*Knock* *Knock*

"Who's got business with me today?"

Dylan stood up from his chair after sipping his cup of coffee.

He walked to the front door and opened it.

Behind it was a man he wasn't expecting to see so soon.

"Hi, Dylan."

Orion, a smile on his face, was standing his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you here so soon? "

He received a shrug as the answer.

"Of course I'll come back. Are you telling me I can't come see you whenever I want?"

The beastman looked away.

"I never said that..."

"Then now that this has been cleared, I have something to ask you. Can I come inside?"

"Is it something nobody should hear?"

No answer. Only Orion's eyes conveyed the message.

'Worse than that, huh?'

A beastman's instinct wasn't to be underestimated.

"Sure, come in."

Now invited, Orion entered the house and followed Dylan to the same table where he revealed everything a few days before.

"What's that thing you want to talk about?"

It seemed like no one other than Dylan was home currently. It was a discussion solely between the two of them.

Orion placed his hands on the table, and went straight to the point.

"How much do you believe in your son's ability to assassinate someone?"

"..."

Dylan opened his mouth in surprise.

"What are you planning to do?"

He crossed his arms and glared at Orion.

"Is it something that will put him in danger?"

"No. I don't think so, if you trust in his ability to remain concealed."

"What are you planning to do? Tell me, and I'll answer you."

"I don't see why not."

Orion then began to explain his whole plan to Dylan.

...

"Where are you getting such crazy ideas?"

What Orion said was so horrible for his enemies, that if Dylan didn't knew him personally, he would think that the man in front of him was a monster with no remorse.

"I don't know. I simply adjust my own abilities with others."

Thinking, Orion thought that these ideas would come to anyone with a brain, and that is wasn't that special.

"Well, let me simulate what you said. We don't know how the city's built yet, right?"

Orion nodded.

"Then it limits your intel. You should prioritize knowing the enemies patrol routes, and anything that could make the slightest of moves noticeable."

"Imagine this. What if the soldier you've killed is supposed to meet another one further down the path. If he is missing, that soldier will immediately alert all others to look for the one missing0. Sure, you could use it to your advantage, but it becomes too difficult to pick the next target like this."

"Pick one, remove it, go to the next checkpoint, remove it, until there's no other soldiers capable of noticing your actions."

Even though surprised, Orion absorbed the knowledge Dylan was sharing with him.

"How do you know that?"

Dylan closed his eyes.

"That was how I've been fighting before some humans came to ask for forgiveness. Right after the event with that dragon, humans seemed to become more aggravated, and they began to attack some settlements here and there."

"There had been quite a few casualties, but most of all, they ransacked the villages of their provisions."

"Since I had my name to uphold, I moved to defend them. I've killed many humans at that time, but it always felt wrong to do it."

Lifting his brow, Orion felt confused.

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"Why? If they were doing awful actions against the beastmen, why would you feel that?"

"Because there was a few incoherent words coming out of their mouths, the fact that their eyes sometimes blinked red, and that I've found black stones being ejected of their chest after ripping it open. Though, it vanished instantly. It makes me wonder if I was hallucinating."

Orion understood then.

'The corruption was pushing humans to commit atrocities.'

"They were out of control, and I couldn't bring back their reason no matter what I tried. So, my last struggle was to make them understand how far I was ready to go to exact vengeance on their actions."

"I've infiltrated Albriar, moved along the soldier's patrols, and destroyed parts of their fields and their windmill. After that, I noticed that strange pillar of magic, and went to check it. I found you, and followed my instinct not to drop you in or near a human city."

"It was already bad enough, but I had to kill a few more soldiers of Albriar who tried to frame me of kidnapping you. I couldn't risk anyone knowing about a child that gave me a hunch so strong not to make him live with humans."

"Auro was my safest bet. It is one of the village no one tries to go into, as it is far from any significant human cities, and it is quite hidden too."

"Initially, there was a human that came once every ten years to take the surplus of beastmen away to another settlement, but since Albriar, Hocride, Turric, and even Noctelagia had been revising their treatment of other factions, we've been living in a peaceful environment since then."

"I haven't received any news of settlements or villages being affected by humans for the past twenty years, as most are located near those free cities. I even learned that they began to take our members in, and made them work under fair rules."

"But I'm rumbling. Sorry about that."

Dylan rubbed the back of his head in apology.

"Don't apologize, I've learned quite a few things."

'Notably that the Dragon's Rampage was truly the turning point for many. If not for Monolavir, humans might have been tormenting other factions endlessly. Florian and Eric fought him, making their ambitions bear fruit, while Kamala broke free of her mother's tyranny.'

'About Noctelagia, I know barely anything besides the bare minimum.'

This was still a problem. He knew nothing about the woman named Olivia Lakis. He knew she was a friend of the trio of Apostles he befriended, and that she was younger than him, but other than that...

