The room smelled faintly of oil and metal.

This wasn’t the kind of place where power gathered.

It wasn’t grand, or guarded, or even particularly clean. Just the back room of a run-down motorbike shop in a rough part of the city, tucked behind rusted shutters and flickering lights. The kind of place most people wouldn’t look at twice.

And yet, three of the most powerful Titled in the country sat within it.

General Harold Whitaker, the head of the USA Titled Association, stood near a cluttered workbench, his posture rigid as ever, steel-grey hair combed neatly despite the setting. His cold green eyes scanned the room like he was on a battlefield rather than in a mechanic’s den.

Across from him leaned Lucas Holt, known as the Association’s Bloodhound. Hands in his coat pockets, posture relaxed, but his gaze was sharp as always. He was the kind of man who looked like he was constantly piecing together a puzzle no one else could see.

And then, there was Kaela.

The Riot Valkyrie.

She sat on top of a crate, one leg bouncing idly, as if she were bored out of her mind. Which, to be fair, she was. If anything, she seemed annoyed that the two of them had shown up here.

Three A Ranks.

Three monsters.

And of all places for such people to gather, it was here.

Not that it mattered.

Any thug stupid enough to walk in here would be dead before they even understood what was happening. They would literally have to be an S Rank to even stand a chance against the three of them.

The silence stretched for a moment longer, then...

"Sixteen missing Titled," Harold began, his voice calm but heavy with authority. "All assumed dead within the gate."

Kaela scoffed immediately.

"Who gives a shit about all those weaklings?" she said, rolling her shoulders lazily. "What I wanna know is what was strong enough to put Darius in that condition... and whether that A Rank is as strong as that E Rank described."

Holt’s eyes flicked toward her.

"How do you know what’s in the official report? Do you know Ethan Crowe or Elara Veyne personally?" he asked evenly. "And more importantly... why do you care?"

Kaela’s leg stopped bouncing.

She stood up slowly.

"You both show up at my shop unannounced. And now you’re trying to interrogate me, Mr Detective?" she said, her tone dropping slightly.

Holt didn’t move or even flinch.

Instead, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Don’t think that just because they call me Detective Holt," he said quietly, "and sell toys of me to the public... that I’m not still The Bloodhound."

For a split second, the air changed as a crushing pressure surged.

Their auras collided intensely, like two predators testing each other’s boundaries. The temperature in the room seemed to climb, the faint hum of power pressing against the walls.

"The old man might let you run wild, but I’m watching your every move."

"Oh no, so scary. The big bad wolf is coming for me," she responded sarcastically as she stepped forward.

Kaela’s lips curled into something feral while Holt’s gaze sharpened further.

At any moment, a clash of the ages could start.

But if they fought here, the entire city would feel it, and knowing that the third A Rank stepped in.

"Stop it."

Harold didn’t raise his voice or release any visible power, but he didn’t need to.

Both of them backed down instantly.

Be it out of respect for him or because of his position, which could make their lives very difficult, they had no choice but to oblige.

Kaela clicked her tongue and dropped back onto the crate, while Holt exhaled quietly, the tension in the room dissipating just as quickly as it had formed.

"Gates are becoming more frequent," Harold continued, as if nothing had happened. "Now we have one that behaved this abnormally, and the only account we have is from an E Rank."

Holt’s gaze drifted slightly, thoughtful.

"He’s involved somehow," he said. "I’m just not sure how that’s even possible."

Kaela snorted.

"Nope," she said. "It’s that red-eyed one. She’s got something dark inside her. I should just-"

"Please refrain from fighting other Titled publicly," Harold cut in, his tone firm. "Otherwise, even I can’t defend your actions any longer."

Kaela groaned dramatically, throwing her head back.

"Ah, fine. So boring."

The conversation shifted as Harold walked over to them both, passing them some files. Kaela just threw them aside, while Holt skimmed over them, reading a page a second with his sharp eyes.

Each of them had their own interest.

Harold was focused on the gate, wondering why it was so unusual and what effects it would have. Kaela was focused on Elara, wanting another A Rank to challenge. Meanwhile, Holt remained fixated on Ethan, who had flown under the radar for a month.

Trouble seemed to follow the blue-eyed enigma, reminding Lucas of his motto.

"There are no coincidences in this world."

Either way, both were at the centre of attention of all three of the A Ranks without knowing.

Holt’s fingers tapped lightly against his arm.

’I’m onto you, Ethan Crowe.’

Despite his growing suspicions, he kept what he knew about him to himself. Kaela, on the other hand, had a dangerous, excited smile on her face.

’The weakest A Rank has a demon inside her, and I’m going to crush it.’

She couldn’t wait to test out what Elara was capable of.

Harold simply watched them both, remaining calculated and measured. His job wasn’t just to handle gates, but it was to manage Titled like them. And that was the most challenging part, as he redirected their odd meeting.

Kaela always did as she pleased, so this was one of the rare instances that they got to speak to her in a somewhat civilised manner.

It started with Harold wanting to get her thoughts on the gate, since she was the A Rank on site. He knew she wouldn’t come to him, so he went to her.

As for Holt, he just invited himself.

But having them both in the room was perfect, and after covering the topic of the ant gate, he moved on to other pressing matters. Although after a couple of minutes, Kaela finally lost it.

"That’s enough! Can you both get out of my shop now? Unless you wanna buy a motorcycle, you can fuck off."

Harold just laughed and nodded his head, taking the not very subtle hint.

"Thank you for hosting us, Kaela."

The Riot Valkyrie nodded before turning to Holt to kick him out, but the man had already disappeared.

"That shady fucker," she murmured.

When she turned back to Harold, he was stepping into something that resembled a gate. But rather than being black and ominous, it was more like a controlled portal that was bright green.

Meanwhile, the two people who had been at the centre of most of this odd meeting were still finishing their burgers...