Red, who was in no condition to move, could only wait in his seated position as the crowd surrounding him grew even further.

‘At least the blood should be gone.’

His body eagerly reabsorbed the blood on the ground through his pores, and with the youth covering his actions with his body, no one noticed the discrepancy. He wasn’t too comfortable with this shoddy cleaning work, but it was unlikely he would have the time or privacy to eliminate every drop of blood from the pavement.

With the most immediate concern solved, he could only brace himself for what came next.

It was then that he noticed one of the guards moving towards his sword. His eyes narrowed behind his mask.

“Don’t touch it.”

Red’s voice was neutral, and yet it rang above the clamoring of the crowd. Everyone went silent, and the guard who was about to pick up the dark short sword froze. He looked back at his leader with an uncertain expression.

The leading guard, in turn, looked over at Red with a frown. “Is there something wrong with the sword?”

“No. I just don’t want you to touch it.”

The man gritted his teeth. A few seconds later, though, he looked over at his subordinate and shook his head. The guard then distanced himself from the weapon, and now the entire crowd made sure to give the blade a wide berth, too.

It only took a few minutes for the reinforcements from the headquarters to arrive at the scene.

“Make way! Create a perimeter around here!”

Red recognized both the voice and the fluctuation of this newly arrived guard. It was the same Lesser Ring Realm guard who had stood aside while his store was destroyed and even threatened the youth.

As expected, the man who came accompanied by a dozen other guards gave Red an ugly look as they pushed the crowd away from the scene. Nevertheless, he seemed to maintain a professional stance as he looked over at his subordinates, who had arrived earlier.

“What did you find?”

“T-There were plenty of deep holes around the street.”

“Is that all you found?” The captain frowned.

“W-Well, it fits with what we know from that… Shadow.”

“Did you find any metal pieces, then?”

The guard shook his head. “N-No… The holes were too deep, and we didn’t really have the time to search.”

“Then how do you know it was them?!”

“W-Well, sir… Who else could have done this-”

“Enough!” The captain cut him off. “Just keep looking around and tell me if you find anything.”

“Yes, sir!”

As his subordinate walked away, only Red and this Lesser Ring Realm cultivator were left in the middle of the street.

“You know who attacked me?” Red asked.

“That doesn’t matter. You say you were attacked by a shadowy figure, correct?”

“That’s right.”

The man snorted. “Do you even know what you are claiming?”

Red frowned. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“If the person who attacked you is really whom you claim to be, that means they were at the Greater Ring Realm at least. Yet, somehow, you managed to live. Explain to me how that happens.”

‘Greater Ring Realm…’

Red himself was quite confused. For one, he didn’t understand why that person ran away in the first place, and then there was also the matter of how he couldn’t discern their strength through their fluctuation.

‘Still, Greater Ring Realm… That doesn’t sound right.’

That person was definitely stronger than Red, but he wasn’t sure they were at that level. After all, he had a small but pertinent frame of reference about the strength a Greater Ring Realm cultivator should have from his encounter with that woman during the beast horde. He was certain he wouldn’t survive a single blow from someone like that.

“I know nothing about their cultivation realm.” Red shook his head. “I can only tell you about what happened.”

The man sneered at him. “Let me guess - he threw exploding daggers, right?”

“… You’re correct.”

“I’ve seen so many people killed by those, and yet here you stand with almost no wounds to speak of. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

Red indeed didn’t have any open wounds, but his clothing was stained in crimson, which was enough to show the extent of his injuries. At this point, however, he was certain the man was making things difficult for him on purpose.

“Here.” Red lobbed something in the man’s direction. “You can check for yourself.”

The guard looked at him with some suspicion, but he still caught the item the youth threw at him and examined it.

“What do you…” He trailed off as his expression paled.

He let the item drop to the ground out of shock with a clinking sound. It was a small shard of metal, previously lodged inside Red’s body.

It might pass off as junk for a common mortal, but even now it was overflowing with that violet energy which wasn’t visible to non-cultivators. When the Lesser Ring Realm guard touched it, though, he obviously felt the large current.

The expression with which he looked at Red changed to one of incredulity.

“… How?”

Red sighed. “Stop asking me those questions. Am I not the victim here?”

It was aggravating for the youth to be treated like this when he was the one who was almost killed in the first place.

The guard frowned at his words, but it was clear his attitude changed after he inspected the metal shard.

“You need to come with me to the headquarters.”

“Why?”

“We haven’t seen a Shadow act in person since the war started. We need to take countermeasures now that they have exposed themselves.”

‘That name again…’

Red knew that was how the underground organization in the city was called, but this was the first time he heard it being referenced as a person.

“Why must I go?” he asked.

