As he was about to put the pistol back into his pocket, Ren's eyes suddenly opened wide as fragments of memories from his life on Earth seeped into his mind.

  "Did I just destroy someone's life?" he murmured, his lips trembling.

  He stared at the robed man's corpse with a guilty expression, unable to believe that he had truly taken someone's life, even though he knew the man could have endangered his own.

  "Zavi... Actitus." Unconsciously, he muttered to himself, answering the robed man's earlier question.

  He decided to step forward and approach the body to examine it further, to ensure whether the man was truly dead or merely pretending.

  However, his attempt failed when something strange passed through the corner of his eye, causing him to freeze.

  From his right, out of the dark corridor, two other robed figures emerged, and one of them dragged Veranica's unconscious body by pulling her hair.

  'Damn. It seems this won't be as easy as I thought.' Zavi thought hesitantly as his gaze swept around.

  The robed figure threw Veranica's body onto the floor right in front of him. Her beautiful face was now covered in bruises, her black lace dress stained with blood from the beating inflicted by the two robed figures.

  Earlier, she had already been strangled by the robed figure defeated by Ren, and during her fight against the other two, every breath she took felt as if her chest were being pressed deep beneath the sea.

  That pain eventually overcame her, despite her desperate struggle to endure.

  –––

  In the earlier fight, she had deployed a blue barrier to trap the two robed figures.

  Unexpectedly, her ability suddenly failed as her heart seemed to stop functioning for a moment. Her vision blurred, and she saw what appeared to be ten robed figures standing before her, all ready to attack.

  She let out a small laugh. She decided to fight the two robed figures, regardless of whether she would die afterward.

  "Come at me…!"

  The two robed figures immediately split apart, running in opposite directions to encircle Veranica and kill her in an instant.

  However, the plan did not proceed as expected. Veranica managed to escape through the dirty gaps in the floor, concealing her body into a cloud of swirling black smoke.

  The effect of that ability was extremely deadly. Veranica narrowed her eyes, unable to see clearly where the two robed figures were.

  All she could see were ten shadows, and she did not know which were the real bodies. She instinctively rubbed her eyes, but before she could recover, the two robed figures moved faster than before.

  They drew small knives from their sleeves and thrust them forward to stab their enemy.

  Veranica dodged to the side instinctively, her body somehow sensing the danger that would wound her.

  But dodging alone was not enough. One of the robed figures appeared behind her, intending to slit her throat.

  The attack failed. Veranica continued fighting as if her body were completely fine. After about half a minute, her body had reached its limit, and her vision grew darker.

  Thud…!

  A powerful punch struck her right cheek, sending her body flying a considerable distance, slamming into the wall on the right side of the room and crashing hard against it.

  Debris struck her body, leaving bruises everywhere, including on her right cheek where the robed figure's fist had landed.

  "Ugh."

  Both sides of her face turned dark purple from bruising. The blow was so strong that she collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.

  –––

  Meanwhile, Zavi could not believe what the two robed figures had done to a woman—how someone so beautiful could be beaten so cruelly.

  "Hey, bastard. What's your purpose in kidnapping the people at the plaza?" he demanded, his gaze sharp and alert, ready to attack if either of them moved suddenly.

  The two hooded figures exchanged glances, then burst into loud laughter, shattering the tense atmosphere.

  "Why are you asking that?" one of them said, pulling back part of his hood to reveal sharp blue eyes.

  'What? So he's not from here?' he thought in shock after realizing the true nature of the robed man's identity.

  He prepared to draw the pistol from his coat pocket, just in case. The surroundings suddenly fell silent. No one spoke after that.

  Then the silence broke when the robed man speaking with Zavi pulled his hood back even further.

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

  "How much longer are you going to keep pretending to be dead?" he asked, staring at the corpse on the floor.

  Zavi's mind stopped functioning for a moment after hearing that sentence.

  Not long after, he saw the blood on the corpse's robe vanish in the blink of an eye. Moments later, the body truly rose, standing upright as if disregarding death itself.

  "Alright," the robed man replied in a cold, hollow tone as he walked and stood beside the other robed man.

  'Huh… a Necromancer?' he was shocked, scratching the back of his head. 'I've read about abilities like this in famous games, but I never thought I'd see it with my own eyes.'

  However, it was not a Necromancer. They did not realize that the robed man had not truly died earlier. What confused him was why they were still standing there, not attacking him.

  The question kept circling in his mind, leaving him silent as he tried to devise a plan for survival.

