??? POV:

“Tch. Damn pigs making me work overtime.”

I grumbled to myself while I dashed through the network of alleyways. Fortunately, I was close to my destination and the sun had only risen a little while ago.

I had bought enough food to last for a week, so even though I was running late; I was slightly relieved. The last thing I needed was for her to be roaming around these streets—she’d be an easy target.

I reached the estate and dashed up the side of the building. I flipped over the short railings once I reached the appropriate floor and walked over to the door.

After knocking on it in a certain rhythm, I waited for it to open.

“!”

A topless teenage boy with a tapered haircut stood in the doorway. He had soft ocean blue eyes and a toned physique, but his appearance was the last thing on my mind.

My pupils dilated as I shifted my gaze to the bed in the corner; the sheets messy with the faint smell of blood. My vision blurred and a storm of rage swallowed me whole in an instant.

I lost control.

My hand shot forward; fingers coiling around his neck as I smashed him against the wall inside the apartment.

“YOU MONSTER!!”

I roared while reaching for the daggers in my back pockets. He hit the bottom of my wrist with his knuckles, forcing my fingers to loosen against their will.

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HER!!!”

I pushed my forearm against his neck, squeezing it tight while he continued to look at me with calm eyes. The veins on the side of my head popped as I was about to release all of my Ki when I heard a soft voice cry out.

“L-Len!”

My head slowly creaked in the direction of her voice while I steeled my heart. I didn’t want to see the state that she was in, nor did I want her to see the bloodbath I was about to commit. I just wanted to kill this bastard as soon as possible.

“!”

‘Huh? Why is she making that face? Wasn’t it this guy who hurt her?’

Marina held her hands to her face horrified at what I was doing. Her eyebrows quivered while curving inwards as her body trembled.

I was at a loss for words—my mind blank as I stared at her in a daze. The awkward atmosphere was broken by an unexpected voice.

“You must be Len. Nice to meet you.”

***

Lyon POV:

“I’m sorry. I completely misunderstood.”

“It’s not a problem.”

I explained the situation to Len from the beginning till this morning. She was extremely grateful for what I did but refused to comment on the ‘older’ Marina that I saw. I decided to go with that codename since it seemed like the two were separate individuals.

“You did all that with your leg in that condition?”

“It wasn’t a big deal. Don’t think too much about it.”

“...”

Her amber eyes shimmered while she stared at me silently.

‘!’

Her soft lips lightly pressed against my cheek as she kissed me before moving back. It caught me off guard since I expected Marina to be the one to do something like that. Though I just met her, Len gave off the impression that she found it a lot harder to open up to other people.

“L-Len...!”

Marina covered her face with her hands and flushed in embarrassment; it was sort of cute to watch. Though I had never been kissed before, I spent a sufficient amount of time around Nia, so I wasn’t as shaken...

‘She has soft lips.’

...by these things. Len looked at me seriously and grabbed hold of my hand.

“Really, thank you for helping her. Marina... Has a condition and people have always tried to take advantage of her. It breaks my heart to have to leave her alone sometimes, but I have no choice.”

Her large amber eyes shook slightly as she spoke. Len looked only a couple of years older than me and had short, spiky purple hair. She wore black fingerless gloves while the aura she gave off was one of a fighter. Fortunately, her concern coincided with my goal here.

‘Looks like I’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone.’

“I’m here to do something about that. More specifically, I’m here to take over this area.”

“...”

Marina gasped like she heard something cool whereas Len scanned my body before letting out a helpless sigh once she saw the bandages wrapped around my thigh.

“I don’t want to be a killjoy, but how exactly do you plan on doing that?”

“I need your help. I’m new to this area, so I don’t know how things work or who runs what. Once I have enough information, I’ll take the leader out.”

Len leaned back against the bed and folded her arms. Silence flowed between us for a while before she finally opened her mouth again to speak.

“I’ll give you the information you want, but you’ll have to leave here in return. I can’t put Marina in danger.”

“L-Len... I’ll.. b-be... Okay...”

“No. I’m not budging on this Marina. You were lucky that Lyon was nearby in the first place. I’ve told you so many times not to go out alone! It’s dangerous!”

Len’s voice gradually rose as she spoke. Her eyebrows curved inwards while she clenched her teeth tightly. Marina shrank back against the wall, apologizing several times in a quiet voice.

