The voice seemed to descend from heaven, a divine authority that shook the very foundations of reality.

  Officers looked around in confusion, searching for its source. The voice existed everywhere and nowhere at once. It defied normal physics. An overwhelming presence pressed down on the plaza, transforming the very atmosphere into a domain where this new power reigned supreme.

  The source of such terror appeared above.

  Consider air to be glass; that was the only explanation as to why the air suddenly shattered above the plaza to create a rift. It bled, it cracked, and it shattered, allowing prana to pass through it without hesitation, imposing even more of the blight-like pressure of its user on the innocent and the guilty.

  Acacia fought against the urge to retch. As an Irregular, he was uniquely vulnerable to concentrated prana—being in its presence was like standing naked in a blizzard. He had no defenses against such power, and even the hardened IPA officers seemed to waver under its weight.

  Count to ten, count to one hundred, recite the periodic table, remember Bernoulli's Principle—anything to stay conscious through this! His mind raced for anchors against the overwhelming pressure.

  "B-boss..." Apollo's voice had lost all its earlier confidence. "Boss, please, this is—"

  "Do it. Do it now." The command fell from above like judgment itself, carrying neither mercy nor hesitation. It was the word of God, and even those brave enough to defy it knew death would not come quickly or quietly if they tried. The assembled officers felt their hearts drop in unison. Some nearly collapsed, others fought to keep their last meal down. Even Acacia couldn't maintain his composure as the horrifying prana combined with his damaged throat nearly overwhelmed his constitution.

  The atmosphere had shifted from winter to inferno, offering no escape from this suffocating presence.

  "...Understood." Apollo's own prana signature lessened as he let go of his grip on Acacia.

  "Now that's settled..." Those burning eyes turned toward the assembled officers, exuding an almost playful expression. "Let's talk, shall we?"

  Helplessly, they stared back.

  "I'm Nemesis, Head of the Bloodhounds. Apollo here is my subordinate—quite erratic, but relatively harmless...for an assassin." His eyes narrowed as inappropriate laughter spilled from the rift. "Normally, Bloodhound protocol would demand the slaughter of everyone here to secure our target. But circumstances have changed rather dramatically, wouldn't you say?" His gaze flickered between Acacia and Apollo meaningfully.

  "Let's make an exchange," Nemesis continued. "You get the boy, and I retrieve my subordinate. A fair trade, wouldn't you say? No one needs to get hurt...or worse."

  He paused, letting the implications sink in. "Do we have an agreement?"

  The officers exchanged glances before nodding in unison.

  They didn't have much of a choice.

  "Perfect. Oi, Apollo, get your ass out. You're the only one left to retrieve—you'll find Malleus on your way."

  "R-right away, boss." Apollo stumbled over the words before casting Flux to quickly burst out of the plaza, his usual laziness abandoned in his haste to flee.

  "A pleasure doing business with you, officers." The rift sealed itself with Nemesis's parting smile, taking its oppressive pressure with it.

  "Was that satisfactory?"

  Even with a gun pressed against the back of his head, Nemesis smirked unfazed. If he so much as twitched, his assailant could blast him with a killing spell—not that he seemed to mind, given the horrendous things he had done.

  "Pandora, even I get a little nervous when you don't say anything. It hurts my heart for an old friend to be so cold."

  "Screw off," came the ice-cold reply.

  The truth revealed itself—Nemesis had been operating from a nearby tower, observing the city throughout the night. He'd dispatched Malleus and Apollo, watching their progress until Pandora's altered [Bounded Fields] had detected his presence. Now she had him trapped on his own observation post, though his demeanor suggested this might have been part of his plan all along.

  "What do you mean 'screw off'? I did exactly what you demanded after you ambushed me at gunpoint: cast a [Gran Ley Line] to recall my Bloodhounds and release the boy." His head tilted slightly. "Uh…what was his name again?"

  "Acacia." Pandora drove her Contender harder against his skull.

  "Ow, ow! You'll crack my head open! What's gotten into you? Don't tell me it's that time of the—"

  "Finish that sentence and you die."

