Chime, chime...

The grandfather clock in the room began to strike the hour. "It's midnight."

Outside the window, the night was pitch-black, a fractured sliver of a crescent moon suspended in the dense cloud cover.

"Today is the anniversary of my mother's passing. I will use your blood as her libation."

The moment the words left his mouth, he violently flicked his wrist. The dagger in his grip ripped through the air with unstoppable force, driving straight toward the Shadow Master's chest.

The Shadow Master executed a frantic shift to dodge, narrowly evading the first blade, yet he failed to escape the second weapon that immediately trailed behind it.

"You..." His movements went completely rigid as a sharp agony erupted through his chest, blood instantly gushing from the wound.

He stared blankly at Sebastian, struggling to vocalize another syllable, but Sebastian was already closing the distance, mercilessly driving the blade in several more times.

"Whatever final words you harbor, take them down to hell."

Sebastian stared down at him with an absolute, detached composure, his eyes deep and his low voice echoing through the vault like a phantom.

Watching the brutal execution, Scarlett felt a sympathetic ache ripple through her entire body.

Sebastian tracked the Shadow Master as he took his final breath, calmly using the dead man's back to wipe the crimson stains off his leather shoes before turning to her: "You aren't going to save him?"

She slowly shook her head.

"Why?" he questioned, a trace of genuine curiosity in his tone.

"My mentor's passing was connected to him, wasn't it?" She touched the jade amulet against her chest, her eyes tracking the Shadow Master's corpse.

"You knew?" Sebastian blinked in surprise.

Scarlett let out a quiet, bitter laugh. "I am not that dim-witted."

"Ethan was never intelligent enough to pierce through my mentor's covert infiltration on his own. Since you orchestrated a trail of breadcrumbs to guide me all the way to this vault, I could deduce the broader picture."

"Furthermore, the rules of the underworld dictate that a debt for the murder of one's parents can only end in absolute death."

Sebastian had already gathered his composure, completely mastering the intense emotions he had unleashed moments ago.

"He leaked the details of your mentor's contract. Ethan exposed his identity during his interrogation."

"Therefore, I had to ensure his execution before the authorities could apprehend him."

Sebastian paused for a beat, asking quietly, "Do you mind the scent of smoke?"

Scarlett nodded lightly: "Go ahead."

Sebastian pulled out a cigarette and struck a flame, silently watching the haze drift into the vault.

Within the absolute silence, she could faintly perceive a heavy, circulating sorrow radiating from his form.

Like the drifting smoke and shifting shadows, Sebastian simply stood there, an unshakeable grief completely enveloping his silhouette.

He was drowning in sorrow.

Yet every scrap of emotion was locked away beneath an iron mask, making him appear like an endless, tranquil sea.

No matter what violent storms or hazards surged beneath the deep water, the surface remained flawlessly calm and unbothered.

"You..." Tracking his demeanor, a sudden, absurd realization struck her mind—he looked on the verge of weeping.

"If you want to cry, just cry," she murmured.

Sebastian merely shook his head quietly: "I can't draw out any tears."

He calmly turned his head to face Scarlett, his eyes as still and deep as a mountain pool, completely reverting to his usual composed register.

Despite being so utterly shattered and drowning in grief, he failed to expose a single trace of vulnerability.

Her heart suffered a violent tremor.

The mask on Sebastian's face had been worn for far too long, to the point where it could no longer be removed.

She could only stand firmly by his side to offer her presence, mirroring the exact way he had anchored her when she first discovered her mentor's passing.

Before the cigarette could completely burn down, the short-haired woman rapped on the door and stepped inside the room.

"Boss, it's time to execute our extraction."

She caught sight of Scarlett, freezing briefly before instantly recovering her professional composure.

"Let's move," Sebastian snuffed out the ember, turning around to depart.

"What about this place?"

The detective replied levelly, "The case against Ethan has been entirely finalized. The Syndicate no longer exists in this world."

Chapter 26

Scarlett fell into step beside Sebastian as they secured themselves inside the vehicle.

As for where the car was traveling, she remained entirely oblivious.

