The mill was silent.
Victor lay at my feet, barely breathing.
Blood pooled beneath him, spreading like a dark stain on the cold steel floor. His once-proud form was broken—his face battered, his body barely holding together after our fight.
But even now, with death looming over him, he still had that damn smirk.
"Should've… stayed down," he rasped, blood dripping from his lips.
I stood over him, my fists clenched. My body ached, my muscles screaming from the strain of using Ghost Step too many times. But I wasn't done.
Not yet.
"You don't get to say that," I muttered, my voice low and cold.
Victor coughed, the sound wet and ragged.
"Leon…" he whispered, his eyes flickering as they struggled to stay open. "You… don't know what you're walking into."
"Maybe not," I said, kneeling beside him. "But I know one thing."
My hand hovered over his chest.
I could feel the blood still pumping through his veins. Weak. Slowing. But it was there.
"Whatever game you were playing… it ends tonight."
Victor's smile faded.
"You think… killing me… will change anything?" His voice was barely a whisper now. "You're just… another pawn."
I didn't answer.
Because he was right.
Killing Victor wouldn't fix everything.
But it was a start.
I placed my hand on his chest.
> [Ability Extraction Ready.]
[Target: Victor Reyes.]
Victor's eyes widened as he felt it—his blood responding to my touch.
"W-What… are you…?"
"Taking back what you stole," I murmured.
> [Ability Acquired: Sanguine Tracker]
Pain shot through my body as the power surged into me. My veins burned, my head pounding as Victor's ability fused with my own.
Sanguine Tracker.
The power to track anyone through their blood. To manipulate it. Bend it to my will.
Victor gasped, his body convulsing as the last of his strength faded.
"Leon…" His voice was barely audible now. "You… don't… know…"
His eyes glazed over.
And then—
Silence.
Victor Reyes was dead.
But It Didn't Feel Like Victory
I stood there, staring down at his lifeless body.
The Bloodhound.
The man who killed me.
The man who took everything from me.
And now?
He was nothing.
But as I stood over his corpse, I didn't feel satisfaction.
Just…
Emptiness.
Lance's Voice Cut Through the Silence
"Leon," he said, his voice urgent through the earpiece.
"Yeah?"
"We got Damien. He's alive, but barely. We need to move."
I took one last look at Victor's lifeless form.
"On my way."
We carried Damien out of the mill, his body barely clinging to life. His face was pale, and his breathing was shallow.
"Stay with me, Damien," Lance muttered, his tone unusually soft.
I kept my eyes on the horizon, my mind racing.
Victor was dead.
But the pulse I had felt earlier…
That energy…
It wasn't coming from him.
Something—or someone—else was pulling the strings.
As we stepped out into the night, I felt it again.
A chill ran down my spine.
The same pulse.
The same suffocating pressure that I had felt when that mysterious man appeared.
"We'll meet again," his voice echoed in my mind.
My jaw clenched.
Victor was just a piece on the board.
And I had just taken him off it.
But the game?
The game was far from over.
To be continued...