Sabrina steadied her breathing, forcing herself to calm down as she made her way upstairs.
The moment she stepped onto the second floor, the noise hit her.
Violent thuds—kicking, slamming, pounding—rang out far more clearly here.
Interwoven with them were savage, feral roars, the kind that sounded less human than beast.
Sabrina froze where she stood, her heart hammering wildly in her chest.
She hesitated, wondering if she should wait for the occupant to calm down before delivering the items—
But suddenly, the noise inside ceased.
In its place, she heard something else.
A sharp, deliberate sniffing sound.
Like a hunting dog catching a scent.
The next second—
Bang!
The iron door was kicked with brutal force, the explosive sound shrieking through the corridor.
"Stop playing dead—get out here!"
The sudden roar made Sabrina flinch violently.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
When no response came, the person inside began hammering the door even harder.
"I'm talking to you!"
"Get over here—now!"
From below, an irritated voice shouted back, "You're loud as hell! Gian, can you shut up?"
The Sentinel in 201, Gian, stopped kicking the door only to redirect his fury downward.
"Who said that?"
"Which bastard's sticking their nose where it doesn't belong?"
"When I get out, I'll kill you!"
The person below clearly had no interest in wasting words on a mad dog like him.
Taking advantage of the moment, Sabrina hurriedly prepared the items and pushed them toward the hatch.
But in the blink of an eye—
Smack!
The entire tray was flung back out.
"What the hell is this garbage?!"
"Answer me!"
Nearly hit, Sabrina stumbled backward in alarm.
A hyena with round ears thrust its head out through the hatch.
At first, Gian had assumed it was the same indifferent staff member from before.
Instead, it was a completely unfamiliar face.
Small. Frail-looking. Uneasy, timid.
The kind that looked easy to bully.
Gian's arrogant voice followed, sharp and impatient.
"Where's the one from before?"
Sabrina stood there, caught off guard, staring into the hyena's dark, hostile eyes.
For a moment, she didn't understand the question, then she realized he meant the previous person assigned to this position.
She quickly pulled out a notepad to write a reply.
Through his spirit companion, Gian saw everything—and his impatience flared instantly.
"I asked you a question—what are you scribbling for?!"
Sabrina paused, then hurriedly finished writing and carefully held the note out to him.
In 102, Xander leaned against the wall, seemingly lost in thought. At the sound of the exchange, his lashes shifted slightly.
Meanwhile, Sabrina found herself stuck, unable to advance or retreat.
The hyena didn't move aside—instead, it bared its teeth at her with a vicious snarl.
Its behavior mirrored its master's will.
Clearly, Gian was displeased with her "lack" of response.
After a brief hesitation, Sabrina had no choice.
She raised her hands and signed:
[Sorry. I… can't speak.]
Gian arched a brow, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
"Oh?"
"A mute, huh?"
His tone was mocking, laced with careless amusement that made her deeply uncomfortable.
Sabrina lowered her gaze at once.
Gian was loud, brash—someone who never bothered to restrain himself.
The moment he said it, several Sentinels in nearby cells—those still in relatively stable condition—paused.
Especially the one in 101.
Thinking back to the earlier exchange, realizing he had misunderstood the staff member, the man who had been quietly reading frowned slightly.
After a moment, Sabrina once again extended the note.
Gian waved it off impatiently.
"Get that away from me! I'm not reading that crap…"
He didn't think there was anything wrong with bluntly pointing out her disability.
In his eyes, people fell into only two categories:
Those who deserved a beating now—
and those who would deserve one later.
Sabrina felt a flicker of unease.
Still, she tucked the note away, stepped forward, and picked up the items scattered across the floor. After refolding them carefully, she tried once more to pass them through the hatch.
The hyena no longer bared its teeth, but its gaze remained hostile.
Gian snapped, irritation boiling over.
"I don't want this crap!"
"I want out!"
"Who the hell was sticking their nose in my business just now? Take me to him!"
"Let's see if I don't rip his head off!"
As he spoke, he kicked the door again—thud, thud—each blow echoing through the corridor.
Sabrina instinctively stepped back.
She waved her hands quickly, signaling that such a request wasn't possible.
Then she began signing—carefully, earnestly—trying to explain that if he wanted to go outside for air, he would need to submit a request. Once approved by a supervisor, it could be arranged.
But Muye couldn't understand a single gesture.
His impatience flared.
"What the hell are you flailing around for?"
"Just tell me—can I go out or not?"
Sabrina hesitated, then nodded.
Gian's eyes lit with immediate expectation.
"Then open the door!"
She wanted to explain that there was a process, but he wouldn't understand.
Pressing her lips together, Sabrina shook her head.
Not now.
That wasn't allowed.
"Damn it!"
Gian's temper exploded instantly. The hyena snarled again, low and threatening.
"You just said I could—and now I can't?"
"You screwing with me?!"
Sabrina hurriedly waved her hands in denial.
That wasn't what she meant at all.
Before she could try again, a voice drifted lazily from the neighboring cell:
"If you want out, you need the warden's approval and a cleared area first. She's just a junior staff member—she doesn't have that authority."
"Gian… maybe try borrowing your spirit animal's brain for a change?"
It was Fang from 202—the same man from earlier.
Sabrina immediately nodded in agreement, relief flashing across her face.
Exactly.
That was what she'd been trying to say.
But the moment Gian heard the mockery—heard the implication that he was less intelligent than his own hyena—his fury surged.
He began hammering the wall again, cursing loudly, a string of vulgar insults spilling out without restraint.
Sabrina frowned slightly.
He's… unbelievably crude.
The hyena caught the shift in her expression.
Gian's attention snapped back toward her.
"What kind of look is that? Who said you could look at me like that?!"
Startled, Sabrina shook her head frantically—like a rattling drum—almost as if afraid her parents, far away in another world, might somehow be dragged into this chaos.
Fang's voice came again, light with amusement, entirely unaffected by the tirade.
"She's probably just never seen such a… gifted master of profanity before. Naturally, she's curious."
A pause—then, casually: "Say, Gian… did you never go to school growing up? Raised somewhere like that, perhaps?"
"Well… that would explain a lot."
Sabrina blinked.
So that's it…
No wonder he refused to read her notes.
Fang's tone was leisurely, almost conversational, yet every word carried a sharp edge. Even when laced with vulgarities, his insults flowed smoothly—refined, almost elegant in comparison.
Nothing like Gian's raw, grating outbursts.
With effortless ease, he returned every insult—and then some.
Gian, realizing he was being mocked so thoroughly, flew into an even greater rage.
The hyena's head withdrew from the hatch.
Man and beast alike turned their fury toward the wall, unleashing a barrage of snarls, curses, and furious barking.
Sabrina quickly shut the hatch.
The noise echoing through the detention block instantly dropped by half.
But that only redirected Gian's anger outward again.
"Damn it! Who told you to close that?! Open it back up!"
From next door, Fang sighed leisurely.
"Ah… it's been a while since I've heard such a passionate duet—man and dog in perfect harmony."
At that, Sabrina couldn't help it—
She smiled.
She moved on and opened the hatch to 202.
A face was already waiting there.
For a moment, Sabrina froze.
He's… beautiful.
His skin was almost unnaturally pale, giving him a fragile, almost sickly air.
At the outer corners of his gently curved eyes were delicate, flame-red scales—brilliant as polished rubies—set against a pair of soft, tranquil blue eyes.
The contrast was mesmerizing.
He looked less like a man and more like something otherworldly.
A creature capable of stealing souls with a single glance.