Ren stepped out from the shadows of the emergency stairwell, hands shoved casually into the pockets of his overcoat. The rhythmic click of his boots against the damp concrete floor was slow, deliberate—a heartbeat of pure, calculated threat. Behind a nearby pillar, Rena and the Minister held their breath, waiting for a signal that hadn't come.
The extraction team—five men, built like brick walls—snapped their heads toward him. In a synchronized blur of steel, they drew blades and iron pipes, fanning out into a cautious semi-circle.
"Who the hell are you?" barked the one with a jagged scar across his temple. "Where's the Boss?"
Ren came to a halt five meters out. "The Boss?" He let out a dry, muffled snort behind his mask. "Ah, that guy. He was making too much noise upstairs... so I put him to sleep."
Ren paused, his amber eyes sparking with a predatory light.
"...Permanently."
He adjusted his mask with a flick of his wrist, then slowly drew a black dagger from beneath his coat. The obsidian blade danced between his fingers with hypnotic speed.
The temperature in the basement seemed to plummet. The agents traded glances, the first flickers of doubt creeping into their expressions.
"You claim to be Higanbana? Please." Ren's voice dropped into its true register—low, frigid, and dripping with contempt. "Step up. If you manage to beat me, maybe I'll let you borrow the name."
"Arrogant brat! Kill him!"
The provocation landed perfectly. The group exploded. Three of them lunged, blades and pipes swinging, abandoning their post by the SUV. They moved with blind rage, hacking at the air where Ren had stood a second before.
Ren didn't retreat. He moved like a shadow detached from its body, slipping through their strikes with minimal, lethal efficiency. When an agent lunged for his gut, Ren simply shifted his hips, using the hilt of his dagger to hammer the nerve in the man's wrist. The weapon clattered to the floor.
He didn't kill them immediately. He lured them away, leading the chaos toward the far side of the basement until the concrete pillars blocked their view of the target vehicle.
Now.
Ren slammed his back against a pillar and used his left hand to strike a nearby iron pipe twice. Ting! Ting! The sharp metallic ring cut through the grunts and curses of the agents.
The silent signal.
Rena emerged from the dark. She didn't look at Ren; her focus was locked on the black SUV, its engine idling with a low growl. With her heart nearly hammering out of her chest, she grabbed the Minister's arm, dragging the old man toward the driver's side.
"Get in! Now!" she hissed.
Rena scrambled into the driver's seat, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the wheel. She floored it. The SUV roared, its tires screaming as they tore skin off the concrete.
One agent, left behind near the car, jolted. His eyes went wide at the sight of the glowing taillights. "Hey! They're taking the car!"
He scrambled toward a second SUV parked nearby. Ren saw him. With a powerful kick, Ren sent the body of the agent he'd just crippled sliding directly into the runner's path. The man tripped, but scrambled back up, diving into the driver's seat.
Ren went to give chase, but his ears caught a sound he knew all too well.
Click.
The mechanical snap of a hammer being cocked cut through the engine noise. Ren's blood ran cold. Mistake. He'd miscalculated; he'd assumed these amateurs were strictly melee, but one of them had a piece tucked into his waistband.
The muzzle was leveled at the back tire of Rena's SUV. The agent intended to end the chase before it started.
Ren was too far to reach the shooter. In a moment of pure, reckless instinct, he did the only thing he could to protect Rena's exit. He swung his right hand back without looking, thrusting his palm directly into the path of the bullet.
BANG!
"Ugh!" Ren let out a strangled groan. White-hot agony blossomed in his palm as the lead tore through muscle and bone. But he'd done it. Rena's tire remained intact, and the SUV sped toward the exit.
"Damn it," Ren hissed, his face hardening against the thrumming pain. Fresh blood began to pool and drip from the hole in his black glove.
The shock of the impact left him open for a split second. The remaining four agents didn't miss the opening.
"Where's that smug attitude now, you little shit?!" The largest of them charged, grabbing Ren by the shoulder and slamming him violently against the concrete wall.
