??? POV:

I sat alone on my throne in the dark room. The districts had been noisy lately. Late tributes, internal conflicts and hidden deals with Inner Astril—these matters didn’t trouble me. In fact, my subjects were unintentionally aiding me with my goal.

“My Lord.”

She entered the room without a sound, but I had sensed her long beforehand. I watched her drop to one knee and bow before me. Her dark blue silky hair draped over her shoulders while she waited for my permission to speak.

“Elinor, tell me the good news.”

I observed her hands ball into fists as the skinfolds between her perfect eyebrows multiplied.

“Solina was beaten and the Amplifier stolen.”

“What?”

My fingers dug into the sides of the armrests. This was not the type of news I wanted to hear.

‘Solina failed?’

She may have been ranked 19th, but she was still a Royal Guard in the 10s. Her ability had fantastic potential, and I had been looking forward to her growth.

“She chose not to recapture the Amplifier after her initial escape. Instead, Solina opted to apply pressure to her by harming the locals, which also aligned with Enigma's goal of seeing the true effect of the KEDs.”

I knew that the Amplifier had escaped, but that wasn’t a problem as long as she still remained in District 3.

Enigma had abused her for years now, and I was positive that they had developed a more stable drug long before the Amplifier was stolen.

‘They probably decided to push the limits of the drug more.’

I agreed with Solina's decision, but the outcome couldn’t be dismissed. If Enigma finds out I’ve lost the Amplifier, they won’t let this go easily. Thanks to them, my funds had increased exponentially, and my army grew more powerful, but at the same time, I couldn’t utilize them without alerting Inner Astril.

“My Lord, the only one who saw the whole battle was X.”

‘Good. X was no threat to me at all.’

The corners of my mouth rose as a wonderful idea popped into my head. It made no sense for me to tiptoe around outsiders like Enigma. They’ve served their purpose and gained plenty of useful results from their research, but everything under the sky here belongs to me.

Why?

It's because I am a King. What kind of King lets others dictate what he can or cannot do?

“Steal the enhanced KEDs. Once Enigma is out of the picture, bring me my Amplifier.”

“M-my Lord... Enigma... They aren’t an organization we should steal from...”

Elinor avoided my gaze as she bit her lip. She was one of my most loyal subjects, no, she was far more than that. She only wanted what was best for me, yet even she couldn’t grasp it. A true King does not give; he takes.

I rose from my throne as I observed her perfect, trembling body prostrated before me. I descended the steps and bent down. Elinor stared at the floor, her breathing becoming erratic while I lifted her chin up with my fingers and our eyes met.

“Elinor, what am I?”

“A-A... King...”

I placed my hand around the back of her head and pushed her flawless face into my chest. I stroked her hair gently while her breathing stabilized. She wrapped her arms around my waist tightly when my lips brushed past her ear, and I whispered directly into it.

“Then bring me what’s mine.”

***

Lyon POV:

The first thing I saw when my eyes opened was Holder's hands outstretched over my body.

“You’re awake...”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead using the back of his hand and took a step back. Bandages wrapped around my abdomen accompanied with constant bolts of pain. I pondered over how I had failed to notice just how bad my injuries were.

“Thank you, Holder.”

“No... A-actually, I couldn’t do much for you... It’s unbelievable that you managed to walk around for as long as you did without collapsing. Y-your willpower is otherworldly...”

I sat up on the bed and leaned against the wall. He was right—my body was still a mess. I theorised that his ability couldn’t heal internal wounds, but I was positive it would still help make the pain more bearable.

“I’m still grateful.”

He scratched the back of his head and smiled somewhat disappointingly.

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“My ability is called Cure... I can heal basic external injuries quite well, but internally... I can’t do much.”

I recalled how he had healed relatively quickly from the injuries I gave him, though it did take a while for the swelling to go down. I didn’t break anything in his body, so most of his wounds were external.

However, he had partially suppressed the side effects of the KEDs and stopped the poison from spreading through his body after I had knocked his muzzle away.

‘Perhaps his ability has more potential than he thought?’

“Holder, how much can an ability grow? Is there a limit?”

Master hadn’t taught me that much about ability users, so I was curious. I remembered him mentioning that most people create simple abilities because they lack Ki knowledge.

“It depends... E-every ability has a limit, but the ceiling of that limit depends on the initial ability... In many cases, the more you understand your ability, the more it’ll grow... F-for me, maybe if I studied anatomy... Or learned more about the body in-depth... I think I could heal others more effectively...”

‘Then is the limit of his ability what he can already do on himself?’

It sounded plausible. That would mean his ability was originally made for himself; maybe that’s why it isn’t that effective on others. Regardless, there was room for improvement, and that’d benefit all of us.

“Frida.”

“Yes, Master Lyon.”

The door flung open instantly, and a middle-aged woman holding a small child in her arms entered. Her stern expression was much softer than usual.

“Oh... M-Miss Frida is really great with the children. S-she’s been looking after them in the other building...”

Holder started to fidget and even seemed to blush faintly. He was a shy man, but he did look to be in the same age bracket as Frida.

‘Frida is even good at being a nanny...’

