??? POV:

My mouth dropped open, and I no longer looked at the boy as a saviour, but as something beyond a monster.

“P-please... I-I... Was wrong...”

The man had been battered into submission and begged for the beating to stop. All that talk about blood rituals and sacred offerings disappeared along with the muzzle that had been knocked off his face.

“I don’t think you really mean it.”

“I do...! I do! Have mercy!!”

He stood up and looked down at the man trembling before him. I saw him glance at me before opening his mouth, and those cursed words came out again.

“Please don't die on me.”

The man's screams were drowned out by the sound of his body breaking apart. He had lost consciousness once again, but when he awoke, the boy repeated the same words again and again—conditioning his mind while simultaneously breaking his will.

“S-stop!!”

I couldn’t watch it anymore. He looked at me with calm eyes as he folded his arms.

“This man would have killed you and that baby. He saw you both as nothing but offerings to satisfy his disgusting desires.”

“I...”

I couldn’t reply—he was right. Truthfully, I didn’t care about the man; I just hated violence. It made me feel sick watching him be tormented on such an extreme level.

I watched the Blood Hound tremble as he held onto the boy’s leg, begging for forgiveness.

“You’re apologizing to the wrong person.”

The man swivelled around and crawled over to me. His knees scraped against the ground, tearing away the skin. He stopped a few meters in front of me, and his forehead smashed into the ground.

“I’m sorry...! I'm... Sorry! I wasn’t myself...! I wasn’t thinking clearly!”

I glanced at the boy whose eyes had narrowed at the man's words. I wasn’t sure how I felt about his apology. It was sincere, but the wounds on my back were raw... I turned my head away and looked at the baby.

“...Okay. That’s enough...”

It’d be a different story if he was the one responsible for killing this child's parents, but he wasn’t.

“You’ll be coming with me. I'm new to District 3, and I need a tour guide.”

“Y-yes...”

The man cowered in fear but drew closer to me instead. His bloodshot eyes had returned to normal, and his sandy beige complexion had lightened slightly. I wanted to move away, but I was in too much pain, and the boy hadn’t intervened yet either.

‘!’

The man fanned out his fingers, and a warm green light spread over me. The pain in my back began to decrease, and the wounds sealed up. The light vanished, taking most of the soreness with it.

“I'm sorry...”

He bowed his head again, and I got to my feet. He was a completely different person compared to an hour ago.

“Don’t worry. This situation is far more complicated than you think.”

The boy bent down and placed his hand on the man's shoulder as he sobbed. I stared at him and realized that I had judged him too harshly—he wasn’t beyond a monster. He just knew how far he could go before crossing over into that threshold.

The man wiped the tears away from his eyes and healed his own wounds. The boy didn’t stop him, instead, he leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky.

“I'm looking for Complex B on Pine Street. Are either of you familiar with it?”

“Pine Street?!”

I covered my mouth after shouting out in surprise. That street was dangerous, or to be more accurate, the area around that street was. It had the most Blood Hound activity in the whole of District 3, and everyone knew to avoid that area at all costs.

“If you don’t mind... I believe... We should talk about this at my place... It’s not far from here...”

He itched the inside of his arm, avoiding eye contact while he spoke. I noticed red blotches spreading across his skin as he constantly healed himself.

“Lead the way.”

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“A-are you sure... That’s wise?”

I knew it wasn’t my place to say anything, but I was worried that he might get caught in a trap. You couldn’t really trust anyone here; I was taught that from the day I could first speak.

“It’ll be alright. You should both come along too. I sense more people heading this way, so let’s move.”

The man nodded his head and quickly took the lead as the boy followed after him. My gaze shifted between the end of the alleyway and the two people leaving in the other direction. I looked down at the baby and saw him pointing towards the boy's back with a playful expression.

‘...’

I stopped hesitating and followed after them.

***

“What exactly is going on here?”

The boy sat cross-legged on the floor by the table as he spoke. I sat opposite him while the baby slept in my arms. I watched the man let out a sigh as his hand ran through his short copper hair.

The man's room was cleaner than I expected. He had a flat on the 8th floor of a nearby estate, and we reached it smoothly thanks to the boy helping us avoid the Blood Hounds.

“Madness... It’s pure madness here... This District is a lost cause... Forget about Pine Street... Get out of here before you get swallowed up too...!”

His breathing became erratic, and saliva dripped down the side of his mouth. Blood trickled out of his nose while the red blotches on his arm increased.

I instinctively moved back towards the doorway, but the boy simply took out a handkerchief and handed it to the man.

“Calm down. Let’s start from the beginning. Why are members from District 3’s Organization running around with muzzles on and killing innocent civilians?”

The man thanked the boy for the handkerchief and wiped his mouth. He took a long deep breath and looked up at the ceiling before letting it out. His breathing steadied, and a few of the red blotches on his arm disappeared.