The stress Len was under was evident. Work took her away from Marina and getting Marina to understand how dangerous this place was, was a tall order.

It was a predicament. I had found a place to stay, but the moment I got the information I needed, I’d be homeless. If Len was this worried, then that meant whoever’s running this area had people planted in both high and low places.

“Can’t you just stay here and watch over Marina...?”

Her shoulders slumped forward as she gazed at the floor and sighed. I placed my hand on her shoulder lightly.

“Alright, let’s do that then.”

“Really?”

Her amber eyes lit up. She looked at me expectantly as my heart throbbed ever so slightly.

“Yes. However, I’ll be getting information my own way.”

The tiny glimpse of hope she had seen vanished while her face dropped. Len put her hand on her forehead in dismay as her eyes lost their light.

“Leave.”

I looked at her briefly before standing up. I suppose this was for the best in the end. I didn’t want to put either of them in danger and as long as I stayed here, that would happen.

I glanced at Marina who was trying to grab my arm, but Len grabbed her wrist gently and glared at me.

“Get out.”

I made my way to the door before glancing back at Len. She hung her head down and chewed her lip while Marina’s gaze alternated between the two of us. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes as she eventually sat down beside Len and hugged her tightly.

“L-Len... D-don’t be... s-sad...”

Her shaky voice lightly drifted into my ears as I closed the door behind me. I heard her call out my name, but I couldn’t go back inside.

‘Master, this really is difficult.’

I stood outside the door for a few moments, collecting myself before ripping off the bandage around my thigh. The wound had completely healed, leaving no trace of any kind of leftover damage.

The only lead I had now was that glowing green shop sign I saw before I was kidnapped. Places like these had to have some kind of information broker and I was hoping that was it.

I walked down the stairs of the estate while I said a silent prayer. I prayed that they would both stay safe and not be involved in what was about to happen.

***

I stood outside the flashing green sign that had the words ‘Comfort’ written in a bold, neon green colour. I was able to locate it rather easily since I had memorized the route before that incident occurred.

‘...’

My eyes narrowed slightly as I quickly made my way through the door. Surprisingly, there were no customers in the shop. The way the inside was laid out, it’d be more accurate to call it a restaurant bar.

A waiter stood behind the bar but didn’t pay any attention to me. It was only when I took a seat that he seemed to register my existence. He slammed a glass down on the wooden countertop and stared at me.

“Your order?”

He had piercing hazel eyes that swept over me in an instant. I decided in advance that if I couldn’t get answers here, I’d just beat it out of people like the guys from yesterday.

My gaze shifted to the drinks behind him as I observed them carefully. His lips curved into a smirk while he followed my line of sight. Judging by the current atmosphere, this was indeed the place I was looking for.

“A shot of whiskey with a beer chaser.”

“...”

The waiter stared at me silently for a few seconds. I saw his eyes hover over my arm briefly before looking away. He smashed the glass with his fist and turned around.

“Why are you here?”

“Well, to take over? From what I’ve seen, this place is in a pretty bad spot.”

The middle-aged man’s shoulders heaved up and down as he laughed. My order from before wasn’t completely random; I had experience working in a bar around a year ago.

They had their own terminology for secret codes. For example, whiskey usually meant ‘taking out the old’ and chaser meant ‘information to hunt.’ If you wanted to ask for a specific name, that was also done through code too. I didn’t know if it’d be the same here, but it seemed like I had some luck.

“To think someone trained by the Pantheons would come here again.”

“!”

My eyes widened as he glanced back at me with a smirk. I immediately backed away from the bar, but he simply flicked his fingers down while a piece of fabric fell onto the countertop.

I looked at my arm that was supposed to be concealed, only to find that part of my top cleanly ripped off; without me even noticing his movement.

“You’re in way over your head, boy.”

I let out a long sigh. It was a shame that everyone was so reluctant to part ways with the information they had. In fact, it was a little worrying.

Just how scary was this person that he could seal the lips of everyone here so tight? Regardless, I didn’t have all day and I didn’t plan on sucking up to people to get what I needed.

I activated the Mark of a Pantheon as my Ki exploded around me. I glared at him while my lips parted.

“Is that so?”