Noctis skulked along the streets of the Seventh District in the early morning hours accompanied only by the complete silence and isolation that followed him. His white shirt still dotted with stains of blood and fear from his most recent interrogation, he wasted no time pursuing the lead it had given him. His eyes dulled over and tired, fatigue began to both physically and mentally wear on Noctis' face. He had gone through the motions trying to investigate the reason why Three was put in the position she was found in, why his friends had to die just before he was able to save them, and why his new companion was of such importance. By now he must have killed a dozen less than reputable men, leading to whispers of a vigilante on Baltigo, when he in fact only targeted them due to rumors of conspiring with the 'League'.

Tonight, however, he had been sloppy. The interrogation had taken hours and he racked up a far higher body count than any of his past investigations. He had never spilled so much blood in one night, and worse yet was he felt he was far from done. Slowly, the longleg dispersed unseen into the air itself, flowing his way into the only open Seventh District Pub at this time of day. While it was unlikely he'd find any clues, aspiring bounty hunters flocked to places like these, especially during the less busy hours where they're likely to find easy work and a quieter environment.

Inside was more or less what Noctis anticipated as his invisible form floated to the top of the sparsely populated bar. A group of five men sat around a table, long since empty mugs scattered across the table over top the dregs among bounty posters. The pub owner worked silently behind the bar, polishing glassware and prepping for closing. Suddenly, the largest of the hunters spoke up, "Hey, 'Keep! We'll toss you your payment on the way out and leave when you finish up, 'kay?"

"Of course, no problem. You guys have always been good for it and nothing's turned up missing. Just let Lletz know how thankful I am and I'll leave the key for you all to lock up." the bartender replied casually, setting the large metal key along the counter top before hanging up his apron and walking out of the double doors and into the streets.

"Lletz..." Noctis thought to himself, the naming sounding all too familiar for him to let go. Looking back at the night he and his companion Three met under the most unfortunate of circumstances, the only other man to leave the scene was a masked member of the League, a man who identified as 'Tracker Lletz'. Something about the man gave him chills back then, and now knowing that his influence was growing deeper within Baltigo didn't leave Noctis comfortable at all. However, he was now alone with five different men who all had a connection to Lletz.

Looking down from above, he began to study the men more closely to plot out his next move. He didn't want things to turn out as sloppy as last time, but the bounty hunters here were far more competent and well off than his last mark. Situated behind their chairs were rather ornate weapons that appeared to be almost antique in nature and status, and resting underneath the chair of the largest man was a sealed case.

The atmosphere was relaxed as far as the men were concerned, not aware of the misfortune that was about to befall them. Dawn had yet to come and the early morning skies were still pitch black only lit by the moon and stars themselves. Slowly and surely, Noctis whisked the key away with a gaseous tendril, locking the door from the outside with a loud, 'KerCHUNK', drawing the attention of the five men to the clattering of the key outside as Noctis began to reform above them, his prey now trapped within the empty and secluded bar.

The five men were now little beyond targets in Noctis' eyes, though only one needed to survive the initial encounter in order for the information extraction process. The large, talkative one who presided over the case seemed to be the most promising candidate of the bunch, which truly unfortunate for his other four comrades. Propelling himself downward towards the group, Noctis took a firm grip of Kuroi's handle, arcing it downward with a wide berth as Rokumori Gas ran violently along it's edge. In a single swing and no more than a second, the hunter furthest from his intended lone survivor had been cleaved in two, noise to groin, resulting in a grotesque and violent wake-up call to the remainders.

The men were far quicker on their toes than the average goon, and grasped their situation with impressive clarity, but as a whole they were still far outmatched by Noctis' pure ability and power. This gap in strength became increasingly evident as one man reached for his weapon, only to be stopped by the sudden realization that his hand had gone completely missing, Kuroi having nigh surgically removed it the moment he moved. Over the screams of the recently amputated, the loudmouth spoke up trying to rally those left. "Calm down, idiots! It's one guy, light 'em up!"

For a moment, just a moment, the de facto leader was successful as Noctis was pressed to use his full speed in order to compensate for the numbers disadvantage, even going so far as to activate his intangible nature for the stray bullets that came whizzing from their strange choice of weapons. "If you'd all just lay down and die for me, it'd be a lot less painful for all of us. Mainly you, but hey, I'm a generous guy." Noctis offered, half genuine and half seeking to intimidate his opponents.

