Lyon POV:

“Where is Len and Marina?”

It surprised me that Brunaulf was active again. However, I just needed to know if he was involved in their disappearance or not. I watched his eyes curve upwards as he cackled away.

“Follow me kehehe~ There’s someone who wants to meet youuuu~”

“Brunaulf, answer my question.”

He stared at me silently while he continued to giggle to himself. It seemed like my words weren’t getting through to him, and time already wasn’t on my side.

Going along with Brunaulf's demands could very well be a trap to draw me even further away from Len and Marina, so I quickly calculated the best choice to make.

‘I'll make him talk. It’s faster that way.’

I kicked off the ground, instantly closing the distance between us. However, Brunaulf wasn’t taken aback. Instead, he greeted my advance with open arms.

I paid no attention to his taunts as I twisted my hips while keeping my centre of gravity stable. My foot shot forward, aiming directly toward his temple while his smile continued to widen.

‘!’

His body spun along the inside of my leg, and our eyes met as he cackled loudly. I instantly adjusted my stance, followed by my fist flickering forward only for Brunaulf to tap my shoulder from behind.

I spun around—my eyes slowly swivelling down towards his foot that sunk deeper into my stomach.

‘This is...?’

I flew backwards and smashed into the wall behind me.

“Kehehehe, you’re not the only one who can improveeeee~”

How unexpected. I thought Brunaulf would be holed up in a room somewhere mentally broken, cowering in fear every time he opened his eyes, yet here he was—stronger than before.

In the end, it made no difference because Brunaulf was never an opponent I needed to go all out against.

I got to my feet and glared at him. I sprinted across the ground while performing the exact same movement as before. Brunaulf giggled as our eyes met once again while he spun inside.

“!”

My hand shot forward, grabbing him by the neck before he could disappear. His smile instantly vanished as he struggled to break free from my grip.

“Please do—”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I don’t know anything about what happened to those two!! Please believe me... Don’t hurt me..!”

I stared at his unfocused eyes as he panicked. Brunaulf had put on a rather convincing act earlier, but once he had been caught, his confident facade peeled away in an instant.

I could feel his whole body trembling with fear while his limbs began to spasm in several places. He probably wasn’t lying; I doubt he’d want to go through that agonizing experience again. It was frustrating, but I might not be able to find another lead if I ignored his words here.

“Who wants to meet me?”

“M-my Master...!”

I narrowed my eyes at his words. The elusive Copycat wanted to meet me? The timing was unsettling, but I had no choice. I let go of Brunaulf's throat and watched him gasp for air.

“Lead the way.”

“R-right...”

He scampered to his feet while taking the lead. We walked through the network of streets and alleyways for a few minutes in silence. Every now and then, Brunaulf would look back at me with fearful eyes.

“How much longer until we’re there?”

“A-around five minutes...”

He avoided eye contact while he answered me. We were deep in the south side of District 4—an area I had yet to search, so even if Brunaulf turned out to be wasting my time, I could easily make adjustments.

Five minutes soon passed, and we reached a large abandoned building complex that took up half of the street. He glanced at me while scratching the back of his head before stepping inside. I followed him as we walked up the steps.

‘!’

There was a foul stench coming from multiple directions while we ascended the floors. It was the smell of decaying bodies.

My heartbeat suddenly increased as the stench became stronger the higher we climbed.

‘Is this where they dumped bodies?’

I pondered over their choice while concluding that there really was no limit to how low they were willing to go.

We passed by an open room, and I saw a dried-up hand jutting out of a black bag, confirming my earlier suspicions. I felt a light, sicky feeling wash over me as Brunaulf was undisturbed by the appalling sight.

“It’s here...”

We stopped in front of a large double door. The stench coming from the door couldn’t be compared to the lower levels of the building; it was almost unbearable.

Brunaulf pushed the doors open, and I stepped inside.