Tang Li—the short-haired detective had officially introduced herself by that name—had stated that the Syndicate had been completely eradicated from existence.

All records concerning her past would be thoroughly expunged; absolutely no one would ever know she had operated as an elite assassin.

Scarlett didn't know whether she ought to let out a sigh of relief or marvel at the irony.

Who said absolutely no one in the world knew her past?

Sebastian knew.

She turned her head to look at Sebastian, who was currently resting his chin against his hand, his eyes closed as he feigned sleep against the car window, a profound silence settling over her mind.

He had engineered such a complex web of calculations, and now that his ultimate vengeance was completely fulfilled, he failed to exhibit a fraction of joy.

The heavy sorrow weighing down his tightly knit brows refused to clear.

"I never actually met Ye Qingzer," Sebastian spoke up suddenly, breaking the quiet. "My aunt was the one who reared me."

Grasping that his mind was currently a chaotic storm and that he simply required a safe harbor to unburden his thoughts, Scarlett remained silent, listening intently.

"My aunt always said that Ye Qingzer lived an immaculate life, never stepping a single inch out of line."

"A person of that caliber either remains flawless forever, or commits a catastrophic error. Sure enough, she lost her heart to a married man."

Her pulse skipped a beat.

"By the time she unraveled his web of deception, it was already far too late; she was already pregnant."

"The man's legal wife commissioned a contract to eradicate the threat once and for all. My survival was a miracle, secured entirely because someone rescued me."

Reaching this point in the narrative, Sebastian slowly opened his eyes.

"The individual who rescued me was your mentor."

"My mentor?" Scarlett's brows tightly knit, her eyes widening in absolute disbelief.

"Your mentor personally witnessed the Shadow Master execute my mother. He sliced open her abdomen to extract me, saved my life, and delivered me safely to my aunt's residence."

This transpired roughly thirty years ago. "How on earth did you unearth these details?"

She locked her eyes onto Sebastian.

Sebastian gestured toward the ornate signet ring resting on his finger, explaining, "This ring and your jade amulet function as a matching set; there is a data chip embedded within it."

The reality laid bare to her.

Her mentor had hidden so many profound actions beneath the shadows.

"He never uttered a single syllable regarding these matters to me..." Her mind was swallowed by a deep melancholy.

Sebastian shifted his gaze to look at the jade amulet resting against Scarlett's chest, his expression deeply moved: "There was no necessity for him to speak. He ensured you already possessed the most exquisite fortune in existence."

She touched the jade piece, its texture warm against her skin, a profound warmth blooming in her chest.

"Yes. Staying safe and sound is ultimately the finest fortune."

The vehicle slowly rolled to a stop, and tracking the sprawling cemetery before her, she froze.

Did Sebastian intend to pay respects to his late mother tonight?

He stepped down from the vehicle, remaining rooted by the door as he waited for her to exit.

"Am I meant to accompany you inside?"

Sebastian gave a quiet nod: "Now that we are legally bound, I desire to deliver this news to her personally."

Staring into his sorrowful eyes, she found herself entirely unable to vocalize a refusal, simply nodding in compliance.

The night was suffocatingly dark, a fractured sliver of a crescent moon illuminating the graveyard, the cool moonlight casting distorted, skeletal shadows through the swaying branches.

The illumination throughout the cemetery grounds was exceptionally sparse. They walked in a single file, the absolute silence of the space punctuated only by the rhythmic crunch of their own footsteps.

Ordinarily, the atmosphere would be intensely terrifying.

Yet she had operated as a lethal assassin, entirely accustomed to navigating the pitch-black night.

Furthermore, Sebastian was merely visiting his mother, leaving absolutely no room for fear.

Scarlett even possessed enough detached calm to observe the surrounding flora.

Attending this place during the daytime would likely yield quite a scenic view.

Sebastian navigated the paths with an absolute familiarity, executing a sharp turn to guide her toward a secluded corner overflowing with vibrant blossoms.

"My aunt planted these; she always said my mother was exceptionally fond of flowers."

Sebastian pulled out his lighter, striking a flame to ignite the two ceremonial candles resting before the headstone.