"This isn't some fictional world where I politely wait for my enemy to finish talking," Kaivan murmured coldly, watching her collapse. He turned away without a glance, leaving behind a body that had lost all its earlier confidence.
Meanwhile, outside the building, the situation was entirely different. Frans, Radit, Raphael, Ethan, Livia, Isabel, Zinnia, Felicia, and Thivi had just arrived. But the scene before them stole their breath, crowds of reporters, police units, and civilians gathered in chaos. Sirens wailed, red and blue lights flashing across their confused faces.
"Why is it so crowded here?" Raphael frowned.
Felicia's voice wavered. "This isn't good."
Suddenly,
BOOM!
DDDUAAR!
A violent explosion shook the night. The ground trembled beneath their feet.
"Kaivan…" Zinnia whispered, her entire body trembling.
Without waiting for anyone to speak, they all broke into a run. Fear and determination merged into one. Nothing else mattered, Kaivan had to survive.
Inside the building, Kaivan stood amid the rubble, struggling for breath. He had survived by shielding himself behind a concrete wall.
"The mission's done," he muttered, scanning the debris. But then he froze.
From within the smoke… Rapi emerged again, her face drenched in blood, parts of her skin charred, yet somehow still standing.
"So you're not dead?" Kaivan narrowed his eyes. "Impressive."
Rapi forced a weak smile, pressing her hand against her wound. "I… burned the wound shut."
"Good." Without hesitation, Kaivan hurled his chain-linked karambit. It flew like a streak of death, but the floor surged upward, halting the weapon mid-air.
A new voice echoed, dripping with arrogance and mockery. "Forgive me for the lack of hospitality… And forgive me as well, but our promise to stay together is now void."
From the darkness stepped a tall woman with long black hair, wearing a short skirt and a crisp formal shirt. In her hand gleamed a radiant book, Tome Omniphilos. She was Vella, wielder of elemental power, the last enemy standing between Kaivan and the truth.
The night outside grew darker. Inside the dim hall, Kaivan faced Vella head-on. His expression was cold, his eyes burning with silent fury.
"Why did you kill my mother? What did she ever do?" he asked quietly, too quietly. A deliberate feint. Another karambit appeared in his hand, glinting under the faint light.
Shards of glass shot toward him. Kaivan blocked them in an instant, the clash of metal and crystal ringing through the air. Fragments scattered across the floor.
"Amazing," Vella said with a thin smile. "Maybe I should say: 'This isn't a fictional world, I don't need to wait for my opponent to finish talking,' isn't that right?"
Kaivan remained silent, eyes locked onto her every movement.
Vella opened the tome. Its pages glowed gold. The floor writhed, transforming into sharp crystal thorns. Kaivan leapt back, dodging the deadly spikes.
But stepping back triggered another attack. Boulders shot toward him with terrifying speed. Kaivan slashed through several, fragments exploding outward. Dust filled the air. Tiny shards cut into his arms and legs, but he ignored the pain entirely.
"Enough," Kaivan said coldly, his voice heavy with buried rage. "Tell me the reason. Why did you kill my mother, Vella?"
Vella laughed softly, hatred flickering in her eyes. "Because you…"
She paused, savoring the venom in her words.
"…tore our contract in half. So I tore your mother in half as well."
The words struck Kaivan like a direct blow. His face tensed, his eyes burning with fierce anger. He didn't just hear an insult, he heard a desecration of his mother.
"You…" he muttered, voice low. His hand tightened around the karambit before he hurled it with full force. The blade shot through the air like lightning, almost impossible to dodge. Vella reacted quickly, pulling the surrounding cement into a shield. But the karambit pierced through it and slashed across her face.
"Gahhh!" Vella screamed as blood streamed down from the wound near her eye. She staggered back, clutching her face, her remaining eye blazing with hatred.
Kaivan didn't stop. He moved swiftly, leaping back toward the karambit trapped in the cement. But before he could reach it, Vella's voice echoed again.
"You scarred my face, Kaivan," she said coldly. "You'll pay for that." She yanked the karambit from her wound, blood dripping heavily. "I'll shred your body like grating cheese."
Kaivan straightened, breath heavy, gaze sharp. Dust, cuts, and the blood on the karambit marked the intensity of their battle, yet his mind remained focused.
Adrenaline rushed through him. Even as pain began to throb through the smaller wounds, his thoughts stayed clear. He hid in the room's dark corner, watching Vella's every move. He could hear his own heartbeat, before whispering to himself, "I hit her… I can kill her."
But the ground behind him churned. Cement rose into a massive hammer and swung forward with brutal force. Kaivan barely leaped aside in time.
His calm didn't last. The large overhead lamp exploded, scattering sharp shards that rained down like a deadly storm. Kaivan twisted midair, his body weaving through the falling glass.
Sweat trickled down his temple, but there was no time to rest. Water burst from cracks in the wall, freezing into sharp crystals that shot toward him. Kaivan darted left and right, his body moving like a shadow dancing between death.
In the midst of the chaos, Vella's gaze returned to the karambit. "Why can't I control it? Is this… a mixture of more than four elements?" she thought in panic. But she had no time to reflect.
Kaivan leapt onto a rising cement pillar, then launched himself toward Vella with terrifying speed. His karambit rose high, ready to strike. But steel beams twisted out from the walls, forming a barrier in front of Vella. The clash reverberated sharply through the room, separating two forces refusing to yield.
Kaivan growled under his breath. "Damn… she can do this too?" Her speed and precision were now a real threat. Before he could react, the floor writhed beneath him, roots shot out, tangling around his legs and dragging him down. Steel beams rose around him, coiling around his torso and arms, forcing him into a kneeling position. He couldn't move, only his eyes burned with restrained fury.
Memories surged in the trap's suffocating grip. Tome Omnicent's warnings resurfaced: the limits he must not cross, the power he still couldn't defeat. He hissed in frustration, but his resolve didn't break. He was not someone who surrendered, even on the brink of ruin.
Vella approached with steady steps and a cutting smile. She looked down at Kaivan, now bound and helpless.
"Consider this your payback," she said calmly, then delivered a swift, brutal kick to Kaivan's face.
His body swayed, and consciousness slipped away instantly.
He collapsed to the floor, unmoving. Vella watched him in the silence of her victory. But before she could turn away, cold water splashed across Kaivan's face. He jolted awake, gasping, his eyes sharper than before.
"I told you I'd grate you like cheese. Don't fall asleep yet, Kaivan," Vella taunted, her voice sweet yet cruel. The metal around her trembled, ready to pounce.
Kaivan let out a bitter smile. "I should've listened to Tome Omnicent… but at least I burned your company's documents," he murmured.