eaves were falling slowly from the trees.
A small boy sat on a bench, swinging his legs. His name was Rezia. He was eating ice cream carefully, trying not to let it fall.
Beside him sat his uncle, Jeremy Winters.
The clouds moved away, and sunlight fell gently on Rezia’s face.
“Rezia,” Jeremy said softly. “From tomorrow, you will go to your new school. Aren’t you excited?”
Rezia didn’t answer. He was too focused on his ice cream.
Jeremy looked at him and smiled.
“Hope you will do good at school.”
The leaves kept falling.
— FLASHBACK ENDS —
Rain poured heavily.
The sky was dark.
Rezia was sitting in the same position as before… but this time there was no sunlight. No peace.
Only fear.
He slowly turned his head.
Red was standing behind him.
Rezia’s lips moved.
“How…?”
Before he could finish, something invisible slammed into him.
His body flew backward and crashed into broken tables and chairs. Glass shattered everywhere. Sharp pieces rose into the air and shot toward him like bullets.
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Rezia raised his hands to block them—
But the glass pierced through his fingers.
Two fingers from each hand were cut.
Blood fell onto the floor.
Red began walking toward him slowly.
“This,” Red said calmly, “is 1% of how an Elerie feels when you cut them.”
With a small hand movement, Red sent another wave of sharp glass flying toward Rezia.
This time Rezia pulled out two daggers from his pockets.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
He blocked most of the pieces, but some cut his neck, face, and head.
Red stopped in front of him.
“You’re good,” Red said. “But why are you doing this?”
In a blink, Red appeared right next to him.
Rezia barely managed to dodge.
He stood up, breathing heavily, and smirked.
“I do this because I’m good at it,” Rezia said. “And I hate human-eating trash like you.”
He wiped blood from his face.
“What is your useless leader doing in a broken lab anyway?”
Red disappeared.
For a second, everything was silent.
Then—
Thousands of glass pieces appeared in the air.
They rushed toward Rezia.
Rezia’s eyes widened.
“Neo…”
He tried to activate his technique.
Nothing happened.
His body had no energy left.
The glass pierced through him.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Blood covered the floor.
His vision started to blur.
Time felt slow.
The man who was famous for slowing time… could now barely stand.
Red appeared in front of him.
He grabbed Rezia by the collar and lifted him up.
“Tell HSD something for me,” Red said coldly. “No matter how many Rezias come… I will tear every single one of them apart.”
He threw Rezia away like trash.
Rezia hit the ground.
His eyes were closing.
But with his last strength—
“Neo…”
Three seconds.
Suddenly—
Rezia appeared in front of Red.
Red’s body flew backward, like something had already hit him.
Rezia was falling too.
“If I don’t win…” Rezia whispered, “I won’t let you win either… my prey.”
Red smiled.
A huge explosion shook the entire lab.
Rezia had used Neo to place every bomb he had under Red before time returned to normal.
Fire filled the room.
The blast threw Rezia into a large drum filled with old chemical liquid.
His skin started burning.
Pain covered his whole body.
He forced his eyes open.
Red was still standing.
Unharmed.
Rezia couldn’t believe it.
Red’s mask slowly fell off.
For the first time, a human saw Red’s real face.
But Red showed no emotion.
He simply turned around and began walking away.
Rezia’s vision faded.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then—
He opened his eyes.
A white-haired girl was looking at him.
Her eyes were calm.
“Are you fine?” she asked softly.
Rezia couldn’t tell if he was alive… or already dead.
Chapter Ends
