A moonless night, lit only by the faint flicker of stars above a gray, lifeless sky.
Kaien and Cindra moved silently through an old, unused underground sewer system as they left the city behind. Every step echoed. Every breath was swallowed by the sound of dripping water. Above them, government drones circled like flocks of steel birds, red eyes scanning through every building.
It wasn't until they squeezed through a rusted iron wall deep underground that they could finally breathe a little easier.
But the real trial had just begun.
---
Near the border zone, security checkpoints lay hidden among decaying shipping containers. Soldiers in bulletproof armor stood armed to the teeth. Cindra gripped her gun tightly, eyes sharp with tension.
> "There's too many of them. Are you sure about this, Kaien?"
Kaien nodded, his eyes steady.
> "There's no way back now."
With the skills honed from hundreds of assassination missions, Kaien guided Cindra around patrol zones, using the terrain to their advantage, silently taking out isolated guards without raising an alarm. Every step was a dance with death. Even breathing had to be restrained.
---
At last, they reached the outer zone — where the stench of gunpowder mingled with blood and human ash. The wind blew through, thick with the reek of death.
In the distance, artillery fire flashed like lightning from the heavens. The battlefield looked exactly as the rumors described: savage, chaotic, and heavy with despair.
Kaien walked forward slowly. Cindra followed, hesitant but determined. Then suddenly...
> A shadowy figure appeared through the dense smoke.
A hoarse voice rang out, thick with mockery:
> "Well, look who decided to come all the way out here for a stroll."
Kaien froze. That voice — he'd heard it a thousand times before. From the mist emerged Aigris, a cigar burning in the corner of his mouth. His face half-lit, half-shrouded in shadow, like a demon surfacing in the depths of hell.
> "Aigris!? What are you doing here? More importantly… how did you know where we were?" Kaien demanded.
Aigris exhaled smoke and smirked.
> "Did you really think I'd let two little rats vanish for two whole days without keeping an eye on them?"
Just then, dozens of figures appeared behind him. Black-clad thugs with guns, surrounding Kaien and Cindra from all directions. The sound of safeties clicking off echoed coldly through the air.
Kaien gritted his teeth:
> "Don't try to stop us, Aigris! We've made our choice. We're done working for you!"
Aigris sighed, shaking his head like a disappointed father.
> "Kaien, you know… I once thought you were the perfect little rat I ever trained. Silent. Efficient. Never asked questions."
His voice dropped, heavy and dark:
> "But now… you're no longer worth keeping alive."
Kaien and Cindra raised their guns, standing back-to-back. But Aigris raised a hand, signaling his men to hold fire.
> "Wait. Before I send you two off, let me tell you a little truth."
He stepped forward, eyes gleaming as if savoring every word.
> "Eight years ago, a couple came to borrow money from me to raise a kid. No job. No home. No future. I knew damn well they'd never pay off the sky-high interest I gave them… but I lent it anyway."
> "Your father — a hell of a fighter. Your mother — a stunning con artist with talent to spare. I figured, yeah, this couple could be useful."
> "So I hired them — just like you. But then…"
Aigris narrowed his eyes, the smile on his lips twisting like a blade.
> "They tried to run."
A gust of wind blew past, scattering ash and gun smoke.
> "That Christmas Eve… I sent both of them straight to hell. Right in front of a crying little brat — a rat who'd just lost his mother."
Kaien froze. His world collapsed. Cindra turned to him, noticing that his hands were trembling — something she had never seen before.
Aigris laughed, rough and jagged like rusted nails scraping against metal.
> "Now you understand, don't you, Kaien? You'll never escape. This isn't a choice. This is fate."
Kaien gripped his gun tighter, eyes burning with the same fire he had the day his parents' blood splattered against a cold wall.
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