Mars' eyes widened in shock, her body moving faster than she could think. "Shit—!" She lunged forward without hesitation, aura crackling around her fists as she swung at Chelsea's restraints.

  But the gears only tightened further when Mars hit them. Alice let out a pained gasp as they dug into her wrists.

  Louise shrieked: "MARS, DO SOMETHING!"

  Shi’an stepped back instinctively while Sóley froze for half a second before snapping into action—but even with the Scanty Strongsuit Passive Ability boosting Sóley's reflexes and strength…those cuffs were designed to hold gods themselves.

  Chelsea just smirked over Alice's shoulder like this was all some mildly amusing game:

  "You should've stayed hidden~"

  Alice struggled against the restraints, gritting her teeth through the uncomfortable pinch of the gears.

  Louise let out a frustrated snarl as Mars's punches did nothing to the gears. Whatever material they were made of, they were practically indestructible.

  "Let her go, you crazy bitch!" Louise yelled.

  Chelsea's laughter rang out like a mocking chime, her eyes glinting with sadistic delight as she tightened the restraints even further.

  "Aww, how adorable." She cooed at Louise's insult, her smirk widening.

  Sóley clenched her fists, her expression darkening. "What the hell do you want, Chelsea?!"

  Chelsea turned to face Sóley with mock surprise: "Oh, isn't it obvious? I'm here to catch prey~"

  The sadistic edge in her tone sent shivers down Sóley's spine—and Sóley was not the type that was easily scared.

  Sóley forced her expression into neutrality despite the growing sense of unease: "And I assume Alice is your 'prize' you're after?"

  Chelsea's smirk stretched into a full-on sadistic grin now: "Bingo."

  Sóley's eyes were like ice as she stood her ground: "And what will you do with her once you have her, huh? Use her to get to the others? Torment her for your own sick amusement?"

  Chelsea chuckled at Sóley's sharp tone, clearly not intimidated. "You're sharper than you look, So-So…and yes, the first one would be correct~"

  Sóley clenched her fists even tighter, her eyes narrowing into slits. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

  Chelsea just shrugged casually, clearly enjoying making Sóley more and more pissed off. "What can I say? I'm just doing my job~ The Mistress is counting on me to deliver results, you know?"

  That made Sóley's blood boil. She knew who 'the Mistress' was referring to, and that's what infuriated her even more.

  "Don't say that bitch's name," she spat out, venom dripping from each word, "especially not while you still have Alice as your hostage."

  Chelsea's smirk only grew wider at Sóley’s outburst, clearly reveling in the anger she was provoking. "Oh? And what exactly are you going to do about it~?" She taunted, tightening her grip on Alice just enough to make a point without actually hurting her…yet.

  Louise and Mars were still seething with rage but helpless against Chelsea's unnatural restraints.

  But then…

  A new voice cut through the tension like ice:

  “You’re making a mistake.”

  Everyone froze as an unfamiliar figure stepped forward from the shadows of an alleyway across from them—her presence radiating quiet authority; a young monk with an ox skull mask on the side of her head. Possessing brunette hair, turquoise eyes, and light brown skin, she was dressed in red and teal fur-trimmed robes, and a black and white scarf. She held a palette and a paintbrush with either hand.

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  Sóley, Mars, and Louise all swiveled their heads to look at the new arrival—the monk was completely unexpected.

  Chelsea on the other hand, didn't seem too intimidated. "And just who the heck might you be?"

  The monk stared back at her coolly with an unreadable expression: "My identity is irrelevant."

  Sóley's eyes widened, taking in the monk's appearance, as well as her oddly…calm aura. There was something about the way she held herself that oozed confidence.

  Louise and Mars exchanged a confused glance. Who was this mysterious new person and why was she just so damn calm?

  Chelsea let out a scoff, seemingly just amused by the new arrival's attitude. "Oh really?" She taunted, her smirk still in place. "Because I'm pretty sure you're butting in where you don't belong."

  The monk wasn't fazed by her tone: "On the contrary, I believe I arrived right on time."

  The monk conjured a canvas, which replicated the scene before her. She took her paintbrush and began to doodle on the canvas. Next thing Alice knew, the gear cuffs on her wrists disappeared into thin air.

