The Magician of Sound

After the first fight, the group continued to the next path according to Kai's plan, defeated every single magical beast silently, and made their way toward the Ross River. In the meantime, Eagle Group finally realized the difference between them. 

Kai's manipulative mind and overpowered hearing ability had truly increased the Lion Group's strength to an unprecedented level. In fact, even the first ranked group in the school couldn't be compared to the Lion Group. The only reason why Lion Group didn't come on top was because of their starting point. 

Had Kai become a student from Middle School and built the group, the Lion Group would be the first group for as long as he was in the school, and no one would be able to question it. 

Isabelle was wondering what her father would think after knowing about this… He might even force her with Evan in no time. She never thought about it this whole time because she felt she shouldn't bear an heir due to the current blood. Evan only learned the medicine's existence from Kai not long ago, let alone her who had no relationship with Kai. Her thinking might change… Though it would only be in the future.

In contrast, Kai didn't care about it at all. He only wanted to be a General to get status to protect Michelle's and the others' safety. That was his one and only humble wish.

He kept commanding the group without having any weird thoughts like those from Eagle Group. He treated everyone in the group the same, except for his own group. There might be a little bit of differential treatment to his own group, but everything was within the limit, and no one would even bother with it. 

With his command, the group could advance faster and safer than they had ever been. Killing the magical beasts silently, resting when needed, and running to close their distance faster… Everything had been calculated by him. The soldiers were even fired up because of this, increasing their efficiency even further. 

After more than three hours, they finally arrived in a small town near the Ross River.

Kai stopped and asked the leaders to gather. However, they were surprised when they saw Kai closing his eyes and not saying anything. Baran wanted to call him but decided to wait. 

It was the right move. Kai was focusing his entire being on searching for the SS rank magical beasts. He could hear Baran and the others perfectly, but it would break his focus the moment he listened to them attentively. 

One minute…

Two minutes… 

Even after ten minutes, Kai couldn't pinpoint their targets. There were several magical beasts roaming around the cities, so he didn't know which ones were their targets. 

Everything changed when he heard a human's voice. 

"We need to go to the next city after this. I feel like someone is watching us at the moment." This voice appeared to be female, but Kai could see that this person's height was more than two meters, considering the position of the heartbeat and sound produced from her mouth. 

He could also hear giant and unnatural footsteps and convinced these were his targets.

"There are three Mutated Magical Beasts in the city, like how it's reported. They are walking together on the street right now, planning to go to another city." Kai opened his eyes and took a deep breath. 

"What should we do now, Sir Kai?" Baran asked hurriedly. They needed to act fast because it would be a problem if they let these three go to the next city. They might escape or control the magical beasts after this. 

Kai put his index finger in front of his mouth, telling him to be silent for a bit as he continued listening to their conversation.

"That's right. We need to survive first because that Eric decided to betray us and used us as bait." The second one was a male as hatred filled his voice. 

"If we can survive, I will surely take my revenge against him first. He was the mastermind of our escape, so I think we can go back to the facility… They might treat us as an experiment object and have no cure for us currently, but the cure might probably appear in the future." The third one was also a male at the same age as Kai.

The first female looked at them and sighed. "There is no cure for us… We are already mutated too far. Besides, this is not an illness. We can only rely on ourselves now since the Government wants to kill us. Don't you remember what happened to us when we first ran away from their place? They would surely kill us if they found us."

"It's my fault. If only I weren't tempted by the devil, I could still be a normal soldier."

"There is no need to think like that. The Government doesn't care about us, so I will destroy them after increasing my strength. Besides, we can control the magical beasts, so I will come back to that place while bringing thousands of magical beasts. It will be more satisfying if I do it after recovering because I can see their despair! I wonder if they will make the same face as us at that time? You should know about this too… So why are you hesitating?"

"I…That's right. I should also do it… We are already on the path of no return."

"You two… I don't know why, but I can't help but agree with both of you. Let's go right now. We will try to get accustomed to our new body and come back in the future." The lady smiled weakly as she clenched her hands.

Kai's body shook as he gradually opened his eyes. 

"Sir?" Baran's heart skipped a beat when he saw the sadness in Kai's expression.

"One is filled with hatred, one is filled with gentleness but is on the thin line separating good and bad, while the last one is a timid person but finds a new determination. Say… Do you think it's alright to kill these three?"

"What do you mean, Sir?" One of the captains asked. 

Only Baran understood what he meant because it wasn't a mutated, magical beast. Instead, they were formerly human before mutating into a half-monster. 

Kai couldn't decide whether to kill or not to kill these three people. Unlike Eric, who openly wanted to kill him, these three weren't his enemies, only his targets. 

"Sir… We are only soldiers, so we can't understand you."

Kai clenched his hands. 'To think I will be shaken at this point… Even though I have accepted the mission confidently. I have killed many people, even in United Asia, but never hesitated because I knew they were aiming at my family. However, these three were different…

'They are going to be a potential threat in the future if I let them go, but my morals also hinder me from making such a decision. What should I do…' 

Kai thought for two minutes before he remembered his teacher. 

It was when he visited her with Michelle and the others. She said she would kill the failures without hesitation because they will only suffer for the rest of their life. He didn't think about morals back then and promised to kill them as her student. 

'I am pathetic… I have promised her, but hesitate this whole time… Teacher, am I wrong to think that they might still have the chance to be saved?' Kai bit his lips and shook his head. 'No. I will see this matter to its end. Even if they hate me or people call me ruthless, I will kill them right here and now before they become a threat that might endanger my family as well.

'This is my job. I will take all the responsibility! I don't know if I will regret this choice in the future, but I will end this matter once and for all.' Kai looked at Baran with his new resolve. "My group will handle the three mutated magical beasts. However, we are surrounded by magical beasts… I will need three teams to follow me into the city while the others will start sweeping the magical beasts from this place.

"Three groups will go from the right while the other three go to the left. I will mark their locations on the map, so make sure you kill the beasts silently. I hope we can do it without alarming them." 

"We understand, Sir." The captains nodded with solemn expressions.

"I will leave the dividing to you. I need to go back to my group." Kai nodded and walked toward the Lion and Eagle groups with a grim expression. 

"Kai?!" Michelle was the first to notice his expression and began to worry.

"Have any of you killed a human?" Kai asked with a serious tone.

"I have." Tasha and Michelle answered him without hesitation. Not knowing why he had such an expression, they decided to be as decisive as possible.

Ayaka had an unsure expression along with the rest.

Isabelle furrowed her eyebrows and asked. "Why do you ask this question? What is our target?"

Kai glanced at her and said, "The failed version of us."

"!!!" Isabelle's body shook as she looked at the confused expression of her teammates. "Eva, Eve, Tommy, if you three can't kill, I will handle it as the group leader."

Kai was slightly surprised by her reaction, never expecting such decisiveness from her. He could hear that she was shaken by the mission, but she managed to gather her resolve quickly.

In contrast, Evan could only look at Isabelle and sighed.

As the leader of this group and the last group of attackers, Kai patted Ayaka's shoulder and said, "Just follow my lead."