ARGH!!! ARGH!!!

  Blood spattered across the room as the boy pinning Mira let out a pierg scream, stumbling backward. Deep cw marks etched into his face.

  What happened?! Mira?!

  Ats’s shock grew as he turo Mira. Her once frightened eyes now glowed a vivid red, and before anyone could react, she moved with startling speed. Her arms wrenched free from the grip of the two boys holdihe sudden force causing her gsses to slip from her fad ctter onto the floor.

  She grabbed one of the remaining boys by the wrist. Her right hand, now tipped with razor-sharp cws, sshed into his arm, embedding her nails deep into his flesh. Blood sprayed as the boy screamed in terror, stumbling backward and crumpling to the floor.

  The boy with the cwed face staggered to his feet, his eyes wide with panid tried to run.

  Mira?!

  Did she already awaken before this?!

  But Mira wasn’t finished. She lu the fleeing boy, yanking him back by the leg with shog force, before hurling him into the wall. The resounding thud echoed through the room as the boy hit the surfad crumpled to the ground.

  The remaining boys screamed in terror, scrambling to hide behind overturned desks and chairs.

  Then, just as suddenly as it began, Mira’s eyes returo normal. She froze, staring down at her bloodied hands. Her face turned pale, and she shook her head violently as panic set in.

  “K-killer... killer…!” one of the boys whimpered.

  “No!” Mira cried out. “Not me… Not me!”

  With a desperate scream, she bolted for the door, flinging it open and running into the hallway.

  Mira! End them first!

  Ats followed Mira as she bolted from the , her steps faltering briefly as she froze in the hallway.

  At the far end, Ats noticed a group of students, and among them was the blonde-haired wolf girl, Fenra.

  Damn! This bitch is the cause of all this.

  “Mira?! What have you done?!” Fenra excimed.

  Mira shook her head frantically, her eyes wide with fear, before turning and sprinting down the hallway. She raced toward the stairs, desding quickly.

  Why is she hiding her awakeatus? Is there some reason for this?

  Mira eventually ran into the bathroom. Ats stopped at the door, hesitating to follow her inside.

  A few moments ter, she emerged, her hands wet from washing away the blood. Her face ale, her panimistakable. She trembled visibly, her wide, frantic eyes darting as if looking for an escape.

  Without hesitation, she took off running again, this time heading straight out of the school. Students in the halls turo stare as she passed, their fused whispers filling the air.

  What is wrong with this school?!

  How they let things like this happen here?!

  This has to be one of the most idiotic academies I’ve ever seen!

  Mira ran as fast as she could dowreet, her steps frantid uneven.

  What is she going to do? What’s going to happen to her now?

  She just itted a crime, didn’t she?

  But then, he shook his head.

  No… it was self-defense. But will anyo that way?

  Just what kind of society is this? Is this another form of discrimination against beastkin?

  Yet the thought didn’t sit right.

  But that wolf girl—Fenra—is also a beastkin, isn’t she?

  He frowhe pieces slowly ing together.

  Still, it’s clear Fenra holds a high social status. Just look at how she carries herself—her pristine uniform, her fidend the way the other students practically worship her.

  Ats ched his fists, his frustration building.

  How is Mira supposed to survive in a pce like this?

  Mira took a different route on her way back, avoiding the path she had used earlier.

  Was she trying to avoid people? To keep from being followed?

  After some time, she finally reached her home and hurried inside.

  But what awaited her there was a se far worse than anything she could have imagined.

  Strangers—several of them—stood in the living room. At the end of the room, her parents were bound araiheir expressions filled with terror.

  As Mira froze in shock, the intruders quickly closed the door behind her, cutting off any ce of escape.

  Her parents shouted ily, their wide, desperate eyes silently beggio run. But it was too te.

  Among the strangers was the boy Mira had scratched earlier, his face still bearing the marks of her cws, now partially covered with bandages. He pointed an acg fi her, his voice loud and filled with fury.

  "Her!" he shouted. "She’s the one who scratched my face! Her!"

  There were six rge men in total. Their presenihe small room.

  "Grab her! Tie her up and make her pay! She’s the one who hurt me!" the boy barked.

  Two of the men immediately rushed at Mira. She tried to evade them, but they were too fast. In moments, her arms were seized and pinned behind her back.

  "No! Please!" Mira cried out, struggling against their grip. "Let my mom and dad go! Punish me instead! I’ll take the bme!"

  Her father, tied up and helpless, tried to rise in defiance, but one of the men kicked him hard iomach, sending him sprawling to the floor. The maomped on his back, pinning him down.

  "Dad!" Mira screamed. "Help! Help!"

  Her cries echoed through the room, but there was no oo answer her pleas.

  The boy with the bandaged face stood before Mira, his expression twisted with rage.

  “It’s because of you!”

  “Let them go!” Mira shouted, desperation in her voice. “They didn’t do anything wrong! This is my fault!”

  Her words did nothing to pcate him. He raised his hand and spped Mira hard across the face. The impact sent her reeling to the side, but the men holding her kept her restrained. Blood trickled from the er of her mouth.

  ARGH!

  Mira growled, trying to lunge forward, but her captors held her firmly in pce.

  Two of the men quickly gagged her with a piece of cloth, muffling her cries.

  “You ruined my face!” the boy yelled, his voice shaking with fury. “How do you pn to pay for this?! Did you think I’d just sit bad let you destroy my life? No! I’ll ruin your life too, Mira!”

  Mira struggled, growling in frustration, but she couldn’t break free from their grasp.

  “I’ll let you watch your parents suffer right in front of you,” the boy snarled. “And then, I’ll kill you too!”

  “LET HER GO!”

  From behind, Dad Mira broke free, his desperation giving him the strength to fight. He lu the group, but one of the men quickly grabbed him and smmed him to the floor. The sound of his body hitting the ground was followed by a siing flurry of punches and kicks.

  “No! Don’t do that! No!” Mira screamed through the gag.

  “Beat both of them until they’re half-dead!” the boy said coldly.

  Without hesitation, the men dragged Dad Mira and Mom Mira to the floor. Kicks and stomps rained down on their bodies as they cried out in pain, struggling to protect themselves.

  “NO!” Mira screamed through the gag.

  She thrashed against her restraints, but it was no use—she was pletely helpless.

  Ats stood in the er, his fists ched so tightly they trembled. Rage burned in his chest as he tried to make sense of the se before him.

  How will this end?

  Mira would survive—she had to. After all, she would one day rise to be a Lord. But her parents?

  This torture…

  His thoughts ed with fury.

  What kind of world is this?

  Surely, their screams could be heard from outside the house. They were loud enough to carry. Yet no one came. Not a single person intervened.

  Frustrated, Ats stepped out of the room, his eyes sing the area outside for anyone who might intervene. Instead, he saw passersby hurrying along, their faces turned downward, avoiding even a gn the house’s dire.

  Fear was etched into their expressions, and not a single person stopped. If anything, they quied their pace to distahemselves from whatever was happening inside.

  This world, so deceptively peaceful on the surface, hid a cruel aless core.

  A world where those with power could do anything they want to the weak, even in broad daylight, without fear of sequences.

  DAD!!!

  MOM!!!

  Another scream echoed through the house.

  Ats rushed bato the room, his chest tight with dread. What greeted him was a se of utter horror.

  Dad Mira and Mom Mira y motionless on the floor, their bodies battered and broken. Their lifeless eyes stared bnkly.

  “Hahaha! You paid for it, Mira! You paid for it!” the boy sneered. “Fenra will love this! She’ll finally notice me! I’ve given you the cruelest punishment possible!”