Azen’s eyebrows creased. He did not expect to see a familiar face in this cave. Fortunately, the cloud of darkness prevented her from seeing his face.

“Why aren’t you speaking? Are you an enemy or an ally? Speak!” The silver-haired cat-woman pressed him. She was Kana, Lena's elder sister!

“…I’m not your enemy.” Azen replied in a hoarse voice. Kana smirked.

“Neyan, do you take me for a fool? Work on your accent first. Surrender peacefully and I won’t hurt you. Otherwise…” A sharp glint flashed past Kana's eyes. She extended her hand and a portion of the lava spiraled to form a whirlpool.

Azen froze. For the first time, he became conscious of his accent. After ‘eating’ the memories of the mercenaries, he had accidentally gained their accent. This was a natural result of his hunt.

“I’m truly not your enemy.”

“Tell that to the Justice!”

[“Hell Viper!”] The whirlpool spat out a snake of lava, which targeted Azen's darkness.

Azen groaned before avoiding the snake. The snake turned around and followed him. With its menacing maw open, it displayed its determination to kill him. Azen approached a wall before dashing to the side.

Sssss! Splash!

The snake crashed into the wall of lava, spraying huge volleys of burning liquid all around. A few moments later, it disappeared, leaving a large crater behind.

Seeing the destruction caused by the snake, Azen’s eyes gleamed but he didn't have time to think.

Kana silently approached him and extended her palm.

[“Justice: Pulverize!”] Azen felt an immense sense of danger. However, by then, he couldn’t escape.

Whoosh! Zuuuuu!

A stream of invisible energy traveled through the darkness. Anything it touched was obliterated into nothingness, including the darkness.

Azen’s instinct kicked in, and the darkness forcefully ejected him out the path of the destructive stream. The stream of energy traveled through the cave, before halting at the lava wall.

As he escaped the stream, he faced his next disaster, the boiling lava on the ground. Gritting his teeth, he summoned another cloud of darkness, barely gliding off the surface of the red lake.

Kana saw a flash of blue before the darkness covered Azen. She grew suspicious.

Within the darkness, Azen gazed at Kana. His blue eyes stared at the woman, seething with rage. However, he quickly calmed down.

He noticed that he couldn’t defeat Kana in a prolonged battle. His only viable options were either fleeing or killing Kana!

Grasping his new goal, Azen extended his arms and shot innumerable bullets of darkness into his surroundings. Except for a few bullets, most of them expanded into the size of Azen’s main cloud.

With a thought, all the grown clouds of darkness poured down on Kana, forming a stream of darkness.

“Useless distractions!” Kana smirked.

The whirlpool shot another snake at the incoming river of darkness. The menacing snake tore through the innumerable clouds, protecting Kana.

“Give up! If you’re truly innocent, no one will hurt you!” Kana declared.

She did not notice one small ball of darkness floating behind her. It suddenly expanded and a dagger pointed out of the darkness.

Tsuiin!

Aimed at Kana’s neck, the dagger tore through the air.

Ting!

Azen froze in shock. With a ringing voice, his dagger hit an invisible wall. Only small portions of his darkness managed to slip past the invisible barrier. However, to Azen, that provided no help.

Grinning, Kana turned around. No physical object could penetrate her barrier.

[“Justice: Pulv-”]

As she began the chant, her gaze fell upon the dagger. She stopped and shouted, her voice filled with shock.

“How did you get that dagger?! Who are you!?”

Azen fled without furnishing a reply. Enraged, Kana summoned whirlpool after whirlpool.

“You chose death!” Her eyes glinted with rage as she invoked her next spell.

[“Hell Viper: Nest!”] Five snakes emerged from the whirlpool of lava.

Sssss! Working as a team, the snakes joined their lone companion as they chased after Azen.

Azen’s face paled. He could barely handle one snake, much less six at once.

Without any hesitation, he dashed towards one of the walls of lava. Unlike previously, the six snakes took their sweet time. They covered maximum territory, attempting to corner Azen.

Azen reached the wall and he turned around.

Sssss!

Six vicious snakes had cornered him. He had no escape!