“You might have relevant information about this case. Such as why you were attacked to begin with.”

Red frowned. “I do not know why I was attacked.”

“Even still, it’s important we question you.”

“… Is this something I am being forced to do?”

The guard gritted his teeth. “Why make things so difficult? If those people are really keen on killing you, then you won’t be able to live if you wander by yourself.”

“Am I being detained?” Red asked once more.

The man let out a sigh. “No. However, it’s likely you will receive a convocation to attend questioning. That will be something you won’t be able to deny if you want to remain in the city.”

“When that happens, you may come looking for me.” Red said. “Until then, I would rather not be bothered.”

As the youth said that, he got up. His legs trembled from the effort, but he didn’t fall down.

With uneasy steps, he started to walk over to his sword. The guards nearby seemed unsure of what to do, looking over at their superior for instructions.

The captain shook his head. “Let him be.”

They stepped out of the way, allowing Red to pick up his sword without issues. He sheathed the blade back, and in his ragged and bloody clothing, walked past the perimeter created by the guards.

The crowd parted before him, staring at this masked stranger with gazes of both wonder and fear. On one hand, they praised his abilities for escaping with his life against a Shadow, wondering how he had accomplished it. On the other hand, they gossiped about what could have even prompted that assassin to target him in the first place.

Those were questions that Red himself was wondering, but on top of that, there was an additional mystery.

‘What is a Shadow?’

…

Red managed to drag his feet back to the manor. Some people from the earlier crowd tried to follow him from afar, but a quick glance from the youth was enough to dissuade them from that course of action.

When the youth closed the door behind him, the figure of the imp immediately materialized out of thin air, as if it was waiting for him.

“Master, master! There’s an emergency! We need to-”

Before Emer could finish speaking, Red immediately collapsed face first into the ground.

“M-Master?! W-What is going on?!”

The imp walked over to him and started to push his body, turning him onto his back with some effort.

“Master! Y-You’re wounded! W-What happened to you?!”

“I’ll be fine…” Red pushed the imp away. “Just let me lay here.”

The shards hadn’t left behind any lasting damage, but the youth felt completely drained of both stamina and Spiritual Energy from the effort of expelling those foreign bodies. He almost thought he was about to collapse midway through while returning to the manor, but he managed to push himself to enter the door before collapsing from exhaustion.

“W-What happened, master?!” The imp seemed on the verge of tears as he examined Red’s ragged state.

“… It doesn’t matter right now.” Red said between deep breaths. “You said we had an emergency, right?”

“A-Ah, yes!” The imp nodded. “Someone entered the house while you were gone! I saw it on the tablet!”

The youth immediately stood on alert, even in his state. “Who was it?”

“I-I couldn’t see. They were disguised in some rogue’s clothing.” Emer said. “B-But I kept an eye on them! I watched their every move to see if they weren’t planning anything nefarious!”

“And what did you see?”

“They looked around the rooms, but they took nothing at all. H-However, when they got to the workshop, they put some sort of powder on one of your materials!”

Red frowned. “Powder?”

“Y-Yes. I tried to look for it afterwards, but I couldn’t see any specks of it. I-I was also too scared to mess about with the materials in case it was a poison… B-But I’m sure of what I saw! They took some powder from a bottle and spread it over some of your materials!”

‘An invisible powder, huh?’

Red tried to imagine what their intention was here. Was that some kind of poison that only took effect when in contact with someone’s skin? Or perhaps it was something that would cause the material to explode once Red tried to refine it? In any case, he would need to examine it carefully. Perhaps it would be prudent to get rid of the targeted materials entirely, even if it meant he would lose quite a few spirit stones.

He needed to consider how to proceed sooner rather than later.

‘It’s just that…’

He felt too tired to do anything.

“M-Master, are you okay?”

“I’m fine… I just need to rest.”

Although Red said that, his words came out in a slurred mess as he felt his entire body relax.

“B-But, master! What are we supposed to do about the powder?! What if it kills us?!”

“Just leave it be…”

The youth struggled to even get these words out.

“Hey, kid!” Aurelia’s voice reached his ears. “What do you think you are doing?! Are you really going to sleep after all that?!”

“M-Master, what if someone comes?!”

Red didn’t have the energy to respond anymore. He felt tired like he had never felt before, and for the first time in more than a month, sleep started to overtake his consciousness.

A force too strong to be fought against.

…

When Red woke up, he found himself staring at a crimson sky that seemed to weigh down on him from above, as if the firmaments were collapsing. He felt the coarse sand against his back, and as feeling returned to him, he also sensed how small his body had become.

It was then that he knew.

‘I’m back here.’

Back to this hellish landscape.