Braaakh!

Cyn vomited blood from his mouth, clutching his left side where his scar had been. It had returned to its normal state, the tendrils vanishing, leaving behind only destruction and tunnels filled with craters.

He was lying there, drowning in his own blood and the aftermath. His grip on his scar was tight. It burned and ached fiercely. His heart had stopped, and all of his nerves screamed in agony.

A loud scream broke the silence, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of falling rain.

"Aaaahhh!"

___

"Damn it, was I about to die?! Huff!"

Cyn breathed a sigh of relief. The pain wasn't a joke. Despite the warning from his Scar, he couldn't remember much. But there were fragments of memories that remained—those massive tendrils, something that had come from deep within him, a feeling of madness, power, and something worse. Something terrifying.

Cyn chose silence. He didn't want to speak. He hadn't even fully recovered yet, and now he was on the verge of death again. His eyes fell on the body before him. The person was still alive! He could feel their faint heartbeat. His senses had become sharp, so sharp that he could even hear the weak pulse of the person next to him.

Cyn assessed his own injuries. Three broken ribs, severe damage to his back and neck. His arms and legs were useless, incapable of movement.

He thought to himself, struggling to breathe, "I need to leave. If I stay here any longer…"

His breathing was irregular. He tried to squeeze out the last bit of strength from his scar to move, but it bled heavily. He managed to move a little, but the pain rushed in again. He crawled closer to Tristan.

He wanted to take him with him, but his body wouldn't cooperate. It was drained of strength.

Cyn collapsed on top of Tristan's body, his eyes communicating one thing, "No arrgh—I mustn't..."

his eyes shut down from exhaustion, drifting into a deep sleep, slipping into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, a cloaked figure arrived at the site of the battle. He was shocked by what he saw.

"What the hell happened here?!"

The ground had been torn apart, leaving behind massive tunnels of various sizes. It was as if two enormous beasts had fought here—nothing, not even the fiercest army clash, could have caused such destruction.

Trees had been uprooted.

The figure stepped closer, and soon enough, he found two bodies lying on top of each other. He recognized one. No!

As he drew near, he realized that he recognized both bodies. One of them was Cyn. the male consort.

The other body was Tristan Arrow, number seven in the Raging Floods Guild, a man who worked for Chibi. He was an enemy. For both him and Cyn.

The figure removed his mask, and in the dark, under the falling rain, it was none other than Kassal.

Sensing people approaching, he hastily grabbed Cyn, but he stared at Tristan for a long moment before carrying him as well.

" tsk!... You better be useful!"

---

Cyn slowly regained consciousness. He was lying in a bed in a room. It was plain, nothing special—clean, with simple decor and a desk. It was his private room in the Male's Consorts wing of the palace.

He overheard some heated conversation nearby. It was Kassal and Miguel. Miguel expressed confusion, "Why are they even taking him? He's got nothing to offer. No connection."

Kassal responded, "We took one of them too. It's balanced now. No! We have the upper hand! Once he regains consciousness , we'll strike!"

The two were interrupted by a sound behind them. Cyn propped himself up on the bed, his body covered in bandages and strips, and he began removing them. His head swiveled from side to side, his hair blowing here and there as he tried to shake off the exhaustion and the intense pain gnawing at him.

Kassal warned him, "What are you doing? You shouldn't be taking those off yet. How did you wake up so quickly?"

Cyn didn't pay him any attention. He continued. "Shouldn't I be the one asking the questions? How did I end up here? What happened? And what are you two talking about?"

Miguel disagreed, "Trust me, Cyn, we should be asking the questions. What the hell happened?"

Cyn answered casually, "What happened, happened. But what exactly do you mean by that?"

Kassal and Miguel exchanged a glance. They knew Cyn wasn't in the mood to chat, and they also knew that he wouldn't speak unless they answered his questions first. Kassal spoke again, "Recent events forced the church and the temple to change their objectives and shift their search area. That's why attention shifted from the palace. I was able to bring you here without anyone knowing. Or, well, with some people knowing."

Cyn asked, "That's not what I meant. Who did they take?"

Cyn knew Kassal was the one who found him first, meaning he also found the other's body and took it with him. But since the man hadn't died, they had kept him alive to wait for him to regain consciousness.

