"Stop it, Rex," Kael said — always calm, always measured. He thought strategically instead of being blinded by past sorrows like me.
Though Lucian and I hated each other…
Or at least *I* hated him.
Kael still stopped me. Because we needed members. Because we couldn't afford to lose numbers right now — even if those numbers were filled with old scars.
I couldn't let my anger be the cause of their demise. I sat down, trying to breathe, trying to calm the blade that always begged to be used.
Elissa looked at the boy I had punched — at Lucian.
"Who is he?" she asked.
Kael helped him sit up, letting him breathe again. Then turned to him, voice steady. "So… what should we do with you, Lucian?"
There was no warmth in Kael's voice. No trust.
And that made me wonder.
Why had Kael trusted *me* — someone he barely knew, someone soaked in blood, someone like me…
…but showed no softness, no pampering toward Lucian?
Did he have some kind of natural sense for judging evil?
That thought made something stir in my chest — a feeling I hated and admired at once.
It made him seem… *superior*. Like some kind of god.
Just like *Master*.
Just like I always wanted to be.
Lucian coughed. His voice cracked from the impact of my punch. But then he looked up — eyes wide, desperate.
"Help me," he said. "I… I'll do anything for you, I promise."
He bowed his head lower.
"I'd even become your slave."
"Help me," he begged again.
It made me sick.
He was playing the victim again. That same look. That same trick.
"He did this before," I told Kael, louder now. "He stabbed our group before — and probably the one he betrayed us for."
It was the truth.
But still… we needed him.
Even if it was just to fill the space in our team.
Me and Kael — we both knew it.
I came to lucian and holded his chin as if examining it
his face was stuterring as if fear had entered him all oveer
But memoeries of past flickered and all i could see in his face was his evil grin
"So you'll be my slave, huh?" i said, looking Lucian dead in the eyes. "Then can you kill yourself for me?"
Elissa's eyes widened — part shock, part horror. She took a step back.
Kael felt a bit tensed too but also looked prepared
I felt tense too.
But deep down, part of me… part of me was happy.
That, *finally*,i could teaching Lucian a lesson.
"Of… of… of course," Lucian stuttered.
He grabbed his own neck.
And started choking himself.
"He's acting," I muttered. "He's faking it."
But Elissa? She looked terrified. Frozen in place as Lucian's fingers dug harder into his throat.
And then I realized—
It wasn't just an act.
He was really…
Really choking himself.
Bubbles foamed at his mouth.
His legs trembled. His spine curled in like a collapsing bridge.
But his hands… they didn't stop.
They kept crushing his own windpipe.
I didn't know how to feel.
On one side — there was the cold satisfaction of seeing the man who betrayed us, the coward, finally face something like justice.
But on the other — there was something filthier. Something that felt like the same scars I still carried. The same *darkness*.
The same thing I swore I'd never become again.
Finally, Kael stepped forward.
He kicked Lucian's hands away.
The choking stopped. Air rushed into Lucian's lungs as he collapsed, half-conscious, coughing violently.
Elissa turned toward Kael, her voice shaking. "Why… why did you *ask* him to do that?! And more importantly… why didn't he *refuse*?"
Kael stood quiet for a moment.
Then he answered — and his voice was different. Colder. Older.
"Because he has no hope in him."
He shook his head a little — as if waking from something — and then returned to normal.
"He came here in order to join," Kael said.
"Or…" Elissa asked.
Kael pointed toward Lucian's limp body.
"Or *this*."
There was a silence.
"…Fine," Kael said. "I'll let you join."
But I muttered to myself, voice low.
"But what…"
What can I possibly do?
There's no other way.
And in the end…
Master's words were coming true.
And so were *his*.
But in the end…
Only one shall be the truth.
While Lucian lay curled up and fainted, Elissa moved toward him.
Quietly, gently, she helped him sit up, trying to support his weight with her shoulder.
Kael, still watching everything with eyes that missed nothing, turned to me.
"So… what happened between you two?" he asked.
I looked away for a second. Then back at Lucian.
"It's a long story," I said. "But to keep it short… he betrayed our previous group."
"He joined the Green Keplers… and almost got us all killed."
I paused.
"That betrayal… it broke us apart. Separated us. And I worry now that maybe…"
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"…Maybe I'm the only one who survived."
My voice cracked.
I wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.
"It's my fault. The others — they *did* suspect Lucian. But I let him stay. I wanted to keep the group together. I wanted everyone to have their fair shot."
I remembered his words then.
*"Options are for the rich."*
And somehow that line — just that one, stupid line — made the guilt feel heavier than ever.
I looked down.
My fists were clenched.
But Kael…
Kael just nodded. Like he understood.
"Then this time," he said, voice calm but direct, "I hope you keep *me* alive."
I looked at him.
And nodded back.
Hoping, more than anything…
That I could.