The chapter opened from a starkly different perspective.
Inside the high-security conference room at the global Headquarters of SS PARTNERS, the atmosphere was suffocating. Seated around the massive glass table was the President, flanked by several influential state figures—including the Defense Minister and the Finance Minister. Standing along the perimeter were the Chief Executives.
VOLUME - 3RD - CHAPTER 33 - BEGINS...!
Bansho: "All of my elite subordinates have already been deployed to the Grayson sector. As expected, they've intercepted a few uninvited guests."
Null: "Let's see if your executives are actually worth their title, Bansho. Because from what I've seen, mine and Fang's subordinates were only good at running their mouths."
Fang: "Keep that filthy mouth shut, Null. Every time you open it, nothing but garbage spills out. Replacing fallen executives isn't a problem for me anyway. I'll recruit stronger ones soon enough."
Before their argument could escalate, the reinforced doors hissed open. A man in a tailored black suit strode in—a high-level field informant.
Informant: "Pardon the interruption, Directors. As per the inter-continental treaty between both nations, the Vanguard: Black Division will arrive in the city well before the September 10th deadline. Furthermore, at least one core member of the Golden Trio will be personally deployed on-site."
The casual demeanor in the room vanished. Null, Bansho, and Fang all turned dead serious.
Bansho: "Which one of the three are they sending?"
Informant: "That remains strictly classified for now. I will brief you the moment their manifest is decrypted. However... there is an additional directive from their supreme command."
Null: "Speak."
Informant: "Director Marcus of Vanguard issued a direct warning: the catastrophic incident from last time must not repeat itself under any circumstances."
Fang: "Since when did Vanguard start barking orders at us?"
President: "Silence, all of you!" The President's voice cut through the tension like a blade. "Inter-agency politics will be handled by the council. Focus strictly on your designated field parameters. And Bansho—ensure your strike team finishes the job. Above all else, Kye Kurasaki must be captured alive before September 10th. Am I clear?"
Defense Minister: "On another note, we have already established operational contingency channels with the [Brothers Organization] should the situation deteriorate further."
Null's lips curled into a cold, twisted grin.
Null: "So every dangerous rat on the map is gathering in one place? Perfect. This is going to be entertaining."
With those ominous words, the scene dissolved, shifting instantly back to the warzone at Grayson.
The battlefield was a scene of utter devastation.
The ground floor of the Grayson facility had been reduced to rubble. Outside, sheer terror had gripped the district—pedestrians were fleeing in every direction, and the surrounding streets were rapidly emptying out as emergency alarms echoed across the skyline.
Inside, the violent metallic clashes continued.
Kye's blades and Valerina's iron needles traded lightning-fast deflections, while Hollow and Seraphine remained locked in a brutal melee exchange. Seraphine had torn strips of cloth from her own uniform to bind her pierced forearms, desperately attempting to stanch the heavy bleeding.
Hollow: "It's pointless to keep struggling. Two of your executives are already down, leaving just the two of you! And Master Kye has already completely outmatched Valerina."
As if proving Hollow's words, Kye planted a devastating front kick dead-center into Valerina's chest. A thick spray of blood erupted from her lips. Without giving her a fraction of a second to recover, Kye drove her down into the shattered concrete, hammering a flurry of concussive strikes into her guard until she went completely limp and unconscious.
Kye: "That concludes your shift, Miss Valerina." He turned his cold gaze toward the remaining sister. "So, Seraphine... what's the plan? Feeling eager to avenge your dear sister, or are you ready to surrender?"
Hollow stepped up beside Kye, his twin Death Blades humming as the pitch-black paralytic coating surged along the edges once more.
Yet, despite her battered body, Seraphine began to chuckle—a chilling, breathless laugh.
Seraphine: "You really think... you've won? How utterly naive can you be—"
Before she could finish the sentence, Kye's spectral fire-hand erupted forward, clamping around her throat with crushing force and lifting her off her feet.
Kye: "Shut your filthy mouth. I don't have the patience to listen to your useless rambling. Tell me straight: what is your organization planning for September 10th? And if a foot-soldier like you is out of the loop, dial your Chief Executive right now. Put him on the line with me."
Seraphine kept her lips sealed in defiant silence. Kye's eyes darkened, his grip tightening as the intense heat began scorching the air around her neck. He was seconds away from snapping her windpipe when—
Arisa: "Kye, wait! Stop!"