“This is your last warning! Surrender now or I will kill you!” A voice emerged from behind the snakes. Azen did not reply. Instead, he fired bullets of darkness into his surroundings.

“You!! Kill!” Furious, she gave the final order. The six snakes rushed at once.

Boom! Splash!

The snakes collided into the wall of lava, destroying all the darkness in its path. Soon, they disappeared, leaving behind a humongous crater on the wall.

Kana saw the destruction and sighed.

Before she could relax, her instincts warned her of danger. She turned around, only to see a dark cloud approaching her. She gritted her teeth and prepared to cast another spell.

However, the dark cloud suddenly abandoned her and dashed away. Before she could register this weird movement, the dark cloud shot a globule of darkness at her face. It penetrated her barrier with ease and fell onto her eyes, blocking her vision.

[“Edahi Arts: Grand Barrier!”] She shouted and cast a higher-level barrier to dispel the darkness.

In the meantime, the cloud of darkness approached the humongous crater on the wall. Before the lava could heal the crater, it attacked the center of the crater.

Tssss!

The cloud of darkness sizzled. Nevertheless, it managed to bore a hole through the wall and escape into the dark night.

Kana’s successfully cast her upgraded barrier, just to witness an empty hole on her wall.

Azen heaved a sigh of relief. He could only thank the cat-woman for going crazy at the end. Otherwise, his plan wouldn’t have worked.

From beginning to end, Azen’s plan had been centered around the idea of retreating. Just witnessing the power of the lava cage, he knew he had two options… either drill a hole through the wall covering the exit or kill Kana. To drill a hole, he needed the help of the lava snake, which depended on Kana.

To avoid unnecessary risks, he invested in both routes. In his first real attack, he did not use all the summoned dark bullets. His flamboyant attack was actually a disguise to hide some of the dark bullets. He had prepared for an elongated battle until Kana used the lava snake. Nevertheless, he did not expect Kana to grow crazy at the sight of the dagger and attack with a group of lava snakes.

That attack had saved a lot of his time and energy.

Whilst contemplating the battle, Azen remembered Kana’s reaction upon seeing the dagger. If she recognized it, she would definitely return to the cottage. He had to outspeed her!

With a new goal, he increased his pace of retreat.

“Frriend, wait!” An old voice shouted.

Azen hesitated for a moment, torn in between two choices.

In the middle of a forest, if an old man asks you to stop, what would you do? Would you stop and drink tea with the old man? Or would you run?

Of course, you would… run! Seriously, run!

Azen made the same choice. He continued to flee, choosing to ignore the old voice.

“Frriend! I said Wait!” The voice declared.

Azen stopped. Not because he wanted to stop, but a mysterious force prevented him from moving. He struggled but with no result.

Whoosh!

A lion suddenly appeared before Azen. He wore white armor that shone under the dim moonlight. With a height of nearly 3 meters, he looked down on Azen and asked.

“Young friend, do you believe in justice?”

“…No.” Azen answered after a slight pause.

“Have you killed any Edahin?” The lion pressed on, seemingly capable of seeing through the darkness.

“No.”

“Grr! If you could kill me to escape, would you do it?”

Azen’s eyes narrowed. Meeting the gaze of the lion, he replied.

“Yes.”

“Arrogant! You can leave… but this is yourr final warrning! Do not crreate anymorre trroubles!”

Azen felt the mysterious force disappear. Receiving freedom, he fled as fast as his dark cloud could take him.

The lion stared at Azen’s receding back.

‘I cannot kill you... But you deserve punishment! Even if the Emperor inquires, I have the prroper justification.’

ROAR!!!

The lion roared, creating an incorporeal shockwave that flew towards Azen.

The shockwave knocked Azen. He collapsed from his cloud and crashed onto the ground.

Cough! Cough!

Azen stared at the red ground and clenched his fist. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he summoned another dark cloud and resumed his retreat. Nevertheless, his pace had noticeably diminished. Only he knew how much the shockwave had damaged him.

A few seconds later, Kana caught up. She had to revert the cage of lava, which delayed her arrival.

“Leader, where is the enemy?” She asked, confident in the lion's abilities.

“I let him go!”

“Huh? Is he our ally?” A baffled Kana asked. Despite the distance, she had heard the roar. Her leader had never used that roar on his allies.

