The Frozen Hour

Anna started to walk towards the bed and sat beside her body 

'Should I just return to my body?' She thought 

She thought about it for a few moments. Soon, however, she sighed and shook her head.

'No... Not yet...' 

She finally decided to wait for few minutes and find out as much information she can from Damien and others 

As she was deep in thought suddenly she felt something strange 

'Huh? What's going on?' 

Suddenly, she felt empowered,. as if a weight had been lifted off her.. She felt stronger. As she was pondering what she was feeling, she suddenly sensed some strange force within the environment but what caused her to be shocked was that the strange force suddenly started to move towards her and enter her body 

Anna was shocked out of her mind when she saw that 

'W-what's going on?'

She tried to think of things it could be however it was impossible to come to a conclusion with the little amount of the information she had, Which made her decision of delaying the return to her body all that concrete 

Just as she was thinking about it she heard a strange noise 

"Hss..." 

Anna turned towards the direction the noise came from and flew out of her window there she saw a person stealthily making his way towards her window via the roof..

'Oh! Assassins' Anna said as she looked at the hooded figures following him 

'Hmm.. he must be the leader of the group' Anna said while nodding her head 

'They want to make sure, I am dead huh' Anna looked at the assassins with a cold and ruthless gaze 

Suddenly, The leader of the group stopped and placed his hands on the ground

[Sound Barrier]

A blue translucent dome was created from the place he had placed his hands on which soon disappeared.

Then one of the 3 hooded figures walked forward and took out a mouse from a small cage.

[Animal Puppetry]

The hooded figures eyes turned black and the mouse's eyes turned the same as of the hooded figure. ( yellow )

Another hooded figure walked forward and pointed his hand towards the mouse.

[Telekinesis]

A very weak yellow glow started to illuminate from the mouse as it started to float in the air, The hooded figure then moved his arms in different ways to send the mouse inside the window 

Soon The mouse was inside Anna's room and started to walk around.. he looked at all corners first then he moved towards the bed. There he saw a shiny light blue haired girl sleeping on the bed.. After Making sure that there was no one other than the girl inside the room the mouse's eyes returned to its initial colour as the hooded figure broke its connection from the mouse 

"Only 1 person and that's the girl" Said the hooded figure who had controlled the mouse 

"Hmm… Let's move then" Said the leader of the assassins 

They all moved towards the last hooded figure and placed their hands on his shoulders 

[Quick Flight]

All of the hooded figures took flight together and started to fly towards the window. 

Anna who was standing beside them had an excited and shocking look on her face.

'Midnighters really exist… huh?!' 

'W-wait but why do they want to kill me?'

As she was thinking of that she suddenly remembered Damien's words.

'But what if… they hurt her instead? After all she is a Starborne too…'

'Is it because I am a Starborne?' 

'But why do they want to kill me for just being a Starborne?' 

Anna didn't know what to do so she just started to follow the group of assassins

Soon the assassins reached her window and entered her room through it.. Just as the leader's eyes fell on Anna's sleeping body he commanded 

"You two move towards the door" The leader said as he pointed at two of the hooded figures 

"Mandy.. Use your pets to check the outside" The leader said to the hooded figure who had controlled the mouse.

"Okay.." 

The leader walked towards the bed Anna was lying on and looked at her.

"Hah… it's the most important thing" He took a vial containing greenish-blue liquid and started to move towards Anna's head 

Just as he was about to reach Anna's head a hand came from behind him and grabbed his mouth and landed multiple elbow strikes on his chest 

Even if the leader wanted to scream, the perpetrator didn't let him do that as he continued to strike him… As the other hooded figures were standing at a considerably far distance they heard nothing of it 

After landing few more strikes the perpetrator choked him causing the leaders eyes to roll back as he fell unconscious 

White then placed his body on the bed and made his way towards Mandy…

Mandy who was using his pets to look outside suddenly felt his back hair stand up in fear and just as he was about to move a hand gripped his mouth and started to drown him in punches and knee strikes.

Similar to the leader.. he fell unconscious too.

However just as he was about to move towards the next figure a kick came towards his head which White dodged by ducking down.. more and more strikes came his way as he continued to dodge or counter the hooded figure just as he was about to win the exchange the last hooded figure landed a knee to his abdomen which caused Him to fall down on his knees while holding his abdomen 

"Kukukuku!" The last hooded figure laughed at White's agony.

"Looks like there was a variable…" Said the other hooded guy.

They looked at White while brandishing daggers.. getting ready to end his agony as well as his life 

One of the hooded figures moved and tried to attack White with the dagger. White grabbed hooded figure's wrist and landed a punch on his face, The hooded figure dropped his dagger which White caught as he attacked with the same dagger and logged it in the hooded figure's abdomen.

