Death, the Reaper—everything could be cast aside for now. All that mattered was immersing himself completely in this fight. He knew well that Crow hadn’t reached his limit yet; the faint sense of threat he felt wasn’t something Crow could muster in his current state.

Truthfully, he didn’t care whether this battle continued or not. Yue Ge had already made peace with it: as long as he lived, more fights would come. There was no need to rush. After all, he was now officially part of the organization. Killing someone would make things… awkward.

“…” Crow clutched his wound, gasping heavily. Even his vision blurred and twisted. The injury Yue Ge inflicted was too severe—he could barely hear what Yue Ge was saying anymore. He’d never imagined anyone could bypass his Essence form and strike his true body directly.

The only reason he still hovered midair was due to his Essence’s unique nature. He had no fixed "true body." Once his Essence reactivated, the wounds themselves ceased to exist. But the pain—the mental strain—was undeniably real. If Crow lost focus now and let his Essence deactivate, every past injury, including the fresh puncture wound, would erupt simultaneously.

One misstep, and the entire game was lost.

“So this is your trump card… No wonder. I underestimated you.” Crow drew a deep breath, relinquishing partial control. Pain surged instantly, sharpening his senses for a fleeting moment. His incomplete Essence form flickered unstably, dark body bleeding intermittently as crimson drops fell to the ground.

Had Crow fully deactivated his Essence now, Yue Ge would’ve seen not just the fresh puncture wound, but countless others crisscrossing his body—some scabbed over, others still oozing fresh blood. Those falling drops came from all of them.

“The outcome’s the same.” Yue Ge strode slowly toward Crow’s position. “Surrender? Or continue?”

“*Cough*… I misjudged you.” Crow spat blood again, his form solidifying back into full Essence mode. The bleeding stopped. He looked down at Yue Ge. “Now I understand why Doctor Bai Ya insists on having you.”

“Why?” Yue Ge asked, genuinely curious. He hadn’t grasped that part.

“You—” Crow began, but a crisp chime suddenly echoed across the plaza. He paused, then released an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. “You passed the test. The rest… *cough*… is up to you. I’m leaving.”

With that, Crow folded his wings, dropped swiftly to the ground, and snatched up his tablet and mask. The elevator doors nearby slid open. He darted inside without giving Yue Ge a chance to ask another question.

Yue Ge could only stare blankly as the elevator doors sealed shut. Silence reclaimed the plaza before he fully processed what happened.

“Hah…” He glanced toward the departed elevator, feeling oddly embarrassed.

After all that buildup, Crow fled after just a couple of hits. Yue Ge had even held back—Death Aura merely swirling around him. His true peak lay in full Essence form, where both physical prowess and Death Aura manipulation surged dramatically.

The Reaper Essence offered no support abilities. Every facet existed solely to bring death. It was pure combat incarnate. This was Yue Ge’s first time wielding this power with conscious control, and he sensed his command over it was still clumsy.

More precisely—he had zero combat experience. He’d only caught Crow off guard by exploiting his Essence’s quirks. Had Crow not been arrogant, bringing down a flying opponent would’ve been far harder. This only fueled Yue Ge’s craving for more battles. Only through fighting could he grow stronger.

As Yue Ge pondered refining his attacks, the door Crow had used swung open again.

“Yue Ge.” Huan stepped through, beckoning. “Come on. I’ll take you to A7.”

“You?” Yue Ge snapped back to attention and approached.

“Surprised? Didn’t I say we’d meet again?” Huan shrugged. “I never introduced myself. Call me Huan. The one who tested you earlier was Crow.”

They took a detour through another door Huan opened. Behind it lay not an elevator, but a corridor. Wall sconces illuminated glass display cases embedded in the walls. Some were empty; others held indistinct fragments—bones, tufts of fur—impossible to identify. At the end, a spiral staircase ascended, radiating an air of quiet mystery.

“Are those codenames?” Yue Ge asked, puzzled.

“Mm. No one’s used our real names in years. I’ve almost forgotten mine.” Huan walked ahead, voice calm. “Crow and I belong to the Support Squad. Names aren’t used there.”

“Support Squad? The kind I’m thinking of?” Yue Ge scratched his cheek. Shouldn’t support duties be handled by regular staff? Wasting Chosen Ones—especially high-tier ones like Crow—seemed absurd.

“Well… it’s a bit different. You’ll see if you join us.” Huan offered a wry smile, avoiding details. He changed the subject. “The stairs lead to A7. Your interview’s there. Pass it, and you’ll officially become Doctor Bai Ya’s assistant. The Organization will provide resources accordingly.”

“And if I fail?” Yue Ge followed Huan up the stairs. The walls here lacked displays—less unsettling that way.

“No idea.” Huan grinned, shrugging off the chilling implication. “Might get disposed of.”

“…” Yue Ge stayed silent, silently updating his mental file on the Organization. He’d heard similar words from Bai Ya. So it hadn’t been an empty threat after all…

“We’re here.”

The staircase was short—just two spirals up. Only one room awaited. Huan knocked lightly on the door. “Sir, I’ve brought him.”

No reply. But after a moment, the door slid open by itself.

Huan blinked, then stepped inside. Yue Ge followed, only to find a girl he didn’t recognize opening the door. She looked even younger than Bai Ya. Jet-black hair, jet-black eyes. She wore a white lab coat haphazardly over her clothes.

The room was small—barely a few strides across. Furnishings were sparse: a desk, a few chairs, a large bookshelf against the wall. Utterly ordinary. The girl sat naturally behind the desk, chin propped on her palm, observing Yue Ge.

*This* was his interviewer?

…

Yue Ge’s expression slowly turned peculiar. He’d expected the head of the Fate Organization—the one both Huan and Crow addressed as “Sir.”

Reality, it seemed, was slightly… unexpected.