Why does the house seem so far away?" Henry wondered inwardly, staring through the carriage window with growing unease.
He struck the glass urgently. The driver, startled, stopped. Henry threw the door open and ran.
He did what he had been taught gathered his spiritual power in haste, letting it seep into the muscles of his legs, igniting them like a rare spark along his body.
He ran… the wind slapping against his face violently, but he swore he would not stop.
He swore, even if he stumbled.
Even if he fell… even if his skin tore or blood spilled, he would not stop.
The trees lining the road waved their branches as if trying to restrain him, striking him with leaves and twigs, but he did not yield.
He lifted his head for a moment and looked at the sky tinted red… the sun was bidding the horizon farewell, as if it were fleeing.
He pulled out his watch in desperation… the minute hand was running against him, not with him.
"I didn't return within the hour… as Roger asked… and now, I don't know where danger might come from."
He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. His ribs pressed hard against his lungs, and heat burned in his legs, but he felt no regret.
Then… suddenly.
A silent scream erupted from his body. Henry was hit.
He opened his eyes wide… his hands searched for the source of pain at his waist, touching hot blood.
"I… I've been hit?"
He looked around in panic, then toward the direction the shot came from—far away, from above.
"A sniper," he whispered in pain, stepping back hesitantly.
With a quick motion, he removed his coat and tied it around his waist, pressing it against the wound.
He bit down hard on his tongue so he wouldn't scream, so he wouldn't break. Then he ran again—ran despite the pain, ran despite everything.
Then… the voices began, and laughter spread.
Laughter everywhere—unclear… inhuman… laughter that pierced the heart like needles and threw off every step.
"His speed never drops…"
"Shoot his legs!"
"Make him cry!"
"Look at him… he's beautiful as he breaks."
Voices without faces, without direction, as if the trees themselves were speaking.
Henry wanted to cover his ears, to block the noise, to escape inside his own mind… but he couldn't.
"Kayden has been taken down! One of them has fallen!"
The voices shifted from whispers to screams and laughter—from fear to madness.
But Henry did not stop. "Kayden isn't a fool," he thought. Despite everything, he didn't stop.
Time was running… and Henry was bleeding.
Another bullet lodged itself in his shoulder. Henry screamed but he didn't stop. He was grateful… despite the pain, that it hadn't hit his leg.
His hand pressed his shoulder, his breathing becoming ragged. Everything was shaking his body, his spirit, even the ground beneath him no longer felt stable but he did not stop.
He was close to his house… very close.
He saw the fence in the distance, and imagined the door, safety, light… but he was breaking. Everything around him was collapsing.
Elsewhere, at the same moment…
Kayden stopped, his knees touching the ground. Two bullets had pierced his body one in his leg, the other in his shoulder.
He fell, staggered, and all he could do was exhale violently, as if life itself was being pulled out of him.
Arbela fired at him without hesitation. Mafilda screamed, then lunged forward, fighting Shon with furious desperation.
Shon smiled involuntarily at her reaction.
Mafilda knew she did not have enough strength to win… but when she remembered how Kayden had once carried her, how he had embraced her without hesitation, she gathered what little strength remained and erupted into another massive storm.
But Shon had already memorized her fighting pattern. He was faster, calmer, and far more cunning. Mafilda was forced into defense alone, barely blocking the strikes. She no longer attacked, but in Kayden's eyes, she still looked magnificent… even in her collapse.
Mafilda suddenly spoke loudly:
"Kayden… everything I have is yours! My money, my weapons everything!"
He replied in a broken voice, dry with pain: "You can't say that…"
But Mafilda screamed, "Eden… you are not my child by blood, but you are my only son! Take care of yourself… properly…"
Her voice trembled at the end. Kayden felt she was crying. At that moment, something inside Kayden shattered. Rein Yuan felt his body collapse, overwhelmed by distress, while Kayden's feelings toward Mafilda surged affection, grief, and helpless attachment all at once.
Before he could shout her name, Shon moved.
With his sword, he ended everything in a single swift motion.
In that moment, Kayden saw everything the sunset reflected in the blood, the falling head, Mafilda's body collapsing lifelessly, Shon bending toward her in silent respect.
