“Our demands are simple: give us equality or perish.” A man wearing all black with a blank black mask spoke to the camera. In the background, the city is severely damaged from the demon attack and the firestorm that Bora unleashed. Just as Dami and Handong suspected, the group known as Children of the Moon took credit for the attack. It seemed that they managed to recruit rogues to their cause. The only mystery was how they were able to command demons to their side.

An alert came in, taking up the entirety of the screen they were looking at. It was from the principal, addressed only to Dami.

Electro has been killed.

“Dami-” Handong was cut off by Dami standing up abruptly from her chair. The younger girl stormed out of the room with the angriest expression Handong had ever seen. She turned back around to look at the message again. Who was this person? A quick search on the internet showed that it was a rank 5 hero that graduated from this academy. The fact sheet was nothing special, Handong thought, until she saw a familiar name.

Younger brother: Park Jaewon. Rank 4 (HF Academy)

“No...” Handong whispered to herself. Was that why Park Jaewon was not at school yesterday? It didn't pass her by that Electro, as the moniker suggested, had something to do with electricity. She feared that the demons were evolving.

--

The large metal doors that she’s so familiar with makes her want to throw up. Depending on what is said here, she may or may not come back out. Steeling her resolve, she pushed the doors open.

The principal sat in his massive armchair with tons of papers in front of him. “Detective.”

Dami’s eyebrow twitched slightly. “You know why I’m here. All of this is somehow connected and you aren’t telling me.”

He sighed in distress, rubbing at his eyes. He stayed silent for a few more minutes but Dami was patient this time around. She will get her answers, even if it’s the last thing she does. “Let me guess, the Association is hindering you.”

“...Yes. They don’t want to cause panic so they are keeping it under wraps until they can solve the issue.” He gave in. He knew that Dami already knew more than what she let on.

“That issue being the murders happening all over the world. People are dying and demons are gaining powers of these dead people. Not only that, but a huge attack on the city just occurred! Of course it’s going to put people in a panic!” In truth, Dami wasn’t sure about the connection between the demons and the victims until that message came earlier. The first woman she investigated had a mirror-type power which could be reasonably used as a prism, reinforcing Gahyeon’s theory. Now this Electro person goes missing as well and the demon that attacked just happened to have electricity powers. It was too much of a coincidence to ignore. She’s sure that Gahyeon will have come to the same conclusion since they have been exchanging ideas since then.

The principal ran his hand through his greying hair. “That demon Lee Gahyeon captured killed itself, turning to ash before we could get the chance to study its powers. Then Electro turns up dead. Estimated time of death coincides closely with the plane demon attacking. The man you brought in was the one to fill the plane with dynamite but I am still trying to find out how the plane deployed without my knowledge. Staff tells me that it just suddenly took off.”

“Where is that man now?”

“Dead. He commited suicide as well.”

“What about the clothes he was wearing?”

“From CM. They already took responsibility for this attack and even had the audacity to demand equality.” So he already knew about the cult but didn't tell her. Dami was not fond of people withholding crucial information from her. Especially from the principal. That man asked her to solve this case but hindered her in the process. It made Dami doubt whether he was truly on their “side” or not.

Sensing her growing distrust, the principal slid over a file labeled with a top secret stamp. “I know I should not have kept this from you but I was under an oath of silence from the Association. Please Dami, this threat is bigger than we think and I must find a way to stop it before it’s too late.”

The short-haired girl said nothing but took the file and read it. “The contents here are unknown to everyone but you and I.” Dami’s expression is unreadable. “This was research that I did on my own.”

“You’ve dealt with this cult before?”

“Yes. A long time ago. I thought they were wiped from existence but there were still remnants.”

“How come I’ve never heard of these people until now?” The principal gestured to the file in her hand.

“They mostly operate in the shadows. A dear friend of mine wrote most of what I know about that group…but she left this world too early as a result…This is more than wanting to do the right thing as heroes, Dami. This is personal for me.” His intense amber eyes don't waver from hers, expressing how serious he is about this.

“Personal or not, I don’t care. I’m going to get to the bottom of this and I’m going to put together a team that I trust to solve this.” Dami took her leave, not caring about her manners and slammed the door behind her.

The name of her orphanage showed up in the files she just read and she couldn’t believe that man hid this from her. It was as personal to him as it was to her.

--

Jiu’s hands shook badly as she healed up a hero with half of his body missing. Yoohyeon kept an eye on the older girl, making sure that she doesn’t collapse from exhaustion. Meanwhile, the wind-user set up a wind barrier around the two of them to prevent any unwanted interference. The other medical students were taking care of the civilians.

It was absolute chaos everywhere Yoohyeon looked. Heroes and villains came crashing through the academy gates, fighting for dominance. She’s sure that some w