Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 67: Meeting Kail Again

Chapter 67: Meeting Kail Again

Helion flashed a mischievous grin before vanishing, only to reappear behind Lyra in the blink of an eye.

Lyra, almost like she had a sixth sense, smoothly dodged his clawed swipe.

Helion realized then that she wasn’t going to be easy prey. Just as he thought about retreating, something clamped around his ankle.

BANG!

The next thing he knew, he was slammed onto the mat, the impact leaving him momentarily dazed.

This was getting ridiculous. He slapped the mat in frustration and twisted, trying to kick out with his free leg, but Lyra was quicker. She grabbed him again, clenched her fist, and drove her elbow hard into his lower back.

The blow was so brutal that for a moment, he thought she might have snapped him in two. Then, with surprising ease, she tossed him to the ground.

"Had enough?" Lyra asked as Helion staggered back up, cracking his neck with a smirk.

"I haven’t even started," he retorted.

Suddenly, his body erupted with a series of bone-cracking sounds. His mouth elongated, fur sprouted all over, and in an instant, he transformed into a hulking werewolf!

His legs tensed, and in a burst of speed, he vanished from sight, moving so fast that the air around him whistled sharply.

Lyra’s eyes narrowed slightly before she suddenly sidestepped and reached out. In a heartbeat, she had grabbed onto a tail.

Helion’s shock was evident as a small but solid fist rocketed toward him. The impact of flesh meeting bone was so fierce that it made the onlookers flinch.

Thierry watched as a bloodied fang landed near his feet, and she took a step back. Claude leaned in and whispered, "Lucky you didn’t fight her last time."

This was... seriously intense.

As Lyra hurled Helion to the ground by his tail, everyone in the room had the same thought. She casually stepped off the mat, took a book from Mandy’s arms, and turned to leave.

The crowd parted quickly, only to spot a black-haired boy standing at the doorway.

Lyra gave him a brief, indifferent glance, as if he were just another obstacle in her way. Then she walked past.

As she brushed by, she heard him mutter, "Lyra? Sis?"

The young man seemed to freeze, his body stiffening as he whipped around to look at her again, but by then, she was already walking away.

"Who’s that? He’s pretty good-looking."

"His clothes... He’s not from NMA."

"Wait, that pentagram badge... he’s from EPMA!"

Excitement buzzed through the crowd at the mention of the elite military academy.

Claude squinted at him, trying to place his face. "He looks familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere."

Thierry suddenly recognized him, "That’s Kail, a senior at EPMA. He’s been captain of their team for three years straight in the military academy league. He’s even on the homepage of their website. Why would someone like him show up here?"

They all watched as he quickly followed after Lyra, blocking her path.

The tall young man had short black hair and deep, puppy-like eyes that seemed to plead as they fixed on the girl before him. But when he opened his mouth to speak, the words seemed to get stuck in his throat.

So, he just stood there, staring at her—this was a face he could never forget.

Eleven years might have passed, but she still looked just as young and innocent.

"Do you need something?" Lyra asked, her gaze as cold as her tone, like she was speaking to a stranger.

Kail felt a chill wash over him, recalling his grandfather’s stern directive: ’Find out if she’s really your sister.’

"Uh... I’m Kail."

"Good for you," Lyra replied, utterly uninterested. "I don’t want to know you, don’t want to go on a date, and definitely don’t want to grab a drink. Now, move."

She assumed he was hitting on her and walked right past him.

Kail stood there, watching her retreating figure as she walked away.

The girl’s demeanor was uncannily like his sister’s. It had to be her, he was almost sure of it.

Feeling a mix of frustration and confusion, Kail left the NMA campus and headed back to the hotel where he was staying.

In the lobby, a middle-aged man in a military uniform was pacing back and forth, clearly anxious. When he saw Kail, he hurried over.

"Kail, did you see her?" the man asked urgently.

"I did," Kail replied, though he hesitated. "But she didn’t recognize me. If she really is my sister, how could she not know me?"

The truth about what happened back then had been kept from Kail. But Zorion, the man standing before him—a colonel and adjutant to Ansel—was one of the few who knew the whole story.

He was aware that Lyra couldn’t acknowledge her brother because of a curse. ’Yet now that she’s back, why is she still acting like a stranger? So she isn’t Lyra after all?’

"You didn’t ask her directly?" Zorion pressed.

Kail, feeling frustrated, rubbed his head and slumped onto a nearby couch. "She thought I was hitting on her."

Zorion resisted the urge to scold him. ’How can he not recognize his own sister, yet still complain about it?’

"Then we’ll have to test her," Zorion suggested.

So, when Lyra left the military academy for the weekend, Kail set up a ’coincidental’ meeting.

...

"Fancy running into you here," Kail said, trying to sound casual.

Lyra barely glanced at him, continuing to walk forward. "Do you need something?"

Lately, Lyra had been overwhelmed with work. The Mendez group had gone quiet, and the interstellar pirate incident that had rocked Planet Nagano had brought her factory a flood of new orders.

Morrison, although more reliable than Sorren, still needed her to oversee things. On top of that, Blackheart had been withholding her share of the profits for the past two months, and Snakehead’s venture was still yielding no returns. In other words, her funds were running low.

Kail quickly scrambled for an excuse. "I heard you have some healing abilities. I was hoping you could help with an injury."

Lyra stopped and looked at him with a smirk. "You came all the way from Elden Prime just to have someone you don’t know heal you? You must have a lot of time on your hands."

"I just heard you were really good at it," he replied, clearly struggling with the lie. "And I swear, I’m not trying to flirt."

"Well, I’m a bit busy today."

"I can wait."

Kail stuck close, relieved that she didn’t outright refuse him.

They took a Lev out of the city, heading into areas with fewer buildings, more trees, and open farmland.

Suddenly, two Levs appeared alongside them, and the occupants started shooting.

The driver swerved into a small forest, panicking.

"They’re after me!" Kail said nervously, watching for Lyra’s reaction.

Lyra thought to herself: Over the years, her brother might have grown in height and improved his combat skills, but his judgment still had room for improvement.

Without missing a beat, she opened the car door, kicked Kail out with a swift motion, and instructed the driver, "Forget him. Just drive."

The Lev sped away, leaving Kail sprawled on the damp forest floor, completely stunned.

A wave of sadness washed over him. Just like before, she had left him behind without a second thought.

Zorion stepped out of the Lev and walked over to Kail. "She really left you behind, huh? Get up."

Kail finally shook off his shock. "She doesn’t seem like my sister."

The sister he remembered might have been cold, but she would never abandon a stray dog, let alone her own brother.

Zorion, however, wasn’t convinced. "Did you get it?"

Kail nodded, pulling out two short strands of hair sealed in a plastic bag.

Zorion took the bag and said, "We’ll know the truth soon enough."