[The Road Back: Silence of Defeat]
The road from the mansion to the headquarters felt long, longer than I had imagined. The luxurious black car did not offer comfort this time; instead, it felt like a moving cell cutting through the fog of "Draka." Skyro sat beside me, staring out the window with vacant eyes, his hands still trembling slightly.
"Lucian is dead..." Skyro whispered, rubbing his forehead as if trying to erase the memory. "The heir of the 'Vance' family... beheaded like a sacrificial lamb amidst the Kingdom's elite. Tomorrow, the sun will not rise peacefully, Ray. The Vance family will burn everything to the ground searching for the culprit, and King Baron will not stay silent about such a breach of his security."
I didn't answer him. I was staring at my own massive palms. I was close to him... so close. I could still smell his blood; I could still see his provoking smile atop the roof. The blade "Sin" on my back emitted a faint hum, as if blaming me for letting him escape.
"He escaped with the Heart..." I said in a rasping voice. "He now possesses the power that the King holds. Can he really use it immediately?"
Skyro looked at me with a dark gaze: "Merging with a Dragon Heart requires bloody rituals and patience. But we are talking about 'Dan'... that devil might do anything. If he implants that heart into his chest and succeeds in activating 'Reflection'... then the entire army of 'Draka' won't be able to stop him."
[At the Headquarters: The Bitter Truth]
We arrived at the headquarters. Nero was waiting for us at the door with anxious features, and behind him stood Gina... silent as usual, but her eyes were searching for one thing in my expression.
"What happened?" Nero asked, seeing Skyro's pale face and my suit stained with blood that wasn't mine.
Skyro walked past him without a word, heading straight for the map table. I looked at Gina. She approached me with slow steps and asked in a voice barely audible: "Was he... there?"
I closed my eyes for a few seconds; the image of Dan smiling flashed in my mind. "He was there, Gina. He killed Lucian, stole the Dragon Heart... and escaped."
I saw the tremor run through her body. She didn't scream, and she didn't cry. Instead, she froze in place as if her soul had left her body. I gripped her shoulder firmly: "It won't be long... I promise you. Dan is no longer just a personal vendetta; he has become a target for the entire world."
[Boiling Draka: Masks Fall]
With the sunrise, "Draka" was no longer the same. The news spread like wildfire. The murder of Lucian Vance, the sole heir to the second richest family, killed in the same gruesome manner as Adrian... left eye in the mouth.
From the headquarters window, I could see the city boiling. Royal Security Forces filled the streets, and raids were happening everywhere. The "Vance" family announced a bounty of ten million gold coins for anyone who brought Dan's head. The secret auction was no longer secret, and the scandal of the nobles who attended was on every tongue.
"Everyone is looking for him now," Skyro said, watching the military movements from the window. "But they are looking for a human... and they don't realize they are chasing a nightmare that will soon possess 100 times the power."
[Blade of Sin: The Cursed Training]
I went out to the back forest. I needed to release this frustration. I drew "Sin" and began attacking the trees and rocks madly. The purple blade glowed with every strike, cutting through stone as if it were paper.
But my mind was on "Reflection." If I attacked him now... the strike would reflect back on me a hundred times.
I imagined myself stabbing him, and instead of him bleeding, my own body being torn apart by a hundred stabs in a single instant. This thought made me stop, panting heavily. Physical strength wouldn't work against him now. The massive size I prided myself on would be the cause of my swift death.
"I must be faster..." I said to myself, madness seeping into my red eyes. "I must find a loophole in that Reflection before the heart merge is complete."
[Disciple of the Storm: Rio and the Little Dragon's Pulse]
I couldn't stay in the headquarters any longer; the walls were closing in on me, and the stench of the city's hypocrisy was penetrating my pores. I headed to the forest, to that place that knew no falsehood, where Rio awaited me.
When I arrived, I didn't find the child who panted after ten minutes of running. I found him standing in the middle of the small hut's yard, eyes closed, holding a heavy wooden log across his shoulders and performing squats with amazing stability. The veins in his small neck were bulging powerfully, and his body, which was slender just yesterday, had begun to harden and take a solid form; the muscles of his back were clearly defined, as if the dragon blood inside him had started rebuilding him from scratch.
"I didn't ask you to come, but I'm here," I said, standing directly behind him.
Rio didn't flinch as he used to. He placed the log down calmly and turned to me. His eyes held a sharp glint, his reaction was faster, and his presence had become heavier. "Master Ray! I knew you would come... the scent of battle is wafting from you today."
I smiled bitterly. Even this child had begun to sense what I carried. "Let's see what the days have done to you, Rio. Attack me... and don't hesitate."
[Test of Senses: Dance of Shadows]
Rio didn't wait long. He lunged at me with a speed that surprised me. It wasn't a random attack; he threw a quick punch toward my side, and when I tried to block it with my hand, he suddenly dropped low and attempted to sweep my back leg.
I retreated lightly, feeling the air displaced by his strike. His reaction time had improved remarkably; he was no longer fumbling in his movements. Instead, he possessed that "instinct" that distinguishes killers.
"Faster!" I shouted at him, throwing a feint.
Rio ducked at exactly the right moment and rolled on the ground to stand back up behind me. His reactions were fluid, as if he had begun to understand how to read the movement of my massive body before I even started it. But despite this progress, he was still a child.
I grabbed his wrist before he could touch me and pushed him with a gentleness that sent him stumbling back several steps. "Good... your reactions have become much better, but you still lack weight behind your strikes. You are fast as a breeze, but I need you to be heavy as a rock."
Rio fell to the ground panting, but he was smiling. "I touched your cloak this time, Master Ray! Next time, I will touch your skin."
[Black Clouds Over the Horizon]
I watched Rio trying to catch his breath. This little one was growing in a world that was collapsing. I thought of "Dan" and the "Dragon Heart" he carried. While we were here training, a devil was lurking in fate.
"Train well, Rio," I told him, heading toward the dark forest. "The city outside is no longer a safe place. Soon, we might have to fight a battle where there is no place for the weak. I don't want you to be just a witness; I want you to be a survivor."
I turned back, leaving Rio to continue his strikes against the wooden log. Black clouds were gathering over the city of "Draka," as if the sky was preparing to weep blood for what would happen in the coming days.
I tightened my grip on the hilt of "Sin"; training with Rio gave me a temporary calm, but I knew with certainty that the real storm had not yet begun.