Victoria released her Exceed, Echoveil, and pulled Clara into a firm, almost desperate embrace.

  She was exhausted from overusing her Exceed, but that wasn’t why she hugged her. She simply couldn’t stop herself. Holding Clara tightly, Victoria silently vowed to avenge her, tears slipping down her cheeks.

  “...Thank you,” Clara whispered, voice trembling.

  “I’ll explain… I woke up buried in the dirt.

  I clawed at the earth desperately. My nails tore and bled, turning the black soil into mud, but I couldn’t stop. If I stopped, I felt like the darkness would swallow me again.

  I clawed my way out, inch by inch, until I reached the surface. It felt like I was digging through a massive underground graveyard. The choir members’ bodies… they’re probably still there.”

  Her words shook as she forced herself to continue.

  “I searched for a way out and found an elevator. But when I pressed the button, an alarm went off.”

  She shivered.

  “The elevator came down to B3. When the doors opened… the men who had been chasing me were waiting.”

  Emma, listening, understood—Clara had been hunted from the start.

  “They weren’t there to rescue me. They were there to drag me back. I screamed, and they froze for just a second. I jumped inside and rode it up. When the doors opened… I was in the chapel of Lumen Dei Academy.”

  Her voice broke.

  “I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I ran barefoot through the halls. But they kept coming, so I jumped into the river and let the current take me. I can swim… but they were already waiting downstream.”

  Her trembling grew worse.

  “The way they smiled… it reminded me of the vice principal. I thought—hell just keeps going, no matter where I run…”

  Clinging to Victoria, Clara sobbed harder.

  “But then Emma, Ethan, and Maya came. You saved me. Thank you… I’m sorry I can’t stop shaking… I’m sorry…”

  Victoria just held her tighter.

  Emma tapped a message into her wrist comm: “Memory extraction successful.”

  Elisabeth opened her palm, revealing a small metallic sphere. Its surface shimmered with endless scrolling code, rotating with an organic, almost floral elegance.

  She tossed it at a hallway surveillance camera. The sphere sprouted roots, latched on, and slipped inside the device, disappearing completely. Elisabeth smiled faintly.

  Her Exceed: Cyber Sprawl—a virus that infiltrated devices like a seed, spreading unseen roots until it devoured entire systems.

  She had already embedded it into a set of forged ID cards Ethan had obtained. Tonight, those cards would let them move freely anywhere on campus when the ambush began.

  It was 3 p.m. The campus bustled with students of all ages, hymns echoing through the air. A bronze statue of the academy’s founder loomed over the fountain where Ethan and Elisabeth sat apart, pretending to be strangers.

  Ethan typed on his wrist comm:

  “How’s it going?”

  Elisabeth replied:

  “Cyber Sprawl’s already in the security network. By tonight, I’ll own every system. Thanks for the IDs. Where’d you get them?”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Faculty and unlucky students—took them in the restroom. Used Spinal Tap to knock them out. Another staff member walked in, but I took care of him before he hit the alarm.”

  “Good work. But too many missing cards in one day might raise flags. Did you confirm the girl’s memories?”

  “Yes. Victoria accessed them. This academy’s nothing more than a human lab for Returner experiments, disguised as a cult.”

  Ethan kept his anger buried, but Clara’s terrified face haunted him.

  “I disabled the GPS in her skull after you rescued her. This place is filthier than we thought,” Elisabeth said, sighing softly.

  “Vice principal and principal—where are they?”

  “Mostly in the admin building, 12th or 13th floor. Sometimes in the chapel, but only for events. But—”

  Her mind flickered with images of her digital roots spreading through the academy’s systems.

  “The chapel has music halls, theaters… but underground—B1 and B2 look like guest suites. B3 is a massive hollow chamber.”

  “A hollow chamber…” Ethan’s gut tightened.

  “I hacked the cameras. It’s probably a dumping ground. A Returner graveyard… maybe even a resurrection site. But mostly, it’s for hiding bodies.” Elisabeth’s voice held quiet fury.

  “Do we check it now?”

  “No. Even with fake IDs, our movements will be logged. …And—” She paused briefly.

