— Fall of the Sunlight Home —
"Something's wrong! Something's happened!"
The iron gate of the Sunlight Welfare Institute lay half-collapsed on the ground, dust still unsettled.
Eren, Johan, and Xunhuan Lee rushed to the gate—then froze. The sight before them chilled the blood.
"Granny Lucy—!"
Only the wind answered their calls.
The courtyard was as silent as a tomb.
Toys, a shattered photo frame, and bloodstains not yet dry lay scattered on the ground. The bodies of several Trinity Syndicate guards were strewn near the entrance, their deaths brutal.
The once warm and lively yard was now a desolate ruin.
They burst into the monitoring room. The feeds were wiped clean. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing.
"Who did this?!" Johan's face was iron-hard with fury.
Eren's gaze turned frigid, an intimidating aura flaring around him. "Whoever it is, they will pay in blood!"
Xunhuan Lee examined the blood on the floor, his voice low. "The blood isn't fully clotted. This happened within the last hour. Their killer... it was a single, fatal strike for each."
Eren immediately called Leopold's number—no answer.
Frowning, he quickly dialed Chief Arden.
"Arden! The Sunlight Welfare Institute has been attacked. Granny Lucy and the children have been taken. I need all the city's surveillance footage—now!"
"What?!" Arden's shocked voice came through the receiver. "I'm mobilizing personnel immediately!"
Eren tried Kane and Aveline next. All lines were dead.
His face darkened instantly.
Aveline, Leopold, Kane, Granny Lucy, the children... Everyone connected to him had vanished simultaneously.
—This was a provocation.
"And Lyra?" A cold dread settled in his heart.
---
— Betrayal in Blood —
Arden called back.
"Eren, we found traces. Roughly an hour ago, a group stormed the institute and took everyone. They wore masks, moved extremely fast—no clear faces on the cameras. They left in a coach—false plates. We've lost the trail for now."
"Keep looking. Notify me the moment you have anything."
As he ended the call, another came through.
Darius's voice trembled, frantic over the line: "O-Overlord! Help me! I—"
A sharp cry cut him off, followed by dead silence.
"Darius!—Hello!"
Only the cold tone of the disconnected line answered.
"Arden," Eren commanded, his voice cold. "Trace a number for me. Now!"
In under a minute, Arden responded: "Last signal came from a mountainous forest on the western outskirts of Novalis."
"Enough."
Eren pocketed his phone. "Let's go."
The three vanished in an instant.
---
The forest was dark, shrouded in mist.
Darius, covered in blood, stumbled as he fled. Four figures closed in relentlessly from behind, led by the Iron Vow's deputy leader—Mila.
"Boss, you can't run!" Mila laughed. "Accept your fate gracefully! I promise to make it quick!"
"Graceful, my ass!" Darius roared, blood trickling from his mouth. "You dare betray your sworn brother?!"
"Brother? You debase yourself as a dog for some brat! I won't share that shame!"
Suddenly, a figure erupted from the bushes to the side, fist striking like a viper.
Boom—!
Darius was sent flying meters back, vomiting blood. Four Grandmaster-tier warriors instantly surrounded him, killing intent palpable.
"It's over..." he muttered, a flicker of resolve in his eyes.
"Finish him—!" Mila yelled.
The four launched their strikes simultaneously—palms tearing through the air—only for four flying swords to slice through the sky.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Blossoms of blood erupted from each warrior's forehead before they crumpled to the ground!
Mila paled in horror.
"Who?!—"
A cold snort reverberated like thunder in his skull. An invisible force crushed him flat against the earth, paralyzing him completely.
"Darius, why is it every time I see you, you're getting beaten up?"
A familiar voice echoed from the depths of the forest.
Three figures shot towards them.
Eren stood at the forefront, his gaze as sharp as a honed blade.
"O-Overlord!" Darius scrambled forward on his knees, clutching Eren's leg.
