"Jericho..."

With the mention of that name out of pure Joy and satisfaction, the male, who is known by the town as Manny, hugged the Werefox who knew the real name that he kept hidden for a long time.
The Werefox couldn't contain its joy of being reunited with the one person it came to see and cried as it wrapped its long, fur-covered hands around Manny's back with added warmth. A miraculous sight of a child and fatherly bond was reunited after many long years.

"It's been so long since I waited for your return... Cain Marshadow'' Said Manny who was letting out a few tears from the overwhelming Joy.

"Cain, Jericho. Just Cain..."

"Haha, whatever you say" The silver-haired male responded, smiling in content as he let the old creature, that was named Cain, sob on his shoulders as he gripped the boy tightly with its arms.

"Jeez, do you always cry like this, old man?" Jericho blurted as he laughed with tears falling down his cheeks as well.

"I never thought that you would be happy to see me Jericho... after what I did to you... After abandoning you despite promising never to leave you..." Said Cain as he hugged tighter with words of guilt and regret.

"Of course I would... Because I knew that you would come back one day, and I never doubted my thoughts about that ever since" Jericho broke the hug by slowly leaning back to his chair, wiping off the few tears of joy he shed and calmly smiled at Cain who was smiling back at him, knowing that the silver-haired person was still the same as he remembered before leaving this town.

-

After a while, everything was settled. The room was no longer gloomy. Smiles were now replacing Cain's earlier depressed look. Delighted to finally realize that the boy had grown up so much, filled the old fox with pride. Staring deeply at the Amulet on his hand with a permanent smile while Manny still sat on the chair where he was earlier.

"I am truly glad that you kept this Amulet... This amulet is special, which is why I am formally giving this to you... I'm sure you've already seen what it's capable of.... Correct?"
Cain suddenly coughed in pain, dropping the Amulet on the bedsheet as Manny rushed to his aid, rubbing his back for comfort.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm 498 years old, there's nothing alright with me, Jericho" Cain managed to let out a few laughs in his own joke before another cough interrupted him.

"You may be old, but not obsolete"

"Of course, I am still dashing, am I not?"

The two laughed at the simple boastful sentence from Cain until both of them heard footsteps from behind. It was Ryan. Having his arms crossed with a blank expression as he walked closer towards the two.

"So you two are connected after all, it seems I was correct in my hunch..." Ryan mumbled audibly, surprising them both.

"When did you realize?" Asked Jericho.

"Back in the alleyway. You didn't flinch nor got shocked when we saw Cain, not to mention you said the words "Let's take him to my house" You didn't say "It" You said "Him" I can pretty much recall a certain someone always referring to all the creature we've met as "It" Including Lesthovayne's lover... Do you remember?"

Manny eventually sighed with a small smile as his remark from Ryan's keen observation.

"I see you've never actually gone home... you just said that so you could spy on our conversations... clever" Jericho replied.

"Next time make sure the door is locked when a person exits," Said the Lad with a light chuckle before coming to good terms with Jericho.

"How long were you listening?"

"Pretty much when he started telling his life story. I apologize for your family by the way" Ryan showed his sympathy and Cain replied by nodding in gratitude with a smile.

"Although, what doesn't make sense to me is... You were raised by a Werefox, but when we first met at the clubroom, you didn't believe in the supernatural and you even started to question what's real and what's not when we made our first contact with Illumina... Unless..." Ryan thought of a certain possible answer but Jericho decided to clarify everything in one sentence before he even got to finish his hypothesis.

"That's correct, I faked it all. Of course, I would keep my friends from learning about all of this, for it will only lead them to danger. So I tried every way to convince Joseph that the supernatural isn't real until you showed up. And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids"

"Really?" Ryan gazed at Jericho with an eyebrow raised after hearing a line from an iconic TV show from his childhood.

"Always wanted to say that. But seriously, I would really appreciate it if you keep everything you learned here a secret... Including my name"

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone, I promise that"

"Thanks, Ryan"

The two males, for once, looked as if they were on good terms. No rivalry, no aggression to one another anymore.

Then just as they thought that today's mystery was already solved, Cain spoke a sentence that would soon be a deeper mystery that's waiting to be solved.

"Ah, so you are Ryan Cunningham... Well, that explains your hair and eyes... I'm surprised you're friends with him, Jericho"

Ryan and Jericho were both surprised by what he had said. The lad took a step further, his split-colored eyes widened and his thoughts were piling up with questions of curiosity all of a sudden.

"You know me?" Just as Ryan asked that question, they all suddenly heard the doorbell ring. Wanting to give Ryan a chance to discuss his matter, Jericho volunteered to answer the door.

"I'll go check who it is," Manny said before leaving the area and going downstairs to check who it was.