'Right, this is not the moment to think about that.'

He internally shook his head, returning to the conversation at hand.

"So, if I take the afternoon to look over the enemies defenses, can you answer my initial question?"

Dylan shook his head, which disappointed Orion.

"You won't have to do that."

"Why?"

Dylan placed his right hand on the table and tapped his index finger on it in a rhythm.

"Because it's the job of an assassin to do that. I believe it will be good training for him too. Nothing better than the real deal instead of a simulation."

"Then?!"

Very happy to hear those words come out of the bulky man in front of him, he smiled.

"Sure. I agree with your plan. To answer perfectly, I trust in Nylon's ability as much as I trust you with a crossbow."

"Then there's nothing to worry about. I mastered the crossbow long ago."

"And Nylon mastered the Art of Assassination long ago."

Orion's eyes glistened, and he turned around with Taygeta in his hand. His hair changed as he released his magic.

"I don't really like being the subject of such intense killing intent. I have enough with the Apostles as it is."

"I just meant to try your nerves, you don't have to glare at me."

Nylon's metal claws were near Orion's throat, but Taygeta was touching Nylon's chest, ready to pierce his heart.

Though, Orion chose Taygeta because it had no piercing attribute. It was a ghostly arrow that inflicted an ailment without living a single injury.

"But I have to give it to you. This is the real deal. I noticed you a bit too late."

"And I rushed a bit too. If I had chosen a better angle, I could have fooled you."

Orion's crazy smile formed on his face.

"Then, we'll have to train together to see who's the most sneaky."

"Bring it on."

They both lowered their weapons, and Nylon sat between his father and Orion as if nothing happened.

"I wasn't expecting to see Orion in our house. What brings you here?"

Dylan understood his son's question, as it was the same before Orion told him.

"Nylon, I have a new job for you."

His body visibly jolted, as his gaze turned somber.

"What do you want me to do?"

~

"A lot happened recently, don't you think?"

"By a lot, do you mean how everything seems to go too fast for Orion to adjust to?"

Orianne and Reon were talking. Orianne was training her body, though it was pretty useless as she was a spirit, but she didn't want her knowledge to rust, while Reon was writing something on a transparent screen at the table.

"The days are numbered at this point. Do you think he will be alright?"

The woman stopped her kicking motion with a worried expression.

"What do you want, my honest opinion, or the lie?"

Reon placed his pen on the table and glanced at his wife.

"..."

"Your honest opinion."

He turned around, hiding his expression to Orianne.

"I don't have much hope."

She clenched her fists in anger.

"As you've said, it has gone too fast. Let's believe that that Remnant's roar shook the continent so forcefully that the seal weakened."

Reon swiped the transparent screen until some thoughts he wrote down appeared.

"Then Elliot's return will arrive sooner, as that hourglass artifact showed."

"It could also be that the knot in the Remnant's soul linking it to his children gave strength to Elliot in some way when it broke. Honestly, I don't know."

"The only truth is that twenty days are too few for Orion to get on his level."

With her right fist clenched, Orianne punched the air in front of her, sending a shockwave a few meters in front of her.

"Why nothing goes our way?!"

She was very angry.

"Not to go back on it, but we made a child because we were in love. If not for Elliot, we could've been happy!"

"We saved Orion so that he could at least enjoy his life in peace in a future without that monster, yet he was born a few years before that human's seal broke down completely."

"And now, all his efforts are thrown back in his face, because his choice to save as much beings as he can seems to backfire somehow!"

Her red tail violently slammed on the ground, leaving a scorched mark where it hit.

"Why aren't you angry?!"

She spoke those words with slight hostility.

"Oh, I am angry."

Reon opened his hand, making pieces of pens crumble to dust.

"How many pens do you think I've destroyed so far? Just because I never say anything doesn't mean I don't feel like you."

"..."

Looking away, Orianne felt bad.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry. It's perfectly fine. When it comes to our child, of course there would be some conflicts. I never expected it to be about Elliot though."

He smiled with a hint of wrath hidden behind it.

'I happen to forget, but his temper is one of the worst in the angel faction. The fact that he subdued many members of the angels before taking the title of 'Chief' is a good reminder.'

Reon was a scary man. But he had full control over his emotions. Never once did he let them rule over his rationality.

That is the reason why he never wronged or harmed the ones he loved, and those that respected him. A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye.

"I am just like you. I wish Elliot could just disappear. Better yet, it would be good if the seal took some his strength away, or straight up kills him once broken."

"That is a very wishful thinking."

"..."

Reon turned around, and looked at Orianne with a determined look.

"Ready yourself. Because the last thing we will see... will most likely be our son's death."

"Kill your heart, and watch his struggle until the very end. This is our job as parents."

Orianne bit her lower lip in frustration.

'Orion.'

Both had one thought in their mind.

'Do your best.'