Jogo finally reached the very heart of the urban forest, his steps heavy as he dragged along the cocooned figure of Rudi, who was still trapped within that sticky and suffocating web.

With a dagger-like blade that shimmered in a deep, ominous shade of black—born purely from the condensed energy of his own hand—Jogo tore apart the hardened cocoon that had wrapped Rudi inside layers of suffocating silk.

SLASH!

And then—

"Huaaahhh, I almost died from being trapped inside that disgusting, sticky thing for far too long," Rudi groaned loudly as he ripped off the mask covering his face. His breath was ragged, his chest heaving, but finally, at last, he was free from that suffocating prison.

"I think... tonight is nothing less than an absolute failure," Jogo muttered in a low, defeated tone. His head drooped down in shame as he also removed his mask, fingers trembling, shoulders sagging helplessly. His weary eyes remained fixed on the ground, as though blaming himself for everything that had gone wrong.

"We didn't just fail," Rudi spat in irritation, his voice sharp. "We were utterly destroyed." His tone was laced with bitter frustration. He spat harshly onto the dirt, his face reddening as anger surged through him. His teeth gnashed audibly, and his body trembled as though unable to contain the storm of rage inside. "The only lucky thing is that we managed to slip away from them. Had we been caught for real... I don't even want to imagine what would've happened to us."

Jogo responded only with a faint nod

Rudi then noticed the condition of his companion—Jogo looked utterly exhausted, his body trembling as though in pain.

"What happened? How in the world did you even manage to break free while carrying me?" Rudi asked with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief.

"I don't know for certain... I felt like I had already lost consciousness. But the moment that kid appeared, something inside me snapped—my emotions surged, and somehow... a tremendous energy flared up within me. I stood back on my feet, and that's how we managed to escape," Jogo explained with difficulty, his words tangled as if even he could not fully comprehend what he had experienced. His trembling hand pressed against his chest, as though trying to calm the lingering turbulence of energy that still scorched through his body.

"That's good enough. Just focus on recovering yourself as quickly as you can. We should return to Daraka's hideout before those two monsters manage to track us down here," Rudi urged.

Jogo gave a weak nod.

Rudi exhaled a long, heavy sigh, but his emotions quickly boiled over.

"Damn it all!"

He kicked a nearby tree trunk with all his strength.

"Another failure... even with the kind of power we possess now! That rat... that cursed rat is still impossible to wipe out!"

The echo of his foot smashing against the wood reverberated throughout the forest, startling nocturnal creatures into a panicked scattering. Sweat drenched his face, veins bulged across his temples, and his breathing grew coarse and ragged.

Even as his foot throbbed, his body continued to tremble uncontrollably. He lowered his head, clutching fistfuls of his own hair, eyes bloodshot, neck veins straining. His breath came in ragged gasps, his hoarse voice breaking into pieces as his fury poured out.

Jogo remained silent. He only focused on steadying his breathing, trying to stabilize the chaotic dark aura raging throughout his body. The earlier burst of energy had drained him almost completely. His eyelids were heavy, though a predatory gleam still lingered in his gaze. His hunched figure shook, shoulders rising and falling in pain. Unstable black energy coiled around him like thick, writhing smoke, cloaking him in the shadow of a devil.

But then, all of a sudden—

"And that rat... tonight, it will be the predator that devours you both."

A voice emerged from within the dense foliage. It was calm, yet carried an icy weight that crushed the atmosphere.

The leaves rustled without wind, as if the entire forest itself was holding its breath. Both young men instinctively turned their heads, eyes widening, their fists tightening.

Rudi immediately sank lower into his stance, eyes narrowing sharply in vigilance. Jogo, though his body was on the verge of collapsing, still raised his fists before his chest, jaw clenched tight as a ripple of dread crawled up his spine.

A long shadow stretched between the trees, the silhouette of a tall figure radiating a mysterious aura. His face remained hidden, but his voice alone was enough to send their hearts racing.

