Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended [Part Two]

CHAPTER 248: Turning Point

SHAAAA~

Like the breath of darkness, Zephyr and Midnight emerged from the shadowed depths of the ruined apothecary. Moonlight spilled through the cracked ceiling, casting silver over splintered beams, fractured plywood, and shattered glass.

The scent of elixirs, herbs, and blood lingered in the air, like a ghost unwilling to let go.

Zephyr's eyes widened the moment he saw her. Curled into a ball amid the debris, Fay trembled, her body jerking with every sob that escaped her lips. Her pink hair was dotted with dirt, her cheeks streaked with tears.

When her eyes blinked open, a flicker of life returned to them. "Rai?" she breathed. Her voice cracked, raw from crying. But as her vision focused and the little silver pup came into view, her expression shattered into something between disbelief and desperate hope. "Rai! It's really you!"

Zephyr leapt into her arms, heaving a sympathetic whine as he nuzzled her face.

"Rai! I've missed you so much," Fay sobbed, clutching him tightly. "A-All my friends," she uttered, memories of the Mithrilcrest Deer, the fawn, and the Dravenharts, momentarily flickering through her mind like frost. "They were all killed. There was... nothing I could do. Why does this always happen? Rai! I-I don't know what to do."

Zephyr whimpered softly, licking her cheek as if to say You're not alone. His heart twisted painfully—he had never seen her like this. She had always been so cheerful. Now, she was barely holding herself together.

What could've happened to her?

From the side, Midnight stepped forward. His olive-green eyes gleamed in the gloom. Without a sound, he extended his tail and tapped the tip gently to Zephyr's forehead.

In an instant, images surged into the pup's mind—blistering, horrific flashes of the massacre that had unfolded here: Rue and Lugene's betrayal, the rampage of the homunculus, Zurrel and Lefahne's gruesome deaths, Silvestia being carried away.

The visions ended. Silence followed.

And then—rage.

Zephyr's claws jutted out with a metallic sound, gouging deep into the floorboards. His fur stood on end. His aura unfurled in every direction like a dark tempest. It was more than fury—it was the physical manifestation of yearning... a yearning for vengeance.

Snarling, he lowered his snout to the floor and inhaled, channeling mana into his olfactory senses. Layers of scent—blood, sweat, fear—rushed through him. But he separated them and found what he was looking for.

Fay watched through tear-clouded eyes. "Rai? What are you doing?"

He didn't respond. He turned sharply and trotted toward the corridor, nose to the ground, sniffing purposefully. Midnight moved after him without a word. Fay hesitated, then stumbled to her feet and followed.

They returned to the main room.

The corpses of Zurrel and Lefahne lay side by side, blanketed in debris and silence.

"...Mrs. Lefahne. Mr. Zurrel..." Fay murmured, her voice barely audible before the sobs overtook her again.

Zephyr paused beside them. He gently sniffed their bodies—memorizing the scents of the dead—then turned his head toward the trail he had picked up. There were three distinct scents leaving the scene.

One was heavy in the room where Fay had been. The other two carried the bitter, pungent aroma of age—Rue and Lugene.

His lips peeled back.

His mind etched their names into the fire that now burned within him, liquid flames that seethed through his veins. Monsters. They did this. They hurt her. They destroyed this innocent and loving family... and they would not be forgiven.