"Of course... the one who will bring damnation upon this world" Cain replied as Ryan, fidgeting the amulet while his wide smile was slowly fading away.

"Are you a guardian as well?" Ryan asked, which made Cain laugh for an unknown reason.

"No, I am not as corrupted as they are... I am merely just like you... a creation to bring forth Chaos but decided to choose life over death"

"Corrupted? What do you mean?"

"They did something terrible before the war began... they are not the kind-hearted Guardians of this world that you know them by. Even good people have a dark past..."

"What did they do exactly?"

"... What did the guardians tell you, Ryan?"

Cain asked with an ominous voice, gazing over at Ryan with a sharp look.

"They said their previous world was destroyed by the Dark One, and they were summoned here to help prevent this planet from meeting the same fate by repelling the Dark One"

"It seems they never told you about the real story behind their past actions..."

"What do you mean?"

"When Lesthovayne and his friends were summoned to this world, they were suddenly shrouded by fear from the same Entity that killed their entire Race and planet. They refused to help humans and instead, they chose to help the Entity destroy almost half of this world because of their fear.
Many were slaughtered, Countries were destroyed and the sky was black as night. If it weren't for the man named Arthur, they would never have been awoken from their dreaded way of living and thus the start of the Rebellion and the beginning of the War"

"Arthur the Seer..." Ryan mumbled, recalling the man the saved them from Camille a few weeks ago.

"Arthur the Seer? No... It wasn't him. It was Arthur Kenway"

Suddenly, Ryan's eyes widened to its fullest from the mention of that name. His jaw slowly dropped as his pupils shook restlessly.

"A... Arthur... Kenway...?!"

"Yes. Him alone defeated them all in combat before the Seer arrived and showed them the future when they continued to help the Dark One..."

Ryan couldn't believe it. The very person he looked up to, and the person who raised after all those years, turns out to be connected to the string of events happening in this town since the past.

"Once they saw through their action.. the first war began..."

"The war between what?"

"Between Good and Evil, but the Tides of War is still on the verge. You have yet to face The One Above The Universe"

"W-wait, what did you just say? Who is The One Above The Universe?"

"The one who is responsible for all the supernatural events happening in this world. Including... You" Cain pointed at Ryan and placed him in an even more state of shock and confusion, but before he could ask for everything to be clarified, Cain's ears perked up and a sudden change of mood stopped their conversation.
"A storm has arrived..." Cain growled fiercely until the house trembled for a second and then all of a sudden, Jericho was seen bursting through the door, landing with force on the wall as he fell unconscious on the floor.

"Manny!" Shouted Ryan before coming to his aid.

A bright blue flash spread across the room and a hooded person appeared in a blink of an eye along with a shroud of electricity, wearing a dark dusty cloak and a blank grey mask with eyes glowing in radiant blue colors. The way the person was dressed resembled Sorcerers from the Medieval Era

"I came for you, Cunningham," Said the mysterious man with a deep and muffled voice

"I heard that once before!"

Ryan replied, letting out his sudden rage before attempting to execute a straight right punch as he spun to turn his body towards the mysterious man.

But the hooded person showed no sign of tension and slowly pointed an open palm towards Ryan, like a nurse calmly flicking the syringe before injecting the vein, a ball of blue light covered with sparks of electricity was fired from the Man's palm at a surprising speed. Passing Ryan just a few inches away from the side of his cheek and collided on the wall. The concrete wall then began to shrink as if the ball of energy was sucking the solid matter inside Blackhole before a powerful explosion occurred. The force from the explosion destroyed the wall and ceiling behind them including half of the lawn which resulted in the appearance of a large crater right outside the house. Blowing Ryan, Jericho, and Cain away towards the opposite side due to the powerful explosion it emitted while the mysterious man stood tall, unmoved from his position like a firm statue.

"That was merely just a scrap of what I am truly capable of. I can erase this whole house along with the other houses surrounding it with just a snap of my fingers. Do you really want to fight me, Cunningham?"

Shocked and injured from the explosion, Ryan hesitantly picked himself up, even with added inhuman strength from the medallion, he knew that the person in front of him was on a whole other level than the ones he previously fought, even stronger than the compared to the Guardians.

Having to guess from Ryan's sudden silence, the man knew that the lad realized who was more superior.

"Good. I am Atlas, I came here for you... and for your blood. Come with me and I'll think about sparing this pathetic waste of human flesh" The mysterious man, named Atlas, pointed at the unconscious Jericho, wearing a pair of Iron gauntlets with sharp, pointy tips on the fingers.

But before Atlas could even respond, all of a sudden Cain jumped across the room with an incredible speed, jumping in all possible directions with the floor, ceiling, and walls as his way for boosting himself, like a tennis ball bouncing in a small room.