Slow, deliberate footsteps echoed closer.

The figure stepped into view—dressed entirely in deep black attire, his head concealed by a hood, his face masked. His presence was unnatural, yet at the same time it seemed as though the night itself bent to his existence.

Rudi and Jogo immediately tensed, unable even to put their masks back on.

Jogo stared hard at the figure, a flash of memory striking his mind.

"Y-You again?!" Jogo shouted in disbelief.

Rudi snapped his head toward Jogo.

"You know him?" he asked quickly.

"I'm almost certain... he's the one who attacked me back then. Right after the explosion at the school...!"

Rudi's eyes widened at the revelation, startled that the very individual who had once left Jogo battered and broken was now standing before them. He could not yet fathom the extent of this man's threat, but if Jogo's account was true... then this opponent was not ordinary by any means.

Still, their power now—unstable though it may be—was far greater than that of common fighters. Even someone like Rina or Johan was overwhelmed with relative ease.

Jogo's eyes narrowed, wary. The trauma from that past encounter lingered in his memory, gnawing at his confidence. His temple pulsed, his eyelids flickered rapidly, and his jaw locked tight. Yet behind that fear burned a stubborn flame of vengeance, compelling his hands to curl into fists, each knuckle whitening under the pressure as though he was trying to crush the very fear that threatened to consume him.

He was convinced—whatever strength remained within him should now be enough to finally strike down this black-clad figure and exact his revenge.

"Who are you?! What business do you have with us?!" Rudi demanded, voice sharp.

His breath came heavy and uneven, chest heaving violently. Cold sweat trickled down his temples as his trembling fists fought against the crushing tension.

The figure did not answer immediately. He took a few steps forward before halting once more.

The dry leaves beneath his boots crackled softly, yet each step felt far heavier than it should, as though each sound struck directly into Jogo and Rudi's chests. His shadow stretched across the ground, swallowing the faint light of the moon.

"Wait," the figure finally spoke. His voice was deep, slightly distorted, as if masked by technology or sorcery. The tone made the hairs on their necks stand, its emotionless weight stabbing like an echo from a cavern of darkness.

Jogo and Rudi remained in their stances, torn between caution and curiosity. Jogo swallowed hard, his throat parched, while Rudi bent his knees further, bracing himself like a man preparing for a storm.

"Huff... this night has been unbearably long, wasted on trivial things. Hardly fitting for someone like me. I sincerely hope nothing else interrupts me this time," the figure muttered, his tone more like someone voicing annoyance at his own miserable life.

The casualness of his words only intensified the dread, like a predator yawning before ripping into its prey.

"What the hell are you saying?! What do you mean by that?!" Rudi snapped back, his face red with fury. His veins bulged along his neck, though deep in his eyes flickered a fear he desperately tried to mask with anger.

The figure's gaze suddenly sharpened. His eyes, once pitch black, flared crimson. From his body surged a flood of dark energy, vast and suffocating, enough to blanket the entire area.

The air turned unbearably heavy, cold sinking deep into their bones. The buzzing of insects vanished in an instant. The shadows of trees shuddered unnaturally, as though even they were recoiling from the oppressive force.

Jogo and Rudi felt it—an instinctive dread clawing at their hearts, draining their will to fight. Jogo shivered unconsciously, sweat pouring down his back, while Rudi found his fingers stiff, unable to move freely, paralyzed by unfamiliar fear.

"You fools," the figure said casually. "Do you not realize? You are nothing more than test subjects... experiments."

"Experiments?! What do you mean by that? What do you know?!" Jogo demanded, voice firm but edged with unease.

Both young men stared, confused by his words. Yet when they thought about it—the strange energy spheres, the corpses, and the bizarre stones they had encountered—everything truly did feel like part of some kind of twisted experiment.

The figure, however, remained silent, as though the horrors yet to come were beyond what words could ever describe.