A week passed.
Seven nights of chaining themselves.
Seven nights of fighting the invisible strings inside their own minds.
And finally—
They broke free.
The puppeteer no longer controlled them.
Not completely.
Not enough to matter.
Their minds were theirs again.
But—
Rin was still nowhere to be found.
No trace.
No message.
Nobody.
Nothing.
That fact alone kept the atmosphere heavy.
No one smiled much anymore.
At the same time—
through careful observation, secret tracking, and Shina's constant research—
They discovered something else.
Every night,
Ronan had been secretly moving people.
One by one.
Group by group.
Always after dark.
Always toward the inner section of the kingdom.
Yet no one ever returned.
And now—
Ronan knew they knew.
That much was obvious.
His fake politeness had vanished.
His eyes lingered on them too long whenever they crossed paths.
His smile had become sharper.
He no longer cared about hiding.
Which meant only one thing.
They would be hunted soon.
Very soon.
So they moved first.
That morning, Kito and the others stepped outside.
And stopped.
Not a single soul.
The kingdom—
which once looked busy and alive even under that creepy control—
was empty.
Empty.
No merchants.
No children.
No guards.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Only open doors.
Curtains moving in the wind.
And silence.
A dead, suffocating silence.
Yuri whispered,
"This is bad..."
Sam clenched his fists.
"Too quiet."
Alex adjusted the Rodium Arm on her right hand.
Its metal gave a faint mechanical hum.
Daniel looked around sharply.
"This means he has finished gathering everyone."
Shina nodded.
"Or..."
"...he's waiting for us."
That made everyone grip their weapons tighter.
Kito swallowed.
His voice lowered.
"Move carefully."
"No one separates."
They began walking through the ghost kingdom.
Each footstep echoed unnaturally loud.
Every alley looked like an ambush.
Every rooftop felt watched.
Even breathing sounded wrong.
Alex muttered,
"I hate this."
No one disagreed.
Kito's eyes scanned every corner.
His heart was beating faster.
Because this silence—
was no peace.
It was the silence before a trap closes.
As Kito and the others moved deeper into the empty streets—
footsteps echoed ahead.
They instantly stopped.
Figures emerged from the silence.
Smiling.
Walking calmly.
As if they had been waiting.
Kito's eyes narrowed.
At the centre stood Ryzan.
Beside him—
The violet-haired swordsman.
And several others.
Then—
A woman with black hair stepped forward.
She waved casually.
"Hey."
Her voice was light.
Almost friendly.
"I'm Sima."
"A friend of your white-haired guy's friends."
Alex gritted her teeth.
"What do you want?"
Before Sima could answer—
Daniel stepped forward and shouted,
"Where is Rin?!"
For a brief second—
The enemy group looked at each other.
Then one of the men on the side burst into laughter.
A thin man with a cruel grin.
"Oh?"
"You still don't know?"
His smile widened.
"We killed your friend."
Silence.
No one moved.
The man continued, enjoying every second.
"We dropped him into the Endless Pit."
He pointed downward dramatically.
"He probably died from the fall itself."
Another man chuckled.
"Or got eaten."
"Either way..."
"He's long dead."
The words hung in the air.
Heavy.
Unreal.
Rin is dead.
For a second—
The world around them seemed to stop.
Shina's lips parted.
Her knees almost weakened.
A tear slid down her cheek before she even realised it.
"No..."
Alex's eyes widened in pure shock.
Daniel looked frozen.
As if his brain refused to process the sentence.
Sam lowered his head.
His fists shook violently.
Yuri covered her mouth as tears flooded her eyes.
"Rin..."
Her voice cracked.
Kito stood still.
Completely still.
No tears.
No scream.
No breakdown.
Just silence.
But inside his eyes—
something changed.
The hesitation disappeared.
The fear disappeared.
Only darkness remained.
A single thought.
Cold.
Sharp.
Absolute.
I will kill every one of you.
Kito slowly stepped forward.
The others noticed.
There was no sadness on his face.
Only murderous dedication.
The kind that didn't need words.
Sima's smile faded slightly.
Even she felt it.
Kito finally spoke.
His voice was low.
Dead calm.
"...Say that again."