Chapter 73: [COMPETITION BETWEEN TWO S-CLASS HUNTERS]

Kairo’s words cracked across the sterile room like a whip.

The air turned heavier in an instant, pressing down on Eli’s chest until it felt like he was drowning.

His head snapped toward Kairo, eyes wide. The man’s posture was deceptively casual in the chair—one long leg stretched out, arms folded loosely across his chest, shoulders angled like he had all the time in the world.

But his eyes… his eyes were anything but casual.

Those black irises burned into Caelen, sharp and unwavering, as if they were dragging every particle of oxygen out of the room and consuming it whole.

The tension crawled over Eli’s skin, prickling, suffocating.

Caelen, however, didn’t so much as blink. His molten gaze gleamed with amusement, a predator’s patience. His smirk curved wider, slow and deliberate, like he’d been waiting for this moment.

He leaned back against the chair at Eli’s bedside, fingers tapping an idle rhythm against his knee as if this were nothing more than a game.

“Straight to the point, as always,” Caelen said, voice smooth, dripping with arrogance. “But I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d care enough to keep bringing it up.”

Kairo’s eyes narrowed, a sliver of red flame cutting through ice. “You made it public that you cleared the dungeon alone. When in truth, he—” his gaze flicked to Eli, a glance sharp as a knife’s edge, before stabbing back at Caelen, “—was at your side the entire time. He contributed, and even got injured. I don’t like liars.”

The heart monitor betrayed Eli again.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

His pulse thundered in his ears, each beep louder than the last. His body tensed, caught in the middle of something far bigger than himself.

’Oh my god… they’re serious. They’re really serious. This isn’t just banter.’

Kairo’s tone carried no theatrics, no flair. Just cold, cutting truth. His reputation wasn’t built on mere strength—Eli knew that much. Kairo was feared because he didn’t take bullshit.

From anyone. He was a man who cleaved through lies as easily as monsters, someone whose sense of justice was as terrifying as it was admirable.

And right now, that terrifying justice was pointed directly at Caelen.

Eli swallowed hard, throat burning, his eyes darting between them.

’What the hell is happening? Why… why does it feel like they’re fighting over me?’

“If you must know, I do have a reason why I discredited him.” Caelen’s voice was smooth, deliberate, each syllable calculated.

He leaned forward slightly, his molten eyes glinting like firelight catching steel. “But it is something I’ll only tell Eli. I can call you Eli, right?”

Eli’s brows furrowed. His lips parted slightly, but no words came. Instead, he gave a stiff nod.’I’d rather he call me that anyway. Elione is… Elione. It’ll keep things straight in my head.’

“Good.” Caelen’s smirk sharpened as if satisfied with the concession. “Then let me make this clear—I’ll only tell Eli privately.”

The words slithered into the space between them like poison. Kairo’s eyes narrowed, slow and dangerous, burning with a quiet…rage?

The temperature in the room seemed to drop, the hum of the heart monitor louder against the sudden stillness.

“And since we’re asking questions,” Caelen continued, tilting his head as if he were enjoying a private joke, “I’m curious… why are you here? Surely, someone as busy as you wouldn’t just come to check on Eli. Right?”

The air shifted.

A pressure thickened, heavy and suffocating, pressing down on Eli’s chest until he struggled to breathe.

The murderous aura wasn’t coming from Caelen.

It was Kairo.

’Oh my god…’ Eli’s eyes widened, his pulse racing. ’This is… this is the same feeling as when he stabbed the ogre—like he was enjoying it. Like he was drowning in bloodlust.’

Kairo’s killing intent rolled off him in waves, silent and merciless.

The kind that didn’t just threaten—it promised. His gaze never left Caelen, his eyes gleaming like blades drawn in the dark.

And Caelen… Caelen smiled. He leaned back lazily, crossing one leg over the other as if savoring the pressure, as if daring Kairo to strike.

The tension between them was so sharp Eli swore he could hear it hum, like the taut pull of a bowstring about to snap.

