Seiya tilted his head yet again, questioning what being a woman had to do with anything. A faint sense of familiarity tugged at him—he had encountered sothing like this before—but his failing mory offered no answers. With his deteriorating cognitive state, he struggled to retain past encounters for long.
"Riena, let it go. Save those who can still be saved—ti is slipping away," the bulky senior urged, his voice firm yet weary.
Clicking her tongue in frustration, Riena averted her gaze. "Lay them side by side."
The boys carefully placed the elite and Eiro beside each other. Standing over them, Riena extended her hands, activating her ability without further delay.
Monts later, she withdrew her arms and gave a single nod—she was done. The boys crouched over Eiro, watching anxiously for any sign of movent. anwhile, the elite’s eyes slowly dimd before closing completely, his body growing still and lifeless.
"I transferred the elite’s life to Eiro, but there’s no guarantee he’ll survive. The elite himself was in poor condition," Riena admitted, her voice edged with uncertainty.
A tense silence settled among them, nervous sweat forming on their brows.
"But the elite’s injuries weren’t that severe, and his condition was still better than Eiro’s. If Eiro gets imdiate treatnt, he should survive," one of the boys speculated, and the others nodded in agreent.
Hayne exhaled deeply, finally deactivating his ability. Their priority now was to evacuate and get the wounded to a hospital.
He turned to Mr. Sanio, who stood with poor posture, his expression unreadable. Rising to his feet, Hayne approached him.
"Does the deal stand, or should we take our chances and end this here?" he asked, his voice unwavering.
Mr. Sanio, barely able to support his own weight from the injuries he had sustained, scowled in frustration. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse and low.
"The deal stands. We won’t co after the children—or any of you. As long as I am spared… and what happened here remains a secret."
Hayne’s brow arched montarily before settling. It was a reasonable deal. Even if they exposed the horrors of this place, he doubted anyone would believe them. Mr. Sanio had powerful connections—governnts and higher authorities shielding him. Speaking out would only endanger the children further, as there would be those eager to silence the victims before the truth surfaced. It was safer to tread carefully.
"I have a condition as well." Hayne locked eyes with him—the man he had once been too afraid to even look at. "There are two other facilities like this one. We want the children there freed as well."
A faint smirk curled Mr. Sanio’s lips, unsettling Hayne.
"The children in those labs aren’t like the ones here," he said. "They wouldn’t want to leave."
Confusion flickered across Hayne’s face, but the seniors from the third floor quickly confird the claim.
"He’s right. We’ve been to those labs before—the ones there are nothing like us," one of the seniors added.
"They don’t dread the lab like we do. To them, it’s a path to attain power," another senior chid in. "And besides, there are no young children there. The youngest would be around sixteen or seventeen."
"They’re hungry mongers, thirsty for human blood. You shouldn’t care about them."
Realizing the futility of his demand, Hayne turned back to Mr. Sanio and sealed their deal.
"Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen anyone from the second floor since the chaos started," one of the third-floor seniors mused.
"Ah, I had them all secluded in a room. I’ll bring them out so we can leave," Hayne said, turning away from Mr. Sanio to gather the remaining children.
The seniors only watched without a word, too exhausted to even begin to think of why and how it was possible for sole parts of the building to remain standing.
As Hayne departed, Seiya strode away in silence, his staff hovering eerily at head level. Blood clung to its surface, dripping steadily onto the ground as it floated alongside him.
The boys from the third floor watched in a conflicted silence—both awed and unsettled. There was an undeniable allure to the sight, a chilling elegance in the way Seiya moved. Yet, beneath their admiration lurked a deep, instinctive fear. Having witnessed the brutal efficiency of his power firsthand, they now regarded him with wary caution.
Seiya moved through the facility at an unhurried pace, his steps asured as he ventured deeper into the wreckage. He climbed over fallen debris, the echoes of his footfalls the only sound in the desolate space. Eventually, he arrived at a crumbling wall, precariously held in place by the surrounding rubble.
His gaze lowered.
Cowering in the shadows beneath the fractured stone was Ms. Onoya.
A sharp gasp escaped her lips as he appeared before her without warning. Slowly, she lifted her head, her eyes locking onto his cold, unblinking stare. Then, as recognition dawned, relief flooded her features.
"Sei…" she exhaled, scrambling to her feet with desperate urgency, as if salvation had finally arrived.
Seiya stared at her, a vague sense of familiarity stirring within him, but as always—his mories failed him.
"Who?" he inquired inwardly.
Ibyu stirred. {Ms. Onoya. She was your assistant years ago. She oversaw all of your training.}
Even with the explanation, Seiya felt nothing. No recollection surfaced, no lingering trace of significance. Not that he made any effort to grasp at the past—after all, he had long deed it futile to rember anything that did not serve a purpose.
His gaze drifted to the woman before him. She gestured wildly, her mouth moving as if speaking, yet Seiya heard nothing. He had no interest in listening. Instead, he observed her in silence, his cold eyes weighing her worth. After a mont, he turned away.
Ms. Onoya’s breath hitched. Watching him leave—abandoning what she saw as ’their’ conversation—sent a jolt of desperation through her. She lurched forward, seizing his hand in a frantic grip.
The touch felt insignificant, like an insect brushing his skin. Instinctively, Seiya wrenched his hand free with a sharp motion, sending her staggering backward.
"Sei…ya," she breathed, her lips trembling. The force with which he had repelled her left her in stunned disbelief.
Her face twisted with confusion, then indignation. "Why are you treating like this? You should show respect!"
Seiya remained unmoved, his silence colder than any response.
"I raised you! Trained you! I did everything for you, like a mother would!" she raged, her voice cracking with fury. "You should listen to ! Obey !"
Despite the desperate tantrums she threw, her words held no aning to Seiya. She was neither significant nor worth his ti. Dismissing her words as aningless noise, Seiya turned once more to leave.
But again, she reached for him—grasping his wrist with creepy desperation. This ti, there was force in her pull, a stubborn refusal to let go.
Irritation flared in Seiya, sharp and imdiate. Without hesitation, he turned and struck her, the blow sending her crashing against the very wall she had once used as shelter.
Ms. Onoya coughed violently from the impact, blood spilling from her lips as she crumpled to the floor. But she was relentless. Weak and trembling, she dragged herself forward on all fours, unable to stand.
Her hands clutched at Seiya’s ankle, her eyes wide with a manic, desperate determination. "No… it can’t end like this," she choked out, her voice wet with blood.
"You’re supposed to listen to —to obey ! That’s how I raised you, how I trained you. That’s how it’s supposed to be!" she clung to him, her grip hot and brushing, her desperation almost grotesque.
Seiya regarded her with cold detachnt, his gaze piercing and unyielding. "Hey," he murmured, his voice like ice. "You’re not under the delusion that I belong to you by any chance, are you?"
At his words, Ms. Onoya froze. Her gaze wavered, trembling as if he had struck the very core of her delusion.
Seiya’s expression darkened, his lips curling in disgust. He wrenched his leg free from her grasp and turned away. But even as he walked, she refused to let go, dragging herself forward, reaching for him with ragged breath.
Without a mont of hesitation, Seiya turned back, descending his staff down in a single, brutal motion—piercing through her back and pinning her to the cold ground beneath.
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