off guard and hurriedly receives an answer the instance his vision notes a second revolver directed in the teenager's direction via its wielder's left hand as Ren's rendered speechless.

Bash snickers once again with both guns aimed at Ren while giving off a smug grin. "Though I'm not fully sure WHAT your ability is, it's pretty obvious you can't handle too much pressure."

Ren swallows as worry adds in and thinks, "Crud! I didn't want him to find out about that!" He glances at his diamond-shaped charm with a hint of fright radiating while thinking, "And you're close to being taxed out too!"

Bash enthusiastically yells without diverting his two guns. "Now, round 2!"

In compliance to their leader's order, the Nemesis personnel resume firing as each immensely desire to make contact and have a competitive rush dwell inside.

Ren, left with no other option, courageously screams while both hands are curled into fist as the boy mainly dressed in blue shouts, "Run, Rebecca!" A handful of bullets promptly penetrate Ren's body, none being fatal but extremely painful and force the blue-eyed Spellcaster to stagger backwards while releasing a horrid cry with each impact.

Bash torques the wrist of both hands downward and halts his attempt at including himself in the barrage as some irritation's noted. "I knew it!"

Rebecca hesitates after forwarding a look of dismay at Ren, however, knows that it would be no good to refuse the Caucasian's plea and hastily dashes out of the warehouse, heading toward the left to avoid Nemesis, with her eyes shut to restrain the tears that wish to escape.

Bash snaps his head to the right as he instantly sees Rebecca running opposite to him with anger mixing in. "Oh no, you don't!" The white-haired human points his right revolver at Rebecca, having position himself to stand sideways, and shoots the fleeing girl in her right leg without a second thought.

Rebecca screams in pain before collapsing to the street less than fifteen meters from Bash and then grips onto the wounded limb while uncontrollably shivering.

Ren barely took account of what happened due to the continuous bombardment, however once he did, his emotions explode as he passionately yells with his focus on Rebecca, "No!"

With that outburst, every bullet soaring toward Ren are magically repelled back at the Nemesis affiliates, which made them cease their fire and swiftly dodge again.

Unlike his men, for a split second, Bash stares down the lone projectile that's flying at his face this time, and with minimal effort, uses the right side of his left revolver to block it and creates a spine-tingling, grinding sound because of the bullet not being deflected. Then, as the tiny object gradually stops spinning, the coat-wearing man coldly comments while maintaining both arms raised on opposing sides of him, "You must be fantasizing to think I wouldn't shoot her if she ran away again. I won't make that mistake twice. Not just that, you keep having the balls to try and nail me with a bullet, but that just ain't ever gonna' happen. Not even in a million years, maggot." Bash lowers both arms after the bullet that collided with his revolver fell to the ground and turns toward Rebecca as he begins walking.

Ren's distraught at the sight of Bash making his way to Rebecca while stretching his right arm forward. "Wait!" A gunshot promptly brushes pass Ren's right cheek, causing the teenage boy's limb to slightly falter, and steers his attention upon the source, who's immediately shown to be Mark.

Mark laughs ecstatically with his Hunting Rifle properly poised toward Ren. "No one commands Bash around, short-pint! Do it again and the next one's going between your eyes! I'm not that great of a shot when it comes to the head, but when someone riles me up and I get like this, I'm a master at it! Wanna' try me?!"

Nervousness overcomes Ren as he cautiously takes his eyes off Mark so he can check how Rebecca's doing. He soon sees the blonde female brought to her feet against her will by Bash while embraced from behind with both of them facing in Ren's direction. The mere fact that Rebecca is in Bash's arms infuriates Ren and intensely glares at the gunner. "Let go of her!"

Bash keeps holding onto Rebecca while harshly retorting. "I'm getting real sick and tired of you, maggot!" The Nemesis leader looks at his henchmen and motions them with his head. "Kill him already!"

At the moment Bash gave out that command, a stream of electricity crashes down between the seven men and Ren, originating from behind the cropped-haired boy, as surprise engulfs everyone. Not long after, Bash, his men, Ren and Rebecca deviate their focus toward four unknown people, whom are calmly walking up to the charm-wearing teenager, with interest displayed.

It doesn't take long for the four individuals' entire appearance to be demonstrated as they are Trace, Ilya, Yuki and Sano traveling along the street in that precise order from left to right based on those watching's point of view. During this, Trace's left arm's directed forth with sparks surging all over the appendage while clearly displeased. "Ganging up on a kid like a pack of hyenas... For humans, you guys are more like freaking animals!"

