Kukyona Sonzai is currently running through the halls of the building that the group was currently attacking. Most of them were mostly fighting to secure most of the hostages, if there were anyways, while Zai was looking for the VIPs that they were planning to collect to learn as much as they could on what Malware has been up to.

However as the mission continued, he was listening carefully to the coms while searching the entire facility. So far, the TEMPUS part of the group discovered what they had been doing with the hostages, which grossed Zai out as apparently, they had been figuring out a way to harness the Mana from others artificially and drain them of their own lives, effectively killing them and leaving them as nothing but empty shells of their former lives.

That kind of experimentation as Zai would know, would effectively lead to the death of so many people, not many to survive such a process, yet if the people who was captured were those who contained Mana within themselves, then what would Malware need all the Mana for in the first place if she doesn't utilize Magic at all? This kind of thinking is making Zai realize that the Artificial Mana Core project that Henya stated before was probably why, but he shook it off, knowing deep down that mustn't be the only reason.

He couldn't understand how or why Malware would resort to extreme but inhumane actions, which completely fits with her personality and actions, but he swears to himself that if he does get his hands on her, he'll destroy her himself. His inner Chaos has been demanding action, demanding blood, but since he couldn't deliver, he'll need to hold off for the time being.

As for Team Scythe, apparently they had discovered that this particular facility acted like an extended outpost, not even being properly connected to the Atlas Corporation itself. This made Zai note to himself that this outpost was most likely something that was formed more recently by Malware, but with how the infrastructure and design goes for this outpost, Malware must've constructed this really fast and very well. He is unsure on how she was able to pull something like this off in such a short amount of time, but he knows that he needs to get this done as soon as possible.

He eventually reached the exact room he was told that the VIPs were located as since it was locked, he simply kicked the door off of its hinges as he stepped inside. Much to his surprise, the place was fairly dark, but the room seemed fairly comfortable, but yet dusty at the same time. Yet when he spotted the VIPs, he noticed the two of them standing and looking at him in fear. 

He knows these two as Lukas' parents, Ichigo and Angela Misaki. Even though he hadn't met them personally, he could tell that they weren't really treated the best when working under Malware. He didn't know if he was supposed to feel anger or pity for them, but he held it in as he spoke to them.

Sonzai: "Mr. Misaki, Mrs. Misaki. We're here to get you out."

Ichigo Misaki was the first to speak up as he seemed relieved.

Ichigo: "Oh thank God! I'm so glad someone actually came!"

Angela: "But where's our daughter...? Where's our darling little angel...?"

Zai felt a sudden twinge of anger build up as he began to release a bit of his Aura, shocking the two as they retreated back for a bit. The two felt like they were going to be killed on the spot as Zai walked closer to them slowly.

Sonzai: "Why would I care about what you think?"

Zai's tone was cold and merciless as he stood in front of the two.

Sonzai: "You two are government officials, yet you were working for a corrupt company that was willing to destroy the Supernatural. Yet when you're master is out of the picture, you start to cower like dogs."

Ichigo: "B-But..."

Sonzai: "You assisted in a criminal's schemes, mistreating your own child to favour the other. Yet you expect me to show you some courtesy? You might want to rethink what you want assholes. You both are criminals by being accomplices. I would've killed you by now if my current boss wasn't telling me to bring you shitbags in alive!"

Zai then sighed as he calmed down, hiding his Aura again now as he put on a stoic expression. He then turned around and walked away from the two a bit.

Sonzai: "You lot mistreated Lukas as if he was some sort of obstacle. Ame told me the details that you bastards were given the complete evidence that your own daughter had tricked you both, yet you still clung to her? You both are nothing but delusional."

Angela: "But those were forged!"

Ichigo: "Exactly! Now take us to Hardway and-"

Sonzai: "You fail to understand don't you?"

The two were confused as Zai turned to meet their gaze again, showing a form of malice.

Sonzai: "You are in no position to be making demands. I'm bringing you both back to our hideout to ask questions. I'm not taking no as an answer."

Ichigo: "But our daughter is still there within the main-"

Zai then appeared in front of him in an instant as he punched him directly in the gut, knocking all the wind out of him as he knocked him out cold. He quickly grabbed him and tossed him over his shoulder as he sighed. He looked at Angela as he was expecting resistance from her as well.

Angela: "Why did you do that?! We're highly regarded people! We could-"

Zai then punched her in the stomach to knock her out cold as he tossed her over his other shoulder, carrying both of them now as he sighed.

Sonzai: "I don't give two shits about your position."

He said this out loud as he is aware that their positions don't mean anything in comparison to the Co-Founders as he has more respect for the role and position that the Co-Founders took upon themselves. 

Altare: "Zai. Have you retrieved the VIPs?"

