[mass release 4/5]
[You have successfully defeated the raging summon]
[Your anger and hate have reduced]
[Summon has been cancelled]
Up in the air, the dragon dissolved into a twisting shadow—its roars fading into silence—before it evaporated into nothingness. The very fabric of the battlefield shifted in that mont. The chaos began to die down, and a grim silence fell over the ruins.
Only the distant crackling of flas echoed in the air now. Occasionally, broken walls creaked and collapsed. Amid it all, two figures stood among the wreckage—Kairos and Darnell—both bloodied, gasping for breath, their clothes torn, and their minds spinning from the brutal confrontation.
Kairos stared at Darnell. Or at least, he tried to—his vision was partially blocked by several glowing system notifications that floated in his line of sight.
[You have received two rewards]
[Would you like to see them?]
But there was no ti. This was still a battlefield. Enemies could strike at any mont. Kairos quickly dismissed the notifications with a thought. The answers could wait. Not everything could.
"Ask him about what happened?" lvin’s voice crackled through the mask in Kairos’ ear, sounding just as weary and shaken.
Kairos gave a slight nod, then turned his eyes back to Darnell. He took a step closer and asked,
"What’s all that about?"
Darnell looked away, his expression darkening with regret and pain.
"My summon... I have no control over it," he muttered, his voice laced with guilt and self-loathing. He couldn’t bear to et Kairos’ gaze. It tore him up inside—what he’d done to his best friend. What he’d almost done. He had nearly killed Kairos, consud by a power that refused to obey. And yet, Kairos had spared him. Why?
"And why were you after that man—"
Kairos didn’t get to finish. Darnell’s hand shot up, grabbing Kairos by the shirt, dragging him close. His eyes were wide and panicked, like a man trying to scream while drowning.
"That bastard. Where is he?" Darnell’s voice cracked with desperation.
Kairos didn’t respond imdiately. His brows furrowed instead, watching, waiting for Darnell to speak more clearly.
"That man is one of the most dangerous criminals in the world... He’s a killer. He’s the cause of all of this," Darnell said, trying to rise from the ground. But his strength gave out. Blood was still leaking from the wound in his abdon—slowly closing from summon recoil—but the damage was far from healed.
Kairos turned slowly, facing the direction of the structure where he had left Kaela... and that man. The pieces were clicking together in his mind, each thought sharper than the last.
What if Fex hadn’t sent him to protect that man?
What if the real mission had been to capture him—maybe even to stop Darnell from killing him?
Or worse... what if Darnell was supposed to kill him, and Kairos had interfered?
"You left Kaela with Ravin Elteth!" Darnell suddenly shouted, his voice breaking with urgency. "Hurry! Or he’ll kill her!"
The na sent a chill down Kairos’ spine.
Through the comms, lvin gasped. "Ravin Elteth?!"
Kairos’ entire body stiffened. Dread wrapped around his chest like a vice.
"lvin... talk to ..." Kairos muttered through gritted teeth.
"I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake," lvin said quietly, the gravity in his voice unmistakable. "I didn’t know soone else was there. But if that person is Ravin Elteth... the person you’re talking about might already be dead."
Kairos felt his heart lurch. An unnatural weight dropped in his chest, pressing down on him harder than any battle ever had. He initiated his integration, and without wasting another breath, sprinted toward the building.
He was slower than usual—his stamina drained, body bruised and broken from the fight with the Titan. But he forced himself onward, pushing past his limits. Kaela needed him.
Upon reaching the building, he dissolved into shadow, becoming a silhouette that glided along the surface, then erged at the top, near the edge of the pavent he recalled.
And instantly—his senses were overwheld.
A warm liquid coated his body. Sticky. Thick. Red.
Blood.
He looked down—and saw her.
Kaela.
Lying motionless on the rooftop. Her chest rose and fell in jagged, painful heaves.
She was clinging to life.
"Fuck! Fuck no—"
Kairos dropped to his knees beside her, hands trembling as they hovered over her wounded body. She was warm... still alive. But barely. Blood poured from a deep stab wound in her gut.
His breath hitched as he leaned in to see the cause—a dagger.
A small one. One that shouldn’t have done this much damage.
But it did.
Because it was a Core weapon.
And to Kaela’s body, it might as well have been a reaper’s scythe.
Kairos’ grip tightened around the hilt. She jerked at the pain, her hand flying to his arm, digging her fingers into him as she tried not to scream.
But the mont the blade tore free, she howled.
A scream of agony that ripped through the silence of the night.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry..." Kairos muttered, his voice breaking.
A slow clap echoed behind him.
"I didn’t know she’d react that way," ca a cold, mocking voice.
Kairos turned slowly, rage boiling in his chest.
There he was.
The man who had been sitting at the edge of the building this whole ti. Watching. Smiling. A sinister grin stretching across his face.
"I just gave her a little stab. It was only a small Apex-ranked Core weapon," Ravin Elteth said casually.
Kairos’ hands balled into fists. He glared with killing intent.
’This bastard... He should have died in the Titan attack.’
With a flick, Kairos threw the dagger off the building.
"You want to kill . I know that look," Ravin continued with amusent. "But if I were you, I wouldn’t let my flaw take over again. After all... I have many secrets you would like to know, Mr. Veyl."
Kairos froze.
"Secrets? Do you think you can manipulate again?" he said coldly.
Ravin only smiled wider. "Seems you don’t know much. But I can tell you... about your shadow ability. Its origin. Its true purpose."
[Ding]
[You have t the man that holds all secrets]
Kairos’ eyes widened.
’What?! This guy is the one that holds all secrets?’
"Shall I speak?" Ravin asked with a smirk. "Or would you rather tear out my throat first?"
Kairos gritted his teeth. His body scread for revenge. Kaela’s blood still soaked his hands. The urge to end Ravin’s life pulsed within him like a beast.
But sothing stronger held him back.
The system brought him here—for a reason.
And Kairos knew... this was a conversation he couldn’t afford to walk away from.
’There’s a crucial reason the system led to him. I must find out why.’
"Speak," Kairos commanded.
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