Some time had passed since Connie and Seth had left the dungeon and headed for the hotel. At first, the silence between them was comfortable—Seth was exhausted, and Connie seemed content. The car glided through the city like a sleek shadow, and for a moment, everything felt normal.
But normal was never a word that fit an S-Rank Hunter.
As they arrived at the hotel entrance, Seth found himself facing a scene straight out of a war movie: flashes everywhere, reporters shouting, drones circling the parking lot, and cameras desperately trying to capture any possible angle of Connie—and of him.
The paparazzi were ecstatic.
News portals exploded with headlines like:
"Connie Parker kills her husband and shows up with new Rank-E lover.""Betrayal? Murder? Explosive romance between the Black Mamba and an unknown man.""Heiress appears with mysterious chauffeur. What do we know about Seth Chambers!?"
Connie pushed open the glass doors to the hotel lobby with a tense expression, ignoring the noise but gritting her teeth with every flash that burst too close.
"These guys..." she growled, irritated. "They can't survive without sticking their noses where they don't belong."
Kaguya, always elegant and venomous, followed close behind, tablet in hand and an expression of pure disdain. Her heels echoed in rhythmic clicks against the marble floor.
"I told you to be more discreet," she said flatly. "But, as always, you completely ignored me. Again."
Connie pressed the elevator button with unnecessary force, taking a deep breath.
"How was the dungeon?" she asked, switching the subject.
"It went fine," Kaguya replied, handing over the tablet with one of the headlines highlighted. "They didn't need you. That idiot Hurrigam took command and finished the job. He's now even closer to rising to S-Rank. The press is already comparing you two."
Connie scanned the text, her expression growing more bitter with each word.
"So because I came to save him..." she said, nodding slightly toward Seth, "...I missed my chance to shine."
"Basically, yes," Kaguya replied, mercilessly blunt. "Leaving the portal was a strategic mistake. And considering the... recent events..."She paused, glancing discreetly at the young man walking a few steps behind them, hands in his pockets, eyes distant.
Seth was completely silent.
"Anything else?" Connie asked, trying to stay composed.
Kaguya nodded.
"Yes. I think you should stay away from the big guy over there for a while."
Connie raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because he's a target now, darling," Kaguya said, as if explaining a simple equation. "You showed up with him right after blowing up your ex-husband's yacht. The whole internet thinks you two are a thing. Vixen is going to meddle. The Hunter Council is going to interrogate you for the murder. The press is going to hunt both of you down."
She gestured with her chin toward Seth, who still looked completely disconnected from the world.
"And him? He's just standing there, quiet, like none of this matters. You know why?Because he doesn't give a damn about any of it."
Connie glanced at him - the way he walked, his gaze distant, as if he were on another plane.
And he was.
Seth, at that moment, couldn't hear a thing.
[STATUS]
[Name: Seth (Rank-E)
[Class: [None]
[Level]: 13
[Strength]: 33
[Speed]: 36
[Intelligence]: 28
[Stamina]: 31
Skills: [The End (Rank-SSS)] [Death Strike (Rank-E)] [Presence of the King (Rank-D)]
[Storage] [Skill slot: (1 of 1)]
[Temporarily stored copied skill: "Electrokinesis - Rank E"]
[Next Slot: Level 15]
[Fragment of the End: ???]
Seth frowned. The last line bothered him.
"...Damn." He muttered as he realized that it was impossible to know what the fuck this Fragment of the End was.
Meanwhile, in the real world, the elevator arrived with a soft ding. Connie entered first, followed by Kaguya. Seth hesitated, but entered last.
The silence inside the cabin was eerie - not uncomfortable, but tense, like the aftermath of a battle.
Connie looked at the reflection of the three of them in the elevator mirror. Her, a storm about to collapse. Kaguya, the cynical shadow behind the chaos. And Seth... still. Immobile. But with the eyes of someone who was beginning to understand that the world around him had changed completely.
"Are you going to abandon me too?" she asked suddenly, without facing him directly.
