The instant Angel saw the "Black Knight" clad in full black armor and wielding a straight sword, she recognized him.
He was the Aurora Order's "Saint Tenebrous," who had interfered when Angel hunted "Mr. X," Louis Wien, and ultimately fled before the official Beyonders arrived.
It seemed that Leonard's raids on other Aurora Order hideouts while "Hermit" and "Justice" carried out their operation had instead provoked retaliation from another Aurora Order Saint in Backlund... Given their previous caution, they should have abandoned the exposed hideouts and scaled back their activities to prevent the official Beyonders from following the trail to further clues. Why had they brazenly attacked a Red Gloves squad this time?
Could the Aurora Order be planning to abandon Backlund for now and pull off one last big job before leaving?
Watching the scene transmitted through the prayer light, Angel frowned at the Red Gloves lying beside the street, still breathing but injured to varying degrees. Following the Mirror Tunnel opened by Shermane's plea for help, she sent a wisp of power through it, targeting the Magic Mirror closely connected to her.
Boom—
A gale, abruptly compressed and released, erupted in the nighttime street. Leonard, holding a deep-black cane inlaid with silvery-white metal, was blasted backward, his hair standing on end and his coat tearing apart. He narrowly escaped "Saint Tenebrous" Kisma's diagonal slash.
Clad in heavy armor, Kisma remained entirely unaffected by the gale. He stepped forward and raised his straight sword again. Deep-black shadows writhed over its edge, extending it to more than three meters, before he brought it down at Leonard, who was still off balance and had yet to regain his footing.
On the wind-scoured street, Shermane was the only person besides the two of them still conscious. Barely keeping her feet in