Chapter 70: The Man In Red

(Author’s Note**

I just want to thank everyone who has read this far and supported this book. I know the updates were fumbled at first, but now I’m proud to announce that I won’t stop until I finish this story. It will end after 100 Chapters. I can’t specify the exact one yet, but it will be somewhere around that line, since I want to concentrate on starting a new book.

Yes… you heard it here first. I’m secretly working on a new book—one I believe will turn the tide of Webnovel upside down—so please support that work too when it comes out.

I hope you enjoy this new arc. Let’s get into it.)

….. … .. …..

THE WORLD OF THE LIVING

4 Years Later

The City was brimming with light, its technological advancement on another level entirely. Skyscrapers—more than one could count—towered into the night sky, their glass faces reflecting constellations of neon as moonlight glazed the half-busy streets below.

But within the darker corners of the city, something destructive was unfolding.

“Mommy, no!”

A little girl screamed, tears spilling uncontrollably down her face.

Mucus smeared across her cheeks as her small body trembled with overwhelming fear. Fresh wounds covered her skin, each one carrying an indescribable sting that pulsed through her nerves.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

The sight before her was far more traumatizing.

Her mother was clamped between the jaws of a giant lizard, like a slab of meat wedged between teeth. The creature stood on four massive legs, three heads rising from its thick neck, each one flicking out a venomous tongue that tasted the air.

“Run baby… run away, Ella…”

The woman whispered with the last strength left in her body, her voice thin and breaking, trying to save her child from harm.

But the words were useless. Ella was frozen—completely motionless, paralyzed by fear.

The giant mutant lizard’s heads jerked violently.

Slash!!

Her mother was torn in two.

Blood splashed across the ground like water from a burst pipe. The upper half of her body was flung from the creature’s mouth, landing directly before the little girl.

Her eyes locked with her mother’s for a final, unbearable second—still conscious, still filled with something that resembled love.

The other half disappeared down the lizard’s throat, swallowed in a single, grotesque motion.

The little girl’s heart stopped pounding. The shaking ceased. Ella felt hollow now, as if a part of her—one that only a mother could ever fill—had been ripped away and discarded.

She sat frozen, like a sculpture abandoned by time.

Then—

The lizard’s gaze shifted.

It began to advance slowly toward the smaller target before it. Somehow, it sensed that its prey was destabilized. There was no need to rush. It could savor this.

That was how truly chaotic it was.

Suddenly, Ella’s face began to distort. Ripples of magic tugged at her skin, peeling it back to reveal the demonic figure beneath. A small horn pushed from her forehead. Her eyes burned red, glossy and unnatural, like polished marbles lit from within.

But it didn’t matter.

The revelation could not save her. The lizard was already a foot away, all three mouths open wide, bloodlust dripping from its fangs.

Until—

The air thickened.

The molecules themselves compressed, squeezing together as if locked in a silent, invisible war. The lizard sensed something was wrong, its claws scraping faintly against concrete, but the little girl felt nothing—she was trapped in traumatic limbo.

And that wasn’t the only problem.

Another presence had entered the space.

The lizard’s heads whipped in every direction, scanning frantically, but there was no one in sight.

With each passing second, the air grew tighter—

Pop!!

The head on the right exploded like an overfilled balloon. Eyes and brain matter scattered across the pavement like candy from a shattered piñata.

Hizzz!!

It screamed in agony, the remaining heads splattered with thick green blood.

Po!!

The left head followed, bursting apart and leaving only the middle one protruding from a cluster of ruined, twitching neck tissue.

It hissed repeatedly, drowning in overwhelming pain as its body was dismantled while it still lived. It tried to leap away—to flee—but the contracted air around it held firm, refusing to let it escape the ground it once dominated.

Suddenly, a green light enveloped Ella, washing over her wounds. Like something torn from a movie scene, the gashes began to seal. New skin layered itself over torn flesh with unnatural precision.

A healthy glow returned to her eyes. The life the lizard had drained seeped back into her veins. She began to shake again—this time from realization—as her gaze dropped to the half-corpse in front of her.

“Pathetic.”

A voice echoed. Its source remained unseen, but it was close—close enough to feel.

Slash!!!

The compressed air sharpened into blade-like crescents. The creature’s legs were severed cleanly at the joints, dropping to the ground with sickening thuds. Green blood sprayed in violent arcs, staining the concrete.

The lizard thrashed, its remaining head whipping in all directions, but it was useless. It was being butchered alive.

From the darkness, a figure emerged.

He walked forward slowly, each step measured and deliberate.

His hair was jet black, styled with meticulous care. He wore a red jacket and matching trousers—an unusual combination that should have clashed, yet somehow blended perfectly in the glow of the city’s lights.

The lizard’s eyes widened, as if it had just witnessed the embodiment of death itself.

The stranger raised his hand, stretching it toward the creature. Then he clenched his fist, as though gripping something invisible—something buried deep inside its flesh.

Then—

Boom!!

A violent surge of bullet-shaped projectiles erupted from within the lizard’s body. It was shot from the inside out—pierced, shredded, diced like sushi—until nothing living remained. The fragments fell under gravity, splattering across the ground before igniting automatically and turning to ash.

That was the fate of beast-like lizards after death: complete erasure.

…..

The atmosphere remained suffocating.

Even though Ella’s wounds were healed, the half-corpse of her mother lay there, heavy with trauma, anchoring the air with grief.

The man stood silent, looking at her like a god observing his creation—no emotion on his face, only quiet calculation.

She had already witnessed her mother’s death. That memory could not be taken away. There was nothing stronger against a memory-wiping spell than grief.

So there was only one option left.

He crouched beside Ella’s mother’s body and gently closed her eyes.

[Revival Injection]

A syringe materialized in his hand, teleporting from somewhere unseen.

Without hesitation, he drove it into her chest—straight into the heart.

Seconds passed.

Then magic energy enveloped the woman’s body. She floated into the air, eyes still closed, as the blood and tears vanished—cleansed, just as Ella’s wounds had been.

Ella’s eyes widened with disbelief and fragile hope. The mother she thought was gone was being restored. Something she had only ever seen in cartoons was unfolding before her.

The lower half began to glow. Legs reformed at the waist, reconstructing seamlessly until the two halves connected like pieces of a perfect puzzle.

Thud!

She landed gently on the ground, her body shining faintly, whole once more.

But she had not yet awakened.

“Keep this card. Give it to your mother. She’ll know what to do.”

The man handed Ella a tall red information card.

Her eyes widened again. Words failed her.

Humans were cruel—they treated their own kind like trash.

But somehow, this one was different.

He killed the lizard. He revived her mother—something no human would have done, even if they possessed the ability.

This was a kindness she had never experienced before.

Silently, she accepted the card, admiration shimmering in her red eyes.

The man’s face did not even flinch. He turned and began to walk away.

“Thank you, mister, for waking up my mom again!”

She smiled brightly, revealing the gap where one tooth was missing. Demons lost teeth too, and she was at that age.

The man did not reply. He continued walking until he disappeared completely from view.

…..

The stranger entered a more modern, empty street. It was late, so everyone was either in their homes or asleep.

Streetlights lined the road in cold symmetry, their glow revealing his familiar face.

It was Jamie.

Then—

A figure appeared atop one of the streetlights behind him, landing silently before leaping to the next after he passed it. A basic stalker technique.

But Jamie continued forward, seemingly unaware of the individual following him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep