"God damn it, didn't you hear me scream?"

  Their jaws dropped instantly and wide open, sunglasses falling slowly to the ground, and the scarf beginning to loosen on its own.

  "Azura, it seems we're really not cut out for disguise missions," Kazuha said in a resigned tone after seeing what was in front of him.

  "Yeah, you're right. This might be my last disguise mission," Azura replied with his mouth hanging wide open.

  Something sharp and cold touched the soft neck of someone quite familiar. "Hey! Are you two just going to keep staring at me like this, or are you going to help me!?"

  "Stop! Don't move a single muscle, or this girl dies," the man said while pressing the sharp object even closer to her neck.

  "Release Aeko! Before you face the consequences!" Azura shouted while transforming both his hands into long swords, just as Kazuha prepared to fight.

  "Hah! Come at me if you want this girl dead!" the man replied, already drawing blood from the sharp weapon.

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second! Azura, Kazuha, don't try to save me—I don't want to die! W-we can negotiate, right?" Aeko asked, trembling in the man's grip.

  The man fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Fine. Who are you, and why are you doing all this? Let me guess—you're hunting Miracle. I won't let you."

  Azura and Kazuha exchanged confused glances. Should they be honest? Answer the question? But they both felt the same thing: a sense of indebtedness to Aeko, who had accompanied them this far. It was impossible for them to let her die.

  In the end, they agreed to speak the truth to save Aeko, no matter the consequences, because Aeko had been so helpful to their mission.

  "We're from The Last Hope party. I'm Azura, this is Kyoryu, and that woman is Aeko—she's innocent. Please let her go," Azura said as calmly as possible, trying not to sound intimidating at all.

  The man suddenly burst into laughter, but he didn't lower his hold on Aeko at all. "So you're the kids that brat Blaze mentioned? The ones who got stolen by Blaze? I bet you're trying to find Blaze through Miracle, right? Since she's in the same party as that kid?"

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Don't make me laugh harder. Miracle doesn't know a thing about Blaze's whereabouts. She doesn't care about that snot-nosed brat—Miracle only focuses on her own career!"

  "You'd better get out of here before Miracle controls your consciousnesses!"

  Before Azura could react further, suddenly loud music started playing—Miracle had begun her concert.

  The pop song exploded from the massive stage under the blazing afternoon sun, its sound thundering and harsh from the excessive volume, layered with echoes from thousands of clashing screams.

  The pounding rhythm hammered the open air, making the ground seem to vibrate, while the clapping, whistling, and shrieks from the crowd merged into a wild wave of noise that swallowed everything, creating one untamed, uncontrollable living chaos.

  "Damn it! Why did Miracle start her concert at the wrong time!" the man cursed, now looking hesitant.

  He gritted his teeth, then released Aeko and kicked her toward Azura and Kazuha. Kazuha quickly caught Aeko before she fell.

  "Aeko!?" Azura said before shifting his gaze back to the man—only to find that the man had already fled after releasing her.

  "Chase him, Azura!" Kazuha shouted.

  Without delay, Azura slammed his foot down with full force and chased after the man, who was disappearing from their sight.

  Even though the instrumental music and the crowd's screams were audible, Miracle's voice hadn't uttered a single word yet. Azura had a hunch that the man fled because he was afraid of Miracle's musical magic.

  In the midst of the chase, Azura theorized that anyone who heard Miracle's voice would immediately fall under her spell. If that was true, then Azura had very little time—he needed to speed up and catch the man.

  Almost every small object the man saw, he threw at Azura, but with sharp eyes and reflexes, Azura dodged them all effortlessly.

  Until Azura saw the man enter a black door on the side. Without thinking twice, Azura followed him and entered the black door.

  A black circular object with two round pads attached to its sides—neat in shape but unfamiliar, as if designed for the head without any clear reason.

  The object looked like something meant to cover the ears, though there was no clue whether it was for decoration, protection, or just a strange device whose purpose Azura couldn't comprehend.

  And the man seemed to be using the object. Azura, being a village boy, didn't understand what the man was doing, but even so, Azura thought the item was important.

  With full strength, Azura charged forward at the man, but unexpectedly, the man parried Azura's sword thrust with the same iron knife he had used to hold Aeko hostage.

  The sudden move caught Azura off guard, causing his hand-sword to stab deeply into the wall.

  Not giving Azura a chance to pull it out, the man kicked Azura sideways, dislodging the sword from his hand and slamming him into the far end of the room.

  "You damn kid! Can't you stop interfering in other people's business?" the man said as he walked toward the weakened Azura from the previous kick.

  Not long after, someone from behind threw multiple daggers at the man's back. Unaware of the incoming daggers, the man was hit by the sharp objects.

  That someone leaped from behind, hugged the man, and locked both arms around his neck. "Azura! Now!"

  "Ergh! Shield Change!" Azura stood up quickly, transforming his detached hand back into a large iron shield while charging at the man.

  Just before Azura collided with him, the person released the arms from the neck and jumped aside.

  With full power and speed, Azura slammed the massive shield directly into the man's body, pinning him against the hard wall.

  Due to the strong impact, the circular object the man had been wearing flew off and bounced upward.

  "Headset! Use it, Azura!"

  Hearing the instruction from the girl's voice, Azura immediately grabbed the headset with his other hand and put it on, just like the man had done earlier.

  Azura looked toward the source of the girl's voice—it was Aeko, who had arrived with Kazuha to help him.

  After scanning the surroundings, Aeko shouted, "Kazuha! Grab the same items as Azura's from that glass cabinet!"

  Kazuha quickly shattered the glass cabinet with a dagger he created, took two identical headsets, tossed one to Aeko, and then they both put on their headsets.

  Right as they equipped their respective headsets, Miracle began to release her beautiful voice.

  "This should be protecting us from hearing Miracle's voice." said Aeko.