The smooth, cocoa-colored sand stretched endlessly before the scattered beachgoers, their light clothing fluttering in the breeze as they strolled along the shore, sipping cool drinks.
Lyte, sporting garish pink swim goggles, leaned against a white checkered wall.
His outfit—a split-style swimsuit with short sleeves and mid-length trunks—was a haphazard prize from a roadside blind box stall selling swimming gear.
The colors were tacky, but functional enough to make do.
Noi, meanwhile, had spent last week’s church salaries on a swimsuit that was little more than a tangle of delicate straps.
She was changing into it now, hidden away in the ladies changing room, as indicated by the sign above Lyte’s head.
After reporting Andy’s disappearance, the Demon Suppression Division had utilized cutting-edge surveillance equipment imported from the Star Alliance to pinpoint his last known location: the beachfront of Wagner Town.
Before heading to the Division, Lyte had secretly slipped away to check on the imprisoned bandits, ensuring they weren’t stirring trouble again before leaving.
The Division’s head captain, Arden, and his deputy—rescued by Noi—were en route to the beach.
Meanwhile, Noi and Lyte seized the opportunity of this mission to fulfill a date they’d planned the day before.
Tina, ever the thoughtful friend, had even blocked the official nuns who wanted to tag along to handle the alien invasion case, granting Noi and Lyte a rare pocket of privacy.
“Hmm…” A familiar, soft hum broke the air beside him.
Lyte turned, and as his eyes fell on Noi’s swimsuit, his pink goggles slipped slightly down his nose, his mouth parting in quiet awe.
A translucent gauze skirt draped over her milk-pale skin, shimmering faintly in the sunlight.
A golden ribbon loosely tied her hair, while a gray-white bandeau wrapped twice around her chest, accentuating its generous curve, as if it could overflow in one’s hands.
White bikini bottoms peeked through the sheer fabric, and golden bamboo bangles—specialties of Xi City—adorned her wrists and thighs.
She exuded an aura of abundant, water-like grace, a serene goddess untouchable yet breathtaking.
Her pure, unblemished eyes pierced through the summer’s heat, striking Lyte’s soul and sending a shiver through his spirit.
“Does it look good?” Noi asked, her lips curling into a smile that was both alluring and refined.
Lyte fumbled, nodding vigorously in approval before averting his gaze, afraid his fervor might betray him.
He’d seen plenty of beautiful women, but never had he been so close to a girl like this—not in his past life, nor this one.
And now, they were about to stroll the beach together, with Noi looking far more than just ordinarily stunning.
They walked side by side, Noi experiencing her first time wearing a swimsuit in either of her lives.
The half-revealing, half-concealed design left her shy, too bashful to strike up conversation, so she turned her attention to the waves and sandy vistas.
Lyte, meanwhile, wrestled with his restless emotions, his eyes fixed on the sun-glinting grains of sand.
But soon, his gaze drifted to the soft “pattering” of Noi’s feet treading beside him.
Her open-toe sandals, wrapped with golden ribbons, had thickened heels and tips to keep from sinking into the sand.
Her rounded toes curled slightly, betraying her nervous heart.
“Lyte… what kind of cold drink do you like?” Noi finally ventured, puffing her cheeks as she broke the silence, tired of waiting for him to speak first.
“Ice cream, I guess,” he replied, caught off guard.
Her date’s question pulled Lyte from his reverie, forcing him to shift from admiring beauty to actual thought.
His curt answer left the white-haired girl wanting more, but it opened a door.
“What flavor, then?” she pressed.
“Chocolate. I like black,” Lyte answered without hesitation.
‘So that’s why you like black…’ Noi thought, a new layer of understanding dawning.
The conversation sparked to life, their earlier awkward silence melting into warm exchanges about daily habits and preferences.
As dawn’s gentle light filtered through the coconut trees, Noi and Lyte reached a stone pavilion.
Water-element magic stones, embedded in the eaves and refined by arcane arrays, released a cool mist into the corridor.
Per their plan at the Demon Suppression Division, they’d wait here for Arden and his deputy, who were gathering critical information to bring along.
While Lyte stepped away to buy two cups of orange juice from a beachside vendor, two burly men in white shirts approached Noi.
Their sun-bronzed skin blended seamlessly with the sandy hues of the beach.
