"Shin Keir, let's talk. You see, there has been a misunderstanding. I was never after your—"
Sergei's words were abruptly cut off.
A bullet whistled past Sergei and struck a man who had rushed out from the warehouse, apparently intending to shoot Yeri.
The man crumpled to the ground.
"Mistake?" Shin slowly lowered his gun, voice was cold enough to freeze the air. "Is that what you're calling this?"
Sergei cursed inwardly as his knees nearly buckled.
His eyes drifted toward the man lying on the ground without any trace of sympathy.
"He's just one of Calin's obsessive fans. I didn't know about him," Sergei hurriedly explained.
Shin's gaze only grew more menacing as he looked at Sergei's arm wrapped around Yeri's neck.
"You don't want your arm anymore?"
Sergei's face grew paler by the second. Yet if he released Yeri, he knew the lunatic standing in front of him would never let him walk away.
The man who had wanted revenge for Calin had been right about one thing: He was a coward.
He had relied heavily on his family's wealth and status. Even when he built his own mafia organization, it had been more of a statement, another addition to his reputation. He had rarely been present himself, preferring to sit behind the scenes and bark orders.
Naturally, once the money stopped flowing, his organization had fallen apart just as easily.
People who gathered for benefits were hardly going to risk their lives out of loyalty.
One by one, the people behind Sergei emerged from the building with their hands raised in surrender.
Others immediately began defending themselves, insisting that the plan had deviated from what they had been told. Some claimed they had not even known Yeri was involved, eagerly shifting all the blame toward Sergei and the dead man who had been so desperate to attack her.
"We found Miss Jie at the boat. She's safe!" someone called out.
The moment Allen heard the report, he immediately rushed toward the other side of the port.
"That's what I've been trying to say!" Sergei seized upon the report as another excuse. "I only wanted Natalia. Anyway, just consider this a misunderstanding. I know we never got along, but for the sake of our old family ties, and honestly, weren't we friends back in high school? If you hadn't harmed me along with your friends, I wouldn't have distanced myself from you. If anything, you owe me!"
Sergei became increasingly worked up.
Perhaps it was the failure of his carefully planned abduction. Perhaps it was the sight of blood making his stomach churn.
Whatever the reason, in Sergei's mind, none of it was ever his fault.
"I'm telling you, Shin Keir, if you refuse to back down, I'm not going to hell alone. I'll take your fiancée with me! In fact, she can explain everything to you! It was never my intention to drag her into this with Natalia!"
Sergei nudged Yeri.
"Go on. Explain to him that I insisted they leave you alone!"
Yeri, who had been standing there as though none of this had anything to do with her, pursed her lips.
"How exactly are you dragging me to hell?" she muttered. "If there's a way, Brother Shin would probably thank you for it."
"What are you mumbling about? Hurry up and tell him that I— Ahhhhh!"
Sergei suddenly released Yeri and collapsed to his knees.
Something seemed to be gnawing relentlessly at his arm. He screamed in terror, clutching it as he rolled across the ground.
Everyone watching stared in confusion.
Sergei was screaming at his own arm as though it had developed a personal vendetta against him.
Of course, no human could see the dark mist. Shin had simply had enough of seeing Sergei standing so close to Yeri.
"Come here."
With several long strides, Shin reached Yeri and pulled her into a tight embrace, immediately checking her over. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Yeri shook her head.
Then her attention drifted toward the man Shin had shot, who was lying motionless nearby.
Before she could look for long, Shin covered her eyes with one hand. "Don't dirty your eyes with filthy human blood. If you want to see blood, I'll let you bleed me later."
Yeri finally snapped out of it. "Who wants that? I'm not a psycho."
Shin didn't argue, nor did he point out how strangely fascinated she had looked at the blood moments earlier.
"Yeri! Oh my God, are you okay?"
Natalia came running toward them, her expression filled with worry.
"I'm so sorry! You were taken because of me too. It must have been because our dresses were the same color."
Yeri knew that had not been the real reason, but she didn't bother correcting her. "Don't blame yourself. I'm fine. Honestly, I think I should be the one feeling sorry for you. You were almost taken by someone completely unhinged."
Natalia gave a small laugh, only then did she notice Sergei on the ground, still crying and screaming while clutching his arm.
"What's wrong with him? What happened to his arm?"
Yeri looked over.
Since the dark mist was invisible to human eyes, to everyone else, it simply looked as though Sergei had completely lost his mind.
The four eventually got into their respective cars, while the aftermath of the abduction was left to the mafia association to handle.
Shin, however, had initially intended to make Sergei suffer for every second Yeri had been in danger but Yeri stopped him.
