Ethan turned his head, eyeing the man beside him. Something felt...off. The man’s posture. His tone. It wasn’t just a fellow prisoner chatting. There was confidence in the way he sat. Too calm. Too collected.
That’s when Ethan noticed it.
And he was wearing something different—disguised, yes, but it wasn’t prison-issued.
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "Who... are you?"
The man turned toward him, finally dropping the act. The smirk on his face widened.
"We haven’t met," he said calmly, "but you should know my name, Professor. I’m Kai Foster. I came to scout you."
The same Kai who attacked the Velcrest Academy.
Ethan blinked. "...What?"
"He said you might’ve changed your mind by now. That you’d be more open to listening."
Kai chuckled. "Let’s just say he’s someone who helped me during my own escape. I owe him. Now I’m building something... and you could be a part of it."
Ethan’s expression darkened. "Not interested."
"Really? You sure?" Kai tilted his head. "You tried to reshape the next generation in your own image, didn’t you? You hated what the academy stood for. We’re not so different."
Ethan gritted his teeth. "We are different. You did it out of hatred. I—!"
"Did it out of obsession," Kai finished for him. "Let’s not play pretend, Ethan. You wanted to break them down and rebuild them in your image. In the end, it didn’t matter what you called it. You just wanted control."
Ethan remained silent, fists clenching.
"You manipulated my consciousness just now, didn’t you?" he muttered. "Used magic to cloud my senses."
Kai grinned. "And yet, here you are. Still talking."
"Why would I trust you?"
"Because whether you trust me or not... does it really matter anymore?"
That silence returned—but this time, it was heavier. Kai stood, stretching a bit before casually brushing imaginary dust from his coat.
"Now tell me your answer now. Because once you got inside the Lock it would be impossible to go out."
Ethan sat there, still as stone, his fingers twitching slightly against the cold iron of his shackles.
He hated how calm Kai was. How effortlessly he picked apart everything Ethan had done—all the years of lectures, discipline, carefully orchestrated lessons, all reduced to the word obsession.
And yet... he couldn’t deny it.
"I’m not like you," Ethan muttered, voice hoarse. "I cared about them. I... didn’t want them to be weak."
"You are in delusion."
Kai didn’t flinch. "You cared about power more than people. You saw their flaws and tried to crush them instead of teaching them to grow. That’s not strength, Ethan. That’s fear. The fear of being irrelevant."
The words hit harder than Ethan wanted to admit. He turned his head, staring at the crashing waves beyond the dock.
"...So what now?" he asked bitterly. "You take me to your secret base? Free me from these chains and tell me to play villain number three in your little rebellion?"
Kai’s smile didn’t fade, but his tone grew colder.
"No. I’m not here to break you out. I’m offering you a chance."
"A way to make your ideals mean something. You still believe in shaping the next generation? Good. We need that. We need you—but not as a professor. Not as a teacher hiding behind a desk."
Kai leaned forward slightly, eyes sharp.
"If you say yes, I’ll ensure you never step foot in Lock. You’ll disappear before the boat arrives. But if you say no..." He glanced toward the distant ship, a small black speck growing larger on the horizon. "Then you go to Lock. You’ll rot, and your name will fade out with the next news cycle. End of story."
Ethan stared at the sea, his jaw clenched tight.
"...And this person you serve. What does he want?"
Kai straightened. "He wants to fix the world. Burn what’s broken and build something better."
Ethan laughed, but it was dry and bitter. "That sounds like something I’d say."
"Exactly," Kai said quietly. "Which is why I’m here."
The boat was close now. The guards along the pier began to stir, unaware of the conversation happening under their noses.
Ethan closed his eyes.
He had two paths now. One ended with a prison cell and forgotten lectures. The other...
Kai raised an eyebrow.
Kai’s grin returned. "That’s all I needed."
And just like that, the wind shifted.
The world didn’t notice, but in that quiet moment on a remote pier, a new villain quietly chose to walk a different road.
One that led straight back into the fire.
With a flick of his wrist, Kai summoned a faint glow from his palm. The heavy chains binding Ethan’s wrists and ankles began to rattle and loosen. The mana suppression collar hissed as its seals weakened.
Ethan rubbed his sore wrists, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What’s going on?"
"Freedom," Kai said simply, stepping back. "You’re coming with me."
Before Ethan could respond, the distant sound of engines and shouting broke the tension.
Kai’s expression darkened as he looked toward the water. A boat was speeding toward the pier, bristling with armed figures—heroes from the mainland, their uniforms gleaming under the gray sky.
"They’re here sooner than expected," Kai muttered, eyes flicking to the approaching heroes.
Ethan scrambled to his feet, chains now completely broken. His heart pounded—not just from the unexpected freedom but from the realization of what was coming.
The heroes landed on the dock, shouting orders, weapons drawn, ready to prevent any escape.
Kai turned to Ethan, voice low but urgent. "We don’t have much time. You want to survive? Follow me."
Without waiting for a reply, Kai pushed Ethan toward a small boat moored nearby.
Ethan’s mind raced—betrayal, survival, revenge—all tangled together.
As the heroes closed in, Kai jumped into the boat, pulling Ethan after him.
"Hold on," Kai said, grabbing the oars. "This ride’s about to get rough."
The boat shot off into the choppy waters, leaving the dock—and the heroes—behind in a spray of icy seawater.
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