Once Cain got Atlas' attention, he stepped from behind the man, and with his razor-sharp teeth and claws, Cain sank his teeth on Atlas' neck, and with all the claws in both hands and feet, he stabbed the man's side. Revealing a strangely black and blue colored blood as the man shouted in pain.

Ryan stared at Cain, admiring that even with his age taking a toll on his body, still managed to show a spectacle of what he was capable of. As Atlas slowly falls to his knees, Cain released his teeth from Man's neck and shouted at Ryan.

"Ryan! Grab Jericho and run! Run! Run away from here where it is safe!"

"Damn you...!" Atlas mumbled.

Ryan, without hesitating, nodded his head and did what he was told. Picking Jericho upon his shoulders as he ran towards the destroyed wall, attempting to make a huge jump until Jericho woke up and everything suddenly slowed down around the silver-haired male.

He was recollecting all of the events that happened and once his eyes fully opened in realization, he could see Cain, who was clinging himself behind Atlas, showed what it appears to be the last smile Jericho could ever see from him.

"Be strong Jericho... My Son..." This was the last voice he heard from Cain as Jericho shouted his name, reaching his hand out despite their distance until Atlas screamed in anger and a sudden powerful explosion was unleashed from his body right after Ryan made his leap.

They landed safely on the ground as the loud and powerful explosion occurred. Covering their heads to prevent any debris from falling on them. Once they realized that no more debris was falling, they quickly turned behind to see the outcome, only to be shocked when the two males realized that the house was completely destroyed, seeing a piece of Cain's burnt clothing on the shattered floor.

But even with the sudden explosion, there was no response of panicking civilians nor an immediate arrival of the sheriff, as if none have realized the entire event in the neighborhood.

Jericho's thought was slowly piling up with a possibility that Cain was now gone from this world and the sudden rolling of his amulet out of the smoke which landed next to him was proof of the possibility that he feared. He clenched the Amulet the belonged to Cain in his hand tightly and shouted his name in both anger and sorrow. Tears rolling down his eyes like a faucet from the loss of the only family he had left.

"CAIN!!!"

But despite the sudden silence of the events, Ryan could still feel an unnerving aura from within the thick smoke. Not wanting to take any chances, he used the power of his medallion and carried the injured Jericho around his shoulders and ran towards the Shop as fast as he could. Not dating to stop despite Jericho telling him to.

"Stop, Ryan! Let me kill that Asshole! Let me avenge Cain!" Jericho Shouted.

"No! We can't defeat him alone! WEe need regroup and let Hitomi heal you! We'll come back for him but not today! I am not going to see another person die because of me!"

As they were getting further and further away from the scene, Out of the smoke from the destroyed house appeared Atlas. Blood dripping down like a half-open faucet from his neck and both sides of his body. Locking an angered sight on from a distance.

"You can't run if I remove one of your legs, and you won't die either... So it's still a win for me" Atlas spoke underneath his heavy breathing. Chanting in ancient Latin as he aimed a finger towards Ryan who was getting further out of his sight. A small ball of light was emitting from the tip of his finger and appeared as if the man was about to fire a laser gun until suddenly, an arrow hurdled towards Atlas with an unbelievable speed which no other bowman could match, aiming directly at his head. But somehow, Atlas managed to catch it with his free hand as if it was nothing before it even reaches his clothing.

But it manages to disturb his chant as Ryan successfully escaped from his sight as if the arrow was merely to prevent his chant from being successful instead for the kill.

"Damn it!" Atlas shouted in annoyance before gazing from afar distance to where the arrow was fired. Despite how far the mountain was from his exact location, he could still see a cloaked archer with long brown hair exposed from the side of their face, standing at the top of a tree branch.

"So he has protection...? I must tend to my Injuries beforehand..." Atlas muttered before creating a blue spiral portal and upon crossing, he disappeared along with a mirror-like barrier that surrounded the destroyed house. Soon the people of the town noticed the thick smoke along with the ruined house and called the fire department.

Meanwhile from afar, the hooded archer watched as Ryan safely made his way closer to the shop. Letting out a sigh as the mysterious person kept their gaze at Ryan before speaking with a deep, feminine voice.

"This does not mean I saved you, I rather kill you myself than let a follower of The Dark One take you for his freedom... Your charming looks may deceive the women surrounding you, but I can see right through your intentions... you sick womanizer..."

A sudden blow of the breezed caused the removal of the mysterious female's hood, revealing her facial appearance. Her deep brown eyes never dared to let Ryan off their sight, her long and beautiful almond coloured hair danced across the light breeze as a pair of long and pointy ears were exposed.

"As the last race of the sworn protector of this earth, I, Elizabeth Alma, will save this world by ridding you from the surface!"

Elizabeth pulled up her hood and leaf-covered cloak once more before disappearing into the forest like a lonely desperado.