The meal at Ryan''s mansion felt quite stiff and awkward because his father was strict; even the lovely ra ate in almost silence. Niki felt that Ryan''s father didn''t like him from the way his sharp gaze flicked toward him several times. Perhaps the father disapproved of his son''s choice of friends... ''Well I was poor in the past, is it because of that?''


    However, because Niki was too tired to confront him, the meal ended in silence. "Ryan, it seems your mother isn''t here?" The pair sat on the balcony of Ryan''s room while drinking beer together.


    "Yeah... it was because of a fight in the past, my dad is very stubborn and refused to ept his fault." Ryan''s words came out through gritted teeth. It was like an invisible hand was crushing his heart. "After that, Mother stoppeding home when dad was home."


    Niki watched the pain that contorted Ryan''s face; a mix of emotions stirred within his aura, from anger and sadness to frustration and longing for his mother. "How long has it been now? A few years, right? You didn''t even fight with him for her?"


    "Dad wouldn''t listen... it was already toote," Ryan said. "He wouldn''t ept it. That having another woman, wasn''t something mother could ept."


    ''Another woman... affair, huh?''


    Niki''s mind began racing with thoughts and assumptions because he was in a rtionship with two, maybe three, women. It made his heart race while sipping the light, crispy beer. Ryan gazed at him with a sharp gaze as if understanding everything.


    "It must beplicated for you, with two fiancée''s, right?" Ryan smiled at him.


    ''Or maybe three.'' The thought popped into his mind. A small voice told him not to deny what might happen if those two women found out about him and Risa''s strange rtionship. They didn''t even know about Sarah properly; when he made her his squire, they almost killed her on the spot. ''I should be careful...''


    "Well, things just happened that way, and I can''t pull out now; it''s toote. Though, Ryan, would you support me?"


    "Well... it''s not a problem with me, as long as you are happy. I just hope you don''t get stabbed or torn apart. I heard that vampires and werewolves get very jealous... especially a female with Fenrir and Ookami blood in her veins." He spoke in a casual but slightly mischievous tone. However, it made Niki''s throat tighten a little from nervousness.


    ''It was my life, and there will always be problems, however...''


    "I understand that I don''t want to hurt their feelings... and I find the situation fun, haha." Niki finished his beer before Ryan coughed with red cheeks.


    "Ahem! Niki, about tomorrow''s n... are you happy joining?"


    Niki turned to Ryan and smiled. "Yes, I do want toe. Why would you think otherwise, is it because of the nest?" Ryan looked surprised.


    He then opened another beer, tossing it to Niki with a deep sigh. "Nests, they are dangerous. Especially when dealing with Wraith type Fiends... I honestly didn''t want you toe at first. But our team needs you, the enemy is too strong and the SSS won''t send their best hunters."


    Ryan looked towards the nest, a ce in the northwest, close to his current mansion and ra. The enemy was too dangerous.


    "Have any SSS hunters entered the nest?"


    "Yes, one party and all 6 of them died." The tone in Ryan''s voice was heavy, and even Niki felt his heart tighten for a moment. He never saw Ryan look this nervous and serious. The death of SSS Hunters was rare because of how powerful they were, and this nest had just wiped out an entire squad.


    ''I thought that the SSS would save them before death, it seems I was wrong.'' a voice calling up to Ryan interrupted his thoughts.


    "Master." It was a ck-haired youth standing outside the door of Ryan''s room. The wind whipped around the balcony with a soft howl before the man entered. Niki felt like the temperature dropped a few degrees. "Master, this is?"


    "My best friend, Niki he''s someone who knows. Tell me about the scouting details..."


    The male with ck hair bowed before taking out several documents; at first, he avoided Niki''s gaze, but once he knew the truth, he started to distribute them to both.


    "Master, the scout team only explored the first room and soon retreated,ining they wouldn''t go further." He frowned in disgust. A small part of his mouth lifted slightly, and the tone changed slightly.


    ''Though I am his best friend. It''s better not to interrupt this stuff.'' Niki nced through the first set of images; it looked like any ordinary cave until they reached a room that looked no different from a normal room from inside a house.


    ''No... it looks almost identical.'' He raised his eyebrows. The room even had furniture in it; there were paintings on the walls, though blurry, they looked real like a real human painted them and lived there.


    However, the pictures were of monsters dominating humans.


    Niki turned toward Ryan and raised his eyebrow as the male nodded his head before turning towards his underling and ordering him. "Get the full team here. We leave tomorrow morning. The evening mission has been cancelled..." His underling bowed his head and exited the room quickly.


    Ryan then turned to face Niki with an apologetic voice. "Niki I''m sorry."


    "Don''t worry about it, you''re worried about the dangers of fighting them in the dark right?" Niki was already well aware of the dangers that hunting during the night would pose.