Seth took a second to answer. When he did, his eyes met hers by reflex.
"Are you kidding?" he said with brutal honesty. "After all the show you've put on in my life, now you want to ask me if I'm going to leave you? Was that an option?"
She let out a half-smile - not out of amusement, but out of a twinge of relief.
"Then good luck to you..." Kaguya muttered.
The elevator stopped. The doors opened.
The corridor was long, elegant... and, for some reason, covered in black petals.
Connie blinked.
"...Those flowers weren't here before."
Kaguya sighed.
"They weren't… until now."
At the end of the corridor, a female figure stood waiting. She wore a crimson dress and smiled like a serpent that had just found its next meal.
Black petals spread like spilled ink across the marble hallway. The scent was sweet, almost intoxicating — an expensive, exotic, and unmistakable perfume. And there, at the end of the hall, as if she'd walked straight out of a luxury commercial, stood Vixen.
Tight crimson dress, high slit exposing a leg up to the thigh, golden eyes like a beast ready to strike. The smile on her lips was something between charm and threat.
"You..." she said, her voice soft but dripping with venom. "You're coming with me."
Seth frowned.
"...Me?"
Vixen walked toward them slowly, her heels clicking with a near-theatrical rhythm. Her eyes never left Connie's, not even for a second, but her hand pointed directly at Seth.
"You seem... interesting. I have many questions, and my curiosity is insatiable." She stopped just a few steps from him. "The last time a Rank-E survived a red-level dungeon was seven years ago. And he lost an arm and his sanity. But you came out with only a few scratches, didn't you? Fascinating."
Seth just stood there. Her presence was intense — different from Connie's. Vixen was venom in silk.
Connie stepped forward, eyes half-closed and jaw clenched tight.
"No."
That single word hit like a muffled thunderclap.
"He's coming with me, Vixen. And you know exactly why."
Vixen tilted her head with a false smile.
"Oh... of course. Because now you've decided to play the doting wife. Adorable, really. But you don't control everything, Connie."
The air shifted.
Literally.
Both unleashed their auras at the same time.
A crushing wave of pressure swept through the corridor like an invisible wall. The ceiling trembled, the walls cracked with sharp sounds, chunks of plaster fell. The petals on the floor rose into the air as if caught in a storm.
Kaguya stepped back, frowning. The power of two S-Ranks clashing was literally tearing the floor apart.
"Oh, fuck…" she muttered, already dialing the hotel manager. "We're going to need another floor... again."
Seth took a deep breath.
The two of them were about to kill each other.Over him.Again.
He closed his eyes, then let out a long, exhausted sigh.
"ENOUGH."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried such an unusual firmness that silence fell immediately.
Both auras vanished abruptly. The cracks in the walls remained. The air was still heavy. But for a moment, there was peace.
Seth looked from Connie to Vixen, then back to Connie and said:
"I just want to sleep."
Connie didn't respond right away. Her fists were clenched at her sides, eyes burning with jealousy and frustration. But even so, she nodded slowly.
Then Seth turned to Vixen.
"You want to talk to me, right? Then let's get it over with now."
"...Alone," she said with a smile, her eyes glinting with something close to malice.
"Relax, I'm not gonna run off with her," Seth replied, spreading his arms. "I'm not a prize of war, or an auction item."
Connie stepped forward and held his wrist for a second. Her eyes begged him not to go... but she respected his choice.
"I'm giving you two hours. If you're not back in two hours, the Black Rose Guild disappears," she said, almost like a threat.
Seth nodded and looked at Vixen.
"Let's get this over with."
Vixen made an elegant gesture with her hand and began walking. Seth followed her through the ruined hallway, while Connie and Kaguya stayed behind.
As soon as they turned the corner and were out of sight, Kaguya let out a long sigh.
"You're really going to let him go?"
"Of course not," Connie replied, her gaze still fixed on the spot where he vanished. "If she does anything wrong... I'll kill her."