  They stared at each other for several minutes.

  As his patience ran out, Zavi finally spoke.

  "Hey, damn it. Why aren't you two attacking me?" he asked irritably, his hand clenched tightly as vigilance gripped his thoughts.

  The robed man who had spoken to him wore a serious expression. But that seriousness was nothing more than a facade. He remained ready to dodge if Zavi attempted anything.

  His eyes widened when he saw Zavi smirk mockingly. He realized Zavi knew what he was thinking.

  "Hey, why not attack me?" Zavi paused briefly to take a breath. "I know you can't attack me because you still don't fully control that corpse, right?" he said with a sneer.

  The robed man snorted irritably. The snap of his fingers broke the tension, reviving the atmosphere.

  The robed man beside him glanced indifferently and gestured to end this quickly.

  And—

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Before they could react, Zavi fired first.

  Their eyes widened, unable to believe that a single moment of hesitation could end in death so quickly.

  The robed corpse immediately collapsed, after the other robed man crumpled weakly onto the cold floor.

  At the same time, Zavi felt something strange from the pistol in his hand. A cold sensation crept through the gaps between his fingers, and moments later, bullets whose trajectories he had not even seen suddenly pierced the two robed men, striking their hearts before returning to the magazine as if Zavi had never fired at all.

  "What is this…?" Startled, he accidentally dropped the pistol. It struck his shoe before falling to the floor.

  Reflexively, he turned to the right, toward the cabinet with a mirror attached to its door. He hurried over, opened it, and quickly pulled Ren out.

  Ren's body leaned against the cabinet. Zavi gently patted his cheek, trying to wake him, but it was useless.

  Zavi immediately shifted his gaze toward Veranica, who lay unconscious right in front of the corridor. After thinking for a moment, he realized he could not carry both Veranica and Ren at the same time.

  He exhaled softly. He had no choice but to seek help outside.

  Before doing so, he hid the bodies of the three robed men somewhere they would not be easily discovered. On the left side of the room, he noticed a fairly tall door marked with a unique symbol.

  He walked slowly toward it and peeked inside. The room beyond was dark, a family room, and empty unlike the room outside, which was in disarray like a storage area.

  One by one, Zavi dragged the bodies inside and arranged them beside the door, planning to inform Ren about them once he regained consciousness and entrust the aftermath to him.

  He closed the door again.

  Zavi stepped firmly as he bent halfway down to pick up the pistol again, occasionally staring at it in disbelief.

  'How can this pistol pull the bullets back?' he wondered, then turned to the right.

  He placed the pistol back into the right pocket of his coat and walked toward Veranica, who lay in front of him.

  He crouched, gently turned her body over, and placed her beside Ren before leaving the moss covered mansion to seek help outside.

  However, after only two steps, without his awareness, from behind in the dark corridor, a man was leaning against the wall. He wore a thin gray shirt beneath a knee length black coat, a round hat on his head, and his blue eyes were locked onto Zavi with a satisfied smile.

  The man had already been there when one of the robed figures attempted to revive Karl, and he had observed every one of Zavi's movements, including the pistol he used to kill the two robed men.

  "Good work," the man said as he straightened his posture.

  Zavi immediately turned around upon hearing the voice.

  "Who are you?" he asked in confusion, quickly drawing his pistol and pointing it directly at the man.

  The man turned to the right, circling Zavi with an indifferent expression, letting the question hang in the air.

  He stopped when he saw Veranica lying unconscious not far from where he stood. He smiled and said in a restrained voice, "How much longer are you going to keep pretending to be dead, Karl?"

  'Clever indeed. Even before being shot by that pistol, he still had the presence of mind to do that.' the man thought with a faint smile.

  Zavi's eyes widened. He turned when he heard rhythmic, clear footsteps from behind the door behind him.

  The doorknob slowly turned, creating a moment of tension as Zavi watched the old door push open, and then a familiar faced man stepped out, Karl Vairanz, wearing the same attire as the man who had been speaking to him.

  "Fiuhh… pretending to be dead is the worst idea!" Karl remarked, wiping his glasses with a cloth before putting them back on.

  "I forgot that if I didn't do it, they would have realized," he sighed, then continued calmly, "that ability is troublesome, isn't it, Ren Actitus?"

  He continued walking closer to Zavi.

  "Who exactly is he…?" Zavi whispered, barely audible.

  'Are they both their allies?' Zavi quickly shifted his gaze toward the two robed men.

