The rooftops provided a perfect vantage point as the informant moved swiftly across them, trailing the kidnappers below. The man crouched low, his eyes locked on the captors as they tossed their two unconscious targets—a woman and a boy—into a waiting carriage.
He frowned. "They grab the kid too?" he muttered under his breath.
With practiced fingers, he flashed a set of quick signs to a nearby alley where another member of their team watched silently. The second informant caught the signal, gave a sharp nod, and melted into the crowd without a word.
The rooftop scout, meanwhile, paused. He kneeled and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as a faint glow flickered around his fingertips. Threads of faint blue mana extended from his hands like spider silk, trailing into the air in search of one specific presence.
"Come on…" he whispered, sweat already forming at his brow.
The mana wire weaved through the city like a scent on the wind until it found its target. Down in the market district, Shin stood casually near a vendor, surveying the crowd. A small child tried to haggle over the price of roasted nuts as Shin absently nodded to a street performer nearby.
Then, like a whisper, a pulse of mana attached itself to him, a barely visible thread latching onto his ear.
Shin's eyes narrowed.
"…Warehouse district," the message vibrated along the thread. "Masked targets. Woman and a kid. Taken in a carriage. Heading west from Market Gate."
The rooftopper winced as the mana feed continued. "Time… critical. Following from above.."
Shin didn't flinch. He adjusted his cuffs calmly, then spoke under his breath. "Copy that."
The rooftopper felt his body tremble slightly—maintaining a long-range mana wire was exhausting, especially while transferring detailed data. He gritted his teeth and kept the channel stable. Shin's voice came through softly, riding the thread.
"Mark the drop site if they stop. I'll be there in minutes."
Shin processed the information instantly. His posture shifted.
Then he vanished.
Without another word, he moved. In a blur, his body disappeared from the spot, darting through alleys and over rooftops with inhuman speed. His coat flared behind him, and those he passed barely caught sight of a figure vanishing like the wind.
A fruit seller blinked in surprise as the breeze knocked over a crate. "What the—? Was that…?"
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inside a dimly lit room of the kidnappers' hideout, the air was heavy and rank with a chemical scent. Shackles clinked against stone walls. The boss, a burly man with a crooked scar down his jaw, glared at his subordinates.
"Why the hell did you bring in that brat?"
One of the men scratched his head nervously. "He showed up mid-snag. Kept shouting nonsense and got in our faces. Figured he saw too much."
The boss growled. "Tch. Idiots. Fine. Just shackle him and the woman. Dump them with the others."
Two unconscious bodies were dragged into a cold room reeking of mildew and iron. Chains clinked as they were shackled—wrists and ankles secured to the stone floor and walls.
The boy was dumped beside the woman. Around them, a dozen or more individuals hung limply from shackles. Some twitched faintly, others remained still, their eyes dull and lifeless. They looked barely human—hollow-eyed, drooling, some whispering nonsense. Whatever they had been subjected to had stripped away their sanity.
A while later, the woman stirred. Her eyes fluttered open, and she gasped, backing up as much as her restraints allowed. Her horrified gaze scanned the others in the room, her breath coming in quick sobs.
Then the boy groaned.
She turned. "You… you're awake? Gods, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to be caught too."
The boy blinked, his eyes clearing. Instead of fear, anger twisted his features as he looked at the broken forms shackled around him.
"Don't worry about me," he said, voice low.
"But… you had a chance to run," she said, her voice trembling. "You could've escaped."
The boy looked her in the eye.
"I saw someone in danger. That's all that mattered."
Then, with casual ease, he twisted his arms and broke the shackles binding his wrists. Metal snapped with a loud clang.
The woman's eyes widened.
He stood, cracked his neck, then crushed the shackles at his ankles with a stomp.
"What… how…?"
He removed his cap, letting green hair spill out from beneath it.
"I'm just a kid who protects the neighborhood," he said with a grin.
The woman stared at him, baffled.
Vel walked over and broke her chains next.
"Can you walk?"
"I-I think so," she stammered.
One by one, Vel moved to the others in the room. Some were too far gone to respond, but he broke their chains anyway. The noise of shattering metal echoed loudly.
Back near the main chamber, one of the guards tilted his head.
"You hear that?"
"What the hell is—"
A thunderous boom rocked the corridor as the thick iron-reinforced door exploded inward, wood and steel splinters flying like shrapnel. A cloud of dust and debris billowed out into the hall.
From within the cloud, a silhouette emerged crackling with aura. Vel stepped through the rubble, one hand still outstretched from the punch.
"Found you," he said, his voice low and edged with fury.
The two guards standing outside the chamber barely had time to react. One reached for his sword, but Vel blurred forward in a flash of movement.
His fist struck the first guard square in the gut. The man's eyes bulged, mouth agape, as his feet left the ground. He flew backward as if yanked by an invisible force, his body crashing into the stone wall with a sickening crunch before collapsing to the floor.
Before the other could even register what had happened, Vel was already moving.
He twisted with inhuman speed, his coat flaring as he pivoted. His elbow drove forward into the second man's chest like a battering ram. The impact echoed through the chamber, lifting the thug clean off his feet. His body arced through the air and slammed into a stack of wooden crates. The wood exploded into shards, sending debris flying as he disappeared beneath the wreckage.
Vel exhaled calmly, lowering his arm. "That's two," he muttered.
Inside the room, the women looked up, eyes wide.