Without the protection of her own domain, Olivia fought like a cornered beast.

  Every second spent under the weight of Mitsuo’s Primordial Sapphire felt like her skin was being seared by a blue sun.

  "Damn! Damn! DAMN!"

  she shrieked, her tentacles lashing out in a blind, agonizing frenzy.

  "I am not going to lose because of that Primordial again! NOT TWICE!"

  Even nerfed by the Sapphire territory, her raw power remained devastating. Her wild strikes managed to draw blood from the remaining elite members who scrambled to contain her.

  But the moment she saw a gap and lunged for Aoi, a blur of motion intercepted her.

  Cassey, her face set in a mask of desperate bravery, wrapped her own tentacles around Olivia’s waist and threw her across the arena floor.

  The Great Demon slammed into the ice, skidding for meters before rising with a face contorted by pure, unadulterated hatred.

  "HOW DARE YOU!" Olivia hissed, her voice trembling.

  "How dare a disgusting, low-born creature like you lay hands on ME?!"

  Olivia’s tentacles stiffened, moving with surgical, lethal precision as she aimed a killing blow at Cassey’s heart.

  Unable to watch her friend be impaled, Aoi threw herself into the path of the strike. The obsidian tentacle tore through the air.

  But instead of hitting its target, it plunged deep into Aoi’s shoulder.

  "NO!"

  Olivia’s eyes widened in genuine horror as she realized what she had done.

  Cassey caught Aoi as she slumped, her hands instantly pressing against the wound.

  "Aoi! Hey, stay with me! Look at me!" she cried, shaking her gently.

  Olivia stood frozen, her hands trembling as she stared at the blood on her appendage.

  But before she could speak or move toward her "daughter," the space around her warped violently. In a flash of golden energy, she was ripped out of the human world entirely.

  In the cold, jagged expanse of the Demon Realm, Olivia reappeared, stumbling to her knees.

  Standing before her was Jack, who had used his primordial teleportation to drag her back from the base.

  Furious and humiliated, Olivia tried to lash out at him.

  "How dare you interfere—!"

  Jack didn't even look at her. He simply flicked his fingers, and a concentrated wave of Space energy hammered down on her.

  The weight was so sudden and absolute that Olivia was slammed face-first into the dark earth, her knees cracking against the stone.

  While Olivia lay broken in the dirt, her mind a storm of rage and maternal grief, Jack ignored her completely.

  He turned back to his pet ants. He was indulged in a strange pleasures right there, his laughter airy and carefree as he enjoyed watching them.

  To him the Great Demon’s mental collapse as nothing more than background noise.

  "Know your place, peasant~" Jack said between drinks, his voice light.

  Olivia bit her tongue until the dark ichor flowed, an internal vow screaming in her mind as she watched him celebrate while she bled:

  I will kill them. I will kill every last Primordial.

  High above the military base, Mitsuo hovered in the center of his blue sun.

  "Five out of six rats down," he muttered, his finger levelled at the final target hidden deep in the base's ventilation system.

  Just as he prepared to fire, a sudden ripple of interference jolted his domain. His eyes snapped toward the dimensional rift—he recognized the signature immediately.

  It was the disturbance caused by Jack’s spatial extraction as he pulled Olivia into the Demon Realm.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  The momentary fluctuation caused Mitsuo’s Aura Bullet to veer off course, striking a concrete pillar instead of the assassin's head.

  Mitsuo clicked his tongue in annoyance, his gaze sharpening. He re-centred his focus, his blue eyes tracking the final fleeing shadow.

  "Last one."

  He fired again. This time, there was no miss. The blue streak of light found its mark, and the final threat was silenced.

  "Territory dismissed," Mitsuo sighed. The sapphire sky shattered into a thousand glittering shards before fading into the grey twilight of the base.

  The scene opens in the base hospital, a place of sterile silence and the rhythmic beep of monitors. Aoi lies unconscious, her face pale against the white sheets.

  Outside her door, several members of the Wrappers wait in the hallway, their faces etched with exhaustion and a sombre, protective vigil.

  [Twenty Minutes Earlier]

  The blue sapphire glow had only just vanished from the sky when Mitsuo touched down on the cracked pavement of the courtyard.

  He hadn't even had time to brush the dust from his shoulders before Colonel Z approached him. The Colonel’s face was a mask of iron, his voice firm.

  "We have to discuss important things," the Colonel stated.

  Mitsuo’s trademark smirk was notably absent, replaced by a worried, focused look as he gave a sharp nod. "I know."

  As they began to move, Rose walked up to join them, her golden eyes scanning the wreckage.

  Mitsuo’s usual mask flickered back into place for a moment.

  "Ah, you found us so easily, Lieutenant? I didn't know you could locate people, too."

  Rose didn't even slow her pace. "Are you dumb?"

