Yuna didn't reply for a second. Then she said, "I see. That makes sense. Shadow Class is special. It must be helping its owner because you are a child."
Her eyes softened a little.
She probably said those words to reassure me, not knowing I acted nervous for her to react like that.
With her suspicion erased, I focused again on the rune.
The glowing lines began to pulse, and the air above the circle warped faintly.
The floor was now a doorway to a Spatial Inventory.
The inside was about the size of a cupboard.
With a deep breath, I grabbed Liana's body with Telekinesis and dragged her toward the rune.
When her body touched the glowing circle, it sank slowly into it.
The moment the last part of her disappeared, the light faded, and the rune vanished.
I fell back on my hands, breathing heavily.
'Done.'
But I wasn't finished yet.
There was still blood everywhere.
It was a waste to leave it behind. Blood like this, rich in mana, would lose its potency soon. I should use it while I could.
I drew a rune on my palm. It was same as the one on the floor, but smaller.
This one was separate from the inventory on the floor, with an interior roughly the size of a room.
Her daggers—probably Rank 1 Relics—went into the palm storage.
I channeled my mana through the rune etched on my skin.
It glowed for a second, and the weapons vanished as I pushed them into it.
'Now that this is done…'
I looked around.
The room was quiet.
The air was still, except for the faint metallic scent of blood.
Aside from the injuries on my body and the torn shirt, there was nothing left to show what had happened here.
The floor was clean. The fight, the corpse. Everything was gone.
Yuna floated closer, her expression unreadable.
"You handled that well," she said with a complex gaze.
I nodded.
Then, I looked down at myself. My shirt was soaked in blood. That was something I could fix using a simple alchemy technique.
But my injuries… they were harder to hide.
A broken rib wouldn't heal overnight. Yuna's healing spell was weak.
I needed medical treatment, and a believable excuse for how I got hurt.
'I'm starting to… get… tired…'
My eyelids felt heavy. My vision blurred for a moment.
Fatigue caught up with me all at once after the fight ended, and I relaxed.
But I didn't sleep yet.
'That bastard Frank.'
The thought came sharp and clear through the haze of fatigue.
Frank wouldn't stay quiet after this.
He'd realize something had gone wrong when Liana didn't return, and probably think an Exorcist guard was watching over our house.
He'd panic, maybe even act recklessly.
He had money, influence, and connections.
Poison. Kidnapping. Assassins. Even snipers.
Who knew what cards he had left to play?
If he had connections in the Exorcists world, then he had plenty of dangerous options to choose from.
A cold rage simmered in my gut as I recalled how he'd smiled at me today and then sent his 'girlfriend' to poison me.
The anger surged as I recalled my dad's death during my previous life, what it did to mother and my parents' condition before father died.
The grief on my parents' faces. The dullness in their eyes. The quiet, tired way they walked. All of it must've been due to the poison curse I had been inflicted with.
I wouldn't let that happen again.
Even if I had to crawl on broken bones to make sure of it.
'Leaving him alive is dangerous.'
'He would grow more cautious after today.'
'Besides, there is no knowing when and how he will attack again.'
I stood up slowly, gripping the table for balance.
My body ached. My mana was low. I was not fully healed.
Every movement hurt, but the pain reminded me I was alive.
'I need to kill Frank tonight.'
I needed to do that even if it was dangerous. If I waited, Frank would have the initiative.
'If I want to kill him, this is the best moment.'
'The initiative is still in my hand.'
He didn't know yet that Liana was dead. He thought my parents were vulnerable. His guard would be at the lowest right now.
I made my choice.
Frank needed to die before sunrise.
He was too dangerous to be left alone.
As long as he was alive, my parents would never be safe.
I couldn't afford to let him breathe another day.
'To think I'd be doing my first assassination on my first birthday.' I let out a humorless chuckle, wiping the blood from my mouth.
The irony was there, but I didn't care for it. I just used the thought to distract myself from the pain.
'Yuna, I'm going to kill Frank today.'
"…!" Yuna's eyes widened. "Lord of Shadows, if he has more Exorcists—"
'Yuna, I know it's dangerous. But waiting is worse. If I don't kill him today, he will become alert. Who knows what he will do in future. Today is the only chance I have.'
She opened and closed her mouth several times.
After a while, she sighed. "You are right that leaving him be is risky. But you are hurt. You should let adults handle this."
'Yuna, my parents are normal people. They can't handle this. I can't leave it to others. So…'
I acted nervous, my gaze moving around, clenching my fist.
'Yuna, please come with me.'
I acted as if I was afraid to go alone.
After all, it wouldn't make sense if a child was not afraid in that situation.
Yuna's eyes softened as she saw me.
"Understood," she said. "However, you must promise me one thing. If I deem the situation too dangerous, you will return as quickly as possible with your portals. You must not die."