Brunaulf POV:

I was born in the South of Outer Astril, District 4. I struggled to survive at first but soon came to a realization. If I had power, I could live in my own way under my own conditions.

Family? An unnecessary obstacle that could only be described as a weakness. I threw my sister away along with my rationality, no, perhaps I lost my rationality long before that?

It didn't matter...

I honed and polished my craft and years later, I became the direct subordinate of the infamous Copycat. With his backing, there was no limit to how far I could go.

I had watched over Len for a few years and she fascinated me. It was always a thrill watching her embrace the darkness of this life while acting like God’s gift in front of that retard.

I extended her contracts on purpose as I watched over her loved one from above. She would often wander out on the streets and I’d pay some trash to knock her around for a while. How would Len react after finding out? What would she do? Where could she run to?

It was entertaining.

I slowly eroded away Len’s facade as the stress piled on and on until one day, I almost achieved it. She came to visit me, asking if she could take an extended break from the madness.

“What will youuu give me in return?~”

I licked my lips under my mask as my years of hard work were about to bear fruit—she was about to break. Her eyebrows curved upwards and she gripped her trembling arm; she was so... disgustingly vulnerable.

She didn’t have it. She didn’t have the power to change her situation and she would never have it by trying to live two lives. I would wake her up completely. That was the plan... but she caught herself just in time.

“You scumbag.”

I watched those tenacious amber eyes glow faintly as she clenched her teeth. She turned around and left.

“Kehehehe~”

I giggled to myself while replaying that scene again and again, over and over. I had the power to toy with other people’s lives—that was power I obtained by throwing away anything of value, and yet here stood a person trying so desperately hard to keep what’s most precious to them safe.

It was ludicrous.

Then I watched this newcomer show up out of nowhere. That’s right. I was there when he saved the retard, when Len rushed home and tried to kill him, and I was there when Len kissed him.

Disgust.

In her moment of weakness, she turned to the first man she could. She had reached her limit and so I decided to kill all three of them. I cackled away as I began planning thoroughly on the wonderful finale ahead!~

And yet...

“Keuk!”

My head snapped back as I smashed into the wall behind me. I watched everyone look at me with their mouths wide open almost like they witnessed something unbelievable, but so what?

My smile only widened further, pushing the corner of my lips to the edge of my eyes. I could only smile.

“Kehehe~ I am Brunau—”

The sound of the air ripping apart pounded in my eardrums as my head burrowed a hole into the wall behind me.

“...”

This was reality? I couldn’t accept it. I got back to my feet and narrowed my eyes while cackling away. I had amassed so much power, yet some newcomer thought he could take that from me?

Wrong. Impossible.

I watched him walk slowly towards me as his lips parted once more.

“Please don’t die on me, Brunaulf.”

His calm eyes seemed to quake violently as I felt my world, my reality crack ever so slightly. I released my Ki in a fit of rage while the distance between us disappeared.

“Youuuu’re dead now!~”

It was merely a fluke that he was able to touch me. My mind was always in many places at once, but still, it was a fluke. My eyes curved upwards as my fists rained down on him.

‘Huh?~’

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My vision flipped around and I was suddenly staring at the sky. I felt a large hand cover my eyesight and pull me up by my hair.

“You’re not the only one who’s been watching.”

His voice was cold while I giggled. I struggled to understand his words; his grip holding my head in place, denying its urge to snap backwards as I took the full force of his fists.

“Keuk! Kehehe~~”

A pained moan escaped my mouth while I continued to smile. My nose was broken, my face swelling in various places and my world cracking apart more and more.

In the middle of it all, his deep blue eyes contained something I could relate to as they peered down at me.

“Please don’t die on me, Brunaulf.”

His fist covered my vision as the beating ensued. Every time I regained consciousness, he would repeat the same words over and over while I cackled away.

I observed my blood splashing against my dark clothes only to be met with another fist that rocked my brain around.

“Ugh...”

Blood poured out of my mouth as I stared blankly out of one eye.

“Kehehehe~ That retar—“

My head snapped back as a thick trail of blood flew out of my nose. He grabbed me by the head and lifted my limp body up.

“Brunaulf. Let’s not use any foul language, okay?”

The world went dark. Then I woke up. His fist greeted me. Again and again and again. Over and over and over.

“Kehehe...”

My laughter trailed off as he stopped and looked at me coldly. I saw his lips part and those cursed words left his mouth as the world around me shattered into pieces.

‘Is this... my reality?’

***

Len POV:

I covered my mouth with my hand while I watched Lyon dismantle Brunaulf. Nobody moved a muscle, we all just stood there in shock.

“I-I’m...”

