*****Still within the Myron estate… but hidden in the shadows of the spirit realm, Bloodfang Viper's soul stirred.He hovered above his own corpse, stunned and unblinking.“W-What…?” he rasped into the void, unable to process and comprehend what had happened, and how he could be staring at his own body.But then suddenly—A presence arrived.A chilling wind curled around his incorporeal form, followed by the emergence of a shadowy figure clad in obsidian-black robes.Two crimson eyes gleamed beneath a dark hood, and an unsettling grin stretched across its face.The Grim Reaper.“I was starting to wonder if he'd ever finish you off,” it said, its voice hollow yet brimming with twisted amusement. “I’ve been tailing you for quite some time now, waiting to collect your wretched soul.”Bloodfang Viper’s spirit flinched, and cold sweat rolled down his spectral spine… if he still had one.“Y... you’ve been following me?” he managed to stammer, his voice shaking with a fear deeper

*****A few minutes later, after Mistress Ayra disappeared, she rematerialized in an isolated location shrouded in mist.“I can’t afford to head directly to the hideout,” she thought, her heart still racing in her chest. “If he was bluffing… he might be tracking me. I must divert him, buy time, and stall his suspicion.”Her expression darkened, the calm she once carried shattering completely.…Back at the Myron estate—Xavier still stared silently at the path where Mistress Ayra had disappeared, and then the corner of his mouth twitched into a quiet smile, as if reading a book only he could see.Finally, he turned around, and his gaze, serene yet piercing, shifted toward Sage Myron and the rest of the onlookers.Then, without warning, he stepped forward.And in the next instant, he was standing directly in front of them.He hadn’t dashed. He hadn’t flown.He had simply appeared.Gasps erupted across the gathering, and everyone staggered backward, horror painting across th

*****Xavier’s lips slowly curled upward upon seeing Morderk reacting like this… but not in kindness. It was a cold, merciless smirk.“I gave you the chance to walk away with your life intact yesterday,” he said with a tone of feigned amusement, his eyes gleaming with quiet menace. “You left unharmed, and yet here you are… still breathing, still ungrateful, wanting to take my life.”Morderk’s face went pale as chalk upon hearing Xavier. It felt like his heart had been gripped by an invisible claw… crushed by a silent force that reeked of death.“No! No, please—Sir A-rank fighter, it… It wasn’t me!” he wailed. “It was the devil’s doing! The devil made me do it!”Xavier raised an eyebrow. “The devil, hmm?”“Yes, yes!” Morderk cried pitifully, nodding his head frantically like a broken doll. “That bastard—Bloodfang Viper—he forced me! He threatened me! I had no choice, I swear on my soul!”His voice cracked with desperation. Tears brimmed in his eyes as his knees scraped the stone

*****Like the rest of Riverton City, Sarah and David had also lived through the recent nightmare. They too had felt it… that suffocating fear, that soul-crushing dread as the sky split open, the thunder that roared like ancient beasts, and the ground that had trembled as though the very earth wished to unmake itself.And like the helpless citizens watching their world unravel, they had believed the end had come.Before any of this had begun, they had fallen asleep, too exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of the day… their hearts still reeling from the joy and disbelief of knowing that they no longer had to worry about their son’s finances.But when the unnatural chaos tore through the heavens, waking the city with thunderclaps and lightning storms that had split the night sky in half… they had also shot upright in bed, their hearts hammering in panic.It felt apocalyptic.They had been terrified and felt unwilling.Why now?Why must the world collapse just when they’d

*****Xavier couldn’t help but close his eyes briefly after understanding what his parents were talking about, a wave of guilt crashing over him again. He hadn’t just scared his parents with his disappearance—he had nearly broken them with the chaos his battle caused.Before he could form a response, a small hand tugged at Sarah’s gown.“Don’t be scared, Grandma,” Little Lola said, her tone solemn. “Uncle was behind the disaster that had scared you and grandfather, and almost destroyed the city.”Silence.The room froze, no one able to react for a second, but then…David’s eyes widened.Sarah’s breath caught.And Xavier blinked slowly, caught between horror and amusement.“This…” David muttered.Sarah’s mouth opened, then closed again.Xavier turned slowly to the little girl, a twitch tugging at the corner of his mouth.“…Little girl,” he finally managed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “did you just say I was behind a disaster?”Little Lola nodded her head earnestly, cl