Altare asked through the transmission as Zai quickly answered.

Sonzai: "Affirmative. Bringing them now, but be weary. I had to knock them out cold."

Altare: "Understood. Meet us outside of the outpost as Team Scythe is dealing with the distractions."

Zai simply nodded to himself as he began to make a run for it. Even though he was running through the halls of this facility, each step was leaving behind sparks of red electricity as he was moving faster. While they couldn't save anyone due to the process of what Malware had done to the innocent hostages, the only two they could save and confirm was Ichigo and Angela Misaki respectively. 

They all met up after the operation as the results were as followed. At first when they infiltrated the place, they fought their way in as two separate groups. The TEMPUS group charged in through the front gates as Team Scythe charged in directly afterwards with Zai entering through the back. They enforced this strategy so that they could catch the ATLAS Combat Units off guard, while Zai snuck around and searched for their true targets.

Most of the group fought through the ATLAS Combat Units and mostly cleared the place out without triggering an alert all thanks to Melody and Henya's ingenuity. Though learning the horrific things that had happened, clearly left the whole group feel unwell. Though now that they have their main targets in their possession, they quickly made their getaway.

We then cut to Malware as she was in the Atlas Corporation main building head office as she was seething with anger. She was pacing around, trying to figure out what went wrong with her encounter against Lukas Misaki. She held her head with both of her hands as she was starting to mess up her hair a little, trying to comprehend how she could fail on capturing or even killing him. 

She had everything planned, all escape routes blocked, forced him into a corner. Yet she somehow failed to counteract his adaptability, making her grit her teeth as she then kicked the office desk over. She couldn't understand on how Lukas Misaki was able to adapt so quickly, but she then remembered what was apart of him. One of Void's fragments.

Malware *Thoughts*: "I can't fucking believe this... I would've won! I had everything going perfectly! Yet the only reason Lukas Misaki survived is because of that damned fragment! This is so annoying! How could I underestimate him again?!"

She then took the moment to calm down, sighing as since this is her physical self right now, she looked outside the broken window at the city. 

Malware *Thoughts*: "It has now been twice that the boy got lucky... He took advantage of my ego huh? Oh well, he won't be lucky the third time... Though who was that girl with him...? I was able to analyse a little, but for some reason... Her blood type originated to-"

Before she could even finish her thoughts, she was receiving a call, making her sigh as she summoned a holographic screen to answer the call. She noticed it was OBSIDIAN as she seemed to be in front of some destroyed facility.

Malware: "Status report."

OBSIDIAN: "TEMPUS has attacked this facility, destroying most of our forces. However they took Ichigo Misaki and Angela Misaki before we arrived."

Malware: "Damn... There goes some of our bargaining chips... It doesn't matter now. Secure that parameter and ensure that you can track them down." 

OBSIDIAN: "Understood."

Malware then cut the call as she looked out the window again, narrowing her eyes as she clearly was frustrated, but she couldn't let that get to her now. While it was unprecedented that Lukas had one of Void's fragments within himself, she is aware of it now. Her main concern may be the Omni Magician, but she knows that when her small project is complete, it wouldn't matter anymore.

Malware: "Just you wait, Lukas Misaki. Your luck will run out."

She then turned and began to head out of the office. We then cut to Zai who arrived with the rest back to their makeshift base of operations warehouse. Even though he carried both of the Misaki's on his shoulders, he was getting tired of doing that as Dropscythe offered to take them to their interrogation room for the time being, allowing Zai to have some breathing room, alongside getting the chance to relax for a change.

So he stood outside for a little while, taking in the air. While he could smell the possible rain, he could also smell the scent of something else. His body began to react as he could feel himself getting weaker as he fell to his one knee, clutching his head in pain for a moment. He was breathing in and out rapidly until the pain subsided. 

A bead of sweat poured down his face as he had a look around, noticing that it was reaching sunset since they spent most of the day ensuring that they weren't being chased by the ATLAS Enforcers. He stood back up, thinking that he probably needs some sleep for the time being.

So he made his way inside, noticing that most of the survivors are improving over time, but he could feel the fear within all of them, worried that they would be next. It was something he had felt before from others in the past, but he had never once experienced that emotion himself. To him and to his family, fear is an emotion that would only drag you down, hinder your improvement. He hated that form of teaching, but it had some truth to it. 

While fear could drive you to weakening yourself, Zai knew that Lukas is just the complete opposite. Lukas is afraid, fearing the unknown, but pushes through anyways. It did make Zai question to himself on what fear actually does or what fear actually is. He also knows that since Lukas's family has now been retrieved, he knows that Lukas just isn't going to take this well.