  "But we both know that's a bluff. You can't kill me now. More accurately, you won't."

  "Is that so?"

  "Yep. If your goal was my immediate elimination, you'd have pulled the trigger right after our little exchange. Better yet, you'd have killed me the moment you trapped me here. The fact that you stopped me at all proves you want me alive...for now."

  "You're free to make whatever interpretations you like," Pandora's expression remained carved from marble. "But you will answer my questions truthfully. Consider that an absolute decree."

  "Heh, why should I answer to you? What makes you think your little weapon will be effective?" Nemesis chuckled.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Pandora sighed; Sieg never learned. "What makes you think I'm holding what you expect? Perhaps you've calculated the Contender's 'lethal threshold' beforehand, but that becomes meaningless if I'm not actually holding one. Maybe it is a Contender, maybe it's not. Perhaps I'm using an Interference spell to alter your perception entirely."

  The realization dawned on him as her words sank in.

  Essentially…

  "You won't know for certain unless I pull the trigger. So then, shall we test your theory?"

  Nemesis grinned, "I'll pass. Good to see you haven't lost your edge after all these years."

  Pandora ignored his attempt at camaraderie.

  "Why did you accept Cagliostro's contract? The Bloodhounds only take the highest-paying jobs—your track record proves as much. Yet you accepted an offer from a Lesser Noble House in a port city down south, one whose entire estate couldn't generate enough revenue to meet your usual fees. The Narma family's holdings in Ocarina wouldn't cover even a fraction of what you normally charge for assassination, let alone a complex pursuit operation. None of it adds up. Tell me why you took such an irregular case."

  "Leave some brainpower for the rest of us, why don't you?"

  "Answer the question."

  "...Then, what if I told you I knew you were behind the boy's escape from the very beginning?"

  "....Huh?"

  Nemesis laughed, genuine amusement coloring his tone. "I knew from the start that you were the reason that Irregular escaped death, and that you were the person investigating Cagliostro's son's case."

  "How—"

  "You covered your tracks well enough, but you left certain threads exposed, dear Dora." His grin widened at her momentary shock.

  "Tell me!" Her voice resounded throughout the room like thunder, finger applying minute pressure on the trigger.

  "Now why would I do that? There's no reason to reveal all the little details that gave you away. And judging by your expression, you still haven't pieced it together yourself." He sighed theatrically. "So I think I'll let you stew in uncertainty a while longer."

  "Damn it Sieg, stop messing around!"

  "Or what—you'll kill me? Then all those breadcrumbs I found will vanish into the wind." His voice dripped with malicious delight. "Who knows how many others might follow the same trail I did? You might silence one person, or even a group, claiming Pandora Kircheisen is really Mercutio who saved a condemned Irregular. But what if my client is particularly vindictive? What if he shares everything I've learned about your activities with my other Bloodhounds and underworld connections if he doesn't hear from me in X number of days? How many would love to claim Mercutio's head as a trophy? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? They'll all come for you and that boy you've grown so fond of. And seeing how you barely managed against me...I wonder how long you can maintain your High Inquisitor facade?"

  There were no falsehoods in his statement. Deep down, Pandora knew he spoke the truth.

  "What do you want?" Tiredly, she lowered her weapon.

  "It's beautifully simple." His eyes gleamed like a child unwrapping a gift. "If you think this was about that irrelevant Irregular, you're dead wrong. I couldn't care less about him, or that dead Giovanni brat, or my client. They're all just pawns in our game."

  "Then stop wasting my time. What's your true objective?"

  "You still haven't figured it out? Isn't your entire job about finding clues and piecing together mysteries?"

  Her expression darkened as she fought down his mockery. She closed her eyes, concentration reaching its peak as she analyzed every fact, every event, every subtle clue. As seconds stretched into minutes, understanding finally dawned. When she opened her eyes again, his triumphant grin told her he'd been waiting for this moment.

  "You bastard! You did all this just to get to me?!"

