As soon as the order echoed into the room, everybody moved at once.

The confined space exploded into motion and sounds. Gunshots tore through the hall as muzzle flashes lit up the dim interior. Bullets traveled across the room, embedding themselves into anything in their path—whether it be flesh or otherwise.

The frontline of the Ghouls lunged, one of them cleared the distance in a single leap, crashing into one of the soldiers before his weapon could fully raise.

They both fell onto the floor, with the Ghoul slapping away the man’s weapon before its jaws snapped at the soldier’s body and ripped it apart from the stomach down.

Another Ghoul surged forward, faster than the eye could track. But as it approached one of the soldiers, a bullet pierced it from a blind spot. The Ghoul’s entire body went limp, falling onto the ground as another casualty in this brutal battle.

But even with the death, the soldiers didn’t stop, simply stepping past the corpses of both the enemy and their own.

"Keep distance!"

"Don’t let them close—!"

Commands cut through the chaos as they adjusted, pouring into the room as their weapons lifted up.

One of the ghouls slammed into the formation from the side, tearing one man out of line as another fired point-blank into its side. Blood sprayed across the floor, but it didn’t stop.

Like a devil that held onto its resentment, it kept moving, even as the soldiers unloaded their entire mags into its body.

Aren stood in the middle of it all, hands tightening against his sides as his stomach churned.

Bloodshed wasn’t something new to him, not at all. But the thing that made him nauseous wasn’t the fighting itself... it was the death of innocents. Of one side clawing desperately to survive an unjust fate while the other was condemned to follow orders, no matter what happened.

There’s no justice in this. It’s just...mindless slaughter.

But...I have no need to be involved here. Let them deal with their own problems.

Aren wove between the bodies and gunfire, slipping past clashes between the two forces. A Ghoul barreled past him, dragging a soldier to the ground in a frenzy of blood. Another soldier fired blindly, the recoil jerking his aim as bullets tore through the wall just inches from Aren’s arm.

Yet the same soldier had been attacked a second later, dropping to the ground immediately as a Ghoul feasted on his blood.

Aren paused in his steps to stare at the scene, only to notice something on the soldier’s corpse—a small wedding band, stained completely red now with the man’s own blood.

Tch...mind your own business Aren. There’s no time to empathize with either side.

But even as he thought it, a part of him didn’t want to believe it. Though he didn’t have time to linger on it any longer, as his eyes had already caught something else.

At the center of it all, the real battle was commencing.

Aren’s eyes narrowed as he pushed forward, slipping behind a shattered column just as a shockwave blasted through the space ahead of him.

Two figures stood apart from the chaos.

Adam and Darius.

The difference between them was immediate. Darius stood untouched, expression blank...cold, even.

Adam was the exact opposite, his body crouched down low as he launched himself at Darius with raw, overwhelming force. There was no finesse within the attack or technique in involved.

It was the strategy of a desperate person that knew the opponent he was going against was leagues stronger than they were.

His fist came down like a hammer, the impact splitting the floor where Darius had been standing a moment ago.

What the—? What’s that abnormal amount of strength? He’s not a Mystic, is he?

Adam never slowed down, pivoting instantly as his body moved onto the next strike. His kick tore through the space with enough force to distort the air slightly.

Darius easily dodged the attack, using his hands to grab the kick. He tried to twist Adam’s legs, but as soon as he did, Adam spun his entire body, putting distance between the two.

From the exchange, Aren could see one thing clearly. The gap in power between them is too large.

Now Aren was confident on his earlier assessment. Adam wasn’t a Mystic, yet his body was somehow unconsciously manipulating ether, reinforcing his muscles and providing increased physical abilities.

He has insane ether control. Is it from sheer instinct? Or was it something about the Ghoul physiology that allowed him to do that.

With the enhancements, Adam is comparable to the strength of a Practitioner-Grade Mystic—more in pure physicality than anything else.

But even so, as soon as Adam launched forward with everything he had, Darius simply shifted half a step to the side.