    "Yes, that''s correct. It would be dangerous for the humans at night. Not to mention it seems some powerful monsters linger in these depths. Ryan are you really sure you can handle this task?" The image of ra entered Niki''s thoughts.


    Ryan had never spoken much about his own family, so if anything happened to him, who would support her? The words that he wanted to say remained stuck inside his throat because the gaze of his friend had be stern.


    "I know what you want to say, but what if we keep ignoring them and this cave growsrger. Then they burrow closer to this mansion and ra gets killed, or worse... turned?"


    "Damn." He cursed at himself, knowing Ryan would do everything for ra. "You''re right... sorry, I didn''t think about that point."


    "Niki, I am confident this mission can work out, and if things get bad, you can flee... but please protect ra." Ryan''s words made Niki feel awkward. He didn''t want to hear this kind of thing. No man wished to hear that.


    "I''ll do what I can, so you need to survive and protect her in the end." He looked back up. Ryan was grinning like he did all those years ago.


    "After all, you haven''t changed, even after bing a supernatural."


    "Haha, you fool! Of course I wouldn''t, we''ve been friends for over a decade, don''t be so stupid."


    "Thank you, I really mean it... I''m d we met again, Niki."


    "Ah... me too."


    ***


    After the meal, Niki was walking home from the mansion. Once he left the priority district, he gazed towards the Wraith nest and felt a sense of foreboding. ''I should contact Risa... tomorrow is going to be difficult.''


    [To Risa]


    Oi, where are you? Let''s meet up for a drink.


    Here''s my map information.


    —


    Niki wasn''t human, but that didn''t change the fact before a big mission. He felt nervous. Now, Niki wanted to get a little drunk and spend time without thinking aboutplicated things. He felt bad for Nikita and Selene, but tonight wasn''t the right time to spend with them.


    "Damn... this sucks." He knew it would be difficult to sleep even if Nik tried, so while took a brisk jog towards the bar that Risa mentioned the other night. Yet, his mind wondered what to do about tomorrow''s battle.


    ''That wraith I sawst time if he was part of the outer nest. Wouldn''t there be an elder inside? I saw those cave pictures and don''t think they are normal. Could there be an intelligent monster behind this all? A Fiend with intelligence?'' He didn''t like to admit it, but it irritated him.


    ''They are dangerous, but Ick information... should I head to the Nexus?'' Niki found himself outside the bar while feeling his phone vibrating. Risa replied to his message.


    [From Risa]


    How can you be so blunt? I won''te~ hmph!


    See you soon... do you like ck or red?


    Let me know quickly!


    Hehe~


    —


    He answered her question before sitting on the bench outside. Niki noticed this club on the western side of town wasn''t very busy for ate night club. ''I wonder why it''s almost empty...'' However, the ones that entered were all monsters or those of decent ns.


    "Tomorrow, I have to clear the nest... then train with Alexei before preparing for the fight against Alistair." He felt his phone vibrate.


    After checking, his mouth lifted into a slight smile before shaking his head.


    "Why did she ask me the colour... I somehow don''t feel good about this..."


    ''Sometimes I don''t get her...'' Niki entered the bar; the two bouncers looked at him for a moment before giving a nod. He then entered, took a seat by the counter, and ordered a mixed cocktail, wanting to drink something that would get him hammered.


    The booming bass from the DJ''s turntable and speakers caused Niki''s chest to throb. At the same time, the thick scent of perfume and various people mixed, causing a sickly and slightly horrid mixture.


    "Here is your drink," said the bartender.


    "Cheers, boss." The sweet fragrance from his cocktail enticed Niki, who took a long gulp of the liquid, feeling his nerves start to settle. However, this didn''t help his nerves. He still felt nervous about the job tomorrow because he was wearing the reinforced suit and couldn''t take it off unless needed...


    "This drink is a little fruity for my taste, but the colour reminds me of Risa''s eyes."


    "Do you think of my eyes a lot?" A soft and seductive voice sounded in Niki''s ear before two hands grasped his shoulders.


    "Ah, her eyes are extremely pretty." He grinned to himself before gazing into the eyes that could captivate and charm anyone. However, Risa knew better.


    She giggled at the response beforeing around the front of Niki, then she sat down on hisp and flicked the ends of her ck corset dress. "I see... you like my eyes, hehe~ that makes me happy."


    "You look really good tonight, Risa."


    "ttery... won''t get you anything~ hehe." she nervously blushed while feeling a little hot from the praise.


    "I''ll get you a drink, anything you fancy?"


    Risa then leaned close, whispering in his ear, barely audible over the loud dance music. "I fancy you." Then she suddenly kissed his cheek and showed a cheeky smile.