"Risa’s family?"

Hide stood frozen in the narrow alleyway. The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.

He knew Risa’s family was powerful, her grandfather was an S-Rank prodigy. But they had always neglected her because she failed to awaken. Neglect was one thing. Hiring an assassin to kill her childhood friend was an entirely different level of cruelty.

"What do you mean it was her family?" Hide demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, lethal register. "Why the hell would they target you?"

Kai leaned back against the rusted hover-car, closing his eyes.

"Two days after you left for Area 5," Kai began, his voice rough. "I went to the hospital to check on Risa, like I always do. But her cell was empty. The machines were gone. The bed was stripped. When I asked the nurses at the front desk, they completely stonewalled me. They only said she was discharged."

Hide’s eyes narrowed. "Discharged? She was in a medically induced coma. She had mana poisoning spreading across her face. They wouldn’t just discharge her."

"Exactly," Kai said, opening his eyes. "I knew they were lying. And I knew exactly who had the authority to pull a stunt like that. The Sihue Clan."

Hide processed the name. It was an old name, synonymous with extreme wealth and lethal efficiency. They didn’t operate like a standard Exterminator Agency. They functioned like a feudal syndicate, keeping their techniques, their money, and their bloodline strictly guarded.

"So what did you do?" Hide asked.

"I went to their main estate in the upper district," Kai said, a bitter, self-deprecating smile touching his lips. "Like an idiot, I just walked right up to the front gates. The guards looked like mercenaries. I showed them my ID, proved I was Risa’s emergency contact, and demanded to see her."

"And they let you in?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Kai nodded slowly. "Two butlers came out. They escorted me inside. Hide, the estate... it was like stepping fifty years into the past. Everything was traditional wood, sliding screens, complete silence. They brought me to a tea room, served me, and then left me alone."

Kai let out a shaky breath, his unscarred eye staring blankly at the brick wall across the alley.

"A few minutes later, an old man walked in. It was Risa’s father. He looked... tired and disappointed. He sat across from me and told me, in the calmest voice imaginable, that Risa was no longer my concern. He told me to never visit her, look for her, or speak her name again. He said that to the clan, she was already gone."

Hide’s fists clenched at his sides. The dark scales involuntarily flickered across his knuckles. "Gone? She’s his daughter."

"I lost my temper," Kai admitted quietly. "I stood up. I yelled at him and told him he had no right to lock her away when they had ignored her for her entire life. I demanded to know where they were keeping her."

"What did he say?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Nothing," Kai whispered. "He just looked at me like I was an insect. He said, ’Stay calm, and go home quietly, kid... if you love your life enough.’"

A heavy, oppressive silence fell over the alley.

"Then, before I could argue back, the sliding door opened again," Kai continued, his voice dropping to a terrified murmur. "It was her grandfather. The S-Rank. He didn’t say a single word. He just looked at me, smiled this awful, empty smile... and walked away. The butlers escorted me out immediately after."

Kai touched the edges of his horrific purple scar, wincing slightly.

"The next night, I was ambushed in the transit tunnel," Kai said. "It was just one guy. He moved faster than I could track. I didn’t even have time to cast a barrier. He pinned me to the wall, placed his hand over my face, and cast the curse. He told me it was a final warning to stay away."

Hide’s world turned completely upside down.

He stared at Kai, a cold, absolute fury settling deep within his chest.

He had always known the world of Exterminators was brutal. He knew the strong preyed on the weak. But this wasn’t survival.

This was pure, unadulterated malice. They had taken Risa, a girl suffering from lethal mana poisoning, and locked her away. And when her only friend tried to find her, they permanently disfigured him just to send a message.

For all Hide knew, if they viewed her as a stain on their pristine bloodline... they might have killed Risa already.

"Hide," Kai said softly, noticing the terrifying, violet light beginning to bleed into Hide’s eyes. "Please. Let it go. You’re strong now, I see that. But you can’t fight a legacy clan. They have hundreds of Awakened soldiers. They have an S-Rank."

Hide didn’t answer. He reached into his spatial inventory.

A small, perfectly crystalline vial materialized in his hand. The liquid inside glowed with a pure, blindingly white light that seemed to banish the shadows in the dirty alleyway entirely.

"What is that?" Kai asked, his eyes widening at the sheer density of the mana radiating from the small bottle.

"Drink it," Hide commanded, stepping forward and pressing the vial into Kai’s chest.

"Hide, I told you, high-grade potions don’t work—"

"I said drink it," Hide repeated, his voice leaving absolutely zero room for argument. "It’s an S-Rank Cleansing Elixir. It will burn the curse out of your cells."

Kai stared at the vial, his jaw dropping. An S-Rank consumable? In the hands of a kid from Area 17? It was impossible. But looking into Hide’s deadly serious eyes, Kai knew he wasn’t joking.

With shaking hands, Kai uncorked the vial and downed the glowing liquid in a single gulp.

Instantly, a brilliant white light erupted from Kai’s face. He cried out, dropping to his knees as the elixir violently clashed with the dark, corrosive magic embedded in his flesh. The purple scar hissed, releasing a foul-smelling black smoke into the air.

Ten seconds later, the light faded.

Kai remained on his knees, panting heavily. He reached up, his trembling fingers tracing the side of his face.

The jagged, rotting flesh was gone. The skin was perfectly smooth, completely restored as if the blade had never touched him.

Kai looked up at Hide, tears welling in his eyes. "Hide... I..."

"Go home, Kai," Hide said, his voice terrifyingly calm. The violet light in his eyes was fully active now.

"What are you going to do?" Kai asked, panic lacing his voice as he scrambled to his feet. "Hide, don’t do anything stupid! They will kill you!"

Hide turned his back on Kai, walking slowly toward the exit of the alleyway.

"They won’t kill me," Hide said softly, stepping out into the dull light of the street. "Because I’m going to kill them first."