While continuing to stand at the back, Ed responds in his usual deep voice with meager emotion included as the cannon he's touting had stayed strap to his backside the whole time and is carrying a Blunderbuss in each hand that's currently lowered to his waistline. "Who the heck are you?"

Billy adds with some rage brimming as his Winchester and Springfield Rifles are simultaneously pointed at the four new adversaries, "And where the fuck ya'll came from?! There shouldn't be any more Spellcasters in this town!"

Ilya answers on herself and the other three's behalf with pride emitted while faintly placing her left hand on her chest. "We hail from Velkry! That's all you need to know!" The hazel-eyed beauty lowers her left hand prior to Ilya's golden staff forming within her right hand as the two medium-sized rings dismount from the weapon's light blue gem and slowly dance around it. Once that occurs, Ilya aims the staff at Nemesis while sternly saying in a demanding way, "Now let that girl go!"

Bash sneers for a second time as his grasp on Rebecca goes unhindered and navigates his attention toward Ren. "Is this your back-up, maggot?! I'm not impressed! We took on MUCH bigger numbers as you saw in Lotus, and earlier at the street in front of the bar!" He nudges his head at Ilya's group without a shred of concern. "Those four by themselves won't fair any better!" Bash snickers a bit.

Ren turns his sight back to Bash while fiercely staring the Nemesis leader down.

Trace puts his left arm down, electricity no longer present on the appendage, as he shifts his gaze upon Ilya and asks in a whisper, "Where the hell is Dante?"

Ilya looks at Trace out of the corner of her eyes with mild exasperation showing while softly saying, "I've no clue! He ran off ahead of us, so he should-"

Cutting Ilya off, Sano focuses on the building toward Nemesis' left as a laid-back personality is noted on his being. "He's right there."

Trace and Ilya frantically zoom onto where Sano's looking while disbelief engulfs both of them. They then see that Dante's sitting atop the edge of the building's roof that's closest to Nemesis, leisurely kicking his feet with both hands planted on the structure to lean backwards a little without having to be worried about possibly falling, as he's cheerfully observing the gang of humans. A second later, with the white-haired female's right hand positioned next to her hip, Trace and Ilya scream at Dante in unison while very upset, "What are you doing just sitting there?!"

Ren, Rebecca, Bash and the members of Nemesis quickly draw their eyes onto Dante as they're bewildered by not knowing that he was also present.

Dante innocently veers his concentration to Trace and Ilya before commenting in a gleeful manner, "Oh, hey! You guys finally made it!"

Joining with the other two, Yuki, Ilya and Trace yell in fury as Sano decided to stay out of it while demonstrating an amused demeanor, "You just noticed us?!"

Dante shamefully chuckles after placing his right hand behind his head. "My bad. I was lost in thought for a while and didn't see you get here."

Trace slumps down while dropping his head depressingly and mutters, "But I sent out a bolt of electricity... How did he not notice...?"

Ilya, doing the same as trace, gently utters in sadness, "I spoke though... Does that mean he naturally tunes my voice out...?"

Yuki follows suit with the other two with despair radiating, her blue purse retaining itself on her right shoulder, while mumbling, "Is it because I'm short that he didn't even see ME...?"

Sano slant his head and gives off a sympathetic expression as his hands continue to be gripping Ruyi Jingu Bang. "No offense, but you three are kinda' pathetic. You're acting like you've never been ignored before." The tanned teenager vaguely laughs.

Trace, Ilya and Yuki throw a death glare at Sano while releasing a controlled growl, causing the jacket-wearing gentleman to lift his hands up as he nervously chuckles.

Feeling neglected, Bash makes himself and Rebecca face toward Dante's direction with a spiteful look. "How long have you been there, you filth?! And don't distract them! Everyone's supposed to stay focus on me, Nemesis' leader!"

Dante glances at Bash, contempt shallowly notable on his person, while returning his right hand atop the building's roof and questions with his eyes shut as he plainly ignores most of the coat-wearing man's rant, "Filth? Why am I filth?" The blonde gradually reopens his eyes to gaze down on Bash as a menacing attitude appears. "Can't you tell a human and a Spellcaster apart? That's sorta' odd if you ask me."

Bash's eyes profoundly widen, dumbfounded by Dante's inquiry. "You're a human...?" He's immediately enraged and grits his teeth. "That makes you the bad kind! You're a disgusting Spellcaster lover!"

