Demon of Suspicion

This time, Indus chose a secluded cottage in the middle of a forest as the location for their meeting.

The cottage is Kraken's personal property, and its reason for choosing it was simple: its portal was set up there.

Kraken used the portal to get Renzo from Morion, and the place beyond that portal was this cottage.

All that was left for them was to wait for the other members.

"They're late."

Kraken said while looking at its watch.

Kraken was the only one acting independently while the others carried out the plan in Cropolis.

Contact should have been made yesterday, or even today at the latest.

But until now, there has been nothing.

"Did they all get wiped out?"

Renzo asked, giggling. Kraken furrowed its brow. That couldn't be. After all, the ever-vigilant Zodiac Heldre was on standby. If there had been a problem, he would have taken care of it on his own.

It was then. Kraken and Renzo turned their attention to the same place at the same time. A flicker of relief crossed Kraken's eyes. Renzo caught a glimpse of it.

'Is this guy really a monster?'

At first, when he heard the whole story from Kraken, Renzo thought that it had temporarily joined forces with an organization called "Indus" for its own purposes.

A monster could never follow the same path as a human. At most, a temporary alliance might be possible while their goals align. Even Kraken itself must have been aware of that.

But the brief look it had just given him, an involuntary expression, was it worrying for the members who hadn't shown up for the meeting that it had just shown?

'This is worth testing.'

Renzo's lips twisted in the darkness.

Ding-dong-

The doorbell of the cottage rang, and Kraken headed to the entrance.

As Kraken opened the door, it found the members of Indus standing there as it had expected. It was Cain, Thompson, and Skyler.

"You're all late. What happened? Those wounds?"

"..."

Cain looked relatively unharmed, but Thompson and Skyler were covered in severe wounds.

Thompson had many small wounds all over his body, and it seemed like he still needed treatment. Bandages could be seen peeking out from underneath his clothes.

As a ghost, Skyler had no visible wounds, but Kraken could tell how damaged he was. Skyler was also close to being a monster.

The three of them just stood there with hardened faces, ignoring Kraken's question. When their gazes turned towards Kraken, they were filled with hostility.

"...What's wrong?"

"Let's go inside first."

Thompson spoke first and walked past Kraken into the cottage, followed by the other two.

Facing Renzo with his arms crossed, the three of them saw Kraken.

"Is that the man, the one you brought here in exchange for a heart?"

"Yes, that's right. Everyone knows who he is, right? He's going to be a great help to the revolution."

Kraken responded to Thompson's words.

Of course, everyone knows. It's rare to find someone in the underworld who doesn't know Renzo.

An owner of absurd strength. And madness that seems proportional to it.

"......"

The tension escalated as they looked at Renzo.

Kraken thought it was natural for them to be wary. It was clear that Renzo was a dangerous individual. However, sharing updates with each other should alleviate the concerns.

Renzo might be acting tough, but Kraken knew it was in a position to kill him at any moment.

"Shall we then share updates? Let's check the progress of the revolution."

At Kraken's words, the gaze of the three shifted towards him, just as it had towards Renzo.

Renzo was one thing, but why did they show hostility towards it as well? Kraken couldn't understand.

However, after hearing the entire report, Kraken understood.

"......Betrayal?"

Kraken furrowed its brows and asked back.

"Yes. There's someone inside Indus leaking information."

Thompson said.

"Are you sure?"

At Kraken's question, Thompson nodded. The other two did the same.

"They already knew we wouldn't blow up the train. Even the word 'revolution.' Frondier knew everything about me—my face, name, abilities."

Cain said.

Kraken narrowed its eyes.

Frondier had known the overall plan and acted separately from the other students of Constel. The Indus members fell into that trap.

It's one thing if minor details of Indus were leaked. But the overall plans of the 'revolution' and Cain's information were leaked. Very few people within Indus knew that.

In reality, excluding Heldre, everyone here was all there was.

"......I see."

Kraken concluded.

"......You suspect me?"

The three didn't answer. It was affirmative.

Thompson scratched his head and sighed.

"Skyler and I suffered significant injuries from Frondier's fireworks. We could have died. Cain was threatened with her life by Frondier, and old man Heldre had both his arms shattered. The only one unscathed is you, Kraken, who didn't participate in the operation from the start."

"......"

Kraken kept silent for a moment.

The smirk that was always on its lips stopped.

A murderous intent filled its half-open eyes.

"Isn't that fortunate?"

"......What did you say?"

“I think you are aware that I already died once. For the revolution. I died when you guys just got hurt.”

“You had a spare life. How can you call that death? You monstrous bastard.”

“Monstrous?”

Kraken and Thompson glared at each other with murderous intent.

Kraken hissed, “Do you think that just because I have a spare life, the pain of that death would be any less than yours? Why do you speak so recklessly? You were whining like a baby when you lost that arm, you crippled fool. Do you dare belittle my determination to give my life?”

“How dare you speak of my arm in such a filthy manner, you squid?”

The two clashed with such intensity that they seemed ready to fight at any moment.

“Enough.” Skyler's voice cut through their quarrel like a blade.

Despite the tense situation, his presence within the armor remained calm and composed. This allowed Kraken and Thompson to regain some semblance of composure.