SSS-Class Profession: The Path to Mastery-Chapter 194: The Fire We Lit

The corridors blurred past as Anthony and I ran, boots pounding over tile smeared with blood, dust, and whatever the hell else this place was built on. Evelyn’s unconscious form sagged between us, half-dragged, half-carried. Her arms dangled while the sack over her head shifted with every jolt of her body.

I barely felt the pain anymore.

Adrenaline burned it away.

So did rage.

"Cain Protocol," I muttered, voice hot and sharp in the mic. "They turned her. Took her. Broke her. One of the best evaluators in the world and they hollowed her out like she was just a shell."

The stream was still live.

I didn’t care.

Let the world hear it.

Let them see.

Anthony shot me a quick look, a warning in his eyes. I shook my head, signaling him to keep moving.

"She was an A-Rank evaluator," I continued, voice slicing through the dead air. "She judged candidates, explored anomalies. She was supposed to be untouchable and live a good life. But when she decided to join my side, they turn her into...this. Regardless of your purpose in society or who you are as an individual, they won’t hesitate to get rid of you."

We rounded another corner.

Two agents burst from a side door, pistols raised.

"Down!" one shouted.

Anthony didn’t even hesitate. He dropped Evelyn onto me, I caught her weight with a grunt, and charged the agents.

A flash of movement.

A pistol ripped from one hand.

A knee drove up into a throat.

One agent crumpled without a sound. The other fired, it was a clean shot, center mass, but Anthony twisted, grabbed the arm, and wrenched it backward until something snapped.

Both men collapsed.

Anthony jogged back, scooping up Evelyn again like she weighed nothing.

"You’re still mad I dragged you into this, huh?" I rasped, grinning through bloodied teeth.

"Mad?" Anthony panted. "Boss, I’m having the time of my life."

We sprinted through another half-finished corridor. Doors swung open around us. Alarms started to wail, a shrill, broken sound.

At the end of the hall, another figure staggered out, wearing civilian clothes, bare feet, a dazed look in their eyes.

A Cain Protocol subject.

Their gaze locked onto me.

Their muscles tensed.

Anthony cursed. "I’ve got Evelyn!"

"I’ve got this!" I snapped.

I dropped low, sliding across the tile as the subject charged.

Reflex Calibration (Lv. 4).

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Lv. 5).

My instincts took over.

I let his momentum carry him forward, twisted at the last second, and slammed my elbow into the back of his neck.

He hit the ground, twitching.

Not dead.

Not his fault.

But unconscious.

I stumbled to my feet, chest heaving.

Anthony grunted approval. "Nice."

"Move!"

We bolted through the next wing.

Along the way, bodies littered the floor, a few agents, two more subjects though these weren’t injured as badly. Anthony had clearly cleared a path before circling back to save my stubborn ass.

God, I owed him a drink after this.

Maybe five.

Maybe the whole damn bar.

We hit a stairwell and went up two flights, before reaching the ground level.

We slammed through a set of emergency doors into what must’ve been the shipping yard — half-built platforms, forklifts, pallets of supplies. Perfect cover.

We staggered behind a stack of metal crates. For a second, just a second, we caught our breath.

Evelyn groaned.

Both Anthony and I tensed.

She shifted against the sack, struggling.

"Easy," Anthony muttered, tightening his grip.

"Give her space," I said quietly, and he let go.

Evelyn pushed herself upright slowly, the sack still over her head.

Her voice rasped through the cloth.

"You..." A cough. Then a bitter, familiar chuckle. "You’re an idiot."

Anthony barked a short laugh.

I exhaled, half-relieved, half-wrecked.

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe."

Evelyn pulled the bag off fully, blinking into the dim light.

Her face was gaunt, pale, but her eyes — God, her eyes — were still hers. They were sharp, cold and alive.

"I told you to leave," she said, voice stronger now. "I warned you."

"And since when have I ever listened to good advice?" I said, smiling faintly.

Anthony chuckled. "He does kinda suck at that. Ask any of the girls."

Evelyn’s mouth quirked into the barest ghost of a smile.

Then her face hardened.

"The Cain conditioning," she said. "They implanted it. Deep. Not surface-level. They built it into my job structure. Into my reflexes."

I nodded grimly. "I know."

"The phrase," she whispered. "You know about it right?"

"Yeah."

She looked down at her trembling hands, still cuffed. "I’m dangerous. To you."

"No," I said fiercely. "You’re not."

Anthony slapped my back. "We’ll figure it out, later. You’re not staying in their chains."

Evelyn closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in, breathing out.

Then she opened them again, colder. Sharper.

The Evelyn I remembered. The one who judged monsters with the same ease she fixed broken chairs.

"Alright," she said, voice low. "Let’s burn this place to the ground."

Anthony grinned wide.

"That’s the spirit."

I stood, checking the pistol at my hip.

"Ready?"

Evelyn flexed her hands, nodding once.

Anthony cracked his knuckles.

"Born ready, boss."

We moved.

Through the last hallway.

Past a checkpoint that was abandoned.

Past two more guards who were unconscious, courtesy of Anthony’s earlier rampage.

The outer doors loomed ahead.

I could feel it, the weight of the world just beyond.

We kicked them open.

Sunlight poured in.

And the first thing we saw—

—was fire.

Not from the building.

From the city beyond.

Smoke curled into the sky. Drones buzzed overhead, retreating like insects from a kicked nest. Sirens wailed, not from us, but from them.

Crowds swarmed the streets.

Government agents in black uniforms fought tooth and nail against civilians, against protesters, against people armed with whatever they could find — pipes, bats, stolen shields.

Flags burned.

Chants rose.

A revolution had already begun.

Anthony whistled low. "Guess we lit a bigger fire than we thought."

Evelyn stood beside me, her fists clenched, her posture taut.

"What now?" she asked.

I smiled grimly.

"Now," I said, "we finish what we started."

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