Dante removes his hands from the roof's surface after impulsing himself off the building's edge and soon lands his feet on the street with no problem. Having done that, the blonde steers himself to walk toward Ren, both hands in his pockets, as he responds to Bash without making eye contact. "I'm not, actually. You could be a Spellcaster, a human, a half-breed, an animal, a demonic creature, a spirit, an angel, a devil, an archangel, an archdevil, a fallen angel, Death, Lucifer or even God. There's no guarantee I'll like you for something so shallow. Once I get to know you, in any way, I'll decide if you're the type of person I want to be friends with."

Ren watches Dante walk up to him while not sure what to make of the hoodie-wearing young man and subconsciously takes a step back via his left foot.

Dante eventually reaches Ren, a mere meter dividing the two, as he briefly checks out the boy's charm via a light torque of his body toward the left and contentedly smiles. "That's the Sacred Charm; Magic Booster, right?"

Ren's both surprised and confused after momentarily diverting his focus to the diamond-shaped object. Following that action, the cropped-haired boy reverts his attention upon Dante, his left foot returning next to the other, while tilting his head to the right. "Sacred Charm? Don't you mean Magical Item?"

Dante weakly laughs with his posture upright and gently knocks the right side of his head via the hand belonging to that same section as he playfully sticks out his tongue while his left eye's closed. "Oops, I'm using its original title. Ignore that." The green-eyed person opens his left eye with his right hand lowered without being put back into Dante's pocket. "Anyway, from what I saw and heard, you got a ton of spunk. I'd like for us to be friends, okay?"

Ren's confusion escalates as he gawks at Dante. "Friends?"

Dante wholeheartedly nods. "Yup! You're my kind of person! That Spellcaster ability of yours is wicked too!"

Embarrassment takes hold of Ren as he scratches his left cheek with his left hand's index finger. "Yeah... Though it's very hard for me to use." The teen dressed mainly in blue peers down at his charm. "The Magic Booster's supposed to increase my magic by 25% for ten minutes, but it doesn't do that for some weird reason. Instead, it helps me harness my magic for several casts. Sadly, we're both nearing the limit."

Bash interrupts Dante and Ren's conversation due to getting pissed off that they seem to have forgotten about the initial situation while aiming his right revolver toward the pair. "The fuck are you two doing?! I said EVERYONE'S supposed to stay focus on me!"

Dante calmly swings his body around to confront Bash with a relaxed attitude. "Do you mind? I'm trying to make a friend over here. I'll get to you in a sec."

Bash grinds his teeth as his black-eyes become blood-shot because of all the rage he's experiencing inside him. "You...!"

Dante gestures his right hand's index finger at Ren without turning back around while gazing toward the blue-eyed boy out of the corner of his right eye. "Think about it for the next minute or so. I have to ask Bash something." The blonde reset his sight onto Bash after dropping his hand once more. "Tell me something, Bash. What do expect to achieve in your life?"

Bash narrows his eyes with suspicion emanating as he thinks, "How does he know my name? Was he here when Mark said it? If he was, why didn't he step in then?"

Dante promptly states in a dull manner, "Stop thinking about irrelevant things and answer me."

Bash and his henchmen are baffled by Dante's words while uncertain to what he means until the Nemesis' leader pushed it aside with arrogance appearing while bringing his extended limb back on Rebecca, who's energy is slowly depleting from the loss of blood. "What do I expect to achieve in my life? That's easy." The white-haired Caucasian cocks his head back and fervently shouts, "The total elimination of the filthy Spellcasters! That's what we, Nemesis, want!"

The seven Nemesis members let out a big roar of approval as each does a fist pump.

Meanwhile, Ilya, Yuki, Trace and Sano aren't too happy with Bash's statement while readying themselves for combat, which involved the pink-haired princess to summon up her Ice Wand within her hands that are currently lifted near her chest.

Then, Dante plainly asks without any interest displayed. "Why?"

Bash scoffs as skepticism overtakes his expression after commandeering his attention toward Dante again. "Why?! You wanna' know why?! Fine, I'll tell you!" A stuck-up demeanor replaces Bash skepticism. "It's 'cause Spellcasters are freaks! Doing things God never wanted man to do! They're monsters, especially the rare, disgusting half-breeds!"

Sano instantaneously makes a mental note as he solemnly observes Bash. "I think this guy wants to be thrown off a ledge."

Dante, hearing Sano's thoughts, refrains from laughing while asking with very little change to his behavior, "Is that really it?"

Bash sneers and arrogantly retorts. "Fuck yeah! Got a problem with that?!"

Dante tenaciously smiles with his eyes gleaming. "I sure do, dumb-dumb. Now I'm definitely gonna' have to kill you, although in all honesty, I was pretty much gonna' do that either way 'cause you're the type I'd never want to be friends with." He shrugs in an uncaring method. "Sucks, huh?"

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...