No, no response.
He didn't die, not yet.
Si-Hun stood up.
"Did he die?" Someone whispered to someone.
"No one's died," Si-Hun said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"W-we should leave." The man said.
"What about this man?"
"He'll come when he's conscious," Si-Hun said, Oh, low.
"O-okay."
They all left, but no one noticed that Si-Hun did not.
He was behind all of them.
After everyone left, including the high-ranking predators, Si-Hun went to finish his business with that man.
He entered the chamber, his eyes finding the helpless man lying on the ground.
His face squished.
For a moment, Si-Hun just stared at the man's face.
He then touched the cut on his face, the blood was dry.
This made him even more aggrieved.
He quietly took some steps towards him and stopped near his head.
The man was starting to open his eyes and looked at Si-Hun, fear taking over his senses.
His eyes were bruised and purple, and his face was almost unrecognizable.
Kuro stood there, waiting for the worst.
Seeing him wake up, Si-Hun looked directly into his eyes.
His eyes were dark.
"I asked you something before you passed out."
The man looked around to see if anyone was near.
"ANSWER!"
The man flinched, terrified.
"P-p-please h-have m-mercy…"
"I SAID ANSWER ME WHAT I ASKED YOU."
Even Kuro flinched at the power in his voice.
Si-Hun looked at him through the corner of his eye, but Kuro avoided his scary gaze.
The man started crying.
Si-Hun's face was too stiff, not even a drop of mercy on his face.
"You will not answer me, but your death will be my answer."
The man started crying loudly, asking for mercy, even trying to crawl towards Si-Hun's feet to ask him to spare him.
At that moment, Si-Hun remembered Eravus's words, how he said that he would have to kill humans as well, those who deserved it.
Si-Hun knelt and held the man's head.
He looked at his vulnerable state and smashed his head on the ground.
A bit of life was left inside the man.
Si-Hun took it using the skull crusher.
He said the word "emit", after saying it, purple light started coming out of his hand, and in seconds. The man's skull was crushed.
Kuro closed his eyes as that happened and opened them after a few seconds.
Si-Hun's eyes were so cold as he got up, not even glancing at the man before leaving.
"He used the Shadow Veil to leave unseen; no one even noticed him exit the portal.
He got out of the portal with such calm that scared even Kuro.
As they got away from the portal, Kuro said to Si-Hun
"M-master." His voice was hesitant.
"Yes?"
"You feel anything today?"
"No."
Si-Hun didn't even take a look at him and just continued walking.
"Master, also, you now have access to a new ability."
"What is it?"
"Reverse Echo."
"What does it do?"
"It can erase any memory from someone's mind, or change the way they think something happened. It can play with someone's brain, but it is very powerful. You can use it, but be very careful with the usage so you don't play with your own brain. You can only use it in sensitive situations; otherwise, it's too dangerous."
"I want some time alone, would you mind doing that?" Si-Hun asked, his tone not too harsh, but firm enough to tell Kuro to leave him alone.
"Okay master."
Kuro then disappeared from his eyes.
Si-Hun walked home alone, his mind unusually calm, not guilty this time.
He was going to the nearby park.
Si-Hun sat on the same bench he used to sit on at times.
The streetlight flickered twice, as if acknowledging someone's presence.
Someone whose presence could be scary in a state like this.
Silent.
Such silence was intimidating on its own.
The cold breeze was brushing his skin like silk.
The atmosphere was calm, matching his silence.
He didn't feel that wave of guilt over him now.
It was a loss, but one with purpose — not regret, not guilt. Just necessity.
Nothing without a meaning, but something with weight.
"A deserved death is the most confusing." He thought.
He now really understood why Eravus had said to him that he would have to kill humans who deserved it.
This was his life now.
He was satisfied.
A few burdens for humanity would be lessened.
He looked at the ground, his elbows on his knees.
He remembered the man's deformed face.
He touched his cheek and wiped away the dry blood. It flaked off easily — like the last trace of what he used to be.
His shirt also had a few traces of the man's blood.
He was sitting quietly on the bench when Kuro's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Master! It happened again…"