Chapter 161: Arrangements

Eden reached Lucy in a few strides.

She was still sitting against the remains of the wall, one hand pressed against her stomach. Her clothes were torn, her face bruised, and blood had dried along the corner of her mouth. For a moment, Eden simply stared at her, taking in the state she was in. The anger that had carried him through the fight with Luka hadn’t disappeared. If anything, seeing her like this made it worse.

"Lucy."

Her eyes lifted toward him. She seemed to struggle to focus, but when she finally recognized him, the tension in her expression gave way.

"Eden..."

He crouched and pulled her into his arms.

Lucy stiffened at first, caught off guard by the sudden embrace. Then her fingers curled weakly into the fabric of his clothes, and she leaned against him. She didn’t say anything. Neither did Eden. He simply held her for a few seconds longer than necessary, one hand resting against the back of her head.

"I’m sorry," he eventually muttered.

Lucy shook her head against his chest. "You came."

"Of course I came."

He carefully lifted her into his arms. Lucy tried to protest, but the words never quite made it out.

"Don’t bother. You’re going to a hospital."

"I can walk..."

"You’re not walking anywhere."

She fell silent. Eden glanced once toward the spot where Luka had disappeared. There was nothing left behind. No trace of the strange shadow, no residual Essence, and no obvious trail he could follow. Whoever had intervened had been careful.

He committed the location and the details of the incident to memory before turning away.

There would be time to investigate later.

For now, Lucy came first.

---

The hospital’s healer worked quickly. Most of Lucy’s injuries were superficial, but the internal damage was more concerning. Several ribs had been fractured, and the impact of Luka’s attacks had left her with considerable bruising and internal bleeding. Fortunately, none of it was beyond the capabilities of the Association’s medical staff.

By the time the treatment was complete, Lucy was resting in a private room, her injuries mostly healed. She still looked exhausted, but at least the color had returned to her face.

Eden sat beside the bed, arms folded, watching her sleep.

He had already contacted Assistant Manager Choi and requested that he come as soon as possible. There were too many unanswered questions to leave the matter alone, particularly considering the strange man who had abducted Lucy and the person who had rescued him.

A little while later, the door opened.

"Eden."

Choi stepped inside, looking considerably less tired than usual, though the expression on his face suggested he had already anticipated an unpleasant conversation.

He glanced at Lucy before looking back at Eden.

"I heard there was an incident."

"That’s putting it mildly."

"I gathered as much from your call."

Choi pulled a chair toward the bed and sat down. Eden gave him a brief account of what had happened, beginning with the unknown phone call and ending with Luka’s disappearance. He deliberately omitted nothing about the man’s ability to regenerate, or the mysterious shadow which had saved him.

Choi listened without interrupting. His expression grew increasingly serious as Eden described the fight.

"To put Lucy into such a state and even face you..."

Choi’s brows drew together.

"That’s not something any ordinary A-Rank would be capable of."

"He wasn’t ordinary."

Eden leaned back in his chair.

"His body had been altered. He kept regenerating, and survived attacks that would have been fatal for anyone else."

Choi’s expression grew more serious by the minute.

"Did That guy— Luka— mention any names? Guilds, Awakeneds, mercenary groups. Anything at all?"

Eden glanced toward Lucy.

She had been awake for a while now, quietly listening to their conversation. When Choi noticed her attention, she shifted slightly against her pillow.

"Before Eden arrived, he mentioned someone named Null," she said. Her voice was still weak. "I don’t remember the exact words, but he said Null was right about something. He also said something about Dark Matter being... the shit."

Choi’s expression changed.

"Null?"

"You know him?" Lucy asked.

Choi didn’t answer immediately. He stared at the floor for a moment, seemingly arranging several pieces of information in his head.

"Null is a name we’ve encountered before. He’s the Representative and Vice-Guildmaster of the Crimson-crow. He’s not someone who would normally concern himself with a kidnapping like this unless there was a greater objective."

’As I thought.’ Eden scratched the back of his head, wondering what such an enormous Guild could possibly hope to gain from him.

"Then it’s probably them," Eden said.

"Possibly. At the very least, your attacker appears to have some connection to them."

Choi rubbed his forehead.

"The Crimson-Crow has been involved in several suspicious incidents recently. Their activities are difficult to trace, and their members are scattered all across the country."

"Whatever they’re planning, they were interested in me." Eden followed.

"Which is precisely why we need to take precautions." Assistant Manager Choi Replied.

Choi stood and took out his phone.

"I’ll arrange for several Association guards to be stationed near your residence. They’ll keep an eye on the area and make sure Lucy isn’t approached again either. I’ll also have our intelligence department look into this."

Lucy looked a little uncomfortable.

"Do you really need to send guards? I don’t want to cause trouble for everyone."

"This isn’t your fault," Choi replied firmly. "And considering what happened, I’d rather have a few guards doing nothing than discover that we should have stationed them there after something worse occurs."

Lucy lowered her gaze.

Eden gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Let them do their job. You can complain about the extra security once you’re back home."

She nodded reluctantly.

Choi finished making a few calls, then turned toward the door. "I’ll handle the arrangements personally. If either of you remember anything else, contact me immediately."

"Actually, there’s something else." Eden spoke firmly, looking uo at Choi.