  "There she is," Nemesis purred, his words carrying the satisfaction of a predator watching its trap spring shut. "That's the Dora I know. Been a while, hasn't it? Will you run, or face the consequences of your sins? You should have seen your precious Irregular at the plaza—Malleus and Apollo did quite a number on him. I barely recognized that bloodied mess of a weak, pathetic whelp." His unhinged laughter echoed through the tower.

  "How could you be this twisted? Involving innocents in your sick game?!"

  "Oi, I'm an assassin—remember? I'll do whatever it takes to achieve my goals. Taking Cagliostro's contract was just a pretense to draw you out. Those little mistakes you made covering your tracks came back to haunt you. You haven't changed at all. You craft these grand plans but neglect the tiniest details. Then you watch helplessly as everything collapses. You're your own worst enemy, Pandora Kircheisen. How else could you explain finding yourself in this position? You had me at gunpoint, and here I am, laughing in your face. Even Bianca would be disappointed, haha!"

  Her golden eyes flashed with lethal intent, matching the blood-red horror of his gaze.

  "You're in the palm of my hand. I control your every move, your every thought, your very existence." He turned to face her fully, deliberately exposing himself to her weapon.

  It was a challenge, a declaration of dominance.

  "Two days from now, at 9 PM, meet me at the Windsor telecommunications reserve warehouse. Come alone and tell no one." His eyes blazed with cruel certainty. "If you're not there by 10 PM, I give Cagliostro free rein. Not only that, but I'll order every Bloodhound to join his crusade. We'll erase anyone and everything connected to you. Say goodbye to your precious Irregular. The entire underworld will learn that Pandora Kircheisen is Mercutio, and from there it's only a matter of time before the public knows too. Everything you've built over the past six years will crumble to dust."

  "You're bluffing…” She weakly trembled.

  "The Bloodhounds have never failed a mission. Engrave it in your bones." His sneer ceased.

  Without another word, he vanished into the night, Flux carrying him through the tower window.

  Befuddlement, distress, sorrow, panic, helplessness, grief, and trepidation filled her mind to the brim, evoking every ounce of agony, helplessness, dread, and fear as sweat dripped down her chin helplessly.

  But then, something that shouldn't have occurred transpired.

  A smile, a face-splitting grin, surfaced from the deepest, most recessed, and untouched section of her heart to become reality.

  You're so predictable.

  "Acacia!"

  Sirius Trafalgar arrived in a rush as he pushed through the paralyzed officers to reach the fallen boy.

  "Hey! Can you hear me, kiddo? Are you alright? Come on, speak up! Dear God, what did they do to you?!"

  "S-Sirius...?" Even through blurred vision, the distinctive glasses and ginger hair were unmistakable.

  "Yes, yes, it's me. Come on, try to sit up straight—that's right! Slowly now, we need to be careful!" The inventor gently supported Acacia's back, helping him find a stable sitting position. Each movement drew breathless groans of pain, but they managed.

  "What the hell are you bastards doing?!" Sirius rounded on the still-frozen officers, fury transforming his usually jovial features. "A boy is bleeding out and your first instinct is to stand there gawking like idiots?! Get moving! Call for EMTs! Help me get him to the car!" His commands cracked like whips, spurring the paralyzed force into action.

  Acacia had never seen this side of him, yet it made sense. No one became a technological titan of the Empire without a steel core beneath their eccentricities. Still, that ruthless edge sent an involuntary shiver down his spine. Sirius took a deep breath after the officers began to move as guilt crept into his expression. He looked down at the boy struggling to keep conscious.

  "...I'm sorry. I can't explain everything right now, but this... this wasn't supposed to happen," he whispered, one hand covering his mouth as the full weight of the situation hit him. "They completely blindsided us... and you almost died because of it." His hands trembled slightly as they supported Acacia's battered frame.

  "I swear they'll never touch you again. You're safe here with us, you're safe with—"

  The bespectacled man hitched.

  Acacia stopped breathing.

  Rise of the Hunter: I can travel to the Cultivation World!

  by Mr.Sinclair

  Jihoon was just trying to awaken—until he was not.

  struggling to stay alive. Everything seems lost… until

  Something awakens… Suddenly he can travel between two worlds?!