Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power

Kaden found himself back behind the tree that was made with a mix of steel and wood as he looked at the entrance of the city ahead of him.

This time, he didn't wonder what he would do or anything like that.

He had already done this once, so he simply did it again.

He captured the two black bunnies once more, then fused them in a volatile manner before tossing them toward the steelbeast guards.

With the distraction caused by the explosion of the beasts, he slipped in easily.

Once inside, Kaden applied the same technique he used before—making his body reflect and refract light like a mirror to render himself invisible, masking his scent by using the kinetic energy generated by his speed stat, which gave off a burnt, singed odor.

In that way, Kaden headed straight for the Anvil of Steel at full speed, wasting no time at all.

Soon, the Anvil of Steel was right in front of him. Instantly, he felt a slight sense of danger.

It was less than last time, which meant the grandmaster beast was not around, causing him to let out a sigh of relief before confidently streaking toward the black door.

Once there…

'Fuck…!' Kaden cursed inwardly as he saw that the door was closed and locked.

It was both good news and bad news.

Because it meant the Cerveau woman wasn't here, which was good but the bad was that he now had to find a way to enter without causing the slightest ruckus.

Simple to say, but difficult to do.

Still, he observed the door and spotted some runes inscribed on it. Deep, powerful runes he sincerely had no idea how to interpret.

'Think, Kaden, think… you have no time to waste. That woman will come soon.' His mind raced with different thoughts, hoping to find a solution.

He started to reflect on how runes worked, about the fact they required mana to function and—!!

Kaden's thoughts abruptly halted.

'Mana… they only work with mana.'

Meaning, if there was no mana to fuel them, then they wouldn't work.

Kaden suddenly smirked and acted without hesitation. He raised his hand and activated his skill: Flame of Blood.

A deep crimson liquid flame appeared in his palm, swirling with glimmering blue stars inside it, and without pause, he began burning each rune he saw.

He made sure to push his perception to the maximum, as some runes might not be visible to the naked eye but it looked like the steelbeasts either weren't at that level yet, or simply didn't find it necessary to hide them.

So, after burning the runes, their glow dimmed from mysterious brilliance to faint embers.

He didn't destroy nor burn all the mana inside them—he just left enough for the runes to be considered active, allowing him to pass without setting off any alarms.

After all you needed a certain amount of mana for a rune to function properly.

And Kaden used that flaw to enter without any issue.

He stepped in silently, then closed the door slowly behind him. Once it shut, just to be sure, he injected the door with his own mana to power the runes again, making everything appear untouched.

'I did good making sure to reach a certain level of mastery before reviving.' He couldn't help but feel satisfied.

He focused on his surroundings, and all he saw were stairs going downward… into the underground.

The stairs were made of red steel that seemed to burn softly.

At that, Kaden couldn't help but frown—he didn't feel any heat.

It was as if he were resistant to it.

'Probably a hidden benefit from the synthesis,' he thought, before beginning his descent.

Soon, he reached the ground floor, and what he saw chilled his heart.

There was a corridor in the middle—a walking path—and on each side of it, there were cells. Cramped cells made of red steel, constantly erupting with fire. Even the walls and floors of the cells flickered with subtle flames here and there.

Kaden looked inside them and saw beasts. Some were snakes, others spiders, or even overgrown ants. All of them were held in the most pitiful conditions possible.

When they saw him, Kaden expected some kind of reaction… but nothing happened.

They just stared at him with lifeless eyes, as if they had long stopped expecting anything from anyone.

And he didn't care.

He wasn't here for some beasts.

So he continued walking until he reached the very end of the path and there…there was only one cell.

His heart started to beat loudly, his body subtly trembling as fear crept in about what he was about to see.

For a moment, he paused—his apprehension was real. But he steeled himself, took a step forward, and stood in front of the cell… and looked at the person inside.

Looked at the woman inside.

Looked at the black-haired, red-eyed woman.

And the moment he laid eyes on her…on Daela…

BADUMP—!

Kaden's heart skipped a beat.

He immediately dropped to the ground, his knees slamming hard against the steel floor of the underground prison with a heavy thud.

A noise that didn't escape Daela. She raised her head with indifferent eyes to glance at whoever it was and—!

BADUMP—!

Her heart, too, skipped a beat.

Her red eyes widened in shock. She even tried to slap her face with her only remaining left hand to see if she was dreaming, but she was shackled.

Still, the pain she felt was more than enough to confirm that this… this was real.

"K-Kaden…? Is that you, Kaden?" Daela's voice was broken—a mix of joy at finally seeing her little brother, and fear over what might happen to him in this place.

That's why,

"Go… run! Don't stay here before they find you! Go and don't come back. Just tell Father and Mother!" Daela's voice trembled with urgency… with emotion.

For the first time ever, she spoke to Kaden with genuine emotion but Kaden wasn't even listening.

The moment he saw Daela's state, he just stared at her blankly, as if his mind refused to process what he was seeing.

Daela's body was broken. Her right arm and left leg had been severed with brutality, her entire body riddled with deep wounds that exposed the white of her bones.

Her clothes were torn in every place, making her look like a beggar from the slums.

Seeing that sight…seeing how her condition was…how unrecognizable she was from her usual indifferent self…

Tears started to fall from Kaden's crimson eyes.

Not white tears.

But deep, black ones.

His Trait—Silent Tears—had been activated.

—End of Chapter 109—