Chapter 370: Loyalty (1)

Abigail shouted that Spissos was gone, making sure that Matilda and Bree in the other rooms could hear her voice. She wasn’t expecting them to come quickly like this, but the startle made her blood rush.

It was hard to control her emotions.

"Nobody but her family," Matilda stated flatly after checking.

She ignored Abigail’s shout entirely as her eyes remained fixed on Kai.

Behind, Bree also emerged and nodded, "As she said."

"Go and check the perimeter," Kai said, noticing the tremble in Abigail’s shoulders. This was her family’s house, so it was understandable that she was upset at their entrance. "Also, don’t forget to ask the Guard Angels to fix the door. It’s cold."

Contrary to Abigail’s expectations, Matilda and Bree nodded and left the house.

Neither said another word.

Kai then gestured for her to sit down on the sofa—as he took a wooden chair from the side to sit directly across from her. "Are you sure you’re not hurt?" He asked as he stared at Abigail, still shaken from their sudden entry. "Check again."

"I’m fine," Abigail replied with confidence. "I already checked."

Silence stretched between them as Kai simply stared at her.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally broke the silence again.

"Go on." He encouraged. "Tell me what happened."

Abigail remained silent for a few more seconds, gathering her scattered thoughts—and then she explained to Kai what happened, starting from her sudden feeling of dizziness and thirst, to the repeated blackouts the moment she turned on the shower, all the way to the Hive.

It was all a deliberate move from Spissos.

He took advantage of her being the Supernal of Amphitrite to lure her here.

"And then?" Kai demanded more.

"I’ve got a good look at him; blue eyes, well-built, has a spear, but then he sensed you." She replied, and then looked down at her lap, averting his gaze. "I was not expecting you to come for me this soon."

"What are you saying? You’re a part of the group. You’re one of us."

"A part of the group...?"

A sheepish smile curled on Abigail’s lips as his words rang hollow.

Even though it was surprising to see that Kai and the others came to her rescue this quickly— she knew that she wasn’t really a part of the group. Not yet, at least. There are still things she was kept in the dark about.

"Am I really?" Abigail asked softly.

"..." Kai didn’t answer. "So, what does he want? What did he say to you?"

"N-Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"As I said—he sensed you and the others and immediately left. He was probably afraid of a direct clash since we’re on our own territory, while he was far from his own academy. He did not get to say anything."

"And your family?" Kai questioned again.

For the first time, Abigail could see no emotion behind Kai’s eyes.

Normally, his eyes were expressive, but they were now muted.

She didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but this made her nervous.

"What about my family?"

"He brought you here, to your family’s house. There must be a reason for that."

"Maybe. But as I said, he didn’t get to do anything since you came so quickly. I’m grateful."

Kai slowly reclined on his chair—the sound of creaking wood was loud against the silence. It stopped when his back finally reached the wood. He stared at Abigail for a good few seconds, and then nodded with his lips curled downward.

"Okay." He pushed himself up slowly, bracing on his knees. "Okay. In that case—let’s go back. Talitha was worried sick about you. She even braved the snow to wait for me and tell me you’d run off. She’ll get sick if you don’t show your face tonight."

Not even pushing the matter further, Kai headed for the door.

Behind, Abigail looked down at the green vial clenched in her hands.

Inside, she was completely torn between the decisions.

Just a few minutes ago, she was fretting about the two options, but she thought she would still have time to decide. But out of nowhere, Kai and the others arrived—giving her no chance to think about it.

’I really wanted to tell him.’ She clenched the vial harder. ’But what if he can’t save Dad from the poison? I won’t be a traitor anymore, but is it worth it at the cost of Dad’s life? What should I do?’

Spissos has placed her in a cruel situation.

Now, she was forced to make a decision.

"Kai." She called out, though her eyes still focused on the vial in her hand.

"Hm?" Kai turned around. He noticed the vial in her hand that he hadn’t realized before, but it didn’t stir anything to him. Like he simply thought it was a healing vial. "What’s wrong? If we stay too long, your big sister would be worried."

"He told me to poison you."

"What? Who did?"

"..."

Kai stared at Abigail and realized what her silence meant.

It was Spissos.

His gaze hardened. "You said he didn’t get to say anything to you."

"I’m sorry," Abigail said meekly—still avoiding his gaze altogether. She kept staring down at the vial. And then, she placed it on the table. "I am sorry, Kai, but he already poisoned Dad. I don’t know what to do. If I don’t do what he said, he’ll kill my father."

