Under the Veil of Night

When Kanae passed by him, Kevin noticed several people attempting to attack him. His gaze sharpened. Lowering his center of mass, he blocked the attack from below. Gripping the hand that held the knife, he pulled it back.

The man lost his balance, and Kevin hit the back of his head, making him unconscious. Holding the knife, he shifted his position and welcomed the attacks from the other men.

In a few moves, he managed to defeat them all. His eyes observed his men who fought around him. They all did their best to protect him.

His gaze returned back to the car. A few years ago, he lost someone that was like a mother figure to him. Today, he lost another family member.

"Aaahhh!!"

A girl's scream caused him to glance at the young girl by the side. She was crouching on the floor beside two dead people. Clutching her head tightly, it was clear that she was enduring a great pain.

Kevin's gaze landed on the girl.

'It's my fault, isn't it?'

Numerous people lost their lives because of the battle between the clans. They were clearly targeting him, but in the process, a lot of people had to pay dearly with their lives. Even though he knew it was inevitable, he didn't like the feeling of taking the lives of the innocent at all. They didn't deserve to be dragged into the clans' conflicts.

Walking towards the girl, he noticed that she had stopped screaming. Her eyes were dull as she sat on the ground, looking distracted.

His hand moved to her face, trying to wipe her tears. Unfortunately, his hand was covered with blood. His movement of caressing her face only tainted the other half of the girl's face with blood too. It was a messy sight.

"I'm sorry."

Kanae looked up, her eyes meeting Kevin's. Why did he apologize? She didn't understand. She didn't even know him, but she knew that he had just experienced the pain of losing his parents too.

"Why are you crying?" Kanae asked softly, finally finding her voice.

"I..." Kevin touched his own cheek. It was wet. Why was he crying? He didn't know, as he always tried his best to hold everything in. As the young master, he was not allowed to show his feelings.

However, seeing the young girl in front of him, he was washed over with sadness, to the point that he didn't realize he was crying. The loss of his father hit him harder than he thought. He always held in his feelings because of his position, but right now, only a stranger was in front of him.

He no longer held them back completely as he knew that his heart was hurting too much from the loss.

Pang!

Suddenly, pain appeared from deep inside his mind, threatening to break him. It was so painful, much more so than the pain he experienced all this time during his training. The pain spread through his body in an instant.

His knees gave in as he held his head with both hands.

"Big brother, are you alright?" Kanae forgot about her own pain as she hugged the boy in front of her.

She had seen him come out of the car, so she knew that he too had lost his father. It might sound illogical, but sometimes, it felt better to know that someone could empathize with her.

Kevin's face contorted with pain, but held on and nodded his head slightly. This 'little' pain shouldn't be too much for him. As the young master of the Ryukalin Clan, he had been taught ever since he was little that he couldn't show his feelings to anyone, especially when he was in pain.

Other people would be able to notice it very quickly and use it against him as his weakness.

Forcing his pain down, he stood up. He noticed that someone was already charging towards him, ready to kill him.

Frowning, he looked at the girl near him. "I'm sorry."

Kevin pushed the young girl to the side as he took out his sword and blocked the attack. The sound of clashing metal reverberated, and in the next second, Kevin shifted his weight to kick the man's stomach. As a result, the man was sent flying backwards.

He turned around to look at Kanae. "Are you alright?"

Kanae nodded. Her eyes widened when she saw that the man that Kevin kicked had already stood up again. "Big Brother, watch out!"

Kevin moved to the side, the man's sword grazing his arm. Moving his other arm, he thrust his sword straight at the man's heart.

Throb!

'The pain is still there.'

His head was still hurting very much as he moved around. He thought that it was momentary, but it instead intensified. Fighting with the feeling that his head was about to split open was certainly not a good choice. He was in constant danger because the pain in his head hampered his reaction time.

Gritting his teeth, he tried to focus on his surroundings.

A small pair of arms hugged his stomach from behind. "It's fine Big Brother. Don't look so tense, there's no one else left. The fight is over."

Kevin stayed still as he decided to trust the girl's words. The intense pain subsided slowly after some time. After it receded to a level that he could tolerate, he turned around to look at the young girl behind him. Once again, feelings of guilt washed over him.

"Little girl, are you alright?"

Raising her head to look at the taller boy, Kanae looked directly at his eyes. Her dark irises reflected the boy before her, and Kevin could see his appearance inside her eyes. It was a messy appearance, yet his face showed almost no expression.

"Big brother, who are they? Why are they targeting you?"

Kevin was startled when he heard her question. This girl knew that they were targeting him from mere observation. He gazed back at the girl as he raised his arm slightly.

"They're my enemy."

To be precise, they were his enemy and not his clan's because they were targeting only him. His talent that was revealed during the test showed that he would be a big threat if he didn't stay under the government's control. However, his clan wanted to hide him away and protect him, which caused things to turn out this way.

Even if he felt guilty for dragging them into the mess, they would never blame him. In their eyes, he would always be their leader. No matter what, they would never leave him.

"I hate them," Kanae murmured as she retracted her gaze. He was not the only target today. She knew that they were also targeting her just now for some reason, but she was not clear on why.

No matter what, she would find out more about it.

Kevin looked at the right side of Kanae's head. "You're hurt, let me ask someone to treat you."

Kanae shook her head. "You must be in more pain, right, Big Brother?"

Hearing her remark, Kevin couldn't say anything. He was indeed in pain, but he didn't want to show it. Kanae stared back at the boy for a moment before walking to her parents' bodies. Tears filled her eyes once more as she mourned over them.

Kevin just stood there, staring at the sad girl from the side. She was not the only one who lost her family members today. Many other civilians also experienced the same thing.

All because of him.

Clenching his fists, Kevin felt rather helpless. He wanted to help them, but he couldn't do anything. Many people targeted him because of his position and numerous completely unrelated people died because of him.

This was the burden he had to carry as the future clan head—no, he would be the clan head after this.

Seeing that his subordinates were coming over, he adjusted his expression. He couldn't show them anything since it would only expose his weakness.. Even though he was bearing big burdens, he could never say anything.