Caelen’s smirk widened, dangerously slow, as though he were savoring every ounce of Kairo’s killing intent pressing down on the room.

He leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees, voice dropping low and smooth—each word dripping like venom.

“So? What’s the reason, Kairo? Why are you really here?” His molten gaze flicked toward Eli for a heartbeat, a deliberate provocation, before snapping back to Kairo. “If you’re going to glare at me over him, you should at least admit it out loud.”

The monitor betrayed Eli again—

Beep.Beep.Beep.

Eli stiffened, throat tightening. ’Don’t make it sound like that! Don’t drag me into this!’

But Kairo didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. His crimson eyes cut through the air like blades, and when he finally spoke, his voice was iron—steady, unshaken.

“Like you,” he said, low and certain, “I prefer to keep my reasons between Eli and myself.”

The words struck like steel against steel.

Eli’s breath hitched. His pulse skipped.

’He—what? Did he just—?

Caelen chuckled low, the sound curling in the air like smoke. He leaned back again, tapping one finger against the chair’s armrest, casual, mocking.

“Ah, so that’s how it is. You want him all to yourself.” His smirk sharpened into something blade-like, infuriatingly calm. “How bold of you, Kairo. I didn’t take you for the possessive type.”

’Want me… all to himself?! What the hell are they even saying right now?!’

The air itself seemed to vibrate. Kairo’s eyes narrowed further, the weight of his bloodlust thickening until it pressed against Eli’s chest like an avalanche.

The same suffocating aura Eli had felt when Kairo had driven his blade again and again into the ogre—it was here now, crawling across his skin like invisible claws.

And Caelen… Caelen thrived in it. He basked in the pressure, smirk widening as though he wanted to be swallowed whole by it.

The tension was a razor’s edge, seconds from snapping—

“Excuse me, gentlemen.”

The door creaked open.

The murderous atmosphere broke like glass.

Eli jerked his head toward the sound, chest heaving. Elois stepped in with a doctor at her side, her complexion pale but composed, the rims of her eyes still red.

The doctor gave a short bow, clipboard already in hand.

“We’ll need to run some checks on Elione since he’s awake. If we could have the room…”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Elois added softly, her tone demure, her eyes flicking uneasily between the two S-Class hunters.

And just like that, the storm receded.

Caelen was the first to recover. His smirk melted seamlessly into that dazzling, disarming smile—the one he wielded like a weapon in front of cameras and crowds.

Rising smoothly to his feet, he adjusted his jacket with a flick, every motion polished to perfection.

“Of course,” he said warmly, his voice so charmingly effortless it almost erased the suffocating aura from moments before. “I was just about to go anyway.”

His gaze lingered on Eli, gleaming with unspoken meaning. “I’ll come visit once you’re discharged, Eli. Rest well until then.”

He turned with elegance toward Elois and the doctor, inclining his head politely. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Madam.”

Then, without another shred of hesitation, he swept out of the room.

But Kairo stayed.

He didn’t move at first, crimson gaze lingering on Eli, unreadable yet heavy enough to root him in place.

Finally, he rose, his movements deliberate.

He bowed slightly toward Elois and the doctor, formal, restrained.

And then—just before stepping out—he looked back. His voice was calm, yet firm, carrying the weight of an unbreakable promise.

“We’ll see each other again.”

Then he, too, was gone.

The room sank into silence. Only the faint scratch of the doctor’s pen against the clipboard filled the void.

“I’m sorry for earlier,” Elois whispered shakily, hovering close as the doctor began his checks. Her hand gently squeezed Eli’s arm, her worry raw but quieter now. “Let’s just get through this, okay?”

But Eli wasn’t listening.

His thoughts reeled violently, his stomach twisting into knots.

Caelen.

Kairo.

Both of them had said it. Both of them had promised.

They were going to see him again.

His heart thudded painfully against his ribs, the monitor beeping louder, mocking his panic.

Beep.Beep.Beep.

’Did that really just happen?’

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