With one down and one incapacitated, Noctis took his blade Kuroi and thrust it forward at full speed, the Rokumori Gas around it coming to a sharp bladed point around 15 meters long, which carved straight through the abdomen of the gentleman just to the right of the boss, through the wooden chair behind him and his rifle of choice, and into the wooden bar at the back of the room. It was in that moment that Noctis had broken their rank not just with words, but with actions. The final subordinate now truly fearing for his life scrambled towards the locked door, pressing against it only to find it locked. Just as he stepped back to break the door down with his shoulder, Noctis was there to meet him, placing a firm hand on that very same shoulder before thrusting Kuroi into his back and out of his chest. "Tsk. If you all had just stuck with your leader there, you might have made this a bit fun."

"Fuck off, freak. I've seen your kind before." The head honcho interrupted, taking a swig of his liquor of choice before spitting it into a lit lighter directly at Noctis' back. Turning around, Noctis instinctively brought up Kuroi as a shield and had it bolstered with Rokumori Gas, a reaction that backfired spectacularly as the gas around his blade ignited violently causing a shockwave that threw the gas human back and into the door of the pub.

It was painful more to Noctis' pride than his body, but it certainly didn't feel good as he rose to his feet, staring down the leader of the troupe. "Oh? And tell me more about my, 'kind'..." Noctis demanded, closing the distance with Nagare fast enough to prevent the man from taking another shot, or even realizing Noctis' movement had occurred before feeling the longlegs vice grip on his wrist. "I'd really love to hear about us."

Three dead, one writhing on the ground in shock and pain, and the leader who remained. All things considered it had been far cleaner than Noctis earlier escapade that night, despite what the bloody scene may suggest. "Listen, if you think we haven't gotten word about some guy coming around, torturing and killing, you're nuts. You're not gonna get a damn thing from us." the loudmouth said, hocking his spit directly at Noctis face, who used his power to have it simply pass through him harmlessly, his eyes never breaking contact with the man in his grasp. "Now now, that may be true. Especially considering the... condition of your friends. But that doesn't mean I'm going to leave here empty handed..." Noctis replied, tightening his grip until he felt the man's wrist crack and crumple in his hand, the screams and pain running over him as if they were never there.

"You mentioned Lletz. He's with the League, no? I want to know how to get in touch." Noctis continued, his eyes very deliberately wandering over to his weapon Kuroi which stood ready in his free hand.

"What, are you deaf or somethin'...-?" the man choked out between moments of pain, his adrenaline clearly doing wonders to suppress the brunt of the injury now. Still, Noctis was tired, he was unamused, and most importantly he felt that the man he held's will was strong enough that it would be a genuine waste of time to try and torture him. Having seen how he behaved in the midst of the attack, and how he stood firm now in the face of death, Noctis had little doubt. "...I see." he sighed, delivering a quick and painless slice across the neck, ending the man's suffering prematurely.

Still, Noctis tossed the body aside and quickly looked at the case left behind by the group. It was a simple lock, something Noctis could break with minimal effort as he cracked it apart with the blunt top of his weapon. As he pulled the container open, what Noctis found within wasn't money or treasure, but rather a rusty weapon, ancient and antique and far beyond it's days of usefulness. Still it's design was still ornate and intricate much like the weapons used by the men of the league and to a lesser extent, the men here. It was a blade much like a dagger, but still had the hammer and firing mechanism of a flintlock. For it's time, it must have been a technological marvel, even now it was rare if not downright strange to find a weapon of that status or type.


Despite this, Noctis was no weapon expert or blacksmith. For that, he'd have to defer to Devroux's expertise. Perhaps he could gleam some more useful information from the weapon regarding the League or the still mysterious 'High Count'. Or perhaps he could even use it as a template to make similar weapons. Regardless, there was much to discuss at a later date. For now, Noctis was exhausted from pulling an all-nighter, and thought it would be wise to leave the scene while he was still anonymous. Walking over to the man left handless, Noctis inspected the body, finding him unconscious from blood loss. With one quick thrust to the head, his pain was cut short. Gingerly placing the antique weapon in his pocket handle first, Noctis sheathed Kuroi on his back and disappeared into the air, leaving the bloody scene to be found by the owner when he returned to open for the day.