  “Seeing that mountain of corpses… I want to go. But not today. We’ll cross-check the victim data later in Luna.”

  She swallowed her anger. Logic first.

  “Agreed. We’re done for today. Let’s leave separately.”

  Elisabeth left first. Ten minutes later, Ethan rose to go. His comm buzzed—it wasn’t the Returner line. A normal app.

  It was Ria.

  “Sorry I haven’t messaged lately. Are you doing okay?”

  Ria—scarred by the abuse she’d suffered in middle school—couldn’t ride public transport, couldn’t meet him face to face. She was only allowed to send texts, and Ethan could reply. She attended a remote university now, writing novels—dark, painful stories that had a small but devoted following.

  “No worries. Message me whenever you feel like it. I passed the bar, so I’m busy studying how the world really works.”

  “I told you before, but that’s amazing. I know you’ll use the law for the right reasons.”

  “Thanks. But the law isn’t justice. …I just want to be on your side. That’s all that matters.”

  No reply came. Maybe too much.

  Ethan sighed and started to leave.

  He’d become a Returner because the teacher who abused Ria had been one. Ethan had died trying to kill him—and had been resurrected. He’d avenged Ria with Victoria’s help, but her heart had never healed.

  As he approached the exit, someone handed him a flyer.

  The headline read: “Sexual Harm Study Circle.” Normally, Ethan wouldn’t even glance at it, but this time, he took it.

  The man handing out flyers was tall, around 180 cm, with black hair, piercing blue eyes, and the build of a trained fighter—Eastern European, maybe twenty-two.

  “Interested in learning about sexual violence?” Kiril asked smoothly.

  There was a reassuring warmth in his smile, the kind that made you want to trust him. A passing female student gave him a small nod and even smiled back, relief flickering in her eyes. Ethan felt a cold shiver crawl down his spine.

  “A little,” Ethan replied flatly.

  “We’re a co-ed group promoting gender equality. I’m Kiril Varga.” His voice was charming, calculated. Most people would trust him immediately. Ethan felt a warning bell.

  “So men and women study together?”

  “Yes. Women share their trauma, men listen and discuss how to prevent it.”

  “Thanks, but no.” Ethan’s tone was ice.

  “If men want to learn, there are books. You don’t need victims to relive their pain. Excuse me.”

  He walked away. Behind him, Kiril clicked his tongue in irritation, but Ethan didn’t look back. Not yet. Not before the ambush.

  (A perfect fit for this sexist academy. That face, that charm—he’s a predator.)

  Ria’s trembling hands flashed in his mind. The regret of failing to protect her tightened his fist. (Burning this academy to the ground… maybe that’s the only way to make it up to her.)

  In his luxury apartment in Astris, Kiril poured wine, set out cheese, and opened the door to his private torture room.

  A young woman—missing for a week after joining his “Sexual Harm Study Circle”—was tied to the bed.

  “Please, stop! I’ll do anything, just stop!” she sobbed.

  Kiril smirked. “Exactly. Don’t ruin my fun. Now, let’s relive your worst memory—like always.”

  His eyes gleamed coldly as her screams filled the soundproof room.

  Sipping wine, savoring cheese, Kiril reveled in her suffering. This was his greatest pleasure. Ethan’s suspicions had been dead on.

  When she finally passed out, he stepped back into his room as his phone rang.

  “Well, Leader. You’re worried Lumen Dei might be attacked by those Luna Nordics women? I see. Then I’ll help defend it.”

  He chuckled. “My Exceed was built for killing Returners. I can’t wait to turn those Luna Nordics into slaves—make them scream before I kill them.”

  He drank deeply, trembling with feral excitement.

  Far below, in the hollow darkness of B3, something shifted—like a corpse remembering how to breathe.

  What do you think is hiding down there? And how should Ethan deal with Kiril?

  check out my Substack article here:

  https://open.substack.com/pub/knishi2050/p/why-i-wrote-hells-returners?r=5wfkgu&utm_medium=ios)

  I'm really honored you stayed with Maya's journey this far.

  There's a lot more to come, and your support means everything ??