  Mitsuo blinked, a bit shaken by her bluntness. "Why would you say that?"

  Rose’s face lit up in a rare, sharp smirk. "After that crazy territory you just pulled, I don't think there’s a single soul on this base who could miss where it originated from."

  The three of them began walking together toward the central command hub. As they moved through the smoke-filled corridors, Rose turned her attention back to Mitsuo.

  "How did you know this was going to happen? You were too prepared."

  "I found things before others did," Mitsuo replied, his voice dropping to a serious register.

  "There was a parasite bug—a biological scout—roaming inside the base. I found one in the Wrappers' quarters and took care of it then and there. I believe you took care of the one in the Blazers' room, right?"

  "That is true," Rose replied grimly.

  Colonel Z, now looking more composed but significantly more dangerous, looked at his two officers.

  "If you are both telling the truth, it means they were targeting every Elite base simultaneously. Mitsuo saved the Wrappers and Rose saved the Blazers, but the fact remains that the other two bases were detonated."

  The Colonel stopped at the entrance to the control room, his shadow looming large.

  "This wasn't just a demon assault. For them to plant those bugs and bypass our internal security so precisely... there is a traitor among us."

  The air in the hallway grew cold.

  Neither Rose nor Mitsuo looked surprised; their faces simply hardened, the silence confirming that they had already been harbouring the same dark suspicion.

  [Present Time]

  Back at the hospital, the focus shifts to a different wing where Claire has been admitted.

  Velvet and Lilith, having just left Aoi’s bedside, walk toward Claire's room.

  Their footsteps echo in the quiet hall as they go to inquire about the Special Grade Ghoul’s condition, their minds still reeling from the day the base almost fell from the inside out.

  The scene opens in a landscape of shadows. A small child walks alone through the winding, narrow alleys of a slum.

  On closer inspection, it is Aoi, but she is different—her back is smooth, her body entirely human, free from the weight of the parasite.

  Suddenly, the sky above the slums begins to bleed, a deep crimson staining the horizon until it consumes everything in sight.

  The little girl stands frozen in terror as the world turns red.

  The vision shifts. Aoi is now in her grown form, still without her parasite, standing in a void. Before her, a slimy, translucent green figure emerges from the dark.

  It reaches out, cupping her face with cold hands, and presses its forehead against hers.

  A blinding white flash swallows the world.

  In the quiet of the night, the scene shifts to Claire’s hospital room.

  The Special Grade Ghoul lies in her bed, her body trembling and her brow soaked in sweat as she thrashes through a nightmare.

  A shadow moves through the room, silent as a ghost.

  It approaches her bedside, reaching out to hold her cheeks with steady hands. Almost instantly, the tension leaves Claire’s body.

  Her breathing slows, and she settles back into a deep, peaceful sleep.

  At the Wrappers' temporary quarters, the atmosphere is heavy. Many of the members are bandaged, their faces lit by the dim glow of the room.

  "If it wasn't for that bastard... we would have been done for," Aether mutters, leaning back in his chair.

  Harry, who is surprisingly not reading for once, lets out a long sigh. "As much as it annoys me to admit it, Mitsuo saved our lives."

  Lilith and Steve remain deep in thought until Sera raises her hand.

  "Go on," Aether says, waving a hand dismissively. "It’s not a classroom, Sera."

  "Do you remember how Mitsuo was roaming around our quarters uninvited?"

  Sera asks, her voice low. "I also heard that Lieutenant Rose was seen in the Blazers' quarters the same night."

  "And the fact remains," Lilith adds, her voice barely a whisper, "that our two units were the only ones whose control bases didn't detonate."

  "They must know something," Steve says, his eyes narrowing.

  Harry leans forward.

  "Now that we’re discussing it... the day Mitsuo was lounging in our base, I found stains on the floor. They looked like demon blood. I think he took out the infiltrator in the middle of the night."

  "Are you suggesting he did a sweep while we were sleeping?" Lilith asks.

  "It’s possible," Harry replies. "As much of an anomaly as he is... he isn't..."

  "Incompetent," Aether finishes for him. "That’s what you’re trying to say, right?"

  Harry nods solemnly.

  In the corner, Cassey sits in total silence, her eyes fixed on the floor.

  Only Velvet seems to notice her unusual lack of energy, watching her with a concerned, lingering gaze.

  Suddenly, a notification pings on their communal terminal:

  [SPECIAL GRADE GHOUL 'CLAIRE' HAS BEEN DISCHARGED FROM THE HOSPITAL.]

  "Well," Aether says, standing up. "Should we go visit her?"

  Lilith shakes her head firmly. "No."

  "Why not?"

  "Because," Harry says, his eyes turning toward the window, "it’s not the right time."

  To be continued…

  ? MYukH. All rights reserved.