But who had been taken from their group? Cyn immediately thought of Chevalier. He had been with him, that strange person. But Cyn didn't have any ties to him. So how had that happened?

Miguel spoke, "Our northern branch in the capital was attacked. It happened just after you left. Gilbert was captured, and the rest were killed."

Cyn barely moved his lips, as if saying, "Strange."

Miguel replied, "Yeah, strange."

Cyn asked about Chevalier, "What about the person from that tavern? The one with white hair? Haven't you heard about him?"

Kassal thought for a moment, then said, "Hmm! I remember hearing that the knights captured someone who fit that description inside the tavern. The owner said he was with you, so they took him. But when the church and temple people arrived, they handed him over for questioning."

Cyn was taken aback. The man hadn't tried to escape or resist. Cyn knew someone like that would've stayed at the table until every dish was finished, wearing that foolish look on his face.

Cyn then turned serious, "So, what group do they belong to? Has the investigation started?"

Kasal answered, "I know them well. They're from the Raging Floods Guild, under Chibi's leadership. I told you about them last time."

Miguel then asked, "So how did it all start? Why did you destroy the lab? You know how hard it is to get into your lab here in the palace, especially with all the eyes on Xyrene's wing."

Cyn casually answered, disinterested, "It was my mistake. But those guys from the Raging Floods Guild—when I met them, they had a tool from my lab. I don't know how they got it, or how they found out about the lab's location, but they tracked me down. I was injured and left blood trace behind, and that helped them I guess."

Kassal and Miguel were stunned, "They discovered the lab? No one knows where it is! Only a select few trusted people know. It's impossible for them to—"

Cyn finished, "Unless there's someone playing on both sides." he shaked his head, saying in a nonchalant tone "Forget about it for now. The important thing is, I destroyed it. And as I told you last time, if they're keeping an eye on us, they'll figure it out eventually. They'll track our resources, our routes, the people we deal with. They'll know everything. Our plans, methods, our people—our entire network isn't invincible or complete. If they try hard enough, they'll uncover everything."

Both were silent, but Miguel rephrased his question. "So, what happened then? What went down there, Cyn? The church, the temple, even the knights, and outsiders… the guilds, and scar bearers—everyone's on high alert."

Cyn had anticipated this. A fight inside the royal capital despite the existing ban, destruction of people's property, and their own battle there—it was all strange. Was it a personal vendetta? Who was fighting?

Cyn spoke, "It was an old man. He almost killed me. I kept running, couldn't use my scar at the time. He used his. It covered him completely, and he cast a black curtain. I remember he called it Squid Ink or something like that…"

While recounting what happened, both Kassal and Miguel were in complete shock, especially Kassal. His voice came out dry and disbelieving. "A~are you saying you didn't fight Tristan… but you fought that old monster, Valgean!!!!?"

Cyn whispered, "His name is Valgean, then? He was incredibly strong!"

Kassal explained, "Strong? Yeah, he's stronger than you can imagine. Valgean Fork. Even though he's ranked number six in the Raging Floods Guild, he's known to be able to defeat anyone in the guild. Only Chibi can beat him."

Cyn smiled. "What a pity. He ran away and left his friend behind. But he was incredibly strong, as you say. I've never seen anyone with that much strength and brutality."

The three continued talking, discussing the battle that had taken place near the lab, the one between the Raging Floods Guild and the Exodus Club.

Cyn hadn't known about this, but his mind was preoccupied with Chevalier. Even though Chevalier didn't know his name and had never asked for it, if he were to describe Cyn accurately, it would make it easier for them to track him, narrowing their search down more and more.

He wouldn't be able to move around freely.

As for the lab— even if they somehow discovered its location from the underground tunnels, they wouldn't find anything that would lead them to him.

Cyn suddenly remembered something and turned to Kassal. "By the way, did you find that thing I told you about last time?"

Kassal knew exactly what Cyn was referring to. He answered, "Forget about that for now. Things like that won't be heard of or found for months, maybe years. All we can do is wait."

Kassal then smiled, as though he had something even better to share. "But I discovered something better— a piece of information circulating in the black market lately!"

Cyn and Miguel leaned in as Kassal began explaining further.

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