Midnight.

In a city of the Unified Kingdom,

Relentless rain shrouded the modern metropolis. Chilled by the cold, white mist curled through countless corners, blurring the world into haze.

Two figures cloaked head-to-toe in black robes emerged from a dark alley. Their steady, swift footsteps cut a rhythmic beat through the storm’s roar.

Black hooded floor-length coats. Black leather gloves. Black boots. Black trousers.

"Lia, status report."

The man’s voice vanished instantly beneath the downpour’s crash.

Yet his words still reached the person slung over his shoulder.

"...Unclear. Radios are silent. All signals jammed—satellite phones too..."

A soft, young voice answered.

"But why cut the entire city’s comms just for us two?"

"Could it be *that* thing? You were only on a routine mission... You’re Organization No.1. Are they really killing you over something this trivial?"

As she touched the [item] hidden in her coat, worry bled into her tone.

"And we’re barely armed. Our only advantage was just—"

"Lia!"

But—

The rain brought more than noise! Ouyang Ge and Lia froze mid-stride, melting instantly into the deluge.

*Whoosh!*

A spray of crimson liquid scattered.

Six muzzle flares erupted behind them—one snuffed out immediately. The remaining five gunmen halted firing, scanning the darkness tensely.

Visibility was near zero in the storm and night. Yet one black-suited thug glimpsed his fallen comrade.

"En—!"

He choked out only the first syllable before a hand clamped over his mouth. A shadow-blade, seamless with the night, slit his throat. He thrashed wildly—only hastening his end.

Ouyang lowered the lifeless body gently, vanishing again.

Every few seconds, a near-silent *thud*. One by one, the black suits collapsed. All dead.

Ouyang pressed against the alley wall, dagger gripped reverse-style, watching rainwater turn crimson in the puddles. The six ahead couldn’t see their fallen comrades through the downpour—only the silenced guns betrayed their fate.

"They’re all on high alert now because of your little show, Ouyang. Seems your name alone terrifies them. Even without seeing your face."

Lia’s voice held a teasing note. Having Ouyang nearby eased her tension.

"Finish them fast. If we’re slow, other high-ranking [Rankers] might show up. Then escaping won’t be easy."

Ouyang shot forward, body low to the ground, closing in on the six.

Gripping rifles, the men strained to pierce the rain curtain, hunting the black-cloaked Reaper.

But their vision held only endless rain. Their ears filled only with the storm’s roar.

Suddenly, the man on the right fired. His muzzle flare arced upward as his body crumpled backward.

"*Ahhh!*"

His dying scream shattered the others’ frayed nerves. Panic seized them. Bullets flew wildly toward their fallen ally’s position.

Seconds later—silence.

Lia stepped from cover to Ouyang’s side.

"Let’s go."

"Right."

Ignoring the carnage, they vanished into the rain.

"Too quiet," Ouyang muttered, scanning the shadows as they moved.

"Way too quiet," Lia agreed.

*CRACKLE—*

**#BECAUSE I’VE GOT YOU IN MY SIGHTS, BASTARD!!#**

A shrill male voice tore through their silent earpieces!

"Leo’s voice!" Lia recognized it instantly. Then realization struck. "*Ouyang!!*"

She knew Leo’s Magic well. Desperation sharpened her cry as she lunged toward the boy beside her.

***BOOM!***

The colossal sniper rifle’s report cut through the storm. In an instant, the bullet reached its target—Ouyang’s heart!

Lia’s air magic deflected it. Slowed drastically, the round missed its mark.

It buried itself instead in Lia’s left chest.

Blood.

Scarlet flooded Ouyang’s vision. The arms clutching him went slack.

"*LIA!!!*"

He caught her falling form. His voice trembled.

**#Tch! Filthy bitch! Blocked one shot, but the next won’t miss!#**

The bolt cycled. A massive shell casing ejected. Leo—golden buzz-cut gleaming—readjusted his scope, locking onto the black silhouette in the rain.

Ouyang knelt slowly, cradling Lia.

**#Leo. So the Boss really wants me dead?#**

A ragged breath escaped him. Lia’s condition was critical.

**#You stole what the Boss wanted. Thought you could keep it all? Your only path now is—#**

***BOOM!***

**#DEATH!!!#**

"*Damn it!*"

No time to explain. Ouyang knew Leo’s enchanted bullet would track him. He shoved Lia aside, hurling himself laterally.

Under strange magic, the sniper round curved mid-flight, chasing Ouyang’s evasive roll.