Arisa rushed forward, yelling over the crackling flames.
Arisa: "Stop it, Kye! What the hell are you doing?!"
Kye: "What am I doing? What, do you want me to worship her? I'm getting rid of a useless pawn. What's the point of keeping someone alive if they have no intel? If she won't talk, fine—I'll tear the answers out of the next one myself."
Arisa: "Calm down! First, tell us—what do you even mean by September 10th?"
Saito: "She's right. I haven't intercepted any intel regarding that date either."
Kye: "They are orchestrating something catastrophic. I don't have all the operational details yet, which is why every single one of these bastards needs to suffer. I'll make sure they don't even find peace in hell—so the terror of their final moments haunts them for eternity. Shouldn't they experience the exact same agony they inflicted on innocent lives?"
Arisa: "You're going way too far, Kye! You're not managing the situation—you're turning into a monster!"
Kye: "And what about your group?!" Kye roared back. "Are you sitting on some moral high ground? Weren't you guys the ones who executed Cipher back at the outpost, Arisa?!"
Arisa: "You're right about that... but Kye, does slaughtering every single person actually fix anything? If you keep making decisions based purely on bloodlust, you're going to lose your entire identity. Please, wake up!"
Kye stared at her, his jaw clenching. After a heavy, suffocating silence, his elemental aura flickered out. His grip loosened, and Seraphine dropped heavily onto the cracked tiles, gasping for air.
A relieved smile formed across Arisa's face.
SWOOSH—!
Without a split-second of warning, a heavy, jagged broadsword sliced through the air, hurtling straight toward Arisa's unprotected neck!
CLANG—CRACK!
At the absolute last millisecond, Kye stepped in front of her, catching the spinning steel blade with his bare palm.
The razor edge sliced clean into his flesh, blood dripping freely onto the floorboards. Yet Kye didn't even flinch—his furious, blood-red gaze remained locked straight ahead.
Standing at the entrance of the corridor were two towering, unfamiliar combatants—radiating an aura far heavier and darker than Kaizen or Ravik.
[ Darius ] and [ Veyron ]
Kye: "Who the hell are you two now? We already have enough uninvited guests making a mess here."
Darius: "The uninvited guests would be you lot. We were barely a few minutes late, and you've already dismantled half our front line."
Kye narrowed his eyes, demanding answers.
Kye: "What are you talking about? Are you two supposed to be branch heads or something?"
Veyron: "Patience, kid. We aren't branch heads. In truth, we are also Special Executives of Bansho's Squad."
Saito stepped forward in complete disbelief, his tactical feed flashing warning markers.
Saito: "What? Stop messing around! According to all our verified data and field intelligence, each Chief commands exactly four Special Executives. Even Null and Fang had four each."
Darius: "And who decided four was the absolute limit? Your little minds really do think like naive children. Our unit is unique. Bansho's squad features a double sibling duo—myself and Veyron on one end, and Seraphine and Valerina on the other. Kaizen and Ravik operate as the individuals. We're hoping you give us just as thrilling of a show as you gave Cipher and Grimm."
Kye: "What the hell are you babbling about, you bastard?"
Veyron: "Grimm was truly monstrous. Back then, none of us could hold a candle to him. But over time, everyone evolved... and now, look at this. My dream of testing myself against Grimm again is dead. Aside from him, barely anyone could take Grimm down in his early days."
CRASH—!
The shattered exterior wall gave way as heavy footsteps crushed the debris.
Tearing their way back into the room from outside were Kaizen and Ravik, their faces bloodied but their killing intent surging violently. Inspired by the arrival of the duo, Seraphine and Valerina forced themselves back onto their feet, blades and needles drawn once more.
All six Special Executives stood assembled in a lethal, unbroken formation.
Kye adjusted his stance "Looks like the numbers are officially stacked in your favor." He glanced sideways toward the Alliance, his voice dead serious. "Listen to me, all four of you—keep your eyes wide open. From this second on, I won't have the luxury of watching your backs."
The battle reignited with explosive intensity.
Without sparing a glance at the others, Kye launched forward in a straight dash toward Veyron. Veyron's eyes widened as he instinctively shifted into a defensive stance—only for Kye's footwork to pivot in an instantaneous, deceptive feint!
