The moon shone bright in a star-sparse sky, the deep night pure as flawless black gemstone without a single blemish. Cold moonlight spilled over the dark figure. Mirror October’s bloodless lips pressed together slightly as he gazed down impassively at a hidden base nestled deep within the valley. His captivating, almost predatory eyes seemed to trample everything beneath his feet—wild yet restrained.
Standing silently behind Mirror October was Crimson Trade, his entire body tightly wrapped in medical bandages. Once pristine white, they were now stained and crusted with blood. Pain flickered beneath the bandages obscuring his face, and the fierce crimson glow of the composite bow on his back had dimmed to a dull ember.
"*She* is inside."
He stated it with absolute certainty, not asking Crimson Trade. Though the S-Class Justice Knight was unworthy of facing him, that absurdly stubborn conviction of hers had let her cling to life this long—a trait worthy of grudging respect. An exceptionally sweet and fragrant scent lingered thickly in the air.
*Hope within despair. Unyielding obstinacy!*
Mirror October drew a deep breath, his pale lips curling into an increasingly radiant, chilling smile. As the most dangerous super-criminal in the eyes of the ignorant—a being all Superheroes feared—the innate, bone-deep dread radiating from him cut through everything. Deep within the base, a woman seated in meditation suddenly opened her clear, long-unseeing eyes. As if piercing through layers of obstruction, their gazes clashed violently in the air!
*One of the Seven Elite Riders of the Superhero Administration! The S-Class hero—Justice Knight!*
*At last… we meet again!*
His thin lips parted in a soundless chuckle. Mirror October gazed down arrogantly at the hidden base, then cast a lingering look at Crimson Trade. He didn’t mind Jigsaw Disciples acting on their own—but betray the Jigsaw Sect’s ideals? That would unleash the Sect’s relentless, undying pursuit. Crimson Trade had brought this on himself. Mirror October needed no lapdogs. He needed comrades who shared his vision, partners willing to chase that ideal unto death!
"Do you know where you erred, Crimson Trade?" Mirror October’s hands stayed tucked in his coat pockets as he turned slightly. Compared to Crimson Trade’s sturdy frame, his own slender build seemed to hold no pressure at all. A cruel, exhilarated smirk played on his lips. Mirror October never kept dogs.
"I erred in making decisions for you without permission."
"Good. Since you know your error, correct it. Loyalty to me is commendable—but if that loyalty corrupts you, Crimson Trade, even you won’t be spared. I won’t keep a dog. I don’t need one. *We* don’t need one. The Jigsaw Sect needs none!"
The Jigsaw Sect was never built to satisfy one man’s selfish desires! Mirror October loathed humanity’s ugliness to the core. For the sake of that future—a brilliant, beautiful ideal—he would never allow even a trace of filth to stain himself, not even for beloved friends!
*This was the Jigsaw way!*
*Cultivating darkness, serving the light!*
"My life gained a new chapter because of you. You are my reason to fight, to exist. For your ideal, I would die willingly. So do not question my purpose, Saw…" Crimson Trade’s gaze lingered with profound complexity on Mirror October’s thin, solitary back. After leaving these earnest words, he slowly vanished, swallowed by a flash of crimson lightning.
Only after Crimson Trade had completely disappeared did Mirror October release a sigh too faint to hear. *Human nature… so beautiful, yet so ugly.* But it was precisely this extreme duality that kept him from losing all faith in humanity.
Like a reflection in a mirror, his slender figure also vanished from the spot.
………Divider………
Prisoners usually crave freedom—they’re stripped of it. But some choose captivity. Like the Justice Knight, one of the Superhero Administration’s famed Seven Elite Riders. Stripped of her heroic honors, she stubbornly clung to life.
Even as a worthless prisoner, she gritted her teeth, waiting. Waiting for the demon to come!
*This was fate. The game wasn’t over. He would return!*
Lu Xiu sensed it—the demon-like man would find her again, no matter where the Central Bureau hid her. She’d waited for this final clash. And as expected… he came! The SS-Class super-criminal, Saw! He was here! She could feel it!
That unique aura. That chilling dread that made one shiver uncontrollably!
"Quite a room. Though rather cold and bare." The voice was low, raspy, magnetically penetrating—as if slipping past all barriers straight into her heart. Lu Xiu, meditating in stillness, had finally reached the moment she’d awaited. Yet when Mirror October appeared beside her, her earlier unease cooled into calm.
"Cold and bare suits me fine. Perfect for someone who needs clarity now, don’t you think… Saw?"
The seated girl wore a minimalist black coat, unbuttoned to reveal swathes of pale skin beneath. Only black cloth bound her ample chest. When Lu Xiu opened her eyes, an aura of piercing dignity slowly unfurled around her…
"Pity it’s a prison cell."
"Indeed. A true pity… Saw…"
A strangely pleased smile lifted Mirror October’s blurred features. Before him sat the famed S-Class hero, Justice Knight—a girl with a long, single ponytail. Lu Xiu had once vowed to lock Saw in a cell at any cost. The irony now was thick: it was *she* imprisoned. Mirror October’s mention of the cell was deliberate—a jab to see her flinch.
"Don’t be so icy. An old friend checking on his dear confidante… Even if unwelcome, you needn’t strike a smiling face, Lu Xiu." His words carried a light, teasing edge, but both knew no hollow phrase could touch their cores.
Mirror October had shattered the justice code Justice Knight once held sacred, exposing the rot festering beneath the Superhero Administration.
"Any thoughts… facing these cold iron bars?"
"None at all. But your arrival? I’ve longed for it. Saw, you destroyed the laughable justice I clung to. Yet… as the epitome of evil, and the ‘flower of sin’ you cultivated—tell me, what justification could *your* justice possibly have?"
