Before the First Ninjaro Raid, while Danso was resting, there was an incident regarding one of the Baltrax experiments going wild. Chiro had asked Emily, Haruki, and Tensei to complete this mission without Danso since he needed rest. They all agreed and went to the site of the experiment. Once they were there, they all looked around for the experiment.
The experiment's last sighting was at the city outskirts north of Uptown Akuza. In a forest, a forest ranger patrolling the woods had run across the experiment. The other rangers found his dead body and quickly was reported to the Akuza Police Department and they gave the case to the DMMS since it was related to soul energy and experiments, but Chiro, Natsuki, Tensei, Emily, and Haruki all knew that the reason why they gave them the case is because it was too dangerous for them.
Chiro told Emily how to find the experiment. The experiment would not look like a normal creature; it would look more like a creature from a story book, and its eyes would be pure white without any pupils. According to the case report, it cannot see; therefore, it uses sound, touch, smell, and its intuition to attack someone.
The experiments are extremely gruesome in battle and grotesque in appearance. The reason is that Baltrax amplified the whole body and mind with so much soul energy that the new experiment could see the fifth dimension to its fullest form. Since it could see the fifth dimension, it lost its sight in the human world due to a mysterious trade or punishment.
Tensei, Emily, and Haruki were searching for it in the deep woods. After Haruki was done reading the case report, it was late at night, and they wanted to camp out here for the night. Haruki tugged at Tensei's clothes. The blue t-shirt he was wearing nearly tore apart.
"Isn't it sad that this poor animal had to be turned into such a horrible experiment?" asked Haruki.
"Yes, it is," replied Tensei.
Haruki felt a little sad, of course he did, he was nothing but a teenager, he knew nothing about the responsibilities of adults. Tensei had to find a way to make Haruki into a normal emotional state.
"But it's not all that bad. We can save it if we find it," said Tensei
Tensei patted Haruki on the head and told him to try and find it. Emily noticed it came near Tensei.
"Classic psychology," said Emily.
"Yes, I have heard about that technique to convince children," said Tensei.
The technique they were talking about is the secret way for adults to deal with kids. First, they learn what the kid wants and try to connect it with what they want. Then, they convince the kid by saying that if they help with this task, they can more easily complete what the kid wanted to do.
"Of course, he definitely would've slacked off if you didn't use it," laughed Emily.
"Yeah," replied Tensei.
Haruki summoned his Shadow Knight to continue the search, adding more people to complete it quicker. Everyone was wondering if the experiment was large and grotesque, how didn't they find it already?
Eventually, they heard fire crackling somewhere in the woods. Haruki, Emily, and Tensei crept slowly towards the fire crackling sound, and Tensei accidentally stepped on a branch.
The branch's crack was echoing across the woods.
The fire crackle instantly ceased to be heard.
A quiet, slow dread was creeping up in their brains as they all stayed together tightly like a pack of sheep. Tensei, who got annoyed by Emily and Haruki sticking close to them, just pushed them away. He pulled Emily aside and started to speak with her.
"Look, if you panic, Haruki panics. We have to be the bigger person," said Tensei.
Emily rolled her eyes and agreed.
"Where is Haruki?" asked Emily.
Tensei quickly looked around, trying to find him. He searched the bushes, but nothing was there. Even his Shadow Companion disappeared. Then Tensei looked behind, and even Emily disappeared.
"Oh, for god's sake," cursed Tensei.
Tensei found a road, a clear pathway, which was suspicious. He decided to follow it, as for some reason, something was compelling him to follow that pathway. He took a few steps towards it, and then he slapped himself.
Then he shivered and looked up.
"What in the world, Tensei," thought Tensei.
There were multiple dead bodies stuck on top of the leaves, which were stuck by cobwebs. Tensei started to frantically look around. There was a sign of something. A wooden sign that was leaning over like the Tower of Pisa. It had some foreign language that he could not understand.
Just where was he? Where are these woods?
He tried to recollect his thoughts. How did they even come here? They came because of an experimental outbreak, but how did they reach the woods? And more importantly…When were there woods in the city outskirts? Tensei instantly activated his 1.5-Horned transformation.
Suddenly, the experiment jumped down to the ground with dust waking up and wind picking up their speed.
"I knew it," said Tensei.
"You did," said the experimenter.
Tensei was in shock. Could experiments talk? This was something he never knew before.
"You can speak?" asked Tensei.
"Yes, all the upper-ranked experiments can speak. The reason why you never met any is because they are too cowardly to break out, and Baltrax doesn't have the guts to free us," said the experiment.
"Where are my friends?" asked Tensei.
"They are in an illusion like you," said the experiment.
Tensei was in a dilemma. No way this experiment would just reveal the location and situation of his friends, right? Tensei enhanced his legs with soul energy and sprinted away. But as he was running, he hit his body straight into an invisible wall.
"Just what are you?" asked Tensei.
"If your friends are as smart as you, they should be safe after all. I didn't go to them yet," said the experiment.
Tensei had had enough, so he rushed the experiment and attacked him. He enhanced his claws to be sharper and his skin to be more durable and tough. He clawed through the skin of the experiment, but then he just healed himself and changed the gravity of the area.
Tensei began to fall on his face downwards.
"What would Danso do in this situation?" thought Tensei.
How much he despised Danso, not even god knew, but there was no denying that he was a master strategist and fighter.
"I know," said Tensei.
"You know what?" asked the experimenter.
"Let's strike a deal, Baltrax experiment," said Tensei.
Meanwhile, Emily and Haruki disappeared to the same location. It was an old log cabin that was neatly built and maintained. Emily screamed if anyone was there, and to her surprise, no one was home. The cabin was cozy, and it had four rooms. One was the bedroom, one kitchen, one bathroom, and one living room.
Haruki roamed the house and pounced on a bed. He felt something was off. Haruki got out of bed and threw a book at it. The book bounced a little bit. Then, Haruki jumped on the bed.
No bounce. It felt like falling flat on concrete. That's not natural.
Haruki rushed to Emily, who had found the stairs leading to the attic. Emily and Haruki climbed the stairs to reach a door, but once they opened the attic door, they ended up back at the original door of the log cabin. It was a loop.
Haruki summoned a Demon Bull and started to destroy the house. In a minute, it rebuilt itself to its former glory. Then Haruki asked Emily.
"Emily, I have a doubt," asked Haruki.
"What is it?" asked Emily.
"Is it just me, or do I not remember how I reached this place?" said Haruki.
Haruki was right. And what woods existed on the outskirts of the city? None…So, did Chiro give the wrong case file? But if no woods existed, how did they reach the woods in the first place?
Emily created a Playbox around the house and removed the illusion with a swipe of her finger. She, for a split second, saw the outside world. They were still in the broken DMMS headquarters. How did they get there, though? The illusion returned. Emily opened her box again and this time held it for three seconds more than enough for Haruki to run out of the illusion. Once he was out, Haruki realised why they had come here. They came back to get some other supplies. In the experiment of Baltrax, they had already dealt with it, and afterwards, they returned to the broken DMMS Headquarters. Then Haruki saw the creature that was now haunting the headquarters. Tensei stood right beside it.