"Your Excellency......"Irena spoke slowly."Whatever the other families offered, Skolewalk can pay you ten times as much."

The song continued.

"In Nostramo, we are the wealthiest.We have connections in all five Nestor capitals, Your Excellency....It is not too late for you to stop.".

The singing stopped.

However, the voice on the other end of the bracelet's communication channel didn't say anything, just laughed softly.The rain curtain rustled and the wind blew by as he laughed, his voice gradually fading from the distance.......

A stiffened Lena asked after a brief silence, "......Is he gone?".

"Bang!"

The heavy thud caused the sturdy window glass behind Yu Lena to crack several centimeters wide, causing her to tremble and fall to the ground. Jando, however, didn't take the opportunity to mock her, but instead looked over with a pale face.

He had just seen a dark ghost flash by.

Then, outside the passenger compartment, the roar of the privates broke out again.

"He's at the car! Fire!"

"Damn it, where are the men?!"

"Keep firing, keep firing!Reserve fire teams stay on guard!"

"Found you, bastard!Taste it......What?No, no!"

"There he is!He killedA-7! He, he, he cut him-!"

"No, I got him!"

Chaos crept in, exploding without warning, madness spreading with it, guns roaring nonstop, even from the reserve fire teams, everyone desperately pulling the triggers, but it couldn't hide one fact.

The sound of gunfire grew fainter and fainter, while the screams grew louder and louder.

The wind and rain whistled past, and a dead silence began to creep into the compartment.

Jando's hands began to tremble as he stared at the nearly shattered windowpane, and under the soft yellow light of the passenger compartment, he could clearly see the murky rainwater spreading through the cracked glass.

...... But there was also blood, spreading from above the window.

Slowly, Jando looked up and saw a body that had appeared above the skylight without warning, and no one had noticed when it appeared.

All its arms and legs were gone, and its bulletproof helmet had been removed.Its face was pressed against the skylight, and its dark, lifeless eyes stared deadly into Jando's.

He locked eyes with it.

Three seconds later, Jando fell to the ground on shaky legs.

"Elder sister..." he called out shakily.

"I saw it."

Eirene replied slowly, her face paler than it had ever been since she was born, then she raised her left hand, "Commander Helmut confirmed killed in action, Skolewalkers, report casualties to me."

Gasp--a heavy, unmistakable gasp came from the end of the bracelet, "Soldier A-1 succeeds to the position of Commander in passing ......Honorable Eirene Skolewalker, we have suffered heavy casualties and we are down to nine men."

"How is that possible?!" Lena, who had been sitting paralyzed for a moment, roared, "How is it possible that forty soldiers of House Skolewalker..."

"Shut up, Lena."

Irena looked back with a grim expression on her face as she turned and finally removed an automatic weapon from the small arsenal under the seat.

She deftly removed the magazine and inspected the inside of the chamber, then immediately loaded it, held it up in a standard position, and then slowly backed away, stopping only when she reached the heavy door that connected the passenger compartment to the front.

"Listen to every word I am about to say, soldiers of House Skolewalk.There are only nine of you left, and you have suffered heavy casualties, yes."

"However, the House of Skolewalker will not forget your sacrifices.The families of all those who have fallen will be properly cared for, and your children will be able to qualify as privateers, so........................................................................"

"Yes, sir!"

SoldierA-1, who had taken over the position of commander, roared, "You all heard the words of the Honorable Elenae Skolewalker!We will die for Skolewalker!"

"Yes, I heard it too."

A low voice echoed through the rain, piercing through the rain and through the compartment with an infinite coldness that sent shivers down your spine, as if it had crossed the line between life and death.

"Then I will grant you the death you crave, CommanderA-1."

"He's up front! Drive--"

"No! Commander!"

"No, please...!"

The last mournful scream cut through the night, and it hadn't been more than six minutes since the attack began.Inside the carriage, the three people had different expressions, but their faces were all equally pale.

"Your Excellency......"Eirene spoke again with difficulty, trying to make one last attempt.However, the attacker didn't let her have her way.

"Bang!"

A loud sound rang out again, the right side of the carriage was hit by a huge force, the force was so great that they could barely stand.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Five in a row, coming from the right side of the passenger compartment.One after the other, one harder than the other.The sturdy surface of the carriage of this long-standing vehicle that had been with the Skolewalker family for over two hundred and twenty years surprisingly began to gradually bulge inward.

