Chapter 371: Loyalty (2)

Kai was planning on returning to the House of Night tonight.

He tried it earlier before entering Abigail’s house.

Since time flowed differently there, or even didn’t exist at all, he thought he could sneak there and prepare his domain before Skotessa’s sweep over the First Floor. But surprisingly enough, he failed to enter the House of Night.

Still too exhausted mentally.

It was bad news, but perhaps the night was telling him to focus on the moment first.

No need to enter the House of Night and get kicked out again before he could do anything.

Just rest first and strategize before going back.

Now, as he stared at Abigail’s father, it seemed it was fate for that to happen.

Kai closed his eyes and called for the night.

Instantly, the night responded—curling around his senses like an old friend. Once he opened his eyes, he saw a swirl of blackness seep into the man’s body, utterly invisible to the naked eye but clear as day to Kai.

It travelled through the man’s internal pathways until it settled in his heart.

Kai could see the night highlighting the organ with a subtle outline of darkness.

Something that was visible even through the skin.

A sign—the heart was the body’s core that pushed out blood throughout the entire body. Since the toxin was within the blood, it became the tool that Kai needed. A poison engineered well by someone like Spissos would pass the liver easily.

And now that it was already one with the blood, the heart was the only option to detect it.

His mind raced as he understood what the night was telling him.

Since the poison was dormant until Spissos’ command, it had to contain some form of heavily suppressed mana acting as a trigger mechanism. Any attempt to purge the poison would force that trigger to activate naturally, to activate without Spissos’ consent.

But the moment it activated, the suppressed mana would surge, exposing its exact location.

It would give Kai the chance to use the Deep Slumber and devour it.

Just that, it would be a really big gamble.

Kai understood that there was a chance the poison would be faster than him, and that would mean the man’s death. Even though he was confident in doing it, he thought it would be better for Abigail to make that decision.

As he was about to stand, something touched his hand.

He turned back and saw that it was the man.

"Is it possible to get rid of the poison?" the man asked weakly.

"Yes." Kai nodded. "But there’s a risk that your body wouldn’t last until the process ended."

"Do it."

"Hm?"

"I said do it. I can handle it."

"Should I ask Abigail first about this? She would want to know the risk."

"Kiddo, I have Parkinson’s Disease. I’m always a burden for the family. Just this once, I don’t want to be a burden. If you tell her—then she won’t let you do it. Let me make this decision. I won’t give up. But even if I die, it would be for the better."

Kai stared at this middle-aged man who looked sixty.

Everything about him was weak, but his eyes seemed to be burning with determination.

It was the eyes of someone who was determined to do what’s necessary.

"Okay." Kai inhaled deeply and nodded. "Don’t die on me or you’ll also be putting me on the spot."

"I won’t," the middle-aged man said, nodding. "Thanks for granting me this."

Kai focused on the heart again and raised his hand, infusing it with his own mana.

Here goes nothing.

As soon as his hand hovered above the middle-aged man’s heart, Kai slowly pushed his mana through the skin. His goal was clear—infuse the heart with enough mana to provoke a reaction from the heavily suppressed poison.

"Speak up if the pain becomes too much," Kai instructed, his voice low and steady.

Hearing this, the middle-aged man managed a weak nod.

His heart was pounding inside, but he knew that this was his choice.

Slowly, Kai pushed the mana deeper—weaving a delicate net of energy around the heart. And the moment his mana made contact, the darkness outlining the heart spread outward. More than that, the middle-aged man convulsed.

His back arched off the bed as a thick spray of blood burst from his mouth.

Kai paused, his eyes widening slightly.

He hadn’t expected such a violent, immediate reaction.

All he did was instigate the poison lightly, and yet it was already this bad.

But as the blood splattered across the middle-aged man’s chin, Kai’s senses were alerted.

He could feel the poison.

Better than that—it manifested as sickly, luminous green spots littering the blood outside and inside the body. A colour that even the middle-aged man’s normal eyes could see. The trigger had worked.

"I can sense the poison now," Kai muttered—his gaze sharpening. "But not all of it. I am going to infuse more mana into you. Can you endure it?"

The middle-aged man’s legs kicked weakly against the mattress, and his hands clenched hard on the bedsheets. His right hand, weakened by his underlying disease, could barely hold on— but the sheer agony contorting his features showed his battle.

Despite the blinding pain, he forced a stiff nod.

A signal for Kai to continue and get it over with.

Kai’s eyes darted to the faint outline of darkness still clinging to the man’s insides.

It was the sign from the night that there was still poison that hadn’t been activated yet.

He poured more mana into the heart.

Swish—!

Almost instantly, the middle-aged man threw his head back and screamed.