  Alice rubbed her wrists, blinking in shock at the sudden disappearance of Chelsea's restraints.

  Louise let out an excited gasp: "No way! Who ARE you?!"

  Mars was already moving toward Alice protectively, scanning for any sign of residual aura from those cuffs—but there was nothing left behind. The monk had erased them entirely.

  Sóley was stunned to silence, still dumbfounded at how the monk had made Chelsea's gear cuffs disappear with nothing more than a simple painting.

  Shi’an was just staring, too lost for words.

  The monk remained perfectly poised and composed as she continued working on her canvas, even though her eyes flicked over to the others, seemingly observing their reactions.

  Chelsea, now thoroughly pissed off, tried to lunge forward—only for her body to freeze mid-motion as if trapped by invisible chains.

  "What the hell?!" She hissed through gritted teeth. "Who are you?! How did you just—?!"

  The monk didn't even look up from her painting: "Irrelevant questions."

  "Her name is Tenzing," Sóley whispered to Alice and Shi'an. "She's one of the Shadows Searching in the Night, just like me.”

  Alice, still rubbing her wrists in shock and relief, shot Sóley a surprised glance at the information. "Wait, really?"

  Sóley nodded, her eyes still fixed on the monk—now, Tenzing—as she continued to make adjustments to her canvas.

  Meanwhile, Chelsea was seething with anger as she struggled against her invisible binds. "Get me out of these bindings this instant!"

  Tenzing, unfazed by her demand, just glanced at her for one split second before continuing her painting: "I don't think I will." The calmness in her tone was almost mocking.

  Mars' eyes were wide in disbelief—she was already in love with Tenzing's attitude.

  Alice's lips twitched into an impressed smirk as she stared at Tenzing—she'd be lying if she said she didn't like Tenzing's aura of composed confidence.

  Louise was also staring, her expression a mix of shock and awe. The fact that Tenzing had just made a goddess-tier gear disappear with just a few strokes on a magical canvas was…impressive, to say the least.

  Shi’an was still mostly in shock but couldn't help being amazed at the display, her earlier terror slowly fading.

  Sóley was observing Tenzing too, her earlier annoyance fading as she began to admire the monk's calm and collected composure. The fact that Tenzing was completely unfazed by Chelsea's anger and demands was honestly really something—Sóley had never seen anyone piss off the monk this badly.

  "Damn," Mars murmured, her respect for Tenzing growing by the second. "This chick is a badass with an attitude to match…and she's hot as hell, too."

  Louise chuckled and elbowed Mars lightly, "Down, girl~"

  Mars gave her a cheeky grin and shrugged: "What can I say? I have a weakness for the strong, stoic, and insanely badass woman with a great fashion sense." Her eyes flicked back to Tenzing, the smirk never leaving her face. "And she's definitely ticking all the right boxes."

  Shi'an, still mostly speechless, just nodded in agreement.

  Sóley let out a quiet sigh, shaking her head in amusement at Mars and Shi'an's reaction. "Pfft…of course you two would be fawning over her as soon as she appears."

  Louise just snickered and crossed her arms: "Can you blame us, though? Like, look at her! She's badass, gorgeous, she's got that quiet but confident aura, AND she's totally cool under pressure. Hell yeah we'll swoon over her.”

  Sóley chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. "I swear, you two are hopeless," she teased, trying and failing to hide a small smile. "But I have to admit…I can see what you mean. She is a damn badass who knows how to get the job done. I'll give her that much."

  Mars smirked and nodded. "Damn right," she chimed. "And there's something really attractive about a woman who doesn't give a damn and takes charge. Especially a woman as fine as her."

  Sóley chuckled: "You're simping hard for her now, huh?

  "Shut up," Mars muttered. "I'm just stating the obvious.”

  Meanwhile…Tenzing had finally finished whatever she was doing on the canvas before turning back to them all with an unreadable expression.

  "...We have work to do."

  Alice blinked before nodding firmly. She wasn’t about to argue with that kind of energy.

  Louise smirked at Mars as if saying 'see? I told you we'd get answers' while Sóley crossed her arms expectantly...this was about to be interesting.