Prologue: A Death Befitting the Path
Every person has a death waiting for them that matches the path they have walked. So what form of death would suit me? One thing was certain—it would not be a natural death. If I were to pass peacefully in my sleep, it would be no different from the justice of this world dying alongside me.
From the rooftop of a building six hundred meters above the ground, I pointed at my own chest and thought those words.
My voice came out strangely warped through the device inside the face shield.
I wanted to spit the blood out, but the face shield kept it inside, so I swallowed it instead. The heavy, metallic taste coating my mouth confirmed that my remaining time was short. There truly wasn’t much left. That was why it had to end here, today. I would finish everything with my own hands and die.
Biomete looked at me and spoke in a voice as cold as frost.
Another fit of coughing kept me from saying anything more. Her hair, turned bright purple from using aura instead of its original color, floated upward. Her eyes glowed the same vivid purple, and that lovely face that had always made me smile was before me now. Gazing at Min-ha as she shone brilliantly, I forced the rest of the words out.
I smiled behind the face shield where she could not see.
Then you will become S-class, Biomete. And I will die—taking every last scrap of the notoriety and sin I have piled up until now.
Unable to even stand straight while I hacked and wheezed, I watched Biomete walk slowly toward me. Each step condensed with power split the rooftop floor with sharp cracks, and the pressure of her purple aura raised every hair on my body.
Yes. Good. Kill me. Hurry, Biomete. Shatter my ribs and explode my heart—hurry!
Callsign Biomete. The purple meteor. An A-class hero of the Management Bureau. My precious student, Han Min-ha. The child I had cherished and loved.
I was finally going to die. By the hand of the disciple I had raised myself. What a cruelly ironic fate.
The beginning of all this had been that damned academy. Or perhaps it had started even earlier than that.