The esper glanced behind them, and his expression changed. He did not care about the mother and son anymore, wanting to escape as quickly as possible.

Khal gripped his mother’s hand then, not knowing what was going on in its entirety. However, he could discern that the esper did not want to save them.

Just as the esper was about to leave, his legs were embraced in a tight grip.

"What the fuck?" He went pale and slapped the back of the woman. Khal could only stand there and watch. "Let go, bitch!"

The woman, Khal’s mother, shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Take my child! Take my child, please!"

At the moment of desperation, the woman erupted in strength. Despite the esper being stronger than ordinary people, he could not remove the woman from him. He began kicking the woman, and yet her grip remained steady and became stronger even.

Khal watched this happen, his blue eyes dimmed.

"Mama..." Khal called for his mother. "It’s fine, Mama," he whispered. His young heart could not take his mother’s state.

Yet the woman did not look at him, not even once. In fact, the memories were so blurry that the woman’s face was not clear.

"Promise me. Take my son! Mr. Esper, please..." the woman sobbed, pleaded with her whole heart as she clung to the Esper so hard.

The chaos increased with each passing minute; any minute now, and it might reach where they were. When that happened, even the esper might not be able to escape and would be abandoned in this place.

He gritted his teeth and kicked the woman in the stomach again. Perhaps, still with a shred of humanity, he had not used his ability against her.

The esper glanced at the dazed child.

"Kid, come here," he called. Khal glanced at him but returned his gaze to his mother. The esper became so pissed that he leaned and dragged Khal to his side.

Caught off guard, the child almost slumped to the ground and scraped his knee.

The woman was also startled and almost loosened her hold.

"Let go, I’ll leave and take your child." He clenched his jaw, glaring at the woman.

Khal shook his head and was about to protest when he saw his mother look at him and smile, shaking her head.

"Please... take him to safety, Mr. Esper."

The esper did not have the mood to answer and, with frustration, kicked the woman, who had already loosened his hold. Khal’s mother was thrown to the ground, eyes looking at Khal.

Khal’s blue eyes dimmed further; as he was about to jump from the esper’s hold, the esper held him firmly before he left. He even abandoned his car and decided to go on foot.

Khal watched his mother slowly disappear in his eyes.

That was the last time he saw his parents.

As a child in the red zone, he was not unfamiliar with such scenes. He was not ignorant either that his parents were already dead as soon as the chaos started.

While only seven years old, his parents taught him about survival and the idea that everything was uncertain. They were in a chaotic world, and he knew that someday his parents might be gone from his world.

Yet, he did not know it would be at his earlier age.

Hugging his knees, Khal’s blue eyes, which dimmed, stared at the closed window. His body moved slightly; the path they were taking was not smooth.

Conversation went on beside him.

"Whose child is that?"

"I don’t know. Some bitch stopped me, so I had no choice. At least, he’s not heavy."

There was laughter.

"You can’t even overpower a normal human?" They made fun of him.

"Bullshit. If you were in my situation, you’d know. That woman’s grip is no joke!"

"Yeah, right." They laughed.

Khal listened, though unintentionally. He could not sleep, and he was numb; not once did he cry either.

Remembering how his parents told him that dying was inevitable. If something happened and they left him, Khal should move forward and survive.

Khal was a very obedient child. Even when the corners of his eyes moistened, no tears ever fell to his cheek.

"How many died?"

"Probably almost all the civilians," one answered casually.

"Damn. I also thought I was going to die. Next time I return to the clan, I’ll request to be dispatched in the yellow zone."

Khal only listened from the corner; the espers also did not care that he was there, almost forgetting his existence.

As their conversation continued, Khal’s eyes widened slightly and flickered. His hands unconsciously clenched as he hugged himself tighter.

"I don’t think the higher-ups will punish us."

"Of course, they won’t. Red zones are not for civilians anyway. And espers and guides are more important than mere civilians."

Someone snickered. "And, not to mention, we’re all clan members. Hehe, the government can’t punish us for that. This is their jurisdiction, isn’t it?"

"Yeah, let them take care of the mess." One laughed.

Khal buried his face in his knees, closing his eyes.

The image of espers to him had been forever shattered by that moment.

One could say he was still lucky and managed to enter one of the institute’s branches in a green zone. They were the ones who took children with the potential to be espers.

While it was hard to discern someone’s rank from a very young age, the Institute had already created one that could test if a child had a certain chance to awaken, though not accurately.

Khal’s body was tested to have a chance to contain mana.

His life in the green zone then began.

His life did not improve just because he was in a green zone; it was almost the same. The only difference was the stability that a red zone could not provide.

At first, Khal wanted to get along with others, but as soon as they knew he came from a red zone, they treated him differently. Everyone distanced themselves from him.

He later found out why.

Green zone residents viewed those who lived in a red zone as savages.

They were far behind the civilization, or so they said. Seven-year-old Khal already experienced being ostracized.