In her opinion, there was something far worse than torture for someone like Sergei.
Being left alive with nothing but the clothes on his back. For a man who had built his entire identity around wealth, reputation, and the power that came with them, losing everything while remaining alive would be its own kind of punishment.
"What does Sergei Ricci mean by you owe him? What happened between you two in high school?" Yeri asked, recalling Sergei's earlier words.
Shin subtly frowned. "He has some psychological fear associated with the sight of blood."
Before he could explain further, multiple gunshots suddenly rang out.
Bullets struck the bulletproof windows of their car, the impacts sounding like sharp metallic knocks against the glass.
Gunfire reverberated throughout the port, mixed with shouting, tires screeching, and the distant thunder of explosions.
From another vehicle, Natalia's screams could be heard. Even Allen, despite holding a gun and trying to keep watch, looked visibly shaken.
"Stay here. I'll take a look," Shin said nonchalantly.
He opened the door and slipped out.
Secretary Yun, who usually looked like nothing more than an ordinary office worker who spent his days buried beneath paperwork, had also completely changed. He calmly loaded bullets into his gun, his expression devoid of the usual mildness.
"Don't go out. It's too dangerous," Yeri reminded him.
Secretary Yun smiled, apparently assuming she was frightened. "It's okay, Miss Zhi. The boss isn't that easy to bring down. Stay here, and don't let anyone in, no matter what."
Before Yeri could stop him, he ducked out of the vehicle from the driver's side.
It wasn't that she was afraid of being alone. If anything, perhaps only she and Shin Keir were completely unafraid of the chaos unfolding around them.
"Shin Keir?"
A man's voice suddenly crackled through a megaphone.
"Hahaha! Did you like my surprise?"
The voice sounded almost exhilarated.
"I've been waiting and waiting for my chance to repay you for your kindness to me, my little brother. Now, I finally have my chance!"
Shin's eyes narrowed. He knew exactly who it was.
Between the two sides, bodies lay scattered across the dock as the exchange of gunfire continued.
And somewhere among the chaos was Sergei, cowering like a terrified animal, utterly pathetic.
He had never experienced anything like this.
Being the head of his own organisation hadn't prepared him for real violence, where bullets flew without warning and every second could mean life or death.
"Shit! Bryce, we have too many people down! How the fuck is this possible?" someone shouted in distress, furiously tapping at his laptop.
Bryce looked every bit as menacing as he scowled. "Weaklings deserve to die. No one is leaving until I have Shin Keir's head."
He glanced toward the laptop. "Proceed with the drone explosives."
His subordinate hesitated, wanting to say something, but one look at Bryce was enough to make him swallow the words.
Ever since Bryce had escaped prison, he had become even more ruthless and impatient, his moods swinging unpredictably as he devoted nearly every waking moment to plotting his revenge against Shin Keir.
"Where's Yeri Zhi?" Bryce demanded. "Make sure they intercept the car she's in."
A sinister grin spread across his face.
"I'll skin her alive for the world to see, while Shin Keir can only watch as she begs him to save her."
"They... they're gone," his subordinate stammered. "I can't find them."
Bryce's expression darkened, he knew perfectly well that Yeri was Shin's Achilles' heel.
Their primary objective tonight had been simple: abduct Yeri Zhi or kill her.
Targeting her was even better than killing Shin himself.
He pointed his gun at the subordinate. "Speak properly, or just die. There are plenty of you who could do the job."
"I really don't know what happened!" The man frantically looked at the screen.
The green dots representing the men surrounding Shin's car had vanished one after another.
That meant...
They were dead?
Unbeknownst to them, Shin had already taken advantage of the chaos.
Every time an enemy fired, he used their own attack against them, redirecting their shots with his ability.
"Bryce, if we stay here any longer, we'll be the ones losing!" another man shouted. "They're advancing!"
"Damn it! These Hexion bastards are tough!"
"The explosives aren't working! I think their cars aren't ordinary sedans. They're custom armored vehicles!"
Bryce gritted his teeth.
In the span of only a few minutes, the entire situation had flipped.
"What about Yeri Zhi?" he barked.
"We can't even get close to her car! They have snipers too!" Someone reported.
Bryce laughed.
The dock was isolated, with no surrounding high-rise buildings.
Snipers? Armored vehicles?
Something was wrong. He simply couldn't figure out what.
"What about Shin Keir?" he demanded.
"We couldn't find him— Ack!"
The person speaking suddenly went silent.
A moment later, another voice came through the communication line.
"Bryce Gate." The voice was deep and cold. "Stay where you are. I'm almost there."
Bryce "..."
His subordinate beside him swallowed hard, terror spreading across his face.