“I have executed justice. Don’t ask any morre questions. Let us RReturn to Headquarters!” The lion commanded in an overbearing voice.

“Umm, Leader, can I return to my home? I need to check something. I’ll be back in an hour at most.”

“No! You can rreturn after submitting the rreporrt.”

Kana sighed and acknowledged the order.

Azen returned to the cottage. He placed the dagger in its original place and retreated to his room. Then, he focused the remaining darkness onto his face. Soon, the bloodstains near his mouth crumbled into ashes. Along with it, the dark cloud faded away, having completed its duty.

Weary, he discarded his sweaty shirt and collapsed onto his bed. He still had nearly 3 hours before dawn arrived but the shockwave had severely damaged him, forcing him to recuperate.

On top of this, he had exhausted a lion’s share of his darkness on the battle with Kana. With this, he was spent both physically and mentally.

Immediately after falling onto his bed, sleep conquered him.

Lena opened her eyes. Her sharp ears picked onto a sound from Azen’s room.

‘He’s back?’ The dim moonlight through the window illuminated her black pupils. A silver owl approached her, perching on the wooden headboard of her bed.

“You’re awake. I have a message from the clan.” An old, fragile voice left its mouth.

“It can wait.” Lena ignored the owl and sneaked into Ren’s room. Before leaving, she grabbed the antique sword.

Upon entering his room, a fallen shirt greeted her. Her sharp eyes noticed a slight trace of red. She picked it, only to confirm her suspicion.

‘It’s blood…’ She immediately dropped it and curbed her urge to vomit. The horrible stench emanating from the shirt drove her nauseous.

Focusing her attention on Ren, her gaze turned frosty.

She unsheathed her sword and advanced. Lifting the sword, she prepared to swing down.

“Lena! What are you doing?” The owl entered at this precarious moment, nearly shouting.

Lena hesitated, but only for a moment. A cruel glint flashed past her eyes as her sword advanced.

“Have you gone crazy?! You’re going to ruin everything! Your hard work, my hard work… everything! Why do you even want to kill this human?” The owl confronted Lena, floating between her sword and the unprotected boy.

“There is only one Kaero in this world. He must die!”

“…You’re going to kill him over a resemblance? Fool! You’re going to waste a whole year’s worth of hard work over a whim? If you proceed, you’ll lose everything. And for what? A mere human pipsqueak? Stop letting your hot blood dictate your actions, or I’ll have to permanently remove your memories!” The owl threatened.

Its words had an effect as Lena calmed down.

“Fine, but he must die. Otherwise, I’ll kill him right now.”

“Sure! But not now. His identity might be useful to us. We can exterminate him after he has provided his worth. But for now, I want you to heal him.”

“Heal him!? Why must I heal him? Are you playing me with?” A violent glint flashed past Lena’s eyes.

“No. It’s your sister. If she spots any injuries on him, the Council might intervene. That would be an unfavorable situation. They can move him or improve his security. And if it wasn't enough, both of you can also fall under investigation. You already know the consequences if they discover something. At present, we can’t take any risks. Heal him!” The owl ordered.

Lena groaned. Her eyes underwent a transformation. The whites of her eyes turned pitch-black. Her black pupils decolorized into a lighter shade of grey, resembling two moons. After the transformation, they looked like the reflections of two full moons on a dark lake.

Her eerie gaze penetrated through Ren’s skin, examining his internal wounds.

An aura of death surrounded her as a hint of killing intent escaped her moon-like eyes.

“Lena!” The owl’s warning pulled her out of her daze.

With a low harrumph, she released a wave of green energy.

It surrounded Ren’s body, healing all his internal damages in the blink of an eye. She scanned Ren’s internals once again for any hidden damages when she noticed an anomaly.

‘There’s something wrong with this body… But what is it?’ She frowned.

‘Eh? Where are the major chakras? …How is he even alive!?’ Her heart skipped a beat, and her frown worsened.

“There’s something wrong-”

Tap! Tap!

Before she could continue, her ears caught onto a familiar sound of footsteps.

“Sister!” Her face paled. She didn’t have enough time to return to her room!