She was an extremely skilful woman, and if it wasn’t for Brunaulf's detailed report, I would never guess that she was 35.

“Please take Holder to the library on the 3rd floor of Complex C. There should be some medical books there.”

“Understood, Master Lyon.”

Holder looked at me with warm eyes, and I smiled.

“Get going and make yourself at home.”

“T-thank you... Really...”

He bowed his head and left with Frida. I didn’t know all of his circumstances, but I did know that he had been used and abused as a guinea pig.

Every day he had to fight against the drug addiction and its side effects—he deserved a break from it all.

‘...It would be nice if I could heal.’

I examined the bandages around my abdomen. That strange voice from before had never spoken to me again since that day. I clicked my tongue and got to my feet.

It was about time that I spoke with Isabelle.

***

*Knock, knock*

“C-come in.”

I entered the room and closed the door behind me while Isabelle was sitting cross-legged on her bed. She quickly dipped her head down for a few seconds when she saw me.

‘I thought Gia and Cirris would be with her.’

“How are you feeling now?”

I leaned against the wall in front of her and folded my arms. I ignored the fiery pain from my broken ribs while I organized my thoughts.

“I’m good... Um... I... uh... I’m sorry!”

Her forehead hit the bedsheets, and she didn’t move for a while.

“There’s no need for you to apologize. However, we do need to have a talk.”

She raised her head and bit her lip nervously as her eyes darted around the room.

“O-okay...You’re right. What do you want to know?”

“Tell me about your ability.”

I watched her eyebrows quiver slightly, but it was paramount that I had a clear understanding of just what she could do.

Isabelle was already a target, and I was positive that the Ruler wouldn’t let her go so easily. He couldn’t make a move now, but eventually, he’d need her for his plans.

“I suppose it can’t be helped... My ability is called Amplifier. I can strengthen the abilities of others based on my understanding of their ability, as well as provide them with a Ki Boost.”

“!”

No wonder the Ruler had assigned one of his Royal Guards to watch over her. It turned out to not just be a flat Ki boost, but also a direct boost to the ability itself. That meant it was possible to temporarily go past an ability’s limit.

“I'm sorry...”

Her gaze fell on the bedsheets while she looked uncomfortable. I think I understood why she was behaving like this. After seeing the extreme contrast between life in District 4 compared to District 3, she was most likely feeling guilty. Isabelle’s existence here threatened us, and she herself knew that.

“For now, don’t worry about it. Tell me about your connection with X.”

I relieved sigh escaped her mouth as her stiffened shoulders loosened up.

“Thank you. I honestly don’t know much about X. Initially, I thought he planned on using me like Enigma did, but that wasn’t the case... The few interactions I had with him were usually just greetings... Apart from one time...”

“Go on.”

My ears perked up as I narrowed my eyes. I was hoping to get something useful here since a part of me knew that Gia and Cirris would be reluctant to talk about X for whatever reason.

“I asked him if he planned on taking me outside of District 3. He told me he couldn’t and that he was waiting for something. Once that came, change would happen across all the Districts.”

“That?”

A flame flickered within her dark yellow eyes. She leaned forward slightly and pointed her finger towards me.

“I think that meant you or someone with the same qualifications as you.”

I cocked my head to the side while I pondered over her words. It seemed like there was a high chance that X and Copycat could be working together. Maybe that’s why Copycat was able to copy X's appearance?

A possibility.

However, the only thing I could say for sure is that X probably wasn’t an enemy at this point in time.

“It’s strange. Why is everybody waiting for someone? Why hasn’t anyone tried to do something themselves?”

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked visibly annoyed by my response.

“Was it easy for you to get where you are today? How many tries did it take for you to climb to the top? Many of us have been waiting for someone who meets the right conditions. It’s not just about strength, but it looks like you know that already.”

“...Sorry.”

It was a thoughtless remark. I knew firsthand that it wasn’t easy.

“I, too, didn’t want to wait... I wanted to do something for District 3, to make our lives better and tighten the bonds within our community. But look at where that got me.

Locked up in a cell and dragged out periodically against my will to participate in inhumane experiments... I hurt the people I wanted to protect and...”

Her lip quivered as her words trailed off. Isabelle gripped her two arms that trembled while she desperately tried to cover her body further.

Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes as she recalled her hellish experience alone. I could only imagine how she felt being surrounded by people killing one another due to a drug-enhanced by her own ability.

“I... I had almost completely given up on hope... I lashed out at you because you seemed like a fleeting dream... Something too good to be true...”

She wiped the tears away from her cheek, and a bright smile formed on her lips.

“But when I watched you push yourself to the limit again and again in order to keep every one of us safe... You reminded me of something someone told me long ago... Where there is life, there is hope.”

“!”

My eyes widened greatly at her words. That was one of my favourite sayings, but I didn’t expect to hear someone else say that here. The corners of my lips rose as I gazed at Isabelle.

“Thank you for making me remember.”

“Thank you for giving me a chance.”

I stepped forward and extended my hand towards her. She looked at it for a moment as a wide grin spread across her rosy cheeks. She grasped it tightly and looked me in the eyes.

“I’m in your care, Leader.”