Zareth lashed out.

It was already well known that the Lunaris were a race with unnatural pride.

When you poke their ego even a little bit, they react as though you had slain their family and insulted their generation.

"You stupid pale-skinned, hairless ape."

Zareth, whose body was wrapped in layers of dense shadow energy, swung his fist at Marlon.

Marlon's danger sense and reflexes kicked in, and with only a slight movement of his body, he evaded the punch easily, doing so without even attempting a counterattack.

"How dare you!"

"It was because of you that our plan failed."

"Because of you, every one of my people was killed!"

"I will kill you today."

His curses reverberated across the streets, echoing loudly as worried gangsters and tense hunters stood by and watched helplessly.

Marlon remained silent and simply focused on evading every single one of the Lunaris' attacks.

He could already tell that Zareth had exhausted a large portion of his aether reserves. As a result, he could no longer use any of the flashy skills he had displayed earlier in the fight.

At this moment, Marlon's simple goal was to continue tiring him out, to exhaust him until he could no longer move, and then subdue him without unnecessary stress or risk.

Killing Zareth was never on his mind.

There were far too many questions that needed answers, questions that could help humanity in the long run.

And after two long and irritating hours of continuous movement and relentless pursuit, Zareth finally ran out of breath, and his movements gradually became sluggish and uncoordinated.

"Curse you!"

He placed all of his remaining strength into a single punch and sent it flying toward his opponent.

"Got you.."

Marlon coolly deflected the attack with a single movement of his palm, and without allowing the alien even a moment to regain his composure, he captured his hands and twisted them painfully.

"Ahhh!"

Zareth cried out in anguish.

But Marlon ignored the scream. He twisted Zareth's arms behind his back, and then with a clean sweeping kick, the alien was sent crashing to the ground, his face kissing the sand soaked with his own sweat.

Marlon summoned several clone units using the last of his remaining aether points and ordered them to subdue the alien.

Zareth was undeniably strong, but he had already been completely exhausted.

Ten of Marlon's clones combined possessed strength comparable to that of a B-rank hunter standing on the verge of a breakthrough. Such power was more than enough to restrain an exhausted A-rank threat for several hours.

Marlon straightened his posture and stood up.

He observed the two subdued figures lying on the ground.

Draven wore a helpless expression as he stared at Zareth.

When Zareth had appeared earlier, Draven had expected him to deal with the hunters and free him from captivity.

However, just a few minutes ago, after witnessing how easily Zareth lost his composure against Marlon, that fragile hope had begun to crumble. Now that both of them were bound and subdued by the same person, that hope disappeared completely.

Draven had little regard for his own safety.

If the hunters took him away, as long as they did not kill him, he believed he would eventually find a way to escape, return to the Deadlight District, and exact revenge on everyone involved in his father's death.

But what about his sister?

She was the one person he wanted to protect. Even if it meant giving up his life and his freedom, he would do so without hesitation, as long as she remained safe.

If they took him away now, she would be left alone.

A young girl her age left alone in his place was no different from leaving a piece of meat in the midst of hungry beasts.

And so,

He let go of everything, his pride and his rage alike, and turned toward Marlon.

"Let me take my sister with me."

He pleaded.

Even as he spoke, he fully expected Marlon to refuse.

To his surprise,

"Sure."

Marlon accepted without hesitation.

"Tell us where she is, and we will go get her."

====

Some of the Black Brothers escorted the summoner using his flying summons and headed to the location Draven provided in order to bring his sister back.

While that was underway, Marlon used the signal box to contact the Hunter Association and informed them of their discoveries.

According to the lady who answered the call, Crimson Sterling had gone to the Hunter Academy to deal with a serious matter.

As a result, she had temporarily left the management of the Hunter Association in the hands of Annabel.

Annabel held a good reputation within the Hunter Association. Because of this, even though she was only acting as the head in the absence of the real one, no one dared to refuse her orders.

On her command, several Aetherwings were dispatched to the Deadlight District, accompanied by necessities such as healing potions, aether points, and aether-binding cuffs — These cuffs would be used to capture Draven and the Lunaris without allowing any resistance.

Once Marlon was certain everything had been settled properly, he ended the call and turned toward Tinubu, who stood in front of him with a somewhat worried expression on his face.

"Don't worry. The Hunter Association is not what you think."

Marlon said with a reassuring smile.

The concerned look on Tinubu's face made it clear that he feared the Hunter Association might send fighters after hearing what had happened, so Marlon felt the need to clarify things.

"The Leon Brothers will be sending more of their men to wreak havoc. You should be prepared when that happens."

Marlon added calmly.

Tinubu nodded.

Then he straightened his posture and said, "Do not bother about the loot."

He did not even give Marlon the chance to speak before continuing.

"If it were not for your interference, not only would I be dead, but my entire gang would have been wiped out. Giving you all the loot is the least I can do to show my appreciation."

"Thank you."

Marlon smiled gently.

"I should be the one thanking you."

Tinubu smiled back in response.

He could hardly believe that he owed his life to the young man standing before him.

"What power rank are you now?"

"C-rank."

Marlon answered honestly, not bothering to hide anything.

Tinubu's smile stiffened slightly as he repeated the words.

"C-rank?"

"Yeah. Anything wrong?"

"No, no..."

He waved his hands quickly and forced a smile onto his face.

But inside, his mind was being torn apart by sheer amazement.

As they spoke, the familiar roar of several Aetherwings echoed through the area, signaling their arrival.

The two of them left the room and walked outside together.

===

The summoner and the Black Brothers who had gone to retrieve Draven's little sister returned a few minutes later.

They arrived with a little girl who looked to be around eight years old.

She had neat white hair and large blue eyes.

She looked like a little angel pulled straight from a painting.

Several female hunters immediately gathered around her, drawn by her overwhelming cuteness.

Nevertheless, she ignored them completely. A worried expression covered her face as her eyes searched desperately for her brother.

Only when she spotted him did a bright smile finally bloom across her face.

Ignoring everyone around her, she ran toward Draven.

"Big brother.."

She called out as she threw herself into his arms.

Before her arrival, Draven had worn a dejected expression, lost in thoughts about what his fate might be.

Based on his past dealings with the Lunaris, he believed he would most likely be locked away.

However, the moment he heard his little sister's voice, his eyes widened as he hurriedly scanned the area.

When he saw her running toward him, a wide smile broke across his face, and his eyes slowly moistened.

"Delilah."

He called out softly.

She reached him, and the two of them hugged tightly.

Delilah wrapped her arms around her big brother, paying no attention to the strange cuffs restraining his hands.

They stayed like that for several minutes before finally separating.

Immediately after, Delilah began asking countless questions about her brother's situation and why he looked so beaten.

Draven had no choice but to make up a story in order to ease her worries.

"He is a good kid, turned evil by circumstance."

Watching the interaction between the siblings, Tinubu commented quietly.

"Yeah."

Marlon nodded in agreement.

He truly had not expected that Draven could display such emotions.

"You did the right thing transporting the Lunaris away from here before she arrived. She would have been terrified."

Tinubu remarked.

Marlon simply nodded in response.

In truth, he had not sent the Lunaris away while thinking about the little girl.

He had done so because it was the most practical option. Aether-binding cuffs were effective aether suppressors, but their effects usually wore off when placed on a powerful aether user.

Sending Zareth back to the Hunter Association as soon as possible was the safest way to prevent that from happening.

After all, the Hunter Association possessed far better facilities to contain someone like him.

He and Tinubu exchanged a short conversation before bidding each other farewell.

Once everyone had been accounted for, the Aetherwings took off and disappeared into the distance.

....

This is the end of Volume 3

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