Madam Nafplion's eye rolled back in pure terror but even then, she could not faint. It was as if her consciousness was cruelly locked, trapping her in the nightmare.
The two figures stepped forward, stopping just before her bed.
They were the very people she had cried for, her precious son, her beloved husband.
And somehow… they were not.
Their bodies were drenched in blood, their eyes glowing an unnatural, hellish red. Their expressions were twisted, feral, their smiles sharp with malice as if they had crawled straight out of hell, driven by a single desire.
To devour her.
Madam Nafplion was so terrified that warmth spread beneath her body, an acrid smell, soaking the sheets before she even realized it.
The shame barely registered when fear had completely devoured her. Yet even then, her twisted pride clung stubbornly to life.
Trembling violently, she forced the words out through chattering teeth.
"My dear son… Mom got your revenge." Her voice cracked as she laughed weakly. "That little bitch, your mother beat her until she cried and begged for mercy! If it weren't for Shin Keir's interference, I would have ruined her completely!"
She turned her gaze toward her husband, her fear of him ingrained too deeply to ever disappear.
Still, she forced an ingratiating smile, her face twitching beneath the bandages.
"H-Husband… I'll get you justice too. Our eldest is just busy handling the company that's why he hasn't come to see me yet…"
Neither of them responded.
The silence was suffocating.
Their eyes were empty, cold, predatory, like beasts studying trapped prey.
Madam Nafplion's muttering grew frantic, her words tumbling over one another as if speech alone could protect her.
Then they stepped closer, one on each side of the bed.
Madam Nafplion's breath hitched.
Before she could even scream, her husband lunged forward and sank his teeth into her arm.
A shrill, animalistic scream tore from her throat. Pain exploded through her body, white and blinding.
Before she could process what was happening, her son followed, his hand plunging into her abdomen with brutal force, as if piercing flesh were no more difficult than tearing cloth.
The scene was so gruesome it was as if the end of the world had descended upon her bed, demons feasting without restraint.
Her eye rolled back again and again. She gagged violently, foam gathering at the corner of her mouth but no matter how desperately she wished for it, she could not pass out. Consciousness clung to her like a curse. Bound hand and foot, she could only watch.
"WHY- WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!" she screamed hoarsely. "IT WASN'T ME! I DIDN'T CAUSE YOUR DEATH!"
Her voice broke into incoherent sobbing.
"I don't want to die yet! If you want revenge go find that little bitch!"
Soon her pleas dissolved into shrieks as the pain became unbearable.
The heart monitor beside the bed erupted into a piercing alarm, its frantic beeping echoing through the room as her body convulsed violently.
Then she watched, eyes wide with disbelief, as her son wrenched her arm free with savage enthusiasm, as casually as tearing apart a meal.
"You- y-you- ungrateful…" she stammered, froth spilling from her mouth. "How c-could you hurt your own moth—"
At that moment, doctors and nurses burst into the room.
They found Madam Nafplion convulsing violently, foam covering her lips, her remaining eye unfocused and glassy.
The heart monitor screamed relentlessly as they rushed to restrain her and begin resuscitation.
From the doorway, Tristan observed the chaos in silence.
Once the staff were fully occupied, he turned away without hesitation and left. As he walked down the corridor, he sent Shin a single message.
[It's done.]
A mental demon like him could easily trap someone in an endless cycle of hallucinations, ones so vivid, so convincing, that even pain felt utterly real.
Madam Nafplion had truly outdone herself to earn Shin Keir's wrath. Calling this a reward was not inaccurate.
Even if she wasn't insane before, she would be soon.
And this was only the beginning.
From that night onward, Madam Nafplion never truly slept again.
Every time darkness fell and the ward lights dimmed, the cycle began anew.
The temperature would drop followed by the distant howl of a dog.
The black gate would emerge without fail, its scorched surface etched with symbols. They were not decorations. They were verdicts.
And every night, her husband and son returned.
They circled the bed slowly, whispering in voices that echoed as if spoken by many mouths at once.
"Those who wield suffering as power shall suffer without death."
"Those who deny guilt shall relive it eternally."
Madam Nafplion was denied the mercy of death.
Even after her sanity slipped beyond repair, there was no escape from physical agony.
Madness dulled nothing, it only ensured she could never rationalize the pain away.
No matter how violently her heart raced, no matter how her body convulsed or her mind fractured, the moment she teetered on the edge of oblivion, she would wake screaming in her hospital bed, drenched in sweat and filth, restrained once more, and very much alive.
