— A Flicker of Hope in Despair —
The air in the HelixPharm chairman's office was so thick it was almost suffocating.
Lyra slammed the documents onto her desk, her knuckles white with strain. "Unbelievable... This is utterly unbelievable!" Her chest heaved, voice trembling with suppressed fury.
The board of directors had just dropped all pretense.
If she couldn't deliver a miracle formula soon, they would convene a shareholder meeting and strip her of her position.
Since the Veyne family's tragedy, HelixPharm had been teetering on the brink. Plummeting stocks, panicked whispers—a blockbuster new formula was their only lifeline now.
She could use the perfect formula Eren had developed before his fall. But she would rather die than utilize anything created by that murderer. The old foxes on the board knew this, hence their brazen power play.
"Miss Lyra, there is no need for excessive worry," Darius's calm voice cut through the tension. "The Overlord is on his way. With his capabilities, any difficulty can be resolved."
"H-He's coming?" A strange light instantly ignited in Lyra's eyes.
It wasn't that she expected this mysterious man to solve all her problems, but the mere thought of seeing him filled her with an inexplicable sense of safety and... joy.
Darius gave a slight nod. "He is already en route."
As if on cue, the office door swung open silently. A figure wearing a Power Ranger mask stepped inside.
Eren was about to ask Darius about the license plate investigation when he was caught completely off guard.
Slender yet trembling arms wrapped around his waist from behind, pulling him into a tight embrace.
The soft warmth and a faint, elegant fragrance surrounded him instantly.
It was Lyra.
Eren's entire body stiffened. His blood raced, a reaction he forcefully suppressed.
He knew, with painful clarity, that Lyra despised the man she thought he was. This sudden closeness was born of a beautiful, tragic misunderstanding.
"Let go," he murmured, his voice low, almost reluctant.
His words had the opposite effect. Lyra only held him tighter, as if he might vanish into smoke if she loosened her grip.
In this moment, she was as fragile as a candle in the wind, desperately needing an anchor.
He softened his tone. "Let me go first. We have a traitor to unmask."
"A traitor?" Lyra blinked, her arms loosening instinctively.
Remembering her own boldness, a blush crept onto her cheeks.
She looked down, nervously fiddling with the hem of her blouse, unable to meet his gaze.
"Call an emergency shareholder meeting," Eren's tone brooked no argument. "All shareholders and board members. Today, I will help you end these crises. For good."
— Judgment in the Boardroom —
Half an hour later, the conference room was packed.
Lyra stood at the head of the table, flanked by the masked Eren and Darius, whose lower face was also covered by a mask.
The scene was achingly familiar to Eren. He had attended countless crucial meetings here as the lead researcher. Returning now, under such different circumstances, sent a wave of complex emotions through him.
The shareholders eyed the mysterious masked figure beside Lyra with confusion and clear displeasure.
"What is this charade?" one of the elder board members scoffed. "A masked jester at a meeting of this importance?"
"Lyra, what is the meaning of bringing an unverified individual into these proceedings?"
"We just had a meeting this morning! Have you found a new formula, or have you finally decided to step down?"
"A woman was never meant to helm a conglomerate this large. Your place is at home, raising a family!"
Their scorn and contempt were laid bare, showing zero respect for her authority as Chairman.
Lyra slammed her palm on the table, her icy gaze sweeping across the room. "I know you all want me gone! But HelixPharm is my family's legacy! I would rather burn it to the ground than let it fall into the hands of schemers like you!"
Her voice dropped to a deadly chill. "The reason I've called you here today is that I have survived two assassination attempts recently—a car crash and a direct attack! And the mastermind... is sitting in this very room!"
The room erupted into chaos.
A man in his fifties immediately stood to refute her. "Lyra, how dare you make such baseless accusations! We may want you to step down, but we would never resort to such heinous acts!"
Others joined in, a chorus of feigned outrage.
Eren scanned the crowd dispassionately. "We expected you wouldn't admit it. Darius, point him out."
"It's him! Hawthorne!" Darius stepped forward, his finger aimed squarely at a middle-aged man in a tailored suit and gold-rimmed glasses.
"Hawthorne? You?" Lyra's face was a mask of disbelief. This man had always been so low-key, pragmatic... seemingly without ambition. How could it be...?
"This is slander!" Hawthorne jabbed an accusing finger at Darius. "I've served this group diligently for over twenty years! Why would I ever harm the Chairman?"
Darius let out a cold snort. "You thought you'd covered your tracks? Ever heard the saying—if you don't want to be found out, don't do it.
Your methods were clean, but against me, Darius, you are still a novice!"
"Darius? The Underground Emperor of Novalis?"
"The leader of the Iron Vow gang?"
Shock rippled through the room. All eyes darted between the masked man and Lyra.
Hawthorne's face turned ashen, but he still tried to bluster. "This is a frame-up! I'm innocent!"
"Still denying?" Eren's laugh was a series of cold barks. "Darius, show them the evidence."
Simultaneously, he moved. A blur to everyone's eyes, and Hawthorne was howling on the floor, writhing in agony as Eren's foot pressed down on him.
The shareholders passed around the transaction records Darius provided. Looking at the icy eyes behind the mask, a collective chill ran down their spines.
"Stop! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" Hawthorne begged, tears and snot streaming down his face, kowtowing on the floor.
Eren eased the pressure. "Was that so hard?"
Hawthorne looked broken. "I... I was tempted by greed... But it wasn't my idea! S-Someone forced me to do it!"
Lyra leaned forward, intent. "Who? Name the mastermind!"
Hawthorne's answer dashed all hopes. "I... I don't know! They contacted me via encrypted messages! They had dirt on me... I had no choice!"
Eren and Lyra exchanged a glance, mutual shock in their eyes.
"You dare lie to me?" Eren's gaze from behind the mask felt like a physical blade.
"Mercy! I wouldn't dare lie now! I truly don't know who it is!" Hawthorne kowtowed harder, his forehead beginning to bleed.
Sensing his genuine terror, Eren frowned. This was stranger than he'd thought.
If Damien truly wanted Lyra dead, he could have sent a skilled assassin for a clean kill. Why this convoluted plot?
Could it be... that the true mastermind behind the Veyne family massacre and his own framing... wasn't Damien after all?
"Deal with him," Eren said indifferently, waving a hand.
"As you command, Overlord." Darius hoisted the broken Hawthorne like a sack of potatoes and strode out of the room.
O-Overlord?!
The word detonated like thunder in the silent room.
This masked man... was the master of the Underground Emperor?
Just how terrifying was his identity?!