"What have you done?" Hakku asked, his voice trembling with shock.
"Sothing none of you dared to," I replied, wiping Vie's blood from my face.
"You know what this ans, right?" Len asked calmly, despite soone just blowing up.
No. It wasn't just him—everyone was acting oddly flat, unnaturally composed. It didn't feel like them. I frowned and raised my arm toward Goo Han. He hadn't reacted at all when Vie exploded.
"What are you doing?" he asked, genuinely confused.
I lowered my arm and turned to Dre, spotting a tiny fox tattoo glowing faintly on his neck. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close.
"What did you do?"
"It's for your own good."
"You don't decide that." I shoved him back.
Dre straightened his clothes, muttering, "You're insane, Sunny."
"Insane? I killed the bastard who treated life like trash, and *I'm* the crazy one?" I jabbed my finger at my chest.
"Then you're no different from him," Dre said, pointing to the remains of Vie.
"You'd have to be a complete idiot to think that. Enough of this. Where are we? So kind of illusion?" I scanned the room. People had stopped moving. I stepped closer to Eve and touched her arm. It was warm—real. But everything felt frozen.
"It's an ability I copied from Clara," Dre explained. "She calls it *False Reality*. We're in your mind. A dream. Ti moves slower here."
"Clara? The mind-reading psychic?" I narrowed my eyes. "How did you copy her ability? Don't you need her blood for that?"
"Don't look at like that. I got her consent, alright?" he said defensively.
"Why would she agree?"
"In case soone lost control," he answered quickly, as if expecting the question.
"So... did you want her power, or did she offer?"
"She offered. Even threw in so other cool abilities," he said, clearly proud.
"I don't care about that. What I *do* care about is this—if she prepared for sothing like this, does that an she can see the future?" I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.
"No. Her powers are all mind-based. Maybe she just predicted this. With soone as unstable as you, anyone would."
I had more questions, but I knew I wouldn't get answers until I saw Clara myself. I ntally added her to my to-do list, then said to Dre, "I'll still kill Vie."
"Look, what I said earlier was wrong. You're right. Vie murdered innocents to reach his goal. You had every right to stop him—but think about where you are, and when. You're smarter than this, Sunny.
"You want to reach your goal, don't you? Killing Vie now will only complicate things. What about your family? Do you think Synth will let them live peacefully? They don't take betrayal lightly."
I stayed silent for a long ti, then finally let out a heavy sigh. "Fine."
"It's not like you to lose control like that," he said. "Did sothing happen?"
"None of your business," I replied, masking my rage.
"Just asking," Dre muttered, then snapped his fingers.
The world began to blur and lt like wet paint under a downpour. My head swam, and everything grew heavy. I blinked—and suddenly, I was back in the familiar classroom.
"What are you gonna do, kill ? You know what'll happen!" Vie shouted.
As I regained my senses, his voice was muffled, like I was surfacing from deep water. Everything slowly beca clearer. My thoughts were still tangled. Nobody seed to notice anything. I inhaled deeply and shut my eyes, forcing the heat in my chest to cool. Then I turned around and took my seat.
Eve looked shaken, certain she'd almost witnessed a murder. But once she saw calm down, she eased back into her chair, trying not to dwell on it.
"That's it. Just be a good boy and don't cause any trouble," Vie said with a smug grin.
His smile vanished as he felt sothing trickle from his nose. He wiped it and stared at the red stain in confusion. Maybe he thought he'd wiped too hard. But then his eyes widened in terror, locking onto .
I frowned slightly. Sothing felt... off.
I glanced at Dre. The pink fox tattoo on his wrist pulsed softly. He sat beside , so I leaned in and whispered, "What did you do?"
"Showed him his death—and what it feels like. That should keep him quiet for a while."
"Nice." I smiled.
Vie said nothing, just kept staring—equal parts fear and hatred.
The eting resud. In short, Vie would support Eve during Plan B, distracting the enemy Honors. Eve hated it, but she agreed, albeit reluctantly.
Once the eting ended, we began our final preparations.
I changed into my battle attire: a tight white shirt that outlined my muscles, a phoenix emblem on the right sleeve. A white robe draped to my ankles, over black pants. Another phoenix marked the back of the robe.
"I already asked them to remove this damn robe," I muttered.
"Then just don't wear it," Eve said.
"Stupid regulations. If I don't wear this, I lose my power for a year and get put on a 'vacation.'"
"Just for ditching the robe? I didn't know that was a thing. Thank God I rembered this jacket," Eve said with relief.
We hopped into a four-seater military jeep. Eve and I sat in the back. Goo Han took the front passenger seat while Hakku drove.
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