Jin stared in disbelief.
So did Cho Gwan.
Neither of them had seen what just happened coming — not from him.
Mae-Bi stood still, chest heaving, blood running down his arms. But it wasn't over.
The pain hit him all at once.
His legs gave out.
He dropped to one knee, gasping, then doubled over, vomiting blood onto the dirt.
His internal Qi was lashing through his body like wildfire.
[System Alert: Internal trauma detected. Initiating emergency recovery sequence.]
Mae-Bi clutched his side, groaning. "You… can heal me?"
[Affirmative. Did you think I was just for commentary?]
He coughed. "Then why didn't you help during the fight?"
[You didn't ask.]
Mae-Bi stared into the dirt, utterly dumbfounded.
"You're cold."
[Efficient.]
Footsteps rushed toward him.
Jin knelt beside him, panic still written across his face.
"Mae-Bi! Are you alright?! That guy—he nearly cut you in half!"
Mae-Bi waved him off weakly. "I'm fine. Go. The others ran. Don't let them escape."
Jin hesitated—then nodded and took off, leaping into the trees after the fleeing guards.
That left only Cho Gwan.
The squad leader approached slowly, posture proud despite the blood running down his back.
He looked down at Mae-Bi, eyes sharp.
"Not bad," he said. "But why did you hide the fact that you can copy techniques?"
Mae-Bi didn't answer at first.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and stood, swaying slightly but steadying himself.
He had known this was coming.
The weakling suddenly isn't weak. That never goes unnoticed in the Cult.
But he already had an answer ready.
"I didn't want to stand out," he said calmly. "If they saw what I could really do, they'd start sending me on missions meant for monsters."
Cho Gwan narrowed his eyes.
"We are assassins of the Heavenly Demon. If our master orders us to cut off our own hands, we do it. Strength isn't something to hide. You're not special."
"I understand, Squad Leader," Mae-Bi replied with a bow.
Cho exhaled sharply, turning toward the cart.
"I'll retrieve the artifact,you,go and search this men if they have something."
"My hands hurt's."
"Tsk you've got a mouth,use it."
He stepped toward the center wagon the one Mu-Yeon had fought to protect.
As his hand reached for the chest inside—
Shlkk.
He gasped.
Mae-Bi's dagger had pierced clean through the back of his neck.
Cho turned, eyes wide in shock. His mouth moved, but no words came out.
"You…" he choked, blood pooling at his lips. "Why…?"
Mae-Bi didn't answer.
He let go of the blade and stepped back as Cho's body dropped like a stone.
Silence.
Just the wind and the smell of blood.
[System Alert: Internal conflict neutralized. Would you like corpse disposal assistance?]
Mae-Bi blinked. "You… have that?"
[Potent acid. Will dissolve organic and inorganic material in under 10 seconds.]
He stared at the body. The broken form of a boy no older than himself — trained to obey, shaped into a killer.
"Can I buy it?"
[Yes. 50 Points.]
"Do it."
A moment later, a vial of bubbling black liquid materialized in his hand.
Mae-Bi uncorked it and poured it over the corpse.
The acid hissed, steam rising as it ate through flesh, cloth, and bone alike. Within seconds, there was nothing left but a wet smear in the dirt.
He covered the patch with dry soil and loose sand.
No trace. No witnesses.
Just the silence of a forest that had seen too much.
"Mao-Bi!"
He turned.
Jin landed a few paces away, breathless and wide-eyed. His blade still dripped with blood.
"I got the last one," Jin said. "Two tried to escape into the hills. They didn't make it."
His eyes scanned the clearing.
Then narrowed.
"Where's Squad Leader?"
Mae-Bi didn't blink.
His heart was already racing — but not from combat.
The centipede. I can't lie. If I say he's alive when he's not, it'll shred me from the inside. If I say I killed him, I die too.
He chose his words carefully, each one carved from instinct and memory.
"…He retrieved the artifact," Mae-Bi said calmly.
Jin looked confused. "So where is he now?"
Mae-Bi glanced at the burned dirt — now hidden beneath a fresh layer of dust and dry leaves.
"He went ahead to report the mission status. Alone."
Jin frowned. "Alone? That doesn't sound like Cho Gwan."
Mae-Bi shrugged lightly. "He didn't tell me much. Just said, 'You've got a mouth, use it.' Then left."
That part was true — Cho Gwan had said something like that just before Mae-Bi ended him.
A slight pulse in Mae-Bi's chest warned him he was skimming the edge.
But not crossing it.
Jin still looked uncertain. "That's strange. I figured he'd want to stick with us after that fight. Especially after… you know, almost dying."
Mae-Bi's expression didn't change.
"He's proud. He wouldn't want to show weakness limping beside us."
Another truth.
Another dodge.
Jin finally nodded, rubbing his temple. "Yeah, that… does sound like him."
Mae-Bi exhaled quietly.
Inside his chest, the centipede curled itself back into dormancy.
Crisis averted.
"Let's move," Mae-Bi said. "We've already stayed too long."
Jin nodded and picked up one of the abandoned weapons, strapping it to his belt.
"Still hard to believe, though."
"What is?"
"You. The way you fought… it wasn't luck, or instinct. You knew what you were doing."
Mae-Bi didn't answer.