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Calmly, I stepped back inside. But I stopped immediately, sensing the danger. Deathly silence filled the place I’d left in chaos.

And all fearful eyes were on the person entering through the back door now; on me.

In that silence, my eyes searched for Mina. Thank God, she was safe, standing at the front of the stage, glaring at me like everyone else. Unlike the others, her expression carried concern as well.

Only then I saw him.

Bugan.

One of the orphans I had once taken under my wing, now staggering across the stage, his eyes locked onto me just like the rest of the crowd. Under the dim light, I caught the sight of purple blotches on his forehead. He bore the look of a chronic sleeping pills addict, yet something was wrong. The mutation had claimed only his face, the rest of him appeared untouched, which was impossible in its nature.

“The guest of honor has arrived, guys! My dearest elder brother!” My jaw merely tightened as Bugan raised an arm to point me out. “The architect of my tragic story… the Kern family’s cherished, only son! He follows the path his kin created! Exactly ten years ago, he deceived me. Promised we would be brothers, slaughtered my family, and then used my body for experiments! But today, I’m done hiding.”

A wave of shock rippled through the crowd, but I only exhaled a quiet sigh. I stood still beneath the crushing weight of condemning gazes fixed on me. I knew this day would come. After all, Bugan had been drowning in narcotics for years, and now, likely running with those foolish, impressionable youths who fancied themselves Yunna sympathizers. They must have offered him a handsome sum for this performance.

“Now everyone bows to him, while I rot here! Look at me! I am like this because of him. Tell me, is there no justice under the skies of Mars? How is one meant to live like this?”

As Bugan continued to rant with fervor, Arga, one of Sebastian’s former enforcers, leaned in close. “I’ll handle him immediately.”

“No need,” I murmured. “Let him speak all he wants. So long as he doesn’t cause a scene…”

“Help..!”

The shriek split the air. Then came the crack.

I truly resented my sixth sense.

Shifting my gaze to the right, I frowned.

That thing, the monstrosity, had its back to the hall. It lurched heavily to the right, shattering the glasses on the table as shards rained across the stones below. Bent double as it was, its full height was difficult to judge, yet it loomed nearly three meters tall. Tangled strands of black and bruised purple hung matted about its face. Beneath its sickly pale-green skin, thick veins pulsed. Its eyes held no white, colored entirely in deep crimson, while something dark dripped from between its yellow teeth.

Only moments before, the hall echoed with Bugan’s shrill cries. Now it fell silent. No one moved. No one dared look away. Not even me.

When the creature descended from the table to the floor, those nearest held their breath and waited for what came next. My eyes were already searching for Mina; not seeing her in the crowd sent panic through my chest. Now the creature’s full body was visible, cradling carelessly in its arms was the body of a young man. His chest had been torn open, split apart by what must have been a fang or the rake of those brutal claws. The flesh beneath his collarbone was coming away in slow, wet pieces, dropping to the floor one by one.

Before anyone could recognize the young man’s face, the venue plunged into pitch blackness.

The crowd, frozen in fear just moments prior, erupted into absolute pandemonium. Not even the lack of visibility could stop the clatter and screams; on the contrary, it only fueled the chaos. When a lantern was finally lit across the room, commotion briefly subsided.

“It’s attacking!”

In the dark, people surged toward the doors, bodies slamming into my shoulders, but I moved against the tide. I scanned the room with my neural night vision, but those sun-bright crimson curls were nowhere to be found.

“Mina!”

“Sir, we need to move.” Arga was beside me again, but I had no position to care. I shook my head.

“You go. Don’t wait for me.”

Arga hesitated, then gave a curt nod and vanished into the fleeing swarm. I kept walking in the opposite direction, until I finally broke free of the bodies pressing in around me. Dim light spilled across a barstool in the dark room, and the monster was sitting there. And beside it… the one I was looking for.

Mina’s hand was in her bag now, her fingers tense. Her gaze didn’t waver from the monster, brows faintly furrowed, she only looked calm and ready. I tracked her line of sight and spotted her cop friend on the other side of the beast, seemingly trying to reason with the creature.

I didn’t care what kind of game they were playing. I only lunged forward, driven by the instinct to rip her away from the danger.

“Mina!”

My shout pulled the creature’s attention on me. Mina’s wide, amber eyes locked on me as well.