The sound of metal scraping against metal was slow, and the blade turned as easily as if it were cutting butter, but in a matter of seconds, a huge circle had appeared.

Zendo's breath began to tremble, it was true, as Eirene had said, he didn't know many of the secrets of the Pride of Iron, but he did know one thing.

The shell of the Pride of Iron was made by mixing in a small amount of fine gold.

"Prick."

With a deafening thud, the metal carriage, cut out of a metal circle, was slowly 'pushed' open, the heavy metal of the circle falling on the expensive carpet with a muffled echo.

The incandescent light from the highway outside broke in violently, and with it came the stench of acid rain and the smell of blood so thick it would almost drown a man alive.

And then - they saw a shrouded figure standing among the corpses, staring in their direction.

An eerie blue light shone from under the hood.

"Snap."

"Ah!" Lena screamed nervously.

Little did she know that the sound was coming from former Commander Helmut on the skylight above her. His mangled body had slipped from the skylight as a result of the torrential downpour, and if it had been ten minutes ago, Lena might have taken note of the incident.

But now she wasn't Lena Skolewalker, she was just a prisoner whose mind had been taken over by fear.

And at that moment, she was far from being the only one in the car gripped by fear.

Why else had no one fired a shot?

"Shhh......It is only right that you remain silent while the bystanders prepare to say something."

A soft, long silence broke through the rain, the wind howling, and a voice speaking softly.

"Run, then......"

"Get out of that precious car and run under the foul acid rain.I want your noble lungs to breathe the foul air native to the Lower Nest, and I want your pale skin to be burned by the acid rain.......".

"I want you all to feel the pain."

"I will kill you all, but not now. torture is always fun, scions of the House of Skolewalk."

He laughed softly, the incandescent lights fogging in the rain and fog.

"The reinforcements you requested are almost here, for the next twelve hours or less you can run, hide, or try to resist, but I want you to remember one thing."

The dark figure took a slow step forward, and that single step alone caused Lena's screams to grow louder, and caused Jandor to shake his head in horror, while Eirene......had barely been able to stay standing.Immediately, he slowly raised himself.

Immediately after, he slowly raised his right hand, a tattoo appearing beneath the silver blade that clung to his wrist.

"The murderous spirit of vengeance......is coming for you."

As the words fell, he disappeared.

The smell of blood hit his nose, mixed with the stench and the cold air blown in by the howling wind, but Jandor breathed heavily, as he had to in order to redeem himself.

He glanced sideways at Lena, who was still in a state of fear, and instinctively wanted to ease his fear by laughing at her and radiating the joy of the aftermath.

Just then, however, there was an icy breath in his ear.

"Run," an icy voice commanded.

Five seconds later, three screams rang out from inside the compartment, and three figures sprinted out, running wildly and unimaginatively through the filthy acid rain they had single-handedly created.

Behind them, a low, maniacal laugh echoed through the night.

It took Karil nearly an hour and a half to slowly make his way back to the shelter, the exhaustion and pain from overusing his strength being one aspect, but more of a factor was his small collection of information on his prey.

A hunter deserved to have these things at his fingertips at all times, or at least to be able to pick up some traces....Otherwise, where does the hunt begin?.

Pulling his hands up to the top of the building, he was not surprised to find the Spectre crouched at the top of the shelter, staring at their rainwater filter.

He loved to drink filtered, slightly bitter tasting water, so he appreciated this rainwater filter.

A cold wind blew through, and torrential rain poured down like mad. The cloak could no longer stop such a storm, and Khalil's shirt was long soaked. The stormy night of Nostramo was hard, even for him.

He was cold, and his rain-soaked skin ached, but that didn't matter.

There was a flash of blue light, and Khalil appeared, standing on the roof of the building.

"Spectre."

The huge black figure crouched at the top of the shelter jerked back, then sprinted down, crashing through the rain."Karil!Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking, Spectre.Also, go inside....Didn't I tell you to stay inside when the weather is bad?"

"But......"The Spectre said with some hesitation as he stepped aside and came up behind Karil."In the house, I wouldn't have been able to see you coming back."

