[ Three days later – Golden Sector – "Blood Orchid" Luxury Restaurant ]
A day off.
A word I never thought existed in the lexicon of magical intelligence—let alone for the elite "Alpha" squad that had nearly been wiped out just days ago.
But, by an official request from Commander Valisera, submitted directly to FBI Director Alexander Vance—who approved it imdiately for reasons known only to , Valisera, and her blackmail files—the entire squad was granted a two-day paid leave.
This gathering itself was a surreal joke.
The place: "Blood Orchid" restaurant.
The highest, most expensive, and most luxurious restaurant in the Golden Sector.
You don’t enter it unless you possess wealth equal to a small nation’s budget, or you carry a golden FBI badge.
The floors were made of enchanted glass beneath which genetically modified rmaids swam—unfortunately. The tables were carved from golden-etched ent wood, and the ceiling was a celestial do displaying the real movent of planets.
The six of us sat around an isolated circular table on a balcony overlooking the lower city of Elysium, drowning in smoke and rain, while we breathed air perfud with lotus essence.
The seating arrangent was as follows: Valisera at the head of the table, completely absorbed in a nu a ter long. To her right sat Eva Blackwood, wearing an elegant black dress, though her black eyes were glaring at like they wished to turn into daggers. Beside Eva sat Sia, dressed in simple white clothes, calm as always.
To Valisera’s left... sat the one who had just returned from his long mission: "Aiden."
Next to Aiden sat Damian, his arm still in an advanced magical cast.
And ... Kyle Valtier, Rank G, the Black Joker, sitting between Damian and Eva like a rotten piece of at thrown into a royal feast.
I wore a simple white shirt, trying to look small and harmless.
Aiden, who had just returned from the eastern wing, was still in a state of nervous shock and denial.
He had just been told that their squad—the elite of the elite—had recruited a Rank G insect.
"I don’t understand..." Aiden said for the twentieth ti, nervously wiping his round glasses and shifting his gaze between and Damian.
"I really don’t understand. Is this a hidden cara? Are they testing our psychological patience? We are Alpha Squad! We slaughter Rank A ghouls before breakfast! And this... this kid..." He pointed at with a trembling finger.
"He’s thinner than a leaf! I swear if I sneeze, I’ll break his neck! Why is he with us?!"
Damian sighed and took a sip of expensive red wine.
"Deal with it, Aiden. High Command approved it, and Commander Valisera wants him here."
"Wants him for what?!" Aiden snapped, lowering his voice so as not to attract other custors.
"To clean our weapons? Carry our bags? What do we do with him if we face a monster? Throw him as a snack to distract it for two seconds?!"
"That’s exactly what we did in Warehouse 42," Eva said coldly, slicing a piece of at with excessive force using her silver knife.
"He was excellent bait. Took an acid hit to the chest that made him squeal like a pig. He perford his role perfectly."
I swallowed and forced a shy, broken smile.
"I... I’m really sorry, Mr. Aiden. I know I’m not at your level. But I’ll try to learn... I promise I won’t get in your way."
Inside, I was laughing sadistically: — Yes, Aiden, mock . Mock the man who split your leader Thorne in half and killed half the traitors while you were being crushed in the warehouse.
"Don’t apologize to him, Kyle," Valisera interrupted suddenly, without lifting her eyes from the nu.
"Aiden, if you say one more word about his rank, I’ll make you pay for this entire dinner. Do you know how much a plate of Earth Dragon steak costs here?"
Aiden’s face instantly went pale, and he shut his mouth like a locked box.
Paying the bill here ant declaring bankruptcy for three generations.
"Good," Valisera smiled, raising her hand to call the waiter.
The waiter, dressed in a snow-white suit and seemingly Rank B—yes, even the waiters here are high-ranking!—approached with an exaggerated bow.
"Welco to Blood Orchid. What would you like to order, ladies and gentlen?"
"I want," Valisera began, her crimson eyes gleaming with terrifying hunger,
"a Desert Python steak, very rare... so rare I want to hear it scream when I stab it with my fork. And Sea Ghoul fin soup, a dish of golden Aetra mashed potatoes, four bottles of aged Crimson Blood wine, and for dessert... bring a chocolate volcano cake stuffed with a phoenix heart."
The waiter stopped writing and stared at her in shock.
"Ma’am... that order is enough to feed five adults."
Valisera glanced at him in a way that dropped his body temperature.
"Did I ask for your opinion on my appetite? Bring it. Now."
"Y-Yes, ma’am!" The waiter rushed away.
Eva turned to , her black eyes dripping with hatred.
"I still can’t believe we’re sitting here, celebrating and eating, while that bastard... the Black Joker... is still alive sowhere."
She stabbed her fork into the wooden table, ignoring Sia’s shocked look.
"I can’t sleep at night, Damian! Every ti I close my eyes, I feel that phantom bullet tearing through my insides again! How did he do it?! How did that trash bypass my shield?!"
I swallowed hard. Listening to them talk about with such hatred while I sat among them was both amusing and tense.
"He uses black magic, no doubt," Damian said, trying to calm her as he cut at with his good hand.