Then Shon lifted the head… and handed it to Kayden.
Kayden took it with a trembling hand and said nothing.
He stared at Mafilda in disbelief, as if everything were unreal.
Kayden struggled to his feet. He removed his coat and carefully wrapped Mafilda's body inside it, then placed her head alongside her.
Then he lifted her… just as he had once lifted her before. Now she was in his arms, a body cold as ice.
His heart was bleeding… just like his body—but he felt nothing.
He turned his gaze to Arbela, his eyes red.
"I will kill you. Maybe not today… maybe not tomorrow—but I will kill you. And I will kill your entire family, everyone you love. I will burn everything beneath your feet… and then curse you after your death. You will find no escape from this hell. I will spread chaos through your life."
Then he looked at Shon and slowly shook his head.
Shon spoke in a deep voice, "Rest in peace…"
Kayden whispered, his eyes full of rage, "You didn't lower her head… until the very end."
Shon stood like a statue. He didn't move.
Kayden moved, ignoring his pain. He pulled Mafilda's dagger from the ground and bent down despite the blood loss so her body wouldn't fall.
But Arbela raised her gun at him again.
Kayden challenged her, "Do it. You won't, will you?"
His voice was a mixture of grief and contempt.
But Shon suddenly stepped between them.
"Don't taint this scene. Leave the body. I will bury her."
Kayden stared at him in disgusted disbelief.
"You speak to me like that? You… are completely impure. It is not appropriate for Mafilda—or for me—to speak with someone beneath our class… isn't that right?"
He finished his sentence as if waiting for Mafilda's answer—but there was no response this time.
Kayden felt as though a massive stone had been placed on his body.
He turned away without waiting for a reply and began to move. He staggered, but did not stop.
Then… someone appeared.
From nothing, as if the shadow itself had torn open and something new was born.
It was Ayrton—but not the Ayrton they knew.
He had been forced out of his meditation. He didn't move like a human. He was like a beast… broken, wounded, and on the verge of explosion.
Ayrton looked at the scene in silence.
"Where is Henry?" he asked quickly.
Kayden froze.
He suddenly remembered his brother was still being hunted… still out there, alone, in hell.
"I… don't know," Kayden's voice broke, as if his throat had been cut by the words. He felt his back bend—not from wounds, but from the crushing weight of helplessness.
But Ayrton didn't wait long. He turned to Arbela.
"Where is Adam?"
Arbela replied flatly, "We took care of him."
Ayrton raised a hand to his head, pressing his fingers against his temple.
"He's too young… how can you do this to him?" he muttered, as if approaching madness, though the pain was beyond description.
Mafilda was dead.
Henry was missing.
Adam had been "dealt with."
"Not even twenty yet…" Ayrton whispered, then began to pace in circles, searching for something—meaning.
Suddenly, he grabbed Arbela by the neck.
"Which killer did you send?" he growled.
"I don't know!" Arbela screamed—but her voice lacked honesty.
Then she suddenly cried out, as if struck—but there was no physical blow. A faint smoke began rising from her body, a sign of deception.
Kayden recognized the technique… she had lied.
For the first time, Ayrton seemed impatient.
Without warning, he gathered his spiritual power into his fist and punched Shon with brutal force.
Shon couldn't even react or defend himself.
He crashed to the ground, vomiting dark blood.
"I won't kill you," Ayrton said coldly, then turned to Arbela. "You're not my target. My target is Kayden… but I feel disgust just looking at you."
Arbela pulled out her gun again—one last attempt.
But Ayrton moved faster. He snatched it from her effortlessly and, instead of firing at her, aimed at Shon and shot.
Then he turned to Kayden, who was barely standing.
"You're in pain," he said, looking at Kayden's leg and identifying the wound precisely.
Without hesitation, he aimed at Arbela and shot the same spot.
Arbela screamed and fell, clutching her bloodied leg.
But she quickly raised a spiritual shield to defend herself.
Ayrton frowned, then looked at Kayden again.
But Kayden whispered, "It's Mafilda."
His throat tightened, and he could no longer hold back his tears. They fell in silence.
"Ayrton… she died fighting. She was incredibly strong. I'm proud of her… she didn't die weakly… she was great… and she will live on in hearts."
