As Will’s headless body fell, the succubus walked inside the underground tunnel.

"Ugh.. this place stinks."

She wrinkled her nose as she descended the stairs slowly. Each of her steps made a sound against the moss.

The lemon sting in the air made her eyes water.

When she reached the bottom, she stopped.

The place was empty.

"Huh? Where did they go?"

She looked around the abandoned tunnel.

There was a fire pit carved on the other end of the wall leading to the next tunnel.

"Did they run away after seeing his dead body?"

She walked further inside, examining the place.

Then she looked down at Will.

The headless corpse, still bloodied. His hand was curved in a weird way due to the fall. A faint trace of mana lingered in the body. It wasn’t writhing like before and was quiet as hell. As if this thing did not just run past her minutes ago.

"Tch. You are a fool to give your life so easily just to make them run."

She crouched down beside the body and tilted her head.

"Too bad. They won’t be getting out alive today."

She took out a small black device from her coat pocket and held it close to her lips.

"Seal all the exits, and send men from every end. Oh, and tell them to not kill the young man with black hair."

A static voice replied from the other end.

"Understood, Madam Vin."

She put the device back in her pocket and sighed.

Then she looked at Will again.

"It’s your fault for mocking me, Willy. We could have been good partners..."

She paused.

"Or more, you know. Hehe~"

She bit her lower lip and traced her finger along Will’s headless neck. The blood there had started to coagulate.

She frowned slightly.

"What a waste."

Saying that, she went to the opposite direction of the tunnel where they probably ran to.

* * *

Huff.. Huff...

Baam–!!

A fist hit the concrete wall. Shattering it like a weak glass.

"AAAAAGHHHHHHHHH—!!!!" Irene screamed with the top of her lungs.

Her blood boiled.

Anise behind her bit her lips. She slowly reached her hand towards her, but Irene turned to her and said. "Doctor... why... why are we saving them...?"

"..."

After the incident with Dreamweaver, the whole city had literally killed each and every person she held dear to her. Anise herself had lost her people. But still she chose not to say.

Her employees which her father left behind. The survivors she was close with in the castle. The The doctors and the scholars she was friends with.

Everyone was taken away from her by those who she was trying to save.

"Doctor..." Irene’s voice slightly broke. "Answer me."

Anise looked at Irene’s tear streaked face. Her own eyes were watering now too. But she had cried enough over the past ten years. There were no tears left to fall this time.

"Because..." Anise finally spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "If we stop trying to save them now, then everyone who died for this... died for nothing. We... we will make this right.. remember?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Irene’s fist trembled against the cracked wall.

"How much more... " She whispered. Her shoulders shook as she lowered her head. "Lillian... Vivy... Xuo... and now Will too."

Cyan stood a few meters away. His back was facing against the opposite wall with arms crossed.

He had not said a word since they received Will’s final transmission.

His fingers twitched against his bicep. It is the only sign that he was holding back.

"Cyan?" Anise called out to him softly.

Cyan opened his eyes.

They were cold, even colder than the ice Rumi made.

"He died grinning." Cyan said quietly. "That bastard died grinning while flipping her off."

He clicked his tongue.

"Should have been me up there. Not him."

Rumi floated beside him.

"It was Will’s choice." Rumi said. "He knew what he was doing and made himself a decoy."

"Yeah." Cyan said. "And his choice was to give us his fucking life."

He turned his face away.

Will’s final gift to them had been incredible.

His body was laced with mana holding neuron electric signals which was controlling his muscles even after death. Through his hand sign gestures in an insanely rapid pace while they watched the transmission, he had communicated everything to them.

The succubus’s identity. The barrier sealing them in. The fact that more people would surround them. The order to capture Leon alive while killing everyone else.

Will had conveyed everything to them even after he was dead.

The only reason they decoded it so fast was because of Rumi’s intellect. She had deciphered every signal within three seconds.

And it took another three seconds that gave them enough time to grab Leon, the Time Devices, and escape through the back tunnel before the succubus came down the stairs.

Three seconds that Will had paid for with his life.

"A succubus." Rumi added. "And a high tier one on that. The aphrodisiac field she created was strong enough to paralyze Will instantly. And he is... was a stage seven weapon master. I didn’t even notice her presence above."

Cyan finally pushed himself off the wall.

He walked to Irene and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She did not look up.

"Irene." Cyan said.

"...what?"

"Get up."

Irene’s head snapped up. Her wet eyes met his cold ones.

"Cyan how much more do you think this will last? It’s been almost ten years now... ten—"

"Get up." Cyan repeated. "Will did not die so you could cry against a wall. He died so we could keep moving."

Anise wanted to scold Cyan for being harsh. But she stopped herself. Because she knew he was right.

Irene wiped her face with the back of her sleeve.

She stood up.

"Good." Cyan said. He turned to Anise and Rumi. "Alright. Let’s move on."

He looked at each of them in turn.

"We are the only four left now. Leon does not count, he is still asleep. So it falls to us."

His hand tightened on his katana.

"We need to keep Leon alive. Even if it means only one of us remains at the end. Even if it means dying like Will did."

No one spoke for a moment.

Then Rumi nodded.

"Agreed."

Anise wiped her eyes and nodded too.

"Agreed."

Irene looked at Leon’s still body. His chest rose and fell slowly. For ten years she had protected him. Just a few more days...

That is all she had to do.

She nodded.

"Alright." then she told Cyan. "But... I will be the one killing that whore."

Cyan exhaled slowly. The smallest hint of a smile touched his lips.

"Whore huh... good. That whore will be yours to take." He said. "Then let’s get the fuck out of here."

He walked over to Leon’s and lifted him.

"Oh shit, what is he eating...." He cursed, and then instructed others. "Queen Anise. Take the other end. Rumi, you scout ahead. Irene, you watch our backs."

Everyone moved without hesitation.

They had a very simple plan at this moment.

Survive. Reach the new hideout that they had marked.