The silence between them stretched, thick and suffocating. She couldn't stand it anymore.
"So… Harper, huh?" she finally said, forcing a casual tone. "Never liked the suck-up anyway."
Sunny's voice was flat. "He was a spy too."
A slow, humorless smile curled her lips. "Ah. Well, that makes it a little more justified, doesn't it?"
"You really think people will believe me?" His voice was bitter. "Me."
She snorted. "Not in a million lifetimes."
Then Sunny's expression darkened. His gaze flicked toward the door, his body tensing like a coiled spring.
*Casters coming, Rin.* His voice was a blade in her mind. *Bathroom. Now. Escape.*
She moved without sound, slipping into the cramped bathroom. It was bare, utilitarian.
Perfect for what she needed. But she didn't flee immediately. Instead, she pressed close to the door, watching through the narrow gap as Sunny faced the Caster.
Caster's offer of help dripped with false concern, but his eyes gleamed with the sharp satisfaction of a predator who'd just scented weakness. He 'knew' he had something on Sunny now, a secret to whisper in Nephis' ear, a weapon to wield against him.
The moment the Caster turned away, heading in the opposite direction, she was already moving. The window opened without protest, and then she was gone, darting through darkness until the slums swallowed her whole.
She had a plan.
And one month left to see it through.
————————————————
The man was unnerving to look at—pale as bleached bone, his face all sharp angles and hollows, with eyes like polished glass, empty of anything resembling warmth. His jet-black hair hung limp, framing a spine twisted into a permanent hunch, disguising his true height beneath the curve of his deformity. Dressed in plain, unadorned black, he carried himself with an uneasy stiffness, as if the weight of attention pressed on him like a physical burden.
His gaze fixed on the abandoned building. The red-robed cultists had sworn she was here. *An annoyance. A bug to be crushed.* Without hesitation, he slammed his palm against the door, sending it flying off its rusted hinges in a burst of splintered wood.
The first step inside, and his instincts screamed, look up. He barely had time to lunge forward before a massive stone cylinder crashed down behind him, shaking the ground and filling the air with choking dust.
From outside, a woman's voice cut through the settling debris. The cult had sent a minder to watch him
"Sir Harus are you alright? You didn't die did you? Please tell me if you're dead"
A blue-haired chatterbox, all grating enthusiasm and useless commentary. An idiot. He could hope she was useful for something.
"Fine," he growled. "Get in here."
A beat of silence. Then, with a nimble leap, the blue-haired woman scrambled over the fallen stone and landed lightly beside him.
"Man, this Rin lady sounds scary as hell. 'Lady of the Lunar Clan'? That's not just some fancy title, right? Like, she's gotta be serious business."
He gave her a silent glare
"I mean, what if she's got, like, magic moon powers or something? You ever fought someone who could—"
"Shut up"
"Okay, okay! Just saying, maybe we should've asked for more info before—"
He grabbed her by the cloak and shoved her towards
"Move"
The woman twisted in his grasp, her cloak crumpling in his fist, but as she struggled, her foot caught on an uneven stone. She stumbled, yanking him forward just enough to throw off his balance. In that split second, an arrow hissed through the air—he barely had time to react before his blade flashed, cleaving it in two. The tip still grazed his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.
Behind a pile of rubble, a crudely made crossbow lay exposed, its rough-hewn frame almost mocking in its simplicity.
A low growl rumbled in his throat.
"Mister are you alright'
"Shut it!"
"But you're bleeding! Maybe we should—"
He spoke Coldness and in a low tone
"If you say 'fall back', I will cut your throat myself."
She gulps while pointing forwards "...Right. Forward it is."
They reached the upstairs bedroom, spacious, eerily still. A bed stood in the corner, its sheets rumpled, while the rest of the room bore the ghostly traces of a woman's abandoned life. None of that mattered. What did matter was the unnatural bulge beneath the covers.
