Kurumi and the others were struck by deep shock the moment they saw Rex.

  He wasn’t standing. Exhausted, he had collapsed to the ground, sitting there motionless. There was no weapon beside him. His body was covered in wounds, dried blood clinging to his clothes. But the sight scattered around him… told the entire story.

  Nearly two hundred corpses.

  The fact that he had killed all of them while this badly injured—and completely unarmed—was undeniable proof of just how terrifyingly powerful Rex truly was.

  Rex drew a deep breath. His chest rose and fell with visible strain. His energy was completely spent.

  “…I’m at my limit,” he said in a hoarse voice.

  “Shinya, Hu… I’m leaving the rest to you.”

  Shinya and Hu stepped forward.

  Shinya clasped his hands together, then cracked his fingers. A familiar, dangerous fury burned in his eyes.

  “Don’t worry, Master Rex,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “I won’t lose to a few hundred sons of bitches.”

  Hu nodded in agreement.

  “Just trust us.”

  Kurumi remained frozen in place.

  She didn’t know what to do.

  She had no real understanding of how strong Shinya and Hu actually were. Three hundred enemies stood before them. And among them… was Rya, someone they had once called an ally.

  Kurumi knew she could do nothing against numbers like that. She was weak. Right now, she felt like nothing more than dead weight holding Hu and the others back.

  Can I even protect Amy?

  As that thought gnawed at her mind, Ai suddenly shouted. Her voice trembled—she had completely lost the composure she was known for.

  “Rya! Are you serious?!”

  “Rex accepted you into the cult! He protected you! And this is how you repay him—by stabbing him in the back and gathering five hundred people against him?!”

  The moment Katori saw her father like that, she rushed to him and clung to his arm. Tears spilled from her eyes.

  Seeing this, Shinya ground his teeth. He turned sharply, fury blazing, staring straight at Rya—desperate to understand why.

  “What the hell is going on, Rya?!” he shouted.

  “You’re not this kind of person!”

  Rya screamed back at everything being said.

  “Shut up! This is between me and Rex!”

  “Stay out of it, Shinya! This won’t end well for you!”

  In the middle of their shouting, the sound of ice scraping against the ground echoed.

  Rex smiled.

  He knew exactly who that sound belonged to. And it eased him.

  “So… you came after all,” he murmured.

  “Sae.”

  Sae slid forward, using a sheet of ice like a blade-skate. The entire area fell silent. All eyes turned to him.

  The gang members began whispering among themselves.

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  “Sae?”

  “No one said he was coming…”

  Sae walked toward Kurumi and the others.

  Kurumi felt relief surge through her chest. If Sae is here, something will change, she thought. Maybe Rya will stop.

  As Sae walked, he cast a cold glance at Rya.

  “I see now,” he said.

  “So that’s why you lied about Kai going to Ayanon. I let my anger get the better of me and believed it.”

  His eyes darkened.

  “It was all to kill Rex-sensei, wasn’t it?”

  “So everyone would suspect the bastard who killed the Ayanonians—and the cult would tear itself apart.”

  Rya couldn’t hide his rage anymore.

  “This has nothing to do with the cult!” he yelled.

  “I just wanted Zar’s ju—”

  Sae cut him off.

  “This isn’t something you could have come up with on your own.”

  He stepped forward.

  “Who planned this?”

  “You couldn’t have dragged Kai into something like this. Who’s holding your strings?”

  Kurumi felt frozen.

  So… someone has been guiding Rya?

  But why? Who would want the Veil of Shadows cult destroyed?

  Before she could think further, heavy footsteps echoed through the wet soil. Everyone turned toward the sound.

  A tall man emerged from the darkness. He had long crimson hair and a sleepy, unsettling expression. He walked slowly toward Sae.

  “Eeeehh…”

  “I always thought the strong were stupid. Guess I was wrong, Sae-chan.”

  Sae narrowed his eyes as he studied him.

  “Who are you?”

  The man stepped closer. They were face to face now.

  Kurumi struggled to understand what was happening. Her mind was filled with unanswered questions.

  The man took a deep breath.

  “Who I am doesn’t matter,” he said.

  “I am my god’s servant.”

  He smiled.

  “But if you want the name he gave me… Karhan.”

  “For now, I’m the temporary leader of these idiots.”

  Amy hid behind Kurumi, trembling. Kurumi could feel her shaking. The others weren’t in much better shape.

  Rex was gravely injured. Ai and Katori couldn’t fight. The only ones capable were Hu, Shinya, and Sae.

  Me… Kurumi thought. I’m just dead weight.

  At that moment, Sae broke the silence.

  “I don’t care about your god nonsense,” he said coldly.

  “Are you the one who made Rya do this?”

  Karhan only grinned.

  “Haha… you really only see what’s right in front of—”

  Sae moved.

  In an instant, he turned and drove his dagger toward Karhan’s throat.

  But he failed.

  Karhan raised his hand, forming a barrier that stopped the blade cold. The fact that he reacted to Sae’s split-second attack stunned everyone.

  Shinya’s eyes widened.

  “He… reacted to Sae’s attack.”

  Karhan’s grin widened.

  “So impatient, Sae,” he said.

  “You’re exactly as strong as my god said you’d be.”

  He raised both hands to the sky and began screaming like a madman.

  “My god! Are you watching?!”

  “I can tear Sae and Rex apart and bury them in the dirt right now!”

  With those words, the gang members behind him began to step forward. With every step, the danger grew heavier.

  Kurumi stared at the deranged man, trying to make sense of his words.

  What god?

  Who is he even talking about?

  Karhan turned around and shouted.

  “Don’t you dare come back without killing Rex!”

  “My god commands it!”

  “And if Rex lives while you survive—know this: I’ll kill you myself!”

  All three hundred gang members roared in agreement. They had no choice.

  Kurumi’s thoughts spiraled.

  This is my fault…

  If I had calmed Sae, Zar, and Rya during the Osaki incident… none of this would have happened.

  Frozen in place, she kept whispering.

  “My fault… my fault…”

  Hu grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard.

  “Snap out of it, Kurumi!”

  “This isn’t the time to tear yourself apart. People are counting on you!”

  Kurumi was stunned. With Sae here, with Shinya here… why would anyone rely on someone as weak as her?

  Katori looked at her, tears streaming down her face. She said only one thing.

  “Kurumi… please protect my father.”

  Kurumi couldn’t understand it. With Sae here… why me?

  Just then, footsteps echoed behind them.

  Shinya smiled, relieved.

  “I was waiting for them.”

  The First Division Leader, Tora, stepped forward. Behind him stood the Second Division Leader and one hundred soldiers from the First Division.

  The Third Division’s Vice-Leader, Itadori, appeared with fifty soldiers behind him.

  Itadori grinned.

  “We’re here, Shinya-kun.”

  Tora slipped his spiked knuckle weapon onto his hand, the metal scraping loudly.

  “My favorite thing,” he said.

  “Breaking people.”

  Rex forced himself to stand.

  “I can’t just sit around while my soldiers are here, can I, Sae?”

  Sae nodded.

  “You’re right, Rex-sensei.”

  Kurumi exhaled deeply. With this many people here, she could finally retreat and wait without doing anything.

  Tora clenched his fist.

  “I’m going to beat some sense into you, Rya.”

  Rya stumbled backward, fear creeping in—until he felt a cold hand grip his head. Karhan was holding him, his face filled with joy.

  “Just like my god wants,” he whispered.

  “Chaos.”

  At Rex’s order, both sides charged forward at the same time.

  The night filled with screams and clashing steel.

  The battle had begun.