A call arrives on Saigid's phone. Hanchu calls him. Saigid scowls at the interruption as his phone begins to ring. Of course it has to be right now, and of course it has to be Hanchu.
He mutters a curse under his breath before fishing his phone out, answering it with a sharp, irritable "What."
Hanchu's voice was shaking, and he was breathing very loudly into the phone, as if he were running. "Saigid... The warehouse was attacked! They took everything. They took the prisoners and the crystal people, too. They were all taken away by the president's people." The call ends.
The words hit him like cold water: they were literally next to the president. Saigid took a quick glance at Lyutich, who already understood that salvation required an instant decision.
Saigid doesn't move. Not a single muscle.
The phone slips from his fingers, hitting the ground with a soft clack.
Hanchu's words echo in his head—They took everything. The prisoners. The crystal people. And the worst part?
They were standing right next to the man who did it.
His red eyes snap up—no longer cold, no longer sarcastic—but burning like embers pulled straight from hellfire.
Lyutich doesn't need to say anything. He already knows what Saigid sees: this ends now.
No more waiting. No more pretending this is politics or games.
Saigid' voice cuts through the air like shattered glass low, lethal, final:
"We take him."
The president waved his hand and ordered "Crystal to grab him."
The moment the crystal attacks, Saigid' body tenses—ready to defend—but before he can even react, pain explodes through his neck as the sharp edge of the blade strikes home.
The crystal created a sword out of thin air and attacked Saigid. The man stabbed him in the neck with his sword, but Saigid didn't even flinch.
[The sponsor's ability has been activated]
[second ability activated: submission]
"Stop the president!" said Saigid, and then collapsed to the ground.
After Saigid's words, Crystal's mask fell off her face. He did not hesitate to rush at the president. Lyutich ran up to Saigid, not understanding quickly.
It takes all his effort to stay standing, his vision graying for a second before he regains his bearings. The sound of shouting fills the air as people react to the sudden violence, but they're just muffled background noise as Saigid' gaze remains razor-focused on the man he wants to crush.
Loky grabbed Saigid and lyutich on his huge raven and flew away from here into the forest away from prying eyes.
The sudden shift in motion is enough to send a wave of dizziness through Saigid, and he instinctively grabs onto the bird to keep himself steady.
He's quiet as he's carried away, his expression stoic even as the world whips past him in a blur of color.
"Where are you taking us?" he manages after a moment, his voice tight.
"I do not know..." he replied, clearly being somewhere in his thoughts, thinking about something seriously.
In the forest, already in relative safety, Saigid knelt down, breathing heavily. Loky looked at him calmly
Saigid forces himself to his feet, despite the blood still dripping from his neck and the lingering ache in every limb.
He turns on Loky with fire in his eyes—cold, furious, unrelenting.
He repeats, voice hoarse but sharp as a blade. "You kidnapped us mid-fight and expect me to believe you have no plan?"
He takes one step forward, swaying slightly before locking his knees to stay upright. Red eyes burn through the dim forest light.
"That was a setup. All of it." He spits blood onto the moss-covered ground. "And Yushai... he's walking into a trap."
Loky is approached by one of his several scouts so unnoticed that he did not show himself to anyone who did not notice him. This scared Lyutich a lot.
"Sir, we found a guy who was able to escape from the warehouse from the president's people. But I can only show you where he is. Since I can only guess that he won't stay in one place."
"as I understand it, this is your Hanchu friend." Said Loky
Saigid' breath catches at the name.
"Hanchu?" he says, voice low—suddenly sharper than a knife. "Alive? And free?"
His red eyes snap toward Loky, then the scout. No hesitation. No doubt.
"Then move," he growls, already pushing past Lyutich despite the blood still slick on his neck and the world tilting slightly around him.
He doesn't wait for permission or a plan. If Hanchu's out there—if he has information—then every second they stand here is a second Yushai might not have.
"If you're leading us to him," Saigid says over his shoulder, voice dark with urgency, "you better run fast."
Saigid slows to a stop, his eyes on the foggy surroundings and his heart beating a little faster. The forest is eerily quiet, the only sound the rustle of leaves and the distant drone of insects.
He glances around, scanning the mist for any sign of Hanchu—any indication of anything—but there's nothing but gray and shadows.
Then, the quiet is broken by Lyutich's voice as he shouts and echoes through the trees.
"Hanchu"
Saigid doesn't say a word. He stands there with Lyutich, waiting. Listening.
Hanchu crawled out from under the bark of the tree, covered in dirt, but clearly pleased that familiar faces had found him.
Relief flashes across Saigid' face as he spots Hanchu moving out from under the tree bark, covered in dirt but looking very much alive. He strides forward, still clutching his neck, his eyes sweeping over Hanchu's form as he closes the distance.
"Hanchu, you idiot," he grumbles, a hint of relief in the gruff tone.