"My clan, my entire clan was massacred without remorse. Honestly, I always thought that kind of thing only happened to others."

  But in this world, it’s kill or be killed—truly exhausting, he thought.

  Ren hadn’t felt much when Daria told him that everyone was dead. She had shaken him awake and dragged him, along with his friend Jin—who had been sleeping beside Ren in a small cabin near Yi village.

  Jin was exhausted and didn’t grasp that this was an emergency. His parents were dead. He had no one left.

  Ren, on the other hand, never had anyone to begin with—an orphan taken in by Daria’s family. He never got along with her parents.

  Everyone irritated Ren. He figured it was probably his own fault.

  In any case, everyone was dead. Everyone but his two best friends.

  Ren felt a bit guilty not feeling anything for his dead clan. It’s true they raised Ren through childhood and adolescence, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

  If little Jin had died—or Daria—I think I would’ve broken. But my clan? I don’t really care.

  Ren thought: The only thing I’ll miss from Mount Yifan, where the Yi clan lived, is the stream we used to walk along every day—the trees, the birds nearby... it was a beautiful life.

  “Stop lagging behind, Ren!”

  He was thinking about that as he ran, fleeing further and further, trying to reach the foot of the mountain.

  In the distance, you could hear screams—but above all, the strikes of lightning.

  No one in the clan used lightning techniques, but now the mountain was covered in mist, and bolts of electricity were crashing down, electrifying the trees.

  The three friends didn’t look back. They ran like cowards. Ren didn’t even know if any of them would make it out alive.

  Daria was crying as she ran. She knew her life had now taken an irreversible turn.

  She was so talented, beloved by the whole clan. She radiated warmth and brought joy to everyone.

  It’s over now. That hurts.

  Jin, meanwhile, was stronger mentally. He ran without shedding a tear. I was proud of him—being the oldest of the trio, I always felt responsible for protecting them.

  I would give everything for those two.

  Eventually, they stopped in a cave down below. It was dark inside—but that was good. No one should see us, thought Ren.

  The only light came from the flashes in the sky. It was a sad realization: there was nothing we could do against enemies like this.

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  Jin said, “I’m so tired of this. I’m so weak… if only I had the power to protect my family. But all I can do is run.”

  Daria huddled against Jin’s frail body.

  “It’s not your fault. These enemies seem to control lightning perfectly. What could we have done?”

  Jin was furious. “Let me remind you—we’re fifteen! We could have taken responsibility and helped!”

  Unable to stay silent, Ren replied, “Fifteen is nothing. Even I, at seventeen, haven’t cultivated enough. I’m not even Rank 4.”

  The known Ranks went from 1 to 33. It took relentless work to even reach Rank 3. Every rank required immense effort.

  For a 17-year-old, Rank 4 was impressive—it meant Ren hadn’t slacked on any lesson.

  The truth was, he learned quickly. He was lazy, but his talent made up for it. A lucky kid—most of the time, kind of an idiot.

  Back then, old Wu mocked him every day, beating him because he neglected his cultivation.

  “You’ll never go far!”

  Wu’s ape-like face returned as a bitter memory for Ren.

  While he reflected, Jin had stopped talking. Ren sensed tension between them—a disagreement.

  Ren sat down, away from the others.

  “We’re alive. I’m sure the people from our clan would be happy about that.”

  …

  As they rested, the lightning stopped. And in the blink of an eye, a silhouette appeared in the cave.

  She was coming.

  A glowing point of light in the darkness, she approached.

  “You were never going to escape me.”

  Ren immediately stood, the other two followed.

  The intruder stuck out her tongue. She had black hair and looked vampiric, dressed in all black—like a demon, but clearly human.

  “I promised to kill your whole clan… but let me analyze you first.”

  Ren stepped forward to shield Jin and Daria, staring the apparition down.

  The woman stretched out her hand toward the trio. In a blink, she seemed to have scanned them, and a look of shock appeared on her flawless face.

  “You… you, Ren, you’re special! I want you for myself!”

  Ren was speechless. He felt no hatred for this woman who had killed his clan. As I mentioned, he never liked them.

  “How do you know my name?! Witch!”

  Jin trembled, hiding behind Daria’s back. They backed away until they were against the cave wall.

  The woman advanced, her red eyes lighting the cave. She walked calmly, confidently—while the three friends were frozen with fear.

  She smiled and gestured: “Concentrated lightning energy explosion.”

  Daria’s face—those innocent eyes looking at me—burst with a sickening sound. Her limp body collapsed to the ground.

  At the same moment, Jin was hit too. He fell instantly, unable even to react.

  Ren, distraught: No, this isn’t real. Wake me up. I could suppress my emotions for my clan’s death… but not for my friends. That’s impossible.

  Anger surged within Ren—it was overwhelming. But through some twisted power born from his fractured mind, he calmed himself… and smiled directly at the woman.

  The demon looked at Ren, smiling after witnessing such horror. A part of her was intrigued by this strange being.

  She also felt excited.

  Maybe someone even more suited than herself for the dirty work.

  “A psychopath like you—you really played your part well with the clan. I know you felt nothing. I killed your friends and you still feel nothing. You can’t change your nature.”

  She theatrically grabbed Ren’s face.

  “My scan confirms it—you’re a psychopath. You’re incapable of emotion. My master needs someone like you for large-scale massacres. Interested?”

  Ren had the eyes of someone broken. Of a psychopath incapable of attachment.

  “Anything goes. Anything is possible—because God doesn’t exist. I alone control my destiny. Do what you want with me.”

  A psychopath—he had never spoken like that to anyone. He always hid his true nature, his thoughts.

  He had never managed to feel attached to anyone, never felt sadness for someone else’s fate.

  In truth, saying all this to her brought him immense relief.

  “You’re completely insane. I have a feeling Master’s going to love this.”

  She let go of Ren, with a look of disgust. Vira—because that was the name of the red-eyed assassin—fixed her hair, revealing a tension, a palpable anxiety.

  Vira was nervous—her scan had shown that Ren held something truly unique.

  She grabbed his shoulder quickly, pulled a dimensional portal from her pocket, and they vanished in the void.

  The light…

  In Ren’s mind, one single thought remained:

  “I will kill Vira, and everyone she loves.”