This house was a death trap. Every step, every door, every shadow could be hiding a trigger. And that thing in the bed? It was waiting.
But he wasn't a fool.
The moment he stepped inside, the air felt wrong, thick with betrayal. His vision swam, the edges blurring as his fingers brushed the stinging cut on his cheek. Poison. The realization struck just as instinct screamed at him to move. He whirled, barely in time to meet the glint of steel and the cold, mocking gaze of his blue-haired teammate.
"You… spineless… rat—" The words tore from his throat, raw with fury.
The Woman only grinned, tilting her head as if amused by a private joke. "Aw, c'mon. You really thought I was that stupid?" A chuckle, before she was more silent "I mean, yeah, sure."
Something else was wrong. The bed. The shape beneath the sheets
too still
too deliberate.
A trap, yes, but not the kind he'd expected. No click of gears, no snap of wires, just the whisper of movement behind him a heartbeat too late.
The blade sliced across his back before he could turn. Fire seared through muscle, and he gritted his teeth against the pain. His blue-haired betrayer smirked, twirling her own knife between her fingers.
"Took you long enough,"
His hand shot out, seizing the blue-haired woman by the wrist before she could react. A sharp twist, a heave of momentum, he hurled her into her partner, their bodies colliding with a grunt of surprise. He used the chaos to pivot back, putting distance between them, blade already raised.
And there she was. His real target.
The woman lifted her hand, and like a marionette cut from its strings, the blue-haired assassin froze mid-step.nNo protest. No resistance. Only silence.
Steel flashed. A katana spun lazily in the black-haired woman's grip, her fingers tightening as if compelled by unseen force.
His target stepped forward, her smile a razor's edge. "Now," she murmured, "let's not make this tedious."
He lunged forward
Only to falter as the poison twisted through his veins like liquid fire. His vision swam, his muscles betraying him. Yet even in that split-second stumble, his blade was already moving, intercepting hers with a sharp clang of steel.
No time. Finish this.
He sucked in a breath and unleashed his power, a crushing wave of sensory deprivation. For a heartbeat, it worked. Her stance wavered, her gaze dropping as if the world had blinked out around her. Easy kill.
His blade flashed toward her throat.
"Nice trick"
she looked up.
And smiled.
Directly at him.
His breath hitched. Nobody had ever resisted his ability, much less blocked him after. But her sword was already there, deflecting his strike with effortless precision.
A cold realization speared through him. She's not just dangerous. She's something else entirely.
He needed to end this
….now
before his legs gave out, before his vision tunneled into nothing.
But something hit him like an invisible truck.
His body locked. Every muscle, every tendon, every pulse of blood in his veins—frozen. His heart stuttered, a jagged pain lancing through his chest as his own circulation turned traitor. No breath. No scream. Only suffocating stillness.
The world tilted.
And suddenly, he was staring into twin abysses irises of molten crimson, spirals of endless black spinning, grinning, drinking him in.
*****
Two months slipped by before Rin stood before Nephis again. The encounter was unexpected, first Sunny, appearing like a ghost from the past, exchanging brief, clipped words. Then Kai materialized at his side, flashing an easy smile before tugging Sunny away with a murmured excuse about "errands" or "shopping" Rin didn't quite catch it, nor did she believe it. The hasty departure left no room for protest, and suddenly, she was alone with the white-haired woman, the air between them thick with unspoken words.
Nephis studied her. The mask, the fiery red hair, the physique, nothing about Rin resembled her here.
"I'm guessing you're one of Rin's."
The words sent a thrill down her spine. She had fallen for it completely. Even Rin voice was different now, smoother, colder, just another layer of the disguise.
[Chunin.]
The Spells acknowledgment flickered in her mind. Strangely, she had slipped into the role with unsettling ease.
"Yes," she replied, lips curling behind the mask. "The name's Red." Ironic, considering the hair and her previous use of the same fake name.
but it would all fall into place like a solved puzzle