His trajectory snapped directly toward Darius, a crushing elemental fist aimed squarely at the giant's chest. But before the strike could connect
BOOM!
A thunderous blindside punch from Kaizen caught Kye flush across the jaw. The raw kinetic impact sent Kye crashing sideways onto the shattered concrete floor.
Kaizen: "Your little childish tricks aren't going to save you anymore, Kye! I've had enough of your arrogant nonsense—this circus ends right now!"
Kye pushed himself back to his feet, wiping a trail of crimson from his lips with the back of his hand before spitting blood onto the tiles.
Kye: "Oh? So now you have a problem with my combat style too?"
Before he could reset his stance, Valerina swarmed him in a blur of motion. A vicious, continuous barrage of reinforced iron needle strikes rained down from every conceivable angle. Stripped of his offensive momentum, Kye was forced into a desperate guard, the sheer velocity of her thrusts grinding his blades backward and tearing fresh cuts across his arms.
Kye: "How the hell...? Just seconds ago, she could barely stay on her feet. How are her strikes hitting with even more precision and lethal force than before?!"
Sensing Kye's guard faltering, Seraphine vaulted high into the air, aiming her jagged Japanese fangs straight at the exposed blind spot behind his neck.
SWOOSH—THUD!
Hollow intercepted her descent, driving a heavy mid-air roundhouse kick straight into Seraphine's midsection, forcing her to skid backward across the rubble.
Seraphine: "You insolent traitor! Today, I'll show you what a true Special Executive looks like! How a two-bit trash fighter like you ever wore an executive badge is beyond me—it's all because of that useless bastard, Null!"
Hollow: "Don't you dare soil Master Null's name with that filthy mouth of yours!"
Seraphine: "Oh, really? Even after stabbing our entire organization in the back, you still dare to preach to me?!"
Across the hall, the atmosphere turned lethal. Kaizen and Ravik locked their predatory eyes onto the remaining Alliance members, advancing with murderous intent.
Darius and Veyron watched the chaos unfold from a few paces back, leisurely analyzing the skirmish. But Veyron's gaze burned with restless adrenaline—unable to hold back any longer, he drew his vibro-daggers and stepped into the fray to hunt Kye down personally.
Seeing the perimeter collapse, Arisa and Elena raised their high-caliber combat rifles, unleashing a synchronized volley of specialized armor-piercing rounds.
With no tactical alternatives left, Saito engaged his nano-suit's overdrive boosters and charged directly at Kaizen in a desperate, high-stakes 1-on-1 melee clash.
Deep down, Arisa, Elena, and Saito all knew the grim truth: against a fully assembled unit of six elite Special Executives, their chances of holding this line were vanishingly thin.
Saito pushed his nano-suit's physical output to the absolute redline, throwing a furious sequence of rapid-fire jabs, low hooks, and spinning roundhouses. Yet Kaizen swayed and slipped through every single strike with mocking, effortless ease.
Kaizen: "Humans really are pitifully fragile creatures. How do you weaklings even manage to wake up and live with yourselves every day?"
BOOM!
Kaizen drove a reinforced, gut-wrenching straight punch deep into Saito's solar plexus. The kinetic shockwave blasted through Saito's armor,
launching him violently across the lobby until he smashed into the reinforced concrete pillar. Thick crimson blood gushed from his lips and forehead, his vision blurring into static.
Across the room, Ravik tore through the firing lines.
A brutal fist buried itself directly into Arisa's stomach, followed instantly by a sweeping heel kick that snapped her head sideways and a heavy backhand that sent her crashing to her knees, clutching her ribs as she gasped for air.
Elena: "Arisa! Get away from her, you monster!"
Elena screamed, unloading a frantic, point-blank magazine into Ravik's torso. Several high-caliber rounds tore straight through his ballistic coat, punching bloody holes into his flesh. But Ravik didn't even flinch. Ignoring the bleeding wounds completely, his massive palm clamped down around Elena's throat like an iron vice, hoisting her clean off the floor.
Arisa was pinned to her knees, coughing blood. Saito lay battered against the cracked pillar, barely clinging to consciousness.
From across the chaotic hall, Kye and Hollow saw the entire defensive line collapse in real time—yet pinned down beneath the relentless, suffocating assault of Veyron, Valerina and Seraphine, neither of them had an open second to break away and intervene.
[ END OF CHAPTER 33 ]