Arden tugged at his ill-fitting collar.
“Apologies for showing up like this, Miss Noi,” he said.
“I usually wear the Division’s uniform, but with no time to grab casual clothes, I borrowed this from a teammate.”
The deputy nodded in agreement, mumbling a few “mm-hmms” to echo his captain’s predicament.
Noi waved off their concerns with a polite smile, then, channeling her past-life knack for flattery, complimented their physiques.
“You two look like you’ve trained hard.”
Arden’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tease us, Miss Noi. You and Lyte, with your magic-honed bodies, are the real standard. Our strength is honestly quite average.”
‘Is that how it works?’ Noi wondered, her lack of knowledge about Tria’s common sense surfacing.
She glanced down at her ample chest.
“So, the better you control magic, the… bigger this gets?”
Arden and the deputy exchanged an awkward glance, their lips twitching as they debated whether to clarify.
Before they could, Lyte returned.
He’d overheard the exchange from a distance and, handing Noi a paper cup of orange juice, leaned close to whisper in her ear.
“Good magic control doesn’t make that bigger, but it can keep things… perky.”
“Mmph!” Noi’s face flushed, her ears tingling from his warm, slightly damp breath and the revelation about magic’s effects on her figure.
Her head spun, eyes practically swirling.
Satisfied with his playful teasing, Lyte turned to greet Arden and the deputy, the true powers of the Demon Suppression Division.
“Care for a cold drink to cool off?”
“No thanks,” Arden replied.
“Business comes first.”
Their visit was driven by the recent string of disappearances, with Andy’s case offering the first real breakthrough especially since it involved an alien species.
It was also a chance to repay Noi for saving their lives a week prior, a debt Arden had sworn to honor at any cost.
As the four walked, Arden detailed Andy’s possible whereabouts and the specifics of the area, while the deputy chimed in with occasional data points, his focus wavering.
Noi, half-lost in the explanation, let her mind wander, while Lyte pieced together the bigger picture.
This beach was the prized asset of Wagner Town’s top noble, Lutos, complete with a tourist hotel and entertainment like gourmet dining, jet skis, mock gunfights, and obstacle courses—innovations borrowed from the Star Alliance of the Utas Continent.
These were wildly popular among the capital’s less worldly visitors, making them some of Wagner Town’s few profitable ventures.
Division soldiers had detected chaotic energy in Andy’s bedroom, relaying the findings to the deputy’s new phone.
The group learned the alien was likely one of Sin Domain’s captains—a formidable A-rank threat.
“Trouble’s brewing,” Arden sighed.
“Alien captains are A-rank powerhouses.”
The Demon Suppression Division existed primarily to combat Sin Domain’s aliens, with city security as a secondary duty.
Ruling out a mindless, wandering alien meant Andy’s abductor was one of the nine sentient captains—or possibly even the Domain Lord himself.
Just ten intelligent beings and their obedient puppets could unsettle the entire world.
And Arden, a mere B-rank captain of a small town, felt woefully outmatched.
Lyte suggested, “Can’t you report this to the main Division in the capital? They could send A-rank fighters, or even contact the Nest for high-tier heroes to assist.”
Arden shook his head.
“Unlikely. Sin Domain’s been active near the capital, stretching their forces thin. They can’t spare anyone for a backwater like ours.”
After the briefing, Arden led them toward Ahei, one of Lutos’s three superpowered enforcers who managed the beach’s operations, including the mock gunfight zone equipped with special surveillance covering the entire shore.
Along the way, the deputy kept glancing at his phone, his unease growing.
Soon, his fears materialized—a message from a contact labeled “Nightmare” appeared:
[Divert the Division captain immediately. Ensure he doesn’t meet Noi or Lyte again before the day’s end. Find your own excuse and method. Fail, and you know the consequences.]
The deputy’s heart twisted, his face paling.
Arden noticed his distress and asked right away:
“You alright? Still recovering from your injury? Maybe rest up.”
“No… there’s a new development. Captain, come with me.”
His jaw trembling, the deputy forced a smile, betraying his conscience.
Arden, unsuspecting, shared the route to the gunfight zone with Noi and Lyte before following his unsteady deputy.
Lyte’s amber eyes narrowed.
His instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong with the deputy’s behavior.