Rip him apart..

- Location: Japan, Outside the Heinrich arena's changing room

[POV: Third-Person]

The man gazed at Jihye's lifeless body with pity as he remarked, "She was just a kid too... but business is business," and he began to walk away.

"Wait..." A chilling voice suddenly echoed from behind, sending shivers down his spine.

BANG!

He instinctively fired his gun as he turned back towards Jihye.

"Was I just imagining it?" He muttered with a raised eyebrow, attempting to holster his gun.

"Don't walk away..." The voice returned, but this time his body was immobilized, as if he were suddenly paralyzed.

Jihye began to rise, her actions causing his eyes to widen in pure shock. He saw the bullet hole on Jihye's forehead rapidly mend, leaving him dumbfounded.

GLINT!

Jihye's eyes, after so many years, had reverted to a deep red.

"W-what?! How?!" He exclaimed, breaking free from the paralysis.

"Cull..." Jihye's cold voice sent shivers down his spine, and a sense of dread engulfed him. Almost immediately, fear took hold, and a black silhouette materialized a few meters away.

The tall figure, shrouded in black bandages, featured a hollow face and razor-sharp claws resting elegantly at its sides.

"D-damn it!" He yelled, attempting to flee while firing his gun at the black silhouette.

CLANK!

The bullets merely bounced off, and the black silhouette remained unperturbed.

"Rip him apart..." Jihye's voice echoed once again, rendering him paralyzed, while intense pain suddenly shot through his left leg.

His gaze shifted downward, revealing that his leg had vanished.

"ARGHHH!" He groaned as he collapsed to the ground. "S-stop! I'm just the shooter!! Someone ordered me to do this!" He pleaded, attempting to reason with Jihye. Jihye, however, gazed down at him with blood-red eyes.

"Like I care..." Jihye responded, raising her arm, ready to signal the black apparition to finish him.

"L-little Jihye? What's happening here?!" Liam's exclamation rang out as he witnessed the scene before him.

Liam felt a chill from Jihye's indifferent eyes as he cautiously approached them.

"Look, I don't know what happened, but you need to calm down," Liam urged, his arms raised in a gesture of reassurance.

"G-get this psycho away from me! She suddenly attacked me out of nowhere!" The man yelled, attempting to halt his own bleeding.

"Do you take me for a fool? I clearly see blood on Jihye's body, and there's a gun on the floor," Liam remarked, approaching Jihye.

"Anyway, I need to cauterize his wound. Someone clearly sent this man to attack you. We need more information, so would you please relax, Jihye?" Liam implored, moving closer to the man on the ground.

Jihye relented, her eyes returning to their normal state, and the black specter dissipated as her tension ebbed away.

"Hah!" Jihye leaned against a nearby pillar, suddenly feeling breathless.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked, while attending to the man's bleeding leg.

ZAP!

Liam cauterized the wound with precise shots.

"Now... who sent you?" Liam's voice turned stern as his eyes emitted a faint glow.

"I... I don't know! I was just tipped off about the job, okay!" The man finally relented, his arms shaking.

Sighing, he glanced at both Jihye and Liam. "It was--"

BOOM!

SPLAT!

His head suddenly exploded before he could finish his sentence.

Liam stood there, speechless, wiping flesh and blood from his face. "Damn it..." Liam sighed, extracting a piece of metal from the man's neck.

"They've taken precautions like this... They must have some sensitive identity," Liam concluded, rising from the floor.

"Little Jihye, are you all right?" Liam's gaze shifted to the blood-stained Jihye.

"I seem to be... But I was supposed to be dead. Why am I still fine?" Jihye wondered aloud, probing her body where she was supposedly shot.

"T-they're gone! It's like I was never shot in the first place..." Jihye's eyes widened, and she double-checked to ensure it was true.

"Are you absolutely sure you were shot? Maybe you missed something..." Liam queried, also perplexed by what had happened to Jihye.

"We better not inform the young miss about this incident... or she might actually explode," Liam suggested, scratching the back of his neck while looking at Jihye, who was gazing into the distance.

Jihye suddenly pointed at a figure with blonde hair, sprinting towards them.