The heavy silence that followed Darol's decapitation clung to the air like thick smoke.
Blood soaked the floorboards, and the dull thud of Darol's lifeless body still echoed in Jonna's ears. She stood there paralyzed, her legs were trembling, her face was pale with mask of shock and dread.
Her breath came in sharp with shallow gasps.
Kai rose slowly, wiping the blood from his face with the back of his sleeve. The dagger still dripped crimson blood in his hand, gleaming red in the dim light. He walked toward Jonna, every step was deliberate with echo of menace.
Her legs buckled. She fell to her knees, eyes wide. "P-please… don't kill me," she whispered her voice was hoarse.
Kai crouched in front of her, head tilting slightly. "Give me one reason not to."
"I'll do anything!" she cried. "Anything you want! Money, resources just name it!"
His eyes remained cold, calculating.
"Anything?"
She nodded vigorously, desperation pouring from her. "Yes, yes! Just please don't kill me!"
Kai stood and took a step back, watching her with disdain. He crossed his arms. "Fine. Let's test that offer of yours."
Jonna didn't dare move.
Kai's gaze narrowed, voice laced with ice. "Do you know anything about the Drakkor clan?"
Jonna blinked, surprised by the question. "Y-yes. I've heard of them… a silver rank clan in the southern reaches of Huz. They were… wiped out recently. Rumors say Orthodox clan was behind it!"
Kai's jaw clenched at the mention of orthodox clan. His voice dropped to a low growl. "Good. Then you'll use those precious resources of yours to find me everything about the massacre. Names. Affiliations. Survivors. Secrets. I want it all. No questions. No excuses."
She hesitated for only a second.
Then nodded. "I'll find it. I promise."
A low hiss filled the room. Nyx, having slithered back onto Kai's arm, glared at Jonna with unblinking, abyssal eyes. The serpent reared up as if to strike, but at a twitch of Kai's wrist, she coiled around his palm and faded back into the inky pattern etched into his skin.
"Consider yourself lucky," Kai muttered.
Jonna's instincts screamed at her to flee. As soon as Nyx vanished, she lurched to her feet and turned to bolt.
But she didn't make it far.
In a blink, Kai appeared behind her. His hand clamped around her face and slammed her against the wall with just enough force to remind her who held the power.
His face hovered inches from hers, eyes glowing with deathly light. "Run again, and I'll do worse than I did to Darol. Much worse. I'll make your soul scream before it fades."
Jonna whimpered, nodding frantically, her lips trembling.
Kai released her, stepping back with cold stare.
"Get out."
She staggered back, nearly tripping over Darol's corpse on the way. Her boots squelched in the blood pooled across the wooden floor. Without another word, she turned and fled, slamming the door behind her.
Kai exhaled. "Too easy."
But he wasn't foolish enough to let her go without a leash.
He flicked his fingers, activating the Rank 1 hex-spell he'd prepared earlier. He learned it from the two subordinates of her.
A faint shimmer flickered across his throat. Infor a simple but effective surveillance curse. If Jonna spoke even a word about him or the events of tonight to anyone, Kai would feel a burning alert in his throat, sharp and immediate.
It wouldn't kill her. Yet. But it would let him know.
She might try something. But for now… she was very useful to him.
He returned to the center of the room, surveying the mess. Darol's head lay in a crimson puddle, his body twisted in the final pose of death.
Then Kai heard it.
Hisssssss.
Kai looked down. Nyx had reappeared on his right arm, her sleek body gliding across his wrist as she eyed the corpse with hunger.
"I know, I know." Kai muttered. "Go ahead. Suit yourself."
Nyx slithered down, fangs sinking into the skull first. The sickening crunch of bone echoed through the room as she began devouring Darol's head, then moved to his torso, scales darkening with every bite.
Kai watched her eat but was lost in thought.
"She's not even poisonous," he murmured, a dark smile creeping onto his lips. "And yet… she acted the perfect threat. Wrapped around Jonna like a death collar."
He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching Nyx with detached amusement.
I can weaponize that act.
Her behavior wasn't just useful in battle it had psychological weight. Fear. The kind of fear that made people obey without thinking.
And Kai… was starting to understand the value of obedience.
But he didn't have much time. Not anymore.
His cultivation had reached Inept Rank 1, but it wasn't enough. His experience was still lagging behind. He needed spells. Techniques. Methods to refine his Death Qi.
Power meant nothing without control.
And the Graveyard of the Dead Academy… was starting to feel too small for him.
Jonna's resources would buy him time. Her wealth, her access to information she could dig into the Drakkor clan's massacre. Maybe even find out which orthodox clan had moved against his family.
But once she served her purpose, she would be discarded or killed if nessesary.
Kai sat cross-legged, ignoring the bloody floor as he began meditating.
He could feel it now his core thrumming with dark energy, the dual fusion of Death Essence in his physical and magical core coiling like a storm inside him.
He whispered to the void. "I'll learn everything. And then…"
Nyx lifted her blood-soaked head, tongue flicking, as if finishing the sentence for him.
Hissssssssss