It was a horrific sound that tore out of his throat with the sheer pain of a body suffering from the inside. Outside the door—Abigail, who was standing not too far away, slid down the wall. She slapped both hands over her ears, tears streaming down her face as she curled herself, praying desperately to the Gods that her father would survive.

Ten minutes passed in a torturous, agonizing stretch.

Most of the poison was now active, glowing sickly green in the middle-aged man’s blood.

But the darkness was still faint—there was a little bit of poison left.

It was activating slowly, too slowly to Kai’s liking.

Kai glanced out the window and saw the sky was turning a pale, bruised grey. He was clearly running out of time. The night would vanish—and with it, his ability to make sure the poison was fully gone.

"Get ready," He said. "I’m going to make one last push."

He didn’t wait around and immediately flooded the man’s heart with mana.

As blood passed through the heart, the mana within it activated every poison essence within it. And the pain that followed was excruciating. The middle-aged man’s scream fractured into a guttural, wheezing wail.

It felt like an army of fire ants was burrowing through his veins.

Eating him alive from the inside out.

Kai kept his eyes locked on the final cluster of poison, watching as the last flecks ignited.

Once the final drop of poison activated, Kai’s eyes turned pitch black.

Deep Slumber.

A wave of absolute darkness erupted from his palms, sinking into the man’s bloodstream and devouring the activated poison in a single, relentless tide. Unlike the process of activating the poison, the Deep Slumber’s devour happened in an instant.

In one second, pain lanced through the middle-aged man’s body.

And in the next, it was gone.

Kai watched as the middle-aged man’s back dropped to the bed again.

He panted heavily, still coughing out blood, but there was no longer pain on his face.

"It’s done," Kai said—as he gave the middle-aged man an acknowledging nod. "For someone sick, you’re a tough one, I’ll tell you that. If you pass out at any moment there, you’d probably be dead."

Of course, the middle-aged man didn’t answer.

He simply couldn’t.

Kai looked over his shoulder as the door creaked open again.

Abigail stood right there stiffly—her face was pale, and her eyes were wide with a suffocating mixture of dread and hope. She stared at Kai—silently begging for confirmation. She held her breath as she waited for the answer.

Eventually, Kai gave her a single, slow nod.

Instantly, the tension in her body shattered.

She rushed forward—practically stumbling to her father’s bedside. She immediately checked on him, her hands glowing with a soft, healing light. Aside from the residual internal bruising from the violent spasms, which she could easily mend, her father was fine.

His breathing was steady, which meant the poison was completely gone.

"I’ve handled it," Kai said, his voice quiet but firm. "He’ll be fine."

Abigail’s shoulders shook at his words.

"Thank you," She gasped out, her voice thick with tears. She clutched her father’s weak hand, bowing her head deeply. "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

Just then, the dam broke.

She turned her tear-streaked eyes toward Kai, her chest heaving. "I’m sorry," she sobbed—the words tumbling out in a frantic, broken rush. "I’m so sorry I hesitated. I should have told you the moment I saw you. I just... I was so scared. You were right to doubt me. People are right about me—a traitor will always be a traitor."

The tears streamed down her cheeks, hot and heavy.

They slipped past the edges of her white mask and dripped onto the wooden floor.

She was trembling, completely shattered by her own guilt.

Kai watched her for a long moment. He didn’t move to comfort her—but the harshness in his eyes had softened. He slowly shook his head. "It doesn’t matter that you hesitated," Kai said; his voice carried a strange, grounding calm. "What matters is that you told me in the end. That choice alone proves that you can change. You already made that clear tonight."

He turned around and walked out of the room, leaving her to cry in private.

Outside, Kai made his way to the small bathroom.

He turned on the tap, letting the cold water run over his hands—and scrubbed the fresh blood from his arms, watching the crimson water spiral down the drain. In the silence, he thought more about Abigail.

In reality, it didn’t matter much whether Abigail had told him the truth or not.

He already had the mole in his grasp—the woman he had knocked unconscious in the alley.

He could have extracted all the information he needed from her. But Abigail’s choice to confess did something. The fact that she chose to trust him, even when terrified, meant he could now extend a small, measured piece of trust back to her.

And in a place like this, a sliver of genuine trust was a rare currency.

Kai dried his hands and walked out of the house.

Matilda and Bree were waiting outside in the cold, the fog of their breath curling in the air.

They looked at him with clarity as he approached—their expressions shifting as they finally understood why he had told them to stay out and let him handle Abigail alone before entering the house.

They had heard what happened inside clearly.

Kai nodded at them, his expression unreadable.

"Give her some space," he said quietly before turning to walk away. "Follow me."