***

Len POV:

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I followed the man dressed in black as I held Marina's hand tightly. I knew she was scared, but we had both agreed to do this. It was... the only way to save him.

“Hey, we’ve been walking for hours now. How far is it? Is he really okay?!”

I couldn’t stop the concern from seeping into my voice as I questioned the man. He didn't turn around to face me, instead, he kept walking while he answered my worries.

“The situation isn’t good. I’d love to go faster, but they are on high alert. If we make a false move, he will die.”

I bit my trembling lip as Marina sobbed quietly. To think I was living comfortably when they had been torturing him every day for the past month. I hated the fact that I only found out recently.

I also couldn’t doubt the man's words either, as I had just watched him take out two Watchers effortlessly. He had dashed in front of Marina to protect her without hesitation, but that action alone heightened my suspicion of him.

My attention shifted back towards Marina, and I stroked her head lightly to comfort her. Even though I had constantly been studying the surrounding area, I didn’t feel comfortable being so exposed like this. I could hold my own, but it was a different story if they targeted Marina instead.

We continued to walk in silence for a further thirty minutes while I recalled how this all started. I was doing Marina's hair as she hummed away sweetly when Ness suddenly charged into the room. Her emotionless face was nowhere to be seen, replaced by an expression of panic while tears pooled at the corner of her eyes.

“Ness, what’s wrong?”

“N-Ness...”

I was the first to get up and ask Ness what was going on. I watched her eyebrows crumple together as she hesitated whether to say it or not. A bad feeling started growing in my chest, and then she opened her mouth.

“Lyon has been captured. For the past month... He’s been tortured. They are making an example out of him, and now they plan on killing him.”

“What...?”

I stared at her in shock and disbelief. How could Lyon have been captured? Wasn’t he here in Comfort with Jasmine? Why would he leave without telling us anything??

I suddenly remembered the time Ness told us that we weren’t allowed to go downstairs because the District Leader had a made move—there were spies everywhere. But... It still didn’t make any sense...

“Ness, you told us that Lyon was fine earlier today.”

She looked down at the floor and bit her trembling lip.

“I just found out now. I’m not always here nor do I know why Lyon would suddenly leave on his own. I also can’t reach Jas...”

‘Jasmine too?...’

I thought it over while comforting Ness; it wasn’t her fault. I knew that she sometimes left to go shopping or run other errands for Comfort, and knowing Jasmine, she would have chased after Lyon in a rush without notifying us.

None of us had actually seen Lyon or Jasmine in over a month too. I clicked my tongue and let out a frustrated sigh.

“Who did you get this information from?”

“There’s no time. If you and Marina leave with the two watchers downstairs, the District Leader won’t kill him. If you don’t go, he’ll die tonight.”

Marina started crying as I felt my heart throb. That meant that those Watchers had informed her about the ultimatum, so she went to Jasmine first and then came here. The only reason I can think of why Lyon originally left was that he thought there was an opening he could take advantage of.

‘Damn...’

Ness looked at me with pleading eyes, but I looked away. It wasn’t just me they wanted, but Marina too. They caught Lyon, so how could I willingly go there with Marina? It was suicide.

“I...”

“L-Len... L-let's...g-go...!”

“Marina...”

I looked at her in surprise, but she probably didn’t understand just what was waiting for us. Lyon would no doubt be in a disturbing state to look at, and we would be surrounded by Watchers and Vices with no easy way to escape.

I couldn’t scar her like that.

It hurt me deeply that I was even thinking of abandoning Lyon after everything he’s done for us, but... My family...

“L-Len...!”

Marina jumped off the bed and poked my chest while looking up at me with determined eyes. Her baby blue eyes shone vibrantly, making it difficult for me to ignore her request.

‘Damn it!’

I scratched the back of my head frustratedly while clicking my tongue. I guess there was no option from the beginning; Lyon gave his life for us, so the very least I could do was try and rescue him from this situation.

“Let’s go.”

