In a quieter part of the city, where only a few people walked the streets, Runa slowly approached an old building that looked like a small bar.
A worn CLOSED sign hung from the door.
Runa stopped in front of it, clenching his fist slightly. "…Damn it." He whispered to himself.
Then he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Inside the dim bar, the atmosphere was heavy and tense.
A one-eyed man wearing an eye patch stood in the center of the room, one hand resting on the handle of his sword.
Beneath his boot, a woman in her late thirties was pinned to the floor, struggling to breathe.
The man grinned the moment he saw Runa enter.
"Hoho~ so you really do want your little auntie to die, huh?" he mocked coldly.
"So that man is really more important to you than your auntie life, huh?" the one-eyed man asked mockingly, pressing his boot down harder.
Runa's expression tightened instantly.
The woman beneath him forced out a weak smile despite her condition.
"Don't worry about me, Runa." she said softly. "I've already lived long enough… it's okay for me to die."
"Shut up, old woman!" another man shouted from the bar table. "You're going to die soon anyway!"
Runa's expression darkened instantly, the air around him trembled.
In the next moment, dozens of daggers rose into the air around his body, floating silently as killing intent filled the room.
The men inside immediately stiffened.
Even the one-eyed leader narrowed his gaze slightly as the blades hovered around Runa like a storm waiting to strike.
The floating daggers slowly rotated around Runa, their sharp edges reflecting the dim light of the bar.
The pressure in the room intensified instantly.
One of the men near the wall instinctively stepped back.
"…Tch. So the rumors were true." the one-eyed leader muttered, keeping one foot on Runa's auntie while resting his hand on his sword.
Runa's voice turned cold.
"…Take your foot off her!"
"Ho~?" the one-eyed leader said with a mocking grin.
Then he deliberately pressed his boot down harder onto the old woman's back.
"AHH—!" she cried out in pain.
The floating daggers around Runa trembled violently for a moment as his killing intent surged through the room.
Runa rushed forward without hesitation, anger completely overtaking his judgment.
"YOU—! I'LL KILL YOU!" he shouted.
The floating daggers shot through the air like a deadly storm, aiming straight for the one-eyed leader.
The one-eyed leader watched the incoming daggers without moving from his spot.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
With calm precision, he deflected each blade mid-air using the flat of his sword, sending them spinning harmlessly aside.
Not a single one reached him.
Then—
Runa was already in front of him, her claws tore through the air, aimed straight for his throat.
The room seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second.
The one-eyed leader only smirked.
Before Runa's claws could land—
BAM!
A brutal punch slammed straight into her stomach, the impact echoed through the bar.
Runa coughed violently, blood spilling from her mouth as she was thrown backward through the air.
THUD—!
She crashed into the wall, but instead of breaking through, she hit something unseen.
An invisible barrier.
Her body slid down slightly before she forced herself upright, one hand pressing against the invisible wall as she steadied her breath, eyes burning with fury while the barrier shimmered faintly under her palm.
"Don't be surprised," the one-eyed leader said with a low, amused chuckle. "We've already set up a Sound Barrier and an Invisible Barrier… to prevent intruders. Hehehe~"
He slowly rolled his shoulders, completely relaxed as if the situation was already under control.
Inside the sealed bar, the air felt heavier now—cut off from the outside world, like a cage that no one could escape.
"Shit… really shit…" Runa whispered through clenched teeth, still pressing against the invisible barrier as she steadied herself.
Her breathing was uneven, anger mixing with frustration.
"…How did we end up in this situation?"
For a brief moment, her mind drifted.
Kael.
"…Heh," she let out a weak, irritated laugh. "That fucking idiot…"
Even now, she couldn't tell if she was blaming him… or thinking of him as the only person who might've made this situation even worse if he were here.
The one-eyed leader slowly stepped forward, rolling his shoulder as if warming up for a casual spar.
"…You're fast," he admitted, glancing at Runa through the dim light. "But not fast enough."
The barrier behind her shimmered faintly as she steadied her stance, claws still extended, blood dripping from her lip.
The rest of the men remained watching, mocking and laught.
The leader tilted his head slightly.
"…Now," he said softly, "let's see how long the Red Assassin lasts inside my cage."
The one-eyed leader slowly walked toward Runa, each step echoing lightly across the bar floor.
Runa tried to steady her breathing, but her body betrayed her—her ribs screamed in pain with every movement, her strength clearly fading.
She gritted her teeth, forcing herself upright against the invisible barrier.
The leader stopped a few steps away, looking down at her with a cold smile.
"I'll tear you into pieces with my hands, Red Assassin," he said calmly, almost casually.
Then his gaze shifted toward the old woman still on the floor.
"…And I'll turn your aunt into a Nightmare right in front of you."
The air in the sealed room grew heavier.
Runa's body trembled slightly, blood still at the corner of her mouth as she stood barely upright against the invisible barrier.
Her eyes narrowed—not in defiance, but in exhausting and extreme pain.
"…Damn it! " she whispered.
For a brief moment, her thoughts drifted.
Kael.
"I can't believe I'm thinking about this now…" she muttered weakly. "I want… to go back to the past…" Her voice lowered further.
"…and tell him this world isn't hopeless… that he shouldn't look at it like that…"
The one-eyed leader raised his hand slowly, blade glinting as he prepared to strike her down.
Time felt like it slowed.
Runa closed her eyes slightly. "…Idiot…" she whispered, whether to Kael or herself—she didn't know.
Then—on the floor near Runa, a single dagger began to tremble.
The one-eyed leader noticed it instantly.
"Hm."
His eye narrowed slightly as he shifted his stance.
In the next moment—The dagger shot forward.
Not fast in a normal sense… but unnaturally precise, as if space itself had been cut to guide its path.
CLANG!
Sparks burst out as the one-eyed leader blocked it with his sword at the last possible instant.
His feet slid half a step back from the force.
"…Tch," he muttered under his breath, finally losing his relaxed expression.
For the first time—His gaze sharpened.
The dagger spun once in the air before embedding itself into the wooden floor nearby.
Silence filled the sealed bar.
Runa slowly opened her eyes again, confused.
The one-eyed leader's expression darkened as he looked toward the entrance.
The sound of someone walking echoed from outside the door.
"Who's that!?" one of the men shouted from the back of the room.
The bar door slowly opened.
Kael stepped inside calmly.
The moment he crossed the entrance, the atmosphere inside the sealed room shifted.
"Who the hell are you?" the one-eyed leader demanded sharply, tightening his grip on his sword. "And how did you enter this place?"
His gaze flickered briefly toward the invisible barrier surrounding the bar.
"…This place is sealed," he muttered under his breath. "No one should be able to enter or escape."
From the back of the room, the injured man suddenly paled.
"L-Leader!" he said in panic with telepathic. "It's him! The man I told you about!"
A telepathic message immediately reached the leader's mind.
The one-eyed leader's expression darkened at once as his eye locked onto Kael.
Meanwhile, Runa stared at the doorway in stunned silence.
"…You really came." she said softly.