There was a pause in Khalil's forward stride, and then, as if nothing had happened, he continued, "You could hear my footsteps coming back, couldn't you?"

"It was raining heavily," the ghost said, "and the wind.I didn't hear you come back just now."

"......"

Karil didn't say anything, just walked up to the door of the shelter and with a gentle movement lifted the new door of the shelter a bit before pushing it open.

It was so much more complete than its predecessor, to a limited extent, but that's more than enough.

The choices were always few.

Walking in slowly, Kalil took off his cloak and tossed it into a corner; the storm had washed away the blood, it didn't need cleaning, and it couldn't be cleaned.

It was on the verge of collapsing.

Quietly closing the door behind him, the apparition deftly returned to his corner and began pecking at his boards with his nails. Watching the scene, Karil sighed involuntarily.

"Karyl?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you sighing?"

There was a bit of obvious caution in the Spectre's tone that silenced Kalil, whose back was turned for a moment.

"Because I'm having mixed feelings right now, Spectre."

"Is it because I'm not doing my job?"

"No, no, you did a good job, I looked when I came back and every post was cleared, you did well, Spectre."

"But..."

"I'm fine, Spectre."

Khalil turned his head and gave the Spectre a smile, sitting down in the battered chair, his eyes catching sight of the chipped tin cup on the side.

There was a cup of bitter filtered water.

He grabbed it and took a small sip.His body was in bad shape today and he needed a glass of water or a nourishing cream.And Kahlil still preferred the former to the latter.

"Thank you for preparing the water for me, Spectre," Kahlil said.Besides, our plan worked, thanks to you."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true."

"But......"Spectre said hesitantly."I have a feeling that removing the guards won't do much for the overall plan.The point is the Skolewalkers, and they are your target."

Karil didn't answer the comment first, he simply took a second sip of water.Amidst the bitterness that seeped from his tongue, he asked, "How does it feel?"

"Huh?"

"Your first free game.How does it feel, Spectre?"

Khalil was not surprised by the result - he did not expect a one and a half year old to be able to say what he felt, even if the child was already over two meters tall and could tear apart an armored car with a wave of his hand.

Strength and mind were never connected.

But such communication is a must.

The ability to communicate perfectly was one of the most valuable things humans had evolved, and Karyl would not waste it.

"I......"

The Spectre stared blankly ahead, and for the moment the point where his gaze landed was not on Karil, but on the darkness, which in turn cast a stare of equal intensity.

Karil waited patiently.

"I...feel bad," the Spectre said slowly.

"Because you killed her?"

"No, because..."

"Because?"

"Because they're all crying."The ghost pursed her lips."Khalil, they're not human, but why are they crying?"

Good question.

Khalil put down his glass of water.

"Because of fear."

"Fear?"

Khalil smiled slightly.

"Yes, because they fear death.And just like anger, fear catalyzes people and makes them do things they may not want to do.Let me guess, someone asked you for forgiveness tonight, right?"

"......Yes."The ghost whispered."Barry.His name is Barry."

The ghost was silent for a few moments while Kalil just listened, not trying to interrupt or follow him.

He had always been a good listener.

"He cried and begged me for mercy....He said he had been forced by the Skolewalkers to oppress the workers.As you said, I asked him."

The Spectre looked up at Karil.He could see in the darkest of nights, so he could see the calm on Karil's face right now.

"I asked him if the Skolewalkers had let them cannibalize people, run butcher shops, murder, trade in human beings, kill people in the streets, and loot indiscriminately....He froze."He froze.

"I told him again that since he had accepted that he had already enjoyed the benefits of being a servant of House Skolewalker, he shouldn't complain about anything anymore."

"Then he said...... he joined the gang because he wanted to live."

The Spectre pursed his lips, "He's not lying, Khalil, he really is, but why? Do people have to resort to oppression and violence to survive in Nostramo?"

Another good question, another one worthy of an all-night conversation.

"That depends on how you define alive, Spectre."Kalil leaned back in his chair and tilted his head.

His shirt, soaked to the core by the rain, continued to cause stinging pain, and he could not remove it without fear that the garment, made heavy by the acid rain, would expose a layer of his skin along with it.

Kahlil had no extra strength to heal himself at the moment, nor did he want to use it on such a matter.

Besides, in his opinion, the tingling sensation was actually a good thing.

The pain was sobering.