I grabbed Marina's hand and proceeded to head out of the door. I told Ness we would bring both of them back safely, and she thanked us while wiping away her tears.

We left Comfort, and my eyes instantly narrowed at the two Watchers waiting for us. They escorted us down the alleyways as I took that time to harden my resolve while my hand rested against the knife in my pocket.

Unsurprisingly, we didn’t get very far when a masked man showed up. He had stepped in front of Marina, and at the same time, they tried to suddenly attack her. My dagger would have reached their necks before they even came close to her, but he defeated them swiftly.

“You’re planning on saving the newcomer, right? If so, follow me. We are tight on time. He doesn’t have much longer.”

I couldn’t trust his words, but Marina had already started walking on ahead. I watched her small back with a solemn expression. For her to be this determined... It left me with no choice but to follow.

Currently, we were deep in the north side of District 4 when I noticed something odd. I began to sense the presence of multiple people as we continued to walk down the street.

It wasn’t just me either. The masked man had raised his hand, signalling for us to move as quiet as possible. We nodded our heads and adjusted our footsteps while I stayed close to Marina.

I watched her lip tremble as beads of sweat formed on her brow. Her delicate hands shook slightly, forcing me to grit my teeth in frustration at watching her have to push herself.

I splayed my hand, distorting the air ever so slightly as a reference point in case we needed to make a run for it.

A few more turns later and the number of people I could sense drastically increased. Though I had yet to see anyone, it seemed like we were approaching the right place. We made one final turn and stepped out onto a large wide street.

The masked man took the lead as we advanced down the street. It was far too open for my liking, and I hated the feeling of having hundreds of eyes watching us.

‘...’

I stopped moving and held Marina close. I prayed that I was wrong and that I was just overly sensitive due to being on high alert for a long period of time.

My gaze rested on the man’s back that continued to move forward carefully, unperturbed by the fact that we were no longer following after him.

The distance between us gradually widened, and soon, the gazes watching me locked onto him instead. He had reached the midway point of the street when he abruptly stopped. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The shadows in the buildings moved, and the street was filled instantly with Organization members lined up against the sides. My heart dropped to the pits of my stomach as I watched them trap us in an encirclement before we could move.

They sealed off our exit from both the ground and air—the roofs of the surrounding buildings full to the brim with people wearing masks.

Two figures appeared beside the masked man in the middle of the street as my eyes gradually widened; I recognized them both.

‘Orga and Sindel!’

But that wasn’t all. One of the members dragged over a person with a black hood covering their face from the side of the street. His clothes were torn, burnt and shredded in several places and contained patches of dried blood scattered in various locations.

They forced him down to his knees in front of the masked man as I made out blood-red letters written in bold over the thick fabric. It spelt...

“L-Lyon...!”

Marina cried out and tried to run towards him, but the scent of death kick-started my instincts immediately as my hand shot forward. I pulled her back quickly, just in time to see a dagger shoot past her face.

Marina’s eyes widened to the limit as her mouth slightly dropped open. Her skin turned ghastly white while her breathing became erratic. Her whole body quaked with fear, stumbling backwards into my arms as tears spilt out of her eyes endlessly.

“It’s okay Marina. It's okay.”

I held her hand gently while rocking her trembling body back and forth slowly. Her eyebrows curved inwards as her gasps for breath gradually calmed down. Her dilated pupils returned to normal, and colour seeped back into her cold skin.

How much courage and determination had it taken her to even come this far? I was so proud. So proud that she wanted to face this head-on. I stroked her forehead gently while she smiled at me weakly.

“You did great, Marina.”

I ignored the snickering and laughing amongst the members as they watched us. These people had no respect for the struggle of others.

My gaze shifted back to Lyon’s beaten body. A quiet rage swelled up inside of me while I clenched my teeth tightly.

My Ki erupted all around me as a gust of wind spread across the whole street. I glared at the Vices standing in the middle while my fists shook with rage. No more running away. I’m ending everything today.

“I will kill you all!”