The rebel camp collapsed instantly, wiped out by Victoria Housekeeping in a single sweep—but the Captain knew nothing of it.
Right now, he was gripping the throat of a hooded pink-haired girl with one hand, dragging her up toward the higher floors.
"Mmmph!"
Her mouth was sealed with tape, trapping her rising panic in her throat. The stifled breath churned upward into muffled whimpers, then surged into her eyes. Bloodshot streaks spread across them in seconds, a terrifying sight.
"Quit screaming! You're driving me insane!"
The Captain finally lost all patience. Spotting a balcony, he flung the pink-haired girl onto the ground and planted his right foot on her back.
Thrown hard, she instinctively shielded her head with her arms. Her elbow cracked against the floor, making her wince, but with her mouth sealed, she could barely make a sound.
Moments later, the Captain stomped down again. Her eyelids twitched violently, the pain nearly making her black out.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots cracked through the night.
The Captain re-engaged the safety, holstered the handgun, then crouched to seize the shackles binding her wrists. He dragged her forward without mercy.
Rain stared back in horror. A section of the stone balcony railing was missing—blown apart by the Captain's gunshots.
Cold night air rushed against the back of her neck. A deep chill settled into her bones.
"Mmmph!"
Realizing she would die if she did nothing, Rain suddenly struggled wildly.
She twisted left and right, trying to wrench free from his grasp, kicking forward again and again in blind desperation.
But what could she possibly do to him?
He was fully armed, wearing expensive combat armor.
Even in talent-filled New Eridu, he was stronger than over sixty percent of the population thanks to his equipment alone.
And Rain—despite being a high-level hacker—couldn't even fight off a chicken.
"Mmm-hmm!"
After several minutes of struggling, Rain finally understood she had no chance. She stopped resisting entirely, instead letting out frantic, pleading whines as if begging the Captain to talk.
The Captain narrowed his eyes. After a moment's thought, he extended his other hand toward Rain.
He figured his men's firepower could keep Victoria Housekeeping busy long enough. He had time.
Rip—
He tore off the tape in one motion and tossed it aside.
"Huff... huff..."
The moment Rain's mouth was free, she sucked in air in heavy, desperate gulps.
Only after a long while did she look up at the Captain, eyes wide in fury as she gritted out, "I remember your employer still needs me alive! He told you to bring me back in one piece!"
The Captain only snorted, voice full of resentment.
"Hah! Bring you back safely? Think about what you've done!"
"Huh?"
"You said you couldn't stomach rebel food—so we sent people into the city just to bring you meals."
"You said you didn't want to stay in the Ballet Tower because it was haunted—so a whole group of brothers spent nights outside your door keeping you company, telling you fairy tales, only sleeping after you fell asleep."
"For an honored guest of our employer, we've done everything humanly possible! I've earned every damn cent he paid me!"
His eyes bulged as he shouted, venting days of pent-up frustration in a single breath.
He'd torn off the tape precisely because he wanted to argue.
Rain blinked. Thinking back, she realized the rebels really had treated her fairly decently at first. She opened her mouth. "I—"
"Shut up!"
The Captain roared instantly, scaring her speechless.
"And what about you? What did you do?"
"You tried to escape to the rooftop to send signals to the outside! Who do you think killed all the Ethereal along your path? Who cleaned up the mess you left behind?"
"My men did!"
Rain had been feeling a twinge of guilt, but hearing that made the corner of her mouth twitch.
I thought it was you doing it...
"Do you know how exhausted they've been every day? When they came to complain, I had to comfort each of them one by one, telling them things would get better, things would improve... Do you know how much mental stress I've been under?"
"To compensate for their exhaustion, do you know how much kickback I've had to give up?"
"You don't know! All you care about is whether you can escape!"
Tsk. I get kidnapped, and somehow trying to escape is my fault?
Rain rolled her eyes, refusing to listen to more of his twisted logic.
But her blatant disregard made the Captain explode.
He screamed like a madman, "Are you even listening to me?!"
Rain lowered her head, thought for a moment, and answered seriously:
"Ten seconds ago, yes."
"You—good! Good! Hahaha!"
Driven insane with rage, he pointed at Rain, his finger trembling.
"Fine! I'll forgo the final payment! A few deaths in the Hollow are nothing unusual! I'll just tell the employer you were corrupted into an Ethereal!"
With that, the Captain raised his hand, ready to seize her throat again.
Rain reacted instantly, stumbling back—but her foot slipped into empty air.
She almost toppled off the broken edge of the balcony behind her.
She whipped her head around instinctively—only to see endless, bottomless darkness.
Her stomach dropped. She spun back quickly, her mind racing.
"Wait! You have anti-corruption medication! That excuse won't work!"
"No! I said no, so there's no medication!"
The Captain lunged, reaching for her.
Terrified, Rain squeezed her eyes shut.
One second.
Two seconds...
The suffocating grip she expected never came.
Ber!
Rain cracked open one eye—and froze.
An unfamiliar man had appeared out of nowhere, gripping the Captain's wrist firmly, rendering him immobile.
"Who... who are you?"
The Captain gritted his teeth, staring at the newcomer.
The stranger looked genuinely surprised.
"Oh? You don't recognize me?"
No sooner had he spoken than he suddenly exerted force, yanking the Captain toward him—and driving his knee upward in a brutal strike.
Crack—
The sharp sound of combat armor shattering.
"AAAAH!!!!"
The Captain's legs buckled. He collapsed to his knees with a scream that tore through the night.
Rain stared in stunned silence, swallowing hard.
Words couldn't describe the Captain's grotesque expression—his scream was a raw mixture of agony and despair, enough to make anyone's heart ache.
Before Rain's eyes, the stranger slowly crouched and ended his howls with two sharp slaps.
When the Captain finally regained awareness, the stranger grabbed him by the hair.
He asked, baffled, "I'm one of your targets. And you didn't recognize me?"
"Don't tell me you didn't even bother to read the mission before tossing it to your subordinates."
"Forget it..."
The stranger shook his head, seized the Captain by the collar, and dragged him forward. He lifted him over the balcony edge. Wind whipped past, making the Captain shiver as realization struck.
He screamed, "I—I remember! Your name is Phaga Kunmutu! You're the target I'm supposed to kill!"
Phaga's lips curled slightly into a faint smile, though his eyes remained cold.
His final words froze the Captain's heart.
"Correct. So here's your reward. Failure is fine—go to the underworld and keep plotting. Try again to kill me."
With that, Phaga let go.
The Captain felt his body lift weightlessly, as though falling from the heavens.
When thought returned to him, he was far from hope—close only to despair.
Gravity was a one-way road falling straight downward.
Once you plunged from a height, the only thing that grew was your speed...
There was no going back.