Eren kicked him off lightly, his voice cold. "Talk. Who sent them?"
Gasping for breath, Darius answered, "Mila... he brought these four Grandmaster-tier Warriors... but they wanted to cripple me, not kill me."
Eren's eyes narrowed slightly, the chill around him intensifying.
"Cripple, not kill?"
He turned his gaze to the trembling Mila on the ground.
"Speak."
Mila spilled everything like a tipped basket.
"It was the one-eyed man who brought them! I don't know who they are! Truly—!"
A flicker of disgust passed through Eren's eyes.
He said calmly, "Darius, deal with him."
Crack—
Mila's neck twisted at an unnatural angle before his body went limp.
---
— The Puppet Master —
"And Lyra? Is she safe?"
Eren's voice was low, his heart sinking like a stone.
Darius was taken aback. "Miss Lyra? She... should be fine, right? I was protecting her as you ordered. An hour ago, Mila called saying it was urgent, so I came back... Overlord, why?"
He couldn't see the connection between his ambush and Lyra's safety.
Eren quickly summarized the welfare institute attack.
Darius's face instantly lost all color. He frantically dialed Lyra's number—
No connection.
"So, someone is truly targeting me, targeting everyone around me."
A chill crept up his spine—not fear, but rage barely chained.
Eren's eyes were like ice. He and Darius rushed to HelixPharm.
The surveillance feeds showed empty rooms. Lyra's trail had vanished completely.
—Was all this the work of that mysterious figure?
He took them all... to threaten me?
But with power like his, capturing me should be effortless. Why this convoluted scheme?
Questions swirled relentlessly in Eren's mind, but one thing felt certain—for now, the captives were still alive.
"Eren, this is too severe. Should we mobilize GVA's strength?" Johan asked, frowning.
"Bear, don't worry."
Eren's gaze was steely. "I will bring Granny Lucy and the others back myself. You and Xunhuan Lee, go tend to your wounds—I will handle this alone."
This was no longer just a rescue. It was a direct confrontation between him and the mysterious enemy.
He refused to drag anyone else into this.
Soon after, Arden called again, his voice heavy. "Mr. Eren, we found the coach... but the people inside are all gone. Not a single trace left behind."
Eren clenched his fist.
"Do everything you can."
He knew—if this was the mysterious man's doing—conventional forces were useless.
That kind of power, to make dozens vanish without a trace... it defied comprehension.
---
Eren looked up at the night sky and let out a cold roar:
"Is this your show of force?
To prove you know my every move?
That you can toy with my fate?!"
His furious shout echoed through the empty streets, tearing through the night, as if challenging some invisible presence watching from above.
"If you have the guts—come for me!
Leave the innocents out of this!"
A sudden night wind swept up dust and debris, cold and mocking.
But Eren was not a man who surrendered.
Even in death, he would tear a bloody chunk from his enemy!
Yet he knew deeply—with his current strength, he didn't even qualify to fight back.
Returning to his prison cell, Eren sat cross-legged.
The Obsidian Sigil in his mind ignited with a faint light, energy flooding into him like a tidal wave.
The air currents howled around him, spiritual light wreathed his form, and his sweat vaporized into mist from the intense heat.
He was cultivating as if burning his very life force.
"Only power,"
He roared inwardly,
"Can command destiny."
—Just you wait, Mysterious Man.
Suddenly, Eren's entire body shuddered.
Deep within his Psionic Awareness, the protective jade talisman he had given to Selene—shattered silently.
A wave of ominous foreboding surged into his heart—a premonition of bloody disaster.
He frowned in contemplation.
"With the Sixfold Trade Guild's strength, protecting her shouldn't be an issue... Besides, she isn't closely tied to me yet, not truly 'my people'."
Eren reined in his thoughts, forcibly suppressing the sliver of unease.
The wind moaned outside.
He closed his eyes once more.
Spiritual light flared again—
A lone man, defying the darkness.