“The leader...of District 3 made a deal...With a dangerous group of people... At first, our economy bloomed... I had more food on the table... More money saved away... More everything, but that was only in the short term... The deal they made came at the expense of the people...”

My heartbeat quickened. I didn’t know any of this.

“Experimental drugs... Members of the Organization were forced to use them... Otherwise, they indiscriminately started killing our loved ones... All those years ago...”

“Tell me about these experimental drugs.”

He glanced at the boy before looking away.

“These drugs had the potential to force a practitioner...To reach a higher Ki Stage, maybe even two...”

The boy’s eyes widened in shock. I couldn’t quite follow the discussion. I knew about Ki, but I was only at Irini.

“They tied us to a chair and injected the drug directly into our bloodstream... If you didn’t die, your body would feel hot, and you’d feel all of that power coursing through your veins...And then, it’d devour your mind.

Rob you of your reasoning and freedom... You became a slave to the drug... An addict to the feeling of raw power...!”

His eyes bulged while he recalled the feeling. His tongue licked his lips as his eyes started to turn red.

‘!’

The boy slammed his hand on the table, and the man instantly snapped out of it.

“Continue.”

He folded his arms again, listening intently to the man’s explanation. I was honestly surprised by how calm he was. That being said, what was causing all of this madness in the streets was actually... Doping?

“W-we called this process... Hounding. If we survived it, for the next few hours we’d be different...Both in body and mind... We began to crave blood... We treated killing as a religious activity... The civilians our offerings... The Ruler... Our god...”

I clenched my teeth and glared at him. My blood boiled as I heard his ridiculous explanation.

“You Blood Hounds took away this child’s parents! Treating killing as a religious activity? You’re crazy!!”

He looked down and scratched the back of his head.

“That’s the point... We are crazy... Don’t take the drug enough... The side effects will drive you mad... Hallucinations... Self-harm... The list goes on... But you...”

His words trailed off as he raised his head to look at me.

“You’re both alive... Because my mind...Wasn’t completely consumed...I couldn’t control the beast... But I could slow it down...”

I recalled his blade slowly ripping away the flesh off my back and bit my lip.

“You...!”

“He’s not lying. He was already at Shin before taking the drug. If he wanted the both of you dead, I wouldn’t have made it in time.”

“...”

I clicked my tongue and stared at the table. I just felt incredibly irritated, like I was someone’s plaything.

“Like I explained...There’s a time limit. For most of us, it’s only a few hours...”

“Alright, I understand the gist of it. Who’s supplying these drugs?”

The man looked troubled and didn’t reply instantly. I watched him peek out of the window to look down at the streets below as he lowered his voice to a whisper.

“F-first... Who are you exactly?...”

That was a good question. I looked at the boy I had never seen before and became curious about his identity.

“District 4’s Leader: Lyon Asphalios.”

“!!”

Our jaws hit the floor as we stared at him wide-eyed. He was so young, yet he was already a District Leader? I couldn’t believe it, but I had to. His confidence, his calm approach and the way he moved—he just seemed like someone with authority despite his young age.

“I-In that case... The experimental drugs come from an infamous organization known as Enigma...”

‘Enigma?’

I had never heard of them before. This meant that District 3 was essentially a testing ground. Lyon's expression changed noticeably, but he didn’t say anything else.

“If we don’t wear the muzzles, the natural air will poison our blood stream. It helps filter and circulate breathable air back into our lungs...”

Lyon got up from his seat and looked down at the man.

“Are you familiar with a man named Copycat?”

“C-Copycat? Never heard of him...”

He glanced at me, and I shook my head as well.

“Take me to Pine Street. I’ll deal with the Blood Hounds.”

“It’s suicide...While the drug did increase my Ki, I was a weak healer to begin with... Don’t use me as a standard measurement for the other Hounds...”

He put both his hands on his head in defeat. He looked exhausted and truly afraid.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Get ready, we’re moving out.”

The man nodded his head reluctantly, and I wondered what I should do. Would I have to go along with the two of them? I couldn’t exactly stay here either; it wasn’t my place.

“You stay here. We’ll be back within two days. Do not open that door for anyone, alright?”

“Okay...”

He crouched down and looked at the baby who had woken up. I saw his lips curve upwards as he gently poked the baby’s cheek. The baby giggled as he tried to grab Lyon's finger. Lyon turned his head to look at me.

“What’s your name?”

“Edith... But he doesn’t have a name yet...”

He placed his hand on my shoulder and stood up.

“He’s in your care now, so you should give him a one.”

I watched the two of them head towards the doorway. The man turned around, quickly told me where the food was and made it clear that I could have whatever I wanted.

The door closed behind them, and I was left alone.