Lyon's fist rained down on Brunaulf; he didn't bat an eye at Brunaulf’s desperate attempts to speak. Lyon had conditioned his mind that whenever he said those keywords, Brunaulf would start screaming and begging for Lyon to stop—to have mercy. Yet even through those outbursts, Brunaulf... never stopped smiling.

I had hated his guts for the longest time. He was a trashy human being who had no respect for others and was willing to go to any lengths to get what he wanted, yet looking at him now... I still didn't feel sorry for him.

I shivered slightly while watching him take a vicious beating before my gaze shifted to Lyon who got up while lifting Brunaulf by his hair.

“Tell your Master this: I’m coming for him next.”

He spun and kicked Brunaulf in the stomach. Blood gushed out of his mouth followed by the sound of his ribs cracking. It echoed throughout the street as Brunaulf crashed into a nearby wall.

Lyon released what I assumed to be the full extent of his Ki while glaring at everyone present.

“Is there anyone else who’d like to talk?”

Everybody shook their heads before some of them rushed over, picked Brunaulf up and ran.

He turned around and his gaze instantly softened. His lips spread into a short smile while he locked eyes with me.

“Let’s go, Len.”

***

Mr Cruiser POV:

I closed the blinds and took a seat at my desk.

“Ghost, hm...”

I didn’t expect the boy to be on that level, however, it was nothing to brag about. What was more surprising was that Zane had actually taught him the Pantheon Style, that much was indeed true.

I stared blankly at the wall for a few moments.

‘Then I suppose he’s familiar with their ultimate techniques too.’

I leaned back in the chair and placed my feet on the desk. I no longer doubted whether or not he could handle the South. His Ki was only around the mid Nagi stage, but in terms of raw strength, he surpassed most of the guys here. It was possible due to the Pantheon Stances.

I wasn’t well-informed on the Pantheon Style—I only knew what Zane had shared with me during the times he visited this place.

The main problem was that the boy had yet to encounter an ability user; they’re on a completely different level compared to everyone he's fought so far. Furthermore, Brunaulf didn’t even have the opportunity to show off his worth.

Now rumours would soon start spreading like wildfire across the district about the upcoming newcomer.

“Taking out the District Leader’s nephew and dismantling Brunaulf in front of a crowd of Organization members.”

With this, he’s successfully ruined the balance. So, how will Copycat respond? And what will the District Leader’s next move be? Things were getting interesting.

*Knock, knock*

“Come in.”

A woman wearing a waitress outfit entered the room, bowed and closed the door behind her. She was in her late teens and had almost shoulder-length, dark blond hair.

I grabbed my pipe and took a puff as I watched her pull out a chair. She flipped it backwards and sat down.

‘Tch. She still hasn’t changed her bad habits.’

I clicked my tongue while I shook my head in dismay.

“Unc, I hear the district's been getting pretty lively lately.”

“Mm, that’s right. Didn’t expect you back so soon, Jasmine.”

“Heh, as if those scrubs could handle me.”

She flicked her hair back as she smiled smugly. I wondered where I went wrong raising her and then I remembered a lot of things.

‘Family...’

I let out a small sigh while staring at the ceiling. There were many areas where I went wrong—I knew that. My gaze shifted back to Jasmine and I parted my lips.

“The situation in District 2, how is it?”

She popped some gum in her mouth and started blowing bubbles with it. I had sent her to observe the situation there since I received some concerning news. I needed to verify what exactly was going on.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Their prostitution business has exploded though. Looks like they’ve been making a lot deals with the Inner guys.”

“!”

I put the pipe down on the table and got up from my seat. Making a lot of deals with Inner Astril wasn’t a good sign. Upsetting the balance in the South was one thing, but I feared they might try to get the other Districts involved. I could only hope that my gut feeling was wrong.

“Ah, yeah. Copycat was there too.

“What?!”

I glared at her in disbelief. If Copycat isn’t in District 4 then...Has he been using his ability all this time? The feeling in my gut worsened.

“Unc, you might have to make a move soon.”

She looked at me with serious eyes as another sigh escaped my mouth. I returned to my desk and took a seat.

‘Looks like I’ll have to speed things up.’

“Jasmine, go pay the newcomer a visit.”

Her eyes curved upwards while she quickly headed towards the door. I watched her leave and pondered over the current situation for a while.

The timing of the boy’s arrival here really was impeccable no matter how much I thought about it. I didn’t plan on using him as a chess piece anymore, nor was there any need to as long as he didn’t bring harm to this place.

“Hmm, those two should get along fine.”

I spoke to myself while I took a long puff from the pipe. I let it out slowly as the smoke circled around the ceiling before gradually dissipating into the air. Things were going to get even livelier around here.