  Indeed, the robed man earlier had attempted to revive Karl, a Receiver, Black Death, first rank, Invomer, but he did not realize that Karl had faked his death—that he had never truly died from the gunshot wound—and had regenerated his body through wound transfer by sacrificing spiritual energy, despite the severe toll it took on him.

  The earlier attack on Zavi, where Karl convincingly pretended to be shot in the left shoulder and screamed in agony, had all been part of his plan to deceive the oath binding spell, third rank, imposed by the sect's higher ups.

  For one and a half years, Karl had infiltrated the robed group, forced to commit inhumane acts against people and participate in heretical rituals using captured humans as mediums.

  He did it unwillingly, with no other choice, because it was the only way to destroy the cult from within.

  Furthermore, he was a Receiver Mage, second rank, capable of performing his role well, even though every move he made was monitored by the cult leader Conwuqoam of the Finiscya sect, who restricted his actions.

  The four of them, Veranica Holdun, Karl Vairanz, Ren Actitus, and Elmer Michelle—were teammates investigating under the auspices of the Morotuane Church in Moran.

  More precisely, Morotuane provided funding and letters of recommendation whenever they conducted investigations in certain areas of the city, hunting criminals and evil cults, dangerous Receivers or Hollows hiding within society.

  Led by Elmer Michelle and five other members, their small group was known in the supernatural world as "The devil is here," much like those referred to as Hollows in the world of Receivers within the supernatural realm.

  He stepped forward cautiously, aware that Zavi was still pointing the pistol directly at his face. Fear of firearms was natural, but as Ren's colleague, he knew this was no ordinary weapon.

  "Calm yourself, Mr. Actitus," Elmer said, raising his hands with a troubled expression.

  "How does he know that name!?" Zavi turned toward Ren. "Are they his friends?" After thinking for a moment, Zavi lowered the pistol, his arm straight as he considered further.

  'Damn this man. He called his companion first, and... surely that robed group won't stay silent after their subordinates were slaughtered.'

  He returned the pistol to his right pocket, glanced at Elmer, then walked toward Ren on his right.

  Without hesitation, he carried Ren's body and slowly walked out of the mansion, completely ignoring the two men.

  Seeing that, Elmer chuckled softly. "As expected of the two brothers. So cold. If he keeps that up, he'll never get a girlfriend, I'm sure."

  He pressed the brim of his hat as he walked steadily toward Karl, handing him a bottle of beer he had bought along the way.

  "Thanks," Karl said with a smile, opening the cap and drinking calmly.

  Elmer then walked toward the unconscious Veranica. He signaled Karl to leave quickly and instructed him to erase all traces here.

  Karl nodded and carried out the order.

  Meanwhile, Elmer gently lifted Veranica onto his shoulder.

  "As always, Veranica. You always push yourself to the very end," he said, occasionally glancing at her bruised face.

  "What else can I say? Your brother would be very angry if I didn't protect you," Elmer chuckled softly, imagining it had never happened.

  He walked away from the abandoned mansion, intending to wait for Karl outside.

  Elsewhere, in front of the iron gate, in front of the empty house, several residents were still anxious after hearing the explosions.

  Some of them had already returned home after being instructed by local police who arrived shortly after receiving reports about the explosions inside the building.

  Finally, Zavi reunited with his mother and the other survivors, including the woman who had previously spoken with him and promised to watch over his mother.

  "Thank you, Ma'am and Sir," Zavi said in relief, looking at the six people before him.

  "Well then, I'll head home. Thank you," said a tall man dressed simply, wearing a merchant's hat.

  "Ahh. Alright," Zavi replied with a relieved smile.

  "My mother must be worried because I didn't return earlier like usual," the man added anxiously.

  Zavi nodded, unaware that the man was the son of the old woman who had previously spoken with Ren, and that thanks to the information she provided, they had unknowingly repaid the favor by saving her son.

  "Then we will also leave," said three other men in unison.

  Zavi nodded again. His mother, who witnessed the scene, let out a small laugh; it had been a long time since she had seen Zavi carrying Ren like this.

  "We should go home too, Zavi. I'm worried because Isabelle is alone at home," his mother said anxiously, placing both hands on her chest.

  Zavi rubbed his forehead softly. His mother looked confused but nodded. In the end, they walked back to the Chapena District, Vica, where their home was located, and Zavi chose to hide everything that had happened, afraid his mother would worry too much.