"*Can’t dodge!*"

His enhanced vision saw the bullet tear through rain, swelling in his sight.

"*Ouyang...*"

A weak, mosquito-whisper reached his ear. Lia’s voice.

As her words faded, the same air magic gripped the bullet. Its speed plummeted. Seizing the chance, Ouyang gritted his teeth and *grabbed* it.

**#Still breathing, whore?! Fine—I’ll put you down for good!#**

The voice in the earpiece turned venomous.

Hearing it, Ouyang understood Leo’s next target. He scrambled back to Lia.

But Sleeping Beauty had reached her final moment.

"Ouyang... I know you refuse that forbidden power. But..."

*Cough!*

Blood bubbled from her punctured lung.

"Don’t... die here... for me... Carry my will... with you..." Her blood-smeared hand lifted weakly, brushing his cheek.

*Cough! Cough! Cough!* Violent spasms shook her.

"Live on... *smiling*... Find your... sister..."

Her head lolled sideways. Her hand slipped from his face. Yet a gentle smile lingered—

Perhaps protecting Ouyang had already fulfilled her.

One kilometer away, atop a skyscraper, a figure in identical black robes lay prone at the roof’s edge. In his hands: a heavy sniper rifle—custom-built by the Organization to amplify his power.

**#Leo. Why exterminate me?#**

Ouyang’s calm voice crackled in Leo’s earpiece.

**#Because I fucking hate you!#**

Leo sneered, spitting the words into his mic.

**#Anyway... YOU’RE DEAD, OUYANG! HAHAHAHAHA!#** His finger squeezed the trigger, laughter wild.

***KRA-KOOM!***

Crimson fire erupted from the rifle’s muzzle. The bullet tore free, streaking toward its mark.

"Projectile trajectory confirmed. Relative Hardening Magic active!"

A woman’s voice—Shirley’s—reported crisply through Leo’s earpiece the moment he fired. Her "Clairvoyance" Magic had pinpointed the impact zone.

"Tch. Die, traitor."

Leo ignored Shirley, licking his lips hungrily. His scope stayed locked on the unshielded figure below.

Facing annihilation, Ouyang felt no fear. Only Lia’s final words filled his world.

"*Live... smiling.*"

Suddenly, his lips curled upward.

—A smile more twisted than a sob.

"Lia. I promise. I’ll always live smiling."

He laid his cooling partner—friend... lover—gently on the wet ground. Straightening, his hands slid beneath his black coat toward his lower back.

"Master... you taught me: plan before acting. Endure what others cannot. But today—"

His earpiece screeched.

**#HAHAHAHA! YOU’RE FINISHED, OUYANG!#**

"*Seal... released...*"

Two voices overlapped—

Leo’s manic shriek. Ouyang’s emotionless whisper. Merging in the storm’s heart.

***CLANG!***

Ouyang’s right hand whipped backward. Metal clashed.

The sound drowned the rain itself.

"SHOT MISSED! REPEAT, SHOT MISSED!!!"

Shirley’s panicked voice shattered Leo’s confidence. He’d never heard her like this.

"Impossible! With Relative Hardening—how?!"

Disbelief contorted his face. His Magic was infallible.

"**#Because you trusted your Magic too much!#**"

Ouyang’s voice cut through the static.

Behind him, a translucent Reaper materialized—hooded, silent. Its massive scythe glinted with lethal frost.

Ouyang turned his head. Eyes blazing scarlet, he stared directly at Leo’s rooftop perch. No scope. No aid. He simply *knew*.

His right hand raised—a bladed pistol aimed down the sniper’s bullet path.

**#Hah! Playing ghost tricks?! You think a pea-shooter stops my round?!#**

His blocked attack rattled Leo.

"..."

Ouyang answered only with a trigger pull—and the Reaper’s slow, descending scythe.

**#YOU LITTLE—!#**

The earpiece went dead.

Ouyang lowered his weapon, turning back to Lia. The Reaper’s form began to fade.

"You won’t be lonely, Lia."

Blood trickled from his lip. He wiped it carelessly.

**#...Forgive me, Ouyang Ge...#**

A mysterious woman’s voice whispered in his earpiece. He recognized it.

Above him, a swarm of portable missiles screamed through the rain, closing in fast.

"*Lia...*"

A colossal explosion ripped through the city...

In that final instant before the blast, Ouyang Ge didn’t see it—the spectral Reaper reappeared behind him. It watched the boy clutching Lia below, a derisive smirk on its shadowed face. Slowly, deliberately, it brought down its scythe...