The Ghoul launched himself right past. And in that same motion, Darius raised his hand before delivering it straight onto Adam’s spine.

CRASH!

Adam’s body jerked violently as the punch connected. His body was flat against the concrete, impact creating a large crater inside the concrete.

"Gghhk—!" Adam coughed, blood spilling out freely from his mouth.

Aren watched from the side as the Ghouls’ body trembled, one arm pushing weakly against the ground as blood pooled beneath him.

Even then, he tried to rise. Inch by inch, forcing his body to obey, his spine barely holding together from the earlier strike.

"...Stay down," Darius said, stomping his foot onto the man’s shoulder and pushing his efforts back to where it was before.

Adam didn’t listen.

A strained breath escaped him as he forced himself forward again, dragging his weight up once more even against Darius’s force from above.

Even so, Adam eventually managed to get to his knees, staring up at the Ghoul Division agents in defiance.

"...Pathetic," he muttered weakly. "Is that all you’ve got? You dogs of Aetherion—"

Darius raised his hand, ether condensing into his radiant golden spear before...

Thunk.

Aren’s eyes widened as Adam’s body jerked, the motion cut short as the weapon held him in place. Blood spilled down the length of the spear, dripping steadily onto the ground below.

For a second, Adam remained there, barely held upright by the force of it. Then, with what little strength he had left—

"Have no shred...of humanity..." he rasped. "You’re even worse...than us..."

The agent pulled his spear free as Adam’s strength gave out, his body collapsing back into the crater.

And just like that—

The raid was over.

Without Adam, the one holding them together, the rest of the Ghouls didn’t know what to do. Cut off the head of a snake, and its body will eventually die.

Aren witnessed the massacre that followed.

More units poured in through the shattered entrance as they brought in even heavier weapons.

A deafening roar filled the room as machine guns tore through the space, streams of bullets cutting across the battlefield without pause. The sound alone was suffocating, drowning out screams of the remaining Ghouls that were caught in it.

One of them tried anyway, lunging forward and trying to push through the rain of bullets with sheer desperation, only for the barrage to completely rip him to shreds.

Another turned to run, only to have the bullets rip right through his back, body falling hard against the floor without ever making it more than a few steps.

Aren’s jaw tightened as his gaze swept across the room, watching as the last of the resistance was erased through overwhelming force.

Damn it... his fingers curled slightly at his sides.

...I need to get out of here.

The moment his body moved, he couldn’t stop. Not because he wasn’t able to, because he chose not to look at it any longer.

Aren reached the room Eveline told him the secret passage would be. His eyes looked around until they arrived on a half-shifted slab, just wide enough for someone to go down one at a time.

Aren dropped in without hesitation, boots hitting the damp stone as he sealed the entrance behind him.

A narrow tunnel stretched ahead, lined with rusted pipes and shallow streams of murky water—the sewers.

The sounds of battle and gunfire were gone now, but the internal turmoil still stayed.

...Would I have done the same?

The question surfaced on its own. His boots splashed lightly against the shallow water as he continued forward.

The thought lingered longer than he expected. Because there had been a time, a version of himself...that wouldn’t have questioned it.

If killing a Ghoul, even if they were a victim, led to him becoming stronger...he would’ve done it in a heartbeat in his past life.

Reaching the Grandmaster Realm...that was all I cared for. That was the only thing that mattered.

But in this life...have I become...soft?

"...Doesn’t matter," he said finally, after no answer came. So he stopped looking for one, and focused on the path ahead.

Miu and the others. If they made it out, then this tunnel would lead to the same exit point.

Yet as soon as he picked up his pace, a streak of frost tore through the space where his head had been a split second ago. An arrow of ice...embedded itself into the wall ahead as ice spread outward from the impact.

Aren slid to a stop, water splashing beneath his boots as he turned.

A figure stepped out from the shadows, stopping just a few meters away from Aren before she spoke softly:

"Seems like his hunch was right."