Under the Veil of Night

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Megara watched as Neo and Mike disappeared within the forest. His eyes held a tinge of regret as he was hoping to see their corpse in front of him. However, having them enter the forest without sufficient knowledge over the traps was enough.

"Boss, should we chase?"

"No," Megara waved his hand. "Without Kevin to guide the way, they won't be able to evade the traps. Isn't seeing them die because of the traps that they instill on themselves more fun?"

The man didn't reply as he stayed still in his place. He knew that Megara had hated Kevin for a long time. Naturally, that also included those who sided with Kevin. Neo and Mike naturally included inside the list of people who have to die that Megara kept.

"How's the situation on the other side?"

"It's not that good. Elder Patrick is killing our men faster than our expectation. Before long, the fight on their sides will be over."

Megara frowned. He had long known that Patrick was a monster, so he estimated that they would lose a lot of men before he could finish killing Kevin. Now it seemed that there would be more casualties because of Patrick. Well, it didn't matter, they were all just disposable men as long as he could achieve his goal.

"We'll return back," Megara gave his order as he quickly turned to the path to return back.

…

On the edge of the forest, the Old Man and Ryan were lying on the ground with muffled breath. They didn't have any strength left to finish their fight because of the wounds that they sustained.

"Ryan, tell me, why are you so fixated on getting more power?" the Old Man asked. His voice sounded rather low because he was trying to bear with the pain of having his body crushed by the blow that Ryan landed before. It was extremely heavy and he knew that he wouldn't have much time left.

"You don't have to know, Old Man," Ryan replied softly.

The Old Man looked at his friend's expression. On the last strike against each other, he could sense that Ryan held some hesitation. It was faint, but it was certainly there as he could feel it very well.

He didn't understand why someone like Ryan, who has been staying in the Ryukalin Clan for a long time, would suddenly change his side. Although he did suspect it because of Ryan's attitude for the past few months, he always hoped from the bottom of his heart that it was not true.

Unfortunately, things didn't happen as he wanted to.

"I want to know, Ryan."

Ryan sighed. His breath was ragged as he could sense his power diminishing. In front of him, he could faintly see the blue sky and grass where the four of them used to play before.

"Old Man, I missed him. I missed them very much," Ryan replied with a hoarse voice. "When he's gone, I don't even know what I should do. All my life, I dedicated it to protect him. Without him, I lost my way."

"There's still the clan and the others, dummy!"

"I know," Ryan murmured as his eyes turned wet. No one knew if it was because of the rain or not. "I always place my loyalty to my Boss, but I can never pledge them to Kevin. When I first see him, he's just a broken child that always places a cold mask to cover them all.

I know right away that I don't want a leader like that. There's no way I can accept him to be my leader whom I give my all."

After that fateful incident, Kevin never showed his real feelings to anyone. He hid them all behind the cold mask that he always wore. Although they already knew him as someone who was indifferent, Ryan could sense the difference right away. The mask that Kevin wore after the incident was much colder and harsher.

For a young teenager to lose his father, the person whom he adored so much, it was simply too much. Because the burden to be the next clan head fell to the shoulder of the barely 15 years old boy, he had to mask his feelings and never let anyone know.

Not even those close to him could make him open his heart.

"He's still young, Ryan! For Heaven sake, can't you see that you're also the same?" the Old Man roared. By the time he finished, he coughed badly and blood came out from his mouth, dyeing his hand red with blood. His eyes narrowed when he saw this. It seemed like the damage in his internal organ was too much.

"I know, that's why I want to get away from everything. They approach me and give me a very interesting deal. I accepted them right away, and by the time I realized the chance in Kevin, it was too late. I can no longer turn back."

He always saw Kevin as someone cold and unfeeling. But when he saw that young man showed his compassion to others, something that he never did before, he knew that the young man had started to live his life. Even though he didn't know what had happened, he realized that the air around that young man had started to change.

Kevin was no longer the broken child who only pursued one thing and never looked around. He had become a real leader, one that started to see things more clearly and showed his care for others.

On the other hand, Ryan understood that he hadn't. He was still stuck in the past, unable to move on, while Kevin had moved. Someone like him shouldn't have stayed here, so he understood that his decision would only bring his downfall.

Even though he knew all that, he could never follow after Kevin's step. What he wanted the most was still the same.

He wished to meet with his friends.

"Old pal, I'm sorry," Ryan murmured, his eyes dimmed. He hoped that his friends would be able to accept him again.

"You want to say that it's too late, right?" the Old Man smiled bitterly, showing an exhausted expression. "Yeah, you might be right. It's already too late for everything."

"I-I'm sorry…" Ryan's voice faded in the background. There was slight regret in his eyes, but the clearest one was relief. He had long wanted to leave this world to meet with his friends again.

The Old Man didn't reply. He didn't have any strength left. Hearing the sound of the rain around him, he closed his eyes. It was truly regrettable that he didn't notice the pain that Ryan had. That friend of his was burdened heavily because of that incident.

However, Ryan was not the only one in pain, he too felt the same. He wanted to meet with his friends too, but he would not purposely seek them. There were still a lot of people waiting for him in this world, but it was not the same for Ryan. He knew that his old pal was alone and for that man, only Kevin's father's existence that could move him.

He really wanted to stay longer to be with his son and the others. But now, his time was up. It was the time for him to go.

'I'm sorry, Neo.'

He wanted to spend more time with his son, pushing him to train and chided him for being lazy. But unfortunately, there was no time left.. With that in mind, he breathed his last as a slight smile tinged with regret was all that was left in his aged face.