*Third Person POV*
Ophis, Blake, and the rest of Y/n's peerage walked through the forest. Having dealt with the repercussions of putting the island's chieftain in the hospital, which was forced exile from the island and banishment, they returned to the mainland to find the rest of the peerage.
They were walking through a forest in Mistral, most of the group was enjoying the calm and the silence. It seemed strange that, after the terror and insanity of the last few months of their lives, the world was calm. There were no bullets to dodge, soldiers to kill, or demons to defeat. There wasn't even a rival devil.
Of course, that didn't mean they had nothing to worry about. Salem, Y/n, and Rias were all things that stuck out in the back of their minds. With Ophis, these fears compounded to equal danger, to her and to her master.
And as his queen, she wouldn't let anything happen to him.
So as they dredged through the forest, Ophis kept her goals in mind. Find Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrah, Coco, Velvet, and Weiss, then find Y/n, beating Rias along the way and stealing his heart for herself.
All this was on her mind, among other things, as a shadow leapt from tree to tree. It seemed to be following the group of weirdos, stalking in the darkness of the canopy. The members of the peerage would sometimes turn and look into the trees, only to see nothing but trees.
Yang and Raynare were both on edge, the hairs on their necks standing straight up. They each seemed to sense something out there, but didn't want to bring it up for fear of being cowardly. The same could not be said of Ravel and Roman, who were trembling in fear.
"H-hey," Roman said, hiding behind the much shorter Neo, "Doesn't it seem... too quiet?"
"W-what do you mean?" Ravel replied, hiding behind Yang and Raynare.
"There's someone following us."
Ophis stopped dead in her tracks, having said that. She looked around, before turning to a branch above her, that was still shaking as if a bird had taken off.
"Come out now." She ordered.
Much to their surprise, a person wearing all black walked out of the trees. He was completely wrapped in black, head to toe with only his eyes showing through.
"You're the Shadows," Raynare said, "Or... Shadow."
"No, the plural is correct."
A second figure walked out of the trees behind them, a female this time. She was dressed similarly to her male counterpart, but carried a pistol. They all raised their weapons, but the male raised his hand.
"We haven't come to fight," He said, "He sent us for a message."
"Y/n..." Ophis said, "What is the message?"
"This."
The male suddenly rushed forward in a blur, kicking Yang across the clearing. He grabbed Raynare and threw her at Ravel, knocking them back to the ground. He then turned toward Neo, who swung her umbrella at him. He dodged and grabbed it, and swung her into Roman.
Ophis turned to attack him, but the female was faster than she was. Ophis found herself stuck on the ground, the barrel of her pistol pressed into her forehead.
"Goodbye, Ophis."
The birds took off from the trees, scared off by the sudden gunshot that rang throughout the forest.