"ARRG-" The hooded figure's scream was cut off when white placed a hand on his mouth. 

White who held the hooded figure in his arm suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and when he turned to look he saw a dagger logged at his shoulder.. from which blood was dripping out.

White opened his hold on the hooded figure who had already lost his consciousness and removed the dagger logged at his shoulder 

He looked around the room, trying to find the last hooded figure. Just as he turned back, a punch entered his view... and landed on his face causing White to take a few steps back. The hooded figure rushed toward him and landed a knee to his abdomen.. 

White who was on his knees couldn't even move due to exhaustion caused by continuous blood loss and pain 

The hooded figure stopped in his steps and looked at White with shocked gaze 

"Y-You are unawakened?" 

When he said so.. he wasn't the only one who was shocked out of his mind

Anna who was looking at White from the start was just as shocked as him. After all White was able to take care of beings with superhuman abilities while being a normal human 

Suddenly a thought blossomed in Anna's mind

'Is he really a normal human?' 

'What if the other person is wrong and he is actually an awakened?' 

The hooded figure looked at White and continued to speak 

"Maybe.. I am wrong. But..." He took a pause before continuing.

"If you were using star essence to empower or strength your body it would have made sense"

"However, Because I don't feel any star essence from you… means your body is as strong as a Seeker while being an unawakened?" 

"Wait.. not a Seeker you are much stronger than a seeker… an Ignited then?"

"How is this possible?" 

While the hooded figure was confused in his own thoughts White had recovered enough to land a blow to him, White stood up and rushed towards the hooded figure and a kick landed in his chest… 

Yes.. The hooded figure kicked White while he was running towards him 

"It doesn't matter… I just have to finish you and take away Anieal Starborne" said the hooded figure as he turned to look at Anna's body laying at the bed 

'Take away? So they didn't come to kill me, instead they wanted to kidnap me? Why, though?' just as Anna was about to think more about it she saw the hooded figure walk towards White with a dagger in his hand 

She panicked 

'Should I return to my body? And help him out?'

Anna was about to move when suddenly a strange event happened. The space in front of her rippled and started to glow with a purple hue… the purple hue started to spin as it took form of a portal

As soon as the portal appeared Damien walked out of it, His presence caused all of the beings inside to have their hairs stand in fear… The amount of rage and bloodthirst coming out of him caused the hooded figure to stop in his tracks and look at Damien with a horrified look 

Damien looked at the hooded figure and clenched his hand into a fist and punched the air before him.. the surrounding star essence started to rotate near his hand 

The shockwave produced by the punch was so devastating that the hooded figure turned into a paste… 

When Anna saw that she was shocked out of her mind… After all the one she trusted most suddenly turned into someone like superman… and he never told her about it.

Even if it was for her own good she still felt bitter about it.

Suddenly however her thoughts changed.

'W-wait!! Didn't he come out from a portal?'

'Damn! That was so cool!' 

Anna thought with excitement plastered all over her face.

"White…" Damien said his tone heavy.

"Young Master.." White replied with a uneasy tone because he knew what happened today might cause Damien to take action he never wanted to.

"Have I been too reliant on those pests?" Damien asked his tone turning colder and colder with every moment.

"I left everything behind just to keep Anna safe… what's the point of doing that if it changes nothing?" 

White just stayed silent because he had no words, Damien didn't need his concern that everything's going to be fine or anything like that he only wanted to take those words off his chest.

"Hah.. Maybe it's time we return.."

"B-but" 

"It will be fine… I'll take care of everything" 

Damien said as he formed a portal and left the place through the portal.

Anna who heard their conversation had a dumbfounded look on her face 

Only one thought was in her mind 

'What in the hell is going on?'

Anna couldn't understand anything from the conversation. However, She knew that something devastating had happened to Damien in the past… something she didn't know till now.. or probably would have never known if she wasn't in the strange condition she is right now…

Anna shook her head and moved towards the window and gazed at the moon

'I can't wake up yet.. I have to see more.. I have to hear more.. only then can i move towards my goal' 

Anna said as her eyes lingered on the moon.. her gaze had determination in them… seemingly ready for whatever comes her way in pursuit of her goal.. 

Ready for all hardships she will face… Anna closed her eyes and returned to the black sea she had opened her eyes in..

She looked at the golden egg before her and once again pain started to assault her mind but she didn't look away… seemingly trying to grasp something from it…suddenly the threads coiled around her and started to harden like a cocoon… and the black sea once again turned peaceful.

Footnotes: 

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Awakened Ranks till now:

Seeker → Ignited → Adept 

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Sub ranks: 

Tyro → Refined → Apex