Kai clenched his jaw.

He opened his mouth, about to say something, but closed it again.

It was dead silent for a moment until he inhaled deeply and broke the silence.

"Where’s your father?" He finally asked. "Bring me to him."

Abigail finally lifted her face—and stared at Kai in surprise. She was expecting to get scolded or worse, kicked out of the group for daring to lie to him. She was already standing on very thin ice, so that’s natural.

So, this caught her by surprise.

"Did you not hear me? Bring me to him."

"Y-Yes!"

After snapping out of her trance, she stood and headed to the room where her father was.

Kai followed closely behind.

He was silent as his mind swirled inside at the unfolding situation.

Once Abigail swung the door open, Kai saw a middle-aged man resting on a modest bed.

As expected of someone who was poisoned, he was drenched in sweat and his body twitching and spasming. But it wasn’t because of the poison that Spissos had forced into him, but it was the residual, agonizing shock of what had happened.

Kai could tell that Abigail had already healed his physical wounds.

However, the body remembered the pain and trauma even after the wounds were gone.

Unlike Angels who were desensitized to pain and trauma from the get-go, the people living in the Hive weren’t exactly used to it. Their lives were bad, but they weren’t accustomed to pain and brutality.

Just endless work that sucked the soul out of them.

Something like what happened tonight must still be a shock to him.

Abigail leaned in; her voice was filled with uncertainty. "Should I wake him?"

"No need." Kai shook his head.

He stepped forward and dropped to one knee; his eyes inspected the man meticulously.

Carefully, he flared his senses outward, searching for any trace of mana inside the man’s body, but there was nothing. The poison was entirely organic, crafted from natural, toxic elements— rather than magical ones.

It’s going to be harder with this.

Kai turned to Abigail. "Did you try healing it with your power?"

"N-No..." She shook her head. "I’m afraid I would only make things worse—he knew many things about me, so he must know that I’m a healer. I don’t think he would use a poison that I could get rid of easily."

It was a natural assumption.

And Kai didn’t blame her for not daring to try.

"He told me..." Abigail hovered beside him—her hands wringing together. "HE told me that the poison has already merged into his blood. It’s dormant right now. It’ll only activate when he gives the command."

Kai’s eyes flashed at what she said.

Good... This is good.

Just seconds ago, Kai thought the poison was organic.

Or perhaps it was, but it was too toxic and would kill Abigail’s father in an instant.

Kai assumed this was the reason Spissos needed to make an activation mechanic for the poison.

And this also meant that the poison contained mana, but it was simply suppressed heavily.

People have different bodies—and different tolerances to poison. Even with the same poison, one might die in a few hours—and others in a few days. It would be really hard to time when the poison would take a person’s life.

Spissos wanted the poison to kill in a week at most, until the tournament started.

It’d give Abigail pressure to do what he wanted her to do.

But there was a chance the poison would take her father’s life too quickly, and then she would have no reason to do what he needed. So, there was no other way. Spissos would have to make the poison dormant until he deemed the moment right to use it.

Perhaps he could activate it slowly to gradually worsen Abigail’s father’s condition.

Something that could be really heavy on Abigail’s psyche.

Unfortunately for him, doing something like that was only possible by using mana.

And that gave Kai the chance to get rid of it once and for all.

Seeing Kai being silent, Abigail’s nervousness only grew. She couldn’t contain it any longer.

"What are you going to do?" She pleaded. "Is it even possible to get it out?"

Kai glanced at her sharply.

"Be quiet," He commanded. "Stand aside and wait. I need to focus."

Abigail bit her lower lip as a wave of doubt washed over her.

She was terrified that she had doomed her father by telling Kai the truth instead of listening to Spissos’ demand. But regardless, the truth was already out. There was no turning back now. She retreated out of the room, unable to see whatever Kai was going to do.

But all her hope was on him succeeding.

Once she was away, Kai focused back on the man.

Inside his mind, he calculated the risks.

I can use the Deep Slumber to devour the poison. Since it could devour anything, it would certainly be able to devour the poison. But the problem is that I need to sense the poison—within the blood. Only then could the Deep Slumber know what to devour.

Kai nodded his head.

He would need to rely on the night again.

Since his mastery over the dark had increased so significantly, he could rely on it more.

Before starting, he glanced at the window—the sky was a deep, bruised indigo.

It was nearing dawn.

Less than half an hour, perhaps, or even less. There was no time to hesitate.

Here goes nothing.