Soraya's eyes narrowed slightly, her tone calm and absolute.

  "Next time, make sure you know who you're threatening."

  Soraya Navraan

  Chairwoman — Navraan Industries

  Mid-Tier A-Rank Awakener

  Soraya's voice cut through the dark—gentle, yet final. A judgment disguised as calm. Logan's blood ran cold. He didn't know her rank, but he knew the sound of absolute power when it dismissed the name Mizraan without a flinch. This was the moment of reckoning.

  His eyes widened — not only in fear of death, but because, for a split second, Soraya's face blurred into the smile of the only friend he ever had.

  Lian, my friend...

  The panic that had trembled through him vanished, leaving only a hollow shell of determination.

  No... I'm not worthy of being your friend.

  He forced himself to meet Soraya's gaze. A desperate calm settled over him — the last breath of his conscience against a lifetime of fear.

  "So, are you going to kill us now?" he asked, his voice low and strangely steady despite the blood filling his mouth.

  He looked at his crewmates—trembling, whimpering, broken in body and pride. The sight of their fear twisted something in his gut, reminding him of his own failure.

  I'm sorry Lian...

  I should've done this from the very start. I should've done everything to save you. I'm sorry...

  I'm really sorry...

  But I can't change the past — and I don't want to live like this anymore.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  His eyes snapped back to Soraya. His breathing became shallow. This was a trade—his life for their innocence. It was the only thing he could offer.

  "Leave them," Logan said, his voice regaining a strange, terrible dignity. "It was all my fault. I don't know who your son is, but every bullying, every attack, every act of humiliation that has been done... was all done by me."

  "They only followed because they feared me and my family," he said, nodding at the others. "So please kill me, and spare them."

  This time...

  I'll make sure no one gets hurt because of me.

  The silence that followed was immense, broken only by the whimpers of his crew and the steady, cold gaze of Soraya Navraan. He had offered his life — defying the fear that once ruled him — in one final attempt at atonement.

  The underground sank into a thick, watchful silence. Only the faint drip of water from some distant pipe and the soft hum of the building's distant life broke the stillness—drip… drip….

  Soraya remained seated, posture impeccable, while Afraan stood at her side. On the cold concrete floor lay Logan and his crew, bruised bodies curled against the gloom.

  Soraya finally spoke, a faint sigh preceding her words. Her voice calm and analytical. "I see... You bully the weak kid, then when you face a problem with that, you just mention your father's name. And when that didn't work, you're telling me that you'll sacrifice yourself for the others? You speak as if I'm the one at fault." She leaned forward slightly. "I don't understand why you did all those kind of things in the first place, then?"

  Logan said nothing; his head remained bowed. What could he possibly say? That it was all out of fear... It was all because of his family... None of it would matter to her.

  "It looks like you won't say anything," Soraya said evenly. "Anyway—"

  With a soundless grace, she stood up and turned her back to the group. Afraan instantly stepped forward, handing her the wide-brimmed cap and the umbrella he had been holding—fwip, click.

  Logan blinked, confusion tightening his face as she turned to leave.

  "I won't harm you."

  Logan's eyes widened in profound disbelief, snapping up from the floor. "W-What do you mean by that? Are you letting us go this easily?"

  He had prepared for death — the same crushing finality he'd seen with Lian — yet her words stunned him. Could someone so powerful truly spare the weak?

  Until now, he had believed the strong always devoured the weak — that a single mistake from the weak meant their existence would be erased from this world.

  But for the first time in his life, he saw someone who wasn't like the others.

  Soraya's voice resumed, cool and measured. "Why would I do anything to some kids. Afraan already punished you by beating you guys." She paused, then delivered the critical judgment. "Besides, it's not your mistake in the first place. It's the mistake of your parents that didn't teach you proper manners. So instead of you guys—"

  She turned her head slightly, her gaze sharp, deadly, and perfectly cold. Her voice dropped, becoming a heavy, resonant promise that echoed the destructive power of a true Awakened master: "I'll punish your parents."

  MORPHORCE