Jiyul didn't blink. He didn't flinch. He didn't soften.
Selena clutched her wounded hand, crimson dripping slowly between her fingers to stain the pristine white cuffs of her uniform. But her voice didn't rise in anger. It dropped cold, soft, and fractured.
"You cut me..."
Jiyul didn't answer. His eyes, still glowing with the faint, dying light of the Ember, looked past her as if she were made of glass. He turned his back.
Selena took a trembling breath, forcing the words out through the tightness in her throat.
"You called me a freak."
"I did," Jiyul replied, his voice grinding like dry bone.
She stepped closer, defying the instinct to retreat from his killing intent. "I am not your enemy."
"Then don't touch me like one." He turned his head halfway, shadows cutting a harsh line across his jaw. "I don't need your sympathy. I don't need your concern. And I definitely don't need your pity."
"Jiyul"
"I WILL KILL THAT BASTARD!"
The shout tore out of him, ripping through the mist like a physical blow.
Daren, standing yards away, flinched as if burned.
Jiyul's face twisted not with sorrow, but with a hunger so violent it looked painful. A deep, obsession was taking root in the ruin of his spirit.
"I need power," he hissed, his hands clawing at the empty air. "Real power. Power to tilt the damn heavens. To burn the stars down to ash. I want it. I will have it. Whatever it takes."
He took a shaky breath, then exhaled slowly, the rage simmering down into a deadly focus.
"I just want to fight him again..."
Selena's expression hardened. She wiped the blood from her hand onto her sash and looked at him with eyes sharp as glass.
"Then don't waste your rage on alley fights and corpses."
Jiyul looked over his shoulder, his eyebrow twitching. "What?"
"If you really want to fight Rayel," she said, her voice steady now, "do it in front of the world."
She stepped closer, closing the distance between them.
"Not on some street stained with nameless blood. Do it where everyone sees. Where the powerful gather. Where titles fall and legends are born."
Jiyul narrowed his eyes. "...What are you talking about?"
"The Tournament," she said.
The word hung in the silence like a dagger.
"A grand tournament," she continued. "Three months from now. Fighters from all empires, bloodlines, and clans will be there. Even gods, they say... appear in human skin to watch."
Jiyul turned to her fully now, intrigue flickering in his dark eyes. "And Rayel?"
Selena nodded. "The King never misses it. And Rayel has never been absent. He defends the title every time. No one has ever even scratched him."
Jiyul's lips curled. It was a crooked smile not of happiness, but of something far more dangerous.
"...Perfect."
Selena watched him, her tone dropping to a warning. "But if you fight him now, without growing stronger... that will be your death."
He tilted his head. "And?"
"I'm serious," she said. "Right now, you are stronger than most nobles. Stronger than me. Stronger than Daren. But Rayel isn't in the same realm. He is like gravity. You fight him wrong, and you just vanish."
Jiyul let out a low laugh. It built in his chest until it exploded into a sound too confident for a man soaked in blood.
"Good."
He raised his sword toward the horizon like a declaration of war.
"I will crush the head of that damn horse. I will make him bleed in front of every kingdom. His blood will stain the sky."
Behind him, Daren stumbled forward, looking pale. "Uh, so... the threat to you is over, right? I mean, no more assassins?"
Jiyul didn't even look at him.
"Not really," Daren answered himself, sighing. "The Silent Fang still exists. But after what you did to their elite, I doubt they will show their faces again soon..."
Jiyul spoke, his voice low and detached. "So I can leave now."
Daren blinked. "Wait, what?"
"I need to get stronger. Strong enough to melt hell. To shake the gods from their golden chairs."
Selena narrowed her gaze. "Then you will need training. Resources. Blood."
"I will take all three," Jiyul said. "Even if it means killing half these noble pigs to do it."
"Hey," Daren objected weakly, raising a finger. "I am a noble pig."
Jiyul glanced at him, stone-faced. "Then don't stand in my way."
Selena exhaled, annoyed but resigned. "You are planning to do what, exactly?"
Jiyul began to walk, his slow steps leaving red footprints on the stones. "I will find the darkest forests. The worst sects. The broken teachers. Those who lost their names long ago. If power exists... I will rip it from the earth."
Selena walked beside him for a moment. "You are really going to enter the Tournament?"
"I am going to win it."
She raised a brow. "And if Rayel doesn't even show interest in fighting you again?"
Jiyul stopped walking. He turned slightly, his voice sharp as a knife.
"He will. After I destroy everything he respects. One by one."
There was silence again, save for the cawing of crows circling the bodies. The wind moved gently, carrying the scent of iron.
Selena tilted her head. "Then you better survive long enough."
Jiyul gave a quiet scoff. "I always do."
Daren scratched the back of his head, looking lost. "...So what now?"
Jiyul paused, looking toward the crimson horizon where the sun was beginning to set.
"Now?"
His voice was calm. Too calm.
"I vanish."
Selena's eyes widened slightly. "You are disappearing?"
"No," Jiyul whispered. "I am going to be reborn."
The ember light beneath his skin flickered one last time. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.
"Tell the world to prepare."
He took one last look at Selena, his eyes like frost.
"I will see you in three months. On a stage where death wears a crown."
And with that, he stepped into the red mist. The wind swallowed his silhouette.
The monster walked away, and the world shivered in anticipation.