Ayrton's eyes widened in shock.
"I was advancing… and I lost control of my power," he said calmly. "I'm sorry… I wasn't here."
But Kayden lifted his head and looked at him.
"It's my problem… you're not obligated to do anything."
Ayrton said nothing. Instead, he raised the gun again at Arbela.
But Shon moved.
He stepped forward slowly and took the bullet in her place.
He fell to the ground… and didn't move.
Arbela looked at Ayrton, her eyes flickering with a strange desire to escape the scene, mixed with poorly hidden fear.
"You… failed to advance?" she whispered.
It wasn't pity—only corrupt curiosity.
She stepped back cautiously, glancing at Shon, urging him silently to move, to do anything—but he remained on the ground, breathing heavily through blood.
Ayrton didn't look at her.
"So what?" he replied in a lifeless voice.
His face was cold. No emotion, no anger, no regret… as if he had lost the ability to feel.
Arbela said, trying to steady herself, "Failure to advance… can lead to disaster."
But Ayrton didn't let her finish.
His voice cut through the air, sharp and absolute.
"Don't speak again. I am not like you."
Ayrton turned his head again, his eyes searching the emptiness.
He was waiting , waiting for Adam to appear from nowhere, as he always did. But Adam didn't appear.
"So… Adam is missing? That's completely irrational. I can still feel him he's alive… I'm going to lose my mind," Ayrton whispered, his voice softer now, almost as if the question was directed at the sky rather than those around him.
Shon answered weakly, his words barely audible between broken breaths. "He wasn't sent against just one person… so… maybe he really is dead."
Ayrton lifted his gaze to the sky. The scattered clouds had turned the color of blood under the dying sun. He shut his eyes tightly.
He was in pain.
He whispered, as if speaking directly to Kayden's heart,
"Kayden… you must be hurting terribly. Those madmen… pushed you too far. More than you can bear."
But Kayden was dying inwardly. His head ached, his heart was sinking, and the body he held… was unbearably heavy.
Mafilda had once been full of life in his arms. Now… she was silence. Cold. Empty.
He wanted to turn back time. To never leave the house. To never let her fight. To never leave Henry alone ,To never ignore Colton's warnings.
And he wanted to know what was happening to his brother?
His heart was drowning in regret, with only a fragile thread of hope left for Henry.
He could no longer tell what he wished for… and what he had already lost.
Elsewhere…
Henry kept running until he felt like he would truly die.
His breathing shattered, each inhale like a drowning man pulling air through water. His heart slammed against his chest violently.
Then he saw it.
A massive tree, its trunk split open. Inside one of the cracks a hollow space, dark and wide. Large enough to swallow someone desperate enough… someone like him.
Henry couldn't think anymore. He didn't have the luxury.
The pursuit had grown worse. He finally understood this was never a real chase. It was a game.
He dove inside the hollow, hiding like a terrified child under a bed.
He panted violently, trying to silence even his breathing.
His back pressed against the inner wood of the tree. It was cold… unnaturally cold, as if it had held someone before him who never left.
Henry closed his eyes And silently prayed it was all a nightmare.
But hope was gone.
The voices outside grew louder screams, laughter, discussions about how to torture him. Blood stained his clothes. His wounds burned. Fear had taken root in his eyes.
His body had gone cold as ice.
He no longer knew how much time had passed… or if he would survive the next minute.
Then Someone appeared in front of him.
Out of nowhere , Hugo. He smiled faintly. A smile that could mean mercy… madness… or farewell.
Henry couldn't even breathe. "You're going to kill me?" Henry asked, voice steady despite everything.
The question was direct. Simple. Unavoidable.
But Hugo answered with a question of his own. "Who are you?"
Henry stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
Hugo pointed at his face pale, broken, marked by blood and exhaustion.
"Henry… or Kayden?"
Henry froze. "…What's the difference?"
Hugo lifted a finger, as if explaining a universal law"If you're Kayden… I have to break you. Crush your bones until I can take control. But if you're Henry… it will be less severe."
Thoughts raced through Henry's mind. 'They're looking for Kayden… to kill him? What do I do?'
He didn't have time. "I… am Kayden,"