"We all saw how he vanished in smoke. Don’t bla yourself, Eva. Even Inspector Thorne was a terrifying monster, and we weren’t ready for him. The Joker is just a coward who strikes from behind."
"Coward?" Sia spoke for the first ti, her voice calm and cold as she took a sip of water.
"The man stord an alley full of agents, faced three helicopters, hit our best sniper, killed two elites, and escaped. If that’s cowardice... I’d like to know what bravery looks like to you."
Eva glared at her.
"Are you defending him, Sia?!"
"I’m analyzing facts," Sia replied coolly, her eyes sharp with intelligence.
"Underestimating the enemy is what got us here. We think we’re invincible because we’re Alpha Squad, but this Joker... he was playing us. He trapped us and humiliated us. We need to admit that if we want to kill him next ti."
"There won’t be a next ti!" Eva whispered through clenched teeth, veins bulging in her neck.
"When I find him... I’ll peel that smiling face off and feed it to the ash dogs!"
I pretended to tremble at her words, gripping my glass with shaking hands.
"I-Is that Joker really that scary, Miss Eva?" I asked softly, hesitantly, my crimson eyes widening with feigned innocence.
"I heard about him in the news... they say he’s a rciless monster."
Eva turned to and looked at with pure contempt, as if I were a worm.
"Don’t you dare speak his na, you weak trash. Monster? He’s not a monster. He’s a disease. A parasite living in the sewers. And people like you... weak cowards like you... are the perfect breeding ground for his kind in this city."
(Oh, Eva, if only you knew... I laughed in my mind until my imaginary eyes teared up. I’m the disease you’re talking about—and I’m sitting right next to you, almost asking you to pass the salt.)
"Enough work talk," Valisera interrupted as the trembling waiter brought the first dishes.
"We’re here to eat and celebrate not dying in Warehouse 42. Damian, how’s your arm?"
"Recovering, ma’am, thanks to intensive healing doses," Damian replied respectfully.
"It will be fully ready in two days."
"Good," Valisera said as she chewed a large piece of undercooked python at, blood dripping from her lips in a nauseating way, ignoring all etiquette rules of this refined restaurant.
"Because after this week... we’ll need every arm, every eye, and every drop of blood you have."
Everyone froze.
Forks hung in midair.
Aiden, who had just returned from his break, looked at her suspiciously.
"A new mission? Already? I thought we eliminated the traitors."
"We cut off the snake’s tail, Aiden," Valisera said, swallowing her food.
She raised her glass of blood-red wine and looked through the liquid toward the city lights outside.
"Now... we’re going for the head."
Silence fell. Eva and Sia went still. Damian looked at , then at Valisera.
"Where?" Damian asked quietly.
Valisera smiled her usual demonic smile and glanced at from the corner of her eye.
"We’re going on a pleasant visit... to Saint Hilarious Hospital."
Aiden’s fork fell onto his plate with a loud clang.
"Hospital... what?!" he shouted, forgetting all restraint.
"Saint Hilarious?! Have you lost your mind?! That hospital belongs to the High dical Guild! Saint Hilarious himself is Rank S ! If we approach with hostile intent, we’ll be erased before reaching the gate!"
Eva stiffened.
"Ma’am... this is suicide. Saint Hilarious Hospital? In the heart of the city? We can’t—"
"I’ve decided. End of discussion," Valisera cut her off firmly, striking her glass against the table.
"I have one week to prepare the stage. You will train, recover, and write your wills if you wish. Because we’re going into that hospital... and we’re going to search the hell beneath it."
Then she turned directly to .
"And what about you, Kyle?" she asked with veiled mockery.
"Are you ready to be our lovely bait again?"
I swallowed, looking at the shocked, terrified faces of Alpha Squad.
"I... I’m at your service, ma’am," I said shyly.
"But... can I bring a friend with ?"
Valisera frowned in feigned annoyance.
"A friend? Are we going to a nightclub, you idiot?"
"He’s... he’s very strong! Rank B!" I said quickly, pretending panic.
"His na is Zack... and he has experience in tracking and analysis. Please... I feel like I’ll die if I don’t have soone protecting !"
Aiden slapped his forehead. "Great. Now the recruit is bringing his friends to magical intelligence missions. The FBI has turned into a daycare."
Valisera stared at for a long, deep mont filled with hidden warning.
She was studying —studying my audacity in trying to officially insert Zack into this dirty ga.
"I’ll think about it," she finally said coldly, returning her attention to the chocolate cake.
"But if he turns out to be as useless as you... I’ll throw both of you into the operating room."
I exhaled in relief. (Zack, my idiot friend... get ready. I’ve just dragged you into a cosmic war.)
Dinner continued. The table was filled with tension. Eva kept shooting hateful glances, Aiden lanted his fate of being returned to this insane squad, Sia remained calm as death, and Damian tried to find logic in all this chaos.
And ... I sat among them.
Cutting an expensive steak, chewing calmly.
The Black Joker. The killer. The bait. The planner.
I succeeded.
I am now inside the system. Sitting with the executioners at one table, eating their food, listening to their plans.
And when the ti cos... when we reach Saint Hilarious Hospital...
I will show them all the true face of the nightmare they created.
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