Not only has Lukas been disowned by his own family, his own original home city has been desecrated into ruin, and has to bear responsibility of being the Omni Magician further down the line. He can tell that Lukas is hurting inside, but consistently pushes it back and hides it from everyone else. While he and some others managed to convince Lukas to open up a bit, Lukas seems to be still hesitant on sharing his opinions and responses, including if it had something to do with his history, or if it was about something he was once apart of. 

He might as well look for Lukas now as he began to look around, only to encounter Flayon.

Sonzai: "Hey Red, do you know where Lukas is?"

Flayon recognized Zai in an instant as he turned his head to look at him. Though he was clearly assisting a mother trying to give proper medication.

Flayon: "Oh, last I saw him he brought in a young girl. Probably resting in his room at the moment."

Sonzai: "I see, thanks."

Zai then left Flayon alone to head to where Lukas sleeps. Though there was one question on his mind. A girl? Even if Lukas went to save someone and it could've been a trap, he brought back a girl? It didn't make sense to Zai much, but he figured that he might as well check up on him anyways.

As soon as he reached the room in the warehouse that was mostly treated as the sleeping quarters for the members of TEMPUS and others who are working together to defeat Malware, he went to Lukas's bed, only to notice that Lukas is out cold.

Lukas was snoring lightly, breathing in and out at a slow pace, though Zai could notice that his attire seemed slightly singed to a degree, plus being dirty as well in the mix. Though he then noticed Mossberg asleep right next to him as well, with her arms wrapped around his side, hugging him like as if he was a teddy bear. Zai understandably was relatively confused on seeing a young blonde girl, being roughly around ten to eleven years of age would be sleeping right next to him on the same bed.

He wanted to wake Lukas up, but seeing now how adorable they looked together, it somewhat left a small smile on his face as he decided against it. He figured that Lukas might as well deserve a little break since this whole thing must've been having a toll on him for a little while. As he turned around, he noticed Magni Dezmond enter the room as Dezmond seemed relatively surprised to see Zai right now.

Sonzai: "Hey Dez-San. When did this... happen?"

He asked as quietly as possible as to not wake what he could consider to be sleeping birds up, though Dezmond answered calmly in the matter.

Dezmond: "The girl's name is apparently Mossberg. Apparently she was the source of the situation. Though when Lukas did find her, things got a bit out of hand as Malware somehow found them. However, Lukas was able to escape with the girl, without having any major injuries at least. That just shows how much Lukas seemed to have improved."

Sonzai: "Wait, Malware found them?"

Dezmond: "Well yeah... but apparently according to Lukas, if Mossberg wasn't there, he might've been killed then and there. She somehow was able to help, though he couldn't explain how that was possible. And yet ever since they got back, Mossberg has been clinging to him at all times, like as if he was some sort of legal guardian or something."

Sonzai: "I see... I suppose I should leave Lukas to rest for now. We brought the VIPs back, but there's more that you need to know alongside the rest. Though I think it would be better to wait until Lukas is awake."

Dezmond: "Probably for the best..."

They both then looked at Lukas and Mossberg as they were snoring lightly, though Zai is somewhat worried. He knows that he has to tell Lukas everything eventually, but he has a feeling that it would be better to learn what his parents know first, before informing Lukas about his past....

We then cut back to Malware as she just exited an elevator, finding herself within what one could imagine to be a large basement level. This place is active like as if it was a small makeshift facility, though on the far side of the room, we could see Zentreya as she was keeping an eye on a particular device with someone inside it.

This strange machine is what Malware would like to call, a Mana Converter. An artificial way of absorbing Mana from one individual or being, though due to its large clunky size, it was an early prototype. Though sitting within the seat of the machine, was Angelica Misaki as her head was covered by a headpiece that covered her eyes. She was laying their motionless as tubes were also inserted into her arms and also the back of her neck.

Malware: "Zen. How is our subject doing?"

Zentreya turned around, still having her visor on as the red hued eyes narrow.

Zentreya: "Angelica Misaki still has a large pool of Mana remaining. While her Mana has been absorbed for about over a week, she still has a supply still stored within her."

Malware: "Well, she is Lukas Misaki's little sister after all. If her brother is the fabled Omni Magician, then she has untapped potential as well. Though unfortunately we lost our bargaining chips. We need that Artificial Mana Core done as soon as possible. Can the process speed up?"

Zentreya: "It can be done. However, the subject will have a small chance of surviving the after effects."

Malware then had a look around the room, eventually noticing that on one side of the room, was a particular machine that seemed to contain a body inside, though the body looked very similar to the model of Zentreya. She walked up to it as she put her one hand on the glass, smiling.

Malware: "Then do it. They will catch on what we've been doing soon. The sooner I have Z-Model MONARCH up and ready to go, things will begin to go our way. The Co-Founders, the SSF, nor the Omni Magician will stand in my way any longer..."