CRACK.
Ren hit the wall hard, dust blooming around him. His vision blurred as he watched the second car roar up the ramp after Rena. He was trapped, surrounded by four men who now felt like kings because they'd drawn blood from the predator.
"Not bad... for amateurs," Ren rasped, pulling himself up and ignoring his mangled hand.
With a swift movement, he pulled a silk tie from his pocket—one he'd snatched earlier. He wrapped the expensive fabric tightly around his right palm, using his teeth to yank the knot shut, stanching the flow that was already making him lightheaded. The fine silk stained a deep, bruised crimson instantly.
He dropped into a fresh stance, his left hand gripping the black dagger. His gaze wasn't just cold anymore. It was terminal. He had to end this now, or Rena was dead.
Rena's SUV burst out of the basement, hitting the dim streetlights of the city. Her breath came in shallow, jagged gasps. In the passenger seat, the Minister was white-knuckled, staring at the side mirror.
"They're... they're right behind us!" he shrieked.
Rena glanced at the rearview. The second SUV was barely ten meters back. On the empty street, the pursuer didn't hesitate to floor it. BAM! A violent jolt from behind sent her head snapping forward.
"Focus, Rena... just focus," she whispered. She remembered Ren's orders: Find a patrol drone. Find a station.
She threw the car into a sharp turn, the tires shrieking in protest. She scanned the night sky for blue-white strobes. But the man behind her was a pro. He kept closing the gap, nudging her rear bumper to force a spin-out.
"They won't stop!" Rena yanked the wheel right, diving into a narrow alley, hoping to lose them in the concrete labyrinth.
But she underestimated them. The agent saw a gap between two blocks—a shortcut barely wide enough for a vehicle. With a suicidal maneuver, the chase car cut through, aiming to intercept her at the next intersection.
Rena saw him too late.
As she cleared the turn, the black SUV was already there, broadsiding her.
"Look out!" the Minister screamed.
Instinctively, Rena pulled the wheel left with everything she had. But she was carrying too much speed. The heavy SUV lost its grip on the asphalt. The world spun three hundred and sixty degrees in a cloud of burning rubber before sliding toward the curb.
CRAAAASH!
The sound of metal meeting concrete echoed through the silent street. Rena's car hit a utility pole head-on. The airbags deployed instantly, filling the cabin with white dust and the acrid stench of chemicals.
Rena's head throbbed. Warmth trickled down her forehead, though the tactical vest Ren had forced her to wear under her coat saved her ribs from a fatal impact. Beside her, the Minister was slumped over, out cold from the shock.
Outside, the pursuit vehicle screeched to a halt. The door swung open, and a masked man stepped out, clutching a knife. He approached with a hurried, angry stride, intending to drag the Minister out before the authorities arrived.
But he forgot one thing. This was Rich City.
The pole Rena had hit wasn't just concrete; it was a Smart-Node sensor. The moment it detected a high-velocity impact, the streetlights across the entire block flipped to a strobe-red emergency signal.
A mechanical hiss descended from the sky. Two police patrol drones, perched on a nearby roof, dove toward the wreckage. Their searchlights locked onto the agent like the eyes of a god.
"EMERGENCY DETECTED. AUTHORITIES EN ROUTE," the robotic voice boomed.
The agent froze. He looked at the drones, then at the horizon where sirens were already screaming toward them. In a city this advanced, response time was measured in seconds.
Realizing the mission was scorched earth, the agent cursed and bolted into a dark alley, but the red-and-blue lights were already boxing him in.
Inside the wreckage, Rena slowly opened her heavy eyes. Through the haze, she saw the sirens reflecting off the shattered windshield.
"It worked..." she murmured, her consciousness fading. She felt the hands of first responders pulling her from the suffocating cabin. But through the fog of pain, all she could feel was the lingering warmth radiating from the black vest beneath her coat.
A final protection from the man she'd left behind in the dark.