Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power
Chapter 103: New Lens

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: New Lens

Chapter 103 – New lens

Kaden walked through the streets of Waverith, wearing a long coat that covered his face. He was heading toward the great gate of the city, ready to step into the wilderness.

He should have been in a hurry, mind racing with the need to find his sister, but he wasn’t.

Yes, he felt all the emotions that came with...fear, urgency, desperation... but right now, more than anything, he needed to calm his mind.

So Kaden chose to walk.

And with his perception heightened, he started to notice things—things he wouldn’t have paid attention to in a normal situation.

He noticed how all the houses of Waverith were built in similar shapes: rectangular bodies with triangular roofs, the only distinction between them being the colors painted on the walls.

Some were vivid. Some subtle. Some were a chaotic mix of color. And some had chosen the lifeless, heavy tone of grey.

Looking at them, Kaden could already guess the temperament of their owners. The vivid ones must belong to the loud, the passionate. The grey to those who had long stopped caring.

He noticed the people,too, busy with their lives.

Some rushed along the road, clearly late, trying to catch a carriage.

Others walked slowly, taking their time, not because they had the luxury of it, but because they simply didn’t care enough to rush.

He listened to the rhythm of his own boots hitting the ground, and how it sounded... different from everyone else.

He watched the way people moved...the way they dressed.

He paid attention to the merchants lined up along the edge of the roads, shouting to advertise their wares, smiles bright on their faces—but twitching, just slightly, every time a customer walked past without buying.

He noticed the atmosphere itself.

It wasn’t chaotic.

It wasn’t calm.

It was... solemn.

Not because of some event or tragedy, but just because of life.

Everyone wore a face that looked like they were going to battle against some deep terrifying monsters...and maybe it was, after all...

...each person with their own definition of monsters.

But amidst all that quiet resignation, Kaden noticed the odd ones—the bright, joyful souls that still burned amidst the grey.

And one particular scene made him stop.

A young girl, barely eight, stood barefoot on the side of the road. She wore torn, dirty yellow clothes clinging to her like a second skin—clearly, it had been ages since she’d changed.

Her black hair, once likely beautiful, was matted and tangled with dirt. Her small, delicate face was smudged with soil and dust, almost hiding the radiance beneath.

She looked pitiful.

But her eyes... her smile...

Ah.

It was blinding.

It was warm, pure, radiant—so full of joy and contentment that Kaden couldn’t help but pause, his heart skipping a beat.

She was talking to a boy, no older than fifteen, whose red hair shimmered softly under the sunlight like celestial fire. His expression, however, was clouded in fear, in worry, in the kind of internal battle that had no clear cause.

His clothes were expensive—fine red silk embroidered with golden thread, elegant and noble. Kaden didn’t need to look twice to know the boy came from wealth.

And yet here they were:

A joyful poor girl and a wealthy, trembling boy.

He watched the contrast, the irony, and felt something stir in his chest. A voice in him told him to go talk to them. To ask. To understand.

But he didn’t.

’I’ve lost enough time already... Let’s go,’ Kaden decided.

He had wanted to clear his mind.

But now, after walking through this world with new eyes, he only had more questions.

He sighed softly and diminished his perception.

Then, with a burst of speed, he moved.

The world blurred around him.

Soon, he was outside Waverith, in the middle of nowhere. Brown sand stretched endlessly beneath the bright sun of Darklore, painting a harsh yet still landscape.

He pulled out a map from his space ring and studied it quietly, eyes scanning for the route to take. Once he had what he needed, he stored it back and—

BOOOOM!

An explosion of force erupted from beneath him as Kaden shot forward, his speed blinding. The echo of his footsteps made the earth tremble beneath each stride, as if straining under the sheer pressure of his movement. A massive cloud of dust rose behind him, towering into the sky, shrouding the land in its wake.

And yet, as Kaden ran, something began to shift.

His footsteps started to make no sound.

Then his shape started to blur, until it was impossible to see his features or even his full body.

He became nothing but a ghost streaking across the world.

For hours he ran. Through forests, over rivers, past mountains.

Some beasts tried to cross his path, but they died before they even realized it.

Until finally...

He arrived.

He stood behind a thick tree, its bark a strange mixture of steel and wood, and looked up at the sight in front of him.

Just like Sabine had described.

A massive castle surrounded by jagged mountains. All of it, castle and peaks, crafted from a blend of steel and flame, raw and wild, yet undeniably beautiful.

The air was thick with the scent of molten metal, like burning steel—faint hammering echoed in the distance, like an unending blacksmithing song.

And before the main entrance stood a massive gate made entirely from an unfamiliar red alloy that shimmered strangely under the light. Two massive beings guarded it.

Kaden narrowed his eyes.

’Steelbeasts.’

Humanoid in shape, but made of flesh and iron, their bodies glowing from within with fire, their eyes vacant of thought.

Kaden observed calmly.

His expression didn’t change, but his mind raced, calculating.

He couldn’t attack directly. That was obvious.

He was here to save his sister—not to throw himself at a Grandmaster-ranked beast and die before even learning where she was.

No. He needed to be subtle.

He needed to act like an assassin.

And how fortunate, that he had just learned how with his recents battles.

DING!

{You have received a quest.}

Kaden smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

A new hunt...had begun.

—End of Chapter 103—