Shin and his brother Suho stood alone in the darkness of the main hall.
Suho Kageyama was a towering man—he had the build of an iron pillar and looked far more weathered than Shin. If anyone claimed Shin was the elder, it would spark heated disbelief.
Shin looked nothing like an elder brother. Beyond keeping his beard cleanly shaven, he possessed a slender frame, sharp features, and cropped hair that trapped him in perpetual youth.
He pierced his brother’s eyes with his stare.
"What are you doing, Suho?"
The Patriarch’s eyes narrowed like steel.
"After all this time, we finally have you back. What’s going on? Why would you abandon us—for an adopted child, no less?"
Shin’s expression darkened.
"Mind your words, Suho. That adopted child consumed fifteen years of my life. He is my child—my firstborn."
Suho’s lips twisted into a smirk.
"Technically not, brother. You know that..."
Shin’s resolve wavered. He understood exactly what his brother meant—the very reason he’d been forced to return to the Clan. Because of his daughter.
His fist clenched.
"I’ll pay for my sins, Suho, but I won’t leave my son to die."Chapters first released on novel※fire.net
"Then you’ll abandon your daughter."
Shin spun to leave but froze, whipping around in disbelief.
"Are you serious right now, Suho? She’s three months old."
The Patriarch’s gaze intensified, boring into Shin.
"The clan has rules. Crow blood flows through her veins. We must swear her in."
Shin stared at his brother, face draining of color, trembling.
"My God... I thought you’d learned from how father destroyed us... from everything we lost. I thought those lessons had forged you into something better... my lessons!"
He shook his head, voice quaking.
"But they accomplished nothing. Absolutely nothing."
The Patriarch lifted his chin, fixing Shin with a commanding, ruthless stare.
"No, brother... you’re wrong. They accomplished everything."
His eyes blazed.
"They perfected me. Those lessons — especially the one you taught by abandoning me and dumping every responsibility on my shoulders—revealed the true nature of power. How to forge the ultimate instrument of slaughter."
He chuckled, stepping toward Shin, then circling him like a predator.
"You know how father obsessed over creating the perfect weapon of death. Our siblings perished under his hands because he believed he could perfect them. Eventually, he succeeded with you — you became his champion. A flawless assassin. The finest that ever existed."
He stopped behind Shin, leaning close, his voice slithering like poison.
"And then he discovered one... fatal... flaw."
His lips curled.
"You were weak. You cared about them all! The children! The innocent lives. You began questioning what could have been — oh, sweet Davon, you should have witnessed how it drove that man to madness."
Shin continued staring ahead, his expression now guarded.
"He failed, and his pride wouldn’t let him admit it. He blamed the world for infecting you — blamed me for being part of it. So every time... he tortured me to hell and back. Made me suffer for the defect I represented. At twenty, I’d never truly lived—I was tortured, learned to strike by being struck, learned to run by being hunted, learned to kill... by dying."
He paused, breathing raggedly.
"Then you appeared and slaughtered father. I was grateful. You stood with me at last. The world seemed right. Then you vanished... fled from me."
He glared with burning intensity.
"And now you want to flee again."
He smiled with twisted delight.
"But that means nothing... I mean, you were never truly here, right? However, the real reason I can’t let you go to Stelia isn’t because of your son or whatnot. It’s because of my weapon."
Shin’s frown deepened.
"Your weapon?"
Suho Kageyama chuckled darkly.
"I finally created what our father failed to achieve. A being hardwired to kill — for her, it’s like a default setting. I pondered your flaw deeply and wondered: what if slaughter becomes the solution for caring? What if killing is justified as necessary morality, understood only by a mind willing to make the difficult decisions?"
Shin’s expression tightened, his voice nearly trembling.
"What did you do?"
The Patriarch’s grin widened.
"What did I do? Oh, come now, don’t look at me like I’m a monster. The real monster is in Stelia, right beside your son. She’s saved hundreds by slaughtering thousands more. She was certain it was the only possible way — that’s how it was meant to be for her. And in the years to come, she’ll butcher more with that same justification. That is the ultimate weapon — one that sees killing not as a job to be done, but as a gift to the world."
Shin stared at his brother with terrified, trembling eyes.
"Dead stars, Suho... you’ve lost your mind. What have you done?!"
Suho staggered back, grim shadows falling across his face.
"It’s fine to leave, brother. Go save your son—I don’t care. But I’ll drown you and your wife in crow’s blood if you don’t abandon that little bambino of yours."
Shin studied the Patriarch and released a dry chuckle.
"Eisha will drown you and this entire clan in blood first if you try anything. For your sake — don’t attempt to stop me."
The Patriarch folded his massive arms, tilting his head slightly.
"The elven lady? Rughsbourgh warned me about her. Special people want her — I’m certain they’re with her already."
Shin’s eyes widened in horror.
His expression hollowed completely.
Even his voice transformed.
"Where is my wife?"
The Patriarch laughed.
"Oh, you fool. Perhaps if you’re fast enough, you’ll catch them smuggling her away?"
His eyes glinted with lethal light as he unfolded his hands and spread them wide.
"But who says I’m willing to let you go?"
Shin’s eyes sharpened with dangerous, arctic fire. He opened his hands, white sparks crackling around them.
"Step aside, Suho."
The Patriarch grinned like a lunatic.
"Or what, brother? You’ll violate me in the name of vengeance like you did to that target? Such a pathetic excuse for a man with common urges. Perfect weapon or not, I guess you’re just a man with a pitiful third leg after all."
"Davon! Aren’t you even curious about the child?! You came all the way here to find her — shouldn’t we sit down and discuss her?!"
Shin’s frown crumbled, his eyes trembling, even his cheek quivering.
"No... no... it—it c-can’t be..."
The Patriarch tilted his head, studying Shin with grave intensity.
"What, you thought the clan would let crow’s blood flow through an outsider’s veins and do nothing about it?"
He grinned wickedly.
"But don’t worry — I’m the only one who knows about it."