Every morning, the doctors noted the same thing:
No physical injuries. Worsening psychosis.
---
Meanwhile, at Hexion. The training hall reeked of blood, sweat, and despair.
Bodies were scattered across the floor, some curled inward, others writhing as they swallowed their groans and endured the lingering pain burning through their bones.
Shin stood among them, hands tucked casually into his pockets, his presence alone suffocating.
"Done resting?" he muttered coldly. "Get up."
The command alone made several of them shudder.
Loki's eyes lit up.
Ignoring the aching pain in his backside, he lunged forward without hesitation, aiming straight for Shin only to be sent flying an instant later, his body slamming violently against the concrete wall.
Another man swallowed hard, his gaze darting around as he considered the wisest option. Maybe if he pretend to faint…
Just as he prepared to collapse, a finger shot out, pointing directly at him.
"Boss," someone announced brightly, "that one's pretending to faint."
Silence.
The man froze then shot upright at the speed of light, fury igniting his face as he spun toward the snitch.
"You—!" He clenched his fists and dropped into a fighting stance. "Boss, I want to challenge this bastard!"
His friend met his glare calmly.
Everyone there knew the truth.
They were the ones Shin Keir had personally assigned to protect his fiancée and they had failed. Miserably.
This sudden "training" was not instruction but it was punishment.
And they all understood that Shin Keir wasn't holding back because he wanted to teach them, he was venting his rage.
If anyone was enjoying it, however, it was Loki.
He grinned from ear to ear as he rushed again, eyes gleaming with excitement.
Shin glanced at him, briefly considering the fact that Loki was still undercover as a student. His gaze flicked deliberately away from Loki's face.
He sidestepped the attack with effortless precision and swept Loki's legs out from under him in a single smooth motion.
Loki went rolling across the floor, stunned.
He groaned, then whined indignantly, "How is that possible? No one's supposed to see through my forward strike! Boss, you're cheating!"
"Loki, you idiot," someone beside him hissed through gritted teeth. "Can you stop provoking the boss? Can't you tell he's in a terrible mood? Keep this up and I'll be enjoying a long-term hospital vacation."
Loki frowned, genuinely puzzled. "What's the problem? Don't you all have premium medical insurance?"
"...."
The person was so angry his molars ground audibly.
Fortunately, at that moment, Secretary Yun entered the training hall, effectively saving them as Shin stepped out without another word.
As soon as Shin Keir was gone, curiosity flared.
"Loki," one of them asked cautiously, "didn't you interact with the boss's fiancée? What's she like?"
"Yeah," another chimed in eagerly. "She's insanely beautiful even from a distance. No wonder the boss is like this."
Loki shook his head, his expression filled with disappointment. "She's very weak and fragile. Not good at all."
Everyone "...."
"…Huh?" someone muttered.
One man rubbed his temple irritably. "Stop thinking about fighting for once. Forget physical strength, that's not what we're asking. How is she as a person?"
"Yeah," another added. "What do you think the boss sees in her?"
Loki blinked, his mind blank as if his brain had abruptly shut down.
Without answering, he dropped to the floor and began doing push-ups with rigid seriousness.
"…Forget it," one of them scoffed. "It's really nice talking to you."
They exchanged glances, suddenly enlightened.
Perhaps this was precisely why the boss allowed Loki to get close to his fiancée. Someone like him simply couldn't be bothered with anything that didn't involve strength, combat, or missions.
---
Outside the hall, Secretary Yun handed Shin a document.
"This was the first thing recovered from the warehouse," he said quietly.
Shin glanced down.
It was an investigation report, one that accused him of being the mastermind behind the deaths of the Nafplion father and son.
His lips curved into a cold, humorless scoff. "You're saying that woman targeted Yeri because of this?"
He didn't believe it. Someone like Madam Nafplion, who had navigated the treacherous social circles for decades and survived the Nafplion household intact was not so easily misled.
Rather than being manipulated, she had likely harbored resentment toward Yeri for a long time. This report had merely given her an excuse. A justification to pour all her malice onto a convenient target.
"What about the others?" Shin asked, his tone sharpening.
Secretary Yun nodded and produced a USB drive. "The ones Loki caught are already under interrogation. As for the rest, there are records showing they fled the city immediately after blocking our people."
He continued evenly, "Those who transported Miss Zhi and the others to the warehouse and assisted Madam Nafplion were strays within the mafia."
Strays. People with no allegiance to any organization, rogues who